Bloomberg Lebanon unveiled a new cabinet lineup, some three months after mass protests against entrenched corruption brought down the government and shook the economy. The incoming team of 20, led by former education minister Hassan Diab, will have to act fast to address the country’s worst financial and economic crisis in decades. Tens of thousands of people have taken to ...
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Trump downplays US troops’ injuries in Iran missile attack
Bloomberg President Donald Trump acknowledged that Americans were hurt in an Iranian missile barrage to retaliate for the US killing of a top general, and said the injuries were “not very serious.†“I heard they had headaches,†Trump told reporters on Wednesday during a press conference at the conclusion of a two-day trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, ...
Read More »â€˜Xi isn’t tightening China’s grip on HK’
Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping offered personal assurances that he wouldn’t use protests in Hong Kong as an excuse to increase Beijing’s control over the city, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said, as she used a World Economic Forum visit to try and reassure global investors. Speaking to Bloomberg Television in Davos, Lam pushed back against protesters who say China is ...
Read More »Di Maio quits as Five Star chief, fuelling talk of vote
Bloomberg Italy’s Luigi Di Maio resigned as leader of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, as his fading populist party faced the prospect of being thrashed in regional elections this weekend. The 33-year-old Di Maio told a meeting of Five Star ministers that he’s stepping down from his party job, but plans to stay on as foreign minister at a meeting ...
Read More »Trump notches wins to fuel re-election before trial
Bloomberg Donald Trump has kicked off the 2020 election year with a string of key foreign policy and economic wins that his campaign hopes will overshadow — and outlast — the political fallout from his historic impeachment. As the Senate began his impeachment trial in Washington, Trump tried to pull the spotlight to Davos, Switzerland, where he touted his record ...
Read More »Trump limps into trial with GOP Senate in his corner
Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial formally opened in the Senate on Tuesday, promising to shape his legacy, deepen the country’s political divisions and influence control of power in the nation’s capital for years to come. While the president faces little risk of removal from office by the Republican-led Senate, the trial may bring to life new details of Trump’s ...
Read More »China court sentences ex-Interpol boss Meng to 13.5 years in prison
Bloomberg A Chinese court sentenced former Interpol president Meng Hongwei to 13.5 years in prison, more than a year after he went missing during a visit to his home country. Meng previously pleaded guilty to charges that he accepted bribes of 14.5 million yuan ($2.1 million) between 2005 and 2017. China had earlier removed him from his government post as ...
Read More »US, Taliban negotiators inch closer to peace deal
Bloomberg The US and Taliban leaders are moving towards a peace deal that would see the eventual withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and an end to the 18-year long conflict, according to the militant group’s spokesman and a person in Washington familiar with the talks. It’s the second time in recent months the two sides have appeared close to ...
Read More »Thai court acquits opposition party over monarchy charge
Bloomberg Thailand’s second-biggest opposition party escaped dissolution on Tuesday after being acquitted of seeking to oust the monarchy. The Constitutional Court in Bangkok ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to back up the accusation against the Future Forward party. The monarchy sits at the summit of power in Thailand and top royals are treated as semi-divine. Televised images showed the court ...
Read More »Tunisia attempts again to form government
Bloomberg Tunisia’s president named a former finance minister to pull together a new government, in a fresh bid to build consensus in the North African nation battling deep political rifts and an ailing economy. Elyes Fakhfakh’s appointment is the latest bid by President Kais Saied to kick-start a stalled political reform after his earlier choice, Habib Jemli, was unable to ...
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