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Duchess Catherine has admitted parenthood can be "so hard". The 37-year-old royal - who has children Prince George, five, Princess Charlotte, three, and nine-month-old Prince Louis with husband Prince William - spoke candidly during a visit to charity Family Action on Tuesday as she acknowledged the "struggle" that comes when support "falls away" for new families. Speaking as she helped launch a new national support line for the organisation - which provides community assistance for families in south London - she said: "It's so hard. You get a lot of support with the baby as a mother particularly in the early days, but after the age of one, it falls away. After that, there isn't a huge amount

The International Monetary Fund released Monday its updated economic outlook with a dire warning: The world's economy is slowing and it could get much worse if countries keep fighting over trade. The agency lowered estimates for growth in 2019 by 0.2 percentage points to 3.5% - its second downward revision. The biggest risks are the unresolved trade war between the US and China, and the possibility of Britain exiting the European Union without a deal. "After two years of solid expansion, the world economy is growing more slowly than expected, and risks are rising," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Monday, adding the "risk of a sharper decline in global growth has certainly increased."

The number of asylum seekers from Saudi Arabia has tripled, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The UN agency says there were more than 800 cases reported in 2017. There were less than 200 in 2012. A number of Saudi men and women have reportedly fled the kingdom due to fear of persecution or retaliation against them for political activism. The recent case of Saudi teenager Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun who was granted refuge in Canada has drawn international attention. Bessma Momani is a professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada and senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. She joins us on Skype from the city of Waterloo to discuss this.

Cristiano Ronaldo avoided jail on Tuesday but was ordered to pay 3.57 million euros ($4.1 million) for committing tax fraud when he was at Real Madrid, a Madrid court ruled. The court sentenced Ronaldo to a two-year jail sentence that it immediately reduced to a fine of 365,000 euros, which adds on to another penalty of 3.2 million euros, the sentence read. A court spokesman said it was not immediately clear if this fine would be added onto the 18.8 million euros that Ronaldo had agreed to pay Spain's taxman under a deal reached in June last year. Photos: AFP

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has ordered concerned government entities to speed up the execution of projects related to Hatta's comprehensive development plan, that seeks to turn the city into a key touristic and investment hub that offers all requirements for decent life to its residents. During his visit to Hatta today, His Highness stressed the importance of giving priority to service, environmental and heritage-related projects, given its significance in preserving the national identity and heritage. Sheikh Mohammed was accompanied by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Mohammed bin Rashid

Flying a domestic Iranian route, a 38-year-old Boeing 727-200 owned by Iran Aseman Airlines entered the history books in mid-January after a journey documented by journalist Babak Taghvaee on Twitter. "Its three, rear-mounted engines made it versatile for operators able to take off and land on short runways but still have the range for transoceanic routes," Murdo Morrison, head of strategic content at aviation intelligence specialist FlightGlobal, told CNN via email. Boeing had initially planned to build 250 of the aircraft, according to the company website. Before long the 727 became the first commercial jet design to sell over a thousand airplanes, and 1,832 were eventually built and sold, according to Boeing.