Politics

Bloomberg Voting started in Hong Kong for the primaries of pro-democracy opposition parties, after police raided a polling body working with the movement the night before. Almost 60,000 people voted in the first three hours, according to organisers of the unofficial primary. They are hoping to get at least 170,000 to take part in the vote and on Sunday and ...

Bloomberg Serbian police detained more than 70 protesters who tried to storm the parliament building in the capital Belgrade as anti-government demonstrations triggered earlier this week over a planned virus curfew lapsed into violence again. Riot police used tear gas to repel the charge by a radical group following hours of a peaceful, sit-down rally by supporters of opposition parties. ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people should wear face coverings in shops and go back to work if they can, as he urged the country to try to resume normal life after lockdown. Medical advice is moving in favor of wearing face coverings in all confined spaces, including on public transport and in stores, and the government was ...

Bloomberg Australia is suspending its extradition agreement with Hong Kong and will give skilled migrants from the city five-year visas with a pathway to permanent residence, after China imposed sweeping national security legislation on the financial hub. “Our decision to suspend the extradition agreement with Hong Kong represents an acknowledgment of the fundamental change of circumstances in relation to Hong ...

Bloomberg Croatia and Bulgaria are set for approval to join the waiting room to adopt the euro in what would be the first step toward expanding the currency union since 2015. The decision to allow the two eastern European countries into what’s known as ERM-2 is likely to be taken by euro-region finance ministers meeting on Thursday and on Friday, ...

Bloomberg Serbia’s president denounced violent protests against a proposal to reinstate one of Europe’s strictest lockdown protocols and pledged to restore order as he flew to Paris ahead of European Union-brokered talks on mending ties with Kosovo. Dozens of people have been hurt over two days of clashes between police and anti-government demonstrators in the biggest outbreak of violence against ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha confirmed talks on a cabinet reshuffle to begin after the three ministers quit Thailand’s biggest ruling party. “We’re facing an economic crisis. We have to continue working,” Prayuth said at a briefing on Thursday. “I ask you trust in the system I created. No matter who comes or goes, they’ll have follow my rules.” The ...

Bloomberg New US immigration rules have sent students from Venezuela into a panic about returning to a homeland in crisis. Christian Garcia, who won a grant to finish high school in Germany and now studies international political economy at the College of Idaho, says he is considering seeking political asylum or an internship in order to stay in the US ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel urged the European Union to pull together to face the historic challenges stemming from the coronavirus and changes threatening the bloc’s economic standing. In Brussels after Germany assumed the six-month rotating EU presidency this month, Merkel called for solidarity to tackle the pandemic as well as the risks posed by climate change and the transition to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s latest salvos about Confederate flags and statues and his attacks on racial-justice protesters may provide affirmation to his core supporters, but the rhetoric is increasingly out of step with the way most Americans think in 2020. In the last two days, Trump has condemned Nascar’s decision to ban the Confederate flag from its raceways and criticised ...