Politics

Bloomberg The UK ramped up its sanctions on Russia, targeting friends and family members it said were helping to prop up President Vladimir Putin’s “luxury lifestyle.” Individuals sanctioned include Putin’s former wife, Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, and Alina Kabaeva, a former gymnast and Chair of the Board of the National Media Group who is alleged to have a close relationship with the ...

Bloomberg The steady friendship between Hungary and Poland, who for years gave each other cover as they defied the European Union over the rule of law, has frozen over since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The rift risks weakening Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the champion of “illiberal democracy” who has waged a bitter fight with EU leaders over a bloc-wide ...

  Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said he will show his majority in parliament next week but the task for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s appointee to form a government is looking fraught with the opposition and others saying they won’t take any cabinet roles. The main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party has said it won’t join a so-called ...

Bloomberg North Korea fired three short-range ballistic missiles from an area near Pyongyang toward waters off its east coast, South Korea said, the latest in a series of volleys ahead of a planned visit to the region next week by US President Joe Biden. Launched at 6:29 pm local time on Thursday, the missiles flew about 360 kilometres (224 miles) ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, is pushing member states to boost the amount of Ukrainian military aid the bloc will finance by 500 million euros ($522 million) to 2 billion euros, according to people familiar with the discussions. Member states have yet to agree to the proposal regarding the European Peace Facility, with Germany the main holdout ...

Bloomberg Croatia’s top diplomat rejected President Zoran Milanovic’s threat to veto the accession of Sweden and Finland into Nato, vowing that the government would ensure they were brought into the alliance. “We won’t be the only nation to defy the principles and values of Nato, which we fought so hard to join,” Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman told reporters in ...

Bloomberg Kosovo’s announcement that it plans to join Europe’s top human rights body triggered a protest from Serbia, which has vowed to halt the attempts at international recognition of its neighbour, whose sovereignty it rejects. “Serbia can’t do much, but will fight on the international scene for further withdrawals of recognition of Kosovo independence,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said in ...

  Bloomberg Ranil Wickremesinghe, a veteran lawmaker and former premier, has been named Sri Lanka’s next prime minister days after the last incumbent, the brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, resigned in the face of escalating anger with the deepening economic crisis. The president’s media unit confirmed the appointment in a text message. No other details were immediately available. The announcement ...

  Bloomberg John Nkengasong, the outgoing head of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said the continent is facing the dual pandemics of Covid-19 and HIV, which could lead to the emergence of new variants. As he readies himself to lead the US global AIDS program, he warned that the continent is on a very uncertain and unpredictable trajectory ...

Bloomberg Kremlin-installed occupation authorities in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region plan to ask President Vladimir Putin to become part of Russia, Tass reported, the first public sign that he may seek to annex territory taken in the invasion. The region won’t hold a referendum first but would appeal directly to Putin to absorb it into Russia, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy chief ...