Spanish parliament urges government to exhume Franco’s remains
MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s opposition parties voted on Thursday to move the remains of fascist dictator Francisco Franco out of a state-funded mausoleum, in a non-binding parliamentary motion the government is likely to resist.
Somalia and its backers seek security pact to beef up army
LONDON (Reuters) – Somalia’s government and its foreign backers said on Thursday they were hammering out a plan to try and strengthen the army to take over the fight against al Shabaab militants from over-stretched African Union troops.
Skirmishes over culture strain alliance between Saudi rulers, clerics
JEDDAH (Reuters) – When senior Saudi cleric Abdulaziz al-Tarifi told his almost one million Twitter followers that musical instruments were ungodly, it helped spark a hashtag among like-minded Saudis that “the people reject music academies”.
U.N. has ‘a million questions’ on Syria after Astana deal
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United Nations still has a million questions about a Syria deal struck last week by Russia, Turkey and Iran, with aid convoys almost totally stalled despite a reported reduction in the fighting, a U.N. aid official said on Thursd…
After night of chaos, Lisbon airport traffic normalizing
LISBON (Reuters) – Thousands of angry passengers who were stranded in Lisbon’s international airport by a refueling system failure on Wednesday and had to sleep on the floor and luggage belts were finally able to travel on Thursday.
EU and China to hold summit on June 2, focus on climate
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union and China will hold a summit in Brussels on June 2, four EU officials said, the first since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump that has united the two economic powers against global warming and trade pro…
U.S. tells Turkey it supports Ankara’s fight against PKK
LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis voiced strong support for Turkey’s fight against PKK militants after talks with Turkey’s prime minister on Thursday, as Ankara fumes over a U.S. decision to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria it equates t…
China says has ‘positive’ talks with Vietnam on South China Sea
BEIJING (Reuters) – The leaders of China and Vietnam had “positive” talks about the disputed South China Sea on Thursday with neither side criticizing the other, a senior Chinese diplomat said.
North Korea demands handover of suspects in assassination plot: Xinhua
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea demanded on Thursday the handover of “terror suspects” who plotted to kill leader Kim Jong Un with a biochemical substance, repeating accusations it made last week that U.S. and South Korean spies were behind the plan.
Finland urges conditions on EU funding for states turning away refugees
HELSINKI (Reuters) – The European Union should attach more conditions to development funds earmarked for some member states in its next budget framework, Finland’s finance minister said on Thursday, saying they should do more to share the cost of takin…
