Politics

Bloomberg The Australian government insists world tennis No. 1 Novak Djokovic isn’t being held against his will as the vaccine-mandate critic remains confined in a hotel used to detain refugees and asylum seekers. Djokovic “is not being held captive in Australia,” Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said in a radio interview Friday. “He is free to leave at any time ...

  Bloomberg Russia and its allies sent troops to help quell protests in Kazakhstan that posed the biggest threat to the central Asian country’s leadership since it gained independence in 1991. Dozens of anti-government protesters were killed by security forces and hundreds wounded, authorities said Thursday, after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced an “anti-terrorist operation” to put down the demonstrations. He ...

  Bloomberg North Korea said it test-fired a “hypersonic” missile for the second time in about four months, as it continues to develop nuclear-capable weapons designed to evade interception by the US and its allies. According to the account provided by North Korea’s official media, the latest test showed marked improvements from its last attempt to fire a hypersonic missile ...

  Bloomberg North Korea appears to have launched its first ballistic missile in about two months, after leader Kim Jong-un indicated he was more interested in bolstering his arsenal than returning to stalled nuclear talks with the US. North Korea fired what appeared to be a ballistic missile from land into waters off its east coast Wednesday, South Korea’s military ...

  Bloomberg Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accepted the government’s resignation on Wednesday after increases in fuel prices led to clashes between protesters and police in central Asia’s largest energy producer. The unrest intensified even after Tokayev declared a state of emergency in and around the country’s largest city, Almaty, and the oil-rich Mangystau region. The declaration allows him to impose ...

  Bloomberg Australia and Japan will sign a “historic” treaty that will further strengthen defense and security cooperation during a virtual leaders’ summit on Thursday, in a move that could further inflame tensions with China. The agreement is the first of its type for Japan, other than with the US and the UN, and marks a step closer in a ...

  Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Beijing Winter Olympics venues a month before the games begin amid a worsening Covid-19 outbreak and diplomatic tensions with Western nations over human rights. He toured the National Speed Skating Oval, athletes’ village, and operations and media centers, according to state-run China Daily. Xi told event organizers that the Olympics would be considered ...

  Bloomberg The US Treasury sanctioned Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik and his associated media outlet for engaging in destabilizing and corrupt activities that threaten to tear Bosnia-Herzegovina apart. “Dodik has undermined BiH institutions by calling for the seizure of state competencies and setting in motion the creation of parallel institutions in BiH’s Republika Srpska entity,” the Treasury said in ...

  Bloomberg Beijing is calling on the world’s nuclear powers to expand discussions on global security to include emerging threats, following a rare multilateral pledge to temper the risks of nuclear war. Fu Cong, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Arms Control Department, told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that the so-called P5 nations — China, France, Russia, the US ...

  Bloomberg Sudan’s army is incapable of running the impoverished country and new leaders are needed to stem further unrest, the United Nations special envoy said, after the prime minister’s Sunday resignation once again left the military in sole charge. The generals, who launched a coup in October before restoring Premier Abdalla Hamdok to office the following month, are unable ...