INTERNATIONAL

Powerful US billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch are funding a multi-million dollar campaign against President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. Three political groups backed by the brothers say they will use advertising, lobbying and grassroots campaigns to push the benefits of free trade. The duo run Koch Industries, one of the world’s largest privately-owned firms. The move comes just days ...

Disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein has formally pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges. His appearance in New York Supreme Court on Tuesday came after he was indicted last week by a grand jury. Mr Weinstein, 66, has previously insisted via his lawyer that he has never had non-consensual sex. He could face up to 25 years ...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is not trying to split the European Union. His remarks come ahead of a visit to Austria, his first trip to a Western European country in nearly a year. He told Austria’s ORF station he wanted a “united and prosperous” EU, calling the bloc Russia’s most important commercial and economic partner. He also ...

The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of a baker in Colorado who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. The Colorado state court had found that baker Jack Phillips’ decision to turn away David Mullins and Charlie Craig in 2012 was unlawful discrimination. But the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that that decision had violated ...

Guatemala’s most violent volcano eruption in more than a century has killed at least 25 people. The Fuego volcano, about 40km (25 miles) south-west of the capital Guatemala City, spewed rock, gas and ash into the sky on Sunday. Fast-moving flows hit villages, killing people inside their homes. Hundreds were injured and many are missing. The country’s main airport is ...

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been forced out of office by a no-confidence vote in parliament. Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez, who filed the motion after Mr Rajoy’s party was implicated in a corruption scandal, will become prime minister. “We’re going to sign a new page in the history of democracy in our country,” Mr Sánchez said ahead of Friday’s ...

It is North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s “fixed will” that a summit with US President Donald Trump in Singapore should go ahead, state media say. This followed a surprise meeting on Saturday between Mr Kim and the South’s Moon Jae-in, who said the North was “committed to denuclearisation”. Mr Trump had cancelled the 12 June summit, citing the North’s “hostility”. ...

The missile that downed a Malaysia Airlines flight over eastern Ukraine in 2014 belonged to a Russian brigade, international investigators say. For the first time, the Dutch-led team said the missile had come from a unit based in western Russia. All 298 people on board the Boeing 777 died when it broke apart in mid-air flying from Amsterdam to Kuala ...

US President Donald Trump has cancelled a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying the world had “lost a great opportunity for lasting peace”. He said his decision was because of “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a recent North Korean statement. In a letter to Mr Kim, he said he was still looking forward to meeting him “some ...

The funeral of a Pakistani student killed in last week’s Texas school shooting has taken place in Karachi. Sabika Sheikh, who was 17, was among the eight students and two teachers killed in the attack in Santa Fe. Her body was flown back to Pakistan on Wednesday. Senior politicians were among hundreds at the funeral. The gunman, identified as 17-year-old ...