Politics

Bloomberg The European Union is “defenseless” against mass migration from the Middle East and the inflow of refugees constitutes the “most serious issue” the 28-nation trading bloc has faced since its founding, according to Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade Peter Szijjarto. “If we don’t find a way to cut this defenselessness, then it’s going to be a real ...

Yangon / Bloomberg The European Union’s regulatory arm proposed more oversight of natural-gas contracts with Russia and other external suppliers as a part of a wider plan to boost energy security. The European Commission is also seeking closer regional cooperation among the EU’s 28 nations to prevent supply disruptions, under its winter gas package presented in Brussels on Tuesday. The ...

Yangon / Bloomberg Over 3,000 people have fled their homes in northern Myanmar following clashes between two ethnic rebel groups, the United Nations said Tuesday, raising fears the government’s fragile peace efforts could be fracturing. Heavy fighting in the northern state of Shan broke out last week between the Restoration Council for Shan State (RCSS) and the Ta’ang National Liberation ...

Bloomberg Two years after Russian President Vladimir Putin swiped Crimea, the fallout from his Ukrainian land grab continues to reverberate through nearby budgets. It’s most visible in Lithuania, whose split from the Soviet Union was among the bloodiest of the communist collapse. The government there raised defense spending by more than 30 percent in 2015, outdoing NATO’s 27 other members. ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s eastern members agreed that should a deal with Turkey to stem the flow of refugees into Europe fail, the bloc should have a “plan B” that would seal Greece’s northern borders. Leaders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary, meeting in Prague three days before an EU summit, offered troops, police and other aid to ...

Bloomberg Justice Antonin Scalia’s unexpected death not only unleashed a bitter partisan debate over the president’s powers, it has also shaken up both party’s presidential nominating contests and provided ready ammunition for volleys fired between the candidates’ camps. The ultimate beneficiaries could be Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Ted Cruz, and the battle itself could reshape the US Senate, the ...

KIEV / AFP Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday asked Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to resign in the face of the government’s perceived failure to fight endemic corruption and overcome a deep economic crisis. Poroshenko’s dramatic intervention came as opinion polls showed growing public disenchantment with the pro-Western team that took over the leadership of the former Soviet nation after ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has jilted its long-standing labor union allies and is courting business leaders to help it rescue an economy teetering on the brink of a recession and a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating to junk. Union leaders were conspicuous by their absence at meetings convened since late January by President Jacob Zuma and ...

Bloomberg Turkey said on Tuesday it wanted a ground operation in neighbouring Syria with its international allies, as a UN envoy held talks in Damascus aimed at saving a troubled ceasefire plan. Tensions escalated over Russia’s air war in support of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, with Ankara branding it “vile, cruel and barbaric” and EU President Donald Tusk saying ...