Politics

Bloomberg A group of 12 Latin American nations plus Canada urged Venezuela’s leader to hand power to the opposition-controlled National Assembly and call new elections, stepping up pressure on Nicolas Maduro days before he’s due to start a new term. The so-called Lima Group of nations views the presidential election in Venezuela last year as illegitimate and won’t recognise Maduro ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s most powerful tropical storm in decades has weakened after strong wind and flash floods disrupted oil production and flights, leaving thousands of tourists stranded near the nation’s southern beaches. Wind from tropical storm Pabuk slowed to 55 kilometres per hour (34 mph) from 65 kph on Saturday before crossing the peninsula to the Andaman Sea at 9 am ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested that mainland China and Taiwan enter into “in-depth democratic consultations” and work towards unification, in the clearest sign yet that he wants to settle the 70-year dispute during his tenure. “China must and will be united, which is an inevitable requirement for the historical rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era,” Xi ...

Bloomberg The family of a US citizen detained in Moscow on December 28 on suspicion of espionage said he was a former marine who was in Russia for a wedding. Paul Whelan, the director of global security for Michigan-based auto parts supplier BorgWarner Inc., hasn’t been in touch since the day of his arrest, his family said in a statement ...

Bloomberg The UK’s main focus in Brexit talks with its European Union counterparts is for a definition of the word “temporary” that persuades British lawmakers the country won’t be permanently tied to the bloc’s trade arrangements, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said. Prime Minister Theresa May deferred a parliamentary vote on the Brexit deal she negotiated with Brussels, acknowledging she didn’t ...

Bloomberg Kim Jong-un used his New Year’s address to issue a pointed warning to President Donald Trump, saying North Korea would take a “new path” in nuclear talks if the US didn’t relax economic sanctions. While Kim affirmed his willingness to meet Trump again, his nationally televised speech offered no new initiatives to advance talks that have sputtered since their ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump ended 2018 dramatically by ordering US troops out of Syria and accelerating his defense secretary’s resignation by two months. The first quarter of 2019 looks to be just as tumultuous. From China to Iran, Trump has set a host of deadlines for action that will help reveal if the president is really the global deal-maker he professes ...

Bloomberg Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party won almost 90 percent of the seats to give the premier an unprecedented fourth term in a vote marked by tight security, violence and a crackdown on the opposition. Hasina’s Awami League and its close allies won 267 of the 299 seats up for a vote, Election Commission Secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed told ...

Bloomberg Four people died and 68 remain unaccounted for after a gas explosion in a residential building in Russia on Monday morning. Russia’s Investigative Committee launched a criminal case into the incident in Magnitogorsk, about 1,700 kilometres east of Moscow. The inquiry will consider all possible versions of what happened, according to a statement. “Currently, the priority version is explosion ...

Bloomberg Russia’s Federal Security Service detained a US citizen in Moscow on suspicion of espionage on December 28, Interfax news agency reported. The investigation department of the FSB, as the domestic security service is widely known, started a criminal case and investigations are underway, Interfax said, citing the FSB. It didn’t provide any details on where the person was being ...