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Taiwan has become a “super-aged society” for the first time, with 20% of its shrinking population aged 65 or older in 2025, government data showed yesterday. The island of more than 23mn people faces a looming demographic challenge, with its population falling overall as well as ageing. There were 4,673,155 people aged 65 or older in Taiwan in 2025, or 20.06% of the population, according to the interior ministry. That means it met the World Health Organisation’s criteria for a super-aged society, with one in every five citizens aged 65 or more. The number of people aged 0-14 accounted for 11.51% of the population. Source link
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to “unconditionally support” all of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policies and decisions, Pyongyang’s state media said today. North Korea has dispatched thousands of troops to fight for Russia, according to South Korean and Western intelligence agencies, as Moscow presses ahead with its nearly four-year invasion of Ukraine. In a letter shared by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim said he felt “true comradely relations” from Putin and regarded their ties as the “most precious ones”. “Close cooperation” between the two countries “will continue in various spheres in the future”, Kim wrote. – Source link
An aerial view of the collapsed landfill in Binaliw, Cebu City, Philippines, yesterday. Rescue workers yesterday searched for dozens of people buried under a mountain of garbage that collapsed at a landfill in the central Philippines, killing at least two.About 50 sanitation workers were buried when the towering pile of refuse toppled onto them at Binaliw Landfill, a privately operated facility in Cebu City, on Thursday.”There are signs of life,” Cebu mayor Nestor Archival told a news briefing yesterday, adding that hundreds of rescuers already on site would be joined by “another 500″ for search efforts he expected to last through to tomorrow.Rita Cogay, who operates a compactor at the site, said she had stepped outside to get a drink of water just moments before the building where she had been in was crushed.”I thought a helicopter had crashed. But when I turned, it was the garbage and the building coming down. I ran to safety,” the 49-year-old said.Cogay said she watched as a co-worker who had been “calling out to me” from the wreckage was pulled free.Rescuers were limited in what equipment they could use because any sparks threatened to ignite methane gas emitted by the landfill, Archival said.The recovery of the body of a 25-year-old engineer brought the confirmed death toll to two, the mayor said in an early evening post on his Facebook page, adding 36 remained missing.At least 12 employees have been pulled alive from the garbage and hospitalised.Jason Morata, a city assistant public information officer, said the trash mountain “must be four storeys high”.Aerial photos released by police showed what appeared to be multiple structures crushed under the weight of the garbage.Morata said the buildings had housed “company offices, HR, admin, maintenance staff” for a private firm that ran the site.”We’re considering several factors. If you remember, Cebu was struck by two typhoons in the latter part of 2025… and also an earthquake,” he said.Morata added that information was emerging in a trickle because there was “no signal” at the dump site.The landfill “processes 1,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste daily”, according to the website of operator Prime Integrated Waste Solutions.Calls to the company went unanswered yesterday.”We don’t know what caused the collapse. It wasn’t raining at all,” said Marge Parcotello, a civilian staff member of the police department in Consolacion, a town that shares a common boundary with the dump site. “Many of the victims are from Consolacion,” she said.More than 200 people were killed in July 2000 when an avalanche of garbage consumed a Manila shanty town populated by several thousand scavengers.That tragedy, the worst of its kind in Philippine history, prompted public outrage over open landfills. Legislation aimed at better regulation of waste management was passed months later. Source link
The US will provide $45mn in assistance to Cambodia and Thailand, the senior US diplomat for East Asia said yesterday during a visit to the region, to help solidify President Donald Trump’s peace-making efforts between the two.”The US will continue to support the Cambodian and Thai governments as they implement the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords and pave the way for a return to peace, prosperity, and stability for their people and the region,” Michael DeSombre, the US assistant secretary for East Asia, said in a statement.A senior state department official said DeSombre would meet senior Thai and Cambodian officials in Bangkok and Phnom Penh today to discuss implementation of the peace accords “and broader efforts to promote our shared interests in a safer, stronger and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.”DeSombre said the US, which has slashed its global foreign assistance programmes under Trump, would provide $15mn for border stabilisation to help communities recover and to support people displaced by the recent conflict, and $10mn for demining and clearing of unexploded ordnance.The US would also provide $20mn for initiatives that will help Cambodia and Thailand combat scam operations and drug trafficking, and other programmes, DeSombre said.The Trump administration has made combating the so-called scam centers based in Southeast Asia a priority, as US citizens have been targeted by their financial fraud operations.Border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand flared up again last month after the collapse of a previous ceasefire deal brokered in July by Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to end a previous round of conflict.The Southeast Asian neighbours agreed on another ceasefire at the end of last year, halting 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides. The more recent clashes included fighter-jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire and artillery barrages.Thailand is a long-time US ally, while the US has sought to improve relations with Cambodia to try to woo it away from strategic rival China. Source link
People try to rescue a pod of whales stranded on the shore at Farewell Spit, in Golden Bay, New Zealand. Fifteen whales restranded and six have died after a mass stranding at Farewell Spit on the coast of New Zealand’s South Island, conservation group Project Jonah said yesterday, as volunteers prepared to attempt to refloat them.On Thursday, 55 whales were stranded in two locations in Farewell Spit, a 26km sandbar at the northern tip of the South Island. Most of them were refloated.Project Jonah, in a statement on Facebook, said teams had been checking beaches across Golden Bay, where Farewell Spit is located, for other stranded whales and are working to keep the surviving animals cool and comfortable until the afternoon high tide.”These whales have restranded along the high-tide line, which adds to the complexity of the refloat,” Project Jonah said in an update.Farewell Spit has been the site of numerous whale strandings over the years. It is a remote location with no facilities and those travelling to the area are being reminded to stock up on energy snacks, food, toiletries and water. Source link
A Russian vessel arrives at the Simon’s Town Naval base as part of the Brics Plus countries which include China, Russia and Iran for joint naval…
Germany today called on Israel to reverse its decision to expand settlements in the West Bank, including the E1 project, warning that such steps undermine the chances of a two-state solution and increase the risk of instability. Germany’s Federal Foreign Office stated in a press release that there has been a recent and comprehensive intensification of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, adding that the E1 settlement project is part of this expansion. The Office stressed that proceeding with these plans risks increasing instability in the West Bank and the wider region. On December 24, the German Federal Foreign Office issued an official statement reiterating its rejection of settlement expansion, specifically mentioning the E1 project as a violation of international law that threatens the prospects for peace. It called on Israel to reverse its settlement expansion decisions in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 2334. Source link
Hardeep Singh Brar, president and CEO, BMW Group India, poses beside a Mini convertible at a BMW showroom in Mumbai, India. As part of a strategic push to grow its presence in India’s emerging luxury market, BMW has announced plans to launch 10 new models and 17 product upgrades this yearIn 2025, the automaker achieved record-breaking sales of 18,001 vehicles in India, a 14% increase that narrowed the gap with market leader Mercedes-Benz. Despite this growth, premium models continue to represent just 1% of India’s total annual car market, which exceeds 4.3mn units.BMW Group India chief executive Hardeep Brar said the automaker plans to tackle this limited market penetration by launching more models while cutting manufacturing costs through increased local sourcing. BMW sources roughly half of its components locally (including seats, engines, axles and tyres) for Indian-made vehicles. Brar is working to raise this proportion, although he has thus far declined to offer specific targets.So far, the strategy appears to be working — at least as far as electric vehicles (EVs) are concerned. Local assembly of the iX1 model, which launched in 2025, allowed competitive pricing against internal combustion engine-powered equivalents and fuelled 200% sales growth.Now, EVs account for more than a fifth of BMW’s Indian deliveries — up from 8% in 2024 — prompting the automaker to evaluate sourcing electric motors locally to further reduce production costs. Brar acknowledged these discussions remain at early stages.Brar is also urging the government to maintain the current 5% tax rate on EVs, which compares favourably against the 40% and above for internal combustion engine vehicles.While EV market penetration remains quite low in India, he argues that premium buyers are driving the momentum. “Overall EV penetration in India is about 4% but for luxury it is 10%. Hence we need this long term strategy from the government, wherein the lower tax is maintained for a certain period of time till EVs can sustain on their own.”More than one-third of BMW’s planned 2026 launches will arrive under the Mini brand as the automaker pursues growth momentum across multiple segments. The company delivered 17,271 BMW and 730 Mini vehicles in 2025, with long-wheelbase models proving particularly popular among Indian consumers, contributing 50% of sales. Source link
Kiyoshi Kimura poses with the 243kg bluefin tuna auctioned for a record 510mn yen ($3.24mn) at his sushi restaurant in Tokyo, Japan, Monday. A Japanese sushi entrepreneur paid a record $3.2mn for a giant bluefin tuna Monday at an annual prestigious new year auction in Tokyo’s main fish market, smashing the previous all-time high.Dave Gershman at the Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries team used news of the auction to highlight that stocks of Pacific bluefin tuna were improving after being “near collapse”.Self-styled “Tuna King” Kiyoshi Kimura’s sushi restaurant chain paid the top price for the 243kg fish that was caught off Japan’s northern coast.”I’d thought we would be able to buy a little cheaper, but the price soared before you knew it,” Kimura said after the pre-dawn auction at Tokyo’s main fish market.”I was surprised at the price…I hope that by eating auspicious tuna, as many people as possible will feel energised,” he told reporters.The 510.3mn yen price at the new year’s auction was the highest since comparable data started being collected in 1999.The previous high was 333.6mn yen for a 278kg bluefin in 2019, after the fish market moved from its traditional Tsukiji area in central Tokyo to a more modern facility.The top bidder last year paid 207mn yen for a 276kg bluefin.Shortly after this year’s auction, the tuna was butchered and turned into sushi, selling for around 500 yen ($3) per roll.”I feel like I’ve begun the year in a good way after eating something so auspicious as the year starts,” 19-year-old Minami Sugiyama from a table in one of Kimura’s restaurants in Tsukiji.Fellow customer Kiyoshi Nishimura agreed. “Even without dipping it in soy sauce, there’s sweetness. And the richness, the texture… it just makes you feel happy,” the 40-year-old Shinto priest said.During the Covid-19 pandemic the new year tunas commanded only a fraction of their usual top prices as restaurants scaled back operations.Gershman said in an emailed statement that a 2017 recovery plan “is working, and if decision makers take further action in 2026, the future for Pacific bluefin will be bright”.”This year, fisheries managers from Japan, the US, Korea, and other countries from across the Pacific who target bluefin should agree on a long-term, sustainable management plan that would lock in a healthy population and ensure that the species never again faces the overfishing of the past,” he added. Related Story…
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are in talks to convert about $2bn of Saudi loans into a JF-17 fighter jet deal, two Pakistani sources said, deepening military co-operation months after the two nations signed a mutual defence pact last year. The talks underscore how the two allies are moving to operationalise defence co-operation at a time when Pakistan is facing acute financial strain and Saudi Arabia is reshaping its security partnerships to hedge against uncertainty about US commitments in the Middle East. The mutual defence deal was signed following Israel’s strikes on what it said were Hamas targets in Doha, an attack that shook the Gulf region. One of the sources said the discussions were limited to the provision of JF-17 Thunder fighter jets, the light combat aircraft jointly developed by Pakistan and China and produced in Pakistan, while the second said the jets were the primary option among others under discussion. The first source said the total deal was worth $4bn, with an additional $2bn to be spent on equipment over and above the loan conversion. The sources close to the military with knowledge of the matter spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak on the deal. Pakistan’s Air Chief Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu was in Saudi Arabia for bilateral talks including on “military co-operation between the two sides”, Saudi media outlet SaudiNews50 said on social media platform X on Monday. Amir Masood, a retired Air Marshall and analyst, said Pakistan was in talks about or had finalised deals with six countries to provide equipment including JF-17s and electronic systems and weapons systems for the jets.He said those countries included Saudi Arabia, but could not confirm any details about the negotiations. The JF-17s marketability has been increased because “it is tested and has been used in combat,” he told Reuters, adding that it’s also cost effective. Pakistan has said the aircraft was deployed during its conflict with India in May last year, the heaviest fighting between the neighbours in decades. Pakistan’s military and finance and defence ministries and military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Saudi Arabia’s government media office also did not respond. The mutual defence pact, signed in September, committed both sides to treat any aggression against either country as an attack on both, significantly deepening a decades-old security partnership. Pakistan has long provided military support to the kingdom, including training and advisory deployments, while Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stepped in to support Pakistan financially during periods of economic stress. In 2018, Riyadh announced a $6bn support package for Pakistan, including a $3bn deposit at the central bank and $3bn worth of oil supplies on deferred payment. Saudi Arabia has since rolled over deposits multiple times, including a $1.2bn deferment last year, helping Islamabad stabilise its foreign exchange reserves amid chronic balance-of-payments pressures. Pakistan has in recent months stepped up defence outreach as it seeks to expand arms exports and monetise its domestic defence industry. Last month, Islamabad struck a weapons deal worth more than $4bn with Libya’s eastern-based Libyan National Army, officials said, one of the country’s largest-ever arms sales, which includes JF-17 fighter jets and training aircraft. Pakistan has also held talks with Bangladesh on the possible sale of JF-17s, as it widens its arms supply ambitions beyond South Asia and the Middle East. On Tuesday, Pakistan’s defence minister said the success of its weapons industry could transform the country’s economic outlook. “Our aircraft have been tested, and we are receiving so many orders that Pakistan may not need the International Monetary Fund in six months,” Khawaja Asif told broadcaster Geo News. Pakistan is currently under a $7bn IMF programme, its 24th, which followed a short-term $3bn deal that helped avert a sovereign default in 2023. It secured the Fund’s support after Saudi Arabia and other Gulf allies provided financial and deposit rollovers. Source link