Politics

  Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s army denied speculation it is planning to crack down on protesters seeking the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In a statement, it termed as “sinister” allegations that troops are training to assault the demonstrators. Soldiers will step in only if the police call on them for assistance, the army said. “Troops as everyone witnessed in the ...

  Bloomberg South Korea’s President-Elect Yoon Suk Yeol plans to send a group of delegates to Japan next week, Yonhap News reported, a sign that the two nations could work toward mending relations amid mounting North Korean provocations. The seven-member delegation led by People Power Party’s lawmaker Chung Jinsuk will visit Japan’s foreign ministry officials during their visit from April ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden will host leaders of ASEAN countries on May 12-13 in Washington, signaling US efforts to engage with the group in the competition with China for regional influence. A White House statement announcing the special summit with the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations said the US administration shares a “commitment to advance an Indo-Pacific that is ...

Bloomberg The UK government’s push to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda may not deter enough migrants to make the effort cost effective, the Home Office official charged with assessing the plan said. Migrants who cross the English Channel on small boats risk being relocated to the African state with a one-way ticket, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in presenting ...

Bloomberg A group of senior US senators delivered a message of support for Taiwan during a visit, a move that China answered with a display of military force. Members of the delegation, including Republican Lindsey Graham, told Beijing that the US will start making China account for bullying Taiwan and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. “Here is ...

  Bloomberg Three Russian government officials were charged with conspiring to affect US policy towards Russia with staged events and propaganda — including efforts to influence members of Congress. An indictment against Aleksandr Babakov, deputy chairman of the state duma, Russia’s lower legislative body, and two members of his staff was unsealed in Manhattan federal court. Babakov, Aleksandr Vorobev and ...

  Bloomberg Frank James, the man arrested on federal terrorism charges for allegedly opening fire in a packed New York subway car, was ordered held without bail after prosecutors argued he posed a “serious and ongoing danger to the community.” Ten people were shot and 13 others injured during the melee that erupted after the rush hour assault in Brooklyn. ...

Bloomberg North Korea celebrated the 110th birthday of its deceased state founder, while a US aircraft carrier group was in waters east of the peninsula with Pyongyang poised for provocations that could include its first nuclear test since 2017. Festivities that included dance celebrations, music and fireworks commenced in Pyongyang, state TV said, as part of the celebrations for the ...

  Bloomberg Police detained Vietnam Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister To Anh Dung as part of an investigation into bribery accusations while he organised repatriation flights for Vietnamese abroad during the pandemic, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement on its website. A former officer of the public security ministry’s immigration department and an officer at the health ministry ...

Bloomberg As Russian forces shift their military focus to the east, some Ukrainians who fled their homes early in the invasion are venturing back to see what’s left of their lives and whether they can start to rebuild. Daryna Tarasenko, a 27-year-old portrait photographer who abandoned her Kyiv apartment on the day of the February 24 attack, returned last week ...