Bloomberg Brexit Secretary David Davis suggested the thorny question of how to avoid a hard border with Ireland might still not be resolved when the UK leaves the European Union next March. He said a solution for the border won’t really be needed until the end of the Brexit transition period on January 1, 2021 because the UK will effectively ...
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Serb president delays Kosovo deadline to give a better shot
Bloomberg Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said a deal with Kosovo, the biggest hurdle to his country joining the European Union, isn’t imminent as both sides remain far apart, forcing him to delay his goal to unveil the proposal within weeks. Vucic said more time was needed to get world powers — including the EU and the US — to pressure ...
Read More »Trump’s travel ban reaches high court amid claims of Muslim bias
Bloomberg The US Supreme Court will directly confront President Donald Trump’s travel ban for the first time with arguments being made in a case that could redefine the president’s power to control the nation’s borders. Four months after letting the ban take full effect during the litigation, the justices were expected to weigh opponents’ contentions that the policy unconstitutionally singles ...
Read More »Macron’s pitch to Trump on ‘new’ Iran N-deal surprises EU allies
Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron is pushing the limits of international diplomacy, as his last-ditch appeal to salvage the Iran nuclear deal wrong-footed European allies and was met with intransigence by US President Donald Trump. Macron, who has sought to cultivate a personal bond with Trump, made his Iran pitch the centerpiece of his visit to the White House. If ...
Read More »Ten dead in worst Canadian mass killing in almost 30 years
Bloomberg A driver plowed a rental van through a crowd of pedestrians on a busy Toronto sidewalk on April 23, killing 10 and injuring 15, in Canada’s worst mass killing in almost three decades. A 25-year-old man was arrested after a lone policeman unwaveringly stared down the agitated suspect — clothed head to toe in black — who appeared to ...
Read More »Senate panel approves Pompeo nomination for secretary of state
Bloomberg A divided Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in favour of Mike Pompeo to be the next secretary of state, paving the way for the CIA director to gain approval from the full Senate later this week and handing a victory to President Donald Trump. The committee backed Pompeo’s nomination after Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, reversed his earlier ...
Read More »Trump warns Iran against restarting nuke programme
Bloomberg President Donald Trump warned Iran not to restart its nuclear program as French President Emmanuel Macron urged him to remain in the international agreement curbing the Islamic Republic’s atomic efforts. Trump made his differences with Macron clear from the outset of a state visit on Tuesday, beginning an Oval Office meeting by saying the Iran deal was “insane, ridiculous, ...
Read More »Italy picks new mediator in search for majority
Bloomberg Italian President Sergio Mattarella asked lower house Speaker Roberto Fico to find out whether the anti-establishment Five Star Movement could govern with the center-left Democratic Party, in the latest attempt to break a seven-week impasse. The head of state appointed 43-year-old Fico, from Five Star, to hold talks on his behalf and report back to him by Thursday. Senate ...
Read More »Mueller reviewed Manafort testimony on Russian Deripaska
Bloomberg Special Counsel Robert Mueller and FBI agents seized tens of thousands of items from the home of Paul Manafort and have also reviewed testimony that he gave in a civil lawsuit about a protracted business dispute with Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, disclosed his review of the Deripaska-related testimony in ...
Read More »Ukraine leads agenda as G-7 ministers gather sans Pompeo
Bloomberg The latest Group of Seven (G7) meetings have begun with a focus on Russia’s actions in Ukraine, an issue Canada’s foreign minister knows well. Chrystia Freeland, a lawmaker of Ukrainian descent who is banned from Russia, kicked off the meeting of foreign ministers by hosting them for brunch — waffles, eggs, a cake, served by her children in her ...
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