Politics

Bloomberg A whistle-blower who worked on the UK’s response to the Afghanistan crisis has laid bare what the young diplomat says were serious shortcomings in how then-Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab — and even the ministry itself — handled the evacuation of vulnerable people from Kabul. Raphael Marshall, a junior officer in the British foreign service, told a parliamentary committee that ...

Bloomberg The French government will provide support to any sector hit by latest Covid restrictions, including extending financing of furlough beyond the end of this year, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. The finance ministry is working with the labour ministry to extend the current mechanism and make it easier to access for firms affected by government decisions including the ...

Bloomberg Myanmar’s military regime reduced Aung San Suu Kyi’s jail term to two years after a special court found her guilty in her first trial since her ouster in a February coup and sentenced her to four years in prison, according to a statement on the state broadcaster MRTV. Suu Kyi will serve her sentence at her current location thus ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s chief prosecutor cautioned that arrests following a three-year judicial inquiry into state corruption will take time, as she announced plans to recruit a replacement for her top investigator who quit last week. A panel led by Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo is due to complete its graft probe this month, and it will fall to National Director ...

Bloomberg Olaf Scholz cleared the final hurdle on his path to becoming German chancellor when Green Party members overwhelmingly approved the coalition deal with his Social Democrats and the Free Democrats. The Greens said that 86% of some 71,000 members who voted backed the accord, which includes an ambitious climate agenda and plans to upgrade Germany’s technology infrastructure. The SPD ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a court ruling over the way he dealt with allegations of bullying made against his Home Secretary Priti Patel. Johnson, the ultimate “arbiter” of the rules governing the behaviour of senior officials, didn’t “misdirect himself,” judges ruled in London. The claim was brought by the FDA trade union, which represents the most senior ...

Bloomberg The US Embassy in Tokyo issued a warning about foreigners being stopped and searched by Japanese police in what it said were suspected to be “racial profiling incidents.” The unusual move by the embassy of Tokyo’s only formal ally came after Japan closed its borders to new entries by foreigners amid concern over the omicron variant, just weeks after ...

Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit New Delhi on Monday as billions of dollars of Russian weaponry flow into India that would normally attract US sanctions. Eager to draw India into its efforts to contain China, the US may look away this time. Putin is making his first foreign trip in nearly six months for talks with Prime ...

Bloomberg Russia said it will protest officially to the US about an incident over the Black Sea, when civilian aircraft had to divert from their routes because of a US spy plane. “Increased US and Nato warplanes activity near Russian borders creates risks of dangerous incidents for civilian aviation,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on her Facebook page. ...

Bloomberg Germany’s Free Democrats overwhelmingly supported a coalition deal with the Social Democrats and Greens, bringing the party one step closer to governing Europe’s biggest economy. The pro-business FDP backed the 177-page pact outlining the government’s plan for the next four years with 92% of votes at a special party conference in Berlin. The SPD already approved the deal at ...