Politics

Bloomberg Syrian rebels backed by Turkey are engaged in a “serious operation” in the country’s Idlib province, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, part of a joint mission with Russia and Iran to monitor a ceasefire agreement and pacify a rebel stronghold in northwest Syria. Turkey also beefed up troops on the border since the three countries agreed to establish a …

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel outlined her post-election agenda, saying she’ll seek a coalition with the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Greens while keeping her options open on further integration of the euro area. Thirteen days after an election that sent support for her Christian Democratic Union-led (CDU) bloc to the lowest level since 1949, Merkel faced criticism of her …

Bloomberg Police detained activists in several Russian cities as supporters of opposition leader Alexey Navalny heeded his call to turn out on Saturday for nationwide protests to mark President Vladimir Putin’s birthday. Navalny, who’s serving a 20-day sentence for organising an illegal demonstration, recently has drawn thousands of people to a series of campaign events across Russia in support of …

Bloomberg Demonstrators dressed in white gathered outside city halls in Barcelona, Madrid and across Spain on Saturday to demand that sparring sides in the country’s constitutional crisis move back from the brink. “Let’s talk” said the banners and flags at Sant Jaume square in Barcelona and around Madrid’s Cibeles fountain. The words, written in Spanish and Catalonian, were the top-trending …

Bloomberg The European Union has been meeting more frequently with the UK’s opposition Labour Party as doubts grow over whether Prime Minister Theresa May will remain in her post through the conclusion of Brexit negotiations, the Daily Telegraph reported without saying where it got the information. As May brushed off calls from some Conservative Party members this week to resign, …

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May is being urged to shake up her Cabinet and fire Boris Johnson to show she’s in charge, according to people familiar with the situation, as Tories demand an end to the government infighting that threatens to bring chaos to Brexit. Officials in May’s party, speaking on condition of anonymity, say she should act now …

Bloomberg US President Donald Trump was expected to engage in one of the sad rituals of the modern presidency on Wednesday in Las Vegas: consoling survivors of a gunman’s rampage and confronting recurring questions of whether restrictions on firearms can prevent another tragedy. While the president said he was looking forward to “paying our respects and condolences,” he and most …

Bloomberg US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he’s “never considered” leaving his job, rejecting news reports that he had denigrated President Donald Trump and weighed resigning. “My commitment to the success of the president and the country is as strong as it was the day I accepted his offer to serve as secretary of state,” Tillerson, 65, told reporters …

Bloomberg Kenya’s opposition has yet to reach an agreement with the electoral authority about how this month’s rerun of the country’s failed presidential election will be conducted. The National Super Alliance is continuing discussions that began on Tuesday with the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission about the way forward, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga told reporters in Nairobi. IEBC Chairman …

Bloomberg Catalonia’s separatist leadership said nothing will stop it setting up an independent republic, dismissing the condemnation of Spanish King Felipe VI as the breakaway region’s president prepared to deliver his own address on Wednesday evening. Regional government spokes- man Jordi Turull said the monarch’s criticism of Sunday’s illegal referendum, with no reference to the police violence that saw more …