Bloomberg Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was dealt a blow by Australian voters in by-elections held that boosted the main opposition Labor Party. Labor was returned in four of the five electorates up for grabs even after polls showed that Turnbull’s Liberal-National coalition had a chance to win two. A minor party retained the one seat it already held. The bulk ...
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Cambodia strongman extends 33-year rule in boycotted election
Bloomberg Cambodian PM Hun Sen extended his more-than-three-decade run in power, easily winning a boycotted election on Sunday after he disbanded the main opposition party last year. Khieu Kanharith, the government’s top spokesman, told the Associated Press that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party won at least 70 percent of the vote. The results were never in doubt after Hun Sen moved ...
Read More »Zimbabwe parties in final push for votes
Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s political parties made a last-ditch pitch for votes ahead of July 30 elections as a campaign distinguished by the absence of widespread violence that marred previous contests drew to a close. A credible vote and an accepted result would serve as a foundation for the southern African nation to rebuild its battered economy and relations with the international ...
Read More »Maduro suspect in probe as US keeps pressure on
Bloomberg President Nicolas Maduro is a principal suspect in a US investigation into the embezzlement of more than $1 billion from the South American country’s state-owned oil company, the Miami Herald reported, as the US adds to the pressure on the socialist leader. Maduro, his three stepsons and other Venezuelan government officials are being investigated for links to an international ...
Read More »Russia-US Syria deal hits trouble as tensions grow
Bloomberg One of the main deals announced between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump at their summit in Helsinki — coordinated steps to help stabilise the situation in Syria — is already running into trouble. Facing a storm of criticism in Washington of their meeting, the two leaders touted the agreement to reduce Iran’s role in ...
Read More »Mueller names 35 potential witnesses for Manafort trial
Bloomberg US Special Counsel Robert Mueller named 35 potential witnesses who may be called to testify in the tax- and bank-fraud trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, including his right-hand man Rick Gates. The list, filed in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, hints at how the first trial stemming from Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling may unfold. The ...
Read More »Ministers fear bloody chapter in ‘Brexit thriller’
Bloomberg As she departs the sweltering heatwave that’s hit London this summer for a break with her husband, Theresa May is — for now — in a position of relative safety. The UK’s rolling Brexit crisis is temporarily becalmed and the British prime minister can afford to take a holiday. What’s certain, though, is that the peace will not last. ...
Read More »Slovak far-right party leader indicted for promoting Nazism
Bloomberg Slovak prosecutors indicted far-right leader Marian Kotleba for promoting racism and Nazi ideology, as the European Union member state witnesses a surge in populist, anti-immigrant political forces. Kotleba, a lawmaker and the chairman of the People’s Party, was indicted after sponsoring an event last year during which he gave a charity a check for 1,488 euros, a number that ...
Read More »Historic win for Imran Khan breaks Pakistan’s dynastic rule
Bloomberg Breaking the dynastic hold on Pakistani politics, former cricket hero Imran Khan won the most seats in an election tarred by widespread allegations of rigging and military interference. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Movement for Justice party, clinched at least 115 national seats, according to results released by the Election Commission of Pakistan. He beat the incumbent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz ...
Read More »Ireland to back UK request to delay Brexit
Bloomberg Ireland would back any request by the UK to stay in the European Union after March 2019, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said, the first senior EU official to publicly raise the prospect of Brexit being delayed. The Irish government would “absolutely†support the British government if it sought more time for negotiations with the bloc, Coveney told BBC ...
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