Bhinneka News Online: Monday Morning Briefing: Choking and crying, Hong Kong protesters pinned back on campus

Monday, 18 November 2019

Monday Morning Briefing: Choking and crying, Hong Kong protesters pinned back on campus

Top Stories

Hong Kong police laid siege to a university on Monday, firing rubber bullets and tear gas to pin back anti-government protesters armed with petrol bombs and other homemade weapons from fleeing amid fears of a bloody crackdown. Dozens, choking on the tear gas, tried to leave the Polytechnic University by breaking through police lines after a night of mayhem in the Chinese-ruled city.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is amplifying her unfavorable comparison of President Donald Trump to fellow Republican Richard Nixon, saying that the disgraced president at least cared enough about the country to leave office before his impeachment.

Police in the California city of Fresno were investigating a mass shooting at a football game party on Sunday in which at least 10 people were shot, killing four, with five others left in critical condition and another wounded, police said.

China on Monday called on the U.S. military to stop flexing its muscles in the South China Sea and to avoid adding “new uncertainties” over Taiwan, during high-level talks that underscored tension between the world’s two largest economies.

World

Bolivians languished in long lines on the streets of La Paz on Sunday to secure chicken, eggs and cooking fuel as supporters of ousted President Evo Morales crippled the country’s highways, isolating population centers from lowland farms.

Russia on Monday handed back three naval ships it captured last year to Ukraine, something Kiev wanted to happen before a four-way peace summit on eastern Ukraine next month in Paris. The handover, confirmed by the two countries’ foreign ministries, occurred in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Switching allegiances? Brexit stirs election doubts around England. Jules Wilde has never voted for Britain’s Conservatives and would hate to do so at the Dec. 12 election, yet for the first time in his life, the 62-year-old carer is considering backing the governing party because of Brexit.

Cambodia’s Princess Norodom Bopha Devi a former minister of culture who helped revive traditional Apsara dance after the 1970s Khmer Rouge “killing fields” regime nearly wiped it out, has died at age 76, the royal palace said on Monday. Bopha Devi at age 5 became a dancer of Khmer ballet, a form of stylized dance created in the royal courts for entertainment and ceremonies.

Business

Saudi Aramco in race for IPO record with $1.7 trillion top value

Saudi Aramco is worth up to $1.7 trillion at the price range set by the oil giant on Sunday, below the $2 trillion sought by Saudi’s crown prince but putting it in the running to become the world’s biggest IPO.

5 min read

Ford bets on an electric Mustang to charge its turnaround

The Mustang Mach E electric sport utility vehicle Ford unveiled in Los Angeles on Sunday is more than another car for the storied automaker. The Mach E has become within Ford a high-profile test for a restructuring that has been marred by profit warnings and costly quality problems.

7 min read

SoftBank to create $30 billion tech giant with Yahoo Japan, Line Corp merger

Japan’s SoftBank plans to merge internet unit Yahoo Japan with messaging app operator Line Corp to create a $30 billion tech giant, as it bags struggling internet companies to bulk up against rivals like Rakuten.

2 min read