Politics

Bloomberg Former South African President Jacob Zuma rejected a slew of allegations that he aided and abetted graft during his almost nine years in office and claimed he was the victim of a conspiracy by foreign and domestic intelligence agencies intent on ousting and discrediting him. “I have been the subject of talk in this country for more than a ...

Bloomberg Ursula von der Leyen’s two-week dash to secure the most powerful policy-making job in the European Union may end with a photo finish. Unexpectedly tapped to head the European Commission after weeks of grueling negotiations by national leaders, the German defense minister and ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel is chasing support among left-leaning factions to put her over the ...

Bloomberg Matteo Salvini, the euroskeptic strongman of Italian politics, can’t seem to shut down a scandal over alleged illegal financing from Russia. The deputy prime minister has been trying to distance himself from a close ally, Gianluca Savoini, who was recorded apparently soliciting illegal party funding from three Russians, according to a report by Buzzfeed News. The story has dominated ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump abandoned the nuclear pact with Iran last year because it was signed by his predecessor Barack Obama, according to the latest UK diplomatic cables published in a British newspaper. The emails, reportedly from Kim Darroch, who was Britain’s ambassador to the US until he quit following the first batch of leaks, centre on Boris Johnson’s last-ditch ...

Bloomberg Italy will present a new proposal for dealing with migrant flows to European Union partners on Monday, Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said. “We need a structured, stable mechanism,” Moavero told newspaper Corriere della Sera in an interview. “Migrants are seeking to go to Europe, not to Italy, Malta or Greece.” Moavero said he is in favour of a ...

Bloomberg Italy’s Deputy PM Matteo Salvini’s efforts to quell the fallout over reports his League Party was soliciting Russian financing suffered a setback when the country’s prime minister contradicted his recollection of events. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that Salvini’s office had invited Gianluca Savoini, a Salvini ally at the centre of the flap, to a dinner with Russian President Vladimir ...

Bloomberg Boris Johnson will face a tough fight from political heavyweights if he tries to suspend parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit. Anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller and Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd both opposed the idea, adding to growing ranks across the political divide who say they are concerned about upholding Britain’s constitution. Miller, who already took the ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong demonstrators gathered for another weekend of protests with a growing list of grievances, maintaining pressure on Chief Executive Carrie Lam who was reported to have offered her resignation several times in recent weeks to her political masters in Beijing. Rally organisers said 110,000 people marched in the district of Sha Tin, a popular destination for visitors from ...

Bloomberg Chad lifted a more than a year-long ban on social media including Facebook and Twitter that the government said had been necessary for security reasons. The announcement was made by President Idriss Deby at a conference about digital technology in the capital, N’Djamena. While he said he’d instructed internet service providers to suspend the restrictions immediately, he appealed “to ...

Bloomberg The UK is in talks with the US and other allies about beefing up their military presence in the Persian Gulf to deal with the rising threat to shipping posed by Iran. Britain raised the threat level to 3 — the highest possible — for ships operating in the Gulf, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. ...