EU still open to Britain changing mind on Brexit
Reuters, Strasbourg
Leaders of the European Union institutions weighed into a new British debate on whether to hold a second referendum on Brexit by saying on Tuesday that Britons would be welcome to stay in the EU.
Prime Minister Theresa May and her main opponent Jeremy Corbyn have ruled out giving voters a chance to approve whatever withdrawal treaty is agreed with Brussels before Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019. However, campaigners on both sides of the debate have raised the issue again this month.
S Arabia shoots down Yemeni missile
Reuters
A ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s armed Houthi group towards Saudi Arabia’s southern Jizan region was shot down by Saudi forces on Tuesday, Saudi state TV Ekhbariya reported. The station gave no further details. There were no reports of casualties or damage.
The Iranian-aligned Houthis have fired several missiles at the kingdom, and while these have not caused any serious damage they have served to deepen tensions between Riyadh and its arch rival Tehran.
Former CIA agent
arrested
AFP, Washington
US authorities said Tuesday they had arrested a former CIA agent, Hong Kong resident Jerry Chun Shing Lee, after discovering he had an unauthorized notebook that had the identities of undercover US spies. Lee, a naturalized US citizen also known as Zhen Cheng Li, was arrested late Monday after he arrived at JFK International Airport in New York.
HK democracy activist jailed for protest
AFP, Hong Kong
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong was jailed for three months Wednesday for obstructing clearance of a major encampment during mass pro-democracy protests in 2014, the second time he has been imprisoned over the rallies. Wong, 21, who had pleaded guilty to the contempt charge, was already on bail pending an appeal over a six- month sentence for another offence related to the Umbrella Movement.
Mormon church names a new President
AFP, Washington
Russell M. Nelson addressed Mormon faithful Tuesday in his first public remarks as the 17th president of the church, succeeding Thomas Monson who died earlier this month.
Nelson made “a historic live broadcast Tuesday,” the church said, telling members that “whatever your concerns, whatever your challenges, there is a place for you in this, the Lord’s Church.”
3 killed in China accident
Xinhua, Nanning
Three people were killed and more than 50 were injured in a highway traffic accident in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, authorities said Wednesday.
