Politics

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to increase the retirement age to preserve the financial balance of the national pension system may get the backing of the Republican opposition party, its leader Eric Ciotti said. An overhaul that would progressively raise the retirement age from 62 currently to 64 in 2032 may be acceptable, the president of the conservative party ...

Bloomberg The US and Germany will send armoured vehicles and an additional Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, a significant upgrade in firepower urgently sought by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the fight against Russia’s invasion. The US will provide its Bradley Fighting Vehicles while Germany is sending its Marder vehicles, the leaders said in a joint statement. Germany also will ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump is being blamed for the death of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who was assaulted during the January 6, 2021, riot, in a lawsuit that claims the former president is responsible because he riled up his supporters with false election claims and calls to take action. That “cost” Sicknick his life, Sandra Garza, Sicknick’s former girlfriend and ...

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces to cease fighting in Ukraine for 36 hours starting from Friday at noon, Moscow time, but Kyiv quickly dismissed the move as a ploy, unlikely to slow a conflict that’s heading for its second year. The Kremlin said Putin gave the order for Russian Orthodox Christmas. It follows an appeal by the ...

  Bloomberg The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan signed its first international contract to extract oil from the northern Amu Darya basin as the beleaguered group seeks to increase revenue. The agreement with a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), was inked in Kabul in the presence of Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yu, and the Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister ...

Bloomberg The second anniversary of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol arrives with the building again in turmoil, this time as House Republicans quarrel over a speaker to lead the chamber. The chaos unfolding on the House floor threatens to tarnish the new GOP majority, which voters put back in power less than two years after a ...

Bloomberg Germany is nearing a decision to send infantry fighting vehicles to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s military invasion as pressure mounts on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to match commitments from France and the US. The government in Berlin is in talks with allies to coordinate an announcement, which could come within days, according to people familiar with the matter. One ...

  Bloomberg Malawi’s worst cholera outbreak in two decades has left 643 people dead after the disease spread to all districts of the southeastern African country. The landlocked nation, prone to tropical storms and cyclones, has been battling a resurgence of the water-borne diarrheal disease since March. The rainy season, which began in November, worsened the situation. Floods have led ...

  Bloomberg California faces heavy rain and ferocious winds as a powerful storm system adds to recent downpours that have burst levees and triggered mudslides. The deluge was set to continue in parts of the state, and “considerable flooding impacts are likely,” the National Weather Service said in a statement. Heavy snowfall in some mountain areas could make travel impossible ...

  Bloomberg Taiwan detained three active-duty officers and a retired Air Force officer suspected of spying for China, the Central News Agency (CNA) in Taipei reported, a case that hints at the extent of Beijing’s snooping on its much smaller neighbour. The former officer left the military in 2013 and started doing business in China, where he was recruited to ...