Politics

Bloomberg President Donald Trump is wavering over how he wants his impeachment trial in the Senate to unfold, people familiar with his thinking said, but an offer by his former top national security aide to testify challenged Republican plans for a quick proceeding. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell gave no indication that John Bolton’s willingness to testify was putting pressure ...

Bloomberg Sebastian Kurz was sworn in as Austria’s chancellor by President Alexander Van der Bellen, heading a new alliance of conservatives and environmentalists that now has to figure out how to fund its ambitious climate goals. Kurz, 33, is breaking new ground in Europe by forging a coalition between his People’s Party and the Greens. Their programme combines Kurz’s trademark ...

Bloomberg US President Donald Trump and his top aides spent the weekend arguing that the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani would deter future attacks and make the Middle East safer. Instead, US policy in the region seems to be going in the opposite direction of what Trump has long promised — with more US troops going in, not fewer; ...

Bloomberg Venezuelan politics descended into disarray when security forces barred opposition leader Juan Guaido and his backers from entering the National Assembly, allowing loyalists to President Nicolas Maduro to choose an assembly president instead of Guaido. His suit torn from scaling a fence, Guaido and his supporters went elsewhere and re-elected him anyway, drawing backing from Washington and Latin American ...

Bloomberg Masked assailants stormed India’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi Sunday night in a violent attack on students that risked escalating protests against prime minister Narendra Modi’s government. Members of students groups allegedly affiliated with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party attacked hostels in the university with rods and batons, injuring dozens of students and some professors, said N Sai ...

Bloomberg China’s new top official in Hong Kong said he is certain the city will stabilise following months of political unrest, backing leader Carrie Lam and her administration in his first public comments since being appointed. “I am fully confident about this,” Luo Huining, the new director of the Hong Kong Liaison office, said at a media briefing. “Everyone fervently ...

Bloomberg Croatians shot down President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic’s bid for a second term, electing the prime minister who led the nation into the European Union to rebalance politics in the bloc’s newest member. Zoran Milanovic, who ran the Adriatic state’s government from 2011 to 2015, won 52.7% of votes in the presidential runoff. Kitarovic, a former NATO executive whose popularity ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the US has identified 52 Iranian sites it would hit if Tehran retaliates against the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, stepping back from more conciliatory comments he made after the drone strike on the Islamic Republic’s most powerful military commander. Trump’s tough talk followed Tehran’s threat of a protracted response, and eclipsed his assertion ...

Bloomberg Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden defended his foreign policy record as he campaigns on the argument that he’s best suited to be commander-in-chief amid President Donald Trump’s escalating threats against Iran. “It’s not to suggest I haven’t made mistakes in my career but I would put my record against anyone in public life in terms of foreign policy,” Biden ...

Bloomberg Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is due to complete his second and final four-year term in 2023 and the battle over who will succeed him is already heating up, placing further pressure on an already strained economy. Buhari has thus far shied away from endorsing his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, for the position, twice slighting him by opting not to transfer ...