![Pompeo had pursued a harsh rhetoric on China during his time in office [File: Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-12T193038Z_1270440284_RC2J6L9JPG4Y_RTRMADP_3_USA-POMPEO-EUROPE.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
China’s foreign ministry says sanctioned US citizens showed no regard for the interests of the people of China and US.
Business and Economy
![Investigators probing Trump's finances can now move ahead even without a Supreme Court order that would give them eight years of Trump's returns, sources tell Bloomberg news [File: Al Drago/Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/367391103.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Manhattan District Attorney’s office has some of Trump’s tax information, sources tell Bloomberg News.
![Venture-capital investors funnelled $18.1bn into foodtech startups in 2020, largely thanks to the appeal of food delivery apps or online grocers, according to researcher PitchBook [File: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/367384171.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Zurich-based Blue Horizon Ventures will invest in startups from alternative proteins to smart packaging.
![Much about the future of Jack Ma, China’s most famous businessman, remains unclear [File: Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/367399840.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Ma’s appearance in a livestream on Wednesday marks his first public comments since he disappeared...
![Ghosn was arrested by Japanese authorities in November 2018 [File: Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/d331f38269674b3fa4d7350d747b7749_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The trial is trying to piece together the details of how Ghosn fled Japan in December 2019 while out on bail.
![Outgoing United States President Donald Trump touted the strength of the US stock market on his watch, but he leaves behind an economy wracked by COVID-19 and a recovery that is widening inequalities [File: Carlo Allegri/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-01-12T060024Z_687739030_RC266L95RW84_RTRMADP_3_USA-STOCKS-REFLATION.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Investors are optimistic that more generous government spending to help the US economy will be unleashed under Biden.
![Protests have led to a muscular response from authorities who fear a repeat of unrest that led to the ousting of strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali 10 years ago [Fethi Belaid/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/000_8Z42K3.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
A look inside escalating demonstrations rocking the North African nation amid restrictive COVID-19 containment measures.
US president claims credit for things he did not do and twists his record on the coronavirus pandemic.
![Parler's CEO says the return of the platform, which is favoured by far-right conspiracy theorists, was 'inevitable' [File: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/367359994.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Parler was dropped by big tech companies after it was used by members to incite violence at the US Capitol.
![The Swiss probe centres on $400m in transfers allegedly tied to Lebanon's central bank governor of 27 years, Riad Salameh, his brother Raja, and Salameh’s adviser Marianne Al-Hoayek, a judicial source told Al Jazeera [File: Jamal Saidi/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/a19a6e23318143e7a8fa9350a29fd489_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The investigation is the latest blow of confidence to Lebanon’s crippled financial system.
![The US has been introducing new sanctions on Iran every week since the US elections last November [Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/f8eae588dd5249208b4a136e389d498c_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The sanctions include a travel ban and a freeze of financial assets they may hold in Iran.
![My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell said Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's Corp, HEB Grocery Co and Wayfair Inc are dropping his products [File: Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/367373690.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell has repeated baseless claims that the US 2020 election was fraudulent and Donald Trump won.
![Tugboats get into position by the Russian pipe-laying vessel Fortuna, which is being used for construction work on the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea [File: Jens Buettner/dpa via AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/AP_21014397025738.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Gazprom said the gas pipeline to Germany is at risk after the US sanctioned a ship involved in its construction.
![On Tuesday, the International Energy Agency slashed forecasts for world oil demand in the first quarter as countries hunker down to contain new coronavirus outbreaks [File: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/1a366b940c4247ceb4fede82da15e313_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
The kingdom’s view that the pandemic necessitated a further oil output cut ran counter to that of OPEC+ ally Russia.
