Politics

Bloomberg North Korea lifted a temporary lockdown it had imposed a day earlier after reports from across the country of cases of fevers of unknown origins, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing multiple South Korean government officials. The brief lockdown followed a military parade marking the anniversary of the founding of its army. Pyongyang also held festivities a few weeks ago ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he would bring Japan’s virus-related border controls in line with other wealthy democracies next month, as he sought to boost consumer spending to fight an economic slowdown. Kishida credited the border controls with helping the country weather the pandemic relatively well, even as he announced their relaxation in a speech in the City of ...

Bloomberg Russia’s war on Ukraine has triggered a profound reassessment in European capitals of their individual and collective relations with China. Confronted by the need to rapidly unwind a dependence on Russian energy built up over decades, government officials from Rome to Prague are re-evaluating the extent of their economic and political ties to China. Senior lawmakers in Berlin who ...

Bloomberg The presidents of Russia and Ukraine have accepted invitations from Indonesia, the current chair of the Group of 20, for a big ticket summit in November. The decision to invite both leaders shows the delicate balance the Southeast Asian country is trying to make as the G-20 host this year. Russia is a member of the G-20, and the ...

Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is willing to drop his brother as prime minister, according to a top leader, as a fresh surge in inflation threatens to renew calls for the family to resign. Rajapaksa has agreed to form an all-party government with a new PM, local media reported citing Maithripala Sirisena, a former president who was part of ...

Bloomberg Sinn Fein looks set to become the largest party in Northern Ireland’s assembly, potentially marking a historic shift in the region’s political balance, according to a poll ahead of next week’s election. The nationalist party, whose ultimate goal is a united Ireland, drew 26% support in LucidTalk’s final poll for the Belfast Telegraph ahead of the May 5 vote. ...

Bloomberg The findings of a House select committee’s investigation into the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol will be presented to the nation in eight separate public hearings spread out over June, the panel’s chairman said. Planning is under way for a mixture of televised hearings in prime-time and others to occur during the daytime, Representative Bennie Thompson, a ...

Bloomberg Germany’s parliament urged the government to quickly supply Ukraine with heavy weapons and other equipment to help its defense against Russia. The three parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition and the largest opposition group — which combined hold over 80% of the seats in the lower house of parliament — teamed up to support a motion in a show ...

  Bloomberg China denied reports that it plans to build a naval base in the Solomon Islands, with a Defense Ministry spokesman calling them “fake news.” Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said a Chinese military base in the Solomon Islands would be a “red line” for his government, after Beijing signed a security pact with the government in Honiara. The ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is weighing the political costs of replacing India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code ahead of national elections in 2024, according to people involved in the plan, a move that risks alienating a broad spectrum of voters. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has begun the process to implement uniform civil ...