Exit polls in Spain's local elections Sunday gave the "Indignado" protest movement a possible lead in a tight race for control of Madrid and Barcelona against governing conservative parties.

A poll by TNS Demoscopia put the protest movement slightly ahead in Madrid and Barcelona, while another by GAD3 put them slightly behind but still breaking the ruling parties' majorities.

Two Roman Catholic nuns have shaken up the campaign ahead of weekend local elections in Spain by openly backing Catalan separatist candidates, in defiance of the Vatican.

Instead of leading cloistered lives in their convents in Catalonia, the two nuns regularly appear in their habits on television chat shows and at conferences, and both are active on social media.

Spain rejected on Monday an EU quota system to share the migrant burden among member states, saying it had already done more than its fair share to help asylum seekers.

Britain, France and several eastern European states have already opposed the idea.

Uganda said Saturday it was boosting security measures following fresh threats against the east African nation by Somalia's al-Qaida-linked Shebab rebels.

A statement by police said a new video purportedly from the Islamists and urging attacks in Uganda and Burundi -- nations that both contribute troops to the African Union's AMISOM force in Somalia -- has been circulated online.

Spain's air force has taken over the investigation of the crash of an Airbus A400M military cargo plane near Seville which killed four men, a defense ministry spokesman said Thursday.

The Spanish government initially charged a civilian team made up of experts from the transport and defense ministries to probe the crash, the first of an A400M airlifter. 

Spanish police on Tuesday arrested two Moroccan men accused of using the Internet to recruit Islamic State group supporters, the latest in a string of operations in Spain against backers of the jihadist movement.

The two suspects were arrested in the Barcelona suburb of Cornella del Llobregat following an eight-month investigation, the interior ministry said in a statement.

French President Francois Hollande called Monday for an end to the US embargo on Cuba, during the first visit by a Western leader to the island since Washington and Havana moved to restore ties.

Addressing the half-century-old trade embargo ahead of meetings with Fidel and Raul Castro, the brothers who have ruled Cuba since its 1959 revolution, Hollande said France will do whatever possible to see that "the measures that have so badly harmed Cuba's development can finally be lifted, repealed."

Spanish authorities on Sunday found the two cockpit recorders of an Airbus A400M military plane that crashed near Seville airport, killing four of the six people on board, the government said.

The recording devices could prove crucial in determining the cause of Saturday's crash, which led Britain, Germany and Turkey to ground their A400M planes as a precaution until more is known about why the aircraft went down during a test flight.

At least four people were killed when an Airbus A400M military plane crashed near Spain's southern Seville airport during a training flight, the first fatal accident involving the new transport craft.

Andalusia's regional prefect Antonio Sanz, who heads the local administration, said a burnt body had been found in the wreckage, bringing the death toll to four. Previously a spokeswoman for  emergency services had said "there are at least three dead and two seriously injured."

A Spanish judge Monday took a step towards seizing the assets of Cristina, sister of King Felipe VI, pending her trial in a fraud scandal that has shamed the royal family.

It said Cristina, 49, had failed to pay a 2.7 million euro ($3 million) court bond to cover her liability in the case. It ordered her to hand over a list of her assets with a view to impounding them.