Israeli foreign minister to meet U.S., Bahrain counterparts on Sunday

JERUSALEM, June 27 (Reuters) – Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will meet his U.S. and Bahraini counterparts in Rome on Sunday, Lapid’s office said, the first face-to-face diplomatic contacts for a senior member of the new Israeli government that was sworn in two weeks ago. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates normalised ties with Israel […]
Australia’s Sydney and Darwin in COVID-19 lockdowns

Sydney began a two-week lockdown on Sunday as a cluster of cases of the highly infectious coronavirus Delta variant rose to 110 in Australia’s largest city, while an outbreak in the northern city of Darwin prompted a hard two-day stay-at-home order.
Iran says nuclear site images won’t be given to IAEA as deal has expired

The speaker of Iran’s parliament said on Sunday Tehran will never hand over images from inside of some Iranian nuclear sites to the U.N. nuclear watchdog as a monitoring agreement with the agency had expired, Iranian state media reported.
UK health minister ‘very sorry’ after pictured kissing aide

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was “very sorry” after pictures of him kissing and embracing his top aide, a friend hired last year, were splashed on the front page of the Sun newspaper.
Race to find survivors as death toll in Miami condo collapse rises

Rescue workers frantically scoured the rubble of a collapsed apartment block in a Miami suburb for signs of life on Friday, as the death toll from the disaster crept up and as nearly 100 people remained unaccounted for.
EXCLUSIVE Facebook rejects talks with Australia publisher, may test online law

Australia’s competition watchdog is looking into a claim that Facebook Inc (FB.O) refused a publisher’s request to negotiate a licensing deal, the regulator told Reuters, setting the stage for the first test of the world’s toughest online content law.
Amazon, Google face formal fake review inquiry in Britain

Britain’s competition regulator started a formal investigation on Friday into whether Amazon (AMZN.O) and Google (GOOGL.O) may not have done enough to prevent or remove fake reviews.
MLB roundup: Kyle Schwarber HRs twice to power Nats over Marlins

Kyle Schwarber clubbed two homers and drove in four runs, leading the blazing-hot Washington Nationals to a 7-3 win over the host Miami Marlins on Thursday night.
“Space is for everyone”: Europe’s Space Agency to hire first disabled astronaut

BERLIN, June 25 (Reuters) – The European Space Agency hopes to hire and launch the world’s first physically disabled astronaut and several hundred would-be para-astronauts have already applied for the role, ESA head Josef Aschbacher told Reuters on Friday. The 22-member space programme has just closed its latest decennial recruitment call for astronauts and received […]
China’s factory output, retail sales miss expectations in May

BEIJING, June 16 (Reuters) – Growth in China’s factory output slowed for a third straight month in May, likely weighed down by disruptions caused by COVID-19 outbreaks in the country’s southern export powerhouse of Guangdong. Retail sales and investment growth also came in below market expectations, but analysts say underlying activity still looks quite solid, […]