Politics

Bloomberg The US wants South Korea to reconsider its decision to exit its military pact with Japan, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday, citing comments by David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. The General Security of Military Information Agreement is set to expire on November 22, and Japan and the US want the pact ...

Bloomberg The New York City lawmaker whose district includes much of Manhattan and Trump Tower has the inside track to take over a key congressional watchdog committee with a leading role in the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, according to multiple House Democratic officials. Representative Carolyn Maloney, 73, has already taken over the Committee on Oversight and Reform on ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson accused members of parliament of holding the UK “hostage” ahead of a vote on Monday on an early general election. The prime minister looks set to lose his bid for a snap poll on December 12, after opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn reiterated he’ll only support it if the risk of a no-deal Brexit is removed. ...

Bloomberg Belgium is getting its first female prime minister. Budget and Civil Service Minister Sophie Wilmes will succeed Charles Michel, who has served in an acting capacity since an inconclusive election in May. He’s taking office as president of the European Council, which involves chairing meetings of European Union leaders, on December 1. According to Belga news agency, Wilmes, 44, ...

Bloomberg More than a million people poured into Santiago’s public squares and thoroughfares in one of the biggest street protests ever seen in the Chilean capital. Downtown areas such as the iconic Plaza Italia came alive with people, mainly student-age and twenty-somethings but also older people and families, waving flags and banners seeking better pay, pensions, healthcare and education. Many ...

Bloomberg Maria Butina, a Russian who was freed after serving a US prison sentence for failing to register as an agent of a foreign government, arrived in Moscow and thanked diplomats and groups who supported her. “Russians don’t give up,” she said in a brief statement at the airport, accompanied by her father and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. A ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court to throw out a California immigrant-sanctuary law that restricts local police from helping federal authorities round up and deport people who are in the country illegally. In an appeal, the administration said the 2017 measure undermines federal immigration enforcement efforts. The law “makes it more difficult for federal officers to ...

Bloomberg The House impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump shifts into an accelerated phase as the three Democratic-led committees leading the inquiry hold their first weekend session to question the State Department’s top diplomat for Europe. The closed-door testimony by Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of European and Eurasian affairs, precedes a full slate of interviews set for next ...

Bloomberg Argentine President Mauricio Macri’s election prospects are talked about in the markets, by pundits and by diplomats as largely set in stone. He is expected to lose on Sunday to opposition candidate Alberto Fernandez. The slimmest of windows exists for him to force the presidential race into a second-round runoff vote in November. But that’s enough for 45 year-old ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong pro-democracy activists are preparing to demonstrate for the 21st straight weekend as unrest spreads around the globe, from South America to Europe to the Middle East. Protesters in the financial hub will look to keep up momentum in the months-long fight with officials in Beijing for greater democracy. Reports surfaced that China’s leaders were mulling a plan ...