Tag Archives: politics

Rajoy, the under-estimated survivor who wore his rivals down Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spain’s conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy won back power Saturday, at the age of 61, after a war of attrition against younger rivals who under-estimated his resistance after 35 years in politics. Just like in 2005 …

Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese Communist chief Xi Jinping’s ascension to the highest title in the party hierarchy formalises his position as its pre-eminent figure, analysts said, making him the country’s most powerful leader in a generation and inviting comparisons with Mao Zedong. The ruling party’s declaration that Xi …

Washington, United States | AFP | The US Supreme Court said Friday that it will decide which bathrooms should be used by transgender people, a highly sensitive question with national political resonance. The case involves 17-year-old Gavin Grimm, who was born a female but identifies as a male. Grimm filed …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean prosecutors on Saturday raided the homes and offices of senior advisers to President Park Geun-Hye, as she struggled with a corruption and influence-peddling scandal involving a close family friend. The crisis centred around Park’s long-time confidante Choi Soon-Sil has rocked her presidency, …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s former prime minister Tony Blair said Friday there was nothing preventing a second Brexit referendum and warned that the break-up would be “very, very tough” as European leaders were in an unforgiving mood. He called on fellow “Remain” supporters to “mobilise and to …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  Ivory Coast heads to the polls Sunday for a referendum on a new constitution their president insists will heal a nation beset by violent turmoil, but which the opposition says is dangerously anti-democratic. Given that President Alassane Ouattara’s political foes have called for a …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Leaders of the Great Lakes region called Thursday for the UN peacekeeping force in strife-torn DR Congo to be bolstered, as fears rise of an upsurge in violence linked to delayed presidential polls. At the end of two-day talks, they called for more contributions to …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  Burundi on Thursday formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, dealing a blow to the tribunal seen as a pillar of international justice. South Africa was the first to take the formal step at the United Nations …

Baghdad, Iraq | AFP |  Iraqi President Fuad Masum called on Wednesday for parliament to revise a law passed over the weekend that included a provision banning alcohol. The ban on the sale, import and production of alcohol, which was slipped into a draft law on municipalities in parliament on …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Theresa May is in a class of her own when it comes to not answering questions, according to analysis of her major interviews since becoming Britain’s prime minister. Such is her niche skill that researchers had to come up with a brand new category …