Prime Minister Theresa May filed formal Brexit divorce papers on Wednesday, pitching the United Kingdom into the unknown and triggering years of uncertain negotiations that will test the cohesion of the European Union.

President Donald Trump is proposing immediate budget cuts of US$18 billion from programs like medical research, infrastructure and community grants so US taxpayers, not Mexico, can cover the down payment on the border wall. The White House documents were submitted to Congress amid negotiations over a catchall spending bill that would avert a partial government shutdown at the end of next month. The package would wrap up US$1.1 trillion in unfinished spending bills and address the Trump administration's request for an immediate US$30 billion in additional Pentagon spending.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn suddenly resigned on Thursday in what he described as a bid to smooth reforms, following years of violent unrest that threatened the ruling party’s hold on Africa’s second most populous nation. The prime minister leads the nation under Ethiopia’s political system and Hailemariam’s decision to quit underscores the depth of division within the ruling coalition over how fast to pursue political openness.

Kuwait will lend $1 billion to Iraq and commit a further $1 billion of investment to the country, Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah told an international conference on Iraq s reconstruction on Wednesday. Donors and investors have gathered in Kuwait this week to discuss efforts to rebuild Iraq s economy and infrastructure as it emerges from a devastating conflict with Islamic State militants who seized almost a third of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday at the start of talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas that he had discussed the Middle East conflict with his US counterpart Donald Trump. "I just spoke with American President Trump," Putin told Abbas before continuing the talks behind closed doors. "Obviously we spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

One year after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un s half-brother was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur s airport, Malaysia is further downgrading once-close ties with Pyongyang, sources familiar with the government s plans said. Kim Jong Nam was assassinated on Feb. 13, 2017 when two women smeared his face with VX nerve agent - which the U.N. lists as a weapon of mass destruction. The women claim they were tricked into believing they were part of a reality show, but U.S. and South Korea say the murder was orchestrated by Pyongyang.

The European Union s executive on Monday called on Turkey to "refrain from any actions that might damage good neighbourly relations" after Cyprus, a member of the bloc, accused the Turkish military of obstructing a ship exploring for gas. Cyprus is one of several states, also including Israel and Lebanon, racing to tap gas deposits in the eastern Mediterranean.

All flights in and out of London City Airport were canceled Monday after a 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) unexploded World War II-era bomb was found nearby in the River Thames. The Metropolitan Police service cleared an area within 214 meters (700 feet) of the bomb, including several residential streets, as officers worked with specialists from the Royal Navy to remove the device.

U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster held talks on Sunday in Istanbul with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan s spokesman, a presidential source said, amid persistent tensions between the NATO allies over Syria and other issues. Turkey is targeting the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG in a weeks-long air and ground operation in Syria s Afrin region. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist group, but it is a key component of U.S.-backed forces battling Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in for talks in Pyongyang, South Korean officials said on Saturday, setting the stage for the first meeting of Korean leaders in more than 10 years. Any meeting would represent a diplomatic coup for Moon, who swept to power last year on a policy of engaging more with the reclusive North and has pushed for a diplomatic solution to the standoff over North Korea s nuclear and missile programme.

South Africa s ruling African National Congress (ANC) will convene a special meeting of its executive body on Monday, its spokesman said, amid mounting pressure on President Jacob Zuma to step down. Spokesman Pule Mabe declined to comment on whether the meeting of the National Executive Committee, which has the power to instruct Zuma to resign, would discuss Zuma s political future. A senior ANC source told Reuters, however, that the committee was likely to discuss Zuma s situation at the meeting.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives were expected to vote on a proposed budget deal on Thursday that would avert another government shutdown but that has angered fiscal conservatives who complain it would lead to a $1 trillion deficit. The plan to keep the government operating and to increase spending over the next two years faced resistance from the right wing of the Republican Party, which favors less spending on government. At the same time, many liberal Democrats wanted to withhold their support as leverage to win concessions on immigration policy.

The last of three television stations shut down by the Kenyan government last week resumed transmission on Thursday, the channel, Citizen TV, said on its Twitter feed. Authorities shut three private stations nine days ago after they planned to live-stream the symbolic presidential inauguration of opposition leader Raila Odinga. A court ordered them to be allowed to resume transmissions a week ago, and the two other stations resumed broadcasting on Monday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives and the Social Democrats sealed a deal Wednesday on a new coalition, officials said, potentially ending four months of political standstill in Europe s top economy. The parties ironed out their final differences and were ready to sign an agreement for Merkel s fourth term, her chief of staff and acting finance minister Peter Altmaier said, calling it a "good day for our country".

African National Congress (ANC) leader Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday he is holding direct talks with Jacob Zuma over a transition of power, in the strongest indication to date the South African president will step down after years of scandal. Zuma, in power since 2009 and beset by corruption allegations, has been in a weakened position since Deputy President Ramaphosa replaced him as ANC leader in December. Ramaphosa has talked of a transition of power since he took over as leader of the ANC.

Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives and the centre-left Social Democrats embark on a final round of talks Tuesday to seal a coalition deal and end months of political limbo in Europe s top economy. After marathon talks Monday, negotiators from Merkel s CDU party, her Bavarian CSU ally and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) are to reconvene in Berlin at 10:00 am (0900 GMT) for one last push to clinch an agreement on a renewed "grand coalition".

The European Union sought on Tuesday to reinvigorate the membership ambitions of six Balkan states and reclaim the region as its own amid growing Russian and Chinese influence, setting 2025 as a goal for Serbia and Montenegro to join. Partly symbolic to breathe life into the bloc as Britain prepares to leave, the European Commission set out a strategy to bring Western Balkan nations into the fold if they meet required reforms, marking a change after years of fading interest.

Russian jets intensified their raids on rebel-held towns and cities in Syria s northern Idlib province on Sunday night, a day after rebels shot down a Russian warplane and killed its pilot. Civil defence sources said air raids struck the towns of Kafr Nubl and Maasran, as well as the cities of Saraqeb, Maarat al Numan and Idlib, and that several deaths and dozens of injuries were reported as rescuers dug through the rubble.

A British judge is scheduled to rule Tuesday on Julian Assange’s bid to force Britain to drop a warrant for his arrest, a development that would remove a substantial legal hurdle to his leaving the Ecuadorean Embassy in London that has been his refuge for more than five years. The legal issues surrounding the WikiLeaks founder’s case are complex:

France and Turkey will be working in the coming weeks on a "diplomatic road map" for an end to the nearly seven-year war in Syria, President Emmanuel Macron s office said Sunday. The announcement came after Macron spoke by telephone with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday which discussed in particular Turkey s operation against

German Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives and the Social Democrats (SPD) battled on Saturday to find solutions to disputes on healthcare and labour rules as they discuss forming a government more than four months after an election. The two parties aim to seal a deal on renewing the "grand coalition" that has governed Europe s largest economy since 2013 by the end of Sunday. But some politicians say talks on forging the unnatural partnership could run into Monday or Tuesday.