Politics

Bloomberg Theresa May’s government will step up its diplomatic efforts to win over skeptical European leaders as part of the UK’s drive to push stalled Brexit talks forward from discussing divorce to the future of trade. Brexit Secretary David Davis plans meetings in London and various EU capitals with senior officials from Germany and elsewhere, amid concerns that some member ...

Bloomberg One is China’s most reliable political springboard, the other is its largest regional economy. Both got new party chiefs in a weekend reshuffle that expands President Xi Jinping’s options for remaking the top leadership. Li Qiang, 58, a one-time top Xi aide, was appointed Communist Party secretary of the eastern financial hub of Shanghai on Sunday, the official Xinhua ...

Bloomberg Carles Puigdemont, the self-styled “president of the Catalan Republic,” failed to show his face at the government’s headquarters on Monday as Spanish officials tightened their grip on the rebel region. A few ousted Catalan officials posted pictures on social media of their arrival at work in a show of defiance after being fired by the Spanish government on Friday. ...

Bloomberg Reverend David Mwinamo spent Sunday praying with his congregation for a speedy end to Kenya’s protracted presidential election that’s cast the East African nation into crisis. Two votes since August have failed to produce consensus on who should lead the East African economic powerhouse of about 47 million people. President Uhuru Kenyatta claims a mandate from this month’s rerun ...

Bloomberg Iceland’s election delivered a path to power for the nation’s charismatic left-wing leader, Katrin Jakobsdottir, after a spate of scandals soured voters on the ruling conservatives. Saturday’s vote handed a potential center-left coalition a narrow majority, making the Left Green leader the most likely to get the nod to form a government, according to Stefanía Oskarsdottir, an assistant professor ...

Bloomberg A US grand jury has approved the first charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with Donald Trump’s campaign, according to multiple news reports. The charges are sealed under orders from a federal judge and it’s unclear who’s implicated, CNN reported, adding that arrests could come as soon ...

Bloomberg An uneasy calm prevailed in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and the west of the country after two days of running battles between the security forces and supporters of the main opposition, which boycotted a court-ordered repeat of presidential elections. Opposition leader Raila Odinga pulled out of the October 26 rerun, after the electoral commission failed to heed his demands to ...

Bloomberg At least 26 people were killed on Saturday when al-Shabaab militants detonated two car bombs in Mogadishu, according to police in the capital of the horn of Africa nation. Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo was expected to hold a meeting with feuding politicians at Nasahablod Hotel where the first car bomb exploded, while the second blast occurred near the ...

Bloomberg Normal weekend routines like shopping, soccer and strolling prevailed in Catalonia even as the first test of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s decision to take over the breakaway region approached, with Catalans weighing compliance versus defiance. When schools and government offices open on Monday, teachers and civil servants will decide whether to follow the ousted Catalan leaders’ calls to ...

Bloomberg Iceland faces politically tumultuous times after the conservative ruling party emerged weakened in a snap vote, with new parties entering parliament in the nation’s third election in four years. The Independence Party will win about 25.3 percent of the vote, down from 29 percent last year, a count of about 45 percent of the vote showed. Its closest challenger, ...