Politics

Bloomberg UK Home Secretary Priti Patel ordered a review of police security for members of Parliament after Conservative MP David Amess was fatally stabbed at a meeting in his constituency. The attack revives questions about the safety of lawmakers meeting face-to-face with residents in their districts, usually with little security. A 25-year-old UK national was arrested on suspicion of murder, ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s top military leadership warned China that the closer its aircraft and ships get to the island the harder Taipei will respond, raising the stakes for further escalation with Beijing. Taiwan will take tougher measures to fend off Chinese military sorties should they get too close to the Taiwanese mainland, according to a report by the island’s defense ministry ...

Bloomberg The International Court of Justice (ICJ) rejected Kenya’s territorial claims in a maritime border dispute with Somalia, in a ruling that may inflame tensions between the nations eyeing the area’s oil and gas reserves. The ruling read by Judge Joan Donoghue was largely in favour of Somalia, with the Hague-based court saying that there isn’t a boundary agreement between ...

Bloomberg If Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov thought winning the Nobel Peace Prize may protect him against a sweeping Kremlin crackdown on media it considers “foreign agents,” then President Vladimir Putin offered a sobering warning on Wednesday. “If he doesn’t violate Russian law, and if he doesn’t give a reason to be declared a foreign agent, then he won’t be,” Putin ...

Bloomberg The European Union will offer a new package of concessions to the UK that would ease trade barriers in Northern Ireland, as the two sides prepare for a new round of contentious Brexit negotiations. Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, was expected to offer to cut as much as 50% of the customs checks in Northern Ireland and ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the EU’s stalled investment accord with China, human rights and other issues in a “farewell” bilateral talk. Preparation for the G-20 summit, fighting climate change and grappling with the global pandemic were also discussed in the video conference on Wednesday, Martina Fietz, Merkel’s deputy spokeswoman, said in a statement ...

Bloomberg Kim Jong Un showed off his increasingly varied arsenal of missiles designed to frustrate US defense systems, in a rare display that appeared to be the North Korean leader’s latest effort to break a diplomatic stalemate over his nuclear program. Blaming the US for “creating regional tension with wrong decisions and action,” Kim vowed at a defense forum to ...

Bloomberg Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, on Tuesday announced an expanded support package to Afghanistan worth about $1.15 billion to try and contain a spiraling humanitarian crisis. The package combines European Union aid “with the delivery of targeted support on basic needs in direct benefit of the Afghan people and neighbouring countries,” von der Leyen said ...

Bloomberg The French government will help state-controlled utility Electricite de France SA develop so-called small modular nuclear reactors by 2030, betting that the technology will be exported to regions looking to accelerate their transition to cleaner fuels. The announcement, made by President Emmanuel Macron, signals that he sees nuclear power as key to reducing global carbon emissions, alongside renewable energy. ...

Bloomberg The corruption investigation that forced Austria’s Sebastian Kurz to resign as chancellor has wiped out his lead against his closest rival. Support for the People’s Party dropped to 26% from 33%, putting it almost on par with the Socialist Party, which stood at 25%. That is according to a survey conducted by the IFDD pollster as the political turmoil ...