Politics

  Bloomberg Outgoing UK prime minister Boris Johnson raised the prospect of leaving office sooner than expected, suggesting his successor could be chosen “by acclamation” rather than in an eight-week contest as planned. His appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday had the air of a valedictory outing, as he declared he was “proud” of ...

Bloomberg Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles has called for the US to grow its military presence in the Indo-Pacific, warning that a failure to maintain the balance of power in the region could be “catastrophic.” Speaking in Washington DC, Marles, who is also Australia’s deputy prime minister, said the region was currently facing a military build-up “at a rate unseen ...

  Bloomberg Basil Rajapaksa, the former finance minister of Sri Lanka and brother of the outgoing President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, attempted to leave the country early Tuesday but was turned back by airport officials, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. People at the main international airport serving Colombo began protesting when they saw Basil Rajapaksa trying to depart, ...

Bloomberg The race to succeed Boris Johnson as UK prime minister is taking shape as two Conservative big hitters, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, opted out ahead of the first round of voting. Patel’s move is likely to favor Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s bid to be the preferred candidate of the low-tax, Thatcherite wing of the ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden and his Mexican counterpart, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, plan to discuss ways to expand legal migration, improve security and strengthen their shared border during a White House meeting on Tuesday. The two leaders will announce joint actions to improve infrastructure and cooperation along their almost 2,000-mile boundary, according to Biden administration officials, who briefed reporters on ...

  Bloomberg Elon Musk said Donald Trump should “sail into the sunset” rather than run for president again and predicted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will easily beat Joe Biden if the two square off in 2024. In a series of tweets to his more than 100 million followers, Musk pointed out Trump, now 76, would be 82 by the end ...

Bloomberg After months of persistent street protests over fuel shortages, surging prices and financial mismanagement, Sri Lankan leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa is finally on the verge of being ousted. The president fled to an undisclosed location shortly before demonstrators stormed his official seaside residence in the face of tear gas and rubber bullets. In dramatic scenes, they wandered through the rooms, ...

Bloomberg Nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters say they would prefer someone other than President Joe Biden as their party’s candidate in the 2024 election, underscoring the political headwinds the White House faces as inflation soars and Americans sour on the president’s performance. Of the 64% of respondents who said they wanted a different candidate in the upcoming election, a third ...

Bloomberg US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasted Beijing over its support of Russia after emerging from more than five hours of talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. During a meeting on the sidelines of a Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Blinken said he told Wang that China wasn’t neutral on the Ukraine war because ...

Bloomberg Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out complying with a list of demands from the Chinese government to improve relations between the two countries, complicating attempts to repair diplomatic ties between Canberra and Beijing. Speaking to the press in Canberra on Monday, Albanese said Australia “doesn’t respond to demands” when asked about a statement by China’s Foreign Minister ...