Breaking - ArchivesPosts of 10/2017
Austria’s conservative leader has invited the far-right Freedom Party for talks to form the country’s next coalition government, opening the door for the controversial party to return to power after more than a decade in opposition.
Sebastian Kurz, whose Austrian People’s party (ÖVP) came top in elections on 15 October, said both his party and the rightwing populists (FPÖ) were in favour of lowering taxes and shared “similar approaches” on the subject of immigration. Read more HERE
EU leaders at a crunch summit dinner are set to rebuff Theresa May’s appeal for trade talks while they seek to publicly talk up her efforts in the Brexit negotiations because they fear that the prime minister’s domestic weakness will leave her unable to make vital concessions on Britain’s divorce bill.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, will lead European leaders in Brussels on Thursday in seeking to put the best gloss on their refusal to widen the talks, according to diplomatic sources.Read more HERE
The government will be forced to delay bringing the EU withdrawal bill back to the House of Commons for a second time, as it struggles to respond to hundreds of hostile amendments, Labour sources expect.
MPs on both sides of the house had expected debate on the next stage of the complex bill to kick off next week – but the leader of the house, Andrea Leadsom, is now expected to confirm on Thursday that it will not feature in next week’s parliamentary timetable. Read more HERE.
Storm Ophelia is expected to cause further disruption in Great Britain today after three people died in hurricane-force winds and hundreds of thousands were left without power.
Scotland is braced for gusts of up to 70mph and flood warnings are in place on its west coast as the remnants of the hurricane batter the British Isles. A yellow weather warning for wind covering Northern Ireland, southern and central Scotland, the north of England and north west Wales is in place until Tuesday afternoon. Read more HERE.
With winds dying down, fire officials said on Sunday they had apparently “turned a corner” against wildfires that have devastated California wine country and other parts of the state over the past week. Thousands got the all-clear to return home.
While the danger from the deadliest, most destructive cluster of blazes in California history was far from over, the smoky skies started to clear in some places.“A week ago this started as a nightmare..Read more HERE.