Politics

Bloomberg Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s allies led in key provincial races in elections held across the country on June 27, giving him a major boost before the presidential vote next year. Polls were held in 171 regions that collectively hold more than 152 million registered voters across Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. Analysts were particularly watching the results in Java, home ...

Bloomberg Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing to accelerate his probe into possible collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russians who sought to interfere in the 2016 election, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mueller and his team of prosecutors and investigators have an eye toward producing conclusions — and possible indictments — related to collusion by ...

Bloomberg Jim Mattis arrived on Tuesday in Beijing on the first China visit by a US defense secretary in four years, as the Trump administration moves to push back against the country’s growing economic and military influence. Mattis, who plans to also visit South Korea and Japan, was expected to press China’s leaders for continued cooperation on North Korea’s nuclear ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s antagonists dialed back a clash over migration, saying they don’t want to blow up the party alliance underpinning her government. Comments by leaders of the Christian Social Union (CSU), a Merkel-allied regional party that governs Bavaria and wants to tighten border security, take some of the sting out of days of attacks on the chancellor. ...

Bloomberg Jordan will not receive new refugees from Syria under any circumstances, PM Omar Razzaz said, as a new Syrian government offensive threatened to send more displaced people fleeing to Jordan’s border. “Jordan cannot receive more refugees,” said Razzaz, who took office earlier this month. “We want a political solution.” Jordan has taken in 1.3 million refugees from neighbouring Syria’s ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s most populous province is set to go the polls in what’s shaping up as a test of President Joko Widodo’s popularity and a potential springboard for his rivals ahead of next year’s presidential election. More than 30 million people are expected to vote in West Java’s gubernatorial election on Wednesday in a contest between two former generals, the ...

Bloomberg Republic of Macedonia’s president rejected an agreement with Greece on the nation’s new name, a move that may be only a temporary hurdle in the ex-Yugoslav nation’s NATO and EU accession plans. The veto by opposition-backed President Gjorge Ivanov, who said on Tuesday he won’t sign the accord, is expected to be overturned in parliament as early as next ...

Bloomberg European leaders put on a brave face over their persisting differences on how to handle migration flows, even as the lack of tangible progress could further escalate a crisis that threatens to unravel the bloc’s passport-free travel area and create a rift in Germany’s governing coalition. “There was a lot of goodwill today and, next to a few differences, ...

Bloomberg At least 86 people were killed in an attack in central Nigeria’s Plateau state by suspected herders on several farming villages, police said. About 50 houses were also destroyed in the attack on June 23 in the Barkin Ladi district, Plateau state police spokesman, Mathias Tyopev, said on local television network, Channels News. “The figure that we have now ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is appealing a judge’s order revoking his bail and ordering him jailed for allegedly tampering with witnesses against him in criminal cases signed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Manafort, 69, filed notice on Monday that he will appeal the detention order this month by US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson in Washington. ...