US rejection of Nippon Steel's bid for US Steel rankles Washington's key ally in Asia

BANGKOK (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to reject a bid by Nippon Steel to acquire U.S. Steel on national security grounds isn’t the first time friction over trade and investment has irked Washington’s closest ally in Asia. There have been plenty of scraps over...

Chinese tech companies Tencent, CATL and others protest US listings as army-linked companies

HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. Defense Department has added dozens of Chinese companies, including games and technology company Tencent, artificial intelligence firm SenseTime and the world’s biggest battery maker CATL, to a list of companies it says have ties to China’s military, prompting some...

PHOTO COLLECTION: China Nepal Earthquake

Demonstrators block a key Pakistan-China trade route over power outages

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Hundreds of protesters angered by power outages have blocked a key highway in northern Pakistan, officials said on Tuesday. The blockade is disrupting bilateral trade with neighboring China and forcing tourists to take longer routes to visit the region. ...

Self-exiled Chinese businessman's chief of staff gets 10 years in prison in $1B fraud

NEW YORK (AP) — The chief of staff for a Chinese businessman sought by the government of China was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for her role in the $1 billion fraud case. Yvette Wang, 45, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court less than two years after her arrest in...

UK's anti-corruption minister refers herself to ethics watchdog over links to ousted Bangladeshi PM

LONDON (AP) — A British Treasury minister has referred herself to the U.K. government's ethics watchdog following reports that she lived in London properties linked to her aunt Sheikh Hasina, the ousted Bangladeshi prime minister. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that...

China protests US sanctions for its alleged role in hacking, complains of foreign hacker attacks

BANGKOK (AP) — China has slammed a decision by the U.S. Treasury to sanction a Beijing-based cybersecurity company for its alleged role in multiple hacking incidents targeting critical U.S. infrastructure, while the Chinese cyber security agency complained Monday of attacks on Chinese networks. ...

Taiwan says China is redoubling efforts to undermine democracy with disinformation

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan ’s government says China is redoubling efforts to undermine confidence in the self-governing island’s democracy and close ties with the United States through the spread of disinformation, especially online. The National Security Bureau said the...

Stock market today: Wall Street opens 2025 with more modest losses

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stock indexes slipped on Thursday as Wall Street’s weak end to last year carried into 2025. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to extend the four-day losing streak that dimmed the close of its stellar 2024. The index pinballed through the day between an early gain of...

5 things we know and still don't know about COVID, 5 years after it appeared

Five years ago, a cluster of people in Wuhan, China, fell sick with a virus never before seen in the world. The germ didn't have a name, nor did the illness it would cause. It wound up setting off a pandemic that exposed deep inequities in the global health system and reshaped public...