Politics

Bloomberg Hosni Mubarak, who became Egypt’s longest-serving ruler in more than 150 years before being forced from office by a popular uprising, has died. He was 91. His death was announced on Tuesday by state TV. No cause was mentioned, although his family recently said he’d been hospitalised. Dubbed the “pharaoh” by his detractors, Mubarak had ruled for 30 years ...

Bloomberg After a wild day that saw the collapse of Malaysia’s ruling coalition, one thing is clear: Mahathir Mohamad holds the key to forming the next government. Mahathir, 94, abruptly resigned as prime minister on February 24 after a longstanding rift within his alliance over who would succeed him boiled over. By the end of the day, he was the ...

Bloomberg Assange was swept up in President Donald Trump’s campaign against embarrassing leaks, his lawyer told a London court, as the WikiLeaks founder kicked off his fight against his extradition to the US. The decision to pursue Assange, which only occurred after Trump was elected, was driven by the president’s desire to stifle damaging White House leaks, said Edward Fitzgerald, ...

Bloomberg Parts of Indonesian capital and its suburbs were flooded after two tropical cyclones off the nation’s coast triggered extremely heavy rainfall, inundating houses in low-lying areas and forcing evacuation of hundreds of residents. More than 200 spots of flooding were reported in Jakarta and the satellite cities of Bekasi and Tangerang with the water level in Ciliwung river that ...

Bloomberg The US and South Korea remain stalled after six rounds of talks on an updated cost-sharing agreement but the allies’ top defense officials said that they hope to break that deadlock next month. “We are engaged in negotiations,” and the “minister and I are hopeful they will reach agreement soon, preferably before the end of March,” Defense Secretary Mark ...

Bloomberg Malaysian PM Mahathir Mohamad abruptly submitted his resignation to the king on Monday and his party exited the ruling coalition, kicking off a race to form the next government of the Southeast Asian nation. The statement from Mahathir’s office contained no other details. It was unclear whether Mahathir would form a new coalition with other political parties, whether his ...

Bloomberg Bernie Sanders’ commanding win in Nevada dismantled the conventional wisdom about his level of appeal. It broadened his coalition to look more like the Democratic Party as a whole and will make it harder for fearful moderates to impede his path to the nomination. The knock on Sanders always has been that his energetic but narrow base — young, ...

Bloomberg US President Donald Trump received a red-carpet welcome in Ahmedabad on Monday, kicking off a two-day visit to India that is likely to be more about spectacle than substance. In a day packed with pageantry for the American president — who’s made no secret of his predilection for large crowds and impressive displays — Trump was greeted on the ...

Bloomberg Togolese president Faure Gnassingbe easily secured a fourth term in a February 22 vote, extending his family’s half century-long rule of the West African nation. Gnassingbe won 72% of the vote, the president of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Tchambakou Ayassor, said on Monday. Opposition candidate Agbeyome Kodjo, a former prime minister, received 18%. Voter turnout was 76% of ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will accelerate the process of appointing a new leader as the party struggles to emerge from political turmoil. A special party conference will be held to choose a successor to Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on April 25, according to a CDU official. The party chairwoman who shocked Germany’s political establishment this month by abandoning ...