Mario Draghi remains Italy’s prime minister. The country’s parliamentarians — in a secretive, conclave-like vote — decided against making him president, instead backing a second term for outgoing head of state Sergio Mattarella. While it may be a personal blow for Draghi, who was known to hanker after the role even if he did not openly campaign for the ...

As speculation about war with Ukraine fills the news, it’s hardly surprising that the Russian ruble is once again heading to its weakest level against the US dollar — one last seen in 2020 — having depreciated over 5% this month. Ever tougher sanctions from the West have been threatened repeatedly, which would make already-restricted trade and capital movements even ...

  Authoritarian regimes tend to boast about themselves and denigrate their rivals. President Xi Jinping’s China is no exception. “As the Covid-19 epidemic takes away hundreds of lives every day in the US,” wrote Hu Xijin, the former editor in chief of the Global Times, on January 14, “that country’s propaganda machinery is engaging in vicious smears against China’s dynamic ...