Politics

Bloomberg Finland’s government resumed talks to overcome disagreements over budget plans that pushed it to the brink of a breakup during the weekend. The negotiations intended to hammer out a spending framework for the next four years ended up exposing tensions within the five-party coalition half way through its term. Social Democrat Prime Minister Sanna Marin and the left-leaning parties ...

Bloomberg Chad’s ruling junta rejected a call by a group of rebels for talks and asked Niger to help catch their leader who it believed is within its neighbour’s borders. The Libya-based rebel group known as the Front for Change and Concord in Chad has been fighting to overthrow the government since 2016. It , staged an incursion into northern ...

Bloomberg Southeast Asian leaders will appoint an envoy to mediate talks between “all parties” in Myanmar, one of the most concrete moves yet to end months of violence since a February 1 coup that has seen the military regime kill hundreds of pro-democracy protesters. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing agreed to the dialogue process at a special summit of the ...

Bloomberg The Philippines said it conducted maritime exercises in the South China Sea, a move that could escalate tensions in the disputed waters. The coast guard said it deployed eight ships along with the fisheries bureau, as they trained on navigation, small boat operations, maintenance and logistical operations in Scarborough Shoal and Pag-asa Island. The maritime exercises come days after ...

Bloomberg As India recorded more than 234,000 new Covid-19 infections last Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an election rally in the West Bengal town of Asansol and tweeted: “I’ve never seen such huge crowds.” The second wave of the coronavirus has since grown into a tsunami. India is now the global coronavirus hotspot, setting records for the world’s highest ...

Bloomberg Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan resigned to trigger new parliamentary elections, following months of opposition protests and calls from top army officers to resign over defeat in last year’s war with neighboring Azerbaijan. The resignation of Pashinyan, 45, will begin the process of dissolving parliament ahead of elections announced for June 20. He earlier met with leaders of the ...

Bloomberg France backed a military council that intends ruling Chad for a transition period following the president’s death, while a continental body said it was deeply concerned by the military takeover. The situation threatens “peace, security and stability” not only in Chad, but also the region, as well as the continent, the African Union (AU) said in a statement on ...

Bloomberg Two B-52 long-range bombers arrived in the region around Afghanistan to bolster security as the US prepares to withdraw all 2,500 troops from the country by September, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. The bomber deployment was approved by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin along with an extension of the carrier USS Eisenhower’s current tour in the Middle East as the ...

Bloomberg Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s approval rating remained stable in the latest survey, with a majority of people polled “satisfied” with the government’s handling of the pandemic, according to research house Merdeka Center. The prime minister’s rating eased to 67% in April from 68% in March, compared with 63% in January, according to the survey. Seventy percent of voters ...

Bloomberg Vladimir Putin likes keeping Western leaders on their toes, guessing what his intentions are and what he might do next. The Russian president has been doing it for more than two decades and mostly getting away with it. As thousands of Russian troops began withdrawing from the Ukrainian border, easing some of the worst tensions with the US and ...