Politics

Bloomberg Italy’s populists looking for an arch enemy to concentrate their nationalist rhetoric ahead of European Parliamentary elections have found one: France and its Europhile president Emmanuel Macron. France has summoned the Italian ambassador over comments by Deputy Premier and Five Star Movement leader Luigi di Maio that France “never stopped colonising Africa” and is contributing to the waves of ...

Bloomberg It was still dark, but Venezuela’s army had already smothered a mutiny and turned to tear-gassing protesters supporting the rebels. The loyalist Supreme Court announced that it would depose the National Assembly’s head and nullify its motion declaring President Nicolas Maduro’s rule invalid. Then, Brazil’s president predicted a speedy regime change. Governing this hungry and restive nation has become ...

Bloomberg European Union governments disagree over how long they think the UK should delay Brexit, with some pushing for an extension of as much as a year, diplomats said. While some countries think the EU should offer Britain a generous period to negotiate a deal that will win the backing of Parliament, possibly after a second referendum, others oppose a ...

Bloomberg Militants operating in northern Mali killed 10 Chadian soldiers and injured 25 others in one of the deadliest attacks on the United Nation’s peacekeeping mission in the west African nation. An unknown number of assailants in armed vehicles struck the base in Aguelhok in northern Mali, according to a statement from the local UN peacekeeping mission. Peacekeepers pursued the ...

Bloomberg President Xi Jinping stressed the need to maintain political stability in a rare meeting of China’s top leaders — a fresh sign the ruling party was growing concerned about the social implications of the slowing economy. Xi told a “seminar” of top provincial leaders and ministers in Beijing that the Communist Party needed a greater sense of urgency “to ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump and senior Democrats took their first steps towards a possible compromise deal on immigration and border security over the weekend, even as the president ramped up his feud with Speaker Nancy Pelosi with the government shutdown in its fifth week. It’s not clear whether Trump’s olive branch will yield fruitful negotiations, given that Democrats want the government ...

Bloomberg As Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe heads for talks in Moscow this week in hopes of resolving a 70-year-old dispute over four small islands, President Vladimir Putin is showing him a deal won’t be painless. While Abe has pushed for progress in a dispute that has prevented the countries from formally ending their World War II hostilities, Russian rhetoric ...

Bloomberg Nigeria’s government has evidence that Boko Haram extremists as well as armed bandits are planning to carry out attacks across the nation ahead of elections next month, Information Minister Lai Mohammed said. “We have credible intelligence that armed bandits and Boko Haram insurgents have been mobilised to engage in massive attacks and other acts of violence in several states ...

Bloomberg Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s Constitutional Court confirmed opposition leader Felix Tshiskedi as the next president, while rival Martin Fayulu rejected the ruling and declared himself the rightful head of state. The court judgment of Sunday in Kinshasa, the capital, clears the way for the first transfer of power via the ballot box in the cobalt- and copper-rich nation ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged to work until the “last day” to ensure an orderly Brexit and signalled that responsibility for a successful withdrawal doesn’t lie solely with Theresa May. Merkel’s comments suggest an opening after the UK prime minister made a round of phone calls to other EU leaders, including Merkel, in the days after she suffered a ...