Politics

Bloomberg Protesters gathered in Minsk as opposition forces try to keep up pressure on Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, while his security apparatus makes a show of force in the country’s capital. Police patrols on main highways leading to Minsk are slowing incoming traffic and making it harder for protesters from other parts of the country to reach the capital. Rainy ...

Bloomberg China’s patrols in the South China Sea are “beyond reproach” and air patrols by the Philippines infringe on its sovereignty, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said. Zhao, at a briefing, defended the China Coast Guard’s activities and urged the Philippines to “immediately stop” what he described as “illegal provocations.” The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs said in a ...

Bloomberg The Philippines said there is no overwhelming call for a revolutionary government, in response to a private group’s push to create one. About 300 people, including supporters who participated online, assembled at the Clark Freeport to support a revolutionary government to be led by President Rodrigo Duterte until the end of his term in 2022, the Philippine Daily Inquirer ...

Bloomberg China’s banking regulator pledged its backing for Hong Kong as a finance hub and reiterated a commitment to opening up the Chinese financial sector amid a deepening standoff with the US. China will provide support for its financial institutions who are doing business in Hong Kong while complying with regulations and offering services to residents and companies, the China ...

Bloomberg The South Korean government is studying the need to raise social-distancing restrictions to the highest level as officials warn the country is at the risk of a “massive nationwide outbreak.” An additional 397 new virus cases were reported, the highest number since March 7. A quarter of those cases were reported outside of Seoul’s metropolitan area. Infections have exceeded ...

Bloomberg Alexei Navalny, the Russian anti-corruption campaigner who has been in a coma since last week, is being examined at a German hospital and it may be days before officials can confirm or reject accusations that he was poisoned. Navalny was in “very critical” but stable condition according to an ally who helped organise his evacuation from Russia to Berlin’s ...

Bloomberg Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko warned the European Union not to interfere in the country’s post-election crisis, as his opponent appealed to the bloc for support. “There’s no need to point at Belarus today to divert attention from the problems that exist in France, the US, Germany and so on,” Lukashenko told his security council on Wednesday, according to the ...

Bloomberg Taiwan accused Chinese hackers of infiltrating government agencies in an effort to glean citizens’ sensitive information, part of ongoing attempts to influence the democratic society. Groups, likely backed by Beijing, infiltrated the systems of Taiwanese companies that provide information services to government bodies, the deputy director of the Taiwan Investigation Bureau’s cybersecurity unit, Liu Chia-zung, said at a briefing ...

Bloomberg Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita resigned after being detained by a military junta that pledged to shepherd a democratic transition. The coup capped weeks of protests demanding that he step down. Keita, 75, has faced opposition criticism for alleged corruption and nepotism within his administration, and the mishandling of an escalating extremist insurgency in the West African nation. Keita ...

Bloomberg Thailand is clamping down on its growing anti-government protest movement that’s calling for an end to the military-backed government and limits on the monarchy’s power. A Thai court has issued arrest warrants for six protest leaders on charges of sedition, computer crimes and disease control breaches, Pathum Thani Police Chief Chayut Marayat said. The six had organised a demonstration ...