Politics

Bloomberg Israel’s parliament passed an amendment on Tuesday that would make it harder for it to cede control over parts of Jerusalem in any peace deal with the Palestinians, who condemned the move as undermining any chance to revive talks on statehood. The legislation, sponsored by the far-right Jewish Home coalition party, raises to 80 from 61 the number of ...

Bloomberg The European Union can’t pick and choose which bits of its economic relationship with Britain it maintains and which it eliminates in any future trade deal, UK Brexit Secretary David Davis said, throwing the words of EU diplomats back at them. Post-Brexit trade talks are due to start in March, with a year remaining until Britain’s scheduled exit day ...

Bloomberg The Trump administration’s national security strategy calls for a more aggressive approach toward stopping a North Korean missile strike on the US: knocking the weapons out prior to launch. But it’s unclear that the US has the technology or on-the-ground intelligence to effectively carry out a preemptive strike in that kind of crisis situation. And if it fails, the ...

DUBAI / Agencies The death toll in a wave of protests that have agitated Iran over the past five days climbed, as security forces clashed with demonstrators rallying in a rare show of displeasure with the country’s leaders. As many as a dozen people may have died. Calls for more demonstrations raise the possibility of prolonged instability. “In the events ...

Bloomberg After a year filled with nuclear provocations that raised fears of a devastating war in Northeast Asia, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un started 2018 on an optimistic note. His call for talks to ensure the success of the Winter Olympics in South Korea next month — and improve overall inter-Korean relations — represented a tactical shift for a ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she’ll team up with France to hold the European Union together and pledged to form her next government “without delay.” Merkel outlined a vision for her fourth term that includes an alliance with French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen Europe’s economic clout and control migration, while upholding values of tolerance and pluralism within the ...

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May is planning to make major changes to her cabinet in the new year, possibly sacking as many as five ministers, according to the Sunday Times. May has decided to bring younger members of Parliament into her government as part of a series of steps aimed at convincing voters she can do more than Brexit, ...

Bloomberg Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy set in motion the process for convening a new Catalan parliament and said he wouldn’t allow a new separatist administration to blackmail his government. A session to swear in lawmakers in Barcelona will take place on Jan. 17 before a vote days later to appoint a new regional president if there is a candidate, ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s top court found that parliament failed to hold President Jacob Zuma to account for his role in a scandal involving the misuse of public funds on his private home and ordered it to draft rules governing the circumstances under which he could be removed from office. “The assembly did not hold the president to account as was ...

Bloomberg Almost two dozen government troops were killed in South Sudan during fighting, just a day after a cease-fire agreement came into effect, according to the main rebel group. The nation’s army and rebels last week agreed to cease hostilities from midnight December 24, in a bid to end three years of violence that’s claimed tens of thousands of lives ...