Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Explainer: Venezuela crisis puts Trump policy to the test

The Trump administration faces a critical test of its Venezuela policy as opposition leader Juan Guaido, bolstered by vocal U.S. support, pressures the country's military to abandon socialist President Nicolas Maduro and mounts mass protests to force him out. In its biggest political and diplomatic intervention in Latin America in years, the U.S. government has rolled out waves of punitive measures against Venezuela, including several rounds of sanctions on its leadership, vital oil sector and banks. Julian Assange sentenced to 50 weeks in British jail for skipping bail

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was sentenced to 50 weeks in prison by a British court on Wednesday for skipping bail when he holed up in Ecuador's London embassy for seven years until police dragged him out last month. Assange sought refuge in the embassy in June 2012 to avoid an extradition order to Sweden over an allegation of rape, which he denies. Conservatives want Catholic bishops to denounce pope as heretic

A group of 19 Catholic priests and academics have urged bishops to denounce Pope Francis as a heretic, in the latest ultra-conservative broadside against the pontiff over a range of topics from communion for the divorced to religious diversity. The most prominent of the group is Father Aidan Nichols, a 70-year-old British priest of the Dominican order who has written many books and is one of most recognized theologians in the English-speaking world. The others are less well known. UK's May fires defense secretary over Huawei leak

British Prime Minister Theresa May fired her defense minister on Wednesday over a leak of discussions in the National Security Council about Chinese telecoms company Huawei, the latest of her allies to be ousted from government. The sudden dismissal of Gavin Williamson, who "strenuously" denied involvement in the leak, was another blow for May, whose own premiership hangs by a thread after her failure so far to usher Britain smoothly out of the European Union. Saudi-led coalition attacks air base adjoining Sanaa's airport

The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen raided an air base adjoining Sanaa's airport, Saudi news agency SPA said on late on Wednesday. The raids targeted drone maintenance sites, a communications system and locations of drone experts and operators, SPA quoted coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki as saying. Forget 'clean, sanitary' election memes to win over Australia's far right

Australian Radomir Kobryn-Coletti has no commitment to any political party, right or left, but his job right now is churning out incendiary Facebook memes for a controversial senator, wooing the far-right ahead of this month's elections. "There's tight competition for the alternative right-wing vote," said Kobryn-Coletti, 23, who works for Queensland Senator Fraser Anning, frequently posting on his smartphone from his bed, from the beach, waiting for a plane or stuck in traffic. Voters set to punish UK PM May's Conservatives over Brexit delay

English voters are expected to use local government elections on Thursday to punish Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party over its failure to deliver Brexit, revealing a divided and dissatisfied electorate. More than 8,000 seats on English councils - administrative bodies responsible for day-to-day decisions on local policy ranging from education to waste management - are up for grabs in the first elections since Britain missed its March 29 Brexit date. Venezuelan protests peter out as Maduro hangs on; U.S. and Russia squabble

Venezuelans heeded opposition leader Juan Guaido's call to take to the streets on Wednesday in a bid to force President Nicolas Maduro from power, but there was little concrete sign of change in a crisis that increasingly looks like a political stalemate. The standoff increased tensions between the United States and Russia, who accused each other of interference in the OPEC-member nation's affairs, however. How Trump's hawkish advisors won debate on Iran oil sanctions

U.S. President Donald Trump's unexpected decision to ban all Iranian oil purchases after May 1 - ending exemptions for eight nations - came after hawkish economic and security advisors allayed the president's fears of an oil price hike, according to three sources familiar with the internal debate. The unprecedented move to fully sever Tehran’s financial lifeline - finalized just days before the April 22 announcement - underscores the influence of hard-liners within Trump’s National Security Council, which two of the sources said were the biggest advocates for the decision. They had for months argued for tightening the sanctions over the objections of State Department officials who favored allowing some partners and allies to keep buying Iranian oil. After protests, Britain's parliament declares climate change 'emergency'

Britain's parliament declared a symbolic climate change "emergency" on Wednesday, backing a call by opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for "rapid and dramatic action" to protect the environment for generations to come. The measure was passed as an opposition motion, using a procedure typically ignored by the ruling party, and has no direct consequences for policy.