Politics

Bloomberg Russia said it’s making preparations for a conversation between President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Joe Biden, their first since tensions erupted over a big Russian military buildup near Ukraine that’s sparked invasion fears. There’s no agreement yet on timing, though the Kremlin is hoping for a call before the end of the year, according to Putin’s spokesman Dmitry ...

Bloomberg The governor of Brazil’s richest and most populous state was picked by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party as its candidate for next year’s election challenging President Jair Bolsonaro. Joao Doria, governor of Sao Paulo, was declared the winner of the primaries for the party known as PSDB, according to Bruno Araujo, who heads the group seeking to reemerge as ...

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron would get 25% or more of the votes in the first round of the election, according to a poll carried out by Ifop-Fiducial for Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper and Sud Radio. Nationalist Marine Le Pen would win 19% to 20% of the first-round vote, depending on who else is running. Far-right commentator Eric Zemmour ...

Bloomberg At least 20 Sudanese soldiers were killed in clashes with Ethiopian militias near a disputed border, a local official said, deepening a feud that risks turning into all-out conflict between the Horn of Africa’s most populous nations. Sudanese forces crossed the Atbara river in the al-Fashqa area in response to shelling and fell into an ambush, according to Alrasheed ...

Bloomberg China sent the biggest number of warplanes close to Taiwan since October on Sunday after a US lawmaker defied a Chinese demand that she abandon a trip to the island. Twenty-seven Chinese aircraft, including 8 J-16 fighter jets, entered Taiwan’s southwest Air Defense Identification Zone, according to a statement from the Ministry of National Defense. The air force issued ...

Bloomberg Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said the team in the ruling party that will choose the country’s next premier is expected to take a “little longer” to make a decision due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The choice is expected “well before” the next general election, Lee said during a speech at a convention for his People’s Action Party (PAP). ...

Bloomberg Hondurans are voting on Sunday in presidential elections that may oust the scandal-hit ruling party and end the nation’s alliance with Taiwan. Xiomara Castro, the wife of a former president deposed in a coup, is leading in polls as she tries to end 12 years of rule by the conservative National Party. She spooked some investors by saying that ...

Bloomberg The UK and European Union (EU) will keep talking about the future of Northern Ireland next week, as negotiations over changes to the post-Brexit settlement drag on. “We would still like to find a negotiated solution,” Britain’s Brexit Minister David Frost said in a tweet following his latest weekly meeting with European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic, after another round ...

Bloomberg Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise decision to scrap three contentious farm laws may not be enough to stem a yearlong protest movement by farmers, with the two sides yet to close the gap on another crucial issue — guaranteed prices for crops. The protesters postponed their planned march to the capital New Delhi, after the government assured the ...

Bloomberg Burkina Faso protest movements vowed to maintain their demands for President Roch Marc Christian Kabore to step down after police fired teargas to disperse a rally on Saturday. Protesters gathered near the Place de la Nation in the centre of the capital, Ouagadougou, to call for Kabore’s departure, and for French troops to leave the country. France has about ...