Politics

Bloomberg President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s embattled defense chief appointed three deputies as part of a shakeup aimed at quelling accusations over corruption in the top echelons of the government. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who earlier this month confronted speculation that he would be removed from his post, is taking to damage control after officials under him were swept up in a ...

  Bloomberg The Philippines has protested China’s move to aim a military-grade laser at a Philippine ship in the South China Sea which the US said was “provocative and unsafe” and threatens peace and stability in the region. The diplomatic protest, filed with the Chinese Embassy in Manila on Tuesday, “condemned the shadowing, harassment, dangerous maneuvers, directing of military-grade laser, ...

  Bloomberg The US military had never shot down an object in American airspace before taking out a Chinese balloon off South Carolina earlier this month. Now it’s becoming a near-daily occurrence. The sudden spate of US jets blasting unidentified objects of mysterious origin from the skies has provoked so much befuddlement — not to mention panic — that Pentagon ...

  Bloomberg The Philippines said China should restrict its forces to prevent committing any “provocative act” after a Chinese ship directed a military-grade laser light at a Philippine coast guard vessel in an area claimed by both nations in the South China Sea. “It is time for the Chinese government to restrain its forces so that it does not commit ...

  Bloomberg Moldova’s president called for heightened security and “maximum vigilance” after she cited fresh intelligence detailing Russian attempts to destabilise the country and overthrow her government. President Maia Sandu spoke three days after appointing a top security adviser, Dorin Recean, as prime minister, part of a government reshuffle that takes into account Moldova’s vulnerable position after Russia’s invasion of ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces more turbulence in his coalition after a bitter Berlin state election in which all three ruling parties lost support and one crashed out of the city’s parliament. The conservative Christian Democrats — the main opposition party at the national level — emerged as the clear winner after the vote in the German capital. They ...

Bloomberg Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said he’s open to a potential reciprocal military access agreement with Japan if it would protect the country’s fishermen and its maritime territory. “I don’t see why we should not adopt it,” Marcos said, according to a transcript of his interview with reporters. The Philippines is studying if the potential pact will indeed help ...

Bloomberg Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni didn’t paper over her contempt for the French President this past week — and Emmanuel Macron made clear that the feeling was mutual. The spat took place after Volodymyr Zelenskiy met Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Ukrainian leader’s request for dinner at the presidential Elysée Palace. Meloni, who was not informed ...

  Bloomberg Joe Biden hosts his counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the White House Friday in a show of support for Brazilian democracy, shaken last month by a right-wing insurrection akin to the invasion of the US Capitol in 2021. Washington and Brasilia organized the meeting with unusual urgency, scheduling it just six weeks after Lula’s inauguration. Yet ...

Bloomberg Romania denied an earlier claim that a Russian missile had crossed into its air space, an incident that risked escalating tensions with Nato as the Kremlin launched a barrage of attacks across Ukraine. Romania’s Defense Ministry said authorities detected an aerial target on Friday, most likely a cruise missile, launched from a Russian warship in the Black Sea near ...