Bloomberg Azerbaijan and Armenia traded accusations of ceasefire violations after Russia said it secured a humanitarian truce in overnight talks with the two former Soviet republics. Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said Armenians continued to fire on its positions south, east and northeast of the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia’s Defense Ministry denied that and accused Baku of attacking, while the armed ...
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Tsai vows to defend Taiwan, calls for dialogue with China
Bloomberg Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen called for dialogue with Beijing while vowing to defend the island in the face of Chinese intimidation. “I believe regional tension can be resolved,†Tsai said to a couple of thousand people at a national day event in Taipei. “We are willing to facilitate meaningful dialogue.†Beijing cut off communication with Taipei shortly after Tsai ...
Read More »Joe Biden uses Gettysburg to say he can unite nation
Bloomberg Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden stood in front of the Civil War battlefields of Gettysburg to offer a pledge to unify the country as his campaign entered its final four weeks and his support appears to be growing. “Today, once again, we are a house divided,†Biden said using a phrase made famous by President Abraham Lincoln. “This must ...
Read More »US ‘disappointed’ by razed naval facility in Cambodia
Bloomberg The US Embassy in Phnom Penh said on Wednesday it was “disappointed†Cambodia had razed an American-built military facility that symbolised friendship between the countries. Located within the Ream Naval Base along Cambodia’s southwestern coast, the US-funded maritime security facility was reported to have been demolished last month, raising concerns it was done to facilitate hosting Chinese soldiers and ...
Read More »Lesotho’s govt seeking to regulate online behaviour
Bloomberg Lesotho’s government is seeking to regulate online behaviour with a law compelling social-media users to obtain a so-called internet broadcasting allowance, as unease about digital platforms grows in some African countries. Under the proposed bill, an internet broadcaster is anyone who posts any text, image or photograph that’s accessible to at least 100 users or anyone who has more ...
Read More »Merkel shying away from action that would hurt Putin
Bloomberg Angela Merkel and her European allies are preparing to retaliate against Vladimir Putin’s government over the poisoning of one of his top critics but their plans may not make much of an impression on the Kremlin. Although countermeasures are all but inevitable, the European Union action may consist of asset freezes and travel bans for Russian officials, according to ...
Read More »Vietnam detains activist after human rights meeting
Bloomberg Vietnamese blogger and democracy activist Pham Thi Doan Trang, 42, was detained on charges of creating, storing and spreading anti-government documents, the Ministry of Public Security said on its website. The arrest came a few hours after the annual human rights dialog between the United States and Vietnam, Phil Robertson, deputy Asia Director of Human Rights Watch, said in ...
Read More »Trump invokes own bout with Covid as voters’ doubts grow
Bloomberg President Donald Trump and his allies looked to capitalise on his discharge from the hospital, painting his return to the White House as a triumphant metaphor for his strength and vigor a month before Election Day. The president highlighted a supporter saying his return to the campaign trail would make him an “invincible hero.†A campaign spokesman chided Joe ...
Read More »Thai army chief rules out coup over ‘strike’
Bloomberg Thailand’s new army chief said there was “zero chance†for a military coup now and urged all parties to avoid creating conditions that would lead to violence amid growing anti-government protests. “We should make the possibility for such action to go below zero. All parties must help,†Narongpan Jittkaewtae, who took over as the army chief last week, said ...
Read More »Pompeo calls for united ‘Quad’ bloc on China in virus crisis
Bloomberg US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo called on three other Indo-Pacific democracies to band together against coercion from China, in a bid to keep pressure on Beijing amid the coronavirus crisis rocking Washington. The so-called Quad — also including Australia, India and Japan — began its second ministerial-level meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday, in an event expected to help ...
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