Politics

Bloomberg Venezuela’s government released two political prisoners, days after it held a rare meeting with members of the administration of US President Joe Biden to discuss lifting oil sanctions. President Nicolas Maduro released Gustavo Cardenas, a US citizen and former executive from oil firm Citgo, according to his lawyer Diego Barboza. Cuban-American citizen Jorge Fernandez, arrested in February 2021, was ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s “high degree of autonomy” from China could last for 50 years after legally expiring in 2047, a top Beijing official said, despite China’s greatly expanded control over the financial hub in recent years. Xia Baolong, director of the mainland agency responsible for Hong Kong, made the comments Wednesday to delegates from the finance hub at China’s annual ...

  Bloomberg Kenya named Marjan Hussein Marjan as chief executive officer of its Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, barely five months before a general election. Marjan has been acting CEO at the agency since October 2017 when Kenya held a repeat poll after the initial count was nullified by the Supreme Court over irregularities. His task will be to boost ...

Bloomberg North Korea is undertaking construction work at its main nuclear weapons test site for the first time in about four years, according to an analysis of satellite imagery, raising fresh security concerns as South Korea elects a new leader. Images captured show “very early signs” of activity at the mountainous area of Punggye-ri, including the construction of a new ...

  Bloomberg The European Union is set to propose a new round of sanctions that would target a total of 14 individuals, including a number of wealthy Russians and their family members, but will stop short of more far-reaching steps like penalizing ports, according to several diplomats. The latest round of sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would also target ...

  Bloomberg China accused the US military of operating “dangerous” biolabs in Ukraine, echoing a Russian conspiracy theory that Western officials warned could be part of an effort to retroactively justify President Vladimir Putin’s invasion. “US biolabs in Ukraine have indeed attracted much attention recently,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in response to a question from a local ...

Bloomberg UK lawmakers voted in favour of a package of measures to toughen government powers and speed up sanctions against Russian tycoons after Home Secretary Priti Patel accused Vladimir Putin’s allies of hiding “dirty money” in Britain. “We do not want it here,” Patel said as she opened six hours of debate on the measures in the House of Commons. ...

  Bloomberg Vietnam asked China not to violate its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf with military drills, foreign ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said in response to reporters’ questions about the Hainan Provincial Customs Administration’s announcement about the exercises. China should not take actions that complicate the South China Sea situation but rather help maintain regional peace, security ...

Bloomberg China warned the US against trying to build what it called a Pacific version of Nato, while declaring that security disputes over Taiwan and Ukraine were “not comparable at all.” Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his annual news briefing Monday that the “real goal” of the US’s Indo-Pacific strategy was to form Asia’s answer to the North Atlantic Treaty ...

Bloomberg Russian forces destroyed an atomic-physics lab under international safeguards in Ukraine’s second-largest city, the head of the world’s nuclear watchdog said, underscoring growing concerns over the safety risks posed by fighting around the country’s atomic facilities. Rafael Mariano Grossi, who leads the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that a neutron generator at the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology ...