Bloomberg The US Virgin Islands expects to receive $800 million in emergency loans from the $36.5 billion storm aid bill approved by Congress earlier this month, Governor Kenneth Mapp said. The first draw down will occur over the next 10 to 15 days and will go towards rebuilding essential infrastructure such as hospitals and its water and power systems. The ...

Bloomberg Facebook Inc., Google and Twitter Inc.— technology powerhouses actively cultivating their influence in Washington—received an unaccustomed grilling and even ridicule in their first appearance before Congress over Russian meddling in last year’s presidential campaign. Two hearings on Wednesday might bring more of the same for top attorneys from the companies, who were forced to acknowledge to a Senate Judiciary ...

Bloomberg The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator said he’s ready to intensify the pace of talks with the UK, as the window of opportunity to begin trade talks this year is closing. “I’m ready to speed up negotiations,” Michel Barnier told reporters in the Slovak capital Bratislava on Tuesday. “We have proposed three dates, three weeks of new rounds of ...

Bloomberg President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Homeland Security to bolster the vetting of immigrants coming into the US after an Uzbek man allegedly drove a truck down a bike path in New York, killing eight and injuring almost a dozen more. “I have just ordered Homeland Security to step up our already Extreme Vetting Program. Being politically correct ...

Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Wednesday for meetings with Iran’s top leaders as Moscow voices increasing criticism of US President Trump’s move away from the nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic. Putin will hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that will focus on the nuclear issue and economic ties, the ...

Bloomberg Kenya’s main opposition alliance said it won’t challenge the results that gave President Uhuru Kenyatta a landslide victory in last week’s disputed election rerun in court and instead vowed to mobilize its supporters to press for a another vote. “This election must not stand,” opposition leader Raila Odinga told reporters in Nairobi, the capital. “If allowed to stand, it ...

Bloomberg Ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was summoned to a Spanish court on suspicion of sedition, forcing the rebel leader to choose between a possible 30-year jail term and life as a leader in exile. Puigdemont fled to Brussels after Spain seized control of his semi-autonomous government in response to Catalonia’s declaration of independence. While members of his team who ...

President Xi Jinping’s command at this month’s Communist Party gathering was so complete that President Trump likened him to a ‘king.’ But some China analysts are wondering whether Xi has overreached. Xi dominated the stage, literally and figuratively, at the party’s 19th Congress, which ended this week in Beijing. He consolidation of power has nearly erased the collective leadership style ...

Financial regulators in the European Union are grappling on several fronts with problems in their banking system. They’ve made some progress, but there’s a pattern: The proposals fall short. Plans for EU-wide deposit insurance have been watered down. The system for resolving failing banks is underfunded. And now controversy has arisen over new rules for dealing with bad loans — ...

Having burned through almost 14,000 square miles of western forest, killed dozens of people, and cost federal agencies almost $3 billion, this year’s extensive wildfires have had one positive effect: They’ve gotten Democrats and Republicans in Congress finally to act. Senators from Washington, Oregon and Idaho have introduced legislation that would let timber companies clear brush and harvest trees from ...