Politics

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 ...

Bloomberg When Gerhard Schroeder formed a German government with the Greens in 1998, he made it clear that his Social Democratic Party was the “cook” and the junior partner the “waiter.” Well, not any more. Polls show the Greens with all the momentum going into September’s election and the odds-on favourites for a return to coalition government. What’s more, they’re ...

Bloomberg British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, facing an onslaught of criticism from the man he until recently relied on as his most powerful adviser, denied he’d blocked an inquiry into leaks of sensitive information from within his government. In a blog post, former top aide Dominic Cummings cataloged a litany of alleged failings by Johnson and his senior team, from ...

Bloomberg President Vladimir Putin warned rival nations not to cross Russia’s “red line” in their actions or face a tough reaction. “Russia’s response will be asymmetric, quick and harsh,” Putin said in his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Wednesday. “They will regret it more than ever before.” Putin didn’t single out any rivals for criticism, saying Russia would decide where its ...

Bloomberg President Joe Biden said the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was “a giant step forward in the march towards justice in America,” and called on lawmakers to ensure the legacy of George Floyd wasn’t his murder, but lasting law-enforcement reform. “No one should be above the law and today’s verdict sends that message, but it’s not ...

Bloomberg Hungary’s government submitted legislation to tweak laws that underpinned its attacks against foreign-funded universities and civil society groups that the European Union’s top court struck down for violating the bloc’s rules. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has waged campaigns against dissenting voices during a decade of consolidating power, including against academia and non-governmental organisations. EU leaders in December adopted tougher ...