Politics

BLOOMBERG Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said he will keep questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close ties with tycoon Gautam Adani even after being disqualified as a member of parliament. “I am here defending the democratic voice of the Indian people. I will continue to do that,” Gandhi said at a press conference in New Delhi. “I have been disqualified ...

BLOOMBERG India’s parliament secretariat removed Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker after a local court convicted him of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a huge blow to the opposition ahead of national elections next year. The disqualification makes Gandhi, a scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, less viable as a leader of any opposition coalition before elections that may be held ...

BLOOMBERG South Africa’s government is taking legal advice on how to handle an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin in the event the Russian leader attends a Brics summit in August. The ICC issued the warrant against Putin for war crimes related to the alleged abduction of children from Ukraine. South Africa is a signatory to ...

BLOOMBERG China’s top diplomat Wang Yi urged Europe to play a role in supporting peace talks for Russia’s war in Ukraine, though the US has warned Beijing’s proposals would effectively freeze the Kremlin’s territorial gains. “China looks forward to France and other European countries to also play their due role,” Wang told Emmanuel Bonne, a diplomatic advisor to the French ...

Bloomberg North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw tests of weapons designed to deliver nuclear strikes against the US and its allies, including one his regime billed as a new underwater drone that can create a “radioactive tsunami.” The tests also included cruise missiles that were affixed with mock nuclear warheads, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday. The ...

BLOOMBERG The UK and European Union (EU) will sign off on their new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, despite ongoing opposition to the agreement from some unionists in the region. UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and EU Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic will meet in London to adopt the so-called Windsor Framework, after which new trading arrangements can be implemented, the Foreign ...

BLOOMBERG Xi Jinping’s meetings in Moscow with Vladimir Putin put the Biden administration in an uncomfortable position: on the sidelines as two adversaries discuss a Ukraine peace proposal that the US has deemed unacceptable. US officials have publicly expressed deep skepticism about the Chinese idea, saying its call for a cease-fire would reward Moscow’s invasion by cementing its territorial gains. ...

BLOOMBERG Rahul Gandhi, the senior leader of India’s main opposition Congress party, has been convicted by a local court of defamation and sentenced to two years in jail after allegedly making offensive remarks in 2019 about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surname. A court in the western city of Surat found Gandhi guilty, but granted him bail and suspended the sentence ...

BLOOMBERG UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak emerged unscathed from a day of Parliamentary drama after convincingly winning a key Brexit vote, while former Premier Boris Johnson cut a defensive figure as he denied lying to lawmakers during the so-called Partygate scandal. Sunak won the vote on a crucial element of the new deal he struck last month with the European ...

BLOOMBERG China’s ambassador to Australia has dismissed concerns over a war between the two countries as unrealistic, as defense officials from both governments met for talks in Canberra in the latest sign of a diplomatic thaw. Ambassador Xiao Qian wrote an opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age newspapers on Thursday, in which he criticised the ...