International News

  Bloomberg President Barack Obama said he expects the U.S. Congress to vote on a trade deal with Asia-Pacific nations after the primary season over, and that his administration will complete negotiations on a similar pact with the European Union by the end of his presidency. “When we’re in the heat of campaigns people are naturally going to worry more ...

  Vienna / AFP Ukraine marks the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster today, when human error and flawed Soviet reactor technology led to the world’s worst nuclear accident. AFP looks at the steps taken since 1986 to improve nuclear safety around the world and — as Fukushima showed in 2011 — the challenges that remain. Only in the USSR? ...

  Russia / AFP Russian pensioner Anna Venderenko says her village wrestles daily with the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, dreading the moment when a lifeline provided by the government in Moscow is slashed. The 70-year-old lives in Starye Bobovichi, 180 kilometres northeast of the stricken nuclear plant in neighbouring Ukraine. On the night of April 26, 1986, a blast ...

  Bloomberg Chernobyl, Ukraine|AFP: Defying radioactive contamination and a government evacuation order, Yevgeny Markevich returned to his beloved Chernobyl shortly after it suffered the world’s worst nuclear accident 30 years ago this week. The sturdy 78-year-old former teacher is among 158 people still living in the 30 kilometre (19 mile) exclusion zone around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant where reactor ...

  Beijing / AFP Electric cars have their highest-profile prophet in US-based entrepreneur Elon Musk and their widest adoption in Norway, but China’s vast auto market will decide their worldwide future, experts say. Top global brands will be fighting it out to electrify buyers at China’s premier car show opening on Monday in Beijing. The country is already the world’s ...

Tokyo / Bloomberg Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday he will create an extra budget to address the economic damage caused by deadly earthquakes in Kumamoto earlier this month. Abe wants to pass the budget before the current parliamentary session ends on June 1, which comes ahead of an upper house election in July. The earthquakes, which killed ...

  Sydney / Bloomberg Australia’s government ruled out curbing a tax break for property investors as it woos homeowners ahead of an expected July election. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed there will be no reform of so-called negative gearing, which allows investors to deduct the costs of owning a rental property, including mortgage interest payments, from their taxable income. That ...

  New Delhi / AFP India’s government has revoked embattled former airline boss Vijay Mallya’s passport, after he failed to appear before investigators over a loan probe, the foreign ministry said on Sunday. Mallya, a part-owner of the Force India Formula 1 team who used to run Kingfisher Airlines, left India on March 2 despite calls for his arrest and ...

  AERZEN, Germany / AP President Barack Obama, began a visit on Sunday to Germany, hoping to build momentum for a U.S.-Europe trade deal that has become a tough sell, particularly in Germany. Other issues were on the agenda for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, including efforts to counter the extremist IS group, improve cooperation on counterterrorism, and encourage ...

  Bloomberg President Barack Obama leaned in further on his warning to the British electorate against embracing a so-called Brexit from the European Union, saying it could take as long as 10 years before the U.K. and the U.S. negotiated a new trade agreement. “The U.K. would not be able to negotiate something with the United States faster than the ...