Politics

Bloomberg As the coronavirus inflicts ever more death and economic carnage across the US, President Donald Trump is resorting to his preferred and battle-tested tactic to fight the biggest threat to his re-election: diversion. The shift was clear on Mother’s Day, when he flooded Twitter with 126 posts, including promoting a tweet that called his own Justice Department “corrupt.” A ...

Bloomberg The hunt for Joe Biden’s running mate is intensifying as some candidates make their interest in the job clear. Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris have both taken steps to ensure their names are included in any public lists, but while Abrams has been actively campaigning, Harris has taken a subtler approach. Biden, campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon and strategist ...

Bloomberg The United Nations agency leading the fight against a desert-locust upsurge in East Africa will lodge a new appeal for funding next week, warning the plague could still cause a food crisis. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) plans to ask its partners for about $110 million on May 20, according to the agency’s Nairobi-based Resilience Team Leader Cyril ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s 23-day streak without a case of local coronavirus transmission has come to an end, reflecting the challenge of eradicating a virus that can spread undetected through carriers with no symptoms. The case of a 66-year-old woman with no recent travel history becoming infected, confirmed by the government in a briefing on Wednesday, dashes hope that the city ...

Bloomberg The nation’s top infectious disease official, Anthony Fauci, was expected to issue a stern warning against reopening the economy too soon during a Senate hearing on Tuesday, saying it risks multiple new coronavirus outbreaks throughout the country. The US risks “the danger of trying to open the country prematurely,” Fauci said in an email to a New York Times ...

Bloomberg The US Senate unanimously approved a bill seeking the restoration of Taiwan’s observer status with the World Health Organization (WHO), escalating an international campaign to push back against Chinese efforts to isolate the island. The bipartisan measure calls on the State Department to report about Taiwan’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly — a key WHO ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s leader is pushing ahead with politically divisive policies that may prompt new protests against China’s influence over the city, even as she tries to revive a once-vibrant economy that’s been battered by unrest and the coronavirus pandemic. Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday a controversial law making it illegal to disrespect China’s national anthem would get ...

Bloomberg It was 2.15 pm and British PM Boris Johnson was fulfilling his promise to brief rival party leaders on his coronavirus strategy. It was meant to be a sign of national cooperation, with politics set aside in the crisis. But over the course of a 40-minute conference call, Johnson’s opponents told him he was getting it wrong. His new ...

Bloomberg Wuhan has ordered officials to test its entire population of 11 million people after the central Chinese city where the coronavirus pandemic began reported new infections for the first time since its lockdown was lifted. All districts in the city have been told to submit a plan laying out how they will prepare to conduct testing of everyone under ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson was expected to flesh out his plan for lifting the UK lockdown in Parliament as he seeks to get more people back to work, even as resistance from politicians and labour unions laid bare the hurdles facing the government as it tries to kickstart the economy. In a televised address to the nation, Johnson announced the “first ...