British PM May dealt embarrassing Brexit defeat in parliament’s upper house
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s upper house of parliament inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Theresa May’s government on Wednesday, challenging her refusal to remain in a customs union with the EU after Brexit.
India’s Modi: rape is a matter of shame for the country
LONDON (Reuters) – Rape is rape and should not be politicized, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday, adding that recent sexual assaults were a matter of shame for the nation.
Diaz-Canel formally proposed to replace Castro as Cuban president
HAVANA (Reuters) – Miguel Diaz-Canel was proposed in Cuba’s parliament on Wednesday as the sole candidate to replace Raul Castro as president, which will make him the island’s first non-Castro leader since the 1959 revolution.
Prime minister May loses Brexit legislation vote in upper parliamentary House
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s upper house of parliament inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Theresa May’s government on Wednesday, challenging her refusal to remain in a customs union with the European Union after Brexit.
Hundreds of refugees return to Syria from Lebanon
SHEBAA, Lebanon (Reuters) – Several hundred Syrians who have lived for years as refugees in Lebanon left for their home country on Wednesday in a rare case of a mass return of those who left the country since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.
Turkey’s Erdogan declares early elections on June 24
ANKARA (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called snap elections for June 24, saying economic challenges and the war in Syria meant Turkey must switch quickly to the powerful executive presidency that goes into effect after the vote.
U.N. team fired on in Syria while visiting suspected chemical sites
THE HAGUE/BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.N. security team came under fire in Syria while doing reconnaissance for inspectors to visit sites of a suspected chemical weapons attack, and officials said it was no longer clear when the inspectors would be able to g…
EU lawmakers chide Juncker over aide’s promotion ‘coup’
STRASBOURG (Reuters) – Jean-Claude Juncker mounted what looked like a “coup” in naming his top aide to run the European Union’s civil service, EU lawmakers said on Wednesday in a vote to reprimand Juncker, the Union’s chief executive.
Swedish king to change statutes of Nobel-awarding Academy
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s king will change the arcane rules of the Swedish Academy, which picks the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, making it possible to bring in new members after a controversy has seen several members resign.
EU edges closer to new Iran sanctions ahead of Trump deadline, envoys say
BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) – European Union governments are showing more support for the idea of new sanctions on Iran proposed by Britain, France and Germany as a way of dissuading U.S. President Donald Trump from pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal, d…
