Politics

Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s ousted PM Ranil Wickremesinghe is ready for polls after President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the island nation’s parliament and called for a snap general election. “We are prepared to go for an election, but this is illegal,” said Harsha De Silva, who was state minister of economic affairs under Wickremesinghe’s government. “There will be a massive backing of ...

Bloomberg Poland is set to mark the centennial anniversary of regaining its sovereignty amid concerns that events on Sunday may be hijacked by far-right groups. PM Mateusz Morawiecki said this week that he expects as many 200,000 to gather in Warsaw and celebrate independence in an outpouring of patriotism. The government and nationalist groups will march together, in a test ...

Bloomberg A top Chinese official gave National Security Adviser John Bolton a pointed warning on Taiwan, as the two sides began a round of high-level meetings to bolster relations strained by trade disputes. Yang Jiechi — a member of Communist Party’s 25-seat Politburo — told Bolton during a meeting at the White House that the status of the democratically run ...

Bloomberg European Union President Donald Tusk said he has “different views” from US President Donald Trump on trans-Atlantic relations and other elements of geopolitical order, pushing back after the American leader’s latest criticism of Europe. Tusk’s remarks came after Trump called “very insulting” comments by French President Emmanuel Macron that a “strong and sovereign Europe” was needed to defend its ...

Bloomberg As world leaders commemorate a century since the war that was supposed to end all wars, a conflict on Europe’s eastern periphery is getting more deeply entrenched. The breakaway region of Donbas in eastern Ukraine will hold elections on Sunday, the same day as the World War I Armistice event in Paris. Separatists backed by Russia are seeking to ...

Bloomberg Bangladesh will go to the polls on December 23 amid increasingly bitter tensions between the ruling Awami League and the opposition alliance, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina looking to extend her nearly 10-year rule. Chief Election Commissioner K.M. Nurul Huda announced the election road map despite opposition calls to defer the poll until their leader, former prime minister Khaleda ...

Bloomberg Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena dissolved the island nation’s parliament and called for a snap general election amid mounting pressure to prove a majority in the house supports his newly appointed prime minister. The 225-seat parliament was dissolved at midnight and a new one will meet on January 17 after a vote on January 5, according to a presidential ...

Bloomberg China and the US should discuss ways to avoid accidental conflict, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told his US counterpart, Defense Secretary James Mattis, at a meeting in Washington, after an incident between the two countries’ navies last month. The Chinese and US military forces should “properly manage risks, discuss ways to avoid accidental conflicts and let military relations serve ...

Bloomberg Fanned by hot, dry winds, wildfires north of San Francisco and near Los Angeles have forced the evacuation of more than 215,000 people, including in Malibu, the coastal enclave of the rich and famous. The fires have grown to about 131,000 acres overall and threaten to destroy tens of thousands of structures, according to the California Department of Forestry ...

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron moved to smooth over ruffled relations with Donald Trump after the US president took offense at his proposal Europe create its own continental military force. Macron received Trump at the Elysee Palace on Saturday in Paris ahead of a weekend of commemorations with world leaders to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World ...