Bloomberg North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made his first public appearance in about a month, with state media showing him at a Party meeting that discussed ways to improve the country’s deteriorating economy. Kim, wearing his signature black Mao suit, said it was time to take “additional state measures for solving pending problems urgent for the economic work and people’s ...
Read More »Politics
Malaysia protests ‘suspicious’ Chinese air force activities
Bloomberg Malaysia will summon China’s ambassador to protest flights by 16 air force planes over the South China Sea that Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein says were a “breach of Malaysian airspace and sovereignty.†The “suspicious†Chinese aircraft were spotted near the East Malaysian state of Sarawak, the Royal Malaysian Air Force said in a statement. They entered the Malaysian maritime ...
Read More »Russia detains its former opposition politician: Tass
Bloomberg Opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov, a former deputy in Russia’s lower house of parliament, was detained, Tass reported, citing unidentified people in law enforcement. Lera Gudkova, the politician’s wife, confirmed the detention via Facebook and said his aunt was also being held in the case. His detention comes amid a widening crackdown against opponents of President Vladimir Putin since Kremlin ...
Read More »Biden visits Tulsa massacre site, draws GOP contrast
Bloomberg President Joe Biden visited Tulsa to mark the 100th anniversary of a White mob’s destruction of the city’s once-thriving Black business district, where he said Vice President Kamala Harris would lead efforts to pass a new federal expansion of voting rights. Biden visited privately with survivors of the Tulsa race massacre, one of the worst episodes of racial violence ...
Read More »Budapest to rename Chinese college site streets
Bloomberg Budapest will rename the streets surrounding the planned campus of a Chinese university to protest against the project, which Hungary’s opposition says is emblematic of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s drift from western democratic values. The streets in the capital’s industrial south, where Fudan University plans to set up a campus, will be renamed Uighur Martyrs street, Dalai Lama street ...
Read More »Xi seeks ‘lovable’ China image in sign of diplomatic rethink
Bloomberg President Xi Jinping urged Chinese officials to create a “trustworthy, lovable and respectable†image for the country, in a sign that Beijing may be looking to smooth its hard-edged diplomatic approach. Xi told senior Communist Party leaders that the country must “make friends extensively, unite the majority and continuously expand its circle of friends with those who understand and ...
Read More »Myanmar junta moves Aung San Suu Kyi to ‘unknown location’
Bloomberg Myanmar’s junta has moved the nation’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ex-president Win Myint from their residences in the capital to an “unknown location,†according to allies who’ve expressed serious concerns for their safety. The two have been held by the country’s powerful military since it seized power in a coup on February 1. “We’ve heard from ...
Read More »Ivory Coast’s ex-president to return home on June 17
Bloomberg Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo is expected to return home on June 17 after his acquittal on charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, according to his party. The party announced the news at a celebration to mark Gbagbo’s birthday in the economic capital, Abidjan. It was confirmed by Gbagbo’s lawyer, Habiba Toure. The Hague-based ...
Read More »Joe Biden vows to end ‘systemic racism’
Bloomberg President Joe Biden vowed to “root out systemic racism†in a statement to mark the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, which wiped out one of the nation’s most prosperous Black neighbourhoods. Biden will travel to the Oklahoma city this week to commemorate the massacre that took place on May 31 and June 1, 1921, when a White ...
Read More »US allies urge China to allow ‘unfettered access’ to Xinjiang
Bloomberg The leaders of Australia and New Zealand have urged China to give outside observers “unfettered access†to Xinjiang, a move that is likely to draw criticism from Beijing. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern “expressed grave concerns about the human rights situation†in China’s far western region and said the United Nations and others should ...
Read More »