Kremlin attack mystery, Sudan’s ongoing violence: Weekend Reads

Russian missile strikes and the conflict in Sudan are among our top political stories. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Russia [unleashed]( a wave of aerial attacks across Ukraine this week ahead of an expected counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces. Moscow blamed Kyiv for a assault on the Kremlin with two drones late Tuesday. Efforts to hold peace talks between two warring generals in Sudan [continued](, with the United Nations estimating the fighting that erupted on April 15 [has killed]( more than 500 people and forced about 100,000 to flee across borders. US President Joe Biden said he isn’t ready yet [to invoke](the 14th Amendment to avert a breach of the nation’s debt ceiling, but didn’t rule out the possible executive action ahead of a meeting next week with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives [lost hundreds]( of local council seats, suggesting the ruling party is in danger of being ousted from power in a national vote expected next year. Delve into these and more of our top stories in this edition of Weekend Reads. — [Karl Maier]( Ukrainian servicemen dig a trench near the frontline city of Bakhmut on May 3. Photographer: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images Click [here]( for this week’s most compelling political images, and if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Understand power in Washington through the lens of business, government and the economy. [Sign up]( for the new Bloomberg Washington Edition newsletter delivered weekdays. US Spies Can’t Yet Judge Russia Claim Ukraine Targeted Kremlin The Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said US spy agencies don’t have enough information to assess [Russia’s accusation]( that Ukraine was behind a drone attack it said was aimed at President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Kremlin. As [Peter Martin]( writes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied Moscow’s allegations on Wednesday. A drone exploding over the Kremlin. Source: Russian state media Wagner Chief Again Threatens Bakhmut Pullout Over Supplies In an expletive-laden video filmed in front of a field of corpses, Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin [accused]( Russia’s defense minister and the head of the army of failing to supply his troops with enough ammunition in Ukraine.  Russia’s Next Standoff With the West Is in the Oil-Rich Arctic Climate change has precipitated an unusual level of activity in the remote, resources-rich polar region of the high arctic as colliding [strategic interests]( and melting ice stand to reshape it profoundly. [Danielle Bochove](, [Marie Patino]( and [Hayley Warren]( write that stewardship of the Arctic is suddenly in question as a result of the isolation of Russia, the largest Arctic state, over its war on Ukraine. The Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant oil-producing platform in the Pechora Sea in Russia in May 2016.  Photographer: Sergey Anisimov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images White House Says It Backs New Rules for AI After Harris Meeting Vice President Kamala Harris said the White House would support new [regulations or legislation]( to mitigate the potential harms from artificial intelligence technology. [Justin Sink]( reports on the announcement that came after a meeting Thursday with the chief executive officers of Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic. - Artificial intelligence [will be dangerous]( in the hands of unscrupulous people, according to Microsoft Chief Economist Michael Schwarz. - News websites generated by AI chatbots are [proliferating online](, the news-rating group NewsGuard said in a report. US Readies 1,500 Troops to Cope With Border Migrant Surge Biden’s administration announced plans to deploy 1,500 military personnel to the southern border with Mexico. [Justin Sink]( and [Akayla Gardner](explain that the US is [bracing for a wave of migrants]( to attempt crossing the frontier when Covid-19-related restrictions that enable the rapid removal of them lapse on May 11. China Takes Yuan Global to Repel Increasingly Weaponized Dollar President Xi Jinping’s government is putting the yuan [front and center]( in its fightback against the US’s unique influence over global money. Beijing has been busy striking deals over the past year to expand the ways in which the currency is used, with new agreements linked to the Chinese currency stretching from Russia and Saudi Arabia to Brazil and even France. - Xi’s government is [pressuring farmers]( to increase soybean production to reduce dependence on imports that account for 80% of consumption. Imported soybeans being unloaded at the port in Nantong in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Source: AFP/Getty Images Votes in Five UK Battlegrounds Point to Sunak Defeat in 2024 Sunak and his Conservatives suffered [painful defeats]( in English local election, buoying hopes in the opposition Labour Party that it could return to government in 2024. Yet as [Lucy White]( reports, while the Tories’ losses were heavier than the party may have hoped, Labour also fell short of the 10-point lead that it wanted from the projected national vote share. UN Warns Sudan Aid Deliveries Hindered by Lack of Security Millions of people in Sudan’s capital city can’t receive desperately needed aid because [it’s too dangerous]( to transport it from a Red Sea port, said Abdou Dieng, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator in the North African country. He told [Simon Marks]( that UN workers have been attacked or had their convoys hijacked by both sides in the conflict between the army and a rival paramilitary group.  A boat with 1,687 civilians from more than 50 countries fleeing violence in Sudan arrives at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on April 26. Photographer: Amer Hilabi/AFP/Getty Images Best of Bloomberg Opinion This Week - [Lessons From Isaac Asimov on Taming AI: Parmy Olson]( - [Fentanyl Will Win the War on Drugs: Eduardo Porter]( - [France’s Economy Is Great. Macron is Doomed: Lionel Laurent]( - [Turkey’s Election Won’t Make the West’s Dreams Real: Bobby Ghosh]( - [A Torrid Summer May Stall Asia’s Climate Goals: David Fickling]( Paraguay Conservatives’ Win Defies Region’s Anti-Incumbent Wave The anti-incumbent wave sweeping Latin America [came to a halt]( in Paraguay on Sunday, with the conservative Colorado Party winning a third straight mandate to run the nation. [Ken Parks]( writes that the election results make Paraguay an outlier in the region. President-elect Santiago Pena celebrates during an election night rally in Asuncion on Sunday.  Photographer: Santi Carneri/Bloomberg Bird Flu Detectives Hunt For Clues to Stop Next Global Pandemic A Cambodian village offers clues to [how the world is preparing]( for the next pandemic. [Michelle Fay Cortez]( and [Suzi Ring]( report how Rolaing became a hive of public-health activity in February after an 11-year-old girl died of H5N1, the most virulent strain of bird flu.  Charles III will end his seven-decade wait to be crowned king on Saturday. Support for [retaining the monarchy](sits at 62%, according to a YouGov poll of 2,030 Britons published this week. Younger Brits, however, are more likely to want an elected head of state, with just 36% of 18-24 year-olds wanting the Royals to stay. Best of Bloomberg Explainers This Week - [Nigeria Targeted a UK Mansion; Its Next Leader’s Son Now Owns It]( - [Tech, AI Driving Job Changes for Nearly a Quarter of All Workers]( - [Why Marcos Is Inviting the US Back to the Philippines]( - [Why Uganda’s LGBTQ Community Is Under Renewed Fire]( - [Why Chile Is (Still) Writing a New Constitution]( Hunger Now Grips Quarter of a Billion as War Roils Food Supplies The number of people facing [life-threatening hunger]( around the world surged by a third last year, as economic shocks worsened and food prices soared, according to the Global Network Against Food Crises, an alliance of international aid groups. [Megan Durisin]( reports that about 258 million people suffered food insecurity acute enough to threaten their lives or livelihoods. Japan PM to Hold First Formal Summit in Seoul in a Decade Mending bridges is [the main goal]( when Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visits Seoul on Sunday for the first formal bilateral summit in the South Korean capital in 12 years. [Jon Herskovitz]( explains that a dispute over whether Japan justly compensated Koreans forced to work in its mines and factories during the country’s 1910-1945 colonial rule over the peninsula has hurt trade and security cooperation between the US allies. And finally … The mass of hot air that [brought scorching heat]( to Morocco, Algeria, Portugal and Spain at the end of April was almost impossible without man-made climate change, according to scientists who are part of the World Weather Attribution group. [Laura Millan]( writes that temperatures in many of the regions impacted were 20 degrees Celsius higher than the average for this time of the year, with records broken by large margins. A pedestrian walks under a cooling mist spray in Madrid on April 27. Photographer: Paul Hanna/Bloomberg Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Politics newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](