Germany’s defense minister has said German troops in Turkey’s Incirlik Air Base will continue fighting in the international coalition against the Daesh terrorist group till the end of June. In an interview with German daily Bild am Sonntag, Ursula von der Leyen said German refueling aircraft were expected to be moved to Azraq air base of Jordan by mid-July. Source Anadolu Agency
Spain has discreetly hired ferries to be moored in the Port of Barcelona as temporary housing for possibly thousands of police specially deployed to keep order in rebel Catalonia and help suppress an illegal independence referendum. Source bloomberg
Finland, a first-rate place in which to be a mother, has registered the lowest number of newborns in nearly 150 years. The birth rate has been falling steadily since the start of the decade, and there’s little to suggest a reversal in the trend. Source: Bloomberg
Turkey, Iran and Iraq have agreed to consider taking “coordinated counter-measures” against the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government’s (KRG) bid to hold independence referendum at a trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting in New York, days before the Sept. 25 vote in northern Iraq. Source: Daily News
