Politics

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 ...

Bloomberg Germany’s Greens are in position to make history, surging past Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc in the race to replace the four-term chancellor after September’s election. The party that’s vowing to increase spending and tighten controls on the finance industry — which finished a distant sixth in the last national vote in 2017 — held a seven percentage-point lead in ...

Bloomberg Chad’s president, Idriss Deby, has died a day after he secured a sixth term in elections that were marred by an opposition boycott. He was 68. Deby died of injuries sustained in a battle against rebels, according to a statement read out on state radio by General Azem Bermandoa Agouna, the army’s spokesman. A military council will govern the ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping called for greater global economic integration and warned against decoupling while calling on the US and its allies to avoid “bossing others around.” “International affairs should be conducted by way of negotiations and discussions, and the future destiny of the world should be decided by all countries,” Xi said on Tuesday at the Boao Forum ...