Politics

Bloomberg North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the growing outbreak of a fever “the big upheaval since the nation’s founding” as state media reported more new cases. There were about 296,000 cases of fever with 15 deaths, the Korean Central News Agency said, adding to the more than 170,000 cases reported the previous day. The total death toll stands at ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces another tricky electoral test, with polls suggesting his Social Democratic Party (SPD) could suffer a second setback in a week in a regional ballot. Some 13.2 million people are eligible to vote in Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, a heavily industrialised western region that was once an SPD stronghold but has been ...

Bloomberg Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said after a visit to Kyiv that he expects the chamber to pass a $40 billion aid package for Ukraine with broad bipartisan backing on Wednesday. McConnell, speaking to reporters on a call from Sweden, made the pledge after leading a group of Republican senators to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who called for ...

  Bloomberg Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison made an impassioned pitch for his center-right government to be re-elected for a fourth term less than one week from a national election, with polls pointing to an opposition victory. The Liberal National Coalition government held its official campaign launch in Brisbane, Queensland, a state that is crucial for Morrison’s party for any ...

Bloomberg Finnish President Sauli Niinisto phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to say the Nordic country plans to seek Nato membership in the near term. The conversation with Putin “was direct and straight-forward and it was conducted without aggravations,” he said in a statement. The move would be a “mistake because there are no threats to Finland’s security,” Putin told his ...

Bloomberg Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G-7) industrialised nations blamed North Korea’s push for weapons of mass destruction for the humanitarian situation in the country, as state media reported more than 170,000 new cases in a worsening fever outbreak. In a joint statement following a meeting in northern Germany, the G-7 ministers expressed their grave concern about the ...

Bloomberg A summit with Southeast Asian leaders organised and hosted by President Joe Biden concluded at the White House with a group statement that omitted any condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The nations participating in the summit, called the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean, issued a statement calling for the “immediate cessation of hostilities” in Ukraine. The ...

  Bloomberg Guinea’s military rulers banned all protests in the West African nation, days after announcing a three-year transition to democracy. Opposition political and civil-society groups in the world’s top exporter of bauxite have rejected the timeline, saying that it was adopted without consultation and say they will continue with demonstrations. “Any breach of these guidelines will result in legal ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden’s hopes for a political reset have been overwhelmed by an unrelenting series of economic setbacks, adding to the challenges Democrats face as they court exhausted voters ahead of the crucial midterm election in November. US gasoline prices are at historic highs. Inflation in April exceeded consensus forecasts. Technology stocks have plummeted, taking retirement accounts with them. ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s potential Nato entry would lower the risk of a Russian attack, according to a policy report commissioned by parliament that fell short of directly endorsing membership in the defense alliance. The 43-page review concluded that joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) would act as a deterrent, stressing the importance of coordination with neighbouring Finland. Russia, which invaded ...