Politics

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s attempt to give her government a 2018 reboot was marred by a chaotic cabinet reshuffle as senior ministers refused to follow her orders. It’s a development that bodes ill for her ability to successfully navigate the next, even trickier stage of Brexit talks. May’s office flagged the events as “a refresh” of her top ...

AMMAN / Reuters Jordan said it had foiled an IS plot that included plans for a series of attacks last November on security installations, shopping malls and moderate religious figures, state media reported. State news agency Petra said the country’s intelligence department had arrested 17 members of a cell and confiscated weapons and explosives that the militant group had planned ...

TUNIS / Reuters One person was killed during clashes between security forces and protesters in a Tunisian town, the government said, as demonstrations over rising prices and tax increases spread in the North African country. A man was killed during a protest against government austerity measures in Tebourba, 40 km (25 miles) west of Tunis, the interior ministry said in ...

Bloomberg North Korea said it would send a high-level delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month while expressing a desire to resolve issues on the divided peninsula through dialogue and negotiations. Kim Jong Un’s regime plans to send officials, athletes, a cheering squad, art performers, observers, martial artists and reporters to the Games, South Korea Vice Unification ...

BEIJING / Reuters Lashing winds, high waves and toxic gases are hindering dozens of rescue boats struggling to locate missing sailors from a stricken oil tanker in the East China Sea and to extinguish a fire that has burned for the past three days on the ship. The poor conditions, with strong winds, rain and waves as high as 3 ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s combination of political polarization and passion for social media offers fertile ground for fake news in the run-up to this year’s elections, leading fact checkers have warned. Claire Wardle, a Harvard fellow and the director of an organization that coordinated fact-checking efforts during the French and UK elections, said political division combined with widespread use of WhatsApp, a ...

WASHINGTON / Reuters US Vice President Mike Pence will visit Egypt, Jordan and Israel from January 20 to 23, the White House said, embarking on a tour originally planned for last month after President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Pence will hold talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister ...

Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron called for an overhaul to relations between China and the European Union, pushing for more balanced trade ties while embracing President Xi Jinping’s signature infrastructure push. Speaking on Monday in the ancient imperial capital of Xian, the eastern departure point of the Silk Road trade route, Macron repeated a call for “reciprocity” in trade ties ...

Bloomberg South Korean officials will face a challenge as tough as any Olympic feat this week: Drawing the North Koreans back to talks without undermining the US’s hard line against Kim Jong Un. The neighbours are slated to hold their first high-level meeting in more than two years at 10 am on Tuesday at Panmunjom, a border village where the ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Theresa May began an overhaul of senior ministers on Monday, stamping her authority on the UK government at the start of high-pressure year for Brexit. Boris Johnson stays on as Foreign Secretary, as widely predicted. Johnson, who led the official campaign to take Britain out of the EU in the 2016 referendum, is seen as May’s biggest ...