Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives won a surprise victory on Sunday in regional elections in Germany’s most populous state, giving Europe’s most powerful leader a big boost in the run-up to national elections in September. The Christian Democrats took control of North Rhine-Westphalia from their Social Democrat rivals, dealing a heavy blow to SPD leader Martin Schulz as he bids to unseat Ms Merkel in Berlin. Meanwhile, the […]
President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has called on China to rebalance an increasingly skewed trade relationship between Africa and the rising superpower, arguing that Beijing must do more to tackle a widening trade deficit. Africa’s trade balance with China has moved decisively into deficit due to a fall in the price of many African commodities, such as oil, copper, iron ore and cocoa. In 2015, the most […]
VIENNA The leadership of Austria’s conservative People’s Party, the junior party in the country’s coalition government, has appointed Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz as its new head, Kurz told a news conference on Sunday. Kurz, 30, is widely seen as the party’s best chance of boosting its ratings and surpassing the far-right Freedom Party, which is running first in opinion polls, followed by Chancellor Christian Kern’s Social Democrats. […]
Party to hold intra-party polls on June 11 Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said on Sunday that the Panama Papers leaks raising the subject of Sharif family’s properties in London were just the tip of the iceberg. Khan was addressing a gathering of supporters in Abbottabad. “The Joint Investigation Team would reveal a lot more,” he said. The PM has been caught red-handed, said the […]
BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives scored a major upset in a key state election on Sunday, finishing ahead of the ruling Social Democrats (SPD) and boosting their hopes of retaining power in September’s federal vote, an ARD TV exit poll showed. The Christian Democrats (CDU) saw a strong surge of support in Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), where the SPD has ruled for […]
UAE residents, many of whom face a long commute each day, turn to a tried and tested wake-up option to supplement their morning coffee. It features a solid base of upbeat tunes, a dash of local news, a spoonful of friendly banter and a sprinkling of competitions – which together make up the potent concoction we call breakfast radio. For many listeners, it is what makes the […]
Dr Ting Tiong Choon (right) with Sarawak DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen and Sarawak DAP deputy chairman Chiew Chiu Sing (left) in Kuching May 12, 2017. — Picture by Sulok TawieKUALA LUMPUR, May 13 — A DAP leader who was disqualified as Pujut state representative by the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly yesterday may also be stripped of his Malaysian citizenship, a lawyer said today. Constitutional lawyer Nizam […]
Europe’s investment community has barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief following Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential elections before starting to fret about other latent threats to the eurozone. Some investors have hailed the election — in which Mr Macron, a pro-EU liberal defeated Marine Le Pen, the Eurosceptic rightwing candidate — as a sign that Europe’s economic recovery remains on track. This […]
By Leigh Thomas and Matthias Blamont | PARIS PARIS While street demonstrations are mainly a younger person’s domain in France, when it comes to protest voting by spoiling ballots, the over 65s appear to be the most active age group. Turned off by the choices on offer in the country’s most unusual presidential election run-off in decades, the segment of voters most likely to have protested by […]
By Tom Perry and Laila Bassam | BEIRUT BEIRUT Lebanon is on the brink of crisis again with its politicians at odds over an election law at the heart of the nation’s sectarian system, threatening to leave the country without a parliament for the first time. Parliament’s term expires on June 20 and without a compromise Lebanon faces what one minister has called the most serious political […]
MOSCOW Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has undergone an eye operation in Spain after an attack in Moscow that left him almost blind in one eye, the opposition politician said late on Tuesday on social media. Navalny hopes to run for president next year against Vladimir Putin, who is expected to run for what would be his fourth term, and organised the biggest anti-government protests in years in […]
Moon Jae-in has triumphed in the South Korean presidential election with over 40 percent of the vote, according to exit polls. But the liberal leader’s solid victory can’t patch over deeper political wounds. Just as the United Kingdom’s vote to leave the European Union left British society divided and Donald Trump’s election polarized Americans, the impeachment of Park Geun-hye has split South Korea. While more than 75 […]
SEOUL Exit polls in South Korea’s presidential election showed Moon Jae-in, a liberal human rights lawyer and advocate of a moderate policy on rival North Korea, was expected to win the vote held on Tuesday. Moon, 64, was likely to take 41.4 percent of the votes, easily beating the conservative challenger, former prosecutor Hong Joon-pyo, with 23.3 percent of the votes, according to the exit polls conducted […]
By Christine Kim and Jane Chung | SEOUL SEOUL South Koreans flocked to polling stations to elect a new leader on Tuesday, with a high turnout suggesting voters are eager to move on from a corruption scandal that brought down the former president and shook the political and business elite. Unless there is a major upset, liberal Moon Jae-in – who calls for a moderate approach on […]
Malta’s embattled prime minister, Joseph Muscat, is facing a growing rebellion in Brussels, where MEPs are openly calling for his departure amid a growing corruption scandal involving his wife, a Panamanian shell company and alleged payments from the president of Azerbaijan’s daughter. The Mediterranean island state’s presidency of the EU, which began in January, has been rocked by allegations of money laundering and kickbacks. Malta’s spell at […]
Sign up to receive FirstFT by email here Days after Donald Trump was elected, President Barack Obama warned his successor against hiring former general Michael Flynn as his security adviser. Mr Trump ignored the advice and Mr Flynn resigned after 17 days on the job amid the growing investigation of the Trump team’s ties to Russia. This is just one of the revelations to emerge following a Senate […]
By Elisabeth O’Leary | GALASHIELS, Scotland GALASHIELS, Scotland – Calum Kerr, a parliamentarian from the Scottish National Party (SNP), is having to work hard to get his message across. As he defends a wafer-thin majority in Britain’s June 8 election, he wants to focus on issues directly affecting his farming constituency bordering England, with its struggling economy that may suffer further when Britain leaves the European Union. […]
By Nichola Saminather | SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Asian stock markets edged down on Tuesday following a flat close on Wall Street, as investors searched for the next catalyst following France’s presidential election, while oil inched higher on expectations OPEC supply cuts will be extended. Financial spreadbetters expect Britain’s FTSE 100 .FTSE, Germany’s DAX .GDAXI and France’s CAC 40 .FCHI to all open flat. The South Korean stock market, […]
It was planned as a routine engagement for Martin Schulz — open a new children’s playground, say a few words, sign some autographs and pose for selfies. But the event in a drab suburb of the industrial western town of Hamm was anything but an easy ride for the German Social Democrat leader, who is challenging Chancellor Angela Merkel in September’s parliamentary election. What began as a […]
By Nigel Stephenson | LONDON LONDON European stocks and the euro pulled back on Monday from highs touched after Emmanuel Macron’s emphatic but well-flagged victory in France’s presidential election as investors’ focus shifted from politics to monetary policy. With the political risks that have dominated European markets in a year packed with elections seen receding, the European Central Bank is expected to have more room to tighten […]
MANILA Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte kept his “excellent” trust rating for a fourth consecutive quarter in an opinion poll, with four-fifths of Filipino’s giving him the highest score in a survey that focuses on personality rather than policy. Pollster Social Weather Stations has been tracking trust ratings of Duterte since December 2015, when he signed up for a presidential election that he won six months later. Duterte […]
Emmanuel Macron’s triumph in the French presidential election nudged the euro to a six-month high against the dollar, with analysts and investors predicting that the result could spur a return of money to the eurozone. The euro inched up 0.1 per cent to $1.1021 in the hours after it became clear the centrist had beaten Marine Le Pen, before dipping 0.1 per cent to $1.0977 as Asian trading started. […]
Sign up to receive FirstFT by email here Emmanuel Macron, an independent centrist, won an emphatic victory in France’s presidential run-off against Marine Le Pen, the far-right Front National leader, on Sunday, taking 65.1 per cent of the vote, according to estimates. Mr Macron’s victory is a phenomenal achievement for the 39-year-old former Rothschild banker, who has never before held elected office and whose political movement En Marche! was […]
LONDON The euro topped $1.10 for the first time since the U.S. elections on Sunday and climbed to a one-year high against the safe-haven yen on relief that Emmanuel Macron had beaten the far-right Marine Le Pen to clinch the French presidency. Early projections showed the market-friendly, pro-EU candidate Macron had been voted in with about 65 percent of the vote, comfortably defeating Le Pen, a nationalist […]
