Politics

Bloomberg Taiwan’s pro-independence leader, Tsai Ing-wen, has just over a year to win back public support if she wants to avoid going down in history as the island’s first one-term president. Her Democratic Progressive Party suffered a resounding loss to the China-friendly Kuomintang in local elections. The scale of the defeat was far greater than forecast, with the DPP losing ...

Bloomberg Switzerland overwhelmingly rejected a plan that could have caused a worsening of relations with the European Union by forcing the government in Bern to renegotiate international treaties. Two-thirds voters opposed the “self-determination” initiative, which argued for the constitution to take precedence over international law, potentially triggering revisions of treaties if there are conflicts. Polls had indicated a likely rejection. ...

Bloomberg European leaders gave Theresa May her Brexit deal but warned that the UK Parliament must vote for the plan as it stands because negotiations will not be reopened if British politicians reject it. On Sunday, the prime minister got her agreement on the UK’s divorce from the European Union at a special summit in Brussels, when the leaders of ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte pledged to keep “revolutionising” Italy after a working dinner with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker failed to break a long-running standoff over the populist government’s push to follow through on expensive election promises. At a Brexit summit of European Union leaders in Brussels on Sunday, Conte clearly had other concerns preying on his mind. The ...

Bloomberg Emmanuel Macron swept aside France’s traditional parties to win the presidency. He tamed unions as he reformed the labour market and income tax, all without much mass protest. Now though, his presidency is being shaken by a grassroots movement with no real leadership. Organised through social media, the so-called yellow jackets have shut down key transport links at times ...

Bloomberg Taiwanese voters delivered President Tsai Ing-wen’s party a resounding defeat in local elections Saturday, ousting it from several key strongholds. Opposition Kuomintang candidates claimed victory in mayoral races in the major cities of Kaohsiung and Taichung as well as the governor positions in Yilan, Changhua and Yunlin counties, traditionally seen as bastions of support for Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party. ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump said Mexico would be “very smart” to stop groups of Central American migrants before they reached the southern US border, and again laid the blame for US immigration problems on Democrats. The president took to Twitter a day after reports that his administration has struck a deal with Mexico’s incoming government that would mean Washington could use ...

Bloomberg A row between Spain and the UK over the British territory of Gibraltar threatened to overshadow a European Union summit aimed at endorsing Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Spanish officials said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez might not attend the gathering in Brussels on Sunday unless he gets guarantees first about how the disputed territory will be treated after Brexit. It’s ...

Bloomberg Police used tear gas and water cannons to control thousands of protesters on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, some of whom were setting fires, as a week-long series of demonstrations against higher gasoline taxes converged on the French capital. Among the protesters were members of far-right political movements who confronted riot police, according to Interior Minister Christophe Castaner. Police used ...

Bloomberg Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) tapped Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat as the de facto successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, kicking off the city-state’s third leadership transition in its 53-year history. Heng, 57, was named the PAP’s first assistant secretary-general — widely seen as second in command to Lee — at a meeting of the party’s ...