Politics

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 ...

Bloomberg Pakistan’s anti-graft court indicted former President Asif Ali Zardari on charges of corruption, as the opposition groups accused the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan of persecution. Azam Khan, a judge of an accountability court, formally framed charges against Zardari for buying assets overseas from undeclared sources, Muzafar Abbasi, a deputy prosecutor at the National Accountability Bureau, said by ...

Bloomberg China said it will sanction 11 Americans in retaliation for similar measures imposed by the US, but the list doesn’t include any members of the Trump administration. Those sanctioned include Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey; Congressman Chris Smith; Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth; National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman; and Michael ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson promised to re-write laws he says make it “very difficult” to deport migrants and asylum seekers ruled to have no right to stay in the UK, as pressure builds on his government to stem the flow of small boats crossing the English Channel from France. More than 4,000 people have reached the British coast this year by ...

Bloomberg Chicago authorities are restricting access to the city’s downtown after caravans of looters smashed windows, damaged storefronts and stole merchandise across downtown overnight, leading to the arrests of more than 100 people. Two people, a civilian and a security guard, were shot amid the melee, as crowds descended overnight on major commercial areas, including the iconic Magnificent Mile, Superintendent ...

Bloomberg The Philippines’ navy chief is urging the government of President Rodrigo Duterte to file a diplomatic protest against China over the presence of two Chinese survey ships at an oil-rich disputed area in the South China Sea. The surveillance vessels were spotted in Reed Bank last week and have no clearance from the Philippine government, Vice Admiral Giovanni Bacordo ...

Bloomberg Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for the highest-ranking visit by a US official to the island in decades, a trip that stands to further worsen spiralling relations between the US and China. Azar is set to discuss the international response to the coronavirus, along with supplies of medical equipment and technology, according ...

Bloomberg Lebanon’s minister of information resigned a day after deadly protests against the government’s role in last week’s devastating blast in Beirut, and hours before global leaders gathered to discuss aid to the country. Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad submitted her resignation “in response to the public calls for change,” she said in a televised press conference on Sunday. Nehmat ...

Bloomberg Afghanistan’s government will release hardened Taliban prisoners to clear the final hurdle for direct peace talks with the insurgent group and end the 19-year war. President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday said he would accept the recommendation of the Loya Jirga, a grand national assembly of 3,400 influential members of society, which sought to free 400 Taliban prisoners “in order ...