Our daily journey around the world

🇨🇳📈 China’s 2023 economy grew at one of the lowest levels in decades. The country’s GDP grew by 5.2% in 2023, marking the lowest rate since 1990 outside of previous pandemic-affected years, per government data published yesterday. Beijing also revealed that China’s population fell by 2+ million last year, up from a net loss of 850,000 people in 2022 (which marked the first such decline in six decades).

🇮🇷 Iran launched missile and drone strikes targeting Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan within a 24-hour period. On Monday, Iran struck the bases of what it claims were “anti-Iran terror groups” in Syria, who officials allege were involved in the recent deadly bombings at an Iranian general’s memorial service. Tehran launched the missiles in tandem with strikes on a supposed Israeli spy base in northern Iraq, which Iraqi officials said wasn’t there. The following day, Iran’s military hit the headquarters of what it said was an Iranian terrorist Sunni militant group in Pakistan.

🇧🇪 Belgian customs seized a record amount of cocaine in the port city of Antwerp last year. Authorities in Antwerp, the “cocaine capital” of Europe, seized 116 tons of cocaine in 2023, up 5% from the previous year. Analysts say only a small fraction of illegal cocaine shipments, possibly a tenth, are actually detected on arrival at the port. The EU seized a record 303 tons of cocaine in 2021, the most recent figure available, marking a nearly 100-ton increase from the previous year.