Bloomberg The UK should ensure it stays in a close and comprehensive customs agreement with the European Union, providing tariff-free trade in all goods after Brexit, according to the leader of a major business group. Remaining in a customs union with the EU will be far more valuable than striking trade deals elsewhere, Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the Confederation ...

Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc. completed its deal with SoftBank Group Corp., triggering a slate of governance reforms at the ride-hailing company. Uber shareholders sold about $8 billion at a discounted price to a group of investors led by SoftBank, making the Japanese conglomerate the largest shareholder. SoftBank also invested $1.25 billion directly into Uber at a valuation of about $70 ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc. is intensifying scrutiny of its pages to root out bogus news reports and other attempts to interfere with Italy’s general election in March, according to people familiar with the matter. The US company will allocate more resources to ensure users comply with its guidelines during the election campaign, two people said, asking not to be named because ...

Bloomberg Donald Trump woke up on the anniversary of his inauguration with the federal government shuttered, a development that seemed almost predictable after a year of tumult in Washington. “This is the One Year Anniversary of my Presidency and the Democrats wanted to give me a nice present,” the president said on Twitter early on January 20. He said in ...

Bloomberg Mike Pence arrived in the Middle East, leaving his boss to fight Democrats over a federal government shutdown while he makes good on a three-country visit aimed at consolidating US partnerships in the region. The vice president was still crossing the Atlantic Ocean on Air Force Two when the shutdown started. He quickly punched out a statement of disapproval ...

KABUL / Reuters Gunmen dressed in army uniforms who stormed Kabul’s Intercontinental Hotel battled Afghan Special Forces for 13 hours in an overnight siege that left at least five people dead, officials and witnesses said on Sunday. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which saw more than 150 guests flee, with some shimmying down tied-together sheets from upper-floor windows ...

Bloomberg An advance team for North Korea arrived in Seoul on Sunday as Pyongyang reversed a decision to cancel the visit, a day after signing an agreement with the South to march under a unified flag at next month’s Winter Olympics. North and South Korea solidified plans to march together and agreed to compete with a joint wom-en’s ice hockey ...

Bloomberg China’s National Defense Ministry said the US should abandon a “Cold War” mindset and view Chinese national security and military efforts “rationally and objectively.” The instigators of militarisation of the South China Sea are “other countries” that don’t seem to want to see peace in the region and are using the banner of “navigational freedom” to undertake military activities ...

Bloomberg South Africa’s ruling party is intensifying pressure on Presid-ent Jacob Zuma to step down and allow his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, to accelerate his efforts to stamp out corruption and restore investor confidence in the economy. The African National Congress’s top leadership decided at a meeting that Zuma, 75, must leave office but didn’t set a deadline for his exit, ...

BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region’s Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani for the first time since conflict broke out over a Kurdish independence referendum, officials said. The Kurdish referendum on Sept. 25, which produced an overwhelming ‘yes’ for independence, angered Baghdad and Iraq’s neighbours Turkey and Iran, which have their own restive Kurdish ...