Bloomberg US President Donald Trump said he is designating North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, subjecting the regime to additional sanctions and reinforcing its status as an international pariah. Speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting at the White House, Trump said the Treasury Department will announce additional measures, describing the move against Kim Jong Un’s regime as ...
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Merkel’s old ally turns enemy to upset political order
Bloomberg It was five minutes before midnight in Berlin. After another long day of political negotiations, Christian Lindner’s hands were shaking. He had a dramatic decision to announce. But people involved in Germany’s coalition talks said they had sensed what was happening hours before the Free Democrats chairman pulled the rug from underneath a tricky deal to construct a government ...
Read More »Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa asks Mugabe to resign
Bloomberg The new leader of Zimbabwe’s ruling party asked Robert Mugabe to resign as president of the southern African nation. “The destiny of our country is in the hands of our people and his excellency must heed the call of the people to resign,†Emmerson Mnangagwa, who left the country after Mugabe fired him as deputy president earlier this month, ...
Read More »Merkel’s bid to form new German govt collapses
Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s bid to form a new government failed, raising the prospect of fresh elections in Europe’s largest economy and casting doubt on the future of its longest-serving leader. A month of coalition talks collapsed in dramatic fashion just before midnight on Sunday as disputes among a grab-bag of disparate parties over migration and other polices led ...
Read More »Kenyan court backs president’s vote win
Bloomberg Kenya’s top court upheld Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential win, ending three months of electoral uncertainty that have slowed growth in East Africa’s biggest economy. Stocks gained the most in two months. Kenyatta won the rerun fairly and electoral authorities’ failure to hold polling in the country’s western region didn’t invalidate the outcome, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday, rejecting all ...
Read More »Kurdish referendum unconstitutional, rules Iraqi fed court
BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court ruled on Monday that a referendum held on Kurdish independence was unconstitutional and that the results of the vote were void, a court spokesman said. Kurds voted overwhelmingly to break away from Iraq in a referendum held on September 25, defying the central government in Baghdad as well as neighbouring Turkey and Iran ...
Read More »Mugabe faces impeachment after balking at directive to end reign
Bloomberg Zimbabwean lawmakers are set to begin impeachment proceedings against President Robert Mugabe on Monday, after he defied a ruling party directive to end his 37-year rule. The 93-year-old Mugabe was widely expected to announce that he was stepping down in a televised address on Sunday night to enable Emmerson Mnangagwa, who he had fired as vice president earlier this ...
Read More »Chilean election heads to second round as billionaire takes lead
Bloomberg Chile’s presidential election is heading for a hotly contested second round after billionaire Sebastian Pinera took a smaller-than-expected lead in Sunday’s vote. The opposition leader had 36.7 percent of the vote with 89 percent of ballots counted, the electoral service said, short of the 50 percent plus one vote he needed to avoid a run-off. His rival in the ...
Read More »Macron raises pressure on ‘low-cost Europe’
e Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron urged European Union leaders to work together to protect living standards and called for financial penalties for those who refuse to play ball. With 27 countries meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, as Angela Merkel tries to broker a coalition agreement at home in Berlin, Macron said that some members have taken advantage of subsidies from ...
Read More »Merkel’s bid for next govt hangs by thread
Bloomberg Talks aimed at paving the way for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to unite four parties into her next governing coalition were on a knife’s edge as the clock ticked toward a deadline to avert a political crisis in Europe’s biggest economy. Four hours into the latest round in Berlin, there was little sign an agreement was imminent and even ...
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