Bloomberg Secretary of State Michael Pompeo met officials from the Taliban and Afghan government as the US seeks to keep peace negotiations on track amid renewed violence and a surprise move by the White House to accelerate the withdrawal of US troops. The Trump administration will “sit on the side and help where we can,” Pompeo said at a meeting ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong and former Demosisto members Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam plan to plead guilty to all charges related to a siege of police headquarters in June last year. Immediate detainment could follow, Wong wrote in a Facebook post, as a trial will be skipped and the hearing set to resume on Monday will proceed straight ...

Bloomberg Voting began in Burkina Faso, where President Roch Marc Christian Kabore has spent most of his five years in office fighting an insurgency that’s forced a million people to flee their homes. He’s likely to win a second term as the insecurity disrupts voting in opposition strongholds. Large swathes of the West African gold producer have become ungovernable since ...

Bloomberg Land Rover was among the first automakers to forge a path in the highly profitable market for luxury sport utility vehicles, simplifying the technology for affluent but inexperienced off-road drivers. But the foreign-made rivals in the British company’s rearview mirror have grown closer than they might appear. Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc asked a US trade agency to block ...

Bloomberg Italy’s government sought parliamentary approval for 8 billion euros ($9.5 billion) of extra deficit this year, as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte battles to shield the fragile economy from a coronavirus resurgence. A cabinet meeting chaired by Conte approved the request to parliament, according to a statement by the premier’s office. The government also signed off on a third package ...

Bloomberg The US and Taiwan signed a pact to establish annual economic talks for five years despite objections by China to Washington’s support for Taipei. The memorandum of understanding was signed after an inaugural round of economic talks in Washington. Future discussions will alternate between the US and Taipei, Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, said in ...

Bloomberg Nissan Motor is looking to breathe new life into its full-size pickup truck by electrifying it with the help of a Detroit-based startup, according to people familiar with the matter. The Japanese automaker is considering buying a battery-electric powertrain from Hercules Electric Vehicles for its Titan pickup and sharing parts for the startup’s own truck in a prospective strategic ...

Bloomberg Trial successes from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc have buoyed hopes that a Covid-19 vaccine is coming soon. But much of the world, outside of rich nations like the US, is counting on another company’s shot to escape the crisis. Findings from the final stage of AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine studies are due to be released shortly, and the stakes ...

Bloomberg Traders might have surmised that rising coronavirus cases and turmoil atop the government would breed at least the beginnings of caution among investors. Not so much. In what is shaping up as a historic month for equities, exchange-traded funds focussed on US stocks were just hit with one of the biggest deluges of cash ever recorded, attracting nearly $53 ...

Bloomberg Bitcoin mania is back and with it, the return of sky-high predictions from celebrity crypto fund managers to Wall Street stalwarts of where it can go next. The world’s largest digital currency is in the midst of an exuberant rally that this week saw it cross above $18,800 for the first time in almost three years. Strategists and crypto ...