LONDON - Theresa May will press on with efforts to secure a revised Brexit deal, despite another Commons defeat, and will return to Brussels "within days".
MPs voted against a motion endorsing the government's strategy by 303 to 258, with 66 Tory MPs abstaining.
Steve Baker, of the Conservative backbench European Research Group, which led the rebellion, called the loss a "storm in a teacup".
Business Minister Richard Harrington accused the ERG of "treachery".
Mrs May is trying to renegotiate the Irish backstop with the EU after MPs voted to replace it with "alternative arrangements" earlier this month.
Some MPs fear that the backstop - the insurance policy to prevent the return of customs checks on the Irish border - will see the UK will be bound to EU customs rules in the long-term.
The government motion on Thursday called for MPs to back its existing strategy, including seeking changes to the backstop, but ERG members believed voting for it would also see them endorsing calls to rule out a no-deal Brexit.
They say the option of leaving the EU without a formal deal is essential as "negotiating leverage" in Brussels, but a majority of MPs believe it would cause chaos at ports and massive disruption to business.
The EU has repeatedly rejected the idea of changing the backstop in the withdrawal agreement.(FA)

MADRID - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election for 28 April, after Catalan nationalist MPs withdrew support for the Socialist government's budget.
It is just eight months since Mr Sánchez took office, heading a minority government reliant on Catalan support.
Opinion polls suggest that no single party would win a clear majority. But conservatives and the far-right Vox party are expected to do well.
The Catalan crisis is still simmering.
Catalan separatist MPs rejected Mr Sánchez's budget bill after the government refused to discuss the region's right to self-determination.
Divisions were highlighted on Tuesday, when 12 Catalan separatist leaders and activists went on trial accused of rebellion and sedition over their unrecognised independence referendum in 2017.
The Socialists (PSOE) have 84 seats in the 350-seat lower house (Congress of Deputies), and their main allies, anti-austerity Podemos, have 67. But the biggest party is the conservative opposition Popular Party (PP), with 134.
In his announcement, Mr Sánchez complained that the right-wing parties - the PP and Ciudadanos - had blocked numerous bills in parliament, including important measures to reduce inequality.
Yes. Since the return of Spanish democracy, with the death of fascist dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, it is only the second time that a government's budget bill has been defeated in parliament.
The previous occasion was in 1995, when the Socialists under Felipe González were forced to call an election.
While the end of Pedro Sánchez's tenure looked inevitable, following his parliamentary budget defeat, this adds further uncertainty to a fragmented Spanish political landscape.
His PSOE is leading many polls and could win this election, but might find it hard to form a majority and govern.
The leftist Podemos, the PSOE's natural ally, is riven by infighting and struggling in polls.
With the Catalonia issue likely to dominate the upcoming campaign, the hardline pro-unity stance of parties on the right - the PP and Ciudadanos - could see them benefit. If the numbers add up, they could try and form a majority, possibly with the support of far-right Vox, which has enjoyed a surge in polls, due mainly to its uncompromising policy on Catalan independence.(FA)

ROME - Pope Francis has highlighted the importance of rural development and the essential role played by the United Nations' International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in achieving the first two Sustainable Development Goals – ending global hunger and poverty.
"None of this will be possible without achieving rural development, a development that has been talked about for a long time but has not fully materialized," the Pope said, addressing Member States gathered at IFAD's 42nd Governing Council in Rome.
IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo,  in his address, echoed the Pope’s message. "The rates of extreme poverty and food insecurity remain persistently high. The progress we once claimed in reducing hunger has stalled. Today, nearly 821 million people suffer chronic under-nourishment, 37 million more than in 2014," said Houngbo.
Given this reality, Houngbo urged those present to invest more in rural development in order to prevent future crises of hunger, poverty and migration.
The Pope said the world has achieved great scientific and technical advances and now has the capacity to win "the battle against hunger and misery, if it is taken seriously."
He called on government leaders to work together to make the slogan "hunger does not have a present or a future, only a past" a reality. Speaking of the world's poor and hungry people, he said "I would like us to be able to look at their faces without blushing  because their cries have been heard".
The Pope urged all those who have responsibilities in national governments and international organizations, as well as those who can contribute from the private sector, to develop and implement the necessary mechanisms and measures to enable rural people to become the architects of their own development.
"Today more than ever," he said, "we must join efforts, achieve consensus, strengthen ties. The current challenges are so intricate and complex that we cannot continue to deal with them on an occasional basis, only with emergency resolutions. "
The Pope assured the audience that IFAD has achieved great results in its fight against hunger and poverty, "promoting South-South cooperation, diversifying funding sources and modes of action, promoting action based on evidence that, at the same time, generates knowledge."
He said that the world must "rely on innovation, entrepreneurial capacity and the central role of local actors." Pope Francis concluded by saying that the path of rural development is "humble, but fair" and when followed to the end provides "a harvest of justice and prosperity."
IFAD has invested in rural people for 40 years, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience.(FA)

LONDON - One of three schoolgirls who left east London in 2015 to join the Islamic State group says she has no regrets, but wants to return to the UK.
In an interview with the Times, Shamima Begum, now 19, talked about seeing "beheaded heads" in bins - but said that it "did not faze her".
Speaking from a refugee camp in Syria, she said she was nine months pregnant and wanted to come home for her baby.
She said she'd had two other children who had both died.
She also described how one of her two school friends that had left the UK with her had died in a bombing. The fate of the third girl is unclear.
Bethnal Green Academy pupils Ms Begum and Amira Abase were both 15, while Kadiza Sultana was 16, when they left the UK in February 2015.
They flew from Gatwick Airport to Turkey after telling their parents they were going out for the day. They later crossed the border into Syria.(FA)
 

CAIRO - Egyptian authorities today hanged three prisoners convicted of killing a police officer during clashes that erupted in the weeks following the deadly Rabaa massacre. The executions brought the total number of executions in Egypt to six within a span of two weeks.
Responding to the news, Amnesty International’s North Africa Campaigns Director Najia Bounaim said:
“These executions, which come just days after three other people were put to death in separate cases, mark an alarming escalation in executions so far this year.
“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and its use is appalling under any circumstances, but it is even more so given that all six execution victims were sentenced based on confessions they said were extracted under torture. The shocking flaws in Egypt’s justice system have seen hundreds sentenced to death after grossly unfair trials in recent years.
 “The Egyptian authorities should stop all further executions and immediately establish an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty completely.” (FA)

HARARE - At least 23 gold panners in Zimbabwe are feared to have drowned underground after heavy rains flooded two mines.
Police said rescue teams were trying to pump out the water and search for bodies and any survivors at the mines near the town of Kadoma.
The two mines, called Silver Moon Mine and Cricket Mine, are run by registered companies, according to local media.
But the illegal workers are said to have gone underground late on Tuesday without the owners' knowledge.
Heavy rain then destroyed a dam wall, causing the floods.
A total of 38 artisanal miners went underground across the two mines, state broadcaster ZBC reported.
Africa Live: Real-time news from across the continent
Dicing with death: South Africa's illegal gold miners
It's the third deadly mine disaster to hit the continent in a fortnight.
A gold mine collapsed in Liberia at the weekend, killing at least five people. Around 35 people are still believed to be missing at the unregulated site.
While in South Africa last week, a number of were killed by a gas explosion in an underground mine.(FA)

CANBERRA - Australian PM Scott Morrison says he will re-open a controversial detention centre on Christmas Island, after a historic defeat in parliament.

On Tuesday, non-government MPs secured enough votes to pass a bill making it easier for sick refugees held offshore to be treated in the country.

Mr Morrison said the law would weaken the nation's tough border policies and embolden human traffickers.

Opponents accused him of spreading fear before an impending election.

Since 2013, Australia has sent asylum seekers arriving by boat to detention centres on Manus Island (Papua New Guinea) and Nauru.

It previously also sent detainees to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean which is about 2,600km (1,600 miles) from the mainland and 300km south of Indonesia.

The UN has criticised Australia's detention policies as "inhumane", but the nation insists they prevent human trafficking and save lives at sea.(FA)

CANBERRA - Refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi has returned home to Australia after two months of detention in Thailand.

The Bahraini citizen was detained in Bangkok in November while on honeymoon, at the request of Bahrain authorities.

Following international outcry and diplomatic pressure, the Arab kingdom ended its extradition attempt on Monday.

Hundreds of supporters cheered the arrival of the 25-year-old footballer at Melbourne Airport on Tuesday.

Wearing his team's football jersey, al-Araibi told the crowd: "I would like to say thanks to Australia. It's amazing to see all of the people here and all of the Australian people who supported me."

The professional footballer and vocal critic of Bahrain authorities had fled to Australia in 2014 where he was granted political asylum.

Bahrain had sentenced him in absentia to 10 years for vandalising a police station, charges which he has denied.

The Arab kingdom had sought his extradition, but human rights groups warned that he risked torture if he was sent back.

Hours before his return, his wife told the BBC she was deeply thankful for the lobbying efforts of the Australian government and public, and the international football community.

"I have had a smile all the time on my face and I can't stop crying - I am just so happy," said the 24-year-old, who does not wish to be named.

"I prayed and prayed that he would come back to me, and finally our nightmare is ending."(FA)

QUEENSLAND, Australia - Australia has deployed troops to tackle "once-in-a-century" floods that have inundated houses, schools and airports in the country's northeast, forcing hundreds to flee and bringing crocodiles onto the streets.

The Australian Defence Forces on Monday filled sandbags, deployed amphibious cargo vehicles and helped pluck flashlight-wielding residents from their rooftops, as monsoon rains drenched the northern state of Queensland.

Australia's tropical north typically experiences heavy rains during the monsoon season, but the recent downpour has far exceeded normal levels.

The weather bureau warned of "dangerous and high velocity flows" along the Ross River after the floodgates were opened fully at the Ross River dam late on Sunday, releasing about 1,900 cubic metres of water a second.

Even after the release, as of Monday morning, the dam was still at 229 percent capacity, holding about 532,000 gigalitres of water, or roughly as much as Sydney Harbour.

"We're hoping to see an easing trend from tomorrow," bureau spokeswoman Jess Gardner said, adding that the rains could move further south, towards Mackay, a major coal-exporting area.

More than 1,100 people have called the emergency services for urgent help, according to Annastacia Palaszczuk, the state premier.

Schools and courts remain closed, more rain is on the way and emergency warnings are still in effect for more than a dozen rivers, with winds expected to gust at up to 100km an hour on the coast.

Up to 20,000 homes are at risk of being inundated if the rains continue, according to officials.

"It's basically not just a one-in-20-year event, it's a one-in-100-year event," said Palaszczuk. "This is unprecedented, we've never seen anything like this before," she said.(FA)