Politics

Bloomberg A special unit of Taliban extremists ambushed a convoy of Afghan security forces, killing as many as 34 even as the insurgent group holds peace talks with the Kabul government to end the 19-year-old war. The night raid by Taliban fighters, some armed with night-vision goggles and laser-assisted rifles, took place in Afghanistan’s north as the convoy made its ...

Bloomberg Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said his government is prepared to withdraw emergency rules banning large gatherings in the capital if the mounting protests demanding his ouster and monarchy reforms remain peaceful. Prayuth’s pledge to review the state of emergency issued last week and open the doors for talks came as thousands of protesters marched to the prime minister’s ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s United Malays National Organization (UMNO) party expressed its support for the government, in a boost to PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership. The party, the largest block in the ruling coalition, announced a “political ceasefire” and said it will back the government’s efforts to manage the pandemic and boost economic growth, according to a statement from UMNO President Ahmad Zahid ...

Bloomberg Hundreds of young Nigerians defied a lockdown and returned to the streets of Lagos, Africa’s most populous city, a day after the security forces violently confronted protesters. Youths carrying sticks and metal poles set tires on fire and chased cars that tried to evade barricades they’d erected along one of Lagos’s main expressways. Several other streets were also sealed ...

Bloomberg Milan, Italy’s financial capital, will be under night-time curfew starting from Thursday in a bid to contain the renewed spread of the coronavirus, even as Giuseppe Conte’s government weighs softer nationwide measures. The curfew in Lombardy, Italy’s most populous region which includes Milan, will be enforced from 11 pm to 5 am, according to a copy of a decree ...

Bloomberg Student groups across Indonesia resumed protests against a landmark labour law passed earlier this month that opponents say will erode workers’ rights and dismantle environmental protections. The renewed protests come after police detained thousands of people last week as demonstrators in Jakarta clashed with officers, hurling rocks and bottles and setting alight bus shelters. Labour unions plan to challenge ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump demanded that Attorney General William Barr open an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, just two weeks before Election Day. “We’ve got to get the attorney general to act,” Trump said in a phone interview with the TV show “Fox & Friends,” in response to a question about whether a special prosecutor should be ...

Bloomberg Russia bolstered its offer to the US for a one-year extension to their last remaining nuclear arms treaty on Tuesday by saying it’s ready to freeze its current arsenal. President Donald Trump’s administration rejected a Russian proposal to prolong the New START treaty for 12 months without conditions before it expires in February. It said doing so without capping ...

Bloomberg China criticised a meeting between the US’s new Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Robert Destro and Tibet’s president-in-exile Lobsang Sangay, accusing America of trying to destabilise the region. Destro “violated the commitment and the policy stance of the US side on not supporting Tibet’s independence and not acknowledging this government in exile,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told ...

Bloomberg The first trials to deliberately infect people with the coronavirus to accelerate the development of vaccines could occur in the UK next year as part of an agreement reached by the government. Britain signed a contract with Open Orphan Plc and its London-based unit, hVivo, that paves the way for human challenge trials, the company said on Tuesday. The ...