Politics

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 ...

JERUSALEM / Reuters Israel for the first time admitted that it bombed a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 and said on Wednesday the strike should be a warning to Iran that it would not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. The Israeli military released previously classified cockpit footage, photographs and intelligence documents about its September 6, 2007, air strike ...

Bloomberg Negotiations between the leaders of Italy’s two populist parties, ostensibly focussed on appointing speakers for the new parliament, are prompting conversations about a broader agreement to form the next government, according to party officials. While Five Star’s Luigi Di Maio and the League’s Matteo Salvini work out how to allocate the key posts in the lower house and the ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a friend of the US. “A lot of people are at work” because of Saudi Arabia’s business, Trump said, adding that the kingdom has finalised $12.5 billion in purchases of planes, missiles and frigates from US companies. Crown prince Mohammed praised the kingdom’s “really deep” relationship with the ...