Be warned. The global economy is likely to experience a recession next year. War across the Middle East is set to escalate, wrecking energy supplies for many years, even as the artificial intelligence (AI) bubble is ripe to burst. This, however, would also create an energy leadership opportunity for China. High energy prices already fuel demand for Chinese renewable energy products and electric vehicles. But as a leader in building coal-fired power plants, China can also offer the global market...

SpaceX boss Elon Musk said on Wednesday that any disruptions reported by Ukraine in using the Starshield satellite communications system would be the responsibility of the US government, not his company. “Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government. Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military and ultimately POTUS,” Musk said, referring to US President Donald Trump. Musk drew a distinction between the Starshield system, which Ukraine relies on for battlefield...

US stocks dropped to their worst day since July on Wednesday, following the latest signal that inflation is getting worse. The S&P 500 sank 1.1 per cent for a fifth loss in the six days since setting its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 48 points, or 0.1 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite slid 1.9 per cent as stocks in the artificial-intelligence industry led the way lower. Stocks felt pressure from rising yields in the bond market, where worries grew after a report said US...

Bank of America, the second-largest US bank, failed to promptly report hundreds of millions of dollars in suspicious transactions bearing signs of Chinese money-laundering networks, US regulators said on Tuesday, announcing more than US$1.21 billion in penalties for broader anti-money-laundering and sanctions failures. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, said the activity included large wire transfers to counterparties in China, repeated credit-card purchases at major retailers...

The Yemeni government has spoken with Beijing about the Houthis’ alleged attempts to utilise Chinese-made technology for weapons, a Yemeni minister said on Wednesday, as the two sides’ long-running civil war escalates. “The Chinese are partners and we have discussed with them about, you know, the use of dual products,” Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba said in response to an Agence France-Presse question about reports the Iran-backed group was trying to secure Chinese components to help...

Irish author Sally Rooney can no longer sell her books in the UK because of her support for the activist group Palestine Action, her publisher Faber said on Wednesday. Rooney has previously expressed her support for the group, which was banned as a “terrorist” organisation by the UK government in July 2025. It is not banned in Ireland, where Rooney lives. The proscription, which the organisation is appealing against, puts Palestine Action on the same blacklist as militant groups Hamas and...

Leaders of the EU’s 27 member states will instruct Brussels to “urgently” come up with new weapons to counter the imbalances they believe are caused by China’s economic policies, at a meeting in the Belgian capital on Thursday. The instruction – part of a draft statement being negotiated ahead of this week’s European Council summit – comes after the European Union and China reached a surprise deal in Beijing last week that will cap the number of Chinese hybrid cars imported to the bloc at...