Politics

Bloomberg Australian PM Scott Morrison denied being pressured by President Donald Trump to help probe the origins of the US Justice Department’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Morrison said he had a brief telephone conversation with Trump, in which the president asked for a point of contact within the Australian government to help Attorney General William Barr ...

Bloomberg A Hong Kong police officer who fired a bullet into the chest of an 18-year-old protester may have inadvertently given new life to the months-long movement challenging Beijing’s authority. Demonstrators hit the streets again on Wednesday following the release of videos showing the man getting shot at close range after striking the officer with a metal rod. The violent ...

Bloomberg Talks to end the five-year conflict in eastern Ukraine produced the first major breakthrough since a lapsed 2015 peace accord, paving the way for an international summit to cement progress. Negotiators meeting in the Belarusian capital of Minsk agreed on a schedule under which elections will be held in the breakaway regions and a new law will be passed ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson outlined his plan for a new Brexit agreement and warned the European Union to compromise or watch the UK walk away from talks and leave the bloc without a deal. The UK prime minister declared that Britain is “ready” to break away from the EU without an agreement in four weeks’ time, if officials in Brussels do ...

Bloomberg President Xi Jinping presided over a grand display of China’s strength in Beijing — declaring that no force could stop the country’s rise — even as concerns grew over the condition of the first protester shot in Hong Kong after almost four months of unrest. Speaking at the start of a massive parade marking 70 years since the founding ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump and his Republican allies are dialing up pressure to unmask the Ukraine whistleblower in a breathtaking departure from how allegations of corruption and waste have been handled by both parties for years. The push to identify the anonymous intelligence official risks deterring future whistle-blowers from coming forward — particularly in the House Democrats’ current impeachment inquiry ...

Bloomberg The US and North Korea agreed to resume working-level talks within the next week, a move that could break a deadlock in discussions aimed at ending Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions. “I can confirm that US and DPRK officials plan to meet within the next week,” State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said. “I do not have further details to share on ...

Bloomberg British PM Boris Johnson is facing the moment of truth for his Brexit strategy as he prepares to present his blueprint for a deal to the European Union in days. The reception his plan receives in Brussels and among pro-Brexit members of his ruling Conservative Party will determine whether there is any hope of securing an orderly exit for ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has rejected prosecutors’ request that he leave prison for house arrest, setting up a potential clash with judges over his sentence for corruption and money-laundering. “I won’t swap my dignity for my freedom,” Lula said in a hand-written letter posted on his Twitter account. He added that prosecutors should apologise to ...

Bloomberg In Beijing, President Xi Jinping’s grand military parade through the capital will be cheered as a display of national pride after 70 years of Communist Party rule. In Washington, many will see a growing threat to American dominance in the Western Pacific. Alongside the tanks, troop carriers and columns of goose-stepping soldiers, the 80-minute procession past Tiananmen Square on ...