Politics

Bloomberg Ireland is well on its way to meeting its objectives in the Brexit negotiations, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said, as the European Union and the UK approach a deadline for moving on to talks about their future trading relationship. A day after European Commission President Donald Tusk said the EU would consult with Ireland before deciding whether to allow ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel and the leader of the Social Democrats, Martin Schulz, agreed to keep talking as they stepped up joint efforts to break an impasse over forming Germany’s next government. Merkel told her Christian Democratic Union party’s board during a call that she and Schulz would continue to hold discussions on a way out of the political stalemate, ...

Bloomberg House Republicans announced a plan to pass a two-week extension of federal government funding without Democratic votes and avoid a shutdown on December 8. The legislation would push the next deadline to the Friday before Christmas, giving House and Senate lawmakers time to knit together their respective tax-cutting bills into a single piece of legislation to present to President ...

Bloomberg Barnaby Joyce will return to parliament as Australia’s deputy prime minister after winning a special election, five weeks after he was forced to step down for being a dual national in breach of the constitution. Joyce, 50, claimed victory in the rural seat of New England, winning 63 percent of the vote to 11 percent for his nearest rival ...

Bloomberg Hillary Clinton hit out at both US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in remarks via video to a conference in Beijing. Clinton, a former secretary of state, said the Trump administration had retreated from diplomacy. She called on both the US and China to avoid “bluster” or “personal taunts” in dealing with North Korea, and said ...

Bloomberg Mexico Finance Minister Jose Antonio Meade resigned, stoking speculation that he will become the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party’s candidate for president in 2018 elections. Meade’s resignation was announced during a speech by President Enrique Pena Nieto at the Los Pinos residence in Mexico City. The president also said Pemex CEO, Jose Antonio Gonzalez Anaya, will leave his post to ...

BEIRUT / GENEVA / Reuters A Syrian government delegation will arrive in Geneva on Wednesday, a day later than expected, to attend peace talks being held there this week, Syrian state news agency SANA said. The delegation had delayed its plan- ned departure for the talks, which began on Tuesday, because of the opposition’s insistence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ...

BAGHDAD / Reuters Two attackers shot several civilians in the Nahrawan area southeast of Baghdad before one blew himself up and the other was killed by security forces, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said, without providing official casualty figures. Local media reported at least 17 people were killed and 28 wounded. IS claimed responsibility for the att- ack, described by an ...

Bloomberg Japan received radio signals suggesting that North Korea may be preparing for a missile launch test, Kyodo News reported, citing multiple government officials. Japan didn’t specify the type of possible missile, according to the news service. Any radio signals could be from winter training by North Korea’s military, Kyodo said. Separately, Yonhap reported that the US continues to watch ...

Bloomberg The controversy engulfing the Irish government and threatening Brexit talks escalated, as the release of a cache of emails threatened to further undermine the nation’s deputy leader and bring an election closer. Deputy Prime Minister Frances Fitzgerald faces a no-confidence vote in Dublin over her handling of a whistle blower controversy that could pull down the minority government. In ...