Saudi Arabia had a budget surplus of 27 billion riyals ($7.41 billion) in the first quarter of this year. The surplus was on the back of a jump in oil and non-oil revenues, after Saudi Arabia’s finances were hit hard by a slump in oil prices almost five years ago. Mohammed Al-Jadaan, the Saudi Finance Minister, said that the Kingdom’s total spending increased by eight per cent while revenue jump.

A Sri Lankan Parliament member has submitted a motion to ban the burka in the country as a national security measure. Ashu Marasinghe stated in his motion that the burka is used worldwide by men who hide behind it and carry out terrorist acts. Authorities have not provided any information if any of the male bombers wore burkas.

Russian President Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in the Russian city of Vladivostok on Thursday. The talks between the two are expected to center around resolving Pyongyang’s nuclear standoff with South Korea. Putin reportedly told Kim that Russia supports his efforts to normalize North Korea’s relations with the US and offered Russia’s help in supporting the negotiations.

The chairman of Poland’s conservative ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has called the LGBT rights movement a foreign import that threatens the nation. Kaczynski also said ’everyone must accept Christianity’ and that questioning the Roman Catholic in Poland is unpatriotic.

Scotland will start preparing for an independence referendum before May 202, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday. Scotland, England’s political partner and part of the UK, rejected independence by 10 percentage points in a 2014 referendum. But differences over Brexit have strained relations with the government in London.

America’s 2019 National Teacher of the Year, Rodney Robinson, teaches students at a juvenile detention facility in Richmond, Virginia. Robinson has been a teacher for 19 years. His award was announced Wednesday by the Council of Chief State School Officers. Robinson said he gives his students ’empathy, not sympathy’.

Measles in the US has climbed to its highest level in 25 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 695 cases had been reported in 22 states this year as of Wednesday. That was up from 626 reported Monday. Roughly three-quarters of this year’s illnesses in the US have been in New York state, mainly in the Jewish communities in Brooklyn and Rockland County.

Jill Greninger, 35, died after she fell into a commercial meat grinder at a plant in Pennsylvania while she was operating the machine on a rolling ladder at the Economy Locker Storage Company on Monday. There were no witnesses and it is unclear whether she was reaching for something in the grinder.

The 5-year-old boy who was thrown off a balcony inside Mall of America earlier this month is making a miraculous recovery, the family’s pastor said. An MRI scan show that Landen Hoffman’s injuries are similar to that of a child who fell off his bike, not someone who fell 40 feet. ’Doctors said they found no brain damage...not even any swelling’, Mac Hammond, a pastor from the family’s church said.

Caleb McGillvary, 30, known as ’Kai the hatchet-wielding hitchhiker’ for a 2013 interview was convicted of first-degree murder over the death of Joseph Galfy, 73, in 2013 inside his home in Clark, New Jersey. ’Kai’ said he was spending the night at Galfy’s house when he says the older man tried to rape him, claiming he fought back in self-defense. The jury deliberated several hours over two days.

Tesla has increased the range of its latest Model S and Model X cars by 10 per cent, now capable of a maximum of 370 and 325 miles respectively. The cars can also charge faster and have an improved suspension design. The upgrades extend Tesla’s range lead over much of its competition, who still struggle to reach the 300 mile EPA threshold.

President Trump on Wednesday vowed to fight any effort by congressional Democrats to launch impeachment proceedings against him. Trump promised to take any legal battle to the Supreme Court despite Congress’ constitutional power to impeach. ’If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court’, Trump wrote on Twitter.

President Trump on Wednesday reiterated his threat to close part of the southern border and send more ’armed soldiers’ to defend it if Mexico did not block a new caravan of migrants. US officials were quoted saying they are expecting a request from the DHS in the coming days for additional troops. About 5,000 active duty and National Guard troops already are at the border.

A senior staff member for former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was sentenced Wednesday to 13 months in prison for her role in the ’Bridgegate’ scandal. Bridget Anne Kelly was serving as the Republican governor’s deputy chief of staff when she is alleged to have ’manufactured traffic problems’ to ’punish’ Mayor Mark Sokolich for not endorsing Christie during his bid for reelection.

As per a report, Sen. Bernie Sanders harshly criticized the wealth of US senators during his first campaign for office in 1971. Sanders reportedly called it ’immoral’ that half the members of the Senate were millionaires. Sanders made the comments when he was running for US Senate at the time under the banner of the Liberty Union Party.

President Trump on Wednesday said he agreed with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that the Department of Veteran Affairs doesn’t need fixing. Trump, however, insisted that it was his administration that made it better. Ocasio-Cortez said recently that the VA isn’t broken and is actually providing ’some of the highest quality’ care to veterans.

Rivian is working to get an all-electric pickup truck into production and Ford is going to invest $500 million to help, in turn being able to use it’s ’skateboard’ platform for a future electric vehicle. Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of automotive, will also join Rivian’s board. Ford said it will use Rivian’s skateboard chassis for a new electric vehicle, but did not offer any other details.