The U.N. chief ratcheted up his warning about climate change and said the world's thirst for fossil fuels is a "Frankenstein monster" that spares no one, while calling for greater attention to risks posed by artificial intelligence if its ascent goes ungoverned.

António Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, headlined a flurry of activities and talk sessions on Wednesday as the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos.

China's relations are starting to improve with Japan, India and other countries that former U.S. President Joe Biden courted, just as Donald Trump brings his more unilateralist approach back to the White House.

The change of leadership in Washington on Monday could be an opportunity for China, which has long railed against Biden's strategy of building partnerships with "like-minded countries" to counter its growing influence.

U.S. stock indexes are drifting higher Tuesday following a mostly encouraging batch of profit reports from big companies.

The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in early trading, as many markets around the world took tentative steps following Donald Trump's return to the White House on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 188 points, or 0.4%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5% higher.

A meeting between the two leaders in ethnically divided Cyprus ended without an agreement on Monday, with both sides failing to reach a decision on a deal aimed at building trust that included opening new crossing points across a U.N.-controlled buffer zone.

Nicos Christodoulides, the country's Greek Cypriot president and Ersin Tatar, the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, said in a joint statement that they have instructed their representatives to continue talks and that they would meet "in the coming days."

The price of bitcoin surged to over $109,000 early Monday, just hours ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration, as a pumped up cryptocurrency industry bets he'll take action son after returning to the White House.

Once a skeptic who said a few years ago that bitcoin " seems like a scam," Trump has embraced digital currencies with a convert's zeal. He's launched a new cryptocurrency venture and vowed on the campaign trail to take steps early in his presidency to make the U.S. into the "crypto capital" of the world.

As he assumes the presidency for a second time, Donald Trump brings with him a broad expanse of business relationships and financial entanglements — and the possibility that those associations could influence his decision-making in the White House.

Trump's team dismisses such concerns. "President Trump removed himself from his multibillion-dollar real estate empire to run for office and forewent his government salary, becoming the first President to actually lose net worth while serving in the White House," Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "Unlike most politicians, President Trump didn't get into politics for profit — he's fighting because he loves the people of this country and wants to make America great again."

China's population fell last year for the third straight year, its government said Friday, pointing to further demographic challenges for the world's second most populous nation, which is now facing both an aging population and an emerging shortage of working age people.

China's population stood at 1.408 billion at the end of 2024, a decline of 1.39 million from the previous year.

The 18th Asian Financial Forum (AFF) concluded successfully on January 14 after a two-day run at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, which drew more than 3,600 participants, including over 130 high-level speakers, and facilitated 700-plus one-on-one AFF Deal-making meetings to link up sources of funds with investment projects around the globe.

The Asian Financial Forum draws 3,600-plus policymakers and business leaders from over 50 countries and regions.

On October 1, 2024, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched a new five-year $10 million activity, Empowering Local Systems in Agriculture (ELSA) in Lebanon, the U.S. Embassy said on Thursday.

Senior Saudi and Kuwaiti officials have expressed readiness to offer aid to Lebanon to assist it in the reconstruction process after the latest Israeli war, informed sources said.

Speaking on the sidelines of international financial meetings, the Gulf officials said such assistance should exclusively pass through the Lebanese state through a legal mechanism, the sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.