Bloomberg Hong Kong’s John Lee drew the lowest approval rating in a decade for a new chief executive, underscoring the challenges he’ll face winning over a city that’s facing some of the world’s strictest Covid restrictions. The percentage of people expressing confidence in Lee, who took over as Hong Kong’s fifth chief executive last month, was 45%, according to ...

Bloomberg Moscow is leaning towards rejecting a prisoner swap unless it gets two Russians in return for the two Americans the US wants released, according to people familiar with the Kremlin’s thinking. The US has called on Russia to free WNBA player Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, offering to free convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout. Discussions have ...

  Bloomberg China’s banks face mortgage losses of $350 billion in a worst-case scenario as confidence plunges in the nation’s property market and authorities struggle to contain deepening turmoil. A spiralling crisis of stalled projects has dented the confidence of hundreds of thousands of homebuyers, triggering a mortgage boycott across more than 90 cities and warnings of broader systemic risks. ...