Bloomberg A top member of the European Union’s largest political bloc met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and organizations critical of his policies in what may have been one of the premier’s last chances to avoid expulsion from the continent’s political mainstream. Manfred Weber, the European People’s Party’s candidate to lead the EU executive, said several issues remained outstanding ...

Bloomberg The Kremlin indicated that President Vladimir Putin supports new laws punishing online media for spreading “fake news” or material that insults state officials, the latest move in a broad crackdown on dissent in Russia. The upper house of parliament passed the legislation in a near-unanimous vote, and will now send it to Putin for signing. The measures are “undoubtedly” ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s de facto central bank intervened to defend the local currency’s peg against the dollar for second time in days. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) bought $500 million of local currency, according to its page on Bloomberg, after the Hong Kong dollar fell to weak end of its HK$7.75-HK$7.85 trading band. It also purchased $192mn worth at ...