Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he wants Jeff Sessions to look into corruption on the “other side” of the Russia investigation that he regularly derides as a witch hunt, as the row between the two men threatened the attorney general’s job security. Trump’s call came the day after Fox News aired an interview in which the president bashed Sessions by ...

Bloomberg The US announced details of limited new sanctions against Russia over the March poisoning in the UK of a former Russian agent and his daughter, the latest sign relations between the former Cold War foes continue to deteriorate. Restrictions released by the State Department target remaining sources of foreign assistance and arms sales to Russia, and deny any US ...

Bloomberg The US has told Russia it is ready to take strong military action against Syria if President Bashar al-Assad uses chemical weapons to recapture one of his country’s last rebel-held areas, according to four people familiar with the discussions. US officials say they have information Assad may be planning a chemical attack in the northwestern province of Idlib. At ...

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s top court dismissed the main opposition’s bid to overturn the results of last month’s disputed presidential election. The ruling confirms the victory of incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a 75-year-old former spy chief who has wooed international investors as part of his pledge to rebuild an economy devastated by decades of former President Robert Mugabe’s autocratic rule. A nine-member ...

Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo disqualified one of the country’s most popular opposition politicians from running for president. The decision removes a second key opponent from the race against President Joseph Kabila’s anointed successor and raises the risk of angry protests by opposition supporters. It casts doubt on the credibility of the December 23 election in the cobalt-rich nation, ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank’s (ECB) search for a new watchdog to oversee one of the world’s biggest banking systems has its first candidate: the Irish central bank’s deputy governor, Sharon Donnery. Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe confirmed Donnery’s application, the day submissions to lead the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) were due to close, saying that she’s an “exceptional candidate.” ...

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA, Italy’s biggest bank, climbed in Milan trading after a report that it had hired an adviser for a possible merger with France’s Societe Generale SA, a deal rumored already two years ago. Talks between the lenders to study integration and acquisition possibilities have been continuing, Italian financial newspaper MF reported, without citing anyone. UniCredit appointed Daniel Bouton, ...

Bloomberg National Australia Bank Ltd. and Commonwealth Bank of Australia may face criminal charges over multiple breaches of the law in their treatment of pension customers, an inquiry into misconduct in the financial industry has been told. The two lenders faced particular criticism in a 200-page closing statement by counsel assisting the inquiry Michael Hodge following 10 days of evidence ...

Bloomberg Three senior executives at Banco de Sabadell SA’s British unit will step down in an overhaul that the bank said is unrelated to the meltdown of its IT system earlier this year. The UK arm, known as TSB Banking Group, will see Treasurer Ian Firth, Chief Marketing Officer Nigel Gilbert and Human Resources Director Rachel Lock retire in the ...

Bloomberg Mizuho Financial Group Inc. is becoming more aggressive in chasing riskier clients outside Japan as it seeks to reverse the recent decline in its full-year profit, according to Chief Executive Officer Tatsufumi Sakai. The Tokyo-based lender may have been a “little conservative” in adjusting its asset profile towards non-investment grade assets overseas and away from lower-margin clients, Sakai said. ...