Politics

Bloomberg Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte faced a backlash in the European Parliament for the populist actions of his two deputy premiers. Members of the European Union assembly used Conte’s appearance at a “Future of Europe” debate to warn about the future of Italy under Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio, the two powers in the country’s anti-establishment coalition government. ...

Bloomberg Theresa May and the European Union are heading for a high-stakes, last-minute gamble that will decide whether the UK leaves the bloc with or without a deal, people familiar with both sides said. On March 21 — just a week before Britain is due to exit the EU — the prime minister will have the chance to win a ...

Bloomberg On a damp Tuesday evening in December, most of France was focused on the Yellow-Vest crisis that had seen demonstrators smashing up Paris. But holed up in his Elysee palace, President Emmanuel Macron and his team were dealing with a greater threat to the status quo not just in France, but across the western world. A White House contact ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump likes to boast about his disruptive foreign policy style—calling North Korea’s leader “Little Rocket Man” or announcing plans to pull troops from Syria without notifying his top generals. But with Venezuela, Trump is playing it uncharacteristically straight, using textbook diplomacy that he usually shuns in seeking the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro. Instead of going it ...

Bloomberg The government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lost a crucial vote on a bill that allowed doctors greater say on the medical evacuation of sick asylum seekers from detention centers on Manus Island and Nauru. During a heated debate in the parliament, Morrison warned the changes would weaken Australia’s borders and raise national security concerns. Despite the defeat, ...

Bloomberg The Catalonia drama unfolded on a new stage with the start of a historic trial of separatist leaders in Madrid — and it threatens to claim the scalp of a second Spanish prime minister in less than a year. Twelve separatists leaders — led by former Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras who is facing up to 25 years in jail ...

Bloomberg The US will fight to regain influence in NATO’s eastern flank, particularly in countries such as Hungary where the government’s spotty record on democracy led to a freeze in relations that allowed Russia and China to extend their sway, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said. Pompeo, in the first visit to Hungary by a US secretary of state since ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denounced a top South Korean lawmaker’s comments about the Japanese emperor as “extremely inappropriate,” ratcheting up already-high tensions between the two neighbours. Abe told parliament that Japan asked South Korea to apologize for National Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang’s remarks last week describing Emperor Akihito as “the son of the main culprit of war crimes.” Moon ...

Bloomberg Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is advocating to change the nation’s name one day to “Maharlika” to move away from the country’s colonial links. Duterte’s call echoes a push by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to call the nation “Maharlika,” which in the local language means nobility. The country, which was under Spanish rule for more than 300 years, derived ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump is set to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un in less than three weeks, yet the biggest question hanging over the leaders’ second summit is why they’re even having it. Since their historic face-to-face meeting in Singapore eight months ago, North Korea has made little progress towards giving up its nuclear weapons and continues to do what ...