HONG KONG, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Asian markets rose Friday after a two-day stutter as traders look ahead to the release of crucial US jobs data and a possible Supreme Court ruling on Donald Trump's sweeping global tariffs. A report showing Chinese consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in almost three years also provided a boost to Shanghai and Hong Kong stocks. But focus is now on the outlook for US interest rates, with closely watched non-farm payrolls figures due out later in the day. The Supreme Court's possible ruling on the legality of many of Trump's punishing tariffs is also keeping investors occupied. A ruling against the government could have a huge on impact its economic and fiscal plans.

Local media and official statements have reported at least 21 people, including security forces, killed since the unrest began, according to an AFP tally. But raising its own toll based on verified deaths, the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights said security forces had killed at least 45 protesters, including eight minors. HRANA also posted footage it said showed security forces firing on protesters with handguns in Kermanshah. Rights groups have also accused authorities of resorting to tactics including raiding hospitals to detain wounded protesters. "Iran's security forces have injured and killed both protesters and bystanders," said Amnesty International, accusing authorities of using "unlawful force".

National Security Adviser Dr Khalilur Rahman met with US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer in Washington DC on Thursday afternoon. Photo: CA's Press WingDHAKA, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS) - National Security Adviser Dr Khalilur Rahman met with US Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer in Washington DC on Thursday afternoon. During the meeting with Ambassador Greer, Dr Rahman briefed him on the progress in reducing trade gap between Bangladesh and the United States. Dr Rahman also took the opportunity to request Bangladesh's access to DFC funding for its private sector. Ambassador Greer assured Dr Rahman of his efforts in these regards.

Women’s hockey has looked dominant, listless, and confusing at various times during its first half of conference play. “They have been practicing with a higher level of accountability, understanding the correlation between how you practice is going to equate to how you’re going to play,” Derraugh said. This year’s Clarkson team is likely to once again prove challenging for Cornell. I guess you would say usually it’s more of a back and forth game,” Derraugh said. Cornell will host Clarkson Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. and St. Lawrence on Saturday at 3 p.m.

MANILA, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Rescue workers searched for survivors on Friday after the collapse of a landfill in the central Philippines killed at least one person and left 38 missing. At least 12 employees have been pulled from the garbage and hospitalised, according to a statement on the official Facebook page of city mayor Nestor Archival. Rescue workers were "fully engaged in search and retrieval efforts to locate the remaining missing persons", he said. It wasn't raining at all," said Marge Parcotello, a civilian staff member of the police department in Consolacion, a town that shares a common boundary with the dump site. "Many of the victims are from Consolacion," she said.

PARIS, France, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Protesters in Tehran massed on a key avenue in the northwest of the Iranian capital on Thursday in a major protest that is part of a nationwide movement sparked by anger over the cost of living, according to images on social media verified by AFP. Crowds of people, as well as vehicles honking in support, filled a part of the vast Ayatollah Kashani Boulevard, images from Tehran showed. Other videos published of the protest on Kashani Boulevard in Tehran showed people chanting anti-government slogans including "death to the dictator". People were also seen packing a major road in the Vakilabad district of Mashhad, home to one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines, in a video not verified by AFP. Activists say that the protest movement is showing no sign of abating and is even growing in scale, despite a crackdown that has already left dozens dead, according to rights groups.

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US trade gap shrinks to smallest since 2009 as imports fallWASHINGTON, United States, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The US trade deficit made a sharp and unexpected pullback in October, reaching its lowest level since 2009 as goods imports dropped while President Donald Trump's tariffs took hold, government data showed Thursday. The overall trade gap plunged 39 percent to $29.4 billion in October, said the Department of Commerce, as imports dropped by 3.2 percent. While US exports rose by $7.8 billion in October to $302.0 billion, imports dropped by $11.0 billion to $331.4 billion. This was largely due to a tumble in goods imports. Although Trump's tariffs have influenced trade flows this year, a large swath of them also face legal challenges.

TOKYO, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Japan said Friday that international trade should be "smooth" after media reports said China was delaying Japanese imports as well as rare-earth exports, as their two-month-old spat escalates. "Generally speaking, I believe that international trade in rare earths should proceed smoothly, and I consider this to be extremely important," Kihara told a regular briefing. Kyodo News reported that China-bound exports of Japanese sake and food items have been delayed, citing trade industry sources. Separately the Wall Street Journal reported that China has begun choking off exports of rare earths and rare-earth magnets to Japan. China has since begun restricting exports to Japanese companies of scarce and expensive "heavy" rare earths, as well as the powerful magnets containing them, the Journal said, citing two exporters in China.

The attack on Kyiv ignited fires and damaged apartment buildings, with "three dead and 13 wounded," according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The country's air force warned "all of Ukraine is under a missile threat" after confirming Russian bombers were airborne. The latest barrage comes after the US Embassy in Kyiv warned on Thursday that a "potentially significant air attack" could occur any time within the next several days. The plan includes a US-led monitoring mechanism and a European multinational force to be deployed once the fighting stops. But calling the proposed security guarantees "militaristic", Moscow warned that any Western peacekeeping troops sent to Ukraine would come under Russian fire.

Federal immigration officers armed with pepperball guns and tear gas wrestled several protesters to the ground. In a separate incident Thursday afternoon, US immigration enforcement agents shot and wounded two individuals in the western city of Portland, local police said. - 'Smoke and mirrors' -Trump and senior officials have claimed that in the Minneapolis incident, Good was trying to kill the ICE agents. Good, a US citizen, was not the target of immigration enforcement action and was only suspected of blocking traffic, police said. The victim's mother, Donna Ganger, told the Minnesota Star Tribune her daughter "was probably terrified" and "not part" of anti-ICE activity.

Trump says 'my own morality' is only restraint on global powerWASHINGTON, United States, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump said in an interview published Thursday that his "own morality" was the only constraint on his power to order military actions around the world. It's the only thing that can stop me," Trump told the newspaper when asked if there were any limits on his global powers. The Republican president then added that "I do" need to abide by international law, but said "it depends what your definition of international law is." Asked whether his priority was preserving the NATO military alliance or acquiring Greenland, Trump told the Times: "it may be a choice." "I prohibited them from doing business in my first term, and I got absolutely no credit for it," Trump told the daily.

WASHINGTON, United States, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - US Vice President JD Vance warned Europe on Thursday to take Donald Trump "seriously" on Greenland as the president ramps up threats against the Danish-ruled Arctic territory. Vance accused fellow NATO member Denmark and the rest of Europe of failing to do enough to protect the strategically-located island from the designs of Russia and China. "I guess my advice to European leaders and anybody else would be to take the president of the United States seriously," Vance told a briefing at the White House when asked about Greenland. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet officials from Denmark and Greenland next week. Vance was meeting British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy in Washington for talks that would focus on the Ukraine war, but where Greenland could come up.

BOGOTÁ, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Colombia's leftist President Gustavo Petro agreed with his US counterpart Donald Trump to take "joint action" against cocaine-smuggling guerrillas on the border with Venezuela, Bogota's interior minister said Thursday. Trump and Petro "committed to taking joint actions" against the National Liberation Army (ELN), Colombia's last remaining major armed rebel group, Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said in an interview with Blu Radio. Colombia accuses the ELN of launching attacks and kidnappings of Colombian soldiers and retreating to rear-base locations in Venezuela. Petro asked Trump "to help strike hard at the ELN on the border" with Venezuela, Benedetti said. After Petro criticised the United States for seizing Maduro in Caracas on January 3, Trump told Petro to "watch his ass."

NEW YORK, Jan 9, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Global stocks were mixed Thursday while oil prices bounced higher as markets looked ahead to key US employment data expected to influence monetary policy. The geopolitical outlook remained a major uncertainty for traders after the United States toppled Venezuela's president, and as China targeted Japanese imports following Tokyo voicing support for Taiwan. US defense stocks saw some sharp gains after President Donald Trump called for a 50-percent hike of the US defense budget next year. But US indices overall were indecisive, with the Dow advancing, the Nasdaq retreating and the S&P 500 ending flat. Tokyo stocks were weighed down after China announced an anti-dumping probe into imports from Japan of a key chemical used to make semiconductors.