Bloomberg China denied reports that it plans to build a naval base in the Solomon Islands, with a Defense Ministry spokesman calling them “fake news.” Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would be a “red line” for his government, after Beijing signed a security pact with the government in Honiara. The ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is weighing the political costs of replacing India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code ahead of national elections in 2024, according to people involved in the plan, a move that risks alienating a broad spectrum of voters. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has begun the process to implement uniform civil ...

Bloomberg North Korean leader Kim Jong-un appears to have lowered his threshold for a nuclear strike, raising the risks for a miscalculation as he rolls out new weapons whose uses range from nearby tactical strikes to threatening the US homeland from afar. Kim signalled a looser policy towards his possible use of atomic weapons at a military parade in Pyongyang ...