Politics

Bloomberg A strong earthquake off Japan’s northern coast of Miyagi prefecture on Saturday temporarily disrupted bullet train service and prompted utility companies to conduct checks at nuclear power plants. The magnitude 6.8 temblor hit at 10:27 am local time at a depth of 32 miles, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. While the quake shook buildings as far away as Tokyo, ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing an official investigation into whether he or his party broke election law by failing to declare the funding of works to refurbish his government residence. The Electoral Commission, which regulates political donations, announced the inquiry amid questions over whether Johnson took an undeclared loan from a political donor to cover the costs ...

Bloomberg Somalia’s leader said he’s prepared to hold elections, after a controversial plan to extend his mandate without a vote drew international condemnation and stoked violence in the Horn of Africa nation. President Mohamed Abdullahi, also known as Farmajo, called for urgent talks on the return to a September 17 agreement between the federal and regional governments to hold an ...

Bloomberg Finland’s ruling coalition came to an agreement on spending plans, averting a collapse of the Nordic nation’s Social Democrat-led government by a thin margin. The five-party cabinet patched up its differences, forging a common vision of how Finland’s recovery from the pandemic should take place, PM Sanna Marin said. The broad outlines of the deal are now agreed, and ...

Bloomberg For months, developed economies have hoarded Covid-19 vaccines and the raw materials needed to make them. Now, they’re being forced to act as an explosive outbreak in India raises the risk of new virus mutations that could threaten the wider world. Under mounting criticism for dominating vaccine resources, the US said that it will help India by sending items ...

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron’s government was expected to unveil a new anti-terrorism draft bill on Wednesday, just days after the fatal stabbing of a police officer by an extremist. The bill aims to identify suspects before they carry out an attack, and will turn temporary measures into permanent ones. That could include extending a collaboration with telecom companies to ...

Bloomberg Bulgaria is probing several explosions at arms warehouses for potential links to an investigation into a deadly munition blast in the Czech Republic that sparked a recent diplomatic feud with Russia. Prosecutors are investigating six unnamed Russian citizens, whose presence in Bulgaria between 2011 and 2020 coincided with the blasts, Siyka Mileva, the spokeswoman for the country’s chief prosecutor, ...

Bloomberg Myanmar’s military government rebuffed a plan by Southeast Asian leaders to help end violence in the country, saying any “suggestions” would need to fit with the junta’s stated roadmap and come after “stability” is restored. Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including coup chief Min Aung Hlaing, appeared to reach a five-point “consensus” on Myanmar during ...

Bloomberg A key partner to Finland’s ruling Social Democrats said she is losing faith in the coalition’s credibility, signaling the government of the Nordic region’s only euro member has edged closer to a collapse. The government is bristling over a failure to agree on a common view to the economy and spending measures. Talks went into their seventh day as ...

Bloomberg French far-right leader Marine Le Pen went into damage control mode on Tuesday, after lending support to a group of soldiers and retired generals who penned an open letter to President Emmanuel Macron warning of a risk of “civil war” and the looming disintegration of the country. In an interview on FranceInfo on Tuesday, Le Pen denied the officers ...