Politics

Bloomberg South Africa’s ruling African National Congress agreed to seek a change in the constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation, provided it doesn’t affect the economy and food production. The party agreed to the proposal in a debate that “nearly collapsed” its five yearly conference, Enoch Godongwana, the head of the ANC’s economic transformation committee, told ...

Bloomberg The Kremlin is “concerned” about the possibility the US might further expand sanctions on Russia, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We don’t want to be in a situation where our bilateral relations, which are already in a rather pitiful state, could face even bigger and possibly unbearable risks and dangers,” Peskov told conference call on Monday. “We have concerns ...

Reuters A Bahraini military court sentenced six Shi’ite Muslim men to death and revoked their citizenship after they were convicted on charges of forming a terrorist cell and plotting to assassinate a military official, Bahrain news agency BNA reported on Monday. The men, including one soldier, were accused of several militant attacks and of attempting to assassinate a commander of ...

Reuters Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will visit Addis Ababa next week for talks with his Ethiopian counterpart, a foreign ministry spokesman said, in a bid to end a standoff over a multi-billion dollar dam project on the Nile river. The dispute, which also involves Sudan, centres on control of a share of the waters of the Nile that stretches ...

Bloomberg The United Nation’s latest sanctions on North Korea are more likely to hurt ordinary people in the isolated nation than slow Kim Jong-Un’s push to develop missiles capable of hitting the US with nuclear weapons. The UN Security Council unanimously approved new steps targeting North Korea’s economy following last month’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The new restrictions ...

Bloomberg Cyril Ramaphosa, the newly-elected leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, has a tenuous hold on power in the party after his allies fell short of securing outright control over its top leadership body. A lack of support from a clear majority of the 86 voting members of the ANC’s National Executive Committee will limit his scope to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s Christmas wishes include a peaceful America, he said while taking phone calls from children tracking the global travels of Santa’s sleigh — although the president’s social-media activities suggested otherwise. “I think we want peace. What do you think? Peace for the country,” Trump told a young boy. “We’ve got prosperity. Now we want peace,” the president ...

Bloomberg North Korea rejected tighter United Nations sanctions aimed at curbing its nuclear expansion, describing the move as an “act of war” and vowing to avenge US sympathisers who approved it. The US “must abandon its hostile policy” towards North Korea, “learn to co-exist” and “wake up from its pipe-dream of our country giving up nuclear weapons,” the Korean Central ...

Bloomberg Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic probably won’t seek a second term, as he intends to complete the work needed to lead his country into the European Union when his mandate ends in 2022. Vucic, who as the leader of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party is the Balkan state’s most powerful politician, said in an interview that he’d announce proposals to ...

Bloomberg Poland defied the European Union’s unprecedented call for member states to punish it for failing to uphold the bloc’s values, signing into law a judicial overhaul that puts the country at risk of economic sanctions and losing its voting rights. President Andrzej Duda announced the decision, hours after the European Commission said the government in Warsaw posed a threat ...