Politics

Bloomberg Taiwan announced it is extending its compulsory military service to one year from the current four months, a signal to Beijing and Washington it is serious about defending itself. President Tsai Ing-wen said at a press briefing in Taipei that the change coming in 2024 was necessary to ensure international support and that China’s expansionism threatened regional stability. “This ...

Bloomberg Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has ordered the nation’s army on full alert after weeks of rising tensions in neighbouring Kosovo where the local Serb minority has been confronting the authorities over new registration requirements, putting up road blockades and holding protests that threaten to tip into violence, the defense ministry says. “The President of the Republic of Serbia, as ...

Bloomberg China sent 71 warplanes near Taiwan as a part of its biggest display of military might since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the democratically run island, with Taipei accusing Beijing of “military intimidation.” The Ministry of Defense in Taipei said the flights included 47 Chinese military aircraft that crossed either the median line of the Taiwan Strait or ...

Bloomberg Three servicemen were killed during a Ukrainian drone attack at a military air base in southern Russia that hosts strategic bombers, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said. The military personnel died from falling wreckage when Russian air defenses shot down the drone, the state-run Tass news service reported, citing the ministry. No aircraft were damaged, it said. It’s the ...

  Bloomberg Brazil will reevaluate the procedures for President elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration after an explosive near capital Brasilia’s international airport was disarmed, the country’s incoming justice minister said. Flavio Dino wrote in his official Twitter account that all procedures in the inauguration, set for January 1, “will be reassessed, with a view to strengthen security.” “President ...

  Bloomberg South Korea suspended some commercial flights and scrambled military assets to shoot at drones from North Korea that crossed their heavily armed border on Monday. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the military detected multiple “unidentified objects” in the country’s airspace presumed to be unmanned aerial vehicles crossing the border from 10:25 am in Gyeonggi province, ...

  Bloomberg China may remove quarantine requirements for cross-border travellers between Hong Kong and the mainland as early as January 3, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported, citing mainland official sources. A policy known as “0+3” is being considered, under which travellers to the mainland would no longer be required to undergo five days of quarantine and instead only ...

Bloomberg Several aid groups are suspending operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban imposed a new ban on women working in non-governmental organisations, potentially disrupting humanitarian assistance to millions during the harsh winter months. “If we are not allowed to employ women, we are not able to deliver to those in need,” said the International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of Afghanistan’s ...

Bloomberg With Russia’s invasion now into its 11th month, President Vladimir Putin said the absence of talks to stop the war is not Moscow’s fault. “It’s not we who refuse negotiations, but they,” Putin said in a TV interview. Russia is prepared to discuss “acceptable outcomes,” he added. Air alerts sounded across Ukraine after Russian fighter jets, including one capable ...

  Bloomberg China said it will strive to “recalibrate” its relationship with the US and increase communication with Europe as the country outlines its major diplomatic tasks for next year. “We will follow through on the common understandings reached between the Chinese and US Presidents” and work to bring bilateral relations back on the right course, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi ...