Politics

Bloomberg Slovaks are voting in a presidential runoff that will probably lift a liberal pro-European Union lawyer to the nation’s highest office in a rebuke of the populism that’s sweeping parts of the bloc’s ex-communist wing. Zuzana Caputova, a 45-year-old, captured a strong lead in support before the ballot. Poised to become Slovakia’s first woman president, she swept up more ...

Bloomberg A secretive group seeking to overthrow Kim Jong-un’s regime claimed responsibility for a raid last month on North Korea’s embassy in Madrid, alleging the country’s overseas missions are conduits for illicit funds. The group, called Free Joseon and previously known as Cheollima Civil Defense, said in a statement posted to its website that its actions were in response “to ...

Bloomberg As talks between US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un flourished last year, South Korean leader Moon Jae-in enjoyed international praise for bringing them together. Now that they’ve split, he’s facing pressure to get them back to the table. Trump’s decision to walk away from his Hanoi summit with Kim continues to reverberate a month later in ...

Bloomberg Seven political parties opposed to Thailand’s ruling junta said they had the numbers to form a majority coalition following the general election, intensifying a tussle for power with a pro-military bloc. Sudarat Keyuraphan, a leader of the Pheu Thai party linked to exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, said the coalition would unofficially have 255 seats in the 500-seat lower ...

Bloomberg China’s Communist Party expelled former Interpol President Meng Hongwei, months after he went missing during a trip to the country. Meng was also removed from his government post as vice public security minister over violations that included the taking of bribes and abuse of power, according to a statement from the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). The ...

Bloomberg As South Sudan’s main combatants prepare to join forces to end a brutal five-year civil war, recent fighting involving a renegade military officer suggests the conflict may be far from over. Thousands of civilians have fled their homes in Yei state in the southwest of the country this year, witnesses to alleged murders and looting as government troops battle ...

Bloomberg Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, following a tense day that began with a rocket attack on a home in central Israel and a counterstrike that reduced the office of Hamas’s leader to ruins. Amid the escalation, both sides made preparations for the possibility of a broader confrontation. Israel moved troops closer to its southern ...

Bloomberg Syrian Kurds will merge their forces into President Bashar al-Assad’s military if he agrees to grant them some measure of political autonomy, an envoy in Moscow said. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces can incorporate their fighters into Assad’s army “if there is agreement on a new constitution guaranteeing the rights of all peoples in Syria rather than keeping central ...

Bloomberg The UK Parliament seized control of the Brexit process from PM Theresa May and will now seek to decide how Britain exits the European Union. In a vote, the House of Commons split 329 to 302 to schedule votes on a series of alternative strategies, potentially including a second referendum, keeping the UK in the bloc’s customs union, leaving ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s first election since the 2014 coup was always going to be messy. But it’s turning out to be even more chaotic than many observers expected, setting the stage for renewed tumult after five years of military rule. Election authorities have faced calls to resign for repeatedly delaying the full results and failing to account for mounting irregularities, including ...