Politics

Bloomberg The top US envoy to Ukraine testified that a senior diplomat told him in early September that President Donald Trump made US security aid to Ukraine entirely dependent on a public promise to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and the 2016 election. Acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor also quoted senior diplomat Gordon Sondland as saying Trump wanted ...

Bloomberg US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo has said efforts to revive the Indo-Pacific security grouping known as the Quad will help the Washington contain China’s rise. “We’ve reconvened ‘the Quad’ — the security talks between Japan, Australia, India and the United States that had been dormant for nine years,” Pompeo said in a speech to the conservative Heritage Foundation ...

Bloomberg Russia on Wednesday landed the world’s biggest military aircraft in South Africa, the Tupolev Tu-160 ‘Blackjack’ bomber, in a rare display of cooperation between the defense forces of the two countries. The two bombers, which are capable of launching nuclear missiles, are the first to ever land in Africa and were escorted by fighter jets from the South African ...

Bloomberg The Chinese government is drafting a plan to replace Hong Kong’s Carrie Lam with an “interim” chief executive, the Financial Times reported, citing unidentified people briefed on the deliberations. Lam’s successor would be installed by March, covering the remainder of her term should Chinese President Xi Jinping decide to carry out the plan, the paper cited the people as ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson looked set to try for an election after Parliament blocked his plan to rush his Brexit deal into UK law. A day of threats and promises from Johnson ended with an official in his office warning that if the EU agreed to a request from the British Parliament that Brexit be delayed until January 31, then the ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s designated successor is causing trouble in Berlin with her efforts to assert authority. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has been undermined by a series of errors since she was chosen to follow Merkel as leader of the Christian Democratic Union last year. Just two months after also taking the job as defense minister, she sprang a proposal for an ...

Bloomberg When NATO jets bombed Serb forces 20 years ago to push them out of Kosovo, Albin Kurti was packed onto a red bus with other political prisoners to be used as a human shield. He was beaten in custody, convicted of terrorism by a Serb court and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Fearing he’d never leave jail alive, ...

Bloomberg Six years after Croatia joined the European Union, the Balkan nation is getting a green light from the European Commission to join the bloc’s passport-free Schengen area. The decision was expected to be made public on Tuesday, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named because the judgment is private. The European ...

Bloomberg Just weeks before the worst civil unrest since Chile returned to democracy 29 years ago, President Sebastian Pinera described the country as “a true oasis” amid Latin American turmoil. The billionaire investor-turned-politician isn’t alone in his glowing assessment of a country that regularly tops regional prosperity metrics. However, the deadly upheaval of the past four days shows the chasm ...

Bloomberg Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won a second term in national elections, displaying once again a remarkable ability to overcome scandal and controversy to remain in power. Trudeau’s Liberal Party won or was leading in 156 of Canada’s 338 electoral districts, as of 1:33 am Ottawa time, losing his majority in parliament and the popular vote, but gaining enough ...