Politics

Bloomberg Turkey is nearing a decision to approve Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by next month at the latest, potentially leaving Sweden out in the cold, according to people familiar with the matter. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is close to concluding that steps taken by Helsinki to address security concerns have been enough for lawmakers to ratify ...

  Bloomberg The US and the Philippines have agreed to resume joint patrols in the South China Sea amid lingering tensions with China in the disputed waters. The decision was reached during Thursday’s meeting between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez, where they also exchanged views “on shared regional security challenges in the Indo-Pacific,” according ...

Bloomberg North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said the door remains shut for talks with the US on winding down its atomic arsenal, setting the stage for renewed provocations by pledging to respond to what it saw as threats from Washington. “The DPRK is not interested in any contact or dialogue with the US as long as it pursues its hostile policy ...

  Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, are planning to go to Washington DC in mid-March potentially to unveil a proposal for Australia’s nuclear submarine project, according to a person familiar with the matter. President Joe Biden will host the British and Australian leaders, and the allies are expected to announce their preferred design ...

Bloomberg The US secured access to more Philippine military bases, clearing the way for a greater American presence in the Asia-Pacific region as tensions with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea persist. The announcement Thursday of a plan to designate four new locations in “strategic areas” where the US will have expanded access didn’t mention China. Instead, it ...

  Bloomberg The US and its allies Canada, the UK and Australia have imposed fresh sanctions on Myanmar, adding to pressure on the military regime, two years since it overthrew the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Tuesday the US restrictions target six individuals and ...

  Bloomberg Russia is breaching the terms of the New START nuclear-arms reduction treaty by refusing to allow inspectors on its territory and stonewalling US efforts to discuss the issue, the State Department said. The department said in a statement that the Russian refusal “prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the treaty and threatens the viability of ...

  Bloomberg Georgia’s president said Russia must be required to abandon its nearly 15-year-long occupation of her nation’s territory as part of an eventual peace deal to end the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. “Russia has to learn where its borders are,” President Salome Zourabichvili said in an interview in the capital, Tbilisi. “The Georgian issues should be on the table ...

Bloomberg Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong warned about the risk of conflict in the Indo-Pacific as she prepares to meet her British counterpart for defense talks that will likely focus on regional issues including China’s military expansion. Speaking on Tuesday before joining Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles for two days of annual bilateral talks with their British counterparts, Wong said ...

  Bloomberg The speaker of Czech parliament said she will visit Taiwan, a day after China lashed out at the nation’s president elect for saying he favored a stronger partnership with Taiwan. Marketa Pekarova Adamova said she talked to Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu on Wednesday about her visit planned for March. Just a day earlier, China called comments made ...