Fitch Ratings has downgraded China’s sovereign credit outlook to negative, prompting pushback from Beijing. The downgrade reflects “increasing risks to China’s public finance outlook” as the country attempts to move away from real estate-led growth, the New York-based rating agency said.

Beijing

Fitch Ratings, a New York-based rating agency, has adjusted China's sovereign credit outlook from stable to negative. This downgrade is attributed to the growing concerns over China's fiscal health, especially as the country endeavors to transition from an economy heavily reliant on real estate. Beijing has voiced its disagreement with this new assessment, indicating a discord between the rating agency's viewpoint and that of the Chinese government.



Fitch Ratings lowers China’s sovereign credit outlook to negative

Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet for American executives visiting Beijing. And in Germany and Denmark, Chinese officials have been hard at work coaxing companies to invest more. The campaign to attract overseas business comes as Foreign Direct Investment, or FDI, shrank by almost 20 percent in the first two months of the year, according to government figures. Many overseas companies are concerned by the struggle to revive spending after the strict lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, tensions with the West and national security crackdowns on foreign due diligence firms. That obviously is going to contribute to a wider uncertainty amongst foreign businesses and investors about how secure their own operations are within China. The government has downplayed the drop, saying the country remains a good prospect for international business. China's big market is increasingly becoming a big opportunity for the rest of the world. We believe that foreign-funded enterprises that choose to invest in China and develop extensively in China will definitely win in China. Earlier this year, it expanded visa-free entry for several European and Asian nations and announced measures to make it easier for overseas firms to do business here. But some industry players say Beijing needs to do more to even the playing field. I hope that it has become clear now to authorities that there is a real problem now in the way that China is perceived. Not all have lost faith in China's prospects. Some multinational companies, including Apple, continue to rely on Chinese sales. And while investments from Japan and South Korea have plummeted, those from France and the United Kingdom have increased. Beijing is working hard to increase confidence in its slowing economy both abroad and at home. The government says it's transitioning to a higher-quality growth model to rely less on cheap exports and more on high-tech development. But many consumers and investors remain uncertain about China's future.

The US State Department accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow. In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia also used "riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC," the department said in a factsheet.

Zaporizhzhia

Ukraine Invasion

U.S. accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine

There are grave concerns for Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson who are missing on a surf trip in Mexico's Baja region. The pair have failed to arrive at their accommodation and are not responding to contact from their families.

Council of the City of Sydney

Grave fears for brothers missing on Mexico surf trip

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has kept open the prospect of tax incentives in the budget as business warned that changes to foreign investment laws. It comes amid criticism that budget spending could prompt further inflation and prompt rate rises.

Government hints at further tax incentives in Budget

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says his country will break diplomatic relations with Israel. He's criticised Israel's conduct since the start of the war on Gaza. Petro requested to join South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.

Bogotá

Israel-Gaza War

Colombia ends diplomatic relations with Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, pushing to get more aid into Gaza, while urging Hamas to accept a deal that would halt fighting and bring some hostages home from the enclave.

Jerusalem

Blinken pushes for sustained aid into Gaza during Israel trip

Police in Georgia fired teargas and rubber bullets at protesters demonstrating against a bill that would require organizations – including media and NGOs – that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as agents "pursuing the interests of a foreign power." The bill has been dubbed the "Russian law" by its detractors.

Tbilisi

Thousands protest against Georgia's 'foreign influence' bill

A diplomatic push is underway to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, with the U.S. exerting pressure on Hamas to agree to Israel's terms. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to attack Rafah in southern Gaza, whether there's a ceasefire or not.

Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah 'with or without' ceasefire deal

Qantas has apologised to customers after its app exposed personal passenger data. The airline blames a technical disruption and says the data breach was not a cyber security incident.

Qantas app data breach exposes customer data

The International Court of Justice has ruled against issuing emergency measures over German arms sales to Israel as requested by Nicaragua, which had argued that there was a serious risk of genocide in Gaza amid Israel’s assault on the Palestinian territory.

The Hague

ICJ rejects measures over German arms exports to Israel

New York police have entered Columbia University and arrested protesters barricaded inside a building who have been calling on the New York school to divest itself from companies associated with Israel.

New York

Police enter Columbia University, arrest protesters

A smiling and healthy-looking King Charles returned to public duties on Tuesday (April 30) for the first time since he was diagnosed in February with cancer, paying a visit to a treatment center for the disease in London.

London

King Charles returns to public duties, visits cancer center

A 14-year-old boy is dead and multiple people injured after a daylight sword attack in Hainault, in east London. The alleged attacker tasered and arrested by Police shortly afterwards.

Hainault

Teenage boy killed in London sword attack

Brittany Higgins has failed in a bid to delay a defamation trial brought against her by Senator Linda Reynolds over social media posts made in July last year. Fiancé David Sharaz, also named in the case, calling for the Senator to drop the case.

Canberra

Brittany Higgins fails in bid to delay defamation trial

Since taking office four months ago, Argentina's new president Javier Milei has slashed public employment in an effort to cut the country's deficit. So far, 24,000 people have been let go, and Milei has said he wants that figure to hit 70,000, about 10 percent of overall government employees.

Buenos Aires

Argentina's Milei slashes 24,000 government jobs

A Russian missile attack on an educational institution in a popular seafront park in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa killed at least five people and injured 32, local officials said. Odesa has been a frequent target of Russian missile and drone attacks, particular port infrastructure.

Odesa

Russian missile attack kills five in Ukraine's Odesa

Scotland's leader Humza Yousaf resigned, further opening the door to the UK opposition Labour Party regaining ground in its former Scottish heartlands during a national election expected to be held later this year.

Edinburgh

Scotland's First Minister Humza Yousaf quits

A 17-year-old girl charged with the stabbing murder of her 10-year-old sister in a suburb of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales will remain in custody.

Lake Macquarie

Teenager faces court over murder of 10-year-old sister

Columbia University began suspending pro-Palestinian activists who refused to dismantle a tent encampment on its New York City campus after the Ivy League school declared a stalemate in talks seeking to end the polarizing protest.

Columbia University suspends pro-Palestinian protesters

The debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile, United Nations sanctions monitors told a Security Council committee in a report seen by Reuters on Monday (April 29).

Kharkiv

U.N. experts say North Korea missile landed in Kharkiv

Columbia University's president said that talks with pro-Palestinian activists over a protest encampment on the Ivy League campus in New York City had reached an impasse and urged demonstrators to voluntarily disperse or face suspension.

Protesters defy deadline to leave Columbia encampment

Spain's Prime Minister said he has decided to stay in office after days of publicly weighing his future, generating relief amongst leftist allies, exasperation among the public and ridicule from his opponents. Sanchez said last week that he was retreating from public duty to decide whether to quit.

Madrid

Pedro Sanchez stays on as Spain's prime minister

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he is hopeful Hamas will accept an “extraordinarily generous” offer, as U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron says it will include a 40-day ceasefire. But the sticking points remain: Israelis want a truce while Hamas demands a cessation of all hostilities.

Riyadh

U.S., U.K. urge Hamas to accept Israeli truce proposal

G7 environment ministers have gathered in Turin for two days of talks, as hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the city, some burning photos of the G7 leaders who they accuse of failing future generations over the climate crisis.

Turin

Climate Crisis

Protesters call for climate action ahead of G7 meeting in Turin

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne is in the Lebanese capital Beirut for talks aimed at easing tensions between Hezbollah and Israel. After meeting Lebanon’s influential Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, and the head of the Lebanese army, Joseph Aoun, Sejourne said there had been “a lot of progress” over the French proposals.

Beirut

French FM says ‘a lot of progress’ in Lebanon talks

At least four people are dead, including an infant, after a series of tornadoes swept across Oklahoma. The weather system is threatening the region with more twisters, heavy rain and large hail in a band stretching from Missouri to Texas.

Sulphur

At least four dead in Oklahoma tornadoes

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she would stand in upcoming European Parliament elections, a move apparently calculated to boost her far-right party, although she would be forced to resign immediately under EU rules.

Pescara

Italian far-right PM Meloni says will stand in EU elections

At least four people died, including a four-month-old baby, in Oklahoma this weekend, after dozens of twisters swept the U.S. Southern Plains. The White House said, President Joe Biden has pledged federal support for Oklahoma as well as other states hit by severe storms.

Oklahoma

Deadly tornadoes rip through Oklahoma

The Sydney Bishop targeted in an alleged terror-related attack a fortnight ago has made a surprise appearance before his congregation in Western Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel saying he forgives his attacker, who is facing terrorism charges.

Wakeley

Sydney bishop returns to pulpit after stabbing

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been slammed by protest leaders for his involvement in a protest against gendered violence in Canberra at the weekend. Organisers hitting out at the Labor leader on social media, calling him a 'liar'.

Protest leaders hit out at Prime Minister over power 'abuse'

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "reiterated his clear position" on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah, the White House said.