PEDRO SANCHEZ

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called an early general election for July 23 in a surprise move after his Socialist party took a serious battering in local and regional elections.

Repeated racist insults against Brazilian soccer star Vinícius Júnior have unleashed a heated debate in Spain about tolerance for racism in a society that is becoming rapidly more diverse on and off the field.

President Joe Biden and Spain's Pedro Sánchez are set to hold talks as their countries are collaborating along with Canada to establish migration hubs in Latin America where asylum seekers fleeing poverty and violence in their home countries can go to apply for protection.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has given his full backing to Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s peace plan aimed at reaching a cease-fire with National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla organization.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro has started a state visit to Spain by urging Europe to do more to fight climate change.

Tens of thousands of Israelis are protesting judicial overhaul proposals in the 17th weekly rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has arrived in Spain on the second stop of a European tour aimed at resetting relations and making progress on a trade deal between the European and South American bloc Mercosur.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has warned lawmakers that the acute drought afflicting the southern European country will remain one of its leading long-term problems.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has apologized to the victims of a government-sponsored sexual freedom law passed last October that was aimed at increasing protection for women, but inadvertently allowed hundreds of convicted sex offenders to have their sentences reduced.

Leaders and diplomats from Europe have worn a path to Beijing since Chinese leader Xi Jinping was anointed president for a third time.

Firefighter Manuel Rubio had never seen a blaze like the one that raged for the past week in eastern Spain.

Spain’s parliament has dismissed an attempt by the far-right Vox party to topple the governing leftist coalition by voting overwhelmingly.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is urging the European Union to “reindustrialize” to end its dependence on energy, microchips and food from outside the bloc.

The governments of Spain and Morocco have held wide-ranging meetings aimed at improving historically fraught ties and striking deals on customs crossings and business development.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has traveled to Rabat along with 11 ministers before a meeting with Moroccan government officials.

Spain's National Court says it has charged a 74-year-old retired man with terrorism for allegedly sending six letters containing explosive material to Spain’s prime minister and the U.S. and Ukrainian embassies in the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez have signed a friendship treaty in Barcelona to strengthen relations between the European neighbors.

Spain has announced a new series of measures including scrapping Value Added Tax on staple food and has extended rent and eviction controls to help ease the economic crisis caused by Russia's war in Ukraine.

Spain, France and Portugal have agreed to build a major undersea pipeline to transport hydrogen from the Iberian Peninsula to France and Europe by 2030.

European Union nations have given themselves yet another month to overcome deep differences on groundbreaking measures to shield their citizens from the energy crisis.

European Union leaders are struggling to find immediate practical solutions on how to deal with the energy crisis but avoid an open rift between Germany and France.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced 3 billion euros in subsidies to help people weather high gas and electricity prices exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government is planning a temporary higher tax rate on the richest 1% of the country from next year.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has offered North Macedonia his country’s full support for its integration into the European Union.

Spain’s prime minister has expressed support for Bosnia to become a candidate country for European Union membership amid fears that uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine could fuel instability in the ethnically torn Balkan nation that went through a devastating conflict in the 1990s’.

Spain’s prime minister has kicked off his tour of the Western Balkans with a visit to Serbia.

Spain is increasing military spending as it works toward meeting a NATO commitment by dedicating 2% of gross domestic product to defense.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says the NATO summit in Madrid this week aims to showcase the Western allies' united front in defense of democratic values in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while providing a platform to increase the bloc’s deterrence capabilities.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is certain to dominate an upcoming NATO summit in Madrid.

The Spanish government will tighten judicial control over the country’s intelligence agency.

Qatar has committed to investing 4.7 billion euros ($4.9 billion) in Spain as the European country launches an economic overhaul with its share of European Union pandemic recovery funds.

Spain’s government has fired the director of the country’s top intelligence agency following the hacking of politicians’ cellphones.

A leading Catalan separatist politician says that Spain’s top intelligence official has acknowledged that her agency hacked into the cellphones of some politicians but insists it had proper judicial authorization.

Spain’s government says it has nothing to hide amid mounting unease over national security controversies involving Pegasus spyware.

Spanish officials says the cellphones of the prime minister and the defense minister were infected last year with Pegasus spyware that is only available to government agencies, in an operation that was not authorised by the government.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has met with Moroccan King Mohammed VI on a visit to Rabat seeking to mark the end of diplomatic tensions centered on Morocco’s disputed region of Western Sahara.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi has hosted leaders from three fellow Mediterranean countries to push for a common European response to the energy crisis that has been worsened by Russia's war in Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez have met in Madrid to plan how to boost progressive policies in the 27-nation European Union.

Spain’s left-wing ruling coalition is securing its hold on power with the approval of a landmark labor reform and a new national spending plan for next year that includes a hefty disbursement of pandemic recovery funds.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is convening a special Cabinet meeting Thursday to pass a decree-law that makes it mandatory to wear masks outdoors amid a record surge in COVID-19 cases.

Spain’s prime minister is urging people to “remain prudent” about COVID-19 over the holidays as Christmas festivities at one Spanish hospital are suspected of infecting dozens of staff.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country hopes to increase defense cooperation with NATO ally Spain through the purchase of a second aircraft carrier and possibly a submarine.

Spain’s prime minister and the leader of Catalonia have restarted negotiations in hopes of finding a solution to the ongoing political crisis caused by the region’s separatist movement.

Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government is slashing energy taxes and imposing a temporary windfall tax on the gains of energy companies in an attempt to drive down household electricity bills, which have surged to record highs and triggered an outcry.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is convening an urgent meeting of a committee that oversees efforts to fight hate crime after hooded attackers beat a 20-year-old man in Madrid and used a knife to carve a profanity on one of his buttocks.

Spain has announced that existing measures to protect the most vulnerable from the pandemic’s economic fallout will be prolonged until the end of October.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has overhauled his Cabinet to form what he calls “the government of the recovery” following the coronavirus pandemic.

The amount of meat that Spaniards eat has rattled the unity of Spain’s governing coalition.

A news conference at a NATO air base in Lithuania featuring Lithuania’s president and Spain’s prime minister got abruptly cut off when the pair of Spanish fighter jets serving as the backdrop were scrambled to monitor errant military aircraft in the Baltic skies.

Nine Catalan separatist leaders jailed for sedition are eyeing freedom, after Spain’s Cabinet pardoned them in the hope of starting what Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a much-needed reconciliation in the country’s restive northeast.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says that Spain is an ally of Morocco, and Madrid will defend both countries’ common interests at the European Union.

European Union leaders say they think the most pressing impediments to COVID-19 vaccine supplies are not intellectual property rights but export bans and inadequate production capacity.

Spain's prime minister wants the massive windfall of European Union pandemic recovery funds to transform the nation after the devastation caused by the pandemic.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has issued an executive order banning the development or use of vaccine passports in Montana.

Senegal and Spain signed a memorandum of understanding to encourage circular migration as part of efforts to mitigate migration flows that have been increasing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain resumed the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)BRUSSELS – The European Union moved Wednesday toward stricter export controls for coronavirus vaccines, seeking to make sure its 27 nations have more COVID-19 shots to boost the bloc's flagging vaccine campaign amid a surge in new infections. Ad“I mention specifically the U.K.,” said EU Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis. That was heading to Australia, which has a very limited coronavirus outbreak compared to the third surge of infections now facing many EU nations. The EU has been feuding with AstraZeneca for months over exactly how many vaccine doses would be delivered by certain dates.

New coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Utah have been on a downward trend since January. Ad___SAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil has reached 300,000 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and become the second nation to top that figure. ___BOISE, Idaho — The governor of Idaho has said COVID-19 vaccine eligibility will be open to all Idaho residents 16 and up starting April 5. ___WAILUKU, Hawaii — A hospital on Maui had to throw out nearly 1,400 vaccine doses after a refrigerator thawing the vials did not properly seal. Also, COVID-19 deaths have dipped below 1,000 a day on average for the first time since November.

Aguado, of the liberal Citizens party, told Spanish media in an impromptu televised appearance that regional president Isabel Diaz Ayuso had decided to break up their coalition. Regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, one of the rising stars of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, dissolved the regional legislature after breaking with her government’s junior party, the liberal Citizens. The rupture of Madrid’s powerful regional government was caused by another political decision taken 400 kilometers (248 miles) away just hours before on Wednesday morning. In southeast Murcia, Citizens stunned the Popular Party by withdrawing its support for its regional government and presenting a no-confidence vote along with the Socialists. If successful, that would give Citizens the regional presidency of the rural region that the Popular Party has ruled for over 25 years.

European Council President Charles Michel, center, arrives for a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. European Union leaders meet for a year-end summit that will address anything from climate, sanctions against Turkey to budget and virus recovery plans. From left, Latvia's Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins, Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “Regrettably, Turkey has engaged in unilateral actions and provocations and escalated its rhetoric against the EU, EU member states and European leaders,” they said in a statement from their summit in Brussels. “Any decision to impose sanctions against Turkey won’t be of great concern to Turkey,” Erdogan told reporters.

(AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)BRUSSELS – Air quality significantly improved in European metropolitan areas such as Milan and Madrid because of lockdown restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, European Union officials said Monday. An EU report on air quality published Monday showed that among metropolitan areas with the largest NO2 concentrations, Barcelona's levels sank by 59% during the early spring compared to the year before. Levels in many other metropolitan areas across Europe, especially western Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, also dropped by significant margins. “Now we realize that this is, of course, temporary and that we should not be reaching air quality standards by locking down society," said Hans Bruyninckx, the executive director of the European Environmental Agency. That all affected the air quality in the regions.

FILE - Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a parliamentary session in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday Oct. 21, 2020. “The reality is that Europe and Spain are immersed in a second wave of the pandemic,” Sánchez said during a nationwide address after meeting with his Cabinet. With the mainland curfew, Spain is following the example of neighboring France, where the government ordered a 9 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew for major cities and large swaths of the country this week. Several regional leaders, who run Spain's decentralized health care system, had asked in recent days for the national government to declare a national state of emergency. Under the first state of emergency, Spain’s military battalions were deployed to disinfect retirement homes and set up field hospitals.

It is not appropriate for us to do that now.”″Victoria reported seven new coronavirus cases on Sunday, with six linked to the latest outbreak, which involves 39 people across 11 households. Eight countries now have more than 1 million confirmed cases, and three are in Latin America. Argentina hit 1 million confirmed cases on Monday. ___OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma has registered more than 1,800 newly confirmed coronavirus cases. ___ATHENS, Greece — Greece officials introduced mandatory wearing of masks everywhere Saturday, with the country reaching records for new daily coronavirus cases.

(AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s northern border state of Chihuahua returned to the highest level of alert and lockdown Friday after coronavirus cases jumped there and hospitals began to fill up. Brad Little and local public health officials that the state’s healthcare system would soon be swamped until steps are taken to stem the virus’ spread. Still, neither the governor nor the regional public health department has issued a mask mandate. The task force report of Oct. 18 was released Friday by the Iowa Department of Public Health. ___LONDON — Bars, restaurants and most shops have closed across Wales in a lockdown to curb surging coronavirus cases.

Vox party leader Santiago Abascal walks past Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, left and 2nd Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias during a parliamentary session in Madrid, Spain, Thursday Oct. 22, 2020. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is facing a no-confidence vote in parliament brought by the nation's far-right Vox party. (Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Pool via AP)MADRID – Spanish lawmakers on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected a no-confidence motion called by the far-right Vox party against Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his left-wing coalition over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The motion was rejected by 298 votes and backed only by the 52 lawmakers of Vox, which last year became the third-largest force in the 350-seat parliament. Vox leader Santiago Abascal responded by saying that Casado's position was showing PP's true colors.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, left and 2nd deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias talk during a parliamentary session in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday Oct. 21, 2020. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez faces a no confidence vote in Parliament put forth by the far right opposition party VOX. If the no-confidence vote were to succeed, it would replace the current left-wing coalition government with one led by Vox leader Santiago Abascal. Many observers of Spanish politics consider the no-confidence vote as a way for the upstart Vox to put more pressure on the Popular Party. The Popular Party has been very critical of Sánchez, but Vox’s rise in recent years has come at the expense of the Spain’s traditional right-wing force.

All remain in quarantine at a Christchurch hotel, and health officials say they expect more to test positive. — British PM Johnson imposing strict coronavirus restrictions on Greater Manchester, England’s second-largest urban area, after talks fail on financial support. Local health officials said Tuesday that the surge is overwhelming their ability to confront the pandemic. Officials say coronavirus cases related to the university represent 61% of the total in Washtenaw County, compared to just 2% in August. ___PHOENIX — Arizona reported more than 1,000 daily coronavirus cases for the second time in a week.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is holding a Cabinet meeting to consider declaring a state of emergency for Madrid in order to impose stronger anti-virus restrictions on reluctant regional authorities. That successful legal challenge by Madrid officials was part of a long quarrel between the country’s main political parties over their coronavirus response. He told a press conference it was “undeniable” that there is community transmission in the Madrid region, not just isolated outbreaks, at a crucial juncture as winter approaches and respiratory problems increase. A Madrid court on Thursday upheld the regional government’s appeal, saying the national government’s imposition of restrictions violated people’s fundamental liberties. “They (the Spanish government) don’t really like the regional government of Madrid.

Sanchez has offered officials running the country's 17 regions help from the military to conduct coronavirus contact tracing. He has also pledged to declare regional emergency orders if the expansion of the pandemic continues, facilitating regional officials' ability to issue lockdowns, restrict mobility or other basic freedoms. He also pledged to declare regional emergency orders if virus continues spreading, something that should in theory help regional officials level issue new stay-at-home orders, restrict mobility or to curtail other activities. Regional officials, in turn, have complained that their hands are tied because only central authorities can legally declare a state of emergency. Officials at the Health Ministry have said that more than 60% of the new infections happen in social gatherings, including within families.

From left to right: Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Spain's King Felipe VI during a ceremony to mark the reopening of the Portugal/Spain border in Badajoz, Spain, Wednesday, July 1, 2020. The border was closed for three and a half months due to the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

But leaders of traditional allies of the United States have taken pains to avoid criticizing Trump directly. But at the top, the leaders of traditional allies of the United States have taken pains to avoid criticizing Trump directly, walking a fine line to reconcile international diplomacy with domestic outrage. German Chancellor Angela Merkel sidestepped questions from ZDF public television about Trump last week, saying the killing of Floyd was "really, really terrible. Trump, he has, amongst many other things, he is president of the United States, which is our most important ally in the world today, Johnson said. I share and stand in solidarity with the demonstrations that are taking place in the United States, he said.