Politics

Bloomberg At least one person was killed and tens of thousands fled their homes as Super Typhoon Surigae made a close approach to the Philippines’ eastern provinces. A 79-year-old male was declared dead on arrival at a hospital after suffering severe head injury caused by a fallen coconut tree in Leyte province in central Philippines, the disaster risk-reduction agency said ...

Bloomberg The Czech government alleged Russia was involved in a deadly blast at a munitions site in 2014 and said it’s expelling 18 embassy staffers, signaling that the country is joining growing international pressure to rein in President Vladimir Putin. Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s unexpected announcement coincides with concern in the US and Europe about Russia’s military buildup on the ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden said he plans to announce a higher refugee cap for this year, following a swift backlash from allies over a decision to keep the low ceiling set by his predecessor. Biden signed an order intended to accelerate processing of refugees while keeping former President Donald Trump’s 15,000-person cap in place. That backtracked on the administration’s plan ...

Bloomberg Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s condition has worsened sharply after 2 1/2 weeks of a hunger strike and he may die within days, his supporters said. “Alexey is dying now. Given his condition, it’s a matter of days,” Navalny’s spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said on Facebook. Anastasia Vasilieva, who heads the Alliance of Doctors union that is backed by ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden welcomed Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to the White House for conversations centred on a growing concern for both leaders: what to do about China. Suga said he and Biden agreed to pursue collaboration on climate change, Covid-19 and the global shortage of semiconductors. But China’s increasingly assertive role in the region loomed large in the ...

Bloomberg Eritrea agreed to start pulling its troops from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, making its first public admission to having troops in the neighboring country, in a letter to the United Nations Security Council. The development follows comments by UN aid chief Mark Lowcock to the Security Council asserting that there was no proof Eritrean forces were withdrawing. “Eritrea and Ethiopia ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden will keep the historically low refugee cap set by former President Donald Trump for now, going back on a plan to accept many more refugees this year. The president instead signed new order intended to accelerate processing of refugees. The order reallocates slots to make them more readily available to people living in Africa and the ...

Bloomberg Justin Trudeau’s special immigration initiative for Hong Kong residents received more applications than expected in its first three weeks, according to a spokesperson for Canada’s immigration minister. From February 8 to 28, 524 people applied for a three-year open work permit designed for young, educated individuals from the former British colony. It also expedites their eligibility to apply for ...

Bloomberg The Philippines is bracing for destructive winds and intense rains as Typhoon Surigae rapidly intensifies. The typhoon locally known as Bising is moving west northwest over the Philippine sea, packing maximum winds of 175 kilometres (109 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 215 kilometres per hour, the weather bureau said on Saturday. Flooding and rain-induced landslides may ...

Bloomberg China criticised the US for sending a group of former officials to Taiwan, saying the move will only add to mounting tensions. Two former deputy secretaries of state, Richard Armitage and James Steinberg, and former Senator Christopher Dodd arrived in Taipei on Wednesday as part of a White House delegation marking the 42nd anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, ...