Osmond Chia,Business reporterand Yan Chen,BBC News Chinese Getty Images Chinese people will pay a 13% sales tax on contraceptives from 1 January, while childcare services will be exempt, as the world’s second-largest economy tries to boost birth rates. An overhaul of the tax system announced late last year removes many exemptions that were in place […]
Continue ReadingBulgaria – the poorest country in the European Union – has become the 21st member of the eurozone – leapfrogging more obvious and prosperous candidates like Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. For mostly urban, young and entrepreneurial Bulgarians, it’s an optimistic and potentially lucrative leap – the final move in a game which has […]
Continue ReadingHours later a Finnish patrol vessel caught the Fitburg with its anchor in the water in Finland’s exclusive economic zone, the country’s coast guard reported. “At the moment we suspect aggravated disruption of telecommunications and also aggravated sabotage and attempted aggravated sabotage,” Helsinki police chief Jari Liukku told media. “Finland is prepared for security challenges […]
Continue ReadingOn The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents Get a weekly international news dispatch Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed victory in Ukraine in a defiant speech despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the war. Putin used his annual televised New […]
Continue ReadingUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff (right) met at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, December 15, 2025.Image: keystone December 31, 2025, 7:53 p.mDecember 31, 2025, 7:53 p.m According to his own statements, US special envoy Steve Witkoff discussed the next steps towards an end to the war in Ukraine with […]
Continue ReadingRussia’s defence ministry released video footage on Wednesday of what it said was a downed drone at a briefing intended to show Ukraine tried this week to attack a presidential residence and challenge Kyiv’s denials that such an attack took place. Kyiv says Moscow has produced no evidence to support its allegations and that Russia […]
Continue ReadingFinnish authorities on Wednesday seized a vessel suspected of damaging an undersea communications cable between Finland and Estonia, while Swedish authorities discovered two breaks in a different submarine cable connecting to Tallinn. Since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many experts and politicians have viewed the damages to energy and communications infrastructure in […]
Continue ReadingFinnish police have detained a vessel suspected of damaging an undersea telecoms cable running from Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland. The cargo vessel, the Fitburg, was sailing from St Petersburg to the port of Haifa in Israel, under the flag of St Vincent and Grenadines. All 14 crew members were arrested after […]
Continue ReadingReuters A passenger has described “chaos” after two trains collided head-on near Peru’s most popular tourist attraction, Machu Picchu. Niels Honkoop, 33, told the BBC he had switched seats part-way through the journey from the middle of the train to the back, before it crashed, injuring many of those sitting near the front. “I saw […]
Continue ReadingPOLITICO was not able to verify the details of the video. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Monday that the alleged attack had involved more than 90 long-range drones and warned that Moscow’s position in U.S.-led peace talks would harden as a result. Ukraine flatly rejected the claim, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling it […]
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