Politics

BLOOMBERG Turkey is nearing ratification of Finland’s accession into Nato, which would bring the military alliance a step closer to welcoming its 31st member as the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine spread across the European security landscape. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Finland’s head of state, Sauli Niinisto, started a meeting in Ankara without speaking to reporters. The Turkish ...

BLOOMBERG Germany will send a federal minister to Taiwan for political talks for the first time in 26 years next week, a trip which could anger the government in Beijing at a time of growing tensions between China and Europe. Bettina Stark-Watzinger, who oversees the education and research portfolios in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition, plans a two-day trip to ...

BLOOMBERG The leaders of South Korea and Japan pledged at a rare summit in Tokyo their readiness to end a long-simmering dispute that had hurt security and trade tries, and work with their mutual US ally to counter threats from the likes of North Korea. President Yoon Suk Yeol smiled as he shook hands with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on ...

BLOOMBERG Poland will send four Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days as the nation moves ahead with deliveries to bolster Kyiv’s air power, President Andrzej Duda said. “The decision has been made” and more MiG-29 models currently under maintenance are on the way, Duda told reporters in Warsaw on Thursday. The Polish government said this week that ...

BLOOMBERG President Xi Jinping promoted China’s development approach in a speech to a gathering of political groups, highlighting his growing willingness to tout his nation’s system. “The Chinese path to modernisation is a sure path to build a stronger nation,” Xi said in video remarks to the Dialogue with World Political Parties, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It’s ...

BLOOMBERG Rishi Sunak will give UK lawmakers a chance next week to vote on new post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland, as the prime minister seeks to crystallise his agreement with the European Union (EU). Regulations to bring in the so-called Stormont Brake — the portion of the new deal giving Northern Ireland’s lawmakers a potential veto over changes to ...

BLOOMBERG As Japan and South Korea attempt once again to put their bitter 20th century disputes to rest, it signals a growing recognition in both capitals that their 21st century security may depend on each other. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol goes to Tokyo on Thursday trying to end four years of feuding over compensation for Japan’s use of ...

BLOOMBERG Russian President Vladimir Putin began talks with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in Moscow on Wednesday as the Kremlin steps up efforts to restore ties between Turkey and Syria. Putin said he planned to discuss “all important aspects of cooperation” with Assad, who thanked the Russian leader for backing Syrian demands for the pullout of all foreign forces and expressed ...

BLOOMBERG A Russian fighter jet collided with a US surveillance drone in international airspace above the Black Sea, causing the American aircraft to crash, the Pentagon said. Russia’s defense ministry denied the US claim, saying its jets didn’t come into contact with the drone, according to a statement posted on Telegram. The statement said the drone’s transponders were off, and ...

BLOOMBERG Ex-Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating condemned the center-left Labor government’s deal with the US and UK to obtain nuclear submarines, saying the nation’s military sovereignty was being surrendered to the “whim and caprice” of Washington. A former Labour party leader, Keating served as prime minister from 1991 to 1996, during which he sought to loosen Australia’s bonds with the ...