Politics

Bloomberg The US government tightened visa rules for Chinese journalists in the latest retaliatory measure in an ongoing spat between the two countries over media access. The regulation will limit visas for Chinese journalists to a 90-day period, while allowing them to apply for extensions, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security. Previously, the reporters were permitted ...

Bloomberg The US delayed an annual report to Congress assessing Hong Kong’s autonomy, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said, amid signals that China’s top agency in the city could take a more hands-on role. The postponement will “allow us to account for any additional actions that Beijing may be contemplating in the run-up to the National People’s Congress that would ...

Bloomberg An overnight gas leak at an LG Chem Ltd polymer plant in southern India has killed at least 11 people and forced the evacuation of thousands in the city of Visakhapatnam after the company tried to restart operations following the partial easing of the country’s coronavirus lockdown. “The unfortunate event took place past midnight when they tried to restart ...

Bloomberg The World Health Organization (WHO) is considering a new mission to seek the source of the coronavirus in China, amid growing controversy over the origin of a pandemic that has killed more than a quarter of a million people. “Without knowing where the animal origin is, it’s hard to prevent it from happening again,” Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO ...

Bloomberg France will lay out its plan to roll back lockdown measures, joining countries including Germany, Italy and the Netherlands in easing restrictions as the economic pain from the fallout of the coronavirus intensifies. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was expected to unveil final details of his plan to end curbs on public life on Thursday. The country is preparing ...

Bloomberg Japan was set to approve on Thursday the antiviral drug remdesivir for use against the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, without giving details. The relatively quick move by Japan’s usually conservative authorities is expected days after the US authorised Gilead Sciences Inc’s drug for emergency use on virus patients. Abe did not indicate in an interview earlier ...

Bloomberg China fired back at US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, saying he has no evidence to back up claims that the virus that causes Covid-19 escaped from a lab in the central city of Wuhan. The US attacks on China were part of an election year strategy by President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of this year’s election, Chinese ...

Bloomberg US President Donald Trump supports Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s proposal to hold a summit of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the American ambassador to Moscow said in an interview with a Russian news service. Trump sent a message recently to President Putin describing the initiative as a “good idea,” the Interfax news service cited ...

Bloomberg Italy’s Giuseppe Conte is insisting that he’ll serve out his full term as premier as tensions within his ruling coalition build up amid a struggle to restart the crippled economy. The current government is certain to reach the end of its term in 2023, Conte told newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano in an interview published on Wednesday. “The forces of ...

Bloomberg Hungary should no longer be considered a democracy after an unprecedented consolidation of power by the European Union member’s leader, according to an annual survey of countries that once lay behind the Iron Curtain. Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s dismantling of checks and balances over the past decade, including a decision to indefinitely rule by decree triggered by the coronavirus ...