Politics

Bloomberg A day after Angela Merkel’s party turned in its worst performance since 1949, the political reality began setting in that forming a new German government will not be an easy task. The chancellor’s partner the last time around, the Social Democrats, did even worse, leading them to conclude they don’t want to take part in the next government—at least ...

Bloomberg Kenya is lurching towards a constitutional crisis as a standoff deepens between the two presidential candidates over how to manage a rerun of last month’s botched election. Both sides have entrenched their positions: Raila Odinga’s opposition coalition has called mass protests starting Tuesday to demand the electoral commission is overhauled before the vote takes place, while President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ...

Bloomberg Lithuania’s ruling coalition was saved from collapse after lawmakers from its junior partner defied their own party by opting to support the 10-month-old government. The Social Democrats’ members of parliament voted 10-4 to remain in the alliance, with one abstaining. They decried the party’s “premature” decision at the weekend to quit. The party’s foreign and justice minister had already ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel was chastised by German voters who elected her to a fourth term with her party’s worst result since 1949, after an election that lifted a far-right party into parliament in a sign of the growing polarisation in Europe’s biggest economy. Sunday’s federal ballot saw support for the two main parties— Merkel’s Christian Democrat-led bloc and Martin ...

Bloomberg Kenya’s public prosecutor ordered an investigation into the country’s electoral authority over its handling of last month’s annulled presidential election. Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions investigators will seek to establish whether officials at the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission committed any crimes, according to a statement posted on its Twitter account on Saturday. The ODPP asked for ...

Bloomberg Rwanda’s police said they arrested an activist barred from running for the presidency and two family members for alleged offenses against state security and forgery. Diane Rwigara, her mother and sister were arrested Saturday after the East African nation’s police “uncovered credible evidence linking the trio to offenses against state security,” the force said in a statement on its ...

Bloomberg Theresa May’s hope of uniting her Conservative Party behind an agreed position on Brexit seemed to be in danger only two days after she set it out, with reports that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was unhappy about aspects of her proposed transition as the UK leaves the European Union. Allies of Johnson said his hints last week that he ...

Bloomberg North Korea’s foreign minister unleashed a torrent of criticism at the United Nations General Assembly in response to President Donald Trump’s speech at the same venue, saying Pyongyang is ready for a preemptive nuclear attack if needed. Ri Yong Ho’s comments came hours after US Air Force bombers flew over international waters east of North Korea, and a tremor ...

Bloomberg New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English has claimed a mandate to form the next government after winning the biggest slice of the vote in Saturday’s election, even as opposition leader Jacinda Ardern refuses to concede defeat. While English’s ruling National Party fell short of a majority and will need the support of the nationalist New Zealand First Party to ...

Bloomberg ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ North Korea struck back at US President Donald Trump’s threats to destroy it, with Kim Jong Un warning of the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history” and his foreign minister suggesting that could include testing a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho spoke to reporters in New York, where he is attending ...