Xinhua world news summary at 0100 GMT, Dec. 14

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a bruising defeat in the House of Commons Wednesday night when a group of her own Conservative MPs rebelled in a crucial vote on her Brexit withdrawal bill.

She lost by just four votes, winning 305 votes against the 309 who voted against the government. (UK-EU-Brexit)

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PRAGUE -- Czech President Milos Zeman appointed on Wednesday the new government headed by Andrej Babis at Prague Castle.

The new government is comprised of 14 ministers, nine of whom are newcomers, and five are current ministers. (Czech Republic-New Government)

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, the third such increase in 2017.

"In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the (Federal Open Market) Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1.25 to 1.5 percent," said the Fed in a statement after concluding a two-day monetary policy meeting. (US-Interest Rate-Fed)

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QUITO -- A criminal court in Ecuador on Wednesday sentenced the suspended vice-president, Jorge Glas, to six years in prison for illicit association within the bribery scheme run by Brazilian construction firm, Odebrecht.

This is the first sentence handed down in Ecuador within the Odebrecht case. Four others were sentenced to the same penalty as Glas, including his uncle, Ricardo Rivera. (Ecuador-Glas-Corruption)

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JERUSALEM -- Three rockets were fired from Gaza to Israel on Wednesday night amid growing tensions, an Israeli statement said.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that Israel's Iron Dome rocket defense system successfully intercepted two rockets. (Gaza-Israel-Rocket) Enditem