Bloomberg The anti-establishment party Podemos is poised to become a key part of the puzzle when Catalan politicians come to piece together a new government after this month’s regional election. Polls suggest it’s a toss-up whether the three Catalan separatists parties retain their majority after the vote on December 21. If they fall short, Podemos’s Catalan ally, known as Catalunya …

Bloomberg The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government recruited fighters from a rebellion it defeated in 2013 to suppress protests by opponents of President Joseph Kabila in December last year, Human Rights Watch said. Senior Congolese security officials mobilized “at least 200 and likely many more” M23 combatants from camps in Rwanda and Uganda, where many fighters have been based since …

Bloomberg Shares of US banks and industrial conglomerates rallied and the dollar strengthened after progress on the Republican tax-overhaul plan spurred bets on higher corporate earnings, while technology shares slumped. Gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were led by companies that stand to be big winners from the tax overhaul. An index of the biggest tech …