PARIS / AFP Europe and Russia are set to launch an unmanned spacecraft on Monday to smell Mars’ atmosphere for gassy evidence that life once existed on the Red Planet, or may do so still. ExoMars 2016, the first of a two-phase Mars exploration, will see an orbiter hoisted from Kazakhstan at 0931 GMT Monday on a Russian Proton rocket. ...

Havana / AFP The European Union and Cuba signed a deal to normalize relations, including an agreement on the delicate issue of human rights—a breakthrough just ahead of US President Barack Obama’s historic visit to the island. The agreement, the culmination of nearly two years of negotiations, is a further step toward ending the communist country’s status as a pariah ...

BLOOMBERG Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians are gearing up to march in Sunday’s anti-government protests, which could tip the balance against President Dilma Rousseff in her struggle to remain in office. As of Friday evening, more than 360,000 people had signed up on a Facebook page pledging to take part in opposition marches, a 20 percent increase from Thursday morning. ...