China’s birth rate has fallen as its economy slows

China's birth rate falls [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( Happy Friday, though maybe not entirely for China after new data was released showing the country’s economy is slowing and birth rate figures are down. Also, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a sermon today that the country has ever right to flex its military muscle beyond its borders. And, the US ambassador to South Korea has prompted outrage over his mustache. --------------------------------------------------------------- In the news today China's birth rate falls [A woman holds her son in a playground in a residential area in Shanghai.]( Credit: Carlos Barria/Reuters China's economic [growth slowed to its weakest rate]( in nearly 30 years — to 6.1% last year, from 6.6% in 2018. The declining growth rate comes amid a bruising trade war with the US. It also follows news that, despite the easing of the one-child policy, China's birth rate [fell to its lowest]( since the formation of the People's Republic of China 70 years ago. Also: [US-China trade war truce is 'broad and vague,' economist says]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Do you have a smart speaker? Listen to The World's new show called [The Number in the News](! We produce The Number in the News daily from our studio in Boston. Host Bianca Hillier will tell you one number you won’t forget and why it’s the news today. Add The Number in the News to your Amazon or Google news briefing. Iran's Supreme Leader defends regional military ambitions Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in his first Friday prayer sermon in eight years, said the country’s Revolutionary Guards may [take their fight beyond the country’s borders](. “Resistance must continue until the region is completely freed from the enemy's tyranny," he said, demanding that US troops leave the Middle East. The rare sermon comes after weeks of tensions with the US after a drone strike ordered by US President Donald Trump killed Iran’s top commanders and Iran downed a passenger aircraft, killing 176 people. Timeline: [The history of US-Iran relations]( GAO report says Trump administration violated the law in withholding aid to Ukraine At the heart of the impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump is the decision to withhold security aid from Ukraine. Just a day after the House of Representatives sent articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial, the nonpartisan watchdog Government Accountability Office released a report that says the [Trump administration violated the law]( when it withheld the aid in the summer of 2019. “We consider a reluctance to provide a fulsome response to have constitutional significance,” reads the conclusion of the report, signed by Thomas H. Armstrong, the GAO's general counsel. “All federal officials and employees take an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution and its core tenets, including the congressional power of the purse.” Also: [How will the Senate impeachment trial work?]( How will Brexit impact scientific research in the UK? One small piece of the Brexit puzzle will be how the UK funds scientific research, and how easy or hard it will be for scientists — who traditionally are part of an international, mobile workforce — to work outside their home countries. And, applications from potential PhD students from Europe are falling. “In the past, I had maybe half of the applicants coming from the EU. And in the last two years, I had no applications from the EU,” [said Lars Boehme](, a marine ecologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. “It’s a dramatic loss in numbers.” If it continues, the drop could mark the beginning of a significant workforce trend in the UK, where almost a third of academic researchers come from abroad. Also: [China is closing gap with United States on research spending]( Alyona Alyona breathes new life into Ukrainian rap scene [Rapper Alyona Alyona is one of the top artists in Ukraine.]( Credit: Anastasia Vlasova/The World When Alyona Savranenko turned 12, hip-hop found her in a small rural village. Now Savranenko, a [former kindergarten teacher who goes by the rap name Alyona Alyona](, is one of the top artists in Ukraine. Her music videos — which touch on subjects ranging from body positivity to bullying and female empowerment — rack up millions of views on YouTube. She has been on multiple European tours, and she is proud to share her Ukrainian roots with the world. “... I thank God that I have [the] possibility to introduce my country and my music in European countries, and I will be do[ing] this in the future because I don’t want to rap in other languages,” she said. “I’m not ready, I don’t have so many words to sing in English or in Russian. I want to do it in Ukrainian.” --------------------------------------------------------------- Morning meme The US ambassador to South Korea is ruffling feathers on social media … because of his mustache. The outrage online over Amb. Harry Harris’ furry upper lip is because the look [reminds many South Koreans of Japanese colonial rule](. [Ambassador Harry Harris]( Credit: US Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Reuters contributed to this newsletter. --------------------------------------------------------------- In case you missed it on The World - [Brexit’s impact on science]( - [In Puerto Rico, solar power shines in the dark]( - [Death of a US citizen in an Egyptian prison raises serious questions]( - [Paternity leave — many countries have them but do men even take them?]( - [Russian reaction to Putin's play for power]( - [Petition to move koalas impacted by bushfires to New Zealand raises concerns]( - [The devastation of Australia's bushfires]( - [Nations of Iran plane victims demand accountability]( - [Ukraine to launch criminal probe into possible surveillance of Marie Yovanovitch]( - [Ukraine rap]( Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. 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