Politics

Bloomberg Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro released Freddy Guevara, an opposition leader who had been jailed for more than a month, so that he can act as a negotiator in political talks set to start next month. A top ally of Juan Guaido, Guevara was freed from the Caracas headquarters of the police intelligence unit known as Sebin. In video posted ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha will face a no-confidence vote in parliament as the opposition parties and pro-democracy groups ratchet up pressure on his government as it struggles to contain one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the region. The opposition parties submitted a motion for censure debates and no-confidence votes on Monday against Prayuth and five other ministers, ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party bloc declined for a second consecutive week in a poll that suggests the Social Democrats are gaining ground ahead of Germany’s election in six weeks’ time. The Social Democratic Party, (SDP) which hasn’t held the chancellor’s office since 2005, pulled ahead of the Greens for the first time in a year in the weekly Insa poll, ...

Bloomberg The Taliban ordered its fighters to remain just outside the Afghan capital as it starts talks for a peaceful transition of power, cementing its renewed grip on the country two decades after the US ousted it from power. Fighters from the militant group entered the outskirts of Kabul on Sunday as the US and other nations rushed to evacuate ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was to visit the Queen’s representative in Canada to trigger the country’s second election in two years, seeking to capitalise on polls showing his Liberal Party with a large enough lead to retake a majority in parliament. The prime minister was scheduled to meet Governor General Mary Simon at 10 a.m in Ottawa, according to ...

Bloomberg South Korean President Moon Jae-in left the door open for talks with Japan in a speech marking his neighbour’s World War II surrender as several Japanese cabinet members visited a war-linked shrine seen by many in Asia as a symbol of its past militarism. In his last Liberation Day speech as president to mark the end of Japan’s 1910-1945 ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong has a “constitutional responsibility” to implement the anti-sanctions law that China has passed to ensure the city’s long-term and steady development, Financial Secretary Paul Chan wrote in his blog on Sunday. Chan joins Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam in backing local legislation to include Beijiing’s anti-sanctions law in the city’s constitution. The US has interfered with ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma, currently serving a 15-month jail term for contempt of court, has undergone surgery for an unspecified condition, and is due to have further procedures carried out in coming days. Zuma, whose arrest last month triggered a wave of protests and looting in parts of the country, will remain hospitalised close to his prison, ...

Bloomberg Afghanistan’s US-backed president used his first public appearance in days to say he’s turning to the international community for help against Taliban militants advancing across the country. Ashraf Ghani made brief, nationally televised remarks on Saturday as Taliban fighters continue to make rapid territorial gains in the vacuum left by departing US and NATO troops. The president said he ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s largest protest group that drew upwards of two million of the city’s residents on to the streets in 2019 will disband, according to local media reports. Members of the Civil Human Rights Front, which organized many of the largest rallies during the Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests, endorsed a resolution to disband, local media including the South ...