Politics

Bloomberg Australia’s Resources Minister Matt Canavan has resigned after discovering that he may be in breach of the constitution because he is a dual Italian citizen. “According to the Italian government, I am a citizen of Italy,” Canavan, who was also minister for northern Australia, told reporters on Tuesday. Canavan’s mother, who was born in Australia but is of Italian ...

Bloomberg Jared Kushner confirmed four contacts with Russians during his father-in-law’s presidential campaign or after the election, he said, but he described the encounters as unmemorable and denied colluding with the Russian government to help Donald Trump win. In the most consequential meeting, Kushner said he agreed to meet with a Russian banker, Sergey Gorkov, on Dec. 13 at the ...

Bloomberg White House envoy Jason Greenblatt flew back to a more volatile Middle East on Monday as deadly violence that began over a Jerusalem shrine spilled over into the Israeli Embassy in Jordan, leading to a diplomatic standoff between two key American allies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set to convene for the second time in 24 ...

Bloomberg A suicide car bomb killed at least 24 people and wounded more than 40 others in Kabul on Monday, the worst attack on the Afghan capital since a blast killed over 100 people almost two months ago. The attack hit a minibus carrying government workers in the Western neighborhood of Dehbori, according to a statement from the office of ...

Bloomberg Poland’s president vetoed part of a judicial overhaul that’s triggered one of the country’s deepest political crises since the fall of communism and touched off debate in the European Union over how to confront members that flaunt democratic values. Dealing a blow to the ruling party that backed his presidency, Andrzej Duda struck down bills that would have replaced ...

Bloomberg Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sought to stem a slide in his popularity in a special parliamentary hearing on Monday, reiterating his denials of cronyism, apologizing for disparaging remarks about opponents and vowing to focus on the economy. Approval for Abe’s cabinet slumped again in three media polls conducted over the weekend. His support was at 26 percent, the ...

Bloomberg China’s official Xinhua News Agency confirmed on Monday that Sun Zhengcai, the former Communist Party chief of Chongqing city, is under investigation for serious disciplinary violations. The brief announcement followed news reports a little over a week ago that Sun, 53, was being probed. As the youngest member of the party’s 25-member Politburo, Sun was considered a rising star ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration “supports” the current version of a bill to sanction Russia for its actions during the 2016 elections that could soon land on President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature, the White House press secretary said. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ comments came after Republican and Democratic leaders in the House reached a tentative deal to move ahead this ...

Bloomberg A senior official in the Saudi-led alliance said Qatari officials must revise their policies before direct talks to resolve the crisis could begin. While dialog is important, it should be based on a Qatari “review of actions,” United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Twitter. “Repeating the same positions deepens the crisis,” he ...

Bloomberg Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte won a Congressional vote on Saturday to extend martial law in the southern island of Mindanao, strengthening his legislative hand in the year ahead. With government troops battling IS-linked militants in Marawi City, the House of Representatives voted 245 to 14 in favour of extending martial law until the end of the year. Senators approved ...