Politics

Bloomberg US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China’s top diplomat against providing lethal aid to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rebuked him over an alleged Chinese spy balloon that heightened tensions between the world’s largest economies. Blinken told Chinese State Councilor Wang Yi in Munich that the US had information China was considering whether to give Russia assistance, possibly ...

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron’s popularity fell to its lowest level in three years, as opposition to his plan to reform the nation’s pension system remains steady. Only 32% of French people say they’re happy with the president, down 2 points from a month ago, according to the Ifop poll published by French newspaper Journal du Dimanche. The last time ...

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden’s administration is planning to impose new export controls and a fresh round of sanctions on Russia, targeting key industries a year after Vladimir Putin started his invasion of Ukraine. The measures will target Russia’s defense and energy sectors, financial institutions and several individuals, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden expects to speak with Xi Jinping about the Chinese balloon shot down by the US earlier this month, signalling a desire to end a dispute that has highlighted the fragility of relations between the world’s biggest economies. Biden disclosed plans for the call as part of his most extensive remarks yet about the balloon saga, which ...

  Bloomberg A British security guard who spied for Russia at the country’s Embassy in Berlin in exchange for money was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison on Friday. David Smith, 58, who collected a range of highly sensitive information from and about the embassy with the intention of supplying it to Russia, pleaded guilty to multiple breaches ...

  Bloomberg The US is sending its top China defense official to Taiwan, according to the Financial Times — though it’s unclear how Beijing will respond given the softer tone it has adopted in its diplomacy with the US and allies recently. The deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, Michael Chase, will make the trip “in the coming days,” ...

Bloomberg Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto said it’s up to Turkey to decide whether Finland and Sweden join Nato together or not. “We have an understanding with Sweden: both of us should become members as soon as possible. Turkey has its own understanding of the situation and the way forward —that’s entirely in Turkish hands,” Niinisto told reporters at the Munich ...

Bloomberg The UK and European Union have made significant progress towards a deal on new post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland — but more work is still needed to finalise an agreement, the region’s political parties said. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak held a series of meetings with leaders in Belfast to discuss the status of talks aimed at resolving the ...

  Bloomberg China questioned whether the US genuinely seeks to repair ties damaged by the dispute over a balloon just as the two nations’ top diplomats head to a security conference in Germany, where they may have an opportunity to meet on the sidelines. The balloon saga “tests the US’s sincerity and capability to properly handle crises and stabilise relations ...

  Bloomberg India will begin work on its first all-weather highway to carry troops and hardware to its disputed Himalayan boundary with China and add 9,000 additional soldiers to bolster defenses at its border as tensions linger. The cabinet cleared the project to build a 4.1 kilometre (2.55 miles)-long tunnel through the mountains in the border state of Himachal Pradesh. ...