Politics

BERLIN / Reuters We will argue, but we are ready to get on with governing Germany: that was Chancellor Angela Merkel’s take on her new cabinet after a “get to know you” retreat for ministers. Leading ministers from Merkel’s conservative bloc and their Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners have been sniping at each other since taking office a month ago, ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said the US will respond “forcefully” to a suspected chemical weapons attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime over the weekend, after suggesting earlier that Russian President Vladimir Putin may share responsibility. “We’re making a decision on what we do in respect to the horrible attack that was made near Damascus and it will be met ...

Bloomberg An FBI raid on his personal lawyer’s office cut close to home for Donald Trump, prompting an angry reaction from the president that revived fears he might do the unthinkable and fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller. “Attorney–client privilege is dead!,” Trump said early Tuesday in a posting on Twitter. He followed up with: “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!” In an ...

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron’s first annual checkup with the European Union’s budget doctor won’t be pretty. His government, which may gain from accelerating growth, is postponing the spending cuts needed to narrow the structural budget gap as required by the European Commission, say two people with knowledge of documents being sent to Brussels this month. With elements of the ...

Bloomberg The daughter of a Russian former double agent poisoned in southern England last month was discharged from hospital. Yulia Skripal, 33, was found collapsed on a bench in Salisbury alongside her father — Sergei Skripal — after being exposed to a nerve agent in an incident the British government blamed on Russia. Both patients have “responded exceptionally well” to ...

Bloomberg Malaysians will cast their vote on May 9 in what will be a showdown between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak and Mahathir Mohamad, the nation’s longest-serving premier. The campaign period will be shortened to 11 days, from 15 days in the 2013 election, with the nomination day for candidates set for April 28, Mohd Hashim Abdullah, chairman at the ...

Bloomberg Ireland’s deputy prime minister assailed UK Brexit Secretary David Davis’ suggestion that Sinn Fein is influencing the Dublin government as “nonsense,” in the latest sign of tension between the two countries over the UK vote to leave the EU. The Irish government under Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has “quite a strong influence from Sinn Fein” when it comes to ...

Bloomberg As President Donald Trump threatens to tear up the Iran nuclear deal and tensions flare across the Mideast, his hawkish new national security adviser is preparing to start work. John Bolton, a veteran of Republican administrations who’s called for military action to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, takes over the key White House position on Monday, just ...

Bloomberg A majority of Britons support holding a vote on the final Brexit deal secured by Prime Minister Theresa May, according to a YouGov poll conducted for the pro-remain group Best for Britain. Those saying the public should have the final say on whether to accept the Brexit deal or remain in the European Union exceeded opponents by 8 percentage ...

ABUJA / Reuters Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari confirmed on Monday he will seek another term in elections next year, ending months of speculation about his future after bouts of ill health. The 75-year-old said he would seek his party’s presidential ticket to contest elections in February 2019 during a closed door meeting of the national executive committee of his All ...