Politics

Bloomberg Thousands of demonstrators who surrounded Hong Kong police headquarters dispersed peacefully after they had blocked all entrances to the building for 15 hours as part of ongoing protests over a proposed China-backed extradition bill. Protesters began converging on the police complex in the Wan Chai district after moving over from the nearby central government building, which Chief Executive Carrie ...

Bloomberg Both China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un have suffered from President Donald Trump’s penchant for walking away from talks. Now, he’ll have to worry about what they tell each other behind closed doors. Xi’s state visit to Pyongyang on Thursday — the first such visit by a Chinese president in 14 years — will showcase a renewed ...

Bloomberg President Hassan Rouhani said Iran’s decision to end its compliance with some measures within the nuclear deal were the “minimum” that the Islamic Republic could do in response to the US violating the landmark accord, according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency (INSA). Rouhani said “the other side in the agreement” hadn’t only failed to fulfil its obligations ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is “strong evidence” supporting a US accusation that Iran was behind last week’s attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. “We of course take these explanations very seriously, and there is strong evidence,” the German Chancellor said at a news conference after talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin. “But ...

Bloomberg Japan rejected a South Korean proposal for a joint compensation fund to resolve a dispute over colonial-era forced labour claims, in the latest sign of strain between the two US allies. South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it was willing to consider diplomatic talks about compensation for Koreans forced to work for Japanese companies before and during World War II. ...

Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ruled out the possibility of censuring President Donald Trump as an alternative to impeachment, saying that it would be a half-way measure and little more than “a way out.” “Censure is nice but it is not commensurate with the violations of the Constitution, should we decide that is the way to go,” Pelosi told reporters ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson extended his lead over his rivals in the race to become Britain’s next prime minister, and looked poised to pick up more votes as the hardest Brexiteer in the contest was eliminated. This week will see Conservative members of parliament narrow the field of possible successors to Theresa May down to two candidates, who will then be ...

Bloomberg The Pentagon plans to send about 1,000 more troops to the Middle East as tensions rise between the US and Iran, though President Donald Trump called two recent tanker attacks blamed on the Islamic Republic “very minor.” “I have authorised approximately 1,000 additional troops for defensive purposes to address air, naval, and ground-based threats in the Middle East,” Acting ...

Bloomberg Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed a drone laden with explosives over the city of Abha, state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported. Another was intercepted and destroyed over Yemeni skies on its way to the kingdom, according to SPA, which cited Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki. Houthi rebels in Yemen have repeatedly attacked Saudi Arabia’s Abha international airport in recent ...

Bloomberg More than 27,000 people have been killed in attacks in northeastern Nigeria since 2009, the United Nations said. “The humanitarian crisis in northeast Nigeria is one of the most severe in the world and is first and foremost a protection crisis,” Edward Kallon, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, said in emailed statement. “Women, men and children face grave ...