Politics

Bloomberg Officials reported a high turnout among voters in Russian presidential elections that are expected to hand Vladimir Putin a mandate to rule until 2024 amid an escalating standoff with the West. Opposition activists complained of ballot fraud. The Central Election Commission said turnout across Russia was 59.6 percent at 7 pm in Moscow. The Tass news service reported that ...

Bloomberg Russia’s ambassador to the European Union suggested the nerve agent used to poison a former spy and his daughter may have come from a research lab in the UK and rejected accusations it was made in Russia, according to an interview to be broadcast by the BBC. Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov said in searching for the poison’s source, investigators need ...

Bloomberg Southeast Asian nations and Australia vowed to unite against protectionism, while also using a summit in Sydney to urge North Korea to denuclearise immediately. “We are committed to free and open markets,” the final communique from the first Australia-Asean Special Summit, held in Sydney, said on Sunday. They pledged to resist “all forms of protectionism.” Global markets were rattled ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump and his lawyer fired what may be the first shots in a showdown with Special Counsel Robert Mueller over the future of his investigation into Russian election meddling and Trump’s campaign. The president kept the pressure on early Sunday with a series of Twitter messages assailing Mueller’s investigation, former FBI Director James Comey, and Andrew McCabe, ...

BEIRUT / Reuters Any new European sanctions against Iran will have a direct effect on the nuclear deal struck between world powers and Tehran, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said, according to state media. “In case some European countries are following steps to put non-nuclear sanctions against Iran in order to please the American president, they will be making a big ...

Bloomberg Russia ordered the expulsion of 23 British diplomats in retaliation for the UK’s ouster of the same number of Kremlin envoys over the nerve-agent poisoning near London of a former spy and his daughter. The British consulate in St. Petersburg was also ordered to close and the British Council must stop its work in Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry ...

Bloomberg Russian hackers attempted to penetrate the US civilian aviation industry early in 2017 as part of the broad assault on the nation’s sensitive infrastructure. The attack had limited impact and the industry has taken steps to prevent a repeat of the intrusion, Jeff Troy, executive director of the Aviation Information Sharing and Analysis Center, said. Troy wouldn’t elaborate on ...

Bloomberg China’s parliament unanimously reappointed Xi Jinping as president while installing one of his most trusted allies as vice president, highlighting how little public opposition remains to his rule. The rubber-stamp National People’s Congress voted 2,970-to-0 to give Xi a second five-year term on Saturday, days after repealing a constitutional provision that would’ve barred him from a third. Although legislative ...

BRUSSELS / Reuters Britain, France and Germany have proposed fresh EU sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missiles and its role in Syria’s war, according to a confidential document, in a bid to persuade Washington to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. The joint paper, seen by Reuters, was sent to European Union capitals, said two people familiar with ...

Bloomberg Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired the FBI’s former deputy director, Andrew McCabe — a favourite target for President Donald Trump and Republicans, two days before he was to retire. Sessions made the politically explosive decision after the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility recommended that McCabe be dismissed for not being forthcoming about authorising discussions with a reporter about a ...