Politics

Bloomberg Bordered by China and South Korea, two early victims of coronavirus, Kim Jong-un’s North Korea claims it has evaded the pandemic with no cases of infection. Diplomats and experts piecing together the clues see a different picture. Kim brought his already isolated country to a near standstill by sealing the borders in January to stop the virus, which halted ...

Bloomberg Serbia suspended all preparations for parliamentary elections scheduled for April 26 after imposing a state of emergency that effectively bans public activity in order to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the country’s electoral commission said. Preparations for the ballot will resume after the state of emergency is lifted, the commission said. Serbia closed its borders to all foreigners but Chinese, ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s former leader Mahathir Mohamad warned that the opposition coalition may lack the support needed to remove the current government, while criticising his long-time rival Anwar Ibrahim for the collapse of his administration. The Pakatan Harapan alliance, which was ousted from power last month, now had the backing of about 108 lawmakers, from 114 the morning before Prime Minister ...

Bloomberg Expanding testing for the Covid-19 virus in the US will result in a “spike in the curve” over the next week as more cases are uncovered, a top White House aide said. “For those of you who watched China, and China reporting, remember when they changed their definition and all of a sudden there was a blip in their ...

Bloomberg Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro applauded a series of pro-government, anti-Congress protests around the country, three days after suggesting they would be canceled due the risk of coronavirus spread. Bolsonaro joined a demonstration in Brasilia. In a live broadcast on social media, he distributed more than a dozen fist bumps to supporters outside of the presidential palace, protected behind two ...

Bloomberg Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday widened a month-long lockdown in the capital region to cover the entire Luzon island to prevent an outbreak of the new coronavirus, his spokesman said. An “enhanced community quarantine” of the island with a population of more than 57 million people will be implemented immediately, his spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a short ...

Bloomberg In their first one-on-one debate, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders framed their responses to the coronavirus outbreak they way they’ve crafted their campaigns from the beginning — one the steady hand of experience, the other a revolutionary wanting to reshape the country. They sparred on ideological lines over how the government should contain the outbreak. Sanders called for an ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, according to a memorandum released by the president’s physician. “One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation in Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free,” Dr Sean Conley said in the memo. “We are encouraging the implementation of all their best practices for exposure reduction and transmission mitigation,” Conley said. ...

Bloomberg South Korea has been praised for its effective response to the coronavirus pandemic. Now it wants to share its lessons with the world. South Korean President Moon Jae-in suggested that US President Donald Trump hold a G-20 teleconference summit to discuss how South Korea worked to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, a statement from Moon’s office said. ...

Bloomberg Election officials in Georgia will postpone the Democratic primary scheduled for March 24 until May 19 due to worries about the coronavirus pandemic, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said. “Events are moving rapidly and my highest priority is protecting the health of our poll workers, their families, and the community at large,” said Raffensperger, a Republican. A person familiar ...