Politics

AMMAN / Reuters Syrian rebels shot down a Russian warplane and killed its pilot on the ground after he ejected from the plane, Russia’s defence ministry and Syrian rebels said. The SU-25 came down in an area of northern Idlib province that has seen heavy air strikes and fighting on the ground between Syria’s government forces backed by Russia and ...

Bloomberg Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni condemned a drive-by shooting in the city of Macerata that targeted migrants, and asked all political parties to act responsibly ahead of national elections on March 4. “I trust in the sense of responsibility of all political forces,” Gentiloni said during a news conference in Rome after the incident. “Criminals are criminals and the ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s point man for a massive Pacific trade pact is defending his job after giving incense sticks to voters, the latest example of how even the whiff of scandal can threaten policy-making in Japan. Toshimitsu Motegi, the economy minister who last month shepherded the revised Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to an 11-way agreement, is facing calls ...

Bloomberg Peru’s Pedro Pablo Kuczynski may face a new opposition attempt to force him from office after one party shifted its position and said it would now support an impeachment motion of its own. New Peru, which chose not to vote in December’s impeachment ballot, told reporters that new information has emerged about Kuczynski’s ties to Brazilian builder Odebrecht SA. ...

Bloomberg Top officials of the ruling African National Congress were expected to meet on Sunday with President Jacob Zuma to discuss his departure from office, the Johannesburg-based Sunday Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The meeting, to be held at the president’s official residence in Pretoria, will be led by the party’s Deputy President David Mabuza and could ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May and her Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang set thorny political issues aside and offered a bullish vision of the two countries’ blossoming trade relationship after Brexit. The two leaders put their countries on the path towards negotiating a future free-trade agreement, setting up a high-level panel to review and expand commercial ties. A British official ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump was eager to have a Republican memo alleging bias in the Russia probe released to the public, several people around him said. Now that’s it out, Trump took to Twitter to promote it for that purpose — although the document may not be as effective as the president wants it to be. It didn’t, for one ...

Bloomberg Given all the tension US President Donald Trump has fomented with Mexico over the border wall and immigration, it was surprising to hear the country’s foreign minister say ties are better than they’ve been for a long time. “That’s a fact of life,” Luis Videgaray said at a news conference in Mexico City with US Secretary of State Rex ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel said German parties need to overcome “very serious differences” if they want to seal a government pact this weekend and pave the way for her fourth term. Heading into her coalition-building endgame , Merkel said she’s “hopeful that we can make it work.” Social Democratic leader Martin Schulz, whose party is split over whether to stay ...

Bloomberg Togo’s opposition has agreed to suspend protests to allow West African mediators to resolve a months-long political crisis triggered by planned constitutional reforms which could extend the rule of President Faure Gnassingbe. Mediators from Guinea and Ghana will oversee talks between the opposition and the government of the West African nation from Feb. 15, according to an emailed statement ...