New Zealand's Opposition Party Picks Former Airline Boss as New Leader
New Zealand's main opposition National Party selected a former Air New Zealand chief executive as its new leader to face Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the next election in 2023.
Christopher Luxon, who helmed Air New Zealand for seven years until September 2019, had long been seen as the likely next leader of the conservative National party, which faced its worst defeat in the 2020 election.
He becomes the party's fifth leader in just four years after Judith Collins, who headed the National's campaign in 2020.
K. P. Sharma Oli Re-elected Chairman of Nepal's CPN-UML Party
Nepal's main opposition CPN-UML overwhelmingly re-elected former Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli as the chairman of the country's largest Communist Party for the second time.
Oli bagged 1,840 votes against his nearest rival Bhim Rawal, who got 223 votes, registering a landslide victory in the party's 10th general convention held in Chitwan district.
Oli was re-elected as the party chief for the next five years.
Tel Aviv is the World's most Expensive City
According to a survey, Tel Aviv is the world's most expensive city to live in as soaring inflation has pushed up living costs globally.
The Israeli city climbed five rungs to score top place for the first time in the authoritative ranking compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The Worldwide Cost of Living Index is compiled by comparing prices in US dollars for goods and services in 173 cities.
Paris and Singapore came joint second, followed by Zurich and Hong Kong. New York was in sixth, with Geneva in seventh.
Rounding off the top 10 were Copenhagen in eighth, Los Angeles in ninth and Osaka, Japan, in 10th.
Honduras Votes in First Female President
Honduras looks set to elect its first female President, Xiomara Castro, after the ruling party conceded defeat.
Ms. Castro, the candidate for the left-wing Libre (Free) Party, has a preliminary lead of almost 20 percentage points over her rival.
Her victory will bring an end to the 12-year reign of the right-wing National Party, which has been plagued by scandals and corruption accusations.
Ms. Castro will replace the divisive President Juan Orlando Hernández.
He has been dogged by allegations of ties to the drugs trade after his brother Antonio was jailed for trafficking in the United States.
Nov 30, 2021
Caribbean Island Nation of Barbados Becomes World's Newest Republic
Barbados ditched Britain's Queen Elizabeth as head of state, forging a new republic with its first-ever president and severing its last remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived at the Caribbean island.
The new republic was born, shortly after Queen Elizabeth's royal standard was lowered over a crowded Heroes Square in Bridgetown.
After a dazzling display of Barbadian dance and music, complete with speeches celebrating the end of colonialism, Sandra Mason was sworn in as Barbados's first president in the shadow of Barbados's parliament.
Nov 29, 2021
Czech President Appoints New PM
Czech President Milos Zeman appointed opposition leader Petr Fiala as the country's new Prime Minister.
Zeman - who tested positive for coronavirus last week - made the appointment from inside a plexiglass box in a state room at his residence.
Under the Czech Constitution, the President is a figurehead, but he leads talks on forming a new government.
Last month's vote returned a surprise win for the opposition against Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
Governor Doria Wins Bid to Run for Brazil's Presidency
Brazil's Joao Doria won the primaries of his Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) to be their presidential candidate ahead of elections next year.
A businessman and former presenter of the Brazilian edition of "The Apprentice", Doria is currently governor of Sao Paulo. He presented himself as a third-way candidate, between the extremes of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist former leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The Brazilian center is increasingly congested with former corruption-busting federal judge Sergio Moro also expected to run next year.
Nov 28, 2021
India Elected to UNESCO World Heritage Panel
India was elected to the World Heritage Committee of the UN's cultural organisation for a four-year term, a week after the country was re-elected to the UNESCO Executive Board.
The committee is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States parties.
Kuwait Reappoints Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid as Prime Minister
Kuwait's Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid was reappointed Prime Minister and tasked with forming a cabinet that would be the Gulf OPEC oil producer's third this year in a domestic political standoff.
Sheikh Sabah, Prime Minister since late 2019, was reappointed by an Emiri order issued by Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah last week temporarily handed over some of his main constitutional duties to the crown prince, his designated successor, including naming the Prime Minister and swearing in the cabinet.
Nov 27, 2021
U.S. Threatens Escalation with Iran at IAEA Next Month
The United States threatened to confront Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency next month if it does not cooperate more with the watchdog - an escalation that could undermine talks on reviving a 2015 big-power deal with Iran.
Tehran is locked in several standoffs with the IAEA, whose 35-nation Board of Governors is holding a quarterly meeting.
Iran is denying the IAEA access to re-install surveillance cameras at a workshop at the TESA Karaj complex. The IAEA also wants answers on the origin of uranium particles found at apparently old but undeclared sites, and says Iran keeps subjecting its inspectors to excessively invasive physical searches.
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