Politics

Bloomberg US President Donald Trump’s campaign is inadvertently funding Chinese state media outlets and entities tied to the Kremlin through automated advertisements on YouTube, according to a study of thousands of videos on the Google service. Omelas Inc, a Washington-based security software firm, reviewed the YouTube clips in early August and found 22 Trump campaign ads running on YouTube channels ...

Bloomberg The mayor of Prague will travel to Taiwan to meet President Tsai Ing-wen, deepening a rift between Beijing and politicians in a country once seen as one of the most China-friendly in Europe. Zdenek Hrib, who ignited outrage in China last year when he cancelled a sister-city agreement between Shanghai and the Czech capital, will accompany Senate leader Milos ...

Bloomberg Australian authorities detained at least two cargo ships for alleged labour violations related to demands from seafarers to be sent home, some of whom have spent more than a year at sea. The ships, which are or will be carrying materials for Cargill Inc and for an aluminum industry joint venture that includes Rio Tinto Group, will be detained ...

Bloomberg A train derailment in Scotland killed three people, including the driver, and left another six injured, according to the British Transport Police. The train was travelling between Aberdeen and Glasgow when it left the tracks near Stonehaven, on Scotland’s east coast. While the cause of the accident is still to be officially determined, Scotland experienced heavy rain, leading to ...

Bloomberg Even as China continues to return fire at the Trump administration, leaders in Beijing are also signalling they want to ease tensions with the US as the clock ticks down to the presidential election. Trump’s moves to ban popular Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat ahead of sending the highest-ranking American official to Taiwan in 40 years — which included ...

Bloomberg Slovakia expelled three Russian diplomats on suspicion of spying, marking a shift in the Nato and European Union member’s approach towards Moscow. The three officials “carried out activities violating the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations” and must leave the country by the end of the week, Slovakia’s Foreign Ministry said. The decision was taken last week by the new ...

Bloomberg Lebanon’s political leaders are expected to launch parliamentary consultations to choose a new prime minister after Hassan Diab’s government resigned over the devastating explosion at Beirut’s port. The nomination process by parliament’s various factions will be a litmus test of whether the August 4 port disaster marks an inflection point in Lebanese politics, or a continuation of decades of ...

Bloomberg Student protesters in Thailand are stepping up pressure on the military-backed government with calls for greater democracy and less power for the monarchy, a potentially explosive demand just as leaders struggle to handle the country’s worst-ever economic crisis. Thousands of demonstrators gathered again as part of near-daily gatherings across Thailand, which have gained momentum after the arrests of top ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s world-beating run of being Covid-free has come to an end, with the detection of new cases prompting the government to put largest city Auckland into lockdown. Authorities have detected four cases of coronavirus in one Auckland household from an unknown source, and contact tracing is now underway to prevent further spread, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said late ...

Bloomberg Riot police detained thousands of protesters in Belarus in clashes after Alexander Lukashenko claimed a landslide victory in presidential elections to extend his 26-year rule amid opposition accusations of massive fraud. About 3,000 people were held by law enforcement including 1,000 in the capital, Minsk, the Interior Ministry said on Monday in a website statement. Protests took place in ...