Politics

Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi pledged that the US wouldn’t abandon Taiwan, reaffirming American support for the democratically elected government in Taipei despite threats of fresh trade curbs and military actions by Beijing. Pelosi made her comments on Wednesday during a Presidential Office ceremony with Taiwanese leader Tsai Ing-wen. The California Democrat’s arrival in Taiwan late Tuesday made her the ...

  Bloomberg It’s “wishful thinking” to expect relations between Russia and the West to return to their pre-war status soon after the fighting stops in Ukraine, as the Kremlin appears bent on creating a buffer between itself and Nato, Romania’s prime minister said. Nicolae Ciuca, a retired general who once led combat forces in Iraq, said Russia’s invasion has re-opened ...

  Bloomberg Serbia and Kosovo may resume European Union-mediated talks on mending ties later this month following weekend tensions over identification cards and car plates. The meeting in Brussels could take place on Aug. 18, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told state broadcaster RTS late Tuesday. Kosovo government spokesman Perparim Kryeziu said the meeting is expected in the third week of ...

  Bloomberg At least three soldiers were killed in fighting between Azerbaijani and Armenian forces in disputed territory that’s overseen by Russian peacekeeping troops as part of a truce deal that halted a 2020 war. Two Armenian serviceman died and 14 were wounded when Azerbaijani troops fired grenade-launchers and used attack drones, the defense army of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic ...

Bloomberg US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi became the highest-ranking American politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years, prompting China to announce military drills encircling the island. Pelosi greeted Taiwanese officials including Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on the tarmac, where she posed for photos. In a statement, she said her visit “in no way contradicts longstanding United States policy” and that ...

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks Friday including on a deal reached to unblock exports of grain from Ukraine, the Kremlin said. The meeting in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi will be “a good opportunity to synchronize watches on the subject of the effectiveness of this mechanism for exporting grain from ...

Bloomberg Liz Truss vowed to slash “waste, bureaucracy and inefficiency” in the civil service to save billions of pounds a year for the British taxpayer if she becomes UK prime minister. The foreign secretary, the front-runner in the race with Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson, said that she’ll align the pay of public sector workers to living costs in ...

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s John Lee drew the lowest approval rating in a decade for a new chief executive, underscoring the challenges he’ll face winning over a city that’s facing some of the world’s strictest Covid restrictions. The percentage of people expressing confidence in Lee, who took over as Hong Kong’s fifth chief executive last month, was 45%, according to ...

Bloomberg Moscow is leaning towards rejecting a prisoner swap unless it gets two Russians in return for the two Americans the US wants released, according to people familiar with the Kremlin’s thinking. The US has called on Russia to free WNBA player Brittney Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, offering to free convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout. Discussions have ...

Bloomberg US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan on Tuesday, defying Chinese authorities who have warned of consequences if the trip takes place, the Liberty Times reported, citing people familiar with her plans. It would be a landmark move by a US official and raise the risk of a military confrontation given China views Taiwan as its ...