Politics

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al Assad in the Kremlin, backing the Syrian leader’s efforts to eliminate the last enclaves of rebels backed by the US and Turkey. Under Western sanctions, Assad has maintained strong ties with Russia, which sent planes and troops to back his government in 2015. The intervention helped turn the tide ...

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin will go into self-isolation after being exposed to several people in his entourage infected with Covid-19, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. The 68-year-old leader is “absolutely healthy” and has tested negative for Covid-19, Peskov told a regular conference call. Putin will avoid in-person meetings for “some time,” he said. Plans to fly to ...

Bloomberg Russia is mobilising as many as 200,000 troops in wargames with Belarus, including thousands along their borders with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), as Moscow tightens military links with its isolated ally. Citing what he called “unending hybrid aggression from the West towards Belarus and Russia,” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told troops at the Zapad-2021 wargames that “we ...

Bloomberg China urged the US to take steps to repair damaged ties between the two countries, as the Biden administration weighs a new investigation into Chinese industrial subsidies. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on the US to uphold the spirit of the telephone conversation last week between President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping. Zhao was responding to a question ...

Bloomberg Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor of Paris, became the latest politician to announce she intends to challenge Emmanuel Macron in April’s presidential election. “I have decided to be a candidate for the presidency of the French republic,” she said on Sunday in Rouen, north of Paris. “I am ready.” Hidalgo, 62, must first win the formal support of her ...

Bloomberg The US and the Philippines will resume defense projects after the Southeast Asian nation agreed to keep a military pact that President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to scrap, allowing both sides to boost longstanding alliance in the region. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana met with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Washington on where the two sides reaffirmed their commitment ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam hinted at a government restructuring before the end of her term to establish new bureaus coordinating land use and cultural policies, the South China Morning Post reported. Speaking at a public consultation session, Lam said it’s time to think about reforms “drastically” and that there’s consensus for bureaus to enhance land and housing ...

Bloomberg The UK will abandon plans to call for proof of vaccination to enter certain venues, and may soon drop mandatory testing for returning travelers as part of a further easing of coronavirus restrictions to be announced this week, even as cases remain high. Health Minister Sajid Javid spoke ahead of steps expected to be announced by Prime Minister Boris ...

Bloomberg Guinea’s coup leader Mamady Doumbouya said he will meet socio-economic and political officials of the West African country as part of the transition after seizing power a week ago. The meetings will start from September 14 with leaders of political parties and religious groups, before they are extended to civil society organisations and representatives of diplomatic missions in the ...

Bloomberg Former President Donald Trump frequently teases another presidential bid, without actually announcing, a strategy that leaves him with access to a $102 million war chest, an unrivaled haul that could scare off donors to other candidates and freeze the Republican 2024 race. By not formally declaring, Trump is free to use money from his political action committees to act ...