Politics

Bloomberg Chinese and Russian hackers are attacking Indonesia’s voter data base in a bid to disrupt the country’s upcoming presidential election, according to a senior election commission official. As Indonesia prepares for simultaneous presidential and legislative polls on April 17, authorities are facing a wave of cyber incursions they say may be aimed at discrediting the polling process. The head ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump has spent a lot of time trying to convince Kim Jong-un that great wealth awaits if he gives up his nuclear weapons and opens North Korea’s economy. Yet that carries big risks for the young leader. While Kim’s calls for relaxing the sanctions cutting off North Korea from the global economy helped sink talks with Trump ...

Bloomberg A top member of the European Union’s largest political bloc met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and organizations critical of his policies in what may have been one of the premier’s last chances to avoid expulsion from the continent’s political mainstream. Manfred Weber, the European People’s Party’s candidate to lead the EU executive, said several issues remained outstanding ...

Bloomberg The Kremlin indicated that President Vladimir Putin supports new laws punishing online media for spreading “fake news” or material that insults state officials, the latest move in a broad crackdown on dissent in Russia. The upper house of parliament passed the legislation in a near-unanimous vote, and will now send it to Putin for signing. The measures are “undoubtedly” ...

Bloomberg Officials from China’s predominately Muslim region of Xinjiang defended mass detention camps as necessary to fight terrorism and vowed to maintain the crackdown for a “long time.” Local security policies had prevented a major terrorist attack in the region for more than two years, Xinjiang government chief Shohrat Zakir told a regional delegation meeting in Beijing on Tuesday. Even ...

Bloomberg Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the US will pull all remaining personnel from its embassy in Venezuela’s capital, adding that the presence of diplomatic staff “has become a constraint on US policy.” Earlier, Pompeo blasted Russia and Cuba for their continued support of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, accusing them of keeping his regime afloat despite the will of ...

Bloomberg If Algeria’s ageing rulers hope sidelining Abdelaziz Bouteflika will buy them time to regroup, they may be disappointed. Young protesters have become bolder since their demonstrations began two weeks ago. Some now want the entire old guard to step aside. In an letter released on Monday evening, Bouteflika postponed next month’s election and said he would no longer seek ...

Bloomberg Theresa May struck a deal to revise the terms of the UK’s divorce from the European Union but it’s unclear whether she’s done enough to win Parliament’s support in a crucial vote on Tuesday. After a chaotic day of changing plans in London, the prime minister made a last-minute decision to fly to Strasbourg, France, for late talks with ...

Bloomberg A top member of the European Union’s largest political bloc will meet with Viktor Orban in what may be the Hungarian prime minister’s last chance to avoid potential expulsion from the continent’s political mainstream later this month. Manfred Weber, the European People’s Party’s candidate to lead the EU executive, was expected to meet with Orban in Budapest on Tuesday ...

Bloomberg North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is showing signs he might fire his first rocket in 15 months. Long-time observers suspect he is bluffing. Two days after Kim’s summit with US President Donald Trump broke down over sanctions relief and disarmament steps last month, satellite images showed that North Korea was rebuilding a long-range rocket site it recently dismantled. The ...