Politics

Bloomberg Nearly a third of Russians believe that the threat from the coronavirus crisis has been massively overblown, according to an opinion poll published on Thursday. More than 23% dismiss the pandemic as the invention of people who have an interest in promoting such a myth, showed the survey of 7,600 people from across Russia conducted on May 21-26 by ...

Bloomberg India has moved additional troops along its northern border as it prepares for an extended conflict with neighbour China, after several rounds of talks failed to ease tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals. China has already placed about 5,000 soldiers and armoured vehicles within its side of the disputed border in the Ladakh region, an Indian government official said, asking ...

Bloomberg The US is considering a range of sanctions to punish China for its crackdown on Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said, as the Trump administration weighs whether to declare the former colony has lost its autonomy from Beijing. The Treasury Department could impose controls on transactions and freeze assets of Chinese officials and businesses for implementing a ...

Bloomberg Pressure is building on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to fire his chief aide, Dominic Cummings, with polls showing voters think he broke lockdown rules and members of parliament calling for him to go. Johnson was expected to face an hour and a half of sustained questioning from the senior members of parliament who make up the so-called Liaison Committee ...

Bloomberg South Korea, which won praise for containing the coronavirus without mass lockdowns, reported its biggest daily surge in infections in seven weeks, underscoring the challenge in permanently taming the illness in the absence of a viable vaccine. The Asian nation reported 40 new cases for May 26, the biggest one-day increase since April 8, according to data from Korea ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s laxer response to Covid-19 gave its citizens more freedom than most as the pandemic raged. But as other European Union members start to emerge from the worst, Swedes risk being left behind. Sweden’s foreign minister, Ann Linde, responded to a decision by Cyprus to blacklist her countrymen over concerns they might represent an unacceptable contagion risk. “We don’t ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong is bracing for what could be its biggest day of protests in months, with pro-democracy groups calling for a general strike against China’s latest moves to increase control of the city. Protests are planned for Wednesday near the Legislative Council building in central Hong Kong, where lawmakers plan to hold a hearing on a bill that would ...

Bloomberg Burundian ruling party candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye won the nation’s presidential election, which was marred by violence and health concerns because of the coronavirus outbreak. The outcome was immediately rejected by the opposition. Ndayishimiye won with 68.7% of the ballots cast on May 20, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission. His main rival, Agathon Rwasa, got 24.2%, the commission ...

Bloomberg A former coup leader with convictions for smuggling and murder was seeking re-election as president of Suriname. President Desi Bouterse, 74, an ally of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, is bidding for a third five-year term as leader of the tiny South American nation, which is in deep economic crisis despite recent oil discoveries and investment from Exxon Mobil Corp. The ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s military-backed government extended the country’s state of emergency for a second time, to the end of June, despite opposition calls to scrap it after novel coronavirus cases dwindled. The step is needed to lower the risk of another wave of illness as a lockdown is eased, spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat said after the cabinet backed the move. The emergency ...