Politics

Bloomberg Six weeks after US President Donald Trump took his historic first steps into North Korea, talks with Kim Jong-un appear to be back on the verge of collapse. North Korea’s foreign ministry renewed its threat to take “new road” in negotiations with the US, saying Washington and Seoul would “pay a heavy price” if they continued to disregard the ...

Bloomberg China urged Hong Kong residents to stand up to protesters challenging the government, after a general strike that led to a day of traffic chaos, mob violence, tear gas and flight cancellations. In some of the Chinese government’s strongest comments yet on the unrest gripping the Asian financial hub, the top agency overseeing Hong Kong reiterated support for local ...

Bloomberg The Taliban has warned Afghan citizens to boycott presidential elections or face attacks at rallies, as the militant group nears a peace deal with the US. The polls are a “ploy to deceive the common people” because foreigners hold the ultimate decision-making power, according to a statement emailed by the group’s spokesman Yousef Ahmadi, referring to the US and ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump imposed further sanctions on Venezuela, freezing the government’s assets in the US and adding immigration restrictions in a move aimed at stepping up pressure on the regime of Nicolas Maduro. Property belonging to the Venezuelan government “may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in,” Trump said in an executive order by the White ...

Bloomberg India has revoked the special constitutional status of Kashmir in a move that’s drawn protests in parliament and risks worsening its already fraught security relationship with rival Pakistan in the disputed region. It took Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government just a couple of hours to erase seven decades of autonomous state government in Kashmir, which analysts say is aimed ...

Bloomberg Egypt’s government said extremists were behind a blast that killed at least 20 people in central Cairo, one of the deadliest acts of violence by extremists in the North African nation’s capital in years. Extremists were transporting an explosives-laden vehicle for an attack when it detonated outside the National Cancer Institute, the Interior Ministry said. Forty-seven other people were ...

Bloomberg Somalian authorities executed two al-Shabaab militants who were convicted for a December attack that killed at least 13 people in the capital, Mogadishu. The men “were executed by firing squad on Monday morning,” Chairman of the Somali military court Hassan Ali Nur told reporters. The al-Qaeda-linked militants have waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2006 in a bid to ...

Bloomberg Iran is responsible for security in the Persian Gulf and is acting more vigorously to protect it, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, suggesting that a showdown between his country and Western powers over crucial shipping lanes could escalate. “We used to overlook some violations but no longer,” Zarif said at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Tehran. ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam warned of a “very dangerous situation” as protesters moved to shut down the Asian financial hub with a general strike on Monday after a ninth straight weekend of unrest in opposition to China’s tightening grip. Demonstrators hampered the financial hub’s busy morning commute with actions that left traffic snarled, subway lines inoperable and airport ...

Bloomberg The deadly mass shootings in Texas and Ohio have reignited criticism of President Donald Trump’s divisive rhetoric about immigrants and minorities. Several Democratic presidential hopefuls called for reinstating the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004, while many accused Trump of stoking racial animus — he’s described Mexican and Central American immigrants as criminals and gang members — ...