Donald Trump has been accused of taking nepotism to alarming new depths after giving his daughter, Ivanka, a prominent role in meetings with the G20 and Kim Jong-un.
Related: #Unwantedivanka: awkward moment at G20 prompts slew of Trump parodies
Continue reading...Officers move to disperse crowds after breakaway group stormed parliament building
Hong Kong police have fired teargas at demonstrators and moved to disperse crowds after protesters stormed the legislative council building and raised the territory’s former colonial flag on the 22nd anniversary of its handover to China.
The dramatic scenes came after a peaceful march of half a million people made its way through other parts of the city as its deepest political crisis in two decades showed no sign of abating. For the past month protesters have been demanding the withdrawal of a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland as anger has grown against Hong Kong authorities and the territory’s chief executive, Carrie Lam.
Continue reading...Hundreds of protesters have stormed the Hong Kong government building on the anniversary of the city's 1997 return to China, destroying pictures and painting walls with graffiti. More than 1 million people have taken to the streets in protest against planned legislation that would permit extraditions to China
Continue reading...The scale of unrest may force the Chinese president to get involved. How will he respond?
The escalating protests in Hong Kong pose a personal challenge to the autocratic rule of Xi Jinping, whose implacable domination of Chinese public life since 2012 has drawn comparisons with Mao Zedong.
Related: Hong Kong protesters attempt to storm government headquarters – live
Continue reading...Demonstrators have attempted to storm the legislative building using a metal trolley and poles on the 22nd anniversary of the territory's return to Chinese rule. More than 1 million people have taken to the streets in protest against planned legislation that would permit extraditions to China
Continue reading...Frustration among opposition protesters in Hong Kong boiled over on Monday, with one group laying siege to the legislative council building and tens of thousands of others marching through the city to demand expanded democracy on the 22nd anniversary of the former British colony’s return to China.
Continue reading...Against a soundtrack of classical music, children learn social skills, dining manners and deportment – hence the books on their heads to teach them how to walk gracefully. Other exercises include how to introduce themselves and greet people, with practice in ‘air kissing’, and what topics are appropriate to discuss at the dinner table
Continue reading...White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow insisted on Sunday Donald Trump is not backing off national security concerns, despite agreeing to allow US companies to sell some components to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
Related: US-China trade talks back on track, says Trump
Continue reading...Pro- and anti-government demonstrators rally, with mass protest planned on Monday
Thousands of pro-government protesters have rallied outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong as tensions rose on the eve of what is expected to be Hong Kong’s fourth mass protest in a month against a controversial extradition law.
While top officials attend a ceremony on 1 July every year to mark the anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover of sovereignty from the UK to China, a large anti-government protest also takes place on the same day.
Continue reading...Agreement to cut 99% of tariffs is first with developing country in Asia and swiftly follows deal with South American bloc
The European Union has signed a landmark free-trade deal with Vietnam, the first of its kind with a developing country in Asia, paving the way for tariff cuts on almost all goods.
The EU has described the deal as “the most ambitious free trade deal ever concluded with a developing country”.
Continue reading...US-North Korea negotiations are back on – but will they lead anywhere?
As it turned out, it was more than a photo op. Donald Trump not only shook hands again with Kim Jong-un and became the first incumbent US president to enter North Korea but also, instead of the expected exchange of pleasantries, sat down with his counterpart and talked for an hour in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the Koreas. And there was a tangible outcome.
Meetings between US and North Korean working groups will restart four months after they broke down at the Hanoi summit in February. Real negotiations are back on. The question, as ever, is whether they will lead anywhere.
Continue reading...US president hails ‘great honour’ of crossing border at impromptu meeting
Donald Trump has invited Kim Jong-un to the US after becoming the first sitting American president to enter North Korea.
The apparently impromptu meeting came about after Trump tweeted an invitation to Kim on Saturday from the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.
Continue reading...The US president has met North Korea’s leader, becoming the first US president to set foot on North Korean soil. The meeting was held in the demilitarised zone. ‘I just want to say this is my honour,’ Trump said, adding: ‘Stepping across that line is a great honour – great progress has been made, great friendships have been made and this has been, in particular, a great friendship.’ The president also took the opportunity to invite Kim to the US
Continue reading...President tweeted invitation to ‘say hello’ to Kim and says ‘a handshake means a lot’
So we are now just waiting for Donald Trump’s handshake meeting with Kim Jong-un, which Trump said would happen in four minutes (roughly 10 minutes ago).
Confirmation that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are in the DMZ with the president.
Yeah, Javanka there. Iron-clad stares. https://t.co/CqTunSPTDI pic.twitter.com/8Nfs6JgosG
Continue reading...Hong Kong has seen its biggest political crisis in decades, but Beijing cannot afford to let the dissent go unpunished
The Communist Party has always been aware of the power of mass protests.
Mao Zedong in 1930 famously used the traditional saying: “a single spark can start a prairie fire” to remind fellow Communists the power of strikes and uprisings when they were a fledgling opposition party under the one-party Nationalist rule.
Continue reading...President says US will not impose further tariffs after meeting with Xi Jinping at G20
Donald Trump has declared US trade negotiations with China to be “right back on track” after a highly anticipated meeting with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka.
Trump said the US would not impose further tariffs in a trade war that other world leaders have warned could threaten the global economy, and added that the world’s two biggest economies would restart negotiations on a trade deal.
Continue reading...Officials say local affiliate Abu Sayyaf was likely behind blast that targeted elite army unit
Five people including three soldiers were killed in a bombing targeting an elite army unit in the Philippines’s restive south, which Islamic State claimed was a suicide attack, authorities and experts said.
The military said the kidnap-for-ransom group and Isis-affiliate Abu Sayyaf was likely behind the midday blast on the island of Jolo on Friday, which also left nine other soldiers wounded.
Continue reading...Park theatre, London
A mother’s fierce love lies at the heart of Tuyen Do’s nuanced portrait of a family forging a new life in the UK
A light Vietnamese dish served at a family’s restaurant? Or a sneaky spliff rolled by their unruly daughter? Double meanings lie at the heart of the intriguing Summer Rolls by Tuyen Do. It’s an intimate domestic drama, sketched with compassion and steely honesty, about a family who have left war-torn Vietnam and are struggling to forge a shared future in the safety (or is that boredom?) of Essex.
The shifting dynamics – as slippery as the language that young Mai’s parents struggle to adopt – are fascinating to observe. At the centre of the home (coolly lit by Jessica Hung Han Yun) is the mother, otherwise unnamed and played with a brittle ferocity by Linh-Dan Pham. She is the family’s fulcrum: the one who sets the tone (tense), who holds together the family sewing business (fragile), who later runs the restaurant (success!) and who still, when desperately ill, commands the family with a blazing love that is both frightening and comforting.
Continue reading...Wife of Wang Quanzhang says his health has deteriorated after four years incarceration
The wife of the jailed Chinese human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang has described her husband as a “totally changed man” after she and her son were allowed to see him for the first time since he disappeared nearly four years ago.
Wang, 43, was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison in January for “subverting state power” after a closed-door trial.
Continue reading...Leaders from G20 countries gather in Osaka, Japan, to discuss economic and geopolitical issues and the climate crisis
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