Bloomberg Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stood down on Monday, saying he’d completed the tasks he’d set himself. “The strategic framework has been created and put into place,” Bakhtadze, 37, said in a lengthy Facebook post listing the achievements of his government in the Caucasus nation. “I have decided to leave my position, considering that I have accomplished my mission.” ...

Bloomberg A day after only a narrow victory in state elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition realised once again that it needs to do far more to effectively stem the rise of populism in Germany. Yes, the Christian Democrats and their junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, won in the eastern states of Brandenburg and Saxony. But the gains of the ...

Bloomberg The UK moved a step closer to a general election as the political crisis engulfing the country over its divorce from the European Union deepened. Allies of Prime Minister Boris Johnson are considering a snap poll as he battles his opponents in parliament who are trying to stop him taking the UK out of the EU without a deal ...

Bloomberg Botswana, the world’s second-biggest diamond producer, will hold elections on October 23, with the southern African nation’s ruling party facing its toughest challenge since gaining independence in 1966. Nominations for parliament and municipal candidates is set for September 26, the Independent Electoral Commission said in an emailed statement on Monday. The Botswana Democratic Party has been in power for ...

You could say many things to describe a week in which President Trump got in a snit about buying Greenland, called the Federal Reserve chairman an “enemy,” reversed his position repeatedly on China, and rebuffed European allies by saying he’s ready to invite Russia to a global summit at one of his Florida golf resorts. But “exhausting” would be the ...

What a difference a weekend makes. Emmanuel Macron emerged as big beneficiary from the G7 summit, a junket that has come under increasing criticism as the shrinking group of leaders struggle to forge a consensus in the era of Donald Trump. Last week, US president’s tone on Twitter was aggressively anti-European Union — but by Monday he was full of ...

Silicon Valley has a split personality about “brilliant jerks.” These are the kind of abrasive, boundary-pushing executives whom the industry (and often the media) lionizes — until they push boundaries too far and are kicked out of the tech Garden of Eden. Consider Anthony Levandowski, a former executive in Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving vehicle project whom the US government charged this ...

Dear Britain, please excuse the rest of us for our sheer disbelief: we were never expecting a constitutional crisis, let alone protests around the country. You are making Italy’s political system look like a model of composure, and that’s not something to be taken lightly. For years, we have admired your parliamentary democracy, with its eccentric rituals and timeless ceremonies. ...

Germany’s former transport minister (and current senior legislator) Alexander Dobrindt has proposed setting a price floor on air tickets, to eliminate the cheapest offerings from Europe’s ubiquitous discount airlines. The idea probably will be rejected for political reasons, but it’s actually one to consider when it comes to reducing air travel’s climate impact. It’s difficult to tax airline tickets: Taxation ...

Picking a new CEO is one of the most important decisions a board can take, yet one that Europe’s banks appear to be intent on flubbing. Lenders are struggling to find successors for the current crop of leaders. Take UBS Group AG. On August 29, the Swiss bank revamped its management board, hiring a star banker from a rival and ...