Politics

Bloomberg Guyana’s electoral authorities declared opposition candidate Irfaan Ali president, ending a five-month constitutional crisis that threatened to turn the South American nation into an international pariah. The decision eases fears that the country might erupt in violence, or cease to be a democracy, as rival factions fought for control of its fast-growing economy and its massive offshore oil riches. ...

Bloomberg The White House is exploring whether President Donald Trump can act on his own to extend enhanced unemployment benefits and eviction protection if lawmakers fail to act, people familiar with the matter said. The White House is concerned about the economic impact of the $600 a week supplemental benefits, the people said, as Democrats and Republicans have been unable ...

Bloomberg Portugal is in talks with the British government to try to lift a rule that requires anyone arriving in England from the southern European country to self-isolate for two weeks. Rita Marques, Portugal’s secretary of state for tourism, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Monday that she wasn’t sure when the UK would revise its quarantine rule even ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump was expected to sign an executive order that would bar federal agencies from dismissing US citizens or green card holders and replacing them with foreign workers. The order will increase scrutiny of federal contractors’ use of H-1B visas to bring in temporary foreign labor for high-skilled jobs rather than relying on American workers, according to an ...

Bloomberg US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo condemned Hong Kong’s decision to delay its Legislative Council elections by a year and urged the city’s government to reconsider. “There is no valid reason for such a lengthy delay,” Pompeo said in a statement. “This regrettable action confirms that Beijing has no intention of upholding the commitments it made to the Hong ...

Bloomberg Bavarian Premier Markus Soeder appeared to rule out running to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor, saying he wants to focus on leading the southern German state despite a surge in his popularity on the national stage. Soeder’s standing among voters has been burnished by his impressive performance during the coronavirus crisis, and the 53-year-old from Nuremberg is the ...

Bloomberg Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s dependence on the military to govern is grating on the military itself. Interviews with a dozen active-duty and retired high-ranking officers show members of the Armed Forces, who initially viewed joining their comrade in office as a chance to shape policy after years on the sidelines, now worry his erratic behaviour and a spiraling public ...

Bloomberg Amnesty International criticised the Zimbabwean authorities’ arrest of several human-rights activists who took part in protests against state corruption. “The thwarting of the protest illustrates the Zimbabwean authorities’ total intolerance of criticism,” Muleya Mwananyanda, the human rights organisation’s deputy director for southern Africa, said in an emailed statement. He described the arrests as a “witch hunt.” Several shops and ...

Bloomberg Russia plans to start mass vaccinations against Covid-19 in October, with health workers and teachers first in line to get the inoculation against the disease, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said. A drug developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute and the Russian Direct Investment Fund has completed clinical trials and the authorities are preparing to register it with regulators, Murashko was ...

Bloomberg South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged citizens to remain careful and adapt to measures necessary to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic as confirmed infections in the country breached 500,000. “We must maintain our vigilance until we have no more coronavirus cases in our country,” Ramaphosa said. “If we do not do so, there is the risk of ...