The future of Britain's exit from the EU hangs in the balance today,as lawmakers prepare to vote on a Brexit divorce deal. Prime Minister Theresa May rushed to Strasbourg yesterday to agree "legally binding" assurances with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, which lawmakers are studying and will vote on tonight. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has said the legal risks of her tweaked deal remain unchanged from the deal parliament voted against on January 15th. Today’s vote is due around 3:00 ET.
Venezuela’s opposition-run congress has declared a “state of alarm”over a five-day power blackout that has crippled the OPEC member country’s oil exports and left millions of citizens scrambling to find food and water. The outage has added to discontent in a country already suffering from hyperinflation and a political crisis after opposition leader Juan Guaido assumed the interim presidency in January after declaring Maduro’s 2018 re-election a fraud.
U.S. Politics
President Donald Trump's budget plancalled for spending more U.S. taxpayer money on the military and a U.S.-Mexico border wall, while overhauling social safety-net programs in his budget plan. The plan is likely to die in Congress but live on in his 2020 re-election campaign.
Former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourkeis heading to the early presidential voting state of Iowa this weekend, fuelling speculation that the Democrat is poised to enter the White House race. O’Rourke said last week he had made a decision about whether to seek the Democratic nomination for president. The trip to Iowa, where the first votes in the nominating contest will be cast in February, suggests his entry into the race is imminent.
A momentous question hanging over Washingtonis whether investigations into President Donald Trump will prompt the U.S. Congress to try to remove him from office through the impeachment process set out in the U.S. Constitution. The answer could be significantly influenced by the clock. An emerging sentiment among some lawmakers is that by the time a president is nearing or in the last year of a four-year term, voters in the next election, not Congress, should determine whether he stays or goes.
Thousands have protested across Algeria,demanding immediate political changes. The events occurred a day after ailing President Abelaziz Bouteflika abandoned his bid for a fifth term in power, but stopped short of stepping down. Bouteflika, 82, bowed to weeks of mass demonstrations against his 20-year rule on Monday and promised a transition to a new leadership. But he postponed elections scheduled for April, meaning he will likely remain in power for some time.
Volkswagen said it will cut jobs as it launches almost 70 new electric models by 2028, accelerating its rollout of zero-emission cars as earnings revealed the operating margin at its core brand had taken a hit.
Big Japanese firms are set to offer smaller pay increases this year at annual wage talks on Wednesday as the economy sputters, tempering hopes that domestic consumption will offset external risks to growth.
The chief executives of T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp, which are seeking to merge, head back to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to defend their planned $26 billion deal. The agreement to combine the No. 3 and No. 4 U.S. wireless carriers was approved by both companies’ shareholders in October and has received national security clearance, but needs approval from the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission.
