Bloomberg Meetings between US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and North Korean officials planned for later this week have been postponed, in a new sign of tension as the regime seeks sanctions relief before taking key disarmament steps. US State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that meetings with North Korean official Kim Yong Chol scheduled for Thursday ...
Read More »Politics
Australia vows to put Pacific at centre of strategic outlook
Bloomberg Prime Minister Scott Morrison is vowing to put the Pacific islands at the center of Australia’s strategic outlook, amid concerns its influence in the region is waning as China increases its diplomatic and economic presence. The pivot towards the region will see the Australian Defence Force create a Pacific Mobile Training Team to undertake more engagem- ent with other ...
Read More »UK’s May set to put Brexit plan to cabinet despite splits
Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May is preparing to ask the cabinet to approve a draft Brexit deal potentially within days, if she can overcome new resistance to her strategy from euroskeptic Tories in her team. During a cabinet meeting in London, ministers including the pro-Brexit campaigner Michael Gove demanded to see the full government legal advice underpinning a plan ...
Read More »Russia puts brave face on cancelled Putin-Trump talks
Bloomberg The Kremlin sought to limit damage from another apparent snub after plans fell through for a meeting in Paris between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US leader Donald Trump. Russian officials have pinned their hopes on personal contacts between the two leaders to help achieve a long-sought warming in relations with the US that plunged to their worst since ...
Read More »Plan to attack president Macron foiled as French police make arrests
Bloomberg French authorities probing a planned attack on President Emmanuel Macron made six arrests on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The planned attack on Macron was not well-defined at this stage, said the person, who asked not to be named as the status of the probe is confidential. A preliminary investigation is being run by Paris ...
Read More »Tunisia: President-PM rift widens over cabinet
Bloomberg Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi has rejected a cabinet reshuffle announced by the prime minister, escalating a political deadlock between the former allies as the government struggles to revive an economy saddled with high inflation and a financial crisis. Prime Minister Youssef Chahed announced the appointments in a speech on state television, in an effort to shore up support ...
Read More »â€˜Britain almost certain to end up with hard Brexit’
Bloomberg Veteran Labour politician Peter Mandelson expects the UK to end up with only loose ties to the European Union after leaving the bloc. “It’s almost certain that we’re going to end up with some form of hard Brexit,†Mandelson, who served in the governments of former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, told Bloomberg Television at the New ...
Read More »Trump seeks high court review of ending deportation shield
Bloomberg President Donald Trump’s administration asked the US Supreme Court to let him end deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants, urging the justices to take the unusual step of bypassing federal appeals courts to get the case resolved by next summer. The three connected appeals challenge federal trial court decisions that are blocking Trump from abolishing the programme, started by ...
Read More »Merkel’s party turns inward with ‘leadership contest’
Bloomberg Contenders to succeed German Chancellor Angela Merkel as party chief will criss-cross the country to campaign ahead of a convention in December, giving an early taste of the choices for the next potential leader of Europe’s pivotal country. The process agreed among the Christian Democratic Union’s leadership signals that Germany is headed for another inward-looking period as the post-Merkel ...
Read More »Pompeo defends Iran oil sanctions waivers
Bloomberg Secretary of State Michael Pompeo defended the temporary waivers granted to eight countries to continue buying Iranian crude oil for now against Congressional critics and others who say the US is being too lenient on the Islamic Republic. The comments on “Fox News Sunday†come a day before US sanctions on Iran’s energy and shipping are due to snap ...
Read More »