Politics

Bloomberg Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy is getting used to being peppered with questions about Donald Trump. At a briefing during a recent tour of the Baltic region, he interrupted an interpreter relaying a question from a reporter. “Even without knowing your beautiful language, I understood,” he said. “We’re in Estonia now, but unfortunately everyone’s interested in what’s happening with Trump. ...

Bloomberg US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in said talks involving North Korea should continue, referring to the situation on the peninsula as grave. The two leaders spoke by phone for about 30 minutes on Saturday morning in Seoul, in a call that took place at Trump’s request, according to Moon’s spokeswoman Ko Min-jung. “The two ...

Bloomberg Rockets have been fired at two Iraqi air bases this week where American military forces are stationed, a US official said. The attacks, on the Al Asad base on Tuesday and Balad on Thursday were believed to be the work of militants with ties to Iran, according to the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter. ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson is heading for a clear victory in next week’s UK general election, according to senior officials in both his ruling Conservatives and the main opposition Labour Party. Speaking on condition of anonymity, five senior figures drawn from the two biggest parties said Johnson’s campaign promise to “get Brexit done” is winning ground in Labour heartlands in northern ...

Bloomberg Joe Biden said he would not rule out appointing donors as ambassadors, but wouldn’t make decisions about those roles based on someone’s financial contributions. “Nobody in fact will be appointed by me based on anything they contributed,” he told a group of reporters aboard his “No Malarkey” bus in Decorah, Iowa. “But, for example, you have some of the ...

Bloomberg Iran released the Chinese-American graduate student Xiyue Wang on Saturday as part of a prisoner swap, US officials said. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif confirmed that the US freed Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani. Soleimani was “delivered to Iranian officials in Switzerland,” Iran’s foreign ministry said on its Telegram channel. Zarif later tweeted photos of himself with his countryman. ...

Bloomberg The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation that would impose sanctions on Chinese officials over human rights abuses against Muslim minorities, prompting Beijing to threaten possible retaliation just as the world’s two largest economies seek to close a trade deal. The bill is an amended version of the Senate’s S. 178 to support the Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic ...

Bloomberg At least 132 people have been killed in floods and landslides caused by unusually heavy rainfall in Kenya. Around 17,000 were displaced and 11,000 livestock swept away by strong waters, government’s spokesman Cyrus Oguna said. More than half of the country has been affected, according to Oguna. The rains have helped alleviate the drought conditions across the country that ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump, once the primary critic of NATO, blasted France’s Emmanuel Macron for his “very insulting” comments about the military alliance that’s celebrating its 70th anniversary in London. The full-throttled attack came on Tuesday, hours before the two leaders were scheduled to meet face-to-face in London. The US president, who in the past has expressed admiration for the French ...

Bloomberg Typhoon Kammuri barrelled into the Philippines’ main island, killing at least three people, displacing half a million more and shutting its main airport. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte canceled work in government offices in Metro Manila, while schools were closed as Kammuri battered the capital region on Tuesday. The foreign exchange and stock markets were open. About half a million ...