Bloomberg South African President Jacob Zuma survived a no-confidence motion in parliament, ensu- ring that he’ll maintain his grip on power until at least the end of the year. The motion was defeated by 198 votes to 177, Baleka Mbete, the speaker of the National Assembly, announced at a sitting in Cape Town. Nine of the 384 lawmakers present in ...
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US envoys seek to shift focus away from 13 Qatar demands
Bloomberg Two US envoys shuttling between Middle East capitals to resolve the Qatar crisis want to shift the focus away from the 13 conditions demanded by the Saudi-led alliance, according to a Gulf official with knowledge of the matter. General Anthony Zinni, a retired former head of US Central Command, and senior State Department official Timothy Lenderking will promote a ...
Read More »Rouhani keeps allies in key posts as US tensions grow
Bloomberg Iranian President Hassan Rouhani kept top allies in key posts as he presented his proposed cabinet to parliament, unveiling the team he’ll depend on to pursue an agenda being buffeted by escalating tensions with the US and opposition at home. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh were reappointed, as was Abbas Akhoundi, the minister for ...
Read More »Macedonia eyes NATO to ward off Russian meddling
Bloomberg The Republic of Macedonia’s new government is stepping up its efforts to join NATO, arguing that membership in the military alliance will protect the Balkan nation from Russia “interfering†in its affairs, the country’s defense minister said. “Influences interfering in this strategic goal aren’t helpful, and they’re not friendly,†Defense Minister Radmila Sekerinska said in an interview in Skopje ...
Read More »Poland ramps up case for World War II reparations
Bloomberg Poland’s ruling officials are stepping up calls to demand compensation from Germany for damages caused in World War II, potentially deepening a divide between the European Union’s largest eastern member and the bloc’s biggest economy. Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki lamented that Poland was “massacred†by the country’s neighbor in the war, echoing recent statements by Defense Minister Antoni ...
Read More »Disaffected youth wild card in Kenya’s cliffhanger vote
Bloomberg Having watched Kenya’s economic boom pass him by, security guard Frederick Kibaraza is skeptical whether there’s any point voting in Tuesday’s cliffhanger elections. “I am not falling for the ideas of politicians,†Kibaraza, 27, said as he strolled along a dusty street near his home in Kawangware, a slum in the capital, Nairobi. “We vote for them and they ...
Read More »North Korea rules out nuclear talks, says US will ‘pay dearly’
Bloomberg North Korea condemned the latest round of United Nations sanctions and reiterated that it wouldn’t negotiate over its nuclear program until the US ceases “hostile†policies. Kim Jong Un’s regime said it will “make the US pay dearly for all the heinous crime it commits against the state and people of this country,†the Korean Central News Agency reported. ...
Read More »Trump antitrust chief pick blocked by Warren
Bloomberg Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren put a “hold†on the confirmation of Makan Delrahim, President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Justice Department’s antitrust division, delaying a vote until at least September, according to two people familiar with the matter. The delay means Delrahim remains on the outside as Justice Department lawyers wrap up their investigation of AT&T Inc. and ...
Read More »UK dismisses 40bn-euro Brexit bill as speculation
Bloomberg Theresa May’s office dismissed as speculation a report that the UK is prepared to pay a 40 billion-euro ($47 billion) bill to leave the European Union, while leading Brexit supporters pushed back against paying anything at all. The figure surfaced in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, which cited three government officials it didn’t identify as saying Britain would offer the ...
Read More »US envoys to visit Gulf in push to defuse crisis
Bloomberg Two US envoys are expected in Kuwait before embarking on a tour of the four states that have isolated Qatar, according to a Gulf official with direct knowledge of the visit, in the latest push by Washington to help defuse the two-month standoff. General Anthony Zinni, a retired former head of US Central Command, will be accompanied by Timothy ...
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