Politics

Bloomberg UK Prime Minister Theresa May is stuck in a Brexit stand-off as European leaders set her a deadl- ine to give ground on the exit bill and the future of the Irish border if talks are to move on to trade before next year. “I made clear to Theresa May that this progress needs to happen at the beginning ...

Bloomberg Catalan separatist voters are standing by their political leaders despite the disappointments and broken promises of the past month, according to pollster Narciso Michavila. After weeks of protests and the decision by more than 2,000 firms to move their legal base from the region, the group led by ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and its two pro-independence allies may ...

Bloomberg North Korea hasn’t secured the key technologies needed to build ballistic missile that can survive a return through the atmosphere, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. An official from South Korea’s top spy agency told lawmakers that Pyongyang’s missile program still faced the barrier, Yonhap reported, citing a “parliamentary source.” Building a vehicle that can protect warheads from ...

Bloomberg Robert Mugabe’s 37-year grip on political power in Zimbabwe is all but over. The ruling party’s 10 provincial co-coordinating committees resolved to oust the 93-year-old president, a decision that’s set to be ratified by its central executive as early as this weekend. The nation’s parliament is due to reconvene on Tuesday and could impeach him should he refuse to ...

Bloomberg Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is at risk of losing his one-seat parliamentary majority with a new poll showing the ruling Liberal-National coalition running neck and neck with the opposition Labor Party in a by-election in the Bennelong district of Sydney to be held on December 16. The by-election came after incumbent Liberal MP John Alexander resigned because of ...

Bloomberg European officials have identified summits early next year where they could seek a breakthrough in Brexit talks, as the European side is bracing for a crunch meeting in December to end in failure, three people familiar with the negotiations said. The view in Brussels is that it’s up to the UK to make concessions before the EU will agree ...

Bloomberg Chinese President Xi Jinping is dispatching a special envoy to visit North Korea this week, shortly after he hosted US counterpart Donald Trump in Beijing. Song Tao, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department, will visit Pyongyang on Friday to brief North Korean officials about last month’s once-in-five-year leadership reshuffle, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. ...

Bloomberg Thailand said it remains on course for elections next year and that curbs on political parties will soon be eased, as pressure mounts on the military government to roll back restrictions on campaigning. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said last month a vote will be held in November 2018, though analysts are concerned the military will seek to retain power. ...

Bloomberg Kenya is facing an economic storm in 2018 in the aftermath of two disputed elections. Saddled with the triple threat of austerity measures to pay for those votes, slowing credit growth and new accounting rules for banks, Kenya now risks missing the government’s forecast for 6 percent economic growth next year, according to lenders including Nairobi-based Stanbic Bank Kenya ...

Bloomberg The armed forces seized power in Zimbabwe after a week of confrontation with President Robert Mugabe’s government and said the action was needed to stave off violent conflict in the southern African nation that he’s ruled since 1980. The Zimbabwe Defense Forces will guarantee the safety of Mugabe, 93, and his family and is only “targeting criminals around him ...