Skopje / AFP Macedonia’s former and possible next prime minister Nikola Gruevski says his party is preparing to stand in an early election next month despite a boycott by his opponents and international disapproval. Gruevski, who had stepped down in January after 10 years in power to make way for the vote, said that the troubled Balkan country could ...

  Uganda / AP Uganda’s main opposition leader has been charged with treason and jailed in a remote area in the country’s northeast, a judiciary spokesman said on Saturday. KizzaBesigye was handed charges late Friday stemming from his public attacks on the legitimacy of President YoweriMuseveni, who won a disputed election in February, said Solomon Muyita. Besigye, a qualified physician, ...

  Paris / AFP Frontline climate diplomats will seek to translate good intentions into concrete action in Bonn on Monday when they gather for the first time since hammering through a historic deal in December. “Our challenge is now to operationalize the Paris Agreement,” France and Morocco—currently co-chairs of the negotiating process—said in a briefing note. After two decades of ...

  UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s anti-corruption summit coincided with the release of an International Monetary Fund staff paper that explains why corruption is bad for economies and suggests ways to eradicate it. But neither these recommendations nor those expressed at the forum will do much to fix the developing world’s problems. That would require much more than better anti-graft ...

  In his attempt to score a point against the opposition, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has declared a three-month state of emergency to face what he called “threats from abroad”. Lacking charisma of his predecessor Hugo Chavez, Maduro grapples with the economic crisis triggered by the low oil prices, and emboldened foes who are gearing up for a vote to ...

  Sara Hsu Recently, in the People’s Daily an unidentified “authoritative figure” discussed China’s likely growth trend, referring to it as an “L-shaped trend.” Observers have assumed that the “authoritative figure” is a top official who cannot be named. The official emphasized that in the first quarter of the year, conditions have stabilized and reform has continued, but that reliance ...

  The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte has just won the country’s presidency with a platform that focuses primarily on severely cracking down on crime. Duterte’s win might be the first electoral outcome in a year where several elections might lead to surprising winners. He is a controversial figure partly because of his unacceptably offensive remarks on women and reputation as a ...

  In 1906, Leonor Loree, an accomplished railroad executive, examined the dilapidated Kansas City Southern Railroad that he had been hired to rehabilitate. Dismayed, he permanently enriched American slang by exclaiming: “This is a helluva way to run a railroad!” Judge Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation’s second-most important court, recently said, with judicial ...

  There is a very unusual thing going on in the municipal market right now: People are losing money by the bucket, and soon they’ll be losing money by the boatload. While regrettable, this is what happens when reality intrudes upon a fantasy. Because Puerto Rico has defaulted, is defaulting and will default on some or all of the $70 ...

  ISTANBUL / AP Spring colours, breezy fabrics, high necklines and long hemlines: The International Modest Fashion Week opened in Istanbul as Turkey sought to be seen as a creative hotspot for a unique blend of tradition with style around the world. Seventy designers are taking part in the two-day event hosted by Modanisa, an online retailer of Muslim fashion, ...