Politics

Bloomberg Australian voters are turning their backs on the two major parties ahead of next month’s election, with new polling showing the center-right government and the opposition Labor Party could both struggle to win a majority in parliament. Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Liberal National Coalition government saw its primary support fall to 35%, while the opposition Labor Party’s fell to ...

  Bloomberg Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa promised to reduce the sweeping powers of the president, the government’s biggest concession yet to protesters as it seeks to stay in power amid a spiraling debt crisis. The premier told parliament that he would reintroduce the 19th amendment to the constitution, “with certain amendments,” as a possible “temporary solution” as the ...

Bloomberg Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Trump campaign fundraiser and Donald Trump Jr’s fiance, was re-interviewed in-person by the House committee investigating the January 6 assault on the US Capitol. Her lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said that the interview, which had begun in the morning, was continuing. The appearance is a follow-up to Guilfoyle’s abbreviated session with the panel, which was done virtually ...

Bloomberg The Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper called on the nation to support President Xi Jinping’s Covid Zero strategy, showing any shift in policy is unlikely even as lockdowns in Shanghai and elsewhere threaten to hurt the economy. In a front-page commentary, the People’s Daily said Xi’s strategy to snuff out the virus has proven “correct and effective” and China ...

Bloomberg The Paris prosecutor is looking into allegations that nationalist leader Marine Le Pen and several of her party members misused hundreds of thousands of euros of European Union funds between 2004 and 2017 when she was a member of the European Parliament, with just a week left before she stands in the final round of the French presidential election. ...

Bloomberg The remaining defenders of Mariupol are encircled by Russian forces but have not surrendered the strategically important port city, Ukrainian officials said, as a deadly strike was reported in Lviv near the Polish border. Ukrainian troops in besieged Mariupol still held out at the giant Azovstal steelworks, one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe. Air raid sirens were ...

  Bloomberg When Sri Lankan officials arrive in Washington to meet with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) amid an economic and political crisis, the main question they’ll need to answer is how the country plans to manage its billions in debt. Sri Lanka is seeking up to $4 billion this year to help it import essentials and pay creditors. To ...

  Bloomberg The Hong Kong government confirmed that John Lee was only candidate nominated for chief executive, clearing the way for him to take power after an uncontested leadership election next month. Lee, 64, a former chief secretary for administration and police official, received 786 valid nominations from the roughly 1,500-member Election Committee that picks the city’s leader, the government ...

Bloomberg Billionaire Roman Abramovich has travelled to Kyiv in a bid to restart peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which stalled after evidence emerged of Russian atrocities against civilians. Abramovich met with Ukrainian negotiators to discuss ways of reviving the negotiations, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Russian billionaire, who has longtime ties to President Vladimir Putin, ...

  Bloomberg Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne said there are concerns about a “lack of transparency” in relation to the draft security agreement between the Solomon Islands and China. Speaking in a local television interview, Payne said the matter is “something that should be discussed in the broader Pacific Island forum context itself” and that the “Pacific family” ...