Tag: Donald Trump

• Monday, May 21st 2018 - 08:33 UTC

  Maduro re-elected, but with massive abstention and other candidates call for fresh elections

  

  Venezuela’s populist leader Nicolas Maduro won a new six-year term on Sunday, but his main rivals disavowed the election alleging massive irregularities in a process critics decried as a farce propping up a dictatorship. Victory for the 55-year-old former bus driver, who replaced Hugo Chavez after his death from cancer in 2013, may trigger a new round of western sanctions against the populist government as it grapples with a ruinous economic crisis.

• Saturday, May 19th 2018 - 09:38 UTC

  Trump imposes sanctions against the powerful Venezuela clan of Diosdado Cabello

  

  Two days before presidential elections in Venezuela, the Trump administration on Friday announced sanctions against a powerful governing party politician, accusing him of drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering and embezzling government money.

• Friday, May 18th 2018 - 08:24 UTC

  Oil hits US$ 80, its highest level since 2014; London's FTSE on new all time-high

  

  Benchmark oil contract Brent North Sea hit its highest level since late 2014 on Thursday, breaching US$ 80 per barrel, with some market players predicting it could rise all the way to US$ 100. Higher oil prices, in turn, pushed the shares of energy firms in European stock markets higher, helping London's FTSE to set a new all-time high, and the Paris CAC to establish a fresh 2018 peak.

• Tuesday, May 15th 2018 - 06:43 UTC

  Argentine admits less growth and more inflation, but exports could be boosted with a dearer dollar

  

  High interest rates will have a negative impact on activity, and the weaker peso resulting from a floating exchange rate regime will add to already sky-high inflation, but both are necessary to prevent a deeper crisis, Argentine Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne admitted on Monday.

• Tuesday, May 15th 2018 - 06:21 UTC

  Palestinians anticipate another day of fury, despite 55 deaths by the Israel army

  

  Fresh protests against Israel are expected on Tuesday in the Palestinian territories, a day after Israeli troops killed 55 people in Gaza. Tuesday marks the 70th anniversary of what Palestinians call the Nakba, or Catastrophe, that saw thousands flee amid the creation of Israel in 1948. Tensions will be particularly high in Gaza where funerals for those killed on Monday are due to take place.

• Saturday, May 12th 2018 - 09:30 UTC

  Germany moves closer to Russia: Merkel will visit Putin in Moscow

  

  Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with Germany's Angela Merkel and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a bid to keep the Iran nuclear deal alive after the US decision to withdraw, the Kremlin said Friday.

• Saturday, May 12th 2018 - 06:43 UTC

  “Europe must take its destiny in its own hands, US will not protect us”, claims Merkel

  

  Europe cannot put all of its trust in the U.S. when it comes to protection and should instead “take its destiny into its own hands,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said. “It's no longer the case that the United States will simply just protect us”.

• Wednesday, May 9th 2018 - 08:39 UTC

  Despite Trump, Europe, Russia and China committed to the Iran nuclear deal

  

  Western powers, Russia and China remain committed to the Iran nuclear deal - after the US announced it was withdrawing from the agreement. The UK, France and Germany say they “will work with all remaining parties” and urged the US not to obstruct its implementation and the other signatories to the 2015 deal - Russia and China - have also stressed their continuing support.

• Wednesday, May 9th 2018 - 07:10 UTC

  Latin American (and global) currencies hit by strong dollar and Trump's policies

  

  The dollar hovered near a four-month high on Tuesday, continuing to draw support from higher Treasury yields and upbeat prospects for the U.S. economy, leaving its major rivals such as the Euro struggling and other Latin American currencies including the Argentine peso down sharply.

• Tuesday, May 8th 2018 - 08:59 UTC

  Guterres praises UK contribution to UN, “Brexit or no Brexit”

  

  Britain will remain a “very important pillar” of the United Nations after Brexit, the organization's secretary general has said. Antonio Guterres’s comments appear to contradict the fears of some opponents of Brexit that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU might throw into question its position as one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, alongside the US, Russia, China and France.