The year of the woeful world leader

• Leonid Bershidsky

From Donald Trump's bloviating incompetence to Viktor Orban's 'slavery laws', 2018 has seen a staggering number of countries woefully misruled by the worst crop of world leaders in recent memory.

Japan to withdraw from International Whaling Commission

• Kaori Kaneko

Japan will withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling from July, abandoning a decades-old campaign to persuade the commission to allow it to hunt whales commercially.

Trump voices confidence in Mnuchin, US Fed

• Alyza Sebenius

Donald Trump expressed confidence in the Treasury Secretary, Federal Reserve and US economy on Tuesday, moving to calm financial markets.

Indonesia issues 'extreme weather' warning

• Fergus Jensen

Indonesian authorities have warned of "extreme weather and high waves" around the erupting Anak Krakatau volcano, urging people to stay away.

Economic growth is slowing all around the world

• David J Lynch

A global economy that until recently was humming has broken down, a sharp contrast to the picture just a year ago when the world was experiencing its best growth since 2010 and seemed poised to do even better.

Whiff of extinction blows through bull market

• Sarah Ponczek, Elena Popina and Vildana Hajric

The bull market that for 10 years has confounded and chastened its detractors is staggering up to death's door. And the haters and admirers are all turning out to pronounce last rites.

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• Video

China opens further to foreign and private investment

• Dong Jing, Han Wei and Liu Jiefei

China has slashed the number of sectors closed to foreign or non-state investment by more than half, in Beijing's latest move to open up the world's second-largest economy.

Trump urges buying the dip as DC chaos sinks shares

US President Donald Trump has suggested a swoon in US sharemarkets is a buying opportunity for investors, even though many analysts blame his policies for the plunge.