Politics

Bloomberg German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht stepped down following a series of missteps and days of speculation over her future, a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government as it weighs crucial decisions on arming Ukraine. Lambrecht asked to be relieved of her cabinet post, blaming intense media reporting as an unacceptable distraction, and Scholz accepted the request and respects the ...

  Bloomberg The UK and European Union pledged to continue working toward a post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland, but stopped short of formally announcing an intense final phase of negotiations. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said in a joint statement Monday that they need to find “solutions together to tackle comprehensively the real-life concerns of ...

Bloomberg At least nine people were killed and dozens others wounded after a Russian missile strike demolished much of a high-rise apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. The hit was part of Russian coordinated strikes on Ukraine after a roughly two-week pause, starting with what were called ballistic-type missiles aimed at Kyiv and the surrounding region in the ...

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s Punjab state has dissolved the local legislature on the advice of the chief minister, an ally of former premier Imran Khan, in a bid to force snap elections. The dissolution took effect after a 48-hour deadline for Governor Baligh ur Rehman to respond to Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s advice passed late Saturday night. The governor said ...

  Bloomberg Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is set to keep his party’s top job for another term, a move that will strengthen the position of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s coalition government. Delegates at the United Malays National Organisation’s annual general assembly on Saturday approved a motion to prevent anyone from contesting the party’s top two posts during ...

Bloomberg Turkey said Sweden and Finland should hurry on fulfilling promises for their accession to Nato, ahead of Turkish elections due to take place in less than six months. The Turkish parliament may announce a recess six weeks before parliamentary and presidential elections, leading to the need to rush to get it ratified, said presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin. Yet Sweden ...

  Bloomberg A retired general who has pledged unwavering support for Ukraine won the first round of the Czech presidential election, advancing to the run-off against a billionaire ex-premier known for spats with the European Union. Petr Pavel, the former top general in Nato, won by a razor-thin margin with 35.4% of the vote, according to results by the Statistics ...

  Bloomberg Brazilian authorities are increasing the pressure on Jair Bolsonaro with a probe into the former president’s role in riots that upended the nation’s capital on Jan. 8 and the arrest of his Justice Minister Anderson Torres by federal police. Torres was arrested on Saturday after arriving in Brasilia following a vacation in the US. The former minister, whose ...

  Bloomberg Russia claimed Moscow’s troops had taken Soledar, a small town in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, in one of their first victories in months. Kyiv rejected the claim. A salt mining town with a population of 10,000 before Russia launched its invasion in February 2022, Soledar has limited strategic value but has been the site of weeks of ...

Bloomberg Turkey summoned Sweden’s ambassador after supporters of the Kurdish militant group PKK and its affiliates hanged an effigy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a protest in Stockholm. Sweden must crack down on terrorism if it wants to join Nato, Turkey said, after the puppet was hung by the feet outside the city hall in the Swedish capital ...