WSJ.com What's News - Worldwide News Briefs for Jun 29

ISLAMIC STATE IS NEAR DEFEAT IN IRAQ, PRIME MINISTER SAYS

Iraq's prime minister said that Islamic State was on the cusp of defeat in his country as the military retook the Mosul mosque where the extremist group's leader appeared three years ago as head of a self-declared caliphate.

U.K. PARLIAMENT VOTES FOR CONSERVATIVE POLICY PROGRAM

U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May won a critical Parliamentary vote to approve her policy program, overcoming the first of what is likely to be many challenges to her authority in the months ahead.

TRUMP, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT TO FOCUS ON NORTH KOREA AT FIRST MEETING

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and U.S. President Donald Trump are set to meet in Washington on Thursday for the first time, an early test of their relationship following several differences over key policies.

GERMANY CRITICIZES TRUMP, ERDOGAN

Before the G-20 meeting of world leaders in Germany next week, Chancellor Angela Merkel sought to block the Turkish president from giving a speech in Hamburg and European leaders criticized President Donald Trump.

VATICAN FINANCIAL OVERHAUL FACES SETBACK AFTER SEX-ABUSE CHARGES

Sex-abuse charges against the Vatican's finance chief deal a major blow to already faltering efforts to overhaul the Vatican's financial bureaucracy.

CHINA'S XI PROMISES TO PROTECT HONG KONG'S STATUS AS BEIJING TIGHTENS GRIP

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in Hong Kong to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the city's return to China, said he was committed maintaining its semiautonomous status, even as Beijing increasingly exerts its influence over the former British colony.

TEMER PICKS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S SUCCESSOR

Embattled Brazilian President Michel Temer picked a successor to Attorney General Rodrigo Janot, who earlier this week charged the president with taking bribes and is set to step down in September.

PHILIPPINES' COMBATIVE DUTERTE GETS OPPONENT HE DIDN'T WANT: ISLAMIC STATE

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took office a year ago pledging a war on drugs and peace on Mindanao, the predominantly Muslim island where he was raised. He has delivered on the first.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2017 17:37 ET (21:37 GMT)