Politics

Bloomberg Kim Jong Un made a surprise visit to Beijing on his first known trip outside North Korea since taking power in 2011, three people with knowledge of the visit said. Further details of his trip, including how long Kim would stay and who he would meet, were not immediately available. Speculation about a possible visit by a high-ranking North ...

BEIRUT / Reuters Some 7,000 people departed eastern Ghouta for Syrian rebel territory near the Turkish border on Tuesday under a deal arranged by Russia to surrender the enclave to the Syrian government, Russian state media and a war monitor said. Rebels have been gradually leaving Ghouta, accepting safe passage for themselves and their families to Idlib in northwestern Syria ...

LONDON / Reuters The Zambian government said President Edgar Lungu hasn’t committed any offence that warrants the impeachment motion the opposition has brought to parliament. “On face value it’s extremely frivolous,” government spokeswoman Dora Siliya said in comments broadcast by Lusaka-based Hot FM on Tuesday. “We know that this motion is baseless and it’s purely a political gimmick by the ...

Bloomberg Ethnic Serbs quit the Kosovo government to protest police breaking up their meeting with a negotiator from Serbia, escalating tension between the two Balkan neighbors. Their walkout may destabilize the government in Kosovo and undermine European Union-mediated talks with Serbia. Both aspire to join the bloc but must mend ties in order to do so. The escalation comes after ...

Bloomberg Slovakia’s lawmakers endorsed a new cabinet whose appointment sought to avert early elections after the country’s largest anti-government demonstrations since the fall of communism. The three ruling parties need to restore public trust in state institutions that was shaken during a month of political turbulence following the murder of a reporter investigating crime with political links. Prime Minister Peter ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s aid chief urged the Democratic Republic of Congo to take part in a donor meeting on tackling a humanitarian crisis in the vast central African country that’s left more than 13 million people in need of aid. Congo’s government, which has been under pressure to hold elections that would see President Joseph Kabila leave power, has ...

Reuters Egyptians began voting on Monday in a presidential election set to deliver an easy win for incumbent Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, with turnout the main focus. Polling stations will be open for three days and Sisi, a former military commander, has urged Egyptians to vote, hinting that he sees the election as a referendum on his first four-year term. ...

WAM The Spokesman of the Arab Coalition Forces Supporting Legitimacy in Yemen, Colonel Turki bin Saleh Al-Malki, on Sunday night said that air defence forces have intercepted seven ballistic missiles from within Yemeni territory towards Saudi Arabia, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA). According to Colonel Al-Maliki, three of the missiles were heading towards Riyadh, while another targeted the city ...

Reuters At least 64 people have been killed after a fire swept through a shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo. More than 100 people were evacuated as the fire tore through the building on Sunday night and people were seen jumping from windows. As dawn broke in Russia’s coal-producing Kemerovo region, heavy black smoke was still billowing. Rescue ...

Bloomberg In the US and across the European Union, a number of Russia diplomats are being expelled in a coordinated response to the nerve-agent poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK. President Donald Trump has ordered the departure of 60 Russian diplomats. Russia is poised to respond in kind while 14 European nations are unrolling their own action. ...