Politics

Bloomberg US engagement in Afghanistan has deteriorated to a new low, with personnel hunkered down behind blast walls as President Donald Trump struggles to define a vision for the war-torn country almost 16 years after American forces first arrived. While Defense Secretary James Mattis told lawmakers in June that the US is “not winning in Afghanistan right now” — despite ...

Bloomberg Venezuela’s government, striving to legitimize President Nicolas Maduro’s grab for control, said that more than 8 million people participated in a vote to rewrite the constitution even though polling places and streets were mostly empty and quiet. The constituent assembly chosen on Sunday will meet as soon as this week to discuss changing the charter rewritten under former socialist ...

Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called on China and Russia to do more to stop North Korea after the isolated regime test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile in a month. Abe, speaking after a phone call with US President Donald Trump, told reporters on Monday that they agreed more action was needed to mitigate the threat from North Korea. ...

Bloomberg Brazil President Michel Temer is rounding up allies for this week’s lower house vote on whether he’ll stand trial, marking a shift from a previous strategy to stall the congressional decision. Temer wants to hold the session rather sooner than later to return attention on economic bills needed to kick-start a sluggish economy, according to interviews with half a ...

Bloomberg Vladimir Putin said he hoped there wouldn’t be a need for further retaliation against Washington after his government ordered the US to slash staff at its diplomatic missions in Russia by 755, or nearly two-thirds, in retaliation for new sanctions approved by Congress. “We waited for a rather long time, thinking that things might improve, nourished the hope that ...

Bloomberg To continue his family’s political dynasty ahead of next year’s vote, ousted Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif is looking to his younger brother Shehbaz—widely seen as the more disciplined sibling with a reputation for forcing through economic reforms. Pakistan’s ruling party over the weekend was quick to nominate Shehbaz, the chief minister of Punjab province, to take over his brother’s ...

Bloomberg The semblance of unity behind a life-as-normal and business-as-usual Brexit didn’t last. With Prime Minister Theresa May away on holiday, her chancellor of the exchequer went out on a limb to say a consensus was forming around a three-year transition phase, during which little would change about the UK’s relationship with the European Union even past 2019, when the ...

Bloomberg China is betting that US President Donald Trump won’t make good on his threats of a military strike against North Korea, with Beijing continuing to provide a lifeline to Kim Jong Un’s regime. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson singled out China and Russia as “economic enablers” of North Korea after Kim on Friday test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for ...

Bloomberg Australian counter-terrorism agencies have foiled a plot to “bring down” a plane in a terrorist attack, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says. Four men were arrested on Saturday night by counter-terrorism officers in raids on four Sydney properties over an alleged plot to blow up an aircraft. “My number one priority, and that of my government, is the safety and ...

Bloomberg A female suicide bomber killed 14 people, including herself, after detonating explosives in a building housing people displaced by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria, according to a state rescue agency. The bomber also injured 24 others in Friday night’s attack in the town of Dikwa, Bello Dambatta, who heads the rapid response team of the Borno State Emergency ...