Politics

Bloomberg What’s going on with Kim Jong-un? Is he sick? Worried about Covid-19? Consumed by an economic crisis? Battling internal threats? Perhaps the North Korean leader is biding his time until the US presidential election? Or maybe he’s playing the same game of threats, reconciliation and retreat that has kept his family in charge of the secretive state since the ...

Bloomberg Two Hong Kong opposition politicians known for protesting against the city’s China-backed administration were among 16 people arrested on Wednesday, according to police, in the latest blow to the pro-democracy movement. Democratic Party lawmakers Ted Hui and Lam Cheuk-ting were arrested at their homes, their party said in a statement. The developments come in the wake of a sweeping ...

Bloomberg With Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny lying in an induced coma just minutes from Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin, the German chancellor is at a loss over what to do about Vladimir Putin. The German leader — a key conduit to the West for the Russian president — is frustrated that Putin has shown no flexibility on the case, ...

Bloomberg Support for Scottish independence has risen during the coronavirus pandemic, yet the financial reality of breaking away from the UK has been thrown back into the argument again. The government in Edinburgh recorded a budget deficit of 8.6% of gross domestic product compared with 7.4% a year earlier, according to the annual expenditure and revenue report. The deficit for ...

Bloomberg Myanmar reported 70 new coronavirus infections on Wednesday, the highest one-day tally since the virus was first detected in the country on March 23, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports. There had been no local transmissions between July 16 and August 16, with about 200 infections detected since then. The majority of cases are residents of Sittwe, ...

Bloomberg Russia brushed off a call by German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a full investigation into the suspected poisoning of Alexey Navalny, saying it’s still not clear yet that the opposition leader was exposed to a toxic substance. “If the substance is identified and it’s shown to be a poisoning, that would be basis for an investigation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry ...

Bloomberg Hurricane Laura is poised to strengthen rapidly and come ashore along the Texas-Louisiana coast as a tree-snapping Category 3 storm, forcing residents to flee their homes despite the threat of Covid-19. Laura’s winds will likely peak at 115 miles (185 kilometres) per hour as it comes ashore early on Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said. Laura has disrupted offshore ...

Bloomberg West African leaders have made scant headway in their efforts to ensure Mali swiftly reverts to civilian rule after President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s ouster by a military junta. Talks between the junta’s leaders and envoys from the Economic Community of West African States ended without resolving when the military will arrange elections or release Keita, who’s been in captivity ...

Bloomberg South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has thrown down the gauntlet to detractors in the ruling party who’ve been undermining his efforts to combat graft, as public anger mounts over the misappropriation of funds to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. In an unprecedented seven-page letter circulated to members of the African National Congress (ANC) at the weekend, Ramaphosa warned that the ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s cabinet approved a one-month extension of the state of emergency through September 30 to control the Covid-19 outbreak as the nation seeks to prolong its streak of going three months without a local transmission. The cabinet’s move was in line with the proposal from a panel that handles the nation’s Covid-19 outbreak, according to government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri. ...