EUROPE-EASTERN-SUMMIT

RIGA, Latvia — European Union leaders on Thursday will seek new ways to bolster ties with six post-communist nations in Eastern Europe, a year and a half after a previous summit of the Eastern Partnership ended with a fateful standoff over Ukraine. Just ahead of the two-day summit, the EU promised grants of 200 million euros ($223 million) over the next 10 years to promote small and medium-sized businesses in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. 

RUSSIA-SPACE WOES

MOSCOW — Back-to-back rocket launch failures have dealt Russia one of the heaviest blows to its space industry since the Soviet collapse — with national pride and billions of dollars at stake. The setbacks threaten to erode Russia's leading position in the multibillion global launch market, in which it commands an estimated 40 percent share, and dent President Vladimir Putin's efforts to boost the country's global prestige. 

SPAIN-RENEGADE POLITICAL PARTY

BARCELONA, Spain — Nearly a decade ago, Albert Rivera caused a stir in Spanish local politics by posing nude in campaign posters. These days, he sports Hugo Boss suits but his campaign on the national stage is no less eye-catching: His upstart Ciudadanos Party is cutting into support for the ruling conservatives, threatening to bust open Spain's traditional two-party system. 

ITALY-TUNISIA-ATTACK

ROME — The mystery over the migrant-turned-suspect in Tunisia's Bardo Museum massacre intensified Thursday amid questions about his movements after arriving in Italy with a boat full of rescued refugees a month before the attack. As Italian officials defended their handling of Abdelmajid Touil, indications pointed to his presence in Italy in the days before and after the March 18 massacre.

OECD-INCOME GAP

PARIS — The widening gap between haves and have-nots in much of the developed world not only raises concerns about the fraying social fabric — it's also dramatically holding back economic growth, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 

EUROPE-ECONOMY

LONDON — The sharp fall in the euro over the past year appears to be paying dividends by helping the eurozone deal with one of its major economic problems — unemployment. A survey Thursday found employers in the 19-country single currency zone hiring staff in May at the fastest rate in four years. 

GERMANY-ANTI-SEMITISM

BERLIN — Germany's Interior Ministry has appointed two Jews to a new commission on anti-Semitism in response to criticism that there was none among the original eight experts chosen.