Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with his Australian counterpart to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the latest sign of warming ties between the two major trade partners. State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Wednesday that Xi had sent messages to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Governor General David Hurley. Xi said China was ...
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Nara lawyer pushed for clarity on Trump papers
Bloomberg The National Archives and Records Administration (Nara) released another set of documents related to the storage of classified material and presidential documents at Mar-a-Lago by ex-President Donald Trump. The 573-pages of emails show how Gary Stern, Nara’s general counsel, pushed officials internally to set the record straight after news reports first surfaced last February claiming the agency “raided†Mar-a-Lago ...
Read More »Peru approves reform for early vote
Bloomberg Peru’s congress approved a constitutional reform to hold early presidential elections in a second bid to alleviate a political crisis that’s seen widespread unrest since former President Pedro Castillo was removed from office December 7. The reform passed by a two-thirds majority calls for early elections in April 2024, shortening the term of Castillo’s successor, Dina Boluarte, to July ...
Read More »South Africa’s Ramaphosa strengthens hold on ANC
Bloomberg South African President Cyril Ramaphosa notched up another win in the leadership contest for the ruling African National Congress, after his allies secured a resounding majority of posts on party’s top decision-making structure. At least 65% of 80 additional members of the ANC’s National Executive Committee, who were elected at its December 16-20 national conference, appeared on a ...
Read More »Beijing accused of building on unoccupied reefs in S China Sea
Bloomberg China is building up several unoccupied land features in the South China Sea, according to Western officials, which they said was part of Beijing’s long-running effort to strengthen claims to disputed territory and potentially bolster its military presence in a region critical to global trade. Fishing fleets that operate as de facto maritime militias under the control of authorities ...
Read More »Thai navy confirms 5 sailors dead after ship sinks in storm
Bloomberg The Royal Thai Navy said that at least five sailors have been confirmed dead after a ship sank off the coast of southern Thailand during a storm. There were 105 sailors on board the HTMS Sukhothai, a corvette which went down 37 kilometers (20 nautical miles) offshore the province of Prachuap Khiri Khan, according to a navy tweet and ...
Read More »Explosion reported at Russian pipeline bringing gas to Europe
Bloomberg An explosion was reported at Russian gas pipeline that goes to Ukraine for further supplies to Europe. The blast occurred at the section of the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod link, according to Russian media reports, citing the press office of the regional governor. It wasn’t immediately clear if flows of gas were impacted. A fire site was extinguished after the incident ...
Read More »South Africa’s Ramaphosa tightens grip on ANC
Bloomberg South African President Cyril Ramaphosa emerged from a ruling party electoral conference with a stronger mandate, yet still has to overcome a series of political hurdles to tackle a daunting economic to-do list. The country is gripped by an energy crisis that’s idling businesses for six or more hours a day, the crumbling freight-rail system prevents key exports from ...
Read More »Trump’s political woes add up with Jan 6 criminal referrals
Bloomberg The double-whammy of one House committee referring Donald Trump for criminal prosecution and another debating release of his tax returns adds to an accumulation of political blows that some Republican strategists say will further hobble the former president’s already troubled bid for another run at the White House. The House panel investigating the January 6 Capitol attack made four ...
Read More »Zelenskiy visits ‘eastern fortress’
Bloomberg Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made a surprise visit to Bakhmut, a city hailed by his deputy defense minister as “our eastern fortress†amid heavy fighting over the past few weeks. As the president handed awards to servicemen, Ukraine’s government said it had reached a deal with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp to get thousands more Starlink antennas to ...
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