Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Donald Trump wades into Britain's Brexit crisis

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives in Britain on Monday on a state visit laden with diplomatic peril, having already humiliated outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May over Brexit and challenged her to be tougher in dealing with China's Huawei. Trump and his wife, Melania, will be treated to a display of British royal pageantry during the June 3-5 visit: lunch with Queen Elizabeth, tea with heir Prince Charles, a banquet at Buckingham Palace and a tour of Westminster Abbey, coronation church of English monarchs for 1,000 years.

Syria air defenses intercept Israeli attack on T-4 airbase: Syrian source

Syrian air defenses on Sunday intercepted an Israeli attack on the T-4 airbase in Homs province, state TV reported, citing a Syrian military source. The source added that two people were killed and two others wounded, and that an ammunition warehouse was hit in addition to damage to buildings and equipment.

Yemen's Houthis launch drone attack on Saudi-led coalition military parade in Aden

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement launched a drone attack on a military parade for Saudi-led coalition forces in the port city of Aden, the group's Al Masirah TV said early on Monday. The Saudi-owned Al-Hadath channel later quoted sources that the air defenses shot down a drone west of Aden.

Car blast hits rebel-held north Syria

A car bomb exploded in a north Syrian town held by Turkey-backed rebels on Sunday, killing at least 10 people, rescue workers and medics said, after a war monitor had reported blasts hitting other insurgent-held areas in the northwest. The blast was the largest in months to target Azaz, near the Turkish border. It struck a marketplace that was busy late in the evening after the daily Ramadan fast had finished.

Sisi says Egypt will not accept anything against Palestinian wishes

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, speaking about the unannounced U.S. Mideast peace plan, said on Sunday that his country would not accept anything undesired by the Palestinians. Speaking after breaking the Ramadan fast at a hotel in Cairo, Sisi also appeared to dismiss suggestions that Egypt might make concessions as part of the U.S. plan.

Pope pleas for European unity, says ideologies threaten its existence

Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for Europe to stick together and revive the ideals of its founders on Sunday, saying ideologies and fear-mongering politicians were threatening its very existence as a bloc. His comments to journalists on the plane while returning from a three-day trip to Romania, one of the more recent European Union members, were his first since European elections last month.

U.S. prepared to talk to Iran with 'no preconditions', Iran sees 'word-play'

The United States is prepared to engage with Iran without pre-conditions about its nuclear program but needs to see the country behaving like "a normal nation," U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday. Iran dismissed the offer as "word-play."

Factbox: What will British PM May's successor do about Brexit?

Who are the candidates vying for Prime Minister Theresa May's job and what have they said about Brexit? British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced she is quitting, triggering a contest that will bring a new leader to power, with most of the frontrunners expected to push for a cleaner break with the European Union.

Chinese defense minister says war with U.S. would be a disaster

Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe criticized the United States on Sunday for its support of an independent Taiwan and for naval operations in the disputed South China Sea, but said conflict or war between the two countries would be a disaster. In a speech at an Asian defense summit in Singapore, Wei said China would "fight to the end" anyone who tried to split China from Taiwan, which Beijing considers a sacred territory to be reclaimed by force if necessary.

North Korea's former top nuclear envoy seen with Kim Jong Un on Sunday: KCNA

North Korean senior official and former top nuclear envoy Kim Yong Chol accompanied leader Kim Jong Un to a Sunday art performance, state media KCNA said on Monday, signaling that the former spymaster is alive and remains a force in North Korea's power structure. South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo reported on Friday that Kim Yong Chol, Kim Jong Un's right-hand man and the counterpart to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before the failed Hanoi summit, had been sent to a labor and re-education camp in Jagang Province near the Chinese border, citing an unidentified North Korea source.