Bloomberg North Korea, a country in a “time warp†that feeds paranoia at home with propaganda about a hostile world, could secure its future by laying the groundwork for talks on its nuclear weapons program, according to South Korea’s foreign minister. While Kang Kyung-wha welcomed a two month hiatus in North Korean provocations after a rapid-fire series of missile tests ...
Read More »Politics
Citizenship turmoil threatens economic confidence in Australia
Bloomberg Political turmoil in Australia risks undermining fragile economic confidence as the loss of another lawmaker in the dual-citizenship fiasco left Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull leading a minority government. John Alexander, 66, became the second government member in the lower house to resign, when he acknowledged he likely inherited British citizenship through his father. While the government will survive with ...
Read More »Russia meddling: Trump backs intelligence agencies
Bloomberg US President Donald Trump once again waded into the controversy of whether he thinks Russia meddled in last year’s election, saying on Sunday that he believes “very much in our intelligence agencies.†A day earlier, the US leader said that Vladimir Putin believed he didn’t interfere, prompting questions about whether Trump actually took the Russian president at his word. ...
Read More »â€˜Turkey expects justice in US, not prisoner swaps’
Bloomberg Turkey is expecting justice from the US, not a political arrangement to exchange prisoners held by each country, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said after a trip to Washington to meet with Vice President Mike Pence. “It’s not very ethical to do political bargaining on legal issues,†Yildirim said in an interview with Bloo-mberg at the Turkish consulate in New ...
Read More »Japan’s Abe meets Taiwanese lawmaker hours after Xi warning
Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting with a Taiwanese politician on Sunday, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping warned him not to break with past consensus on what Beijing regards as a renegade province. Abe held a 30-minute meeting with James Soong, head of the People First Party on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit ...
Read More »Aussie lawmaker resigns over dual-citizenship fiasco
Bloomberg One of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s lawmakers resigned from parliament, saying he may be a dual citizen, leaving the government at least temporarily in minority status. John Alexander, speaking to reporters, said it’s possible he also holds British citizenship through his father. “Therefore it is my obligation that I must resign,†the 66-year-old said in Sydney. The citizenship ...
Read More »Report says 40 MPs signal no confidence in May
Bloomberg Embattled UK Prime Minister Theresa May faced a fresh challenge as the Sunday Times said 40 Conservative members of Parliament, nearly enough to trigger action, have agreed to sign a letter of no confidence in her. May’s opponents are now eight lawmakers short of what’s needed for a leadership challenge, the newspaper said, citing people with knowledge of the ...
Read More »Pacific nations get framework to salvage trade deal US quit
Bloomberg A blockbuster Pacific trade pact abandoned by US President Donald Trump has edged closer to becoming reality after days of tense talks in Vietnam. Japanese Economy Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the 11 remaining members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership had secured a framework agreement on how to salvage the deal. Canada, which had held out for a day on signing ...
Read More »Xi, Trump offer dueling visions for Asia’s future
Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump laid down starkly contrasting visions for Asia’s future, with Xi pledging a new era of globalization propelled by his nation’s economic might as Trump offe-red America’s largess only to those who play by his rules. In back-to-back speeches to business leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vietnam, Xi ...
Read More »Irish border throws unexpected hurdle into Brexit talks
Bloomberg The future of the Irish border erupted unexpectedly into Brexit talks this week, as the European Union made new demands on Britain that risk distracting from efforts to reach a breakthrough by year-end. The EU circulated a document to diplomats that called for Northern Ireland to maintain the rules of the customs union and single market after Brexit. It ...
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