British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker for talks Monday insisting a Brexit deal is possible, despite deep scepticism from European capitals with just six weeks to go before departure day. After a weekend in which he compared himself to comic book super-smasher Hulk, the British leader will enjoy a genteel working lunch of snails and salmon in Luxembourg with the EU Commission president. Downing Street has confidently billed the Luxembourg visit as part of efforts to negotiate an orderly divorce from the union before an October 17 EU summit.

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 06:56:35 -0400

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday to annex "all the settlements" in the West Bank, including an enclave deep in the heart of the largest Palestinian city, in a last-ditch move that appeared aimed at shoring up nationalist support the day before a do-over election. Locked in a razor tight race and with legal woes hanging over him, Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival. "I intend to extend sovereignty on all the settlements and the (settlement) blocs," including "sites that have security importance or are important to Israel's heritage," Netanyahu said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio, part of an eleventh-hour media blitz.

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 06:41:04 -0400

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, meeting Monday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg, Johnson has warned he wants Britain to leave the EU on Oct. 31 with or without a deal. Beyrer, however, said he hopes Johnson will come up with new "viable" options for an orderly Brexit.

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 06:37:43 -0400

(Bloomberg) -- Follow @Brexit, sign up to our Brexit Bulletin, and tell us your Brexit story. Boris Johnson and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker are holding their first face-to-face talks over a working lunch of snails, salmon and cheese in Luxembourg.While a breakthrough is unlikely, the British prime minister said he’s pushing hard for a deal in the next month. But he will warn Juncker he will reject any further delay to Brexit beyond the end of October.If no agreement is reached at the next summit of EU leaders on Oct 17-18, Johnson is set to pursue a course of leaving the bloc without one, in defiance of a new law designed to force him to seek an extension to the deadline. Johnson’s team expect the legal battle will go to court.Key Developments:Johnson is meeting Juncker for lunch, and will hold press conference with Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel later Juncker says Johnson needs to present detailed plans as time is running outU.K. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says EU must show flexibility to get a dealLabour Defector Umunna Gets Lib Dem Cheers (11:20 a.m.)Loud cheers greeted Chuka Umunna as he took to the stage at the Liberal Democrats’ annual conference in Bournemouth. The defector from the main opposition Labour Party opened with an unashamedly pro-European message, and said he couldn’t feel more welcome in his new party.Brexit is “the battle of our times,” he said, trumpeting the policy agreed by the Liberal Democrats on Sunday that if the party comes out on top in the next general election, they’ll call off Britain’s departure from the European Union.He said the Liberal Democrats will take seats off the ruling Conservatives in every part of the country at the next election, and also attacked Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who Umunna said was relaxed about Brexit.Liberal Democrat luminaries including party leader Jo Swinson and former leader Menzies Campbell sat in the front row -- alongside Angela Smith, Umunna’s fellow defector from Labour. At the end of his 20-minute speech, he received a standing ovation and came off the stage to hug Swinson.Johnson, Juncker, Barnier Arrive for Lunch Meeting (11 a.m.)Boris Johnson, Jean-Claude Juncker and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier have arrived at “Le Bouquet Garni” restaurant in the center of Luxembourg for their lunch meeting.Asked by waiting reporters about the likely outcome, Juncker replied only: “We will see.”Johnson and Juncker shook hands and posed for photographs beforehand, with anti-Brexit protesters gathered nearby.Brexit Deal Is ‘Imperative’: U.K. Minister (10:15 a.m.)Getting a Brexit deal is an “absolute imperative” for the British government, City Minister John Glen said in an interview with Bloomberg TV, though he added the administration is also focused on leaving the European Union on Oct. 31 and has done an “enormous amount” of no-deal planning.“We’ve got to get a clear resolution so that businesses can plan,” Glen said.Finland: No-Deal Brexit Is ‘Going to Happen’ (9:40 a.m.)In an interview with CNBC, Finnish Prime Minister Antti Rinne said the European Union must accept that a no-deal Brexit is “going to happen.”Rinne said he told his British counterpart Boris Johnson “some weeks ago” that the only Brexit deal available is the one negotiated with his predecessor, Theresa May, and there is little appetite in the EU for an extension beyond Oct. 31 “if there is no possibility to see a new solution.”“I hope if he’s going to ask for more time it means that he has something to say,” Rinne said of Johnson.Lib Dems: We Can Stop Brexit (8:25 a.m.)Jo Swinson, leader of the U.K.’s pro-EU Liberal Democrats, said she believed it’s still possible to stop Brexit and will work to achieve this.She declined to say whether her party would campaign to rejoin the European Union if an election takes place after the U.K. has left the bloc.The Lib Dems, who are holding their annual conference, are a small but growing opposition party. They have benefited from MPs defecting to join them as Brexit splits the two larger parties, most recently with the arrival of former Tory leadership candidate Sam Gyimah.EU Must Show Flexibility, Raab Says (7:40 a.m.)Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that Johnson’s message to the European Union on Monday will be: “We will go for the deal, but we are also going to be very clear with our EU partners that we are leaving at the end of October.”In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Raab suggested Johnson won’t be taking detailed proposals to change the issues around the Irish border that Britain objects to. “There’ll be a tendency to try and rubbish things we put forward in order to try and exact further demands,” he said. “We’re not going to get involved with that.”He said the U.K. didn’t want to “play into the posturing that accompany any negotiations.” Raab ruled out asking for any more extensions to the proposed transition period, currently scheduled to finish at the end of 2020. He said Britain wanted “finality.”Asked if the government would obey the law passed by Parliament this month to force Johnson to seek an extension to negotiations if he doesn’t have a deal, Raab said there was no question of disobeying the law, but that the law itself was “deeply flawed.”Earlier:Johnson Talks Up a Brexit Deal as He Heads for Juncker Meeting‘Order, Order!’: U.K. Parliament Speaker Isn’t Bowing Out MeeklyTo Prorogue or Not to Prorogue, Top Judges Get the QuestionBrexit Bulletin: Over a Lunch of Snails\--With assistance from Nick Rigillo, David Goodman, Robert Hutton, Leo Laikola and Jessica Shankleman.To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Stearns in Luxembourg at jstearns2@bloomberg.net;Stephanie Bodoni in Luxembourg at sbodoni@bloomberg.net;Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Stuart BiggsFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 06:30:16 -0400

You can sell North Korean food in South Korea. Authorities say the owner of a restaurant under construction in Seoul "voluntarily" removed signs with images of North Korean leaders and the North Korean flag from the restaurant's exterior on Monday, after they were criticized on social media over the weekend. Police quoted the owner as saying the North Korea-themed decorations were intended to attract attention and make the restaurant more profitable.

Mon, 16 Sep 2019 06:18:49 -0400