Politics

Bloomberg North Korea may have resumed operations at its plutonium-producing Yongbyon nuclear reactor in the past few months, the United Nations atomic watchdog said, a move that could help Kim Jong Un’s regime add to its stockpile of fissile material. For the first time in about three years, it appears there were operations of the five megawatt reactor at North ...

Bloomberg Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pledged to tighten restrictions on foreign workers, tackling an issue that stirred anger in the traditionally open city-state as it recovers from a pandemic-induced recession. In a key policy speech, Lee said his government will further raise visa criteria for expatriates, raise salaries for low-income labourers and hold companies to account for their ...

Bloomberg Joe Biden’s hopes of keeping the Afghan Taliban in check will rely heavily on Pakistan, a neighbouring nation that has close ties to the militant group but which has often proven an unreliable partner to the US. Islamabad has long tried to balance its relationship with the US and its support for the Taliban, stoking frustration in Washington and ...

Bloomberg Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro laid out three outcomes for the the presidential elections next year — he will win the polls, get arrested or killed. Speaking to a group of evangelical leaders, the conservative leader said he will never be imprisoned as “no man on earth” scares him, and that he’s “doing the right thing.” The president has been ...

Bloomberg A senior Chinese health official rejected a US report blaming China for stonewalling an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. China opposes the politicisation of tracing the origins of the virus or using the subject as a tool to shift blame, according to Zeng Yixin, vice head of National Health Commission. The US should treat origins tracing as ...

Bloomberg Germany’s Social Democrats rose to an almost four-year high in a weekly poll, adding to evidence that they’re pulling ahead of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bloc before a national election on September 26. INSA’s poll is the third to show Merkel’s conservatives now lagging the Social Democrats, who may be set for a remarkable comeback after almost ending up as ...

Bloomberg Hurricane Ida gained power rapidly on Sunday as it crossed the Gulf of Mexico on its way to smashing into Louisiana, threatening to unleash mass flooding and destruction in New Orleans. The Category 4 hurricane has top winds of 150 miles (241 kilometres) per hour, the National Hurricane Center said at 7 am local time. Only two other storms ...

Bloomberg US forces carried out a strike in Afghanistan against the terrorist organisation believed responsible for the devastating bombing that killed at least 88 people near the Kabul airport a day earlier. “US military forces conducted an over-the-horizon counterterrorism operation on Saturday against an IS-K planner,” said Captain Bill Urban, a spokesman for US Central Command. He added that the ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden rebuked China for stonewalling a US investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, as his administration reported it was unable to reach firm conclusions because of Beijing’s unwillingness to cooperate. China denied that it had hindered the probe. “The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them,” Biden said in a statement ...

Bloomberg Malaysia Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s meeting with opposition leaders on Wednesday left Anwar Ibrahim positive about working with the new government to heal the nation that’s seen change of three administrations since 2018. The meeting, which lasted over an hour at the premier’s office, was focused on finding common ground to best handle the Covid crisis, save lives ...