Backlash grows as Italy migrant arrivals top 50,000

Italy's wealthy North vowed Sunday that it would refuse to accommodate any more migrants as thousands more were rescued in the Mediterranean by a multinational flotilla of ships.

As another frantic weekend of rescues unfolded, nearly 6,000 people were plucked to safety from packed fishing boats and rubber dinghies off Libya.

Mass drownings in the Mediterranean have claimed nearly 1,800 lives so far this year.

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G7 leaders urge tough line on Russia at Alpine summit

Group of Seven (G7) leaders vowed at a summit in the Bavarian Alps on Sunday (June 7) to keep sanctions against Russia in place until President Vladimir Putin and Moscow-backed separatists fully implement the terms of a peace deal for Ukraine.

The Ukraine conflict and a long-running debt standoff between Greece and its European partners dominated the first day of the annual meeting hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel at Schloss Elmau, a luxury Alpine hotel in southern Germany.

Merkel is hoping to secure commitments from her G7 guests to tackle global warming ahead of a major United Nations climate summit in Paris in December.

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More than 50 lawmakers from British PM's party ready to join EU exit campaign

British Prime Minister David Cameron has been challenged by a group of over 50 lawmakers from his Conservative Party who are prepared to join a campaign backing Britain's exit from the European Union unless he achieves radical changes in the bloc.

The lawmakers on Sunday launched a new political group called Conservatives for Britain (CfB), which will support Cameron's bid for reform while urging an end to EU membership unless significant changes are achieved.

Cameron is attempting to persuade European leaders to back UK demands for reform before holding an in-out referendum on Britain's EU membership. He has promised the vote by the end of 2017.

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Tennis: Stan Wawrinka wins French Open, shatters Novak Djokovic's grand slam dream

Stan Wawrinka spectacularly shattered Novak Djokovic's dream of a career Grand Slam on Sunday when he became the oldest winner of the French Open in 25 years.

The 30-year-old Swiss claimed a famous 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 victory to secure his second career major after the 2014 Australian Open. It ended world number one Djokovic's bid to become only the eighth man to secure a career Slam as he slumped to his third defeat in a Roland Garros final in four years.

Wawrinka became the oldest champion in Paris since Andres Gomez in 1990 after just his fourth win in 21 meetings against the Serb.

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Formula One: Lewis Hamilton wins Canada Grand Prix to end Nico Rosberg's resurgence

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton bounced back and increased his lead in the drivers world championship Sunday when he drove to a well-measured victory ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the Canadian Grand Prix.

The two-time champion made the most of the 44th pole position of his career to lead from the lights to the chequered flag, finishing the 70 laps contest at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 2.2 seconds clear of the 29-year-old German.

His victory ended Rosberg's run of two wins and confirmed his own full recovery from the disappointment of the Mercedes pit-stop fiasco in Monaco, where Hamilton was deprived of a near-certain victory in the closing laps.

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