Politics

Washington’s restrictions on US citizens assisting China’s chip industry will be more narrowly enforced than feared, suggesting a smaller-than-expected impact on semiconductor companies doing business in the world’s second largest economy. The rules seem to be mostly targeting US persons working in certain functions for semiconductor manufacturing equipment firms, based on a document the Bureau of Industry and Security published ...

Lisa Jarvis Two new, small studies are stirring up more controversy over the new Covid boosters, updated to match the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 strains. The research suggests the shots are no better than old boosters. But that doesn’t mean we should write them off — and certainly doesn’t mean that getting one won’t save lives. The studies are small, ...

Bloomberg Poland reached a deal with South Korea to develop the European nation’s second nuclear power plant, accelerating its efforts to become energy independent following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., a state-run nuclear plant operator, signed a letter of intent with Polish utilities PGE SA and ZE PAK SA on Monday, South Korea’s energy ministry ...

Bloomberg Ukraine warned of widespread blackouts after a massive wave of Russian missile attacks on Monday damaged power and water supplies across the country including in the capital Kyiv. The Kremlin meanwhile warned that grain shipments would be “much riskier and more dangerous” after it pulled out of a deal allowing Ukrainian exports from Black Sea ports following an attack ...

A handful of very tight races will determine control of the US Senate with the result unclear just days before the midterm elections. A New York Times/Siena College poll released Monday shows Democratic candidates ahead by slim margins in Georgia and Pennsylvania and tied with the Republican challenger in Nevada. Only the Arizona race shows a more comfortable lead for ...

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won Brazil’s presidential election in a dramatic comeback for the left-wing politician who was languishing in a jail cell for corruption just three years ago. He defeated the incumbent Jair Bolsonaro with 50.9% to 49.1% of the votes in Sunday’s runoff, according to the official tally. The outcome signals a change in direction for Latin ...

China increased financial assistance to the Solomon Islands and Kiribati, its newest diplomatic partners in the Pacific, even as it cut overall support for the region in 2020, research by the Lowy Institute found. Total development finance from the world’s second-largest economy fell to $187.9 million in 2020 from $205.4 million the previous year, according to the Pacific Aid Map ...

Turkey is holding talks with Russia after Moscow pulled out of the July agreement to allow Ukrainian crop shipments, a pact seen as critical to alleviate the global hunger crisis. Russia said Saturday that it was suspending the agreement, blaming strikes on its naval fleet, and on Sunday suggested without evidence that the drone attacks were launched from the Odesa ...

Brazilians head to the polls Sunday for a presidential runoff between incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in what’s become the country’s most significant election since the return of democracy almost four decades ago. Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. and will close at 5 p.m. local time, with the governorships for states including Sao ...

Michael R. Bloomberg The crisis in US K-12 public education continues to deepen, and decisions by many colleges and universities to abandon SAT and ACT scores are making it worse. Instead of demanding more accountability from high schools, colleges are expecting less. In the latest dismal signs for students, scores on the ACT college entrance exam have fallen to the ...