Lebanon approves 2020 budget with 0.6% deficit: Hariri
Lebanon’s government approved a 2020 budget envisaging a deficit of 0.6% of gross domestic product, with banks set to participate in the deficit-reduction through an amount of 5.1 trillion Lebanese pounds ($3.4 billion), Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri s…
U.S., UK and Norway urge South Sudan to meet deadline for transitional government
The United States, the United Kingdom and Norway urged political parties in South Sudan to meet a Nov. 12 deadline to form a transitional government.
Thailand’s king strips ‘disloyal’ royal consort of titles, military ranks: palace statement
Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn has stripped his royal consort of her titles and military ranks, a palace statement said on late Monday.
Four charged in Slovak journalist murder that brought down prime minister
Slovak authorities charged a high profile businessman and three others on Monday with murder over the killing of a journalist and his fiancée last year, a case that still roils politics more than a year after it brought down prime minister Robert Fico.
Botswana faces first close election contest since independence
For the first time since it won independence from Britain in 1966, Botswana faces a genuine electoral contest on Wednesday, as a feud between its current and a former president throws one of Africa’s most stable nations into uncertainty.
Sudan rebel leader says government agreed to open access for aid
Sudan has agreed to open humanitarian access to war-torn areas of the country for the first time in eight years as part of a new roadmap enabling suspended peace talks to resume, a rebel leader said on Monday.
Remolding workers’ rights; French plastics maker puts Macron reforms to the test
Last year, Brice Thomas gathered colleagues in the finishing workshop of the French plastics factory where he works. He told them that, at a meeting with bosses, he had signed away some of their paid sick leave.
Lebanon government agrees reforms, debating last point related to power sector: presidency
Lebanon’s cabinet is discussing the last point related to the power sector in a list of reforms after agreeing all the others, the president’s office said on Monday.
Lebanon to cut ministers’ pay in bid to ease protester rage
Lebanon’s cabinet is expected to halve ministers’ wages on Monday among other reforms in a bid to ease an economic crisis and defuse the biggest protests against the ruling elite in decades.
Senior Israeli official attends Bahrain security meeting focusing on Iran
A senior Israeli official attended a maritime security conference in Bahrain on Monday in another sign of Gulf Arab nations and Israel transcending longtime enmities to focus on a perceived common threat from Iran.
