Europe

28 Apr 2019; AFP: The European Union warned Saturday that US President Donald Trump's rejection of a UN treaty designed to regulate the global arms trade would hamper the global fight against illicit weapons trafficking.

"A decision by the US to revoke its signature would not contribute to the ongoing efforts to encourage transparency in the international arms trade, to prevent illicit trafficking and to combat the diversion of conventional arms," said the EU's chief diplomat, Federica Mogherini.

27 Apr 2019; DW: Christian Lindner was reelected as head of Germany's liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) at a delegates' convention in Berlin on Friday.

Lindner won 86.64% of the delegates' votes, down from the 91% that he received when he was first elected as the party leader in 2013.

28 Apr 2019; DW: German police launched a massive search in Berlin after the reported abduction of a 13-year-old girl. Authorities now allege the teen concocted the kidnapping plan with a friend to get ransom money from her father.

Police in Berlin launched a massive search operation on Saturday after a 13-year-old schoolgirl was reported kidnapped, however police now allege the girl faked the whole affair.

PARIS, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Two days after French President Emmanuel Macron offered additional concessions worth billions of euros, thousands of "yellow vests" marched across French cities on Saturday for the 24th weekend in a row, though with noticeable fatigue.

The protest drew 23,600 participants countrywide, of which 2,600 were in the capital Paris, the second lowest turnout since the movement started five months ago, Interior Ministry estimated.

Last Saturday, 27,900 people took to the streets across the country, including 9,000 in the capital.

27 Apr 2019; DW: The German Bundesbank and Austria's National Bank stopped issuing the €500 ($557) bank note on Friday, three months after it had ceased to be handed out in the rest of the eurozone.

The delay reflects a preference among consumers in both countries to continue to use banknotes for everyday purposes such as shopping, and for savings. Existing €500 notes in circulation will continue to be legal currency.

27 Apr 2019; DW: Around 10% of voters plan to use their vote in the European Parliament elections to back far-right or right-wing populist parties, according to a study published by the Bertelsmann Foundation on Friday.

Most other EU citizens will use their ballots to thwart parties they oppose rather than support a particular group. The researchers said this type of "negative" voting could benefit political movements on the fringes and make it more difficult to form a majority in Parliament.

27 Apr 2019; DW: German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier told Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Saturday that he hoped the US-China trade dispute that has slowed global growth would soon be over. 

For months, the world's two largest economies have been locked in a trade war that has cost them billions of dollars and rattled global markets.

BRUSSELS, April 26 (Xinhua) -- Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese Mission to the European Union (EU), has dismissed the accusations regarding the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), saying the so-called China's debt trap "is not a suitable hat for China, nor for the BRI."

MADRID (AP) — Appealing to Spain’s large pool of undecided voters, top candidates on both the right and left urged Spaniards to choose wisely and keep the far-right at bay in Sunday’s general election.

What those undecided voters do in this tight race will shape the fortunes of the two political blocs that loosely took shape during campaigning that ended Friday. With no one party expected to win over 50 percent of Sunday’s vote, the question becomes which of Spain’s top five parties will join together after the vote to create a governing alliance.

25 Apr 2019; DW: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday at the 26th annual EU-Japan summit.

The leaders agreed to closer cooperation on security, the environment and trade and pledged to pursue long-awaited reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO).