Politics

Bloomberg North Korea used the anniversary of the armistice that halted fighting on the peninsula 69 years ago to warn of a “second Korean War,” blaming the US and South Korea for inflaming hostilities. “The joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea, which are being carried out with a thick gunpowder smell, are exacerbating the situation on ...

Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s staff and security officials aren’t ruling out plans for her to visit Taiwan in early August on a trip that has already stoked more US-China tensions. No final decision has been made about stopping in Taiwan during a trip to Asia next month, according to a person familiar with the details, but if it happens ...

Bloomberg Now that Ukraine’s grain-export deal has been signed, all eyes are on clearing a major obstacle: freeing the scores of ships stuck there since February. As many as 100 vessels carrying grain and agricultural products were trapped in Ukrainian ports when Russia’s invasion began, and seeing them sail would mark a first step in revitalizing seaborne trade. But even ...

Bloomberg Indonesian President Joko Widodo invited China’s Xi Jinping to attend the Group of 20 summit in November, as the two leaders held a rare meeting in Beijing amid strict Covid controls. Xi thanked the G-20 host for his invitation and wished him success, according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But it was unclear whether he ...

Bloomberg Myanmar has sufficient foreign reserves to avoid an economic crisis similar to Sri Lanka’s, the military government said, pushing back on suggestions by some analysts that the Southeast Asian nation faces a growing possibility of default. Major General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the State Administration Council, said at a press conference on Tuesday that Myanmar has a ...

  Bloomberg Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to return home from Singapore where he has been staying for nearly two weeks after fleeing violent protests in the South Asian country where citizens called for his ouster. Rajapaksa has been the focus of protesters who blame him for a series of missteps that led to an economic meltdown ...

Bloomberg Russia said on Monday its missile strike on Odesa targeted a military area and wouldn’t affect plans to resume grain exports from the Black Sea port. Wheat prices have surged since the Russian attack, which came a day after it signed a Turkish-mediated deal to allow safe transit for Ukrainian grain shipments blocked since the war. Ukraine is continuing ...

Bloomberg China said it was getting “seriously prepared” for the possibility that Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan in the coming weeks, underscoring the risk of a showdown between Washington and Beijing over a trip by the US House speaker. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian made the comment in response to a Financial Times report that Beijing had privately issued warnings ...

  Bloomberg Mike Pence is getting a one-day head start on rallying the Republican base in Washington before his former boss, Donald Trump, returns to the US capital for the first time since the violent end to his presidency. The timing of the speeches —Pence on Monday, Trump on Tuesday —is shaping up as a contest between the two men. ...

Bloomberg Myanmar’s military regime has executed four individuals, including a deposed pro-democracy lawmaker and a prominent activist, in its first use of the death penalty in over three decades, state media reported on Monday. Kyaw Min Yu, also known as Jimmy, a leader of the activist group that opposed former dictator Ne Win, and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a civilian lawmaker ...