Politics

Bloomberg A six-ton unmanned reconnaissance drone that streaked across eastern Europe from war-ravaged Ukraine and crashed in the Croatian capital has raised awkward questions about Nato’s readiness to protect European airspace. Startled authorities are asking how none of the three North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) member states — Romania, Hungary and Croatia — reacted as the Soviet-era Tu-141 traversed their ...

Bloomberg Police in Slovakia, a Nato and European Union (EU) member bordering Ukraine, detained four people suspected of spying for Moscow and expelled three Russian diplomats in response. Russia paid the suspects “tens of thousands of euros” for sensitive or classified information, Special Prosecutor Daniel Lipsic told journalists, a day after the detentions and the diplomats’ expulsion. Two people were ...

Bloomberg US officials say Russia has asked China for military assistance for its war in Ukraine, a sign that the Biden administration is increasingly concerned about the role Vladimir Putin’s most powerful diplomatic partner could play in the conflict. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss delicate matters, did not specify what kind of equipment Moscow had ...

Bloomberg A London mansion owned by members of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska’s family has been occupied by protesters opposing the invasion of Ukraine, sparking a confrontation with police. The group made their way into the home on Belgrave Square — one of the city’s most affluent districts, according to a member of the group, who declined to give his name. ...

  JAKARTA / WAM A strong quake struck off the west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island early on Monday, sending residents fleeing from their homes, but no damage or victims were reported immediately. The shallow 6.7-magnitude earthquake hit at 4:06 am at a depth of 21 kilometres, with its epicentre 167 kilometres west of the coastal city of Pariaman, the ...

Bloomberg North Korea could launch an ICBM as soon as this week, the Yonhap News Agency reported, in what would be its most serious provocation in five years as South Korea undergoes a presidential transition and the world focuses on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. South Korea and the US have detected signs of an imminent test of an intercontinental ballistic ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong doesn’t have the infrastructure to roll out a lockdown and compulsory testing as swiftly as mainland China, according to Chief Executive Carrie Lam, whose announcement of a now-delayed city-wide test sparked chaos and confusion in the financial hub. The 17.5 million residents of the southern Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen were told that they’d go into a ...

  Bloomberg The Philippines said a Chinese Navy ship entered waters within the archipelago without permission earlier this year, potentially expanding a territorial dispute beyond the South China Sea. The ship lingered in the Sulu Sea, which is surrounded by undisputed territory in the Philippine archipelago, for three days from late-January to early-February despite being challenged by a Philippine Navy ...

Bloomberg Russian missiles hit a military training facility in western Ukraine close to the Polish border that had been used regularly by Nato before the invasion. The strike, which comes after Russia warned that convoys of Western military supplies for Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets, raised new concerns about the conflict potentially spilling over Ukraine’s borders. Initial reports suggest ...

Bloomberg White House officials including Press Secretary Jen Psaki briefed about 30 social-media influencers on US policy on Ukraine in an effort to counter Russian propaganda, a spokeswoman said. The creators, who are active mainly on Bytedance Ltd’s TikTok, were given an overview of the latest White House thinking on Ukraine during a video call, with material similar to that ...