Politics

Bloomberg Italy’s political parties are readying for possible snap elections, even as some of them redouble efforts to convince Prime Minister Mario Draghi to rethink his determination to resign. While talks to patch up the current majority, or form a new one, continue, Italy’s political groupings are making preparations for a potential vote, several party and government officials said, asking ...

  Bloomberg Voting was underway in Pakistan’s most populous province of Punjab on Sunday for several by-elections that are a litmus test for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government after Imran Khan was ousted in April following a protracted political battle. A victory for Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will give the former leader the renewed momentum to pressure the government to hold ...

  Bloomberg Two Balkan states signed an agreement that will allow North Macedonia and Albania to formally start negotiations to join the European Union, a process long-delayed by bilateral quarrels between countries in the volatile region. Bujar Osmani, North Macedonia’s foreign minister, signed the protocol with his Bulgarian counterpart in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, on Sunday. The move came a day ...

Bloomberg Hungarians are holding daily protests as a plunging currency and the threat of a Russian cut-off of natural gas shipments to Europe forces Prime Minister Viktor Orban to embrace unpopular austerity measures. A few thousand demonstrators rallied by the Danube river in Budapest on Saturday evening, according to local media reports. Protesters then blocked a bridge for a fifth ...

Bloomberg Jessie Duarte, who served as special assistant to former South African President Nelson Mandela after his release from prison, has died. She was 68. Duarte’s death on Sunday was announced by the South Africa’s ruling party. She had been on medical leave since November undergoing cancer treatment. “It is with profound sadness that the African National Congress has learned ...

Bloomberg China’s attempt to strike a wide-ranging economic and security pact in the strategically important Pacific region fell apart in May because of Beijing’s rushed attempts at diplomacy. The head of the Pacific Islands Forum held this week in Fiji said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had come to the region with an “outcomes document” already prepared, before any meetings ...

  Bloomberg The European Union was set to propose a new slate of penalties targeting Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, as well as actions to tighten previously approved sanctions packages, according to people familiar with the matter. The new measures, which one of the people called a “compliance and alignment package,” are expected to target Russian gold, introduce more ...

  Bloomberg Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party brushed off Donald Trump’s amended lawsuit accusing them of conspiring to undermine his presidency with claims of Russian collusion as a “swollen” political manifesto devoid of facts. The revised suit “alleges a series of disconnected political disputes” that Trump has “alchemized into a sweeping conspiracy” by his foes, according to a motion ...

Bloomberg Group of 20 finance chiefs started official meetings in Bali Friday with an eye towards progress on food security and debt issues as tensions over Russia impeded prospects for a more sweeping agreement. Host Indonesia is pushing for G-20 members to pledge more concrete action to respond to food insecurity, including by sharing data on commodity stockpiles, and for ...

Bloomberg With Italy on the brink of chaos, Mario Draghi has less than a week to forge some difficult compromises with the populists in his government that have reluctantly backed him for the past 18 months. The prime minister’s decision to offer his resignation plunged the euro area’s third-largest economy in a paralyzing political crisis that may end with snap ...