Politics

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 — ...

Texas / WAM A man armed with a rifle opened fire at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, killing 20 people and wounding 26 others as panicked shoppers and employees scurried for cover before the gunman surrendered to police at the scene, Reuters has reported. Many shoppers in the busy store were buying back-to-school supplies when they found themselves ...

Bloomberg Sudan’s ruling military council signed a deal with its political opposition outlining how they’ll share power in a three-year transitional government, the latest step towards democracy after President Omar al-Bashir’s overthrow. The two sides inked the so-called constitutional declaration on Sunday in the capital, Khartoum. The African Union’s envoy to Sudan, Mohamed el-Hassan Lebatt, said at the ceremony that ...

Bloomberg China’s central government won’t sit by and let the disruption in Hong Kong go on, according a commentary by the Xinhua News Agency, which condemned the violence that’s wracked the financial hub for weeks and took aim at protesters whom it said tossed a Chinese national flag into the harbour. “We must warn all the ugly forces that try ...

Bloomberg Russian police detained almost 700 people, including opposition leaders, at Moscow protests against the authorities’ decision to ban anti-Kremlin candidates from running for the city council next month, according to independent legal-aid group OVD-Info. The number of protesters being held reached 685 as of 6:40 pm local time, the group estimated on its website. The Moscow police unit on ...

Bloomberg Calls by some top Democratic presidential contenders to decriminalise border crossings have divided the party and risk turning the issue of immigration into one that President Donald Trump eagerly exploits during his 2020 re-election bid. Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris are among the leading candidates who’d make illegally crossing the border a civil rather than a ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said that North Korea’s recent tests of short-range rockets and missiles may run afoul of United Nations resolutions but haven’t violated agreements with his administration. North Korea conducted its third test in a week of a new short-range ballistic missile that weapons experts say was designed to strike US allies in East Asia. Its leader Kim ...

Bloomberg The US imposed a second round of sanctions on Russia for using a nerve agent in an assassination attempt last year. The additional sanctions will prohibit US banks from participating in the issuance of Russian sovereign debt, the State Department said in an emailed statement. The sanctions will take effect following the publication of a federal register notice on ...

Bloomberg Authorities in Thailand tightened security in Bangkok as they probed a series of small blasts that hit the city, injuring at least four people. Some of the explosions were caused by homemade bombs and the incidents could be linked, the police said. Blasts occurred at a government complex, a suburban road, below a downtown metro station and near an ...