Politics

Hong Kong, China in talks to open border

Bloomberg Hong Kong is in advanced discussions with Chinese officials about potentially reopening their shared border, according to local media reports, as former British colony pushes to overcome the mainland’s hesitancy to revive travel crucial to the city’s economy. Experts from both sides are expected to soon hold a second meeting with a final decision on the resumption of travel ...

Read More »

France backs down in Brexit fish row, gives talks more time

Bloomberg President Emmanuel Macron backed away from his imminent threat to punish the UK for restricting the access of French fishing boats to British waters, saying he would give negotiations more time. “The British are going to come back to us tomorrow with further proposals. We’ll see where we are at the end of the day,” Macron told reporters in ...

Read More »

Tension grows in east Ukraine with report of Russia army buildup

Bloomberg Ceasefire violations are steadily intensifying in war-ravaged eastern Ukraine as reports increase that Russia is building up its military forces across the border of the former Soviet satellite nation. There were almost 1,000 violations of the agreement to cease hostilities in Ukraine’s Donetsk region between the evenings of October 29 and October 31, according to the Organisation for Security ...

Read More »

Ethiopia urges ‘residents’ to arm themselves

Bloomberg Ethiopia’s government urged residents of its capital to arm themselves and protect their neighbourhoods, after rebel fighters in the north of the country captured two key towns on a main route into the city. The call came as the US expressed alarm at the situation in Ethiopia, which on Wednesday marks a year since conflict erupted in the Horn ...

Read More »

Gunmen storm Kabul military hospital, many feared dead

Bloomberg Unknown gunmen stormed Afghanistan’s main military hospital in Kabul on Tuesday and battled with Taliban fighters after setting off explosives at the entrance gate in the latest eruption of violence since the US withdrew from the country more than two months ago. A second blast struck near the hospital located in an upscale area of Kabul and appeared to ...

Read More »

Japan’s opposition leader to quit after election setback

Bloomberg The leader of Japan’s main opposition party will step down from his post after his group suffered a stinging setback in a national election on Sunday. Yukio Edano said in a statement on Tuesday he will resign as leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party, the left-leaning party he’s run since its formation in 2017. He added he would stay ...

Read More »

Biden calls methane reduction vital to curbing climate change

Bloomberg The Biden administration launched an assault on methane on Tuesday, advancing initiatives across government — and the globe — to keep the potent heat-trapping gas from escaping landfills, oil wells and farms. The new measures seek to deploy at least five cabinet-level agencies. For instance, the Environmental Protection Agency released a long-awaited proposal stiffening requirements to plug leaks in ...

Read More »

Biden chides Russia, China for failing to pledge more on climate

Bloomberg President Joe Biden said he is disappointed that Russia and China declined to make stronger commitments to combat climate change or to send their leaders to key global meetings to address the crisis. Biden, asked about failure of G-20 nations to issue a stronger commitment on global warming, expressed regret at what the two nations have pledged. “The disappointment ...

Read More »

Top US-China envoys agree to keep talking

Bloomberg Senior diplomats from the US and China agreed to maintain regular communications to control tensions even as they spar on Taiwan and a range of other issues. During a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Rome on Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called for regular exchanges between them “to manage and control differences between the ...

Read More »

Taliban’s supreme leader makes rare appearance after infighting

Bloomberg The Taliban’s spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada made his first public appearance since 2016 at a famous Islamic seminary over the weekend, praising the militant group for sweeping to power as the US withdrew from Afghanistan. Akhundzada hasn’t been seen in public since he became the supreme leader of the Taliban about five years ago. After the Taliban took control ...

Read More »
Send this to a friend