Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin is tightening his embrace of beleaguered ally Alexander Lukashenko as the Belarusian ruler intensifies a crackdown on month-long protests. Putin, who hosts Lukashenko for talks in Sochi on Monday, is determined opposition demonstrators won’t topple the Belarusian president, said five people close to the Kremlin, who asked not to be identified discussing internal policy. It’s ...

Bloomberg Ivory Coast opposition leader Henri Konan Bedie vowed to welcome back exiled citizens and free political prisoners should he be elected president of the world’s biggest cocoa producer in next month’s elections. “I pledge to take concrete and immediate measures for the unconditional return of all exiles,” he said to a packed rally of his Democratic Party of Ivory ...

Bloomberg Justice Secretary Robert Buckland warned he could quit over the UK government’s plan to break international law by overriding the Brexit divorce treaty, as EU leaders stepped up pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “If I see the rule of law being broken in a way I find unacceptable, then of course I will go,” Buckland said on BBC ...