Politics

Bloomberg Peru is headed for days of political uncertainty as the second-placed candidate in a tight presidential runoff accused her contender of election fraud and promised to fight until the very last vote is counted. Keiko Fujimori, a market favourite who lost her initial lead to leftist Pedro Castillo as votes from Peru’s rural areas trickled in, said the rival ...

Bloomberg Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is struggling to contain the political fallout from investigations into the inner workings of his government after a close ally who heads the state holding company was forced to resign in the wake of damaging message correspondence. Thomas Schmid stepped down as chief executive officer of OeBAG after leaked messages showed how he had orchestrated ...

Bloomberg United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres won support from the UN Security Council on Tuesday for a second five-year term at the world body he’s led since 2017. Guterres, a 72-year-old former prime minister of Portugal, has struggled to forge diplomatic compromises in troubled hot spots amid deepening rifts between the US and its key rivals, Russia and China. He ...

Bloomberg Chinese policies could reduce the growth of southern Xinjiang’s ethnic Uyghur population by one-third over the next two decades, according to a new report, data that could bolster arguments that the effort represents genocide. Policies from birth control to forced labour transfers are on track to cut the Uyghur population in the region’s southern portion by 2.6 million to ...

Bloomberg China’s muted reaction over a US military flight to Taiwan prompted criticism from nationalists online, underscoring the pressures on President Xi Jinping to follow through on heated “red line” rhetoric. The US Air Force C-17 cargo plane made a three-hour stopover in Taipei to carry a bipartisan congressional delegation visiting Taiwan. Three US senators — Democrats Tammy Duckworth and ...

Bloomberg A South Korean court dismissed a lawsuit filed against Japanese companies to compensate Koreans who were conscripted to work in factories during World War II, in a case that has raised tensions between the two US allies. The Seoul Central District Court ruled on Monday that the 85 former labourers and their families suing the 16 Japanese companies, including ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free shots for all adults in an address to the nation, a move prompted by criticism of his administration’s handling of India’s deadly second virus wave and a botched vaccination roll out. In a half hour-long address on national television, Modi said all Indians above the age 18 will be vaccinated for free starting ...

Bloomberg Armin Laschet boosted his chances of succeeding Angela Merkel as German chancellor by helping secure a decisive victory for his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the country’s poorest state. In the final regional contest before the national vote in September, the 60-year-old party leader showed he can successfully guide Merkel’s party in a tight campaign. The outcome will help ...

Bloomberg Thousands demonstrated against a Chinese university’s planned campus in Budapest, saying the project reflects Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s disregard for democratic values. Mayor Gergely Karacsony led the protest against the government-backed $1.8 billion plan, which has mobilised opposition supporters in the capital ahead of next year’s general election. The rally was the first opportunity for residents to protest ...

Bloomberg Officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations completed a visit to Myanmar after two days of discussions with military leaders about the path to peace in the country, which has been in upheaval since the February 1 coup and violent suppression of pro-democracy protesters. Brunei’s Second Minister of Foreign Affairs, Erywan Pehin Yusof, and Asean Secretary-General Lim Jock ...