Bloomberg Nigeria’s ruling party lost its majority in the Senate after more than a dozen lawmakers defected to the main opposition group, dealing a blow to President Muhammadu Buhari before he seeks re-election in seven months. A group of 15 senators quit the All Progressives Congress to join the People’s Democratic Party, Senate President Bukola Saraki said in the capital, ...
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Imran Khan’s party takes early lead in Pakistan polls
Bloomberg Pakistanis voted on Wednesday in a closely fought election that will determine the course of the nuclear-armed nation central to US anti-terrorism efforts and China’s global infrastructure ambitions. Earlier surveys showed none of the top three parties winning a majority. However, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), led by former cricket star Imran Khan, is leading on most parliament seats out of ...
Read More »Urban youth rise up against feudal fiefdoms in Pakistan poll
Bloomberg Near the rural town of Badin in southern Pakistan, about a four-hour drive from the financial capital of Karachi, dozens of men wait through the night for a chance to meet with Zulfiqar Mirza. The landowner’s family holds sway in a part of Sindh province the size of the US state of Delaware, and villagers go to Mirza for ...
Read More »Macron’s ‘system’ a bane for his presidency
Bloomberg Emmanuel Macron’s reliance on a small coterie of advisers and assistants helped propel him to power in France 14 months ago. That same system now threatens to taint his presidency. Macron is under siege from voters, the opposition and even some allies demanding that he overhaul his way of working after it emerged that his office covered up violent ...
Read More »May takes personal control of Brexit talks
Bloomberg Prime Minister Theresa May is taking control over the UK’s Brexit negotiations and will direct strategy from her own office, in a move that reinforces her drive to keep close to the EU. The pound rose on the news. May shook up her team on Tuesday, sidelining the troublesome ministry that she created two years ago to lead the ...
Read More »Greek wildfires near Athens claim highest death toll since 2007
Bloomberg Greek firefighters say that at least 49 people were killed in wildfires near the country’s Attica region as a summer heatwave has increased the risk of blazes across Europe. The fires struck two coastal resorts popular with vacationers from Greece’s capital on Monday and also resulted in 156 injuries, including 16 children, a fire department spokeswoman said in televised ...
Read More »North Korea dismantling key missile test facility, says report
Bloomberg North Korea has begun to dismantle a key rocket and engine-testing facility, according to an independent analysis of satellite imagery, a move that could bolster nuclear talks with the US amid signs of strain. North Korean authorities have in recent days started demolishing a building at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station where space-launch vehicles are assembled before launch, according ...
Read More »Trump warns Iran’s Rouhani ‘never, ever threaten the US’
Bloomberg US President Donald Trump launched a new broadside against Iran, warning of unspecified “consequences†if Hassan Rouhani continues threatening America. In a Twitter post, Trump said, “To Iranian President Rouhani: Never, ever threaten the United States again or you will suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before. We are no longer a country ...
Read More »Ethiopia PM calls for a multiparty democracy
Bloomberg Ethiopia has “no option†but to open up its politics for multiparty democracy in order to secure lasting progress, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said. Ahmed spoke while meeting in the capital of Addis Ababa with nearly 50 political parties, including four from overseas, “who demanded reform to include election laws,†Fitsum Arega, the prime minister’s chief of staff, said ...
Read More »Malaysian PM aims to lower voting age
Bloomberg Malaysia’s youth are likely to get more power after backing 93-year-old Mahathir Mohamad to topple a regime that ruled the Southeast Asian nation for six decades. Malaysia is “very serious†about reducing the voting age to 18 before the next elections due by 2023, Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, 25, told Bloomberg in an interview ...
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