news in brief 2025-01-01

Beijing slams 'groundless' claims of

cyberattack on US Treasury

BEIJING, Dec 31: Beijing on Tuesday hit back at accusations that a China state-sponsored actor was behind a cyber breach at the US Treasury Department, calling the claims "groundless". The Treasury said the attack resulted in access to some of its workstations, according to a letter to Congress seen by AFP. According to the Treasury, the incident happened earlier this month, when the actor compromised a third-party cybersecurity service provider and was able to remotely access the workstations and some unclassified documents. China denied the claims, with the foreign ministry saying Beijing "has always opposed all forms of hacker attacks, and we are even more opposed to the spread of false information against China for political purposes". —AFP

Heavy snow in Japan disrupts air traffic

TOKYO, Dec 31: Heavy snow in Japan's northern region cancelled dozens of flights Tuesday as millions of families were returning home to spend the New Year holiday with their loved ones. Japan Airlines said it scrapped 42 flights, affecting 6,398 passengers, by early afternoon, all of them services to and from the northernmost island of Hokkaido. Its main rival ANA also cancelled 14 flights, affecting 800 passengers, due to the rough weather in the north, and warned its customers of possible delays and more cancellations. —AFP

World population will be 8.09b on Jan 01

NEW YORK, Dec 31: The world population increased by more than 71 million people in 2024 and will be 8.09 billion people on New Year's Day, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Monday. The 0.9% increase in 2024 was a slight slowdown from 2023, when the world population grew by 75 million people. In January 2025, 4.2 births and 2.0 deaths were expected worldwide every second, according to the estimates. The United States grew by 2.6 million people in 2024, and the U.S. population on New Year's Day will be 341 million people, according to the Census Bureau. —AP