Politics

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 ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Narendra Modi is studying three options, including a cash handout for farmers, people with knowledge of the matter said, as his administration seeks to ease an agrarian distress and shore up popular support ahead of next year’s general election. The government is weighing options including a monthly income support programme for farmers, a cash handout plan for ...

Bloomberg The UK is in need of leadership, US Ambassador to London Woody Johnson said, as he also cast doubt on the chances of a bilateral trade deal if Prime Minister Theresa May manages to push her Brexit agreement through Parliament. “I’m feeling the country is in need of leadership,” Johnson said on Monday in a BBC Radio interview. “You ...

Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo counted ballot papers on Monday after an election that the opposition described as chaotic and flawed, with problems ranging from broken voting machines to delays and vote-buying. Congolese went to the polls on Sunday to find a successor to long-serving President Joseph Kabila in a vote that was already two years overdue, with Kabila’s ...

Bloomberg Kim Jong-un is intent on resolving the nuclear impasse that has stalled negotiations with the US and wants to hold more meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Moon’s office said. The North Korean leader sent Moon a personal letter of well wishes on Sunday, expressing a willingness to meet often in 2019 to advance peace talks and achieve ...

Bloomberg Tropical Storm Usman, which entered the Philippines on Christmas Day, has killed at least 16 people as it churned across several provinces, triggering floods and landslides and forcing thousands to flee to safer grounds. The storm has displaced at least 17,000 people in the Bicol region in the southern part of the Philippines’ main Luzon island. Three died in ...