Hong Kong’s role in global finance is intact, with little evidence to suggest recent protests and social unrest in the city have adversely impacted that role, global credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said on Thursday. However, the rating agency added that the prolonged protests are undermining perceptions that Hong Kong ... Read More »
United Kingdom votes to decide the fate of Brexit, again
Voters go to the polls on Thursday in an election that will pave the way for Brexit under Prime Minister Boris Johnson or propel Britain toward another referendum that could ultimately reverse the decision to leave the European Union. After failing to deliver Brexit by an Oct. 31 deadline, Johnson ... Read More »
Trump warns Russia not to meddle in U.S. elections: White House
President Donald Trump warned Russia not to interfere in U.S. elections in talks with Russia’s top diplomat on Tuesday, the White House said, after meetings where the two sides made no visible progress on nuclear arms control. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow wanted to publish U.S.-Russian communications that ... Read More »
White Island eruption: ‘too unsafe’ to retrieve bodies as volcanic activity rises
Authorities vow to return to recover eight bodies but ‘significant increase’ in volcanic activity leads to delays New Zealand police have vowed to return to White Island to retrieve the bodies of eight tourists who died there, as the first Australian victims of the volcanic eruption were named. Police ... Read More »
Haitian slums descend into anarchy as crisis sparks worst violence in years
Venite Bernard’s feet are bloodied and torn because, she said, she had no time to grab her sandals when she fled her shack with her youngest children as gangsters roamed the Haitian capital’s most notorious slum, shooting people in their homes. Now the 47-year-old Bernard and her family are camped ... Read More »
US-Iran prisoner exchange sees thaw in tensions as domestic chaos takes centre stage
Iran and the United States appear to be easing tensions as both countries head into political volatile election years, with the threat of an armed conflict that seemed increasingly likely just months ago fading away. A weekend exchange of detainees between Iran and the United States brokered by diplomats indicated ... Read More »
Aoun Expresses Relief over Lebanon Support Meeting
President Michel Aoun on Monday expressed relief over the meeting that the International Support Group for Lebanon will hold Wednesday in Paris, thanking France for making the initiative in coordination with the U.N. Aoun’s remarks were voiced in a meeting with U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jan Kubis. The president ... Read More »
Russia’s Putin says he wants changes to Ukraine constitution
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday he wanted changes to the Ukrainian constitution to give a special status to the Donbass region after the first bilateral talks with his Ukrainian counterpart in Paris. Putin, who said the meeting in Paris had been useful, said he needed more points of ... Read More »
Parliamentary Consultations on New PM Postponed to December 16
The Presidency on Sunday postponed the binding parliamentary consultations for naming a new PM from Monday, Dec. 9 to Monday, Dec. 16, after Dar al-Fatwa told the candidate Samir Khatib that there is Sunni consensus on re-nominating Saad Hariri for the post. “In light of the developments, at the desire ... Read More »
Trump impeachment: Vote on charges to remove president could happen this week, committee chairman says
A vote on impeachment charges against Donald Trump could take place this week, according to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. Jerrold Nadler said draft articles were already being prepared based on the evidence heard during the inquiry over the last months. However, a decision on the final charges will ... Read More »