Politics

BLOOMBERG European Union (EU) defense ministers cautiously welcomed a plan to send Ukraine ammunition from their existing stocks, but urged the bloc to work faster on jointly procuring shells to jump-start production. “What is crucial is that Ukrainians direly need ammunition and we have to ramp up production within Europe,” Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson told reporters in Stockholm ahead ...

BLOOMBERG Back in November, before the latest downward spiral in US-China ties, Xi Jinping cast himself as a statesman in a meeting with Joe Biden. Saying both nations need “a responsibility for history,” Xi appeared to play ball with US calls to “compete vigorously” with China while establishing “guardrails” to avoid conflict. After speaking with Biden for more than three ...

BLOOMBERG The M23 rebel group clashed with Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers, defying a ceasefire that was meant to go into effect on March 7, according to the United Nations. “The secretary-general reiterates his call on the M23 to respect the ceasefire to create conditions for its full and effective withdrawal from all occupied areas,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman, said ...

BLOOMBERG UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will travel to the US next week to meet President Joe Biden and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese for a top-level meeting of the so-called Aukus allies. Sunak will be in the US, where he will meet the US and Australian leaders, his spokesman Max Blain told reporters. Talks are expected to focus on ...

BLOOMBERG The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a fresh warning to the US and South Korea, threatening them with severe consequences if they went ahead with joint military drills set to start next week. Kim Yo Jong said North Korea is monitoring the “restless military moves by the US forces” and its South Korean “puppet ...

BLOOMBERG Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said taking the besieged eastern city of Bakhmut would let Kremlin forces push further into Ukraine’s defenses, vowing to continue a months-long siege that’s shown limited results so far. Bakhmut “is an important link in the defenses of Ukraine’s forces in Donbas,” Shoigu told commanders in televised comments. The founder of Russian mercenary group ...

BLOOMBERG China’s new foreign minister warned that soaring US-China tensions risk blowing past any guardrails in the relationship, showing that divisions between the world’s biggest economies are becoming more entrenched. “The US claims that it seeks to outcompete China but does not seek conflict,” Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday at his first news briefing since taking office late ...

BLOOMBERG Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yielded to pressure over allegations China interfered in Canada’s elections, appointing a special investigator to study the matter. “Upholding confidence in our democratic process in our elections, in our institutions, is of utmost importance,” the prime minister told reporters in Ottawa. The “independent special rapporteur” will have a wide mandate and make recommendations on fighting ...

BLOOMBERG China granted a key ministry new powers and created a bureau to oversee increasingly valuable data, shaking up oversight of its vast technology arena as Xi Jinping’s administration battles the US in areas from AI to semiconductors. The moves — part of a broader overhaul of official bodies to further consolidate Xi’s hold over the world’s second-largest economy — ...

BLOOMBERG Reliance Industries Ltd has tapped a top executive from McLaren Strategic Ventures as CEO for its newly-created financial services unit that is preparing for a listing in India, according to people familiar with the matter. Hitesh Sethia is due to join Jio Financial Services Ltd as its CEO and managing director, said the people, who asked not to be ...