World

Chinese-built road upgrade project linking Senegal, Guinea-Bissau breaks ground

DAKAR, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- A groundbreaking ceremony for the improvement of a section of the Bissau-Dakar Road Corridors, built by a Chinese company, was held on Monday in Tanaff, a town in southern Senegal.

World

South Africa sees modest economic improvement in 2025: business leader

JOHANNESBURG, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Africa saw modest economic improvement in 2025, alongside signs of rising investor confidence, according to a business leader from the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI).

World

China urges Netherlands to revoke administrative order concerning Nexperia

BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Commerce on Monday said the Dutch government should immediately revoke its administrative order concerning semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia, which is an overseas subsidiary of Chinese firm Wingtech.

World

Cyclone Ditwah causes 4.1 bln USD in damage in Sri Lanka: World Bank

COLOMBO, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The direct physical damage caused by Cyclone Ditwah in Sri Lanka is estimated at 4.1 billion U.S. dollars, about 4 percent of the country's GDP, according to a report released by the World Bank on Monday.

World

Hong Kong's IPO market financing in 2025 ranks first globally

HONG KONG, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong ranked as the world's top IPO venue in 2025, with record-setting average daily trading volumes and fundraising levels rising sharply from a year earlier, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced on Monday.

World

Pakistan enhances efforts to promote quality education for better future: minister

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Wajiha Qamar said that the country will enhance and improve quality education and professional training nationwide for students, especially from disadvantaged communities, for the country's better future.

World

Ecuador soldiers sentenced to decades in prison over disappearance of murdered boys

QUITO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - An ‌Ecuadorean court on Monday sentenced 11 of 17 soldiers to more than 34 years ‌in prison over the forced disappearance of four boys aged 11 to 15 during ‌security operations in the South American nation's largest city, Guayaquil, one year ago.

World

South Africans dragged into Russia's war in Ukraine dig trenches, dodge bullets

DURBAN, South Africa, Dec 22 (Reuters) - South African father-of-three Dubandlela was overcome with pride when his 20-year-old son ‌signed up in July to receive elite training as a VIP bodyguard in Russia.

World

Pope Leo's new US bishops are critics of Trump's migrant crackdown

VATICAN CITY, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Most of Pope Leo's appointments ‌for Catholic bishops in the U.S. have called for better treatment of immigrants in the country, in a trend that may shape how the national Church ‌responds to the Trump administration's divisive anti-immigration policies.

World

Bangladesh editors warn of 'fight for survival' as mob violence targets media

Dec 22 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's top media ‌editors warned on Monday that threats against journalists have escalated into a fight ‌for survival, after the killing of a prominent youth leader triggered violent attacks ‌on newspaper offices last week.

World

Exclusive-How immigration swallowed up federal gun crime efforts

BALTIMORE, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Detectives in Baltimore watched on security video last summer as an argument inside a convenience store spilled ‌into the parking lot and gunshots erupted at a sedan speeding away. They quickly recognized one of the shooters: He had been shot himself two days earlier. 

World

Germany charges suspected former Syrian intelligence agent with murder in Assad jail

Dec 22 (Reuters) - German prosecutors ‌have charged a suspected former member of Syrian ‌intelligence with crimes against humanity and the torture ‌and murder of dozens of prisoners held in a Damascus prison under Bashar al-Assad, a statement said on Monday.

World

Romanian president says judiciary will be investigated to address claims of abuses

BUCHAREST, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Romania's President ‌Nicușor Dan pledged to investigate claims of systemic abuses in the ‌judiciary after meeting judges and prosecutors on Monday, saying the integrity of ‌the justice system was in serious doubt.

World

France rushes emergency budget law to avert shutdown after talks collapse

PARIS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - France's government ‌will push lawmakers to approve emergency legislation to keep the state running ‌into January after they failed to agree on a 2026 budget, ‌a stopgap measure to avert a shutdown as pressure mounts from investors and ratings agencies.

World

Trump says US needs Greenland for security, taps envoy to ‘lead the charge’

PALM BEACH, Florida/COPENHAGEN, Dec 22 (Reuters) - President Donald ‌Trump reasserted on Monday that the United States needs Greenland for its national security and said a special envoy he appointed to ‌the Arctic island would "lead the charge."

World

Analysis-Orban's giveaways still not turning election tide in Hungary

BUDAPEST, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Hungary's Viktor Orban ‌may have got a brief poll boost last month from a costly pensions sweetener but he faces a race against time before April's election to turn ‌the stagnating economy around enough to extend a 15-year grip on power.

World

Pope Leo urges joyful, welcoming Church in speech to Vatican cardinals

VATICAN CITY, ‌Dec 22 (Reuters) - Pope Leo indicated on Monday that he plans to ‌follow the reform agenda of his predecessor Francis, praising the ‌late pontiff's attempts to make the global Catholic Church more inclusive in an annual Christmas address to Vatican cardinals.

World

Car bomb kills Russian general in Moscow, investigators say

MOSCOW, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A Russian ‌general was killed by a car bomb in southern Moscow ‌on Monday, Russian investigators said, adding that they suspected Ukrainian ‌special services could have been behind the attack. 

Nation

1MDB: MACC to bring back recovered paintings worth over RM120mil

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is in the process of arranging the return of high-value 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) assets currently held overseas.

World

High-level Turkish team to visit Damascus on Monday for talks on SDF integration

ANKARA, Dec 22 (Reuters) - A high-level ‌Turkish delegation will visit Damascus on Monday to discuss bilateral ties and the ‌implementation of a deal for integrating the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into ‌Syria's state apparatus, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.