Bloomberg US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went to Pyongyang to get Kim Jong-un to give up his nuclear weapons. He left with a harsh reminder that the North Korean leader expects something in return. While President Donald Trump’s point man for nuclear talks summed up his 27 hours in the North Korean capital as “productive,” the regime called the ...

Bloomberg An influx of Western observers is giving Zimbabweans some hope that this month’s elections won’t be a repeat of the tainted contests held during former President Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule. While Zimbabwe’s past three elections were marred by allegations of rigging, violence and intimidation, new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has welcomed the return of monitors from Western nations whose governments ...

Bloomberg The European Commission’s threat to sue Poland over a judicial overhaul “won’t break” the government’s determination to push through changes that have drawn international condemnation and sparked street protests, the head of the ruling party said. Law & Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski has pushed back against European Union officials’ efforts to halt what they say is a threat to ...

Bloomberg Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif will return to the country from London on July 13 to face a 10-year jail sentence handed down by an anti-corruption court, which convicted him for not declaring assets. Sharif will reach Lahore, his home town and political stronghold, his daughter Maryam, said in a Twitter post. Maryam, who will also return to Pakistan ...

Bloomberg Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a declaration of peace and agreed to reestablish key economic links after an unprecedented summit between the Horn of Africa nations’ leaders that marked the end of almost two decades of strife. The announcements by an Eritrean official and the Ethiopian state-owned broadcaster Fana followed Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s visit to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, ...

Bloomberg If a US or global recession is looming, it’s time to own the Swiss franc, Singapore dollar, US dollar and Japanese yen – and ditch emerging market currencies, according to analysts from JPMorgan Chase & Co. “Recessions are when creditors get to ask for their money back,” analysts including Paul Meggyesi said in a note. “Three of the top ...

Bloomberg Global debt is becoming a bigger worry as the global policy tightening cycle takes hold, a top boss at the World Bank warned Monday. “After a decade of low interest rates, the corporate and public debt in many places has ballooned to a staggering $164 trillion,” Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the World Bank, said in an interview ...

Bloomberg Bank of England (BOE) policy makers are adjusting to an upheaval at the statistics office at the very point when they need as much clarity as possible to help decide whether to raise interest rates next month. The UK is this week shaking up the way it reports growth, publishing monthly updates and delaying its usual quarterly figures. The ...

Bloomberg Makram Azar, chairman for Barclays Plc’s Europe, Middle East and Africa banking operations, retired from his role at the British lender, according to a memo to obtained by Bloomberg News. Azar, who also headed the bank’s Middle East’s operations, will return as a senior adviser in January 2019, according to the memo issued by Joe McGrath, global head of ...

Bloomberg Investment bankers in Hong Kong are catching biotech fever. At least seven senior bankers and analysts from top-tier securities firms have quit to join biotechnology companies in the city since December, responding to the industry’s growing demand for financial expertise after rule changes at Hong Kong’s stock exchange smoothed the path for biotech initial public offerings. Richard Yeh, a ...