Italy, Malta deny more migrants
ROME — For the second time this month, authorities in Italy and Malta are refusing to allow a ship with hundreds of migrants aboard to dock in their ports.
Therescue vessel, the MVLifeline, has been unableto offload 234 people shelteringonboard since beingrescued from two rubberdinghies in the Mediterranean on Thursday.
Acargo vessel, the AlexanderMaersk, was also waitingSunday for clearanceto dock in an Italian portwith 110 migrants onboard.The ship aided a boatfive miles offshore of Pozzallo, Italy, on Thursday.
The episode is the latest to highlight divisions in the Europe Union that have left the bloc without a comprehensive migration policy.
Reporter OKs apology
MOSCOW— The man who kissed a World Cup reporter last week has apologized to Deutsche Welle’s Julieth Gonzalez Theran. She accepted.
Ms. Gonzalez Theran was on air for Deutsche Welle’s Spanish news channel June 14 when a man rushed over to her, kissed her and appeared to grab her breast.
She completed her report uninterrupted.
That man, who identified himself only as Ruslan, told Ms. Gonzalez Theran he acted on a bet.
Violence in al-Lujat
BEIRUT — Syrian government troops advanced in the country’s southwestern region amid intense clashes Saturday.
Syrian State news agency SANA reported clashes near al-Lujat, a region in the countryside of Daraa. It said troops advancing from Sweida province seized two villages, adding that the rebels responded by shelling government-held areas.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government advances were accompanied by shelling and airstrikes. The Observatory said the fifth day of fighting left eight government troops dead and 20 wounded.
Xiaomi approaches IPO
SEOUL, South Korea — Xiaomi Corp. says it seeks to raise $6.1 billion in the upcoming initial public offering that would value the Chinese smartphone maker at as much as $70.3 billion.
Details of the Hong Kong IPO released Saturday show the Beijingbased company will raise less than an earlier expectation of $10 billion.
Xiaomi shares will begin trading in Hong Kong on July 9 with the ticker 1810.HK.
Haley blasts U.N. report
WASHINGTON— A United Nations report condemning entrenched poverty in the United States is a “misleading and politically motivated” document, the Trump administration’s top U.N. official said.
U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley criticized the report for critiquing the United States’ treatment of its poor, arguing that the United Nations should instead focus on poverty in developing countries such as Burundi and Congo Republic. The U.N. report also faulted the Trump administration for pursuing policies it said would exacerbate U.S. poverty.
The rebuke comes days after Ms. Haley announced the U.S.’s resignation from the U.N. Human Rights Council over bias against Israel and toleration of human rights abusers.