Bloomberg Pakistani security officials killed four gunmen in Karachi before they could enter the stock exchange building with automatic rifles and hand grenades. The attackers were not able to enter the main compound, Farrukh Khan, chief executive officer of the exchange said by phone. The situation is under control now, said Khan. The KSE 100 index, which dropped after news ...
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White House denies Trump briefed on Russia bounty plan
Bloomberg The White House denied reports that President Donald Trump had been briefed by intelligence officials about, but had done nothing to respond to, an effort by Russian President Vladimir Putin to put bounties on US and allied troops in Afghanistan. The statement came shortly after Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden slammed Trump for the alleged inaction, which was first ...
Read More »China lawmakers to vote on HK law
Bloomberg China’s top legislative body will vote on Hong Kong’s security legislation on Tuesday morning, the day before the city’s handover anniversary, Now TV News reported, signalling Beijing may soon hand down a measure that pro-democracy activists and business groups say could erode the city’s unique freedoms. At a three-day meeting that started on Sunday, the National People’s Congress Standing ...
Read More »Poland votes for Europe’s post-Covid future
Bloomberg Polish citizens are voting in a presidential election that will determine the fate of the east European country’s nationalist makeover. After voiding a ballot in May due to the coronavirus pandemic, Poland on Sunday held the first of an expected two rounds of voting to determine whether to re-elect President Andrzej Duda. More than 27,000 polling stations catering to ...
Read More »Malawi’s new leader Chakwera sworn in
Bloomberg Lazarus Chakwera was sworn in as Malawi’s new leader on Sunday, a day after trouncing Peter Mutharika in a court-ordered election rerun, and pledged to unite the deeply dividend nation and clamp down on graft. “I know that there are many of you who did not vote for me in this election, and perhaps the prospect of my presidency ...
Read More »Putin seizes moment to rule amid fading popularity
Bloomberg After two decades in power, Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings are at an all-time low as Russia’s economy reels under the impact of the coronavirus epidemic and the slump in oil prices. What better time for him to seek to extend his presidency for potentially 16 more years? It’s a measure of how tightly Putin has controlled the operation to ...
Read More »US imposes visa bans on China officials in salvo on Hong Kong
Bloomberg The US State Department imposed visa bans on Chinese Communist Party officials accused of infringing the freedom of Hong Kong citizens, in what a senior official described as the opening salvo in a campaign to force Beijing to back off from new restrictions on the city. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a statement that he was barring ...
Read More »Trump signs order vowing to protect monuments, statues
Bloomberg President Donald Trump signed an executive order that he says is intended to protect monuments and statues from “anarchists and left-wing extremists.†“My administration will not allow violent mobs incited by a radical fringe to become the arbiters of the aspects of our history that can be celebrated in public spaces,†Trump said in the order, which was released ...
Read More »Martin takes over as Irish prime minister in grand coalition
Bloomberg Micheal Martin took over as Ireland’s new prime minister at the helm of the nation’s first grand coalition, replacing Leo Varadkar in a rotating premiership. Lawmakers voted by 93 votes to 63 to make Martin, 59, prime minister, more than four months after a general election failed to produce a clear winner. His ascent to power came after the ...
Read More »Thailand aims its own Covid-19 vaccine
Bloomberg Thailand aims to produce its own Covid-19 vaccine rather than waiting to buy inoculations from abroad, and human trials could start as early as October, according to the scientist leading one project. “We learned a very painful lesson during the H1N1 pandemic when the government signed agreements to buy vaccines, but we didn’t get any until the outbreak was ...
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