Bloomberg Civilians in Afghanistan have taken up arms to push back against the Taliban as the militants fight for control of a crucial northern city and make deeper territorial inroads with the US set to withdraw all troops by September. The insurgents are battling to take control of strategic cities in the country’s north, including its regional hub Mazar-e-Sharif, after ...

Bloomberg Kim Jong Un’s sister said the US has “wrong” views in thinking North Korea might be offering an opening to return to talks, in comments coming shortly after an envoy for President Joe Biden said the US was ready for dialogue “anywhere, anytime” with Pyongyang. The official Korean Central News Agency released a statement from Kim Yo Jong on ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s parliament has unlocked a process for an overhaul of the constitution, one of the key of demands by a youth-led protest movement that has swept the nation in the past year. Lawmakers in the Senate and the Lower House voted to endorse a bill that would pave the way for a public poll on rewriting the charter. The ...

Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to jail those who refuse Covid-19 vaccines as the nation ramps up inoculations to prevent the spread of the highly contagious delta variant. “If you’re a person who’s not vaccinated and a potential carrier, to protect the people, I have to sequester you in jail,” Duterte said. Village leaders should keep a list of ...

Bloomberg The UK remains Europe’s most attractive destination for financial services investment but its lead has narrowed, according to a survey by the consultants EY. The UK attracted 56 financial services projects in 2020, still the highest in Europe yet down 43 projects from 2019, marking the largest year-on-year decline in a decade. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in financial services ...

Bloomberg The European Union (EU) is working towards having the US lift its national-security tariffs on metal imports by the end of the year, EU Ambassador to Washington Stavros Lambrinidis said. “We’re going to be sitting down in the next five months until the end of the year — we’re going to try to address the fundamental issue of overcapacity ...

Bloomberg Italy introduced a five-day quarantine and mandatory testing for travellers from the UK, a restriction that will weaken an economic rebound reliant on summer tourism. The UK is one of the biggest sources of travellers to Italy during normal times, though its role has been diminished as a rise in coronavirus cases slowed its travel reopening. Britons will now ...

Bloomberg Nokia Oyj plans to redesign its offices globally, adapting workplaces in 130 countries to a more flexible post-pandemic work environment. The Finnish company is seeking to capture the benefits of having had virtually all staff work remotely for the past 15 months. Starting next year, roughly 70% of office space will be dedicated to collaboration and team work and ...

Bloomberg Google’s parent firm plans to close its seven-story hub devoted to helping startups in London’s Shoreditch district and replace it with virtual services following the shift to home-working. The move comes after the pandemic showed Alphabet Inc that it could serve young firms across the country without the need for a physical space, according to a statement. Google was ...

Bloomberg Two blockbuster billion-dollar public offerings (IPOs) of tech unicorns set for later this year in Indonesia are fuelling demand for affiliated stocks, sending their shares to multiyear highs. Retailer PT Matahari Putra Prima has surged 929% this year while TV operator PT Elang Mahkota Teknologi gained 65% in the same period. Matahari is 4.7% owned by ride-hailing giant PT ...