Politics

Bloomberg Romania’s minority government dislodged the opposition mayor of Bucharest, giving it a boost before national elections in December at which it’s seeking to win control of parliament. Activist Nicusor Dan defeated Social Democrat incumbent Gabriela Firea in a ballot, pledging to fight corruption that’s delayed reforms and city upgrades. Turnout in Bucharest was slightly higher than in previous ballots ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s ruling coalition named their candidate for chief minister in the key state of Sabah on Monday, in a move that could fray ties between the parties behind Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Muhyiddin’s Bersatu party named one of its own, Hajiji Mohd Noor, to be sworn into office at the state palace on Tuesday, Hajiji said. He added it ...

Bloomberg Pakistan’s High Court on Monday ordered the arrest of key opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif after it cancelled his bail in a money laundering case, just days ahead of a nationwide protest campaign against the government. A panel headed by Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem said Sharif — the president of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party and former chief minister ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping has doubled down on China’s policies towards Uighurs in the country’s western Xinjiang region despite international condemnation. “Facts prove that the party’s policies on Xinjiang in the new era are completely correct and must be adhered to in the long term,” the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Xi as saying during a work meeting held ...

Bloomberg South Korea invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to participate in a joint probe into the fatal shooting of one of its nationals north of the border, after the regime warned South Korea over its maritime search for the body. North Korea should be “open-minded” towards investigating the incident as soon as possible, given the differences between the two ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump expressed confidence he would be re-elected president if Congress has to break an Electoral College tie in the 2020 election. “I don’t want to end up in the Supreme Court and I don’t want to go back to Congress either, even though we have an advantage when we go back to Congress,” Trump said at a rally ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong residents renewed or applied for British National (Overseas) passports in record numbers last year as anti-government protests erupted in the city, according to the South China Morning Post. The 154,218 BNO passports issued in 2019 is an eightfold jump from the year earlier, the newspaper reported, citing British government data. The authority also recorded 32,813 renewals by ...

Bloomberg North Korea warned South Korea about a maritime search operation it says entered its territorial waters, state news agency KCNA reported, citing a statement from the Korean Central News Agency. “We don’t care whether the south side conducts any kind of search operation in its territorial waters or not,” North Korea said. “But we can never overlook any intrusion ...

Bloomberg Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga declared his willingness to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un without preconditions, affirming the policy of his predecessor in his debut speech to the UN. Japan would seek to normalise ties with North Korea by resolving nuclear weapons and missile issues, as well as the past abductions of Japanese citizens, Suga told the General Assembly, in ...

Bloomberg An attack by unidentified gunmen in Ethiopia’s western Benishangul-Gumuz region left at least 15 people dead, including four women, in the third such raid this month, according to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. “Civilians are being subjected to repeated attacks with unmitigated cruelty in Benishangul-Gumuz,” Daniel Bekele, the chief commissioner said in an emailed statement. “Federal and regional authorities ...