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Tens of thousands of people have massed in central Madrid for a rally organised by radical Spanish leftists Podemos.

The «March for Change» is one of the party’s first outdoor mass rallies, as it looks to build on the recent victory of its close allies Syriza in Greece.

Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias told the crowd a «wind of change» was starting to blow through Europe.

Podemos has surged ahead in opinion polls, and has vowed to write off part of Spain’s debt if it comes to power.

The BBC’s Tom Burridge in Madrid says that there has been an impressive turnout and a carnival atmosphere at the rally.

Several of Madrid’s main avenues became a sea of people and purple, the party’s colour, he says, after its supporters travelled from all over Spain.

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The US says it will not hand back the Guantanamo Bay naval base as part of efforts to improve relations with Cuba.

Cuban President Raul Castro included the demand in a speech on Wednesday, calling also for the US trade embargo to be lifted.

US President Barack Obama «does believe that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed down… but not the naval base», the White House said.

The land on which the base stands was leased to the US by Cuba in 1903.

The Cuban government which came to power in the revolution of 1959 has long demanded its return, saying it is a violation of international law, but the US points to a legal provision making the lease permanent unless it is terminated by mutual agreement.

Last month the two countries announced a thaw in relations, agreeing to restore diplomatic ties severed in 1961. Delegations have begun negotiating the re-establishment of embassies.

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The Libyan representative to the oil producers’ organisation Opec has been released, more than two weeks after being kidnapped.

Samir Salem Kamal had been seized after leaving work in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on 15 January.

His family said he was in good health considering the situation, but shaken up by his ordeal.

They said the identities of his kidnappers – and their motives – remained unclear.

Mr Kamal has been Libya’s representative to Opec – a 12-member organisation of oil-producing nations – for two years, and was also a senior manager at the planning and training department in Libya’s Ministry of Oil.

The country has been in a state of growing chaos and conflict in recent months.

Competing militias have been ruling the country since the overthrow of Col Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

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The government of Bahrain has revoked the nationality of 72 citizens on grounds of damaging national security, the state BNA news agency has reported.

It says that the measures have been implemented in part to «preserve security and stability and fight the danger of terrorist threats».

Correspondents say it is the largest number of Bahrainis to be stripped of their nationality since 2013.

At that time a law was introduced to punish people convicted of terrorism.

Bahrain has been wracked by unrest since an uprising in 2011 in which the Shia majority demanded democratic reforms from the Sunni-led government.

Tensions have been high since elections in November were boycotted by the opposition, who said parliament lacked sufficient powers and that constituency boundaries had been redrawn to favour their supporters.

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Egypt faces a long and difficult battle with militants, the country’s president has said, in his first remarks since a deadly attack in the Sinai region.

Abdul Fatah al-Sisi spoke a day after a group linked to Islamic State said it killed at least 32 soldiers and police.

«This battle will be difficult, strong, evil and will take a long time,» he said in comments broadcast on state TV.

Mr Sisi cut short a visit to an African Union summit to return to Egypt in the wake of the Sinai attack.

On Saturday morning he chaired a meeting of the country’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf).

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