Politics

Bloomberg Abba Kyari, chief of staff to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and an ardent supporter of state intervention in the economy, has died. His age wasn’t disclosed. “The Presidency regrets to announce the passage of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari,” presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said on Twitter. Kyari had been hospitalised in the commercial capital, ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s campaign boasts it needed just 24 hours to switch into virtual mode after coronavirus lockdowns ended his signature, high-energy rallies. For Joe Biden, who thrives on the personal connection of retail politics, the transition is taking much longer. Trump’s digital operation dominates the digital space in no small part thanks to the presidential bully pulpit and ...

Bloomberg Indonesia has extended stricter social-distancing rules to millions of people living on the main island of Java, and in West Sumatra, as the world’s fourth-most populous nation strives to stem a spike in coronavirus cases. Large-scale social restrictions will be put in place across five regions in West Java that collectively house almost 9 million people, Health Minister Terawan ...

Bloomberg South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s ruling coalition scored the largest parliamentary election victory since the end of military-backed rule more than three decades ago, signalling to global leaders that a strong pandemic response can win votes. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea and its satellite group won 180 places in the 300-seat National Assembly, according to data from South ...

Bloomberg One of the highest-ranking North Koreans ever to defect made history by winning a parliamentary election in South Korea, running on a conservative platform where he lambasted both Kim Jong-un and the president of the country he now calls home. Thae Yong-ho, who once was a top diplomat representing what North Korea calls its “unique socialist political mode,” pulled ...

Bloomberg China rebuffed a US accusation that it had maintained activity at a nuclear weapons test site, with a foreign ministry spokesman saying the country was upholding its commitment to the international testing ban. In a summary of an annual report assessing global arms-control agreements, the US State Department said that China “maintained a high level of activity” at its ...

Bloomberg Security personnel in Nigeria have killed at least 18 people enforcing restrictions introduced to slow the spread of coronavirus, ThisDay reported, citing a report by the National Human Rights Commission. “Whereas Covid-19 has led to the death of about 11 patients to date, law-enforcement agents have extra-judicially executed 18 persons to enforce the regulations,” the Lagos-based newspaper said, citing ...

Bloomberg Brazil is negotiating with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to airlift diplomatic and military staff who are stranded after his government denied permission for a Brazilian Air Force cargo jet to land in Caracas, two people familiar with the matter said. The plane was scheduled to land in the Venezuelan capital on Friday to pick up diplomatic officials and their ...

Bloomberg Republicans are ratcheting up efforts to paint China as the villain in the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to shift blame as President Donald Trump faces increased criticism of his handling of a crisis that has shuttered the US economy. The Trump campaign sent out a fundraising email that accused China of “lying” about the outbreak and saying the country must ...

Bloomberg China criticised US President Donald Trump’s move to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) and pledged to support the global health body. Trump said he ordered the move against the WHO because it took China’s claims about the coronavirus “at face value” and failed to share information about the pandemic as it spread. China has “serious ...