Politics

Bloomberg Thailand’s military establishment is intensifying attacks on a young political party that surged in March’s general election and whose 40-year-old leader is the newest symbol of opposition to the junta. The party, Future Forward, won about 18 percent of votes and is a key part of a coalition trying to prevent the junta’s proxies from forming the next government. ...

Bloomberg Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond reiterated his call to consider proposals for a second referendum on Brexit, while acknowledging that both the UK and the European Union are exasperated by the deadlock, as there’s little visibility on the next steps ahead of a key summit. “I understand that EU colleagues are somewhat fed up that the process has ...

Bloomberg Estonia moved towards a new governing coalition that includes a controversial anti-immigrant party, signalling the further spread of populism in the European Union. Prime Minister Juri Ratas’s ruling Center Party, which snubbed the election-winning Reform party and instead invited the euroskeptic EKRE to talks, overcame opposition from his party’s Russian-speaking members to agree on an alliance that also includes ...

Bloomberg President Nicolas Maduro’s Constituent Assembly, stacked with socialist-party loyalists, stripped opposition leader Juan Guaido of his immunity from prosecution, as the government ratchets up pressure against the congressman seeking to oust the country’s ruling autocrat. The Constituent Assembly, an all-powerful political body set up in 2017 to bypass the National Assembly, voted unanimously to act on the recommendation of ...

Bloomberg The first of many trials for Malaysia’s former premier Najib Razak will serve as a key test of the nation’s readiness to get to the bottom of the 1MDB scandal. Najib appeared in court on Wednesday to face seven of 42 corruption and money-laundering charges linked to his role in 1MDB, the state fund at the centre of a ...

Bloomberg Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who led Algeria out of civil war to become its longest-serving president, has resigned after throngs of protesters and even his military allies told the ailing president he’d overstayed his welcome. Though Bouteflika has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2013, his political demise will deepen uncertainty in the North African OPEC member. ...

Bloomberg Slovakia’s outgoing president is mounting a challenge against the country’s dominant political force, capitalising on a wave of anti-corruption outrage that helped elect a pro-European liberal to replace him. Andrej Kiska will create a new political party after stepping aside in June to make way for the euro-area member’s first woman president, Zuzana Caputova, who won by a landslide ...

Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is maintaining a friendly tone towards China, even after defense officials raised concerns over an increased Chinese presence around a disputed island in the South China Sea. China isn’t after Philippine territory and hasn’t asked for anything in exchange for the weapons and aid it’s given the Philippines, Duterte said in a campaign speech in ...

Bloomberg Battered by more than a month of protests, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika said he would step down before the end of his fourth term on April 28, but suggested he would still craft the foundations of the transition to come. The announcement appeared aimed at avoiding what could be a military-sanctioned, and embarrassing, constitutional push to have him declared ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s army chief slammed exiled former leader Thaksin Shinawatra in a rare briefing following a disputed election, a further sign that his allies will struggle to form a government. “He never admits to his crime,” Apirat Kongsompong told foreign media organisations in Bangkok. “If someone has money and is powerful, does that mean you can never go to jail? ...