Politics

BLOOMBERG India will hold elections in the populous southern state of Karnataka in May, the results of which will indicate whether the opposition has cut into the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party ahead of general elections next year. Winning Karnataka — the state is home to Bengaluru, India’s IT hub — would energise Rahul Gandhi’s opposition Congress ...

BLOOMBERG Myanmar’s military government dissolved the National League for Democracy (NLD), the pro-democracy party of Aung San Suu Kyi, after it failed to register as a political entity for upcoming elections. The Union Election Commission said 63 political parties, including 50 existing parties, have applied for registration to compete in the general elections the military is planning. The NLD was ...

BLOOMBERG Japan’s foreign minister is planning to visit China this weekend in the first such trip in about three years, Kyodo News and other local media reported, as Asia’s two largest economies seek to maintain stable ties amid rising tensions. Yoshimasa Hayashi is set to meet his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang during a two-day visit, Kyodo reported, citing government sources ...

BLOOMBERG White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi, people familiar with the matter said, as the two sides look to ease tensions that have continued to build in recent months. Sullivan’s previously unreported call took ahead of Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen scheduled visit to the US en route to Central America, a trip ...

BLOOMBERG Ukraine wants Russia’s nuclear energy sector and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be part of future sanctions packages, Ukraine’s energy minister told Bloomberg Television. Ukrainian forces downed 14 out of 15 Shahed-type drones launched by Russian troops overnight, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Facebook. Twelve of the unmanned aircraft were shot down over Kyiv, the city’s military administration said. ...

BLOOMBERG The UK’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, increased the terror threat level in Northern Ireland from substantial to “severe,” meaning an attack is deemed to be “highly likely” just as US President Joe Biden plans a visit to the region. “The public should remain vigilant, but not be alarmed, and continue to report any concerns they have to the Police ...

BLOOMBERG India’s fractured opposition parties are coming together to demand that Rahul Gandhi be reinstated as a lawmaker after he was convicted of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Lawmaker Manish Tewari, who is also a member of Gandhi’s Congress party, said there’s an “unprecedented closure of ranks” among the opposition on the politician’s ouster and they see it as an ...

BLOOMBERG The Philippines will cut contact with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it denied the government’s request to suspend the probe on former leader Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly drug war, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said. “That ends our involvement with the ICC,” Marcos said in a televised briefing, referring to the court. “At this point, we are disengaging from any ...

BLOOMBERG French unions hold a 10th day of nationwide protests on Tuesday to try to force President Emmanuel Macron to hit the brakes on his unpopular pension reform and open fresh talks. As concerns grow over mounting violence, labour organisations have blamed the government for creating an explosive situation. Marches ended in chaos, with hardcore fringes clashing with riot police. ...

BLOOMBERG While Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to station nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus is unlikely to change Europe’s strategic balance, it has put him at odds with a pledge he made with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping just days earlier. Russia and China declared that “all nuclear weapons states should refrain from deploying nuclear weapons abroad” in a joint statement ...