#apj-reductions

#apj-reductions

"The specific barrier is capital," says Lisa George, global head of the Macquarie Group Foundation. "Without access to capital, it's very hard to get social mobility and educational mobility in life."

"Asia has more diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular patients than anywhere else in the world," Abrar Mir states, emphasizing the severity of the health crisis in the region.

We stand ready to take all necessary measures in close coordination with our partners, including to preserve the stability and security of the energy market, said the G7 in a statement after a teleconference.

Anutin Charnvirakul's re-election is more a vote for the status quo than a conservative reaction to the country's progressive changes. Voting Bhumjaithai means no major changes expected at a time where polls have shown the majority of Thais worry the most about economic insecurities and precarity.

Asia's healthcare challenges include aging populations, rising disease, and strained infrastructure, but the crisis is better understood at the kitchen table, where families decide what conditions to treat, and what to ignore, according to their savings. While the APAC region makes up 60% of the world's population, the region accounts for a mere 22% of global healthcare spending. According to the World Health Organization, most developing Asian countries spend just 2-3% of GDP on health, and in many cases public

Around 19 million barrels of oil, or 20% of the global oil trade, passes through the Strait of Hormuz each day. On average, exports from the Gulf constitute 80% to 90% of oil brought into Japan, and 30% to 40% of oil imported into China.

For all the talk of AI-driven productivity, many organisations still haven't seen wage costs fall or even clearly stabilise. In a recent PwC survey of more than 4,400 chief executives, only 12% said their AI investments had delivered both higher revenue and lower costs, while more than half reported no meaningful business impact at all. That gap between expectation and reality is becoming harder to ignore.

The upgrade places the EU on the same diplomatic footing as the United States, China and Russia and was announced during a visit to Hanoi by European Council President António Costa. "At a moment when the international rules-based order is under threat from multiple sides, we need to stand side by side as reliable and predictable partners," Costa said, adding that the partnership is about "developing spheres of shared prosperity."

What we'll see is the trade-off between whether it's going to be industry and tech, or looking after domestic demand. These are the two priorities that are juggling for Xi Jinping right now.

Stability. Consistency. Ever-changing complexity. With language like that, deployed in separate meetings in three Asian capitals this week, government leaders forged closer ties driven in part by a figure halfway around the world: the president of the United States. And much of the time, they didn't even mention Donald Trump's name. IN BEIJING: The U.K. and Chinese leaders called Thursday for a "long-term, stable, and comprehensive strategic partnership" between their two countries. The important words are long-term and stable. The two countries committed a decade ago to building a comprehensive strategic partnership but progress has been halting at best.

Of all countries, China should appreciate the need to stop Mr. Maduro from smuggling these illicit drugs into the U.S., killing tens of thousands of Americans. China experienced this in the Opium War of 1839-1842, when Great Britain forced opium on China, despite government protestations, resulting in the humiliating Treaty of Nanjing, ceding Hong Kong to Great Britain. Mr. Maduro was violating U.S. laws, in a conspiracy to aid enemies and kill innocent Americans.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday expressed hopes of deepening her relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump and strengthen cooperation between the two countries in rare earths development and other areas of economic security when she visits Washington next month. Takaichi, at a news conference late Wednesday, expressed hopes to strengthen cooperation with the U.S., especially in economic security, as tensions between Tokyo and Beijing have risen over the last few months.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has unveiled its annual budget, aiming for steady growth in an uncertain global economy rocked by recent tariff wars. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for the 2026-2027 financial year in Parliament on Sunday, prioritising infrastructure and domestic manufacturing, with a total expenditure estimated at $583bn. India's economy has so far weathered punitive tariffs of 50 percent imposed by United States President Donald Trump over New Delhi's imports of Russian oil.

[The Trump administration] may have entered the office thinking that they could use their economic leverage to push China in certain policy directions," said Amanda Hsiao, a China studies director at the Eurasia Group consultancy.

China recorded strong exports in 2025 with a record $1.2 trillion trade surplus, as producers shifted their focus to markets other than the US amid Trump's tariffs. Customs data showed that Beijing's global surplus rose 20% from the previous year, which saw a $992 billion surplus. Exports in 2025 stood at $3.7 trillion and imports at $2.58 trillion, government data showed on Wednesday. The record surplus was aided by a 6.6% bump in exports in the month of December when compared to December 2024,

The International Monetary Fund has warned mounting geopolitical tensions and an escalation of Donald Trump's tariff war could hit global economic growth and trigger a backlash in financial markets. In an update as Trump threatens to impose tariffs on Nato allies opposed to his ambitions in Greenland, the Washington-based fund said a renewed eruption in trade tensions was among the biggest risks to global growth in 2026.

The United States has realised it cannot keep trying to police the whole world, argues Victor Gao, the vice president of the Center for China and Globalization in Beijing. Gao tells host Steve Clemons that improved China-US relations are inevitable although he warns that some American policymakers still view China as the number one threat and Chinese officials never underestimate what American neofascists will cook up next.