PM HEADED FOR DEFEAT AS BASQUES BACK SOCIALISTS

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is heading for defeat in a no-confidence vote in the Spanish parliament as opposition parties line up against him.

Lawmakers are due to vote on the motion Friday, and party leaders speaking in the debate Thursday pledged Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez the support he needs to replace Rajoy as prime minister. Rajoy, pictured above, has no plans to resign to trigger new elections, said Maria Dolores de Cospedal, the secretary general of his People’s Party. Sanchez, below, already had the backing of the anti-establishment group Podemos and Esquerra Republicana, one of two Catalan separatist groups. He added Catalan party PDeCat and the Basque Nationalists on Thursday.