Nation & World Glance

2 dead, 44 hurt in bus crash near Memphis

BYHALIA, Mississippi — A tour bus crashed overturned on an icy Mississippi highway near Memphis on Wednesday afternoon, leaving two people dead and 44 others aboard with injuries as a pre-winter storm blasted parts of the South, authorities said.

The Mississippi Highway Patrol said in a statement that the bus traveling from Huntsville, Alabama, to the Tunica area of Mississippi when it crashed at 12:35 p.m. on Interstate 269 in the northern part of the state. A statement from agency spokesman Capt. Johnny Poulos also said the crash “weather-related.” He didn’t elaborate, though he said the injured were taken to several hospitals.

May wins Cabinet backing for Brexit deal

LONDON — In a hardwon victory, British Prime Minister Theresa May persuaded her fractious Cabinet to back a draft divorce agreement with the European Union on Thursday, a decision that triggers the final steps on the long and rocky road to Brexit.

But she faces a backlash from her many political opponents and a fierce battle to get the deal through Parliament as she tries to orchestrate the U.K.’s orderly exit from the EU.

May hailed the Cabinet decision as a “decisive step” toward finalizing the exit deal with the EU within days.

Defense chief’s resignation pushes Israel toward vote

JERUSALEM — Israel’s defense minister on Wednesday abruptly resigned to protest a new cease-fire with Hamas militants in Gaza, throwing the government into turmoil and pushing the country toward an early election.

Avigdor Lieberman’s decision was ostensibly a show of anger over Tuesday’s informal truce with Israel’s Hamas enemies. But in many ways, it was the opening round of a new political campaign.

His defection leaves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with the narrowest of parliamentary majorities — only 61 of 120 seats in his coalition.