Politics

Bloomberg Liberians vote on Tuesday to choose a new legislature as well as a president to replace Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf from among 20 candidates who include a retired soccer star, a former warlord and a wealthy chicken farmer. Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female president who’s governed the impoverished nation for 12 years, has thrown her ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump demanded that Congress deliver funding for his border wall and make dramatic changes to immigration policy in exchange for letting young people brought illegally to the US as children stay in the country. The administration’s proposal, outlined in a briefing by US officials and sent to lawmakers night, was swiftly rejected by top Democrats in Congress, ...

Bloomberg The UK set out contingency plans for leaving the EU without a new Brexit deal on customs, as PM Theresa May warned that Britain must prepare for the worst. A planned Customs Bill will create a new “standalone” customs regime for the UK, and ensure value-added tax and excise laws continue to function if the country crashes out of ...

Bloomberg A growing diplomatic dispute between the US and Turkey could have a “deep impact” on trade, according to a group that promotes bilateral commerce and that called for both sides to defuse the standoff. The decisions by Washington and Ankara to suspend visa services for each other’s citizens create headaches for US companies with significant business interests in Turkey, ...

Bloomberg Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, leader of Japan’s nascent opposition Party of Hope, said on Monday that she’s unsure whether President Donald Trump’s administration is stable even while affirming the importance of the US-Japan alliance. Koike, 65, told Bloomberg in an interview that Trump’s White House may be unstable because of the many changes in personnel since the president took ...

Bloomberg German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she’ll begin exploratory coalition talks next week with the Greens and the pro-market Free Democrats, the first step toward a possible new government for Europe’s biggest economy. Just over two weeks after winning a fourth term, Merkel plans to start on October 18 with what’s likely to be a complex negotiation with two smaller ...

Bloomberg Spain warned Catalonia it risks economic chaos should the rebel region continue with its pursuit of independence, with the government in Madrid saying it stood ready to intervene and reassert control. As the standoff heads into a critical few days, Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaría said ministers were ready to stop Catalan President Carles Puigdemont. Spanish Energy ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump is weighing a new strategy to confront Iran’s nuclear ambitions that would leave a 2015 agreement intact for now but ask Congress to toughen a law overseeing the Islamic Republic’s compliance with the accord, according to three administration officials. The goal behind the strategy, which Trump is expected to announce next week, would be to present ...

Bloomberg US lawmakers pledged to back Puerto Rico’s recovery as Governor Ricardo Rossello prepares to request a multibillion dollar Congressional aid package to help rebuild from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria. Rossello said his government would make a request to Congress by January for long-term assistance. The US territory continues to dig out after the Category 5 storm left ...

Bloomberg Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon appealed across the political divide to help keep Britain in the single market after it leaves the European Union. Speaking as her Scottish National Party begins its annual conference in Glasgow, Sturgeon said the British government’s plan to leave the single market would inflict “monumental damage” on all parts of the UK. “Let’s stay ...