Forms of government

Authorities in North Korea have ordered a five-day lockdown in the capital Pyongyang due to an increase in cases of an unspecified respiratory illness, Reuters reported, citing a North Korean government statement.

Now there are serious tensions between Washington and its satellites, according to the opinion of the "Financial Times" columnist.

The European luxury sector is welcoming the end of pandemic lockdowns in China, as the return of big-spending Chinese tourists could sustain further growth.

Prior to the pandemic, Chinese tourists visiting Europe were a major source of sales for luxury houses.

The United States on Jan. 20 designated Russia's Wagner group as a "transnational criminal organization," piling pressure on the private Russian army fighting in Ukraine.

Brandon Weichert, research associate of the Eurasian Research and Analytics Institute said so in an article for "American Greatness".

The secret salvation of Ukraine - this is how the German newspaper Die Welt titled its investigation, according to which Bulgaria delivered a third of the weapons to Ukraine last year.

"When the then Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov arrived on a visit to Kyiv on April 28 of last year, one could ask himself what he was doing there," the newspaper's article begins.

China's economy grew last year at its slowest pace in four decades as it was hammered by COVID lockdowns and a property crisis but the forecast-beating reading raised hopes for a strong recovery as it reopens.

In 2022, China's population shrank for the first time in six decades, a historic reversal that is expected to usher in a long period of decline in the country's population with profound consequences for its economy and the world, Reuters reported.

China has announced its first population decline in decades as what has been the world's most populous nation ages and its birthrate plunges.

After the abrupt lift of the zero-rate Covid regime in China last month, the virus was allowed to spread freely, and the overwhelming majority responded with No, said a Shanghai-based e-commerce executive.
Tales of mothers with children unable to reach doctors in medical facilities overwhelmed by people infected with covid were the last straw.