Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s economic approval rating has dipped to 46 percent from 51 percent in July, as the majority of Americans fear a recession in the next year, a new Washington Post-ABC News polll finds. The survey shows some vulnerability in one of the Trump camp’s main arguments for re-election — that the US economy is strong — as ...
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Kim tests more weapons after fresh bid for US talks
Bloomberg North Korea delivered a pointed message to the Trump administration — firing two “short-range projectiles†into its eastern seas hours after saying it was willing to restart nuclear talks with the US. The launches began shortly before 7 am local time on Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The incident came shortly after a top North Korean ...
Read More »Johnson to work for Brexit deal with EU
Bloomberg After parliament blocked his Brexit strategy, and then refused to give him the election he wanted, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is promising to work for a deal with the European Union (EU). The British premier suffered his sixth consecutive defeat in a vote in the House of Commons, after his attempt to get approval for a snap poll ...
Read More »Bulgaria official charged with espionage for Russia
Bloomberg Bulgaria charged the head of a pro-Russian civil-society group with espionage, alleging he supplied information to help shift the Balkan nation’s geopolitical trajectory. The move could complicate ties between the two countries, which have remained cordial — particularly in the energy sector — despite Bulgaria’s membership of the European Union and NATO. In a possible sign of tougher rhetoric ...
Read More »Putin’s system survives local polls as some cracks appear
Bloomberg Simmering popular anger led to setbacks for Russia’s ruling party in closely watched races in Moscow, even as the Kremlin used its tight control of the electoral system to ensure wins for its handpicked candidates in gubernatorial votes elsewhere. After weeks of the biggest anti-Kremlin demonstrations in seven years in the capital this summer, the United Russia party lost ...
Read More »Taiwan woos Solomon Islands amid China tilt
Bloomberg Taiwan and the Solomon Islands put on a display of friendship on Monday, pledging to deepen ties, even as rumors persist the Pacific nation is close to severing relations in favour of China. President Tsai Ing-wen said Taiwan and the Solomon Islands would work together to strengthen bilateral ties as she met its foreign minister Jeremiah Manele. “Taiwan and ...
Read More »UK group starts legal bid to ensure PM follows law
Bloomberg A British human-rights group is bringing a legal challenge to ensure that Prime Minister Boris Johnson abides by a government bill after one of his ministers criticised the legislation that requires an extension to the Brexit deadline. Liberty has applied for a judicial review, though it said it would withdraw the application if the prime minister confirmed that he ...
Read More »Failed Afghan talks bring out Trump foreign policy setbacks
Bloomberg Donald Trump took the presidency vowing to bring his deal-making savvy to American foreign policy, yet his love for grand gestures and personal diplomacy has fallen short with North Korea, China and the Mideast. Now Afghanistan can be added to the list. In a series of tweets, the president dispatched with a secret plan to host Taliban and Afghan ...
Read More »Slew of anti-immigrant attacks spur security crackdown in South Africa
Bloomberg South African authorities are cracking down on the perpetrators of a series of xenophobic attacks that left at least 12 people dead, Police Minister Bheki Cele said. The police arrested 639 people so far, Cele told reporters in Johannesburg, the nation’s economic hub where unrest flared again a day earlier. He conceded there was “anti-foreign sentiment†within the country. ...
Read More »South Sudan rebel chief brings ally for peace talks
Bloomberg South Sudan’s main rebel leader arrived in the capital, Juba, for talks about a peace deal that was signed last year but whose implementation has been slow. He was accompanied by one of neighbouring Sudan’s most powerful military men. The visit, only the second since rebel chief Riek Machar fled Juba on foot three years ago, is meant to ...
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