Reuters

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Voters in the 27 countries of the European Union will elect 720 lawmakers to the European Parliament for the next five years on June 6-9 and are expected to deliver a shift to the right.

The parliament has for the past five years been governed by a three-group majority of the centre-right European People's Party, centre-left Socialists and Democrats and liberals of Renew Europe.

Together they have steered EU policy,... (continue reading...)

ROME (Reuters) - Archaeologists in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii near the city of Naples have uncovered charcoal sketches drawn by children as young as six years old, depicting possibly violent fights they may have witnessed.

The sketches of gladiator stick figures were discovered during excavations in recent months in Pompeii, a once-thriving city that was destroyed when Mount Vesuvius erupted nearly 2,000 years ago.

Archaeologists... (continue reading...)

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - An Indian climber who was evacuated from Mount Everest after he fell ill last week has died, taking the number of deaths this season on the world’s highest peak to five, officials said on Wednesday.

Banshilal, 47, was brought down without reaching the summit after falling sick and was evacuated from the base camp to a hospital in Kathmandu last week.

The Department of Tourism said... (continue reading...)

MOSCOW (Reuters) -HSBC has completed the sale of its Russian unit to Expobank for an undisclosed fee, the Russian lender said on Wednesday, ending around two years of negotiations and uncertainty.

HSBC's exit from Russia has been on the cards since February, when Russian President Vladimir Putin gave approval for the asset sale to privately owned Expobank to go ahead.

A spokesperson for HSBC confirmed it had transferred ownership of the... (continue reading...)

GENEVA (Reuters) - The top U.S. health official said on Wednesday it would be "tragic" for the world to miss out on key reforms to the global pandemic response and that a treaty deal was within reach, with no major differences between negotiators.

Health officials are meeting in Geneva this week to try to wrap up more than two years of negotiations on a pandemic treaty and a series of updates to existing International Health Rules (IHR). However,... (continue reading...)