Sluggish global demand deepened the decline in manufacturing activity across Europe and the US and remained a major challenge for many of Asia's big exporters, reports show.

The plantation and commodities minister says Malaysia's negotiations with the EU on a trade deal could be resumed if the EU would treat Malaysia with fairness and as a partner.

Signs were posted in the canal-lined neighbourhood known for its brothels, sex clubs and marijuana cafes, which attract millions of tourists a year, but are a nuisance to residents.

Chinese lawmakers approved a wide-ranging expansion of its counter-espionage law which broadened the definition of spying and barred the transfer of any information pertaining to national security.

The EU rules will progressively come into force from July 2024 after the bloc's member states formally nod them into law.

The rules aim to eliminate deforestation from the supply chains of a range of everyday items sold in Europe.

The show of unity comes after French President Emmanuel Macron said the European Union should reduce its dependency on the US and cautioned against being drawn into a Taiwan crisis.

The shortage of qualified workers is not unique to Britain but it has been exacerbated by the country's exit from the European Union, which creates more paperwork and cost to hire workers from the bloc.

The two leaders announce that negotiations will begin on giving EU producers of critical minerals access to the US market under Biden's signature programme to encourage climate friendly industries.

The company confirmed that users' personal data is not shared with third parties or other Meta companies, including Facebook, for advertising purposes.

It is unclear how a strong Chinese recovery could feed into prices elsewhere, as the inflationary impact of its higher energy demand could be offset by the extra supply of goods it brings to the world's economy.

TikTok says the bans are misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions.