Bloomberg The ruling coalition’s candidate in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential election pledged to almost triple government spending if he’s elected. Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, 57, is vying to become leader of the world’s biggest cobalt producer in a vote scheduled for December 23. The former interior minister was handpicked by President Joseph Kabila, who’s stepping aside after 17 years ...
Read More »Politics
Russia seeks help from US as it presses new Browder charges
Bloomberg Russia levied new charges against US-born investor and Kremlin critic Bill Browder, stepping up a quest that has gotten little traction in the West with a call to the US to investigate claims shareholders in his fund used illegal profits from Russia to fund contributions to the Democratic Party. Once one of the country’s largest foreign fund managers, Browder ...
Read More »French fuel protests continue for third day
Bloomberg Protests against gasoline taxes in France continued for a third day on Monday with sporadic actions around the country, according to media reports. Depots near Rennes, La Rochelle, and Marseille were being obstructed, France Bleu radio reported. A highway to Belgium, as well as highway stretches near Belfort in the east and Lyon in the south were also being ...
Read More »Infighting weakens Nigeria’s ruling party
Bloomberg Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s chances of winning re-election in February are facing a potentially insurmountable hurdle: widening divisions in his own party. Dissatisfied party heavyweights range from his wife, Aisha Buhari, who called on members to “rise against impunity†after her brother lost a gubernatorial nomination, to three influential state governors whose chosen successors failed to win party primaries. ...
Read More »Replacing me won’t change parliament math: May
Bloomberg Theresa May said a challenge to her leadership would be a distraction from negotiating with the European Union, and that any new prime minister would face the same issues she does, as she urged Parliament to back her Brexit deal as the only offer available. May is in the midst of the toughest week of her difficult premiership. Her ...
Read More »Sri Lankan president calls another vote on premier following chaos
Bloomberg Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena isn’t giving up on trying to install former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister, a quest that has plunged the country into a weeks-long political crisis. Sirisena called for a third no-confidence vote for Rajapaksa after lawmakers rejected him the first two times. On Monday, the parliament was adjourned until November 23 soon after ...
Read More »Chad army pushes out ‘enemy forces’ in north
Bloomberg Chad’s army dislodged what it described as enemy fighters from a town near its northern border with Libya after heavy fighting in a conflict the government has so far given few details about. The central African nation’s announcement that the army was successful in fighting insurgents in the town of Miski came a week after President Idriss Deby replaced ...
Read More »May takes control of Brexit as ministers defy her plans
Bloomberg Theresa May rolled the dice with a dramatic reshuffle of her ministerial team as she battles to cling onto her job and stop her own party tearing up her Brexit deal. The prime minister reduced the power of her critics and promoted allies to key positions as she took personal charge of the final days of the UK’s divorce ...
Read More »WikiLeaks’ Assange charged, prosecutors reveal in filing goof
Bloomberg WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been charged by federal prosecutors in Virginia in a move that suggests the US government is determined to pursue his extradition, according to an inadvertent filing in an unrelated court case. It’s unclear what Assange, who’s been living in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London since 2012, has been charged with. The existence of the ...
Read More »Czech PM vows to never resign over fraud probe
Bloomberg The Czech Republic’s billionaire prime minister rejected intensifying calls for him step down as he tries to save his hard-won coalition from collapsing amid public outcry over an investigation into whether he committed fraud. The fraud probe has imperiled the political career of Andrej Babis since his upstart ANO party defeated its traditional mainstream rivals in elections a year ...
Read More »