Like 2021, next year will be a pivotal one for Hong Kong and China. For the former British colony, the template appears set: The system has been remade to entrench Beijing’s control, freedoms that were guaranteed under “one country, two systems” have been eroded, hundreds are in prison for political offenses, and tens of thousands of people who can are ...

  Imagine this: You test positive for Covid-19 and begin self-isolating at home. It’s Day Two of quarantine and you’re happier than Kevin McCallister in “Home Alone.” You’ve already completed a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle and binged the entire second season of “Emily in Paris” on Netflix. Everything is just peachy — until some authorities in hazmat suits barge in on ...

  In mid-1989, shortly before the collapse of the USSR, an outgoing Rand Corporation Soviet-watcher named Francis Fukuyama captivated the chattering classes with an essay predicting “The End of History.” Short version: The impending demise of communism made the universal triumph of liberal democracy all but inevitable. To borrow from what Wordsworth said about the French Revolution, that would have ...

  Bloomberg Talks are underway between the US and China on possible changes to apparent new aircraft-cleaning requirements that prompted a Delta Air Lines Inc flight to turn back to Seattle and that could upend air travel into the Asian nation. The discussions were confirmed on Tuesday by a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. China’s new ...

  Bloomberg Apple Inc put Foxconn Technology Group’s factory in southern India on probation following worker protests and an investigation that revealed substandard living conditions. Foxconn, which uses the facility to assemble iPhones among other gadgets, apologized for the lapses in health standards and pledged to revamp its management and operations in the country. The factory, located in Sriperumbudur on ...

  Bloomberg US freight forwarder Flexport Inc will help fly three planes loaded with potatoes to Japan, where a shortage of spuds has caused McDonald’s in the country to ration french fries. “Flexport just contracted to fly three 747 loads of potatoes to Japan to help with the French fry shortage,” Chief Executive Officer Ryan Petersen said in a tweet, ...

  Bloomberg The US merchandise-trade deficit widened to a record in November as imports surged to an all-time high. The gap increased to $97.8 billion last month from a revised $83.2 billion in October, according to Commerce Department data released on Wednesday. The figure exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The data aren’t adjusted for inflation. The ...

  Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is in talks with a state-owned conglomerate about a potential deal involving its stake in Weibo Corp, as Beijing moves to curb the influence of China’s tech giants in the sensitive media sphere. China’s e-commerce leader is exploring options for its roughly 30% slice of the Twitter-like social media service, according to people familiar ...

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s biggest remaining pro-democracy news outlet closed after becoming the target of a national security investigation, capping a year of historic strokes by Beijing to silence dissent in the Asian financial center. Stand News announced on Wednesday on Facebook that it would immediately lay off all staff and cease operations, and take down its website and social ...

  Bloomberg Pressure is piling on President Jair Bolsonaro to provide more financial aid to Brazilian states affected by heavy rains that have left several cities underwater and thousands of people homeless. The president, who’s vacationing at a beach in the south of country, published a decree setting aside 200 million reais ($35.5 million) to rebuild highways and roads destroyed ...