Bloomberg Kenyan opposition candidate Raila Odinga drew more support from voters in three opinion polls as he prepares to take on President Uhuru Kenyatta in next week’s election, raising the likelihood of a runoff vote. Polls released on Tuesday showed Odinga is favored by as much as 49 percent of the electorate, compared with as little as 42% percent two ...
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‘Future of western Balkan nations lies in west’
Bloomberg US Vice President Mike Pence told the volatile western Balkans region that its future lies in the West, saying NATO’s door is open for new members. Pence is wrapping up a tour of eastern Europe by visiting Montenegro, a nation of 600,000 that only joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in June. At a regional summit on Wednesday, he’s ...
Read More »Gupta family say South African emails not real
Bloomberg A raft of emails leaked to South African media about how the Gupta family have won billions of rands of contracts from state-owned companies and influenced government decisions through their closeness to President Jacob Zuma isn’t authentic, family member Atul Gupta said. “There’s no authenticity of Gupta Leaks at all,†Gupta told the British Broadcasting Corp. in an interview. ...
Read More »Venezuelan assembly to meet to defy constitutional rewrite
Bloomberg In as little as 24 hours, a clash of powers is set to unfold in the Venezuelan capital’s gold-domed Federal Legislative Palace, where a newly elected legislative super body will attempt to convene alongside the National Assembly, the only arm of government not controlled by President Nicolas Maduro or his allies. Despite international condemnation and allegations of fraud, Maduro ...
Read More »Was Scaramucci’s firing a win for political norms?
The short life of Anthony Scaramucci as White House communications director will be remembered with joy by some, or at least by me. His unbridled self-expression, in the grandest traditions of the First Amendment and the New York street corner, was more like a tornado of fresh air than a mere breath. But the era of the Mooch was also ...
Read More »It’s perhaps too late to check North Korean missile program
It may already be too late for sanctions to halt North Korea’s missile program. That’s the view of analysts who have watched Kim Jong Un accelerate progress on North Korea’s decades-long quest for a functioning intercontinental ballistic missile. Friday’s launch, the second in a matter of weeks, showed it’s just a matter of time before he has a full-fledged ICBM ...
Read More »Bank of England should take its time on tightening
The Bank of England to decide whether to raise interest rates. The choice isn’t clear-cut, and the central bank’s policy makers appear to be divided—but with the economy showing signs of slowing and inflation under control, they’d be wise to wait a while longer before tightening. The Bank of England responded to the Brexit referendum by cutting its benchmark rate ...
Read More »Two half-finished nuclear reactors up for sale in US
Looking to buy two half-finished nuclear reactors? It may be your lucky day. US utility owner Scana Corp. dropped a plan to build two reactors at the V.C. Summer power plant in South Carolina after the projected total costs exceeded $20 billion. The cancelation of the project is another blow to the much-hyped (and thus far non-existent) nuclear renaissance in ...
Read More »OPEC is confronting a game-theory dilemma
Over the last few years, producers belonging to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have had mixed success at winning the price-setting “game” for oil. To stand a better chance of regaining durable control, they must do a much better job of working together, and, importantly, they need to do so in a much broader and more institutionalized manner. Otherwise, ...
Read More »The real reason car sales are falling in US
It’s been a tough few months in Detroit. After seven years of gangbuster sales, the US auto market is skidding badly. The American car and truck segment is remarkably easy to get a handle on, but a look at some of its indicators may induce some head-scratching. For the past 20 years, the number of licensed drivers has ticked up ...
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