Plans for Heathrow: Decision soon

LONDON • The British government will make a long-awaited decision next week on plans to boost London's airport capacity, a spokesman said yesterday, with growing speculation that it will back expansion at Heathrow.

In a rare move, ministers opposed to the decision will be allowed to voice their views when the preferred option is revealed, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street office said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

MPs' vote on Brexit deal 'very likely'

LONDON • Britain's Parliament will "very likely" have to ratify the country's eventual agreement with the European Union when it leaves the bloc, a British government lawyer said yesterday, boosting the battered pound on currency markets.

"The government view at the moment is it is very likely that any such agreement will be subject to ratification," Mr James Eadie, who is representing Prime Minister Theresa May's government, told the High Court in London.

REUTERS

Turkish constitutional changes

ANKARA • Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim yesterday said that the government would "very soon" submit proposals to Parliament for constitutional changes bolstering the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The government is seeking a three-fifths majority for the proposals in Parliament, which would allow the calling of a referendum to let the people have the final say.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Belgian anti-terror raids: 15 held

BRUSSELS • Belgian police yesterday took in 15 people for questioning after raids as part of an investigation into the financing of militant groups and recruiting fighters for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, prosecutors said.

The raids were not linked to the Brussels attacks of March 22 in which 32 people were killed, they added in a statement. Of the 15 people detained, four will be facing an investigating judge, prosecutors said.

REUTERS