Politics

Bloomberg China has sentenced a former lawyer to four years in prison over her posts about the coronavirus response in Wuhan, media reports said, the first known conviction of someone who chronicled authorities’ early struggle to manage the outbreak. Zhang Zhan, 37, was convicted at the Shanghai Pudong New Area People’s Court on Monday of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” ...

Bloomberg A ban on political campaign rallies in some parts of Uganda ahead of the January 14 elections is meant to stymie President Yoweri Museveni’s rivals, according to the opposition. The Electoral Commission’s suspension of campaign meetings in at least 12 of Uganda’s 146 districts is expected to hamper Museveni’s main challenger, pop star Bobi Wine, who’s yet to hold ...

Bloomberg Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, facing the biggest protests of his 26-year rule, will gather a convention of his supporters in February in an effort to break the gridlock that has paralysed his country’s political life since August. A two-day Belarusian People’s Congress will start on February 11, state-owned news agency Belta reported on Monday, citing Lukashenko at a meeting ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Boris Johnson said major changes are coming in the UK as the result of the trade deal his government negotiated with the European Union (EU), completing the country’s separation from the bloc, the Telegraph reported. “We can’t sort of suddenly decide that we’re free and then not decide how to exercise it,” Johnson told the Sunday Telegraph ...

Bloomberg Venezuela’s opposition-dominated National Assembly voted to continue meeting beyond its five-year term that ends on January 5, giving the nation two competing legislative bodies after members boycotted the congressional election pushed by autocrat Nicolas Maduro. The move paves the way for opposition leader Juan Guaido to remain as the “president in charge,” though lawmakers voted to impose more checks ...

Bloomberg Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou’s favoured successor, Mohamed Bazoum, is the front-runner to win the elections, after the main opposition challenger was barred from standing. Issoufou, 68, is stepping down after serving two five-year terms. His departure paves the way for the first-ever peaceful transition of power between two elected leaders in the West African nation, which has had four ...

Bloomberg The Japanese government will ban entry to most foreigners through the end of January as coronavirus cases reach record highs there and the nation confirmed its first cases of the new, more infectious Covid strain. The restrictions will be implemented on Monday, the government said in a statement. Japanese nationals and foreigners with residency who are returning from short ...

Bloomberg Ghana’s main opposition leader is planning a legal challenge to his presidential election defeat. John Dramani Mahama will file a petition to the nation’s supreme court on December 29 seeking a recount, a member of his legal team said by phone. Mahama, the National Democratic Congress candidate, got 47.4% of the vote, compared with 51.6% for incumbent President Nana ...

Bloomberg The UK clinched a historic trade deal with the European Union (EU), avoiding a bitter breakup and preparing the ground for a new relationship with its biggest commercial partner. Negotiators finalised the accord to complete Britain’s separation from the bloc on Christmas Eve, just a week before the country leaves the EU’s single market and customs union. It brings ...

Bloomberg Ethiopia will hold general elections on June 5, 2021, after delaying a planned vote in August due to the coronavirus pandemic. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s fiercest opposition, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, in September went ahead with the vote in defiance of the federal-government’s decision, and later triggered a military conflict when it attacked a military camp in the ...