Politics

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden said the US military would intervene to defend Taiwan in any attack from China, comments that appeared to break from the longstanding US policy of “strategic ambiguity” before they were walked back by White House officials. Asked during a press briefing on Monday in Tokyo whether the US would be willing to get involved militarily ...

Bloomberg Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia’s economy should be shut off from the world and invited global investors to shift resources into Ukraine to help rebuild the country from the devastation wrought by Vladimir Putin’s war. “This is really the moment when it is decided whether brute force will rule the world,” the Ukrainian leader said in a keynote ...

Bloomberg Anthony Albanese has been sworn in as Australia’s 31st prime minister in a short ceremony in Canberra, taking office with a promise of swift action on climate change, greater gender equality and improved wage growth. Albanese moved quickly to be sworn in as Australia’s next leader as the PM is expected to fly out to Japan to take part ...

Bloomberg The latest test of former President Donald Trump’s sway over Republican voters will wrap up Tuesday night in Georgia’s primaries. So far, it’s not looking good. Former US Senator David Perdue, whom Trump tapped to oust incumbent Republican Governor Brian Kemp, has more than a 20 percentage point disadvantage in polls, in a race Trump once called a top ...

Bloomberg The United Nations’ human rights chief told diplomats her trip to Xinjiang wouldn’t be an “investigation,” in an apparent attempt to manage expectations of her landmark visit to China. Michelle Bachelet said her trip aimed to promote, protect and respect human rights, according two people who attended the video call with some 100 participants, who were mostly Beijing-based diplomats. ...

Bloomberg US President Joe Biden said that he wasn’t concerned about the possibility of North Korea holding a nuclear test while he’s in Asia. “We are prepared for anything North Korea does,” Biden told reporters in Seoul. “We’ve thought through how we’d respond to whatever they do, and so I am not concerned.” US intelligence has shown that North Korean ...

Bloomberg Poland’s president said he “will not rest until Ukraine becomes a full-fledged member” of the EU as he addressed lawmakers in Kyiv and met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg and the leaders of Finland and Sweden, reiterating his reservations about the Nordic nations’ bids to join the military alliance. President ...

Bloomberg Recently ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan asked his supporters to march on Islamabad, the nation’s capital, for a sit-in on May 25 as a way to press the government to quit and call new elections. Khan’s move is likely to fuel further political instability in a country already facing an economic crisis from rising inflation. At a press ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson didn’t use a meeting with a top civil servant to try to influence her report about illegal parties held at the centre of government during the Covid-19 pandemic, said Education Minister Nadhim Zahawi. Sue Gray is expected to release her report into what the UK media has dubbed “partygate,” a scandal that’s dogged the prime minister’s administration ...

  Bloomberg Thailand’s capital was expected to vote for a new governor for the first time in almost a decade with the winner facing the challenges of rebuilding Bangkok’s pre-pandemic status as a tourism hub and tackling persistent pollution. More than 4.4 million people, including an estimated 700,000 first-time voters, will pick the next governor from a list of 30 ...