Trump says US is taking control of Venezuela’s oil reserves

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Asia factory activity ends 2025 on stronger note

Tesla loses top EV seller title to China’s BYD as 2025 sales decline

Asia

Sri Lanka’s inflation stays well below target despite signs of recovery

Asia

Rooppur Nuclear Plant Unit 1 nears power generation, grid connection expected by March-April

Asia

China factory activity rises slightly, ending eight-month decline

World

US military strikes vessel in Eastern Pacific

Asia

Dhaka International Trade Fair to open January 1, 2026

Asia

India seeks over $30bn from Reliance, BP in gas field arbitration

Aerospace & Defence

China stages war games around Taiwan as island puts forces on high alert

World

Canada announces $2.5bn economic aid package for Ukraine

Spotlight

No quick wins in tapping Venezuela’s oil reserves

Venezuela is unlikely to see any meaningful boost to crude output for years, even if US oil majors do invest the billions of dollars in the country that President Donald Trump promised just hours following Nicolás Maduro`s capture by US forces.

How company bets on bitcoin can backfire

The year-end plunge in cryptocurrencies has rattled companies that had bet heavily on bitcoin, sending share prices tumbling and reviving fears of a bubble.

The US is already at war with Venezuela

On Wednesday, the United States hijacked an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela – a new move in the ongoing aggression against the South American nation by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Can Canada wait out the trade war with the US?

Canada`s Prime Minister Mark Carney appears in no rush to resume trade talks with the US.

‘Elite capture’: How Pakistan is losing 6 percent of its GDP to corruption?

Islamabad, Pakistan – A new assessment by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded that corruption in Pakistan is behind an economic crisis driven by “state capture” – where public policy is manipulated to benefit a narrow circle of political and business elites.

Opinion

The US is already at war with Venezuela

‘Elite capture’: How Pakistan is losing 6 percent of its GDP to corruption?

Creating space for renewables

Cloudflare, AWS outages expose hidden weaknesses in the Internet

How to really deal with climate change?

Paying heed to IMF’s revenue warning

As the shutdown drags on, here’s how it can drag down the economy

The predictable unpredictability of Trump’s oil sanctions

Asian Biz

Sri Lanka’s inflation stays well below target despite signs of recovery

Sri Lanka’s inflation rose by 2.1 percent last year, remaining well below the central bank’s target of five percent, the monetary authority said on Thursday, while forecasting a gradual pickup in price pressures in 2026.

Rooppur Nuclear Plant Unit 1 nears power generation, grid connection expected by March-April

Bangladesh’s first nuclear power plant is moving closer to electricity generation, with fuel loading at Unit 1 of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Project expected to begin in early February, according to project officials.

China factory activity rises slightly, ending eight-month decline

China’s factory activity edged up in December, official data showed on Wednesday, offering a rare positive note at the end of an otherwise subdued year for the world’s second-largest economy.

China to impose extra 55% tariffs on Beef imports beyond quotas

China said on Wednesday it will impose additional tariffs of 55 percent on certain beef imports from countries including Brazil, Australia and the United States when shipments exceed specified quotas, starting January 1.

World Biz

Asia factory activity ends 2025 on stronger note

Manufacturing activity in Asia ended 2025 on firmer ground, supported by a rebound in export orders and rising demand for artificial intelligence-related products, while factory activity in the euro zone contracted further in December, according to private surveys.

No quick wins in tapping Venezuela’s oil reserves

Trump says US is taking control of Venezuela’s oil reserves

Bangladesh bans e-cigarettes and vapes under stricter tobacco control law

Tech

Tesla loses top EV seller title to China’s BYD as 2025 sales decline

How company bets on bitcoin can backfire

UK govt says plans crypto regulation from 2027

Nvidia weighs boosting H200 chip output amid strong China demand

Aerospace & Defence

China stages war games around Taiwan as island puts forces on high alert

China’s military launched large-scale war games around Taiwan on Monday, deploying army, navy, air force and artillery units as part of its “Justice Mission 2025” drills, while Taiwan vowed to defend its democracy and mobilised troops to prepare for a potential attack.

Pakistan agrees multibillion-dollar arms deal with Libyan National Army

Pakistan has struck a weapons deal worth more than $4 billion with Libya’s eastern-based Libyan National Army (LNA), Pakistani officials said, despite a long-standing United Nations arms embargo on the conflict-hit North African country.

US approves record $11.1bn arms sale to Taiwan

The United States has approved $11.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, marking the largest weapons package ever authorised for the self-ruled island amid rising military pressure from China.

Ukraine prepared to drop NATO membership demands

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that Ukraine is prepared to drop its demand for Nato membership in exchange for strong security guarantees from the United States and European partners, as efforts intensify to advance peace talks with Russia.