Twitter and Facebook have taken steps to block what they described as a state-backed Chinese misinformation campaign. Twitter said it removed 936 accounts it said were being used to “sow political discord in Hong Kong”. The network said the accounts originated in mainland China and were part of a coordinated attempt to undermine the “legitimacy and political positions of the protest movement”.

Facebook said it had, after being tipped off by Twitter, removed "seven Pages, three Groups and five Facebook accounts.” "They frequently posted about local political news and issues including topics like the ongoing protests in Hong Kong,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of cyber-security policy. "Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to individuals associated with the Chinese government."

In addition to the 936 specific accounts, Twitter said as many as 200,000 other accounts, designed to amplify the misinformation, were “proactively” suspended before becoming "substantially active”. "Based on our intensive investigations,” the firm said in a statement, “we have reliable evidence to support that this is a coordinated state-backed operation.

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Hong Kong has been in turmoil for weeks, with protesters causing chaos at the airport earlier this week. Mr Trump had previously appeared to suggest that he himself should meet Mr Xi to discuss the crisis in the city.

Millions of Hong Kong citizens have taken part in 10 weeks of anti-government protests. Also on Thursday, the Chinese ambassador to the UK warned that Beijing would intervene in Hong Kong if events deteriorated further. He said the territory was facing its gravest situation since it was handed back from the UK to China in 1997.

The tumultuous pro-democracy protests were sparked by opposition to a bill that would have allowed extraditions from Hong Kong to mainland China. In an earlier tweet, Mr Trump said he had "ZERO doubt" that Mr Xi could "humanely solve the Hong Kong problem". He also tied the protests to a US trade deal with Beijing, in the face of ongoing trade tensions

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Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, said the sanctions were "extremely broad" and would hit the most vulnerable sections of society. The unilateral measures freeze all Venezuelan government assets in the US and ban commercial transactions. They are aimed at piling pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to step down. The US is one of more than 50 nations that do not recognise Mr Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president.

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COMPASS Point proprietor Leigh Rodney yesterday doubled down on his threat to make the historic resort disappear if the government does not take credible steps to improve the ease of doing business.

Mr Rodney told The Tribune he felt his demands were reasonable given the Free National Movement’s reform promises on the campaign trail.