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Garlic occupies a unique position in Chinese wedding traditions and broader cultural beliefs. In parts of Guangdong province, brides traditionally include garlic in their dowries, as it is believed to ward off evil spirits, dispel negative energy, and enhance feng shui in southern China. China stands as the largest producer and consumer of garlic globally,…
Fiscal strains are forcing Chinese provinces to slash their budget-revenue expectations for 2026 due to the knock-on effects of a five-year property market slump, and analysts cite the shift as a warning sign that intense debt pressures continue to drag down the nation’s economic growth outlook. Major provinces are budgeting for 2 to 3 per…
China and the US are likely to secure several “very positive” outcomes but not a “grand bargain” at their presidential summit in April, according to the board chief of a major American business lobby. James Zimmerman, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said on Friday that “the optics [of] announcing deals” such…
The US eased sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector on Friday, issuing two general licences that allow global energy companies to operate oil and gas projects in the Opec member and for other companies to negotiate contracts to bring in fresh investments. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a general licence allowing Chevron,…
Star Cruises has said its ship is “fully prepared” for its next voyage from Hong Kong after a scheduled departure on Friday was cancelled because of “an unforeseen technical issue”, leaving angry passengers who had waited for hours to board complaining they had been treated like “refugees”. The cruise operator apologised for cancelling the three-day,…
Consumer inflation in the US cooled slightly more than expected in January, government data showed Friday, as energy prices dipped. Analysts say the figure allows the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates again later this year, but warn that policymakers need to see sustained improvement to do so – despite US President Donald Trump’s insistence…
In what was described as part of a larger effort to prevent the world’s superpowers from picking Europe apart, France’s Jean-Noel Barrot and Germany’s Johann Wadephul hosted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday. It revived a configuration not seen since the days of French President Emmanuel Macron’s first term, talks that Wang said were…
Award-winning Indian writer Arundhati Roy has said she is withdrawing from the Berlin Film Festival over jury president Wim Wenders’ comments that cinema should “stay out of politics” when asked about Gaza. Roy said in a statement on Friday that she was “shocked and disgusted” by responses from Wenders and other jury members to a…
One of China’s most anticipated Lunar New Year holiday films features a renowned director, a cast of stars and an unusual creative consultant: the country’s top counter-espionage agency. Scare Out, which will debut in cinemas in mainland China on February 17, is the first film directly supervised by the Ministry of State Security. The ministry…
The United Nations is broke. According to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, the institution can’t pay its bills. Members, such as the US, haven’t paid their dues. The UN doesn’t just face a liquidity crisis. An old rule obliges it to pay members back for unspent money, even from dues it never received. The UN…
