Bloomberg Even as China continues to return fire at the Trump administration, leaders in Beijing are also signalling they want to ease tensions with the US as the clock ticks down to the presidential election. Trump’s moves to ban popular Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat ahead of sending the highest-ranking American official to Taiwan in 40 years — which included ...

Bloomberg Slovakia expelled three Russian diplomats on suspicion of spying, marking a shift in the Nato and European Union member’s approach towards Moscow. The three officials “carried out activities violating the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations” and must leave the country by the end of the week, Slovakia’s Foreign Ministry said. The decision was taken last week by the new ...

Bloomberg Lebanon’s political leaders are expected to launch parliamentary consultations to choose a new prime minister after Hassan Diab’s government resigned over the devastating explosion at Beirut’s port. The nomination process by parliament’s various factions will be a litmus test of whether the August 4 port disaster marks an inflection point in Lebanese politics, or a continuation of decades of ...

Bloomberg Student protesters in Thailand are stepping up pressure on the military-backed government with calls for greater democracy and less power for the monarchy, a potentially explosive demand just as leaders struggle to handle the country’s worst-ever economic crisis. Thousands of demonstrators gathered again as part of near-daily gatherings across Thailand, which have gained momentum after the arrests of top ...

Bloomberg New Zealand’s world-beating run of being Covid-free has come to an end, with the detection of new cases prompting the government to put largest city Auckland into lockdown. Authorities have detected four cases of coronavirus in one Auckland household from an unknown source, and contact tracing is now underway to prevent further spread, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said late ...

Bloomberg Britain’s mounting labour market crisis was underscored by a 220,000 slump in employment during the height of the coronavirus lockdown, the worst decline since the global financial crisis. The fall in the second quarter coincided with a period that saw the most strict restrictions to contain the spread of the disease. The Office for National Statistics said early indicators ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s decision to extend a student-loan freeze will take away a financial risk for tens of millions of US households, who now won’t have to resume paying back about $1.2 trillion of debt until at least 2021. The measure, one of four executive actions Trump took on August 8, keeps both repayments and the accumulation of interest ...

Bloomberg Hertz Global Holdings Inc. is seeking debtor-in-possession financing more than two months after filing for Chapter 11 protection, reflecting the reality that it still faces trouble ahead if travel doesn’t bounce back. The bankrupt rental-car giant said it is looking for new sources of cash with the travel business in a deep slump and proceeds from the sale of ...

Bloomberg Mark Carney, the only person to run two major nations’ central banks, is helping Justin Trudeau craft next steps in a plan to pull Canada out of a deep recession sparked by the coronavirus. Five months after stepping down as Bank of England governor, Carney has become an informal adviser on policy matters with the Canadian prime minister. Trudeau ...

Bloomberg Finland will quarantine travellers from most of the world to halt the spread of Covid-19. Just 25 countries are currently exempt from the mandatory quarantine, Krista Kiuru, minister for family affairs and social services, told reporters. Passengers who fail to comply face at most three months jail time or a fine and airlines will be required to disclose transit ...