Politics

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel heads into potentially laborious talks this week to form a national government weakened after her Christian Democratic Union suffered a defeat in Volkswagen AG’s home state. Three weeks after Merkel’s CDU won the federal ballot, her party posted its worst election result in Lower Saxony since 1959 and lost in the state to the Social ...

Bloomberg South Korean military officials are readying for another possible missile launch by Pyongyang as they prepare for a joint military drill with the US on the disputed peninsula this week. Multiple South Korean media reports citing unidentified military officials on Saturday and Sunday said North Korean missile vehicles “kept appearing and disappearing” from the map and “transporter erector launchers” ...

Bloomberg Lawmakers in the UK House of Commons are holding cross-party talks in a bid to stop Prime Minister Theresa May from leaving the European Union without a trade deal, the main opposition Labour Party’s finance spokesman said. “It’s not going to happen,” John McDonnell told BBC Television’s “Andrew Marr Show” on Sunday. “I don’t think there’s a majority in ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union suffered a defeat on Sunday in Volkswagen AG’s home state in a contest that underscored her party’s weakened position as she begins potentially laborious talks to form her next national government. Three weeks after Merkel’s CDU won the federal ballot, her party posted its worst result in Lower Saxony since 1959 and ...

Bloomberg Venezuelans began vote in 23 governors races on Sunday, with opponents of President Nicolas Maduro widely expected to deal a blow to the ruling socialist regime by taking leadership in states long dominated by the government. Maduro, heir to the office held by strongman Hugo Chavez, called elections to release tensions after months of bloody protests, and to dispel ...

Bloomberg Austrian voters gave 31-year-old conservative Sebastian Kurz a mandate to form a new government in an election on Sunday, setting up a potential coalition with the nationalist Freedom Party, according to projections based on partial returns. Kurz’s People’s Party took as much as 31 percent of the vote, with the Freedom Party polling as much 27.6 percent, according to ...

KOBANI / Reuters Almost three years after Kurdish fighters defeated IS in the Syrian town of Kobani, residents still mourn the dead and feel abandoned by their foreign allies as they struggle to rebuild. IS’s defeat in predominately Kurdish Kobani in early 2015 helped turn the tide against the ultra-militant group and marked the start of a more open US ...

WASHINGTON / Reuters The strategy that President Donald Trump has laid out to confront Iran and renegotiate a 2015 nuclear agreement requires a string of big bets to pay off in short order. The risk of failure is enormous. A hostile Congress must agree to pass legislation to toughen the terms of the accord. European allies with little appetite to ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump says those challenging the latest version of his travel ban in court can’t see a report explaining why he targeted immigrants from seven nations because it’s secret. The government on Friday told a Hawaii federal judge who demanded disclosure of the report that it’s classified and should remain off-limits as evidence in the court battle. That ...

BAGHDAD / Reuters Tension flared on Saturday in the ethnically mixed Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmatu after a clash between Kurdish and Shi’ite Turkmen political parties divided over the independence of the Kurdistan region, security sources said on Saturday. A dozen Kurdish families were displaced from the predominantly Turkmen district of Askari to Kurdish neighbourhoods of the town, after the ...