Briefly

UNITED STATES

Trump threatens to expel Spain from NATO

US President Donald Trump suggested on Thursday that Spain be expelled from NATO for refusing to increase its defense spending. "They have no excuse not to do this," Trump told reporters at the White House during a meeting with visiting Finnish President Alexander Stubb. "Maybe you should throw them out of NATO frankly. You people are gonna have to start speaking to Spain," Trump said. "You have to call them and find why are they a laggard." Under pressure from Trump, NATO members in June agreed to raise their military spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product by 2035. Spain on Friday rejected Trump's suggestion it should be expelled from NATO for failing to meet his ramped-up defense spending target. "Spain is a committed and full member of NATO. And it meets its capacity targets as much as the United States," Spanish government sources said.

EUROPE

EU chief survives 2 no-confidence votes

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen survived two motions of no-confidence in the European Parliament on Thursday, following accusations ranging from an alleged unfair trade deal with the United States to inaction over Israel. A total of 594 Members of the European Parliament took part in the vote, accounting for 82.5 percent of all 720 members. The first motion was rejected with 179 votes in favor, 378 against, and 37 abstentions. The second motion was also rejected with 133 votes in favor, 383 against, and 78 abstentions. According to the Parliament's rules, a motion of no confidence can only be adopted if supported by more than two-thirds of the voting members.

THE PHILIPPINES

7.4-magnitude quake kills at least 3

A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippines on Friday, killing at least three people and triggering regional tsunami warnings that were later lifted. The quake hit about 20 kilometers off Manay town in the Mindanao region at 9:43 am, according to the United States Geological Survey. One person was killed when a wall collapsed in Mati city, the largest population hub near the quake's epicenter, while a local man suffered a fatal heart attack, local officials said. Another person was killed in Davao city, more than 100 kilometers west of the epicenter, a city government statement said without giving details.

Xinhua - Agencies