Politics

Bloomberg US President Donald Trump agreed to support billions of dollars in new weapons sales to South Korea after North Korea’s largest nuclear test, while his ambassador to the United Nations said the US would seek the strongest possible sanctions against Kim Jong Un’s regime. Ambassador Nikki Haley said at a meeting of the UN Security Council that Kim was ...

Bloomberg A top adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed “populist” exchanges during Germany’s election campaign after Chancellor Angela Merkel said she’ll urge European Union leaders to decide whether to suspend or end Turkey’s accession to the bloc. The Turkish lira and bonds dropped on Tuesday as Merkel told the lower house of parliament in Berlin that she’ll bring ...

Bloomberg President Tsai Ing-wen named a popular southern Taiwan mayor to lead her government, as she seeks to rebuild support ahead of next year’s local elections. Tsai on Tuesday appointed Tainan Mayor William Lai to take over as premier, a move that had been widely expected after Lin Chuan resignation’s a day earlier. Lai will be tasked with reorganizing the ...

Bloomberg South Korea detected that North Korea is continuing to prepare for a possible intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch, a move that would further raise tensions a day after it conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear detonation. Chang Kyung-soo, acting chief of the defense ministry’s policy planning office, told lawmakers on Monday that North Korea was making preparations for ...

Bloomberg The United Nations asked the International Criminal Court to investigate whether human-rights violations committed in Burundi constitute crimes against humanity. A probe by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi found that the authorities in the East African nation committed crimes including extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances over the past two years, according to a report published on ...

Bloomberg Kenya’s economy may pay the price of opposition leader Raila Odinga’s successful bid to nullify the outcome of last month’s election, as prolonged political uncertainty pending a court-ordered rerun weighs on growth and investor confidence. “There was a lot of exuberance that the elections were over,” Kenneth Minjire, head of securities at Genghis Capital in Nairobi, said by phone. ...

Bloomberg Angela Merkel’s election opponent, Martin Schulz, failed to score a decisive breakthrough in their only televised debate as the chancellor stood firm on her record, insisting that controversial decisions on keeping the country’s borders open for refugees and striking a deal with Turkey were right. Trailing badly in the race to determine Germany’s next leader, Schulz repeatedly failed to ...

Bloomberg The resignation of Taiwan’s premier sets the stage for a broader reshuffle and provides President Tsai Ing-wen a chance to raise her poll numbers ahead of local elections next year. Premier Lin Chuan, who had been seen as Tsai’s chief economic policy architect, said on Monday he told the president on Sunday he would resign after passing key pieces ...

Bloomberg The UK’s decision to leave the European Union was “stupid” and only the will of the British people can stop it, Martin Selmayr, the chief of staff to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said. “Brexit is bad, and it’s a stupid decision,” Selmayr said at a conference in Brussels on Monday. “The only people who can reverse it would ...

Bloomberg The race to lead South Africa’s ruling party is turning increasingly nasty. Allegations that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a front-runner for the post, had extra-marital affairs with at least eight women and paid expenses for some of them were splashed across the front page of the Sunday Independent, which cited Ramaphosa’s private emails to back up the story. It ...