The Trump administration is revoking the visas of 27 Latin American officials, former officials and their families, including Bolivia’s attorney general, over accusations of corruption. The officials and their families come from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru - all nations with right-leaning leaders friendly with US President Donald Trump. Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Colombia, Ecuador and Peru this month, pledging US support for their efforts to combat drug and human...

Jamie Dimon’s recent whirlwind visit to Hong Kong followed a similar script: a schedule packed with meetings involving the entrepreneurs and business leaders connecting China with global markets. But it was his increasingly visible stance on global issues that appeared to extend his career beyond market strategy and financial industry leadership as CEO of JPMorgan Chase. His preoccupation with economic growth and world affairs drew particular attention in Hong Kong last week, shortly before...

A French investigative website on Monday alleged that far-right National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella made antisemitic comments in writing in 2013 but the close ally of presidential front runner Marine Le Pen dismissed the claims as fake. According to the report by Mediapart, Bardella wrote, among other comments, in a chat: “The Jew has to dominate other peoples, crush them, and rob them; a Zionist is necessarily a Jew, and fundamentally so.” Bardella, 31, tipped to be prime minister if Le...

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday boosting the size of the army by 15,500 troops in the fourth such order this year. Putin’s order comes as both Russia and Ukraine suffer mounting casualties in the more than four-and-a-half-year Ukraine war. The decree did not give a reason for the troop increase. “The authorised personnel strength of the Russian armed forces is to be set at 2,441,630 units, including 1,550,500 military personnel,” the decree said. Putin had previously...

US President Donald Trump’s administration was set to grant a limited waiver to its Iran sanctions programme on Monday to allow for flights carrying Shiite Muslim religious pilgrims between Iran and Iraq, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The source, who is involved ‌in the deliberations, said the US Treasury Department waiver would allow Iraqi Airways to fly back and forth between Iran and the Shiite holy city of Najaf in Iraq for one month, with a more permanent waiver...

US President Donald Trump on Monday said that a Minnesota company plans to build a multibillion-dollar steel mill in Iowa, handing the administration a marquee manufacturing investment to showcase as Republicans head into November’s midterm elections. Trump unveiled the project at the White House with executives from Mesabi Metallics, which recently ‌opened Minnesota’s first new iron ore mine in 50 years. A White House official said the plant investment would amount to US$15 billion. The...

Andrew Bailey, one of the FBI’s two deputy directors, said on Monday he is resigning his position, leaving the most prominent US law enforcement agency after a little more than a ‌year. Bailey, a Republican ally of US President Donald Trump who left his job as Missouri attorney general to join the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), said he was leaving to return to his family. Bailey, serving under FBI Director Kash Patel, helped oversee election-related investigations and was present earlier...