Politics

Bloomberg China’s attempt to strike a wide-ranging economic and security pact in the strategically important Pacific region fell apart in May because of Beijing’s rushed attempts at diplomacy. The head of the Pacific Islands Forum held this week in Fiji said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had come to the region with an “outcomes document” already prepared, before any meetings ...

  Bloomberg The European Union was set to propose a new slate of penalties targeting Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, as well as actions to tighten previously approved sanctions packages, according to people familiar with the matter. The new measures, which one of the people called a “compliance and alignment package,” are expected to target Russian gold, introduce more ...

  Bloomberg Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party brushed off Donald Trump’s amended lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to undermine his presidency with claims of Russian collusion as a “swollen” political manifesto devoid of facts. The revised suit “alleges a series of disconnected political disputes” that Trump has “alchemized into a sweeping conspiracy” by his foes, according to a motion ...

Bloomberg Group of 20 finance chiefs started official meetings in Bali Friday with an eye towards progress on food security and debt issues as tensions over Russia impeded prospects for a more sweeping agreement. Host Indonesia is pushing for G-20 members to pledge more concrete action to respond to food insecurity, including by sharing data on commodity stockpiles, and for ...

Bloomberg With Italy on the brink of chaos, Mario Draghi has less than a week to forge some difficult compromises with the populists in his government that have reluctantly backed him for the past 18 months. The prime minister’s decision to offer his resignation plunged the euro area’s third-largest economy in a paralyzing political crisis that may end with snap ...

  Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin reassigned the top official responsible for military production as the Kremlin digs in for a long war in Ukraine that’s tested an industry long plagued by inefficiency and corruption. Putin released Yury Borisov as deputy prime minister overseeing the defense industry and appointed him as general director of Roscomos in place of Dmitry Rogozin, ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden said the US won’t wait “forever” for Iran to agree to new curbs on its nuclear program, while Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned that his country is prepared to defend itself should Tehran get closer to developing a weapon. “We’ve laid out for the leadership of Iran what we’re willing to accept,” Biden told reporters ...

Bloomberg South Korean prosecutors are investigating members of former President Moon Jae-in’s government over the 2019 forced repatriation of two North Koreans, whose return to face criminal charges and likely execution had been denounced by critics as a violation of human rights. Current President Yoon Suk Yeol’s administration this week released photos of the blindfolded and bound fishermen getting dragged ...

Bloomberg Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa arrived in Singapore Thursday after fleeing months of anti-government protests that forced him to pledge to resign. Rajapaksa flew to Singapore’s Changi Airport from the Maldives, where he had made a brief stop after leaving Sri Lanka Wednesday aboard a military aircraft. The island nation’s Security Council agreed to his request for safe passage ...

Bloomberg Negotiations over unblocking millions of tons of Ukraine’s grain exports were constructive, according to Ukraine, the United Nations, Turkey and Russia, an initial step in bolstering global food supplies and aiding the country’s beleaguered farm sector. The talks were held in Turkey with representatives from the countries and the UN. The sides — who agreed on the “main technical ...