Politics

Bloomberg Ukraine and Russia, one-time allies who’ve been locked in conflict since 2014, arranged a mass exchange of prisoners following long negotiations. 35 Ukrainians, including filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and 24 sailors, arrived home on Saturday from Russia, where they were kept in jails, some of them for years. Ukraine also released 35 prisoners, who have left for Russia. “We have ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s embattled leader, Carrie Lam, formally withdrew legislation to allow extraditions to China, a political retreat that may help ease — but not end — months of unrest in the Asian financial hub. Lam announced the move in a televised address on Wednesday, after a meeting with pro-establishment politicians including local legislators and the city’s representatives to national ...

Bloomberg Kelly Craft is expected to leave bombast to Donald Trump, swagger to Michael Pompeo and hard-line strategy to John Bolton when she takes her seat as US ambassador at the UN next week. In an administration known for its confrontations with both allies and adversaries, Craft, a wealthy Trump campaign contributor who previously served as envoy to Canada, has ...

Bloomberg Iran said it was unlikely to reach a much-anticipated agreement with Europe in time to avert another Iranian retreat from the limping nuclear deal, but gave European powers two more months to try to keep the accord alive. While president Hassan Rouhani said his country would unveil on Thursday further plans to ramp up its atomic activities, the extension ...

Bloomberg Contractors who run US detention centres for migrant children employed people who hadn’t completed background checks or didn’t meet educational requirements, potentially putting kids “at risk,” the health department’s internal watchdog said. More than half of shelters supervised by the Department of Health and Human Services allowed new employees to begin work without completing an FBI background check, a ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson began moves to trigger a snap general election after suffering a humiliating defeat for his Brexit strategy that left his ruling party in tatters. A fresh poll to choose a new government would mark the climax of the political chaos that has engulfed Britain for the past three years since the country voted narrowly ...

Bloomberg China softened its tone towards Hong Kong’s protesters, saying peaceful demonstrations were allowed under the law, even as it ruled out a fundamental demand for direct democracy that has fuelled the unrest. In a wide-ranging briefing in Beijing, Chinese officials overseeing Hong Kong sought to make a clear distinction between violent protesters who have thrown petrol bombs in running ...

Bloomberg Ukraine revoked the immunity from prosecution long enjoyed by lawmakers, part of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s efforts to stamp out corruption. Parliament voted for a constitutional amendment placing its members on the same legal footing as other citizens, starting from January 1. The bill was originally submitted in 2015 by ex-President Petro Poroshenko, but was sidelined until Zelenskiy’s ruling party ...

Bloomberg US Vice President Mike Pence came under fire on Tuesday for staying at President Donald Trump’s golf resort during his official visit to Ireland, despite most of his meetings with Irish leaders taking place more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) away in Dublin. The vice president’s staff defended the decision, noting that Pence — who is travelling with his ...

Bloomberg South Africa has been hit by an outbreak of attacks on migrants from other African countries as the nation prepared to host a meeting of political and business leaders from across the continent. A spate of violence that broke out in suburbs south of Johannesburg’s city centre and spread to the central business district saw the destruction of more ...