Politics

Bloomberg President Donald Trump plans to use Tuesday’s State of the Union address to build momentum for sweeping legislation on infrastructure and immigration that could buoy the White House and fellow Republicans ahead of crucial midterm elections. Emboldened by a booming economy and victory in his stare-down with Senate Democrats over government funding, Trump will make the case that the ...

Bloomberg Czech President Milos Zeman, an ardent supporter of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, won a second term in an election victory after warning voters that sheltering Muslim immigrants could lead to terrorist attacks. Zeman, 73, who was also an early fan of US President Donald Trump, took 51.4 percent of votes in a two-day ballot, according results published by the ...

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s opposition National People’s Party said the country’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, lacks legitimacy and is overseeing military rule ahead of elections he says will take place before July. Mnangagwa should return Zimbabwe to legitimate civilian rule and introduce electoral reforms, Joice Mujuru, head of the NPP, said in an emailed statement. He must also undo “oppressive” legislation that ...

Bloomberg A Taliban suicide bomber detonated explosives in downtown Kabul on Saturday, killing at least 95 people and wounding 158 others in the worst attack since a truck bombing near the Afghan capital’s diplomatic zone last year. The bomber used an explosive-laden ambulance and reached the gate of the former Interior Ministry building, Nasrat Rahimi, a deputy spokesman for the ...

UNITED NATIONS / Reuters The United States will seek to boost its case for United Nations action against Iran when Security Council envoys visit Washington on Monday to view pieces of weapons that US Ambassador Nikki Haley says Tehran gave to Yemen’s Houthi group. Haley and her 14 council colleagues will also lunch with President Donald Trump, the US Mission ...

Bloomberg ­Prime Minister Theresa May’s office slapped down Philip Hammond for saying he hoped Brexit would bring only modest changes, after his comments enraged the euroskeptic lawmakers May needs to stay in her job. The chancellor of the exchequer said he wanted an ambitious Brexit deal that replicates Britain’s current easy trade terms with the EU and moves the economy ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel and her prospective coalition partners stepped up the pace of talks to end Germany’s political impasse, setting a nine-day timeline for a final deal on a government platform. Merkel’s Christian Democratic-led bloc and the Social Democratic Party agreed on Friday to try to wrap up negotiations by February 4. If that goal is met, the SPD ...

VIENNA / Reuters The Syrian opposition will not attend a peace conference Russia is hosting next week, a spokesman said on Saturday, dismissing the meeting as an attempt by the Syrian government’s close ally to “sideline” the current United Nations peace process. He was speaking at the end of two days of UN-brokered talks between the Syrian government and opposition, ...

Bloomberg Kenya’s opposition National Super Alliance said it has evidence that former Prime Minister Raila Odinga won the nation’s Aug. 8 presidential election. The alliance has a document containing “authentic, unpolluted, unadulterated” data that shows Odinga and his running mate, Kalonzo Musyoka, were the legitimate winners of the vote, Nasa Senator James Orengo told reporters Friday in the capital, Nairobi. ...

Bloomberg Russia should stop blocking United Nations efforts to investigate alleged violations of a 2013 accord to remove chemical weapons from Syria, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. As the party ultimately responsible for chemical weapons use by the Syrian regime, Russia should at least abstain during UN Security Council votes, Tillerson said in Paris at the end of ...