September, 2019

• 2 September

  Europe must do more to help Ukraine: Pence

  

  Bloomberg US Vice President Mike Pence said the American people “stand with Ukraine” but that European nations should do more to help the former Soviet republic. The US has “carried the load” on Ukraine and “we’ve been proud to do that,” Pence told reporters on Monday in Warsaw. “But we believe it’s time for our European partners to step forward.” ...

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• 2 September

  Georgian premier resigns, saying ‘mission’ completed

  Bloomberg Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stood down on Monday, saying he’d completed the tasks he’d set himself. “The strategic framework has been created and put into place,” Bakhtadze, 37, said in a lengthy Facebook post listing the achievements of his government in the Caucasus nation. “I have decided to leave my position, considering that I have accomplished my mission.” ...

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• 2 September

  Beating populism requires more, Merkel allies realise post vote

  

  Bloomberg A day after only a narrow victory in state elections, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition realised once again that it needs to do far more to effectively stem the rise of populism in Germany. Yes, the Christian Democrats and their junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, won in the eastern states of Brandenburg and Saxony. But the gains of the ...

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• 2 September

  UK faces snap poll as crisis deepens

  

  Bloomberg The UK moved a step closer to a general election as the political crisis engulfing the country over its divorce from the European Union deepened. Allies of Prime Minister Boris Johnson are considering a snap poll as he battles his opponents in parliament who are trying to stop him taking the UK out of the EU without a deal ...

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• 2 September

  Botswana set to hold elections next month

  Bloomberg Botswana, the world’s second-biggest diamond producer, will hold elections on October 23, with the southern African nation’s ruling party facing its toughest challenge since gaining independence in 1966. Nominations for parliament and municipal candidates is set for September 26, the Independent Electoral Commission said in an emailed statement on Monday. The Botswana Democratic Party has been in power for ...

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• 2 September

  As Trump era gets noisier, is a weary public tuning out?

  

  You could say many things to describe a week in which President Trump got in a snit about buying Greenland, called the Federal Reserve chairman an “enemy,” reversed his position repeatedly on China, and rebuffed European allies by saying he’s ready to invite Russia to a global summit at one of his Florida golf resorts. But “exhausting” would be the ...

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• 2 September

  Macron clears a low bar at the G7

  

  What a difference a weekend makes. Emmanuel Macron emerged as big beneficiary from the G7 summit, a junket that has come under increasing criticism as the shrinking group of leaders struggle to forge a consensus in the era of Donald Trump. Last week, US president’s tone on Twitter was aggressively anti-European Union — but by Monday he was full of ...

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• 2 September

  ‘Brilliant jerks’ from Silicon Valley may simply be jerks

  Silicon Valley has a split personality about “brilliant jerks.” These are the kind of abrasive, boundary-pushing executives whom the industry (and often the media) lionizes — until they push boundaries too far and are kicked out of the tech Garden of Eden. Consider Anthony Levandowski, a former executive in Alphabet Inc.’s self-driving vehicle project whom the US government charged this ...

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• 2 September

  Dear Britain, where did it all go so wrong?

  Dear Britain, please excuse the rest of us for our sheer disbelief: we were never expecting a constitutional crisis, let alone protests around the country. You are making Italy’s political system look like a model of composure, and that’s not something to be taken lightly. For years, we have admired your parliamentary democracy, with its eccentric rituals and timeless ceremonies. ...

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• 2 September

  Taxing short, cheap flights will cut carbon emissions

  

  Germany’s former transport minister (and current senior legislator) Alexander Dobrindt has proposed setting a price floor on air tickets, to eliminate the cheapest offerings from Europe’s ubiquitous discount airlines. The idea probably will be rejected for political reasons, but it’s actually one to consider when it comes to reducing air travel’s climate impact. It’s difficult to tax airline tickets: Taxation ...

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