Politics

Bloomberg Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara secured a third term as leader of the world’s biggest cocoa producer in an election boycotted by key opposition leaders. Ouattara, 78, garnered 94.3% of ballots, while his nearest rival —independent candidate Kouadio Konan Bertin — obtained 1.99%, the electoral commission announced on Tuesday. Voter turnout was 53.9%, commission head Ibrahime Kuibiert-Coulibaly said. The ...

Bloomberg Thailand may rope in a former prime minister to lead a reconciliation committee proposed by the parliament to resolve key issues raised by pro-democracy protesters. House Speaker Chuan Leekpai has approached at least four former premiers and representatives of several political parties to be part of the panel, which may also include protest groups. A special parliament session proposed ...

Bloomberg Hurricane Eta has strengthened into one of the Atlantic’s most powerful storms of the year, packing winds of 233 kilometres an hour as it roars towards Central America. The storm, a Category 4 major hurricane, is expected to dump rain by the foot on Central America after it slams into the coast of Nicaragua on Tuesday, delivering life-threatening storm ...

Bloomberg As troops in the Himalayas hunker down for the brutal winter, the outcome of the worst clashes in decades is becoming clear: China has pushed further into territory once patrolled exclusively by India. A summer of fighting saw India lose control over about 300 square kilometres (115 square miles) of land along the disputed mountainous terrain, according to Indian ...

Bloomberg Three gunmen attacked Afghanistan’s largest university killing at least 19 people and wounding 22 others, the latest bout of violence to wrack the capital Kabul as the government and Taliban engage in negotiations to end the 19-year-conflict. Afghan special forces arrived at Kabul University shortly after the attack began late morning, fighting the assailants and saving the lives of ...

Bloomberg Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden warned that he wouldn’t let President Donald Trump declare victory in Tuesday’s election before the results are clear. “My response is the president is not going to steal this election,” Biden told reporters during a campaign stop in Philadelphia. He also condemned Trump supporters’ efforts to intimidate Biden backers, including an incident on a ...

Bloomberg Facing the biggest anti-government protests in years, King Maha Vajiralongkorn called Thailand “the land of compromise” in a rare public comment after months of demonstrations in the Southeast Asian nation. The Thai monarch was responding to a question by UK’s Channel 4 News on whether there’s room for compromise amid the protests as he met with supporters in a ...

Bloomberg Italy’s government is opting for targeted regional restrictions amid the latest surge in Covid-19 cases, in a bid to avoid a new nationwide lockdown. Regions with the highest transmission levels will be subject to tougher curbs under a new three-tiered system, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Monday. These will come on top of new nationwide measures including a ...

Bloomberg The world’s strongest storm this year killed at least 16 people in the Philippines, and sent tens of thousands more to evacuation centres, risking coronavirus infection. Nearly 458,000 people were evacuated mostly in the main island of Luzon, including 177 Covid-19 patients and more than 400 medical staff from 10 quarantine facilities, the nation’s disaster risk-monitoring agency said in ...

Bloomberg The final stretch of the race for the White House between Donald Trump and Joe Biden has been fraught with dramatic twists — a hospitalised president, a resurgent pandemic, the death of an iconic Supreme Court justice, and the rapid confirmation of her successor. Yet none of it appears to have altered the course of the race that was ...