HONG KONG (AP) – By some measures, China’s economy is looking resilient, with strong exports and breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. But that’s not how it feels for many ordinary Chinese, who have been enduring the strain from weak property prices and uncertainty over their jobs and incomes.
More than a decade ago, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished without a trace, sparking one of aviation’s most baffling mysteries. Despite years of multinational searches, investigators still do not know exactly what happened to the plane. On Wednesday, the Malaysian government said a vessel began a new search operation for the missing plane.
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, whose archrivalry with another former premier defined the country’s politics for a generation, has died, her Bangladesh Nationalist Party said in a statement Tuesday. She was 80.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian drones blasted apartment buildings and the power grid in the southern Ukraine city of Odesa in an overnight attack that injured six people, including a toddler and two other children, officials said Wednesday.
HONG KONG (AP) – China’s military on Monday dispatched air, navy and missile units to conduct joint live-fire drills around the island of Taiwan, which Beijing called a “stern warning” against separatist and “external interference” forces. Taiwan said it was placing forces on alert and called the Chinese government “the biggest destroyer of peace.” n.
Wall Street fell on the final day of trading for 2025, a banner year for markets that was driven by both optimism and uncertainty. The S&P 500 pulled back 0.7% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gave back 0.8%. Trading was very light ahead of the New Year's Day holiday Thursday, when markets will be closed.
U.S. President Donald Trump continues to claim he has ended eight wars this year, but that is exaggerated. His meeting this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlights that far more work remains before any declaration of an end to the war in Gaza.
Today is Wednesday, Dec. 31, the 366th and final day of 2025. This is New Year’s Eve. Today in history: On Dec. 31, 1879, Thomas Edison first demonstrated his electric incandescent lights for the public by illuminating some 100 bulbs in and around his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
BEIJING (AP) – China’s decision to bring serious firepower to bear for military drills in the waters off Taiwan this week has deep roots – both in the past several weeks and the past several decades. The island is the most sensitive political subject for China. It has been ever since Taiwan split from the mainland in 1949 after a civil war.
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