Politics

Bloomberg PM Mahathir Mohamad is putting safeguards in place to prevent graft in Malaysia by requiring his cabinet declare their wealth and refuse gifts more valuable than perishable food and flowers. “We will do everything possible,” Mahathir told reporters in Putrajaya. “We are in the midst of formulating laws and ways of administration so that we can reduce corruption and ...

Bloomberg With elections approaching, Brazil’s political parties are preparing to field the legally required minimum quota of female candidates, but that doesn’t mean they want them to win. Take Danielle Silva Lopes, for example, who only found out on polling day in October 2016 that she was running for city councilor in Sao Paulo for the Christian Social Democratic Party, ...

Bloomberg US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to Pyongyang to get Kim Jong-un to give up his nuclear weapons. He left with a harsh reminder that the North Korean leader expects something in return. While President Donald Trump’s point man for nuclear talks summed up his 27 hours in the North Korean capital as “productive,” the regime called the ...

Bloomberg An influx of Western observers is giving Zimbabweans some hope that this month’s elections won’t be a repeat of the tainted contests held during former President Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule. While Zimbabwe’s past three elections were marred by allegations of rigging, violence and intimidation, new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has welcomed the return of monitors from Western nations whose governments ...

Bloomberg The European Commission’s threat to sue Poland over a judicial overhaul “won’t break” the government’s determination to push through changes that have drawn international condemnation and sparked street protests, the head of the ruling party said. Law & Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has pushed back against European Union officials’ efforts to halt what they say is a threat to ...

Bloomberg Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif will return to the country from London on July 13 to face a 10-year jail sentence handed down by an anti-corruption court, which convicted him for not declaring assets. Sharif will reach Lahore, his home town and political stronghold, his daughter Maryam, said in a Twitter post. Maryam, who will also return to Pakistan ...

Bloomberg Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a declaration of peace and agreed to reestablish key economic links after an unprecedented summit between the Horn of Africa nations’ leaders that marked the end of almost two decades of strife. The announcements by an Eritrean official and the Ethiopian state-owned broadcaster Fana followed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s visit to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, ...

Bloomberg US-North Korea talks hit their first major stumbling block since last month’s landmark summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, with Pyongyang dismissing American demands after two days of negotiations as “cancerous” and “gangster-like.” North Korea’s criticism of the talks in Pyongyang fuelled further doubts about whether Trump will ever achieve his goal of “compete denuclearisation,” much less ...

Bloomberg The fate of an American arrested almost a month ago during a rare protest in Vietnam is likely to be raised by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Hanoi. Houston native William Nguyen was detained June 10 during a Ho Chi Minh City protest against proposed special economic zones that Vietnamese fear will lead to Chinese encroachment and ...

Bloomberg The son of South Africa’s ex-President Jacob Zuma will appear in two separate court cases this week after returning to the country to attend his brother’s funeral, adding to the controversy around the former ruling family’s activities. Duduzane Zuma, 34, has been asked to appear in the Specialized Commercial Crimes Court in Johannesburg on Monday, his lawyer Rudi Krause ...