Czech PM Babis wins cabinet’s backing, ends nine-month struggle to form majority
The Czech parliament gave its backing early on Thursday to a new, center-left minority cabinet led by billionaire Andrej Babis, ending his nearly nine-month effort to secure a parliamentary majority.
Pakistan’s secular Pashtun party defiant after Taliban bomber kills 20 activists
Pakistan’s Awami National Party vowed on Wednesday not to be swayed from its resolve to face down terrorists, a day after a Taliban suicide bombing killed a score of its activists, including the son of a party leader assassinated in 2012.
Czech PM Babis wins vote of confidence for new Cabinet
The Czech lower house of parliament gave its backing early on Thursday for a new, center-left minority Cabinet led by billionaire Andrej Babis, ending his nearly nine-month struggle to secure a parliamentary majority, an unofficial vote count showed.
After Trump’s spending demands, NATO summit turns to Afghanistan
NATO leaders will try on Thursday to move beyond U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for higher defense spending, and focus on ending the long war in Afghanistan, in the second day of a summit in Brussels underscored by transatlantic tensions.
Setting out vision for future ties, Britain’s May presses Brexit plans
Prime Minister Theresa May published her blueprint for Britain’s future relations with the European Union on Thursday, proposals which would keep close trade ties after Brexit but make it harder for banks to access the European single market.
El Salvador government rejects court ruling as political attack
El Salvador’s government said on Wednesday a Supreme Court ruling that seeks to compel testimony from the president over the disappearance of a diplomat nearly 30 years ago in the run-up to the country’s bloody civil war was a political attack.
Syrian air defenses thwart Israeli missile strike in south: state media
Syrian military air defenses thwarted missiles that Israeli aircraft fired at army positions in Quneitra province in the early hours of Thursday, state media said.
Nobel winner Malala slams Trump’s child separation policy
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai described as “cruel” a policy launched by U.S. President Donald Trump to separate children of illegal immigrants from their families, during her first visit to South America to promote girls’ education.
Mexico’s president-elect will cancel planned U.S. helicopter order
Mexico’s president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he would cancel the planned purchase of eight military helicopters from the United States as part of cost-cutting measures.
End of presidential immunity among plans of Mexico’s new leader
Mexico’s president-elect, leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, on Wednesday sketched out his legislative priorities for the next government, including measures to end presidential immunity and curb compensation for high-earning public sector officials….
