Politics

Bloomberg President Joe Biden and Juan Guaido plan to speak remotely during the Summit of the Americas this week, after the US declined to invite the Venezuela opposition leader to participate in the meeting in person. Biden was likely to hold a video call with Guaido, Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said to Venezuelan online ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Germany is ready to deploy more troops to the Baltics as part of a Nato effort to build up its eastern flank in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Baltic leaders had urgently pushed for an increased troop deployment to mount a stronger defense against a Russian threat — and the German move would ...

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron’s fiercest domestic rivals are standing by him in a fresh row with the government in Kyiv over his calls not to shame Russia. Tensions between France and Ukraine worsened over the weekend after Macron told a national newspaper that allies shouldn’t “humiliate” Moscow to improve the chance of reaching a peaceful solution to its invasion ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson sought to draw a line under the controversy that’s been threatening his leadership, though the scale of a mutiny against the British prime minister suggests his days may be numbered. The deep discontent within his Conservative Party was laid bare, when 211 Tory MPs backed Johnson in a confidence motion — but 148 voted against him. The ...

  Bloomberg The US hit back at China over a social media post claiming American officials in Guangzhou downplayed allegations of human rights abuses, saying the behaviour puts Washington’s envoys at risk. A spokesperson for the US Embassy in Beijing said that China should “stop attributing false statements to US officials or taking other actions that might subject our diplomats ...

  Bloomberg President Gotabaya Rajapaksa vowed to finish the remaining two years in his term despite monthslong street protests calling for his ouster, but won’t stand for re-election as he focuses on fixing a financial mess that tipped Sri Lanka into its worst-ever economic crisis. “I can’t go as a failed president,” Rajapaksa said in a wide-ranging interview at his ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson will face a leadership vote in his ruling Conservative Party, after a series of missteps and scandals became too much for scores of Tory Members of Parliament. Senior Conservative MP Graham Brady said the threshold of at least 54 MPs — 15% of the Conservative total — has been met to trigger a confidence vote in Johnson, ...

Bloomberg Turkey and Russia have reached a tentative deal to restart shipments of Ukraine’s agricultural products from a key Black Sea port, but Kyiv remains skeptical of the proposed pact, according to people familiar with the discussions. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government has offered military help to clear mines off the coast of Odesa and escort grain ships but ...

Bloomberg Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, known for her fierce criticism of Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine, is fighting to stay in power after she dismantled her ruling coalition, saying it lacked unity to face the dangers of Russia. Kallas’s best chance lies with clinching a deal with the smallest opposition party in parliament — the conservative Pro ...

  Bloomberg The televised hearings that begin into the deadly attack on the US Capitol will need to produce show-stopping moments to grab a divided, distracted America that has largely moved on. It’s a tall order. At their best, congressional hearings capture the public’s imagination, reveal scoundrels, lead to landmark reforms, and even make stars of questioners and witnesses. But ...