Bloomberg Weather, terrain and human factors were behind the crash of a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter in January that killed eight defense ministry officers including Taiwan’s top uniformed military officer. An initial investigation report showed that cloud and mist were thick due to sudden changes in the weather in the mountainous area, the Ministry of National Defense’s Air Force Command ...
Read More »Politics
Putin squeezes Lukashenko in drive to skirt term limits
Bloomberg Vladimir Putin’s surprise firing of Russia’s government and unveiling of constitutional changes that would weaken the presidency may only be Plan B for retaining power after his final term ends in 2024. In the month before Putin’s January 15 announcement, he’d pushed hard to convince his longer-serving counterpart in Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, to revive a moribund agreement to create ...
Read More »Bernie Sanders tightens his grip on US presidential race
Bloomberg Bernie Sanders’s narrow win in New Hampshire makes him the undisputed leader of the Democratic Party’s left flank, with a second powerful showing that puts him in position to stake a claim to the Democratic presidential nomination as the race turns west and south. A surprisingly strong third-place showing from Amy Klobuchar in New Hampshire further scrambles the race ...
Read More »Virus shuts N Korea’s best route around Trump sanctions
Bloomberg North Korea’s decision to shut the border with China to avoid the coronavirus will set back its nascent economic recovery, renewing pressure on Kim Jong-un to return to nuclear negotiations with Donald Trump. A jump in fuel prices, a dip in port activity and the suspension of train and air links show the early impact as reports emerge of ...
Read More »Guaido returns to clashes after global tour
Bloomberg Opposition leader Juan Guaido returned to Venezuela to a chaotic scene at Caracas’s international airport, as President Nicolas Maduro’s loyalists clashed with opposition lawmakers there to greet him. After passing through customs and immigration, Guaido was swarmed by the clashing lawmakers and Maduro backers. He and his travelling entourage were able to leave the airport without being arrested for ...
Read More »Italy senate votes for trial of Salvini in migrant case
Bloomberg Matteo Salvini will stand trial for refusing to allow stranded migrants to enter Italy, an outcome he sought as it could bring one of his favourite themes to the forefront of the nation’s political debate. In a preliminary vote, the Rome-based Senate gave the go-ahead to a trial for Salvini, leader of the right-wing League party, after he blocked ...
Read More »Delhi defeat marks a third state election loss for Modi
Bloomberg Prime minister Narendra Modi’s federal ruling party conceded defeat in a hard-fought state election for control of India’s capital Delhi, the most significant test of his popularity after his religion-based citizenship law led to widespread protests across the country. The incumbent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led-by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, was set to retain power as it swept ahead ...
Read More »Trump administration sued over Global Entry
Bloomberg New York sued the Trump administration over its plan to bar state residents from enrolling in the federal government Trusted Traveler programs like Global Entry, which allow pre-screened participants to breeze through airport passport and customs checks. The lawsuit against the US Department of Homeland Security was filed in federal court in Manhattan by New York Attorney General Letitia ...
Read More »Pak ignores criticism over not evacuating students amid virus
Bloomberg Pakistan’s government ignored criticism over the delay in evacuating its students from China and its lawmakers found unanimity in an otherwise divided parliament to praise its key economic partner and ally Beijing’s response to the novel coronavirus outbreak. The nation’s parliament unanimously adopted a resolution appreciating “the leadership of President Xi Jinping, who is a great friend of Pakistan, ...
Read More »Duterte to scrap US military agreement
Bloomberg The Philippines has notified the US that it’s terminating a 22-year-old military agreement, which can be ended with 180-days notice, just hours after President Rodrigo Duterte said President Donald Trump was trying to save the deal. The notice to terminate the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement — which sets the terms for joint exercises and engagement of American soldiers in ...
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