Politics

Bloomberg A tropical depression gained power south of Cuba to become tropical storm Zeta on Sunday as it travelled north into the Gulf of Mexico, where it’s poised to become the record 11th storm to hit the US in a single year. The tropical storm had winds of 40 miles (65 kilometres) per hour as it moved northwest about 250 ...

Bloomberg Chileans started casting ballots on Sunday in a referendum on whether to draft a new constitution, a vote born out of months of protests that rattled the foundations of a global investor darling. Citizens will choose between writing a new charter or keeping the existing constitution that was drawn up during the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship. Voters must also decide ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s king rejected Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s request to declare a state of emergency to tackle the coronavirus crisis, capping a tense weekend that saw opposition leaders criticise the proposal as an attempt by the premier to retain control amid a power struggle. The government has been handling the pandemic well, the palace said in a statement on Sunday ...

Bloomberg Thailand is set for a fresh wave of street protests by pro-democracy activists with PM Prayuth Chan-Ocha ignoring their deadline to quit by Saturday. Free Youth and the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, two of the main protest groups, have vowed to stage mass gatherings until all of their demands, which include a rewriting of the constitution and ...

Bloomberg Warring parties in Libya signed a permanent ceasefire agreement ahead of a conference to appoint a unity government for the fractured North African country. Representatives of the internationally recognised government based in Tripoli and eastern military commander Khalifa Haftar agreed to the ceasefire after talks in Geneva, the United Nations said. The pact promises to end a war started ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s king will meet with the country’s other royal leaders to discuss proposals by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, with media reports saying the government plans to declare a state of emergency to try to control the coronavirus pandemic. The king understands the need for continuity in the country’s administration to combat the threat of Covid-19, the palace said in ...

Bloomberg Guinea’s President Alpha Conde won a comfortable majority victory in a vote marred by protests over the legality of his third-term bid. Conde will rule the world’s biggest bauxite exporter for another six years, after defeating former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo with 59% of the vote, Kabinet Cisse, the head of the electoral commission, said in a speech ...

Bloomberg The Somali parliament on Saturday approved a new cabinet named by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble last week. All the 188 lawmakers in attendance voted in favor of the cabinet ministers, according to Parliament Speaker Mohamed Mursal Sheikh. In September, the Somali parliament ratified Roble’s appointment, less than a week after his nomination. Roble, a Swedish-Somali who had been ...

Bloomberg The Italian government is expected to approve further virus containment measures as soon as Sunday and is mulling additional economic support even as the threat of tighter restrictions prompts protests. New infections soared above 19,000 cases on October 23, just a day after Naples — Italy’s hardest-hit city — imposed a night-time curfew in a bid to contain spread ...

Bloomberg White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said the goal in talks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is a deal on a coronavirus relief package within the next 48 hours. “The last 24 hours have moved the ball down the field,” Meadows said on Fox Business Wednesday, after the latest round of talks between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven ...