Bloomberg Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be allowed to run for re-election, Russia’s top envoy for Syria said, dismissing Western efforts to condition reconstruction aid on the departure of the leader. “I don’t see why he shouldn’t or wouldn’t run for another presidential term,” Alexander Lav- rentiev, appointed by the Krem- lin to steer the Syria peace process, told Bloomberg …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said that Monday’s New York City bombing shows the urgency of tightening immigration laws as his spokeswoman argued the administration’s policies would have kept the suspect out of the country. “America must fix its lax immigration system, which allows far too many dangerous, inadequately vetted people to access our country,” Trump said in a written statement. …

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union must push ahead with deepening integration next year if the bloc is to have meaningful influence on the global stage, her clearest backing yet for a reform drive championed by French President Emmanuel Macron. Merkel said she wanted talks to form another coalition government with the Social Democrats to be concluded …