Britain OKs big airport expansion

LONDON— Parliament approved plans to make Europe’s biggest airport even bigger, backing on Monday what the government described as the most important transportation decision in a generation.

TheHouse of Commons votedoverwhelmingly, 415119,to build a third runway at HeathrowAirport after hoursof debate on the 14 billion-pound ($18.6 billion) project.The decision follows decadesof study and argument overhow to expand airport capacityin southeastern England,and it is certain to be challengedin the courts.

Prime Minister Theresa May believes the project will boost economic growth while signaling the country’s commitment to expand international trade and transport links as it prepares to leave the European Union.

Neighbors and environmentalists object because of concerns about pollution, noise and the communities — some dating back hundreds of years — that will be destroyed. Business groups strongly backed the government.

North Korean artillery

SEOUL, South Korea — The rival Koreas are discussing the possible relocation of North Korea’s longrange artillery guns away from the tense Korean border, South Korea’s prime minister said Monday, as the countries forge ahead with steps to lower tensions and extend a recent detente.

If realized, it would be yet another conciliatory step by North Korea since it entered talks on giving up its nuclear weapons earlier this year. But some experts say it might be a tactic to push Seoul and Washington to withdraw their more sophisticated artillery systems from front-line areas in return for pulling back its outdated conventional weapons.

In a speech marking the 68th anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said that “moving [North Korea’s] long-range artillery to the rear is under discussion,” as he explained what types of goodwill steps between the Koreas have been taken in recent months.

U.S. vows aid

LIMA, Peru — Vice President Pence met Friday with Venezuelan opposition leaders for the Summit of the Americas and promised that the United States would contribute an additional $16 million in humanitarian aid for people who have fled the crisis-ridden South American country.

The pledge, to the U.N. refugee agency, is intended to help Venezuelans in Brazil and Colombia who have fled the economic collapse in their home country, according to a statement describing the funding from the State Department and USAID.

Venezuela’s economic crisis — caused by economic mismanagement and low oil prices — has produced severe shortages of food and medicine and the world’s worst inflation. The International Monetary Fund estimates it could reach 13,000 percent this year.

EU businesses post-Brexit

British businesses aren’t the only ones unhappy with the state of Brexit negotiations. Companies in the rest of the European Union aren’t thrilled either.

Exactly two years after the referendum, nearly half of 800 executives surveyed across six EU countries by law firm Baker McKenzie said their businesses had reduced investment in the U.K. since the Brexit vote, according to a report published Monday. While 75 percent said the EU should make concessions to the U.K. to secure a better trade deal for their businesses, more than a third also wanted to see Britain punished.