World News at a Glance

U.S. Places New Sanctions on Venezuela Day After Election

The Trump administration placed new sanctions on Venezuela on Monday, seeking to block President Nicolás Maduro from selling off government debt to enrich himself the day after he claimed victory in what the U.S. government called a “sham” election in his crisis-ridden country. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing the new penalties, which would bar U.S. companies or citizens from buying debt or accounts receivable from the Venezuelan government, including Petróleos de Venezuela, the government-owned oil company that is the parent of Citgo Petroleum Corp. The action comes as Venezuela reels from an economic collapse.

In Hard-Line Speech, Pompeo Criticizes Iran’s Behavior

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his first major policy address to deliver a hard-line speech on Monday, in which he demanded that Iran change just about everything regarding its behavior on the world stage. He insisted that Iran end all nuclear enrichment programs and close its heavy water reactor, saying it did not have the right to such a program. He also appealed directly to the Iranian people, suggesting they should reject the clerical government in Tehran, the capital. Pompeo’s speech at the conservative Heritage Foundation was intended to throw down the gauntlet against Tehran.

Syria Regains Control of Damascus, After Seven Years of Fighting

The Syrian capital of Damascus and its surrounding suburbs are entirely free of rebel fighters for the first time in seven years, the government said Monday. That milestone was achieved when the last Islamic State fighters reached an agreement with the government to leave the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk and the neighboring town of Hajar al-Aswad and head to one of the militant group’s last strongholds in eastern Syria. Their retreat, confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, ended weeks of fighting that had reduced the camp to smoking, dusty rubble.

Italy’s Populists Move Closer to Power, With Little-Known Pick for Prime Minister

In a significant step toward forming an anti-establishment government, the leaders of Italy’s populist parties asked the country’s president on Monday to accept a little-known law professor as their consensus candidate for prime minister. A dapper 54-year-old civil law professor with a taste for cuff links and white pocket kerchiefs, Giuseppe Conte has a long résumé working for Roman law firms and associating with top-ranking Vatican cardinals. But with no political base or government experience, Conte’s main qualification may well be his willingness to carry out a government agenda agreed upon by the populist party leaders.

British Lawmakers Say Dirty Russian Money Is Still Flowing to London

After the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Prime Minister Theresa May promised there would be no place for “serious criminals and corrupt elites.” Yet business continues as usual for wealthy Russians who hide and launder corrupt assets through London, a parliamentary committee said Monday in a scathing assessment. The report, from the influential House of Commons foreign affairs committee, said there was no excuse for Britain “to turn a blind eye” while associates and allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin “use money laundered through London to corrupt our friends, weaken our alliances and erode faith in our institutions.”

Dozens Die in Karachi from Relentless Heat

At least 65 people have died in recent days from a suffocating heat wave that has afflicted Karachi, Pakistan’s sprawling southern port metropolis, the charitable foundation that runs the city’s central morgue said Monday. Government officials did not confirm the figure but exhorted residents of Karachi, a city of 15 million, to take precautions because of the heat. On Monday, a temperature of 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded in Karachi, often is referred to as a concrete jungle because it lacks large areas of plants or trees. In recent years, heat waves have claimed hundreds of lives.

‘God Made You This Way,’ Pope Is Said to Have Told Gay Man

A Chilean survivor of clerical sex abuse has said that Pope Francis told him in a private meeting this month that God had made him gay and that both God and the pontiff loved him that way, a remarkable expression of inclusion for the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Juan Carlos Cruz had already said that Francis had apologized in the meeting for the sexual abuse scandal involving Chilean clergy members, but over the weekend, he also told the Spanish newspaper El País about the pope’s remarks about his homosexuality. The Vatican declined to comment.