Politics

Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reiterated his apology on Sunday for a cronyism scandal as opposition lawmakers warned it would hamper his ambitions of changing the country’s pacifist constitution. Public anger over the revelation that Finance Ministry officials doctored documents relating to the discounted sale of public land to a school operator with connections to Abe’s wife sent his ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump is preparing to expel dozens of Russian diplomats from the US in response to the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in UK, two people familiar with the matter said on Saturday. Trump agreed with the recommendation of advisers and the expulsions are likely to be announced on Monday, the people said, though they cautioned ...

Bloomberg Catalonia’s parliament suspended a vote to name a new president because the separatist candidate is in jail, extending the political limbo in a region divided by a campaign to split from Spain. Speaker Roger Torrent said he wouldn’t hold the vote on Jordi Turull’s bid because he was jailed by a judge investigating his role in an attempt to ...

BEIRUT / Reuters The Syrian army paused its bombardment of Douma, the last rebel bastion in eastern Ghouta, after midnight, a war monitor said on Saturday, as insurgents prepared to leave the rest of their former enclave. Thousands of fighters and their family members departed neighbouring Harasta by bus after a deal with the government to surrender the town. Insurgents ...

Bloomberg Italy’s League leader Matteo Salvini and ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi pledged to remain united after a virulent clash over relations with the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, with the prospect of a pop- ulist Five Star-League government alarming investors. Center-right alliance leaders Salvini, Berlusconi and Giorgia Meloni of the far-right Brothers of Italy party said in a joint statement after meeting ...

Bloomberg Martin Vizcarra assumed Peru’s highest office pledging to end the political confrontation that forced his predecessor to quit while maintaining economic stability and fighting corruption. The 55-year-old engineer-turned-politician called for unity to recover governability and the trust of Peruvians, in a national address after being sworn in as president in Congress. He signalled he would appoint a new finance ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he expects to meet soon with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after calling to congratulate him on his re-election. “We had a very good call,” Trump said, adding that he expects to meet Putin “in the not too distant future to discuss the arms race, which is getting out of control.” Trump’s call with Putin came ...

Bloomberg US President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the situation in war-torn Yemen during a meeting, including Houthi rebel and Iranian activity and the humanitarian crisis, the White House said. “On Yemen, the president and the crown prince discussed the threat the Houthis pose to the region, assisted by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” ...

AMMAN / Reuters A Russian-brokered deal has been reached to evacuate a Syrian rebel group from a town in eastern Ghouta, opposition sources and officials said on Wednesday, the first such deal in the remaining rebel bastion near the capital. Fighters from the Ahrar al Sham rebel group in control of the besieged town of Harasta had agreed to lay ...

Bloomberg An Iranian who chairs a Maltese bank has been arrested on US charges that he participated in a scheme to evade US sanctions and funnel more than $115 million paid under a Venezuelan construction contract through the US financial system, federal prosecutors said. Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad, 38, was charged in a six-count indictment filed in federal court in ...