Politics

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin’s longtime Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov, who was responsible for handling separatist forces in Ukraine, quit over unspecified policy differences, said his longtime ally Alexei Chesnakov. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no official decree on Surkov’s resignation and that there had been no change in policy. The contradictory statements come at a time ...

Bloomberg The conflict between Poland and the European Union over democratic principles escalated overnight as the bloc’s highest official in Warsaw was summoned to the Foreign Ministry. Following an “unacceptable comment” by EU Commission spokesman Christian Wigand, the head of the commission’s office in the country was summoned to a meeting at the Polish Foreign Ministry, Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel ...

Bloomberg Lebanon unveiled a new cabinet lineup, some three months after mass protests against entrenched corruption brought down the government and shook the economy. The incoming team of 20, led by former education minister Hassan Diab, will have to act fast to address the country’s worst financial and economic crisis in decades. Tens of thousands of people have taken to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump acknowledged that Americans were hurt in an Iranian missile barrage to retaliate for the US killing of a top general, and said the injuries were “not very serious.” “I heard they had headaches,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday during a press conference at the conclusion of a two-day trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping offered personal assurances that he wouldn’t use protests in Hong Kong as an excuse to increase Beijing’s control over the city, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said, as she used a World Economic Forum visit to try and reassure global investors. Speaking to Bloomberg Television in Davos, Lam pushed back against protesters who say China is ...

Bloomberg Italy’s Luigi Di Maio resigned as leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, as his fading populist party faced the prospect of being thrashed in regional elections this weekend. The 33-year-old Di Maio told a meeting of Five Star ministers that he’s stepping down from his party job, but plans to stay on as foreign minister at a meeting ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump has kicked off the 2020 election year with a string of key foreign policy and economic wins that his campaign hopes will overshadow — and outlast — the political fallout from his historic impeachment. As the Senate began his impeachment trial in Washington, Trump tried to pull the spotlight to Davos, Switzerland, where he touted his record ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial formally opened in the Senate on Tuesday, promising to shape his legacy, deepen the country’s political divisions and influence control of power in the nation’s capital for years to come. While the president faces little risk of removal from office by the Republican-led Senate, the trial may bring to life new details of Trump’s ...

Bloomberg A Chinese court sentenced former Interpol president Meng Hongwei to 13.5 years in prison, more than a year after he went missing during a visit to his home country. Meng previously pleaded guilty to charges that he accepted bribes of 14.5 million yuan ($2.1 million) between 2005 and 2017. China had earlier removed him from his government post as ...

Bloomberg The US and Taliban leaders are moving towards a peace deal that would see the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and an end to the 18-year long conflict, according to the militant group’s spokesman and a person in Washington familiar with the talks. It’s the second time in recent months the two sides have appeared close to ...