Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said that China “understands, respects and supports”her government’s move to formally withdraw an extradition bill, part of measures she hoped would help the city “move forward” from months of unrest. In a press conference, Lam was repeatedly questioned on why it took her so long to withdraw the bill that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China despite increasingly violent protests, but she skirted the questions. “It is not exactly correct to describe this as a change of mind,” Lam said. Here is a look at how important Hong Kong is to the rest of China.
A new Italian government was sworn into office,with the pro-European Democratic Party flanking the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement in an unlikely alliance that has been cheered on by financial markets. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte led his new team of seven women and 14 men in the swearing-in ceremony in the gilded presidential palace.
A Ukrainian court released on bail a mansuspected of involvement in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014 that killed 298 people. A judge said that Volodymyr Tsemakh, whom Ukraine’s security service has identified as a former commander of Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, should be released from custody immediately, pending further investigations.
China and the United States agreed to hold high-level trade talks in early October in Washington, amid fears that an escalating trade war could trigger a global economic recession.
German industrial orders fell more than expected in July on weak demand from abroad, data showed, suggesting that struggling manufacturers could tip Europe’s biggest economy into a recession in the third quarter.
Nissan Motor was embroiled in another scandal over executive pay after Chief Executive Hiroto Saikawa admitted to being overpaid in violation of internal procedures under a scheme designed by ousted Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
