World News Roundup: Public vote in Brexit legislation?; Australia's elections

Brexit legislation needs to include public vote: Labour's Starmer

The British government's Brexit Withdrawal Agreement Bill needs to include another public vote when it is presented to lawmakers again next month, the opposition Labour Party's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said on Saturday. After failing to get parliament's approval three times for Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, the government will now put the bill, legislation which will enact that deal, before parliament for a vote in early June.

Australia's conservative government moves into election-winning position

Australia's Liberal-led conservative government is in position to win the national election with more than half the votes counted on Saturday, media projected, though it is unclear whether it can govern with an outright majority. The results stand in stark contrast to pre-election polls, which had predicted centre-left Labor would win.

Austrian far-right leader quits over video sting as coalition teeters

Austria's vice chancellor and longtime far-right leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, said on Saturday he was stepping down over "catastrophic" video footage of him that threatened to bring down the right-wing coalition government. Freedom Party (FPO) leader Strache was shown in the footage of as-yet unknown origin meeting a woman posing as the niece of a Russian oligarch in 2017, shortly before the election that brought him to power.

U.S. issues warning on airspace near Gulf as Iran tensions simmer

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued an advisory to U.S. commercial airliners flying over the waters of the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to exercise caution as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to simmer. The advisory, issued by the FAA on Thursday and circulated late on Friday, said the warning came amidst "heightened military activities and increased political tensions in the region which present an increasing inadvertent risk to U.S. civil aviation operations due to the potential for miscalculation or misidentification".

U.S. State Department approves possible $314 million sale of missiles to South Korea

The U.S. State Department has cleared $314 million in possible sales of air defence missiles to South Korea, the Pentagon said on Friday, as tensions re-emerge on the Korean peninsula. South Korea, a key Asian ally of the United States, asked to buy up to 94 SM-2 missiles used by ships against air threats, along with 12 guidance systems and technical assistance for a total cost of $313.9 million, the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said on its website.

There will be no war as we don't want war, and no can confront Iran: Zarif

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday he did not believe war would break out in the region as Tehran did not want a conflict and no country had the "illusion it could confront Iran", the state news agency IRNA reported. Tensions have escalated in recent days, with growing concerns about a potential U.S.-Iran conflict. Earlier this week the United States pulled some diplomatic staff from its embassy in Baghdad following weekend attacks on four oil tankers in the Gulf.

Chinese state media hits out at 'fabricated' U.S. tech claims

The United States has "fabricated" accusations that China forces firms to hand over technology in exchange for market access, China's top Communist Party newspaper said on Saturday, the latest salvo in a bitter trade war. China announced this week it would retaliate against a move by Washington to raise tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports amid complaints Beijing had done little to resolve U.S. concerns about the theft of intellectual property and the forced transfer of technology to Chinese firms.

North Korea asks U.N. chief to address ship seizure by 'gangster' U.S.

North Korea has asked United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to deal with the "illegal" seizure of one of its cargo ships by the United States, state media said on Saturday. "This act of dispossession has clearly indicated that the United States is indeed a gangster country that does not care at all about international laws," the North Korean ambassador to the United Nations said in a letter sent to Guterres dated Friday, according to North Korea's KCNA news agency.

U.S. embassy issues Indonesia security alert ahead of election results

The U.S. embassy in Jakarta has issued a security alert ahead of election results due on Wednesday, as Indonesian authorities have arrested nearly 30 suspected militants, including some who police say are able to detonate bombs using Wi-Fi networks. The embassy advised U.S. citizens to avoid areas where large demonstrations may occur in Jakarta, and in other cities including Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra, in a statement that was dated on Friday, May 17.

Argentina's Cristina Fernandez to run as vice presidential candidate in 2019 election: social media

Argentina's Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner will run as a vice presidential candidate in national elections later this year, the country's divisive former leader said in a video posted on her social media account on Saturday. The left-leaning populist, who had been widely expected to be the main challenger to centre-right incumbent Mauricio Macri, said that she would run for the deputy position with her former cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez as the presidential candidate.