Politics

Bloomberg US sanctions on Iran are not only reverberating through the oil world, but also the agricultural market in Latin America. At least two Iranian vessels set to carry Brazilian corn are stranded off the Latin American nation’s coast because they can’t get fuel, according to the port authority at Paranagua, about 450 kilometres south of Sao Paulo. State-controlled oil ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s election will be an opportunity for voters to choose cross-strait peace or crisis, said Kaohsiung City Mayor Han Kuo-yu, who was nominated as the presidential nominee by the opposition Kuomintang party at the national congress on Sunday. Han, whose campaign slogan is “Taiwan safe, people rich,” was selected to challenge incumbent Tsai Ing-wen in the presidential poll in ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong demonstrators and police clashed for a second straight day as the city’s China-backed government struggles to quell growing discontent and amid violent clashes that have marred the historic movement in recent weeks. Police fired volleys of tear gas at hundreds of black-shirted protesters on Sunday in Sai Ying Pun, a residential and business area where the Chinese ...

Bloomberg The US reached a deal with Guatemala to stop migrants from other parts of Central America from claiming asylum in the US, President Donald Trump said, and will instead force them to file a claim in Guatemala, a nation that one refugee advocacy group said is neither safe nor able to handle the task. Trump told reporters during a ...

Bloomberg Russian authorities detained prominent opposition politician Ilya Yashin overnight and moved him to a Moscow suburb before a planned protest in the capital. Ten masked police officers transported him from his apartment to the city of Troitsk, Yashin said on his Facebook page. The move follows a series of raids on the homes of activists involved in promoting the ...

Bloomberg The US called on Russia to release jailed Ukrainian sailors and enable a prisoner exchange, US State Department Special Representative Kurt Volker told reporters in Kiev. Russia seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and imprisoned their two dozen crew members in November, accusing them of violating its territorial waters. The incident occurred off the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong police and protesters fought pitched battles in the northern district of Yuen Long where demonstrators converged for a march after stick-wielding mobs attacked train commuters and demonstrators on Sunday. Riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray as demonstrators hurled projectiles at them and vandalised a vehicle. The protesters, mostly clad in black and some wearing protective ...

Bloomberg Chilean police are scratching their heads over who sent two sophisticated package bombs without claiming responsibility or making any demands. The first bomb exploded at a police station in northern Santiago, leaving five policemen hospitalised. The second was intercepted at the headquarters of Quinenco SA, one of the holding companies through which Chile’s richest family controls Banco de Chile. ...

Bloomberg Australia is facing an “unprecedented” wave of espionage, including cyber-attacks and traditional spy craft, The Australian newspaper reported. The country is facing daily threats of foreign interference, the paper reported, citing outgoing spy chief Duncan Lewis, who is director general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). The unprecedented level of attempted interference was a direct result of globalisation, ...

Bloomberg China accused the US of undermining global stability, as the country released its first defense white paper since Chinese President Xi Jinping initiated a sweeping military overhaul in 2015. The paper titled “China’s National Defense in the New Era” — in a reference to a key Xi slogan — said that the US had provoked competition among major countries. ...