Politics

Bloomberg Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy faced months of US pressure to drum up a very particular corruption investigation. Zelenskiy repeatedly responded vaguely, to the clear frustration of President Donald Trump’s circle, that he is committed to investigating corruption. Zelenskiy’s efforts to retool his country’s law enforcement are now taking form, with Ukrainians watching whether the latest anti-corruption drive will fare ...

Bloomberg House Democrats are starting to compress weeks of depositions, documents and testimony into a report almost certain to result in articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, as the White House wages a campaign to discredit the investigation. Intelligence chairman Adam Schiff won’t rule out more witnesses or other avenues of investigation beyond a central focus: whether Trump tried ...

Bloomberg Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe urged China to preserve a free Hong Kong and backed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” principle of governing it in a meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, just as pro-democracy candidates triumphed in an election in the city. Abe also “strongly pushed” for China to deal positively with disputes over the East China ...

Bloomberg UK prime minister Boris Johnson is aiming to consolidate his lead in the polls in the final weeks of the general election campaign. He announced a safety-first policy package based on “sensible” promises, which included hiring 50,000 nurses for the country’s cherished National Health Service and cutting taxes for working people. Johnson carefully avoided the radical language and out-of-the-blue ...

Bloomberg Depriving western Balkan countries of a clear chance to join the European Union risks speeding up the already alarming pace of people emigrating away from the region, North Macedonia’s president said. Stevo Pendarovski said that France’s decision to block the opening of accession talks with his country and Albania — and president Emmanuel Macron’s insistence that there should be ...

Bloomberg In early June, chief executive Carrie Lam kicked off unprecedented chaos when she dismissed enormous crowds of Hong Kongers who marched peacefully to oppose legislation allowing extraditions to China. The masses again spoke clearly and peacefully — this time giving 85% of 452 District Council seats to pro-democracy candidates, a swing of more than 50 percentage points. Nearly 3 ...

Bloomberg A record number of Hong Kongers cast ballots in district elections by Sunday afternoon, with hours to go before polls were due to close, as they seized the first opportunity to vote after months of increasingly violent protests calling for greater democracy. Some 2.5 million people, or roughly 60% of the financial hub’s electorate, had voted by 6:30 pm, ...

Bloomberg British PM Boris Johnson pledged his Conservatives won’t raise income tax, value-added tax or national insurance rates as he unveiled the party’s programme for government on Sunday. He also promised that the National Health Service will not be “on the table” in trade talks. The Tories hold a double-digit lead in most opinion polls heading into the December 12 ...

Bloomberg Uruguayans voted for their next president on Sunday in a runoff in which polls suggest that opposition leader Luis Lacalle Pou will end 15 years of left-wing rule. Surveys show the 46-year-old career politician from the center-right National Party leading the Broad Front’s Daniel Martinez in an election in which voters will choose between an ambitious reform agenda or ...

Bloomberg India’s Supreme Court asked for documents to show how an alliance in a western state was formed to create a government, after prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party unexpectedly tied up with a rival to take control of Maharashtra. A panel of judges led by NV Ramana demanded that the federal government submit the papers by Monday morning, when ...