Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. UK's opposition will not back 'fundamentally' unchanged Brexit bill

The leader of Britain's opposition said he would not support Prime Minister Theresa May's new attempt to push through her Brexit bill if it was fundamentally the same as the bill that had been defeated three times before. "We haven't seen whatever the new bill is going to be yet but nothing I've heard leads me to believe it is fundamentally any different from the previous bill that has been put forward so as of now we are not supporting it," Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC's Andrew Marr show on Sunday. Saudi Arabia says it seeks to avert war, ball in Iran's court

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it wants to avert war in the region but stands ready to respond with "all strength" following last week's attacks on Saudi oil assets, telling Iran that the ball was now in its court. Riyadh has accused Tehran of ordering Tuesday's drone strikes on two oil pumping stations in the kingdom, claimed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group. Two days earlier, four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, were sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. Polls show tight race in Madrid local, regional elections

The races to control the Spanish capital and the wider region around Madrid in elections next Sunday look to be going down to the wire, according to two polls. The battle for Madrid, Spain's most powerful region, reflects the country's increasing political fragmentation, marked by the comeback by the Socialists and a battle among three right wing parties after the emergence of far-right Vox. Austria heading for September election after far-right video scandal

Austria's president on Sunday recommended a new election be held in early September, saying he wanted to restore trust in the government after a video scandal led to the resignation of the vice chancellor. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz pulled the plug on the coalition and called for a snap election on Saturday after his deputy, Heinz-Christian Strache, the leader of the far-right Freedom Party, quit over a video showed him discussing fixing state contracts in return for favors. Kremlin waiting for U.S. decision on Putin-Trump meeting: Ifax

The Kremlin said on Sunday it hopes a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump takes place, but that it has not received a definitive decision from Washington on the matter, Interfax news agency reported. "We know that Trump has spoken of his desire for a meeting, but unfortunately we also know that (U.S. Secretary of State Mike) Pompeo did not bring any concrete proposals about organizing such a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Osaka," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was cited as saying. Australian PM heads to church, football after 'miracle' election win

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison thanked his fellow Pentecostal churchgoers on Sunday after a miraculous election victory that defied years of unfavorable opinion polls and bruised a Labor opposition that had been widely expected to win. Morrison's Liberal-led conservative coalition has won or is leading in 76 seats, the number needed to form a majority government, according to the Australian Electoral Commission. Slightly more than three-quarters of the roughly 17 million votes have been counted. France's Le Maire says a Le Pen win in EU elections would hurt euro

A win by Marine le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National party in next week's European parliament elections could hurt the euro and damage the French economy and industries, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday. Opinion polls show Le Pen's party, formerly known as the National Front, to be neck-and-neck with President Emmanuel Macron's centrist Republic On the Move. Tight security as Indians vote in final phase of mammoth election

Indians lined up to vote amid unprecedented security in the eastern state of West Bengal on Sunday as the final phase of a massive, staggered election got underway to decide whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns for a second term. Around 900 million Indians are eligible to vote in the seven-phase election, with vote counting to begin on Thursday. Swiss voters approve tighter gun control: TV

Swiss voters agreed on Sunday to adopt tighter gun controls in line with changes to European Union rules, heading off a clash with Brussels, projections for Swiss broadcaster SRF showed. The projections from the gfs.bern polling outfit saw the measure passing in the binding referendum by a comfortable 67-33% margin. In coal we trust: Australia's voters back PM Morrison's faith in fossil fuel

Australia's re-elected Prime Minister Scott Morrison once brandished a lump of coal in parliament, crying, "This is coal - don't be afraid!" His surprise win in what some dubbed the 'climate election' may have stunned the country, but voters should know what comes next in energy policy - big coal. Battered by extended droughts, damaging floods, and more bushfires, Australian voters had been expected to hand a mandate to the Labor party to pursue its ambitious targets for renewable energy and carbon emissions cuts.