Politics

Bloomberg They were informally called the “Hapsburg group,” a misspelled reference to the monarchy that ruled parts of central Europe through World War I. Under that umbrella, former European heads of state were secretly paid more than 2 million euros ($2.4 million) by Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, to aid lobbying for Ukraine, according to a superseding indictment ...

Bloomberg The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, Christianity’s holiest site, was closed to visitors on Sunday in an unprecedented move to protest proposed Israeli tax and land policies governing church-owned property. The heads of the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic churches in the city released a letter accusing Israel of a “systematic and offensive campaign” against ...

Bloomberg China’s Communist Party moved to repeal presidential term limits enshrined in the constitution, the clearest sign yet that Xi Jinping intends to stay on as leader past his second term. The party’s decision-making Central Committee proposed removing language from the document that says the head of state “shall serve no more than two consecutive terms,” the official Xinhua News ...

Bloomberg Italy’s ex-premier Matteo Renzi urged politicians to combat all forms of violence ahead of the March 4 elections, after street battles between far-left and far-right activists in the past few days. “I think it is very important for everyone — not just for a single party — to be here, to give a message against violence, against not just ...

Bloomberg President Maithripala Sirisena reshuffled the cabinet in Sri Lanka for the second time since forming a unity government in 2015 after its two main coalition partners were defeated in local government elections. Sirisena announced changes to six cabinet ministers, three state ministers and one deputy minister on Sunday, according to a statement from the president’s office. Prime Minister Ranil ...

Bloomberg As the newest cooperator for Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Rick Gates gives prosecutors a powerful weapon in pursuing former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and possible election collusion with Russia. Gates, who pleaded guilty in Washington, was Manafort’s right-hand man and worked with him for a decade in his political consulting firm lobbying on behalf of Ukraine before joining ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said it may be “very, very unfortunate” for the world if US sanctions fail to stop North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, as he imposed the largest US penalties package yet against the rogue regime. “Phase 2 might be a very rough thing,” if the sanctions don’t succeed, Trump added at a joint press conference with Australian ...

WASHINGTON / Reuters The United States said it will open its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem in May, a move from Tel Aviv that reverses decades of US policy and is bound to trouble US allies who have already objected. US President Donald Trump announced last December that the United States recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, infuriating even Washington’s Arab ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel came to Brussels armed with a fresh demand that eastern European Union countries accept refugees and ended up sparking criticism from western allies in the bloc. At her first EU summit since striking a German coalition agreement, Merkel touted the idea of tying generous European regional-development aid for nations such as Poland to their willingness ...

WASHINGTON / Reuters Pakistan need not kill or capture militants such as members of the Haqqani network that use its territory to launch attacks in Afghanistan but could push them across the border instead, a senior US official said. Evicting the militants would put them at risk of attack from Afghan and US forces trying to keep Afghanistan from becoming ...