Politics

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny during his hospital treatment for poisoning, a sign of how seriously the case is being taken in Berlin. “I’m very grateful to Chancellor Merkel for visiting me in the hospital,” Navalny said on Twitter. “The meeting happened. It’s not worth calling it ‘secret.’ More a private meeting and conversation ...

Bloomberg The European Union said it won’t abandon trade talks with the UK even if Boris Johnson’s government doesn’t withdraw its plan to break international law. Yet at the same time, the bloc renewed its threat to take legal action in a sign of just how delicate negotiations are as the clock ticks on a compromise. European Commission Vice President ...

Bloomberg Romania’s minority government dislodged the opposition mayor of Bucharest, giving it a boost before national elections in December at which it’s seeking to win control of parliament. Activist Nicusor Dan defeated Social Democrat incumbent Gabriela Firea in a ballot, pledging to fight corruption that’s delayed reforms and city upgrades. Turnout in Bucharest was slightly higher than in previous ballots ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s ruling coalition named their candidate for chief minister in the key state of Sabah on Monday, in a move that could fray ties between the parties behind Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Muhyiddin’s Bersatu party named one of its own, Hajiji Mohd Noor, to be sworn into office at the state palace on Tuesday, Hajiji said. He added it ...

Bloomberg Pakistan’s High Court on Monday ordered the arrest of key opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif after it cancelled his bail in a money laundering case, just days ahead of a nationwide protest campaign against the government. A panel headed by Justice Sardar Ahmed Naeem said Sharif — the president of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party and former chief minister ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping has doubled down on China’s policies towards Uighurs in the country’s western Xinjiang region despite international condemnation. “Facts prove that the party’s policies on Xinjiang in the new era are completely correct and must be adhered to in the long term,” the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Xi as saying during a work meeting held ...

Bloomberg South Korea invited North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to participate in a joint probe into the fatal shooting of one of its nationals north of the border, after the regime warned South Korea over its maritime search for the body. North Korea should be “open-minded” towards investigating the incident as soon as possible, given the differences between the two ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump expressed confidence he would be re-elected president if Congress has to break an Electoral College tie in the 2020 election. “I don’t want to end up in the Supreme Court and I don’t want to go back to Congress either, even though we have an advantage when we go back to Congress,” Trump said at a rally ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong residents renewed or applied for British National (Overseas) passports in record numbers last year as anti-government protests erupted in the city, according to the South China Morning Post. The 154,218 BNO passports issued in 2019 is an eightfold jump from the year earlier, the newspaper reported, citing British government data. The authority also recorded 32,813 renewals by ...

Bloomberg North Korea warned South Korea about a maritime search operation it says entered its territorial waters, state news agency KCNA reported, citing a statement from the Korean Central News Agency. “We don’t care whether the south side conducts any kind of search operation in its territorial waters or not,” North Korea said. “But we can never overlook any intrusion ...