US Homeland Security Suspends Green Card Lottery
US homeland security chief Kristi Noem suspended a green card lottery on Thursday, saying it was used by the suspect in a mass shooting at Brown University. Claudio Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national, is accused of bursting into a building at the Ivy League school on Dec 13 and opening fire on students sitting exams, killing two and wounding...
China Imposes 13% Tax On Condoms To Boost Birth Rate
China will impose a 13% value-added tax (VAT) on condoms and other contraceptives from January 1, ending an exemption in place since the nationwide VAT system was introduced in 1993. The change, included in a VAT law passed in 2024 to modernise the tax regime, comes as Beijing intensifies efforts to raise its declining birthrate. VAT accounts for nearly 40%...
