Politics

Bloomberg Russia called for major international aid to help the Taliban control the situation in Afghanistan on Wednesday as it hosted the radical movement for the first time since the chaotic US withdrawal in August brought it to power. It’s time to “mobilise the resources of the international community to provide Kabul with effective financial, economic and humanitarian help,” said ...

Bloomberg Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Venezuela’s decision to withdraw from talks with the political opposition “deeply unfortunate,” saying the move showed how President Nicolas Maduro put his own interests ahead of his country’s. Speaking at a news conference in Quito, Ecuador, Blinken said the extradition of Colombian businessman Alex Saab, an ally of Maduro’s, had been “going on ...

Bloomberg Angela Merkel is worried that some European Union leaders and lawmakers are thrusting the EU into a fight with Poland that leaves no room for compromise and could end in disaster. In her final weeks in the job, the German chancellor has publicly warned in her own carefully couched and diplomatic way about the EU’s tactics in the confrontation. ...

Bloomberg China has promoted a Xinjiang official sanctioned by the US in its biggest personnel reshuffle in years, as President Xi Jinping prepares to kick off a year of politicking inside the ruling Communist Party. Wang Junzheng, 58, was given the top party position in Tibet, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, promoted from party chief of a powerful economic ...

Bloomberg A far-right media pundit who talks about arming citizens and is cementing his position as a main contender for France’s upcoming presidential election demonstrated a love for guns at a trade fair in Paris. Eric Zemmour on Wednesday visited the Milipol International Exhibition, which is promoted as a leading event for homeland security and safety. At one stand, Zemmour ...

Bloomberg North Korea appears to have fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile for the first time in two years, adding to a series of tests demonstrating Kim Jong Un’s pursuit of nuclear-capable weapons that can evade US interceptors. The regime is suspected of launching an SLBM Tuesday from the eastern port of Sinpo into waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, ...

Bloomberg Former president Donald Trump sued to block the release of documents to the U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol, arguing that lawmakers have made an over-broad request for presidential records. In the complaint filed in federal court in Washington, Trump asked a judge to stop the national archivist from releasing the records ...

Bloomberg China’s reported launch of a hypersonic missile into orbit has raised concerns that US rivals are quickly neutralizing the Pentagon’s missile defenses even as it invests tens of billions of dollars in upgrades. In a test two months ago, the Chinese military sent a nuclear-capable missile into low-orbit space and around the globe before cruising down to its target, ...

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin will participate in next week’s Group of 20 summit in Rome via videolink, the Kremlin said. Putin told Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi of his plans in a phone call Tuesday, according to an emailed statement. Chinese President Xi Jinping has indicated he may also take part in the October 30-31 Rome G-20 summit remotely. ...

Bloomberg Chinese and Indian military commanders are deadlocked over the best way to pull back troops from a strategic area in the Himalayas, people familiar with the discussions said, raising the prospect for another tense winter along the border. China insisted last week that India pull back thousands of reserve troops and weaponry it brought to the border last year, ...