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  • Trump’s map-making on social media stirs controversy in North Atlantic

    Trump’s map-making on social media stirs controversy in North Atlantic

    Diplomatic tensions are roiling the North Atlantic after former U.S. President Donald Trump shared a provocative, expansionist map on his Truth Social platform over the U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend, reigniting long-simmering concerns over his territorial ambitions for the region.

    The map posted by Trump reimagines the entire North American continent as U.S. territory, extending the nation’s borders outward to include both Greenland, the self-governing Danish territory in the Arctic, and the North Atlantic island nation of Iceland. The map itself was shaded in the red, white, and blue of the U.S. flag, and Trump offered no accompanying explanation for the post.

    The unprompted share was not out of character for the former president: it comes after years of repeated public musings from Trump about absorbing Canada as the 51st U.S. state, and consistent speculation about seeking U.S. control over Greenland. Tensions over his Arctic territorial rhetoric had already been rising through 2024, with Arctic nations on heightened alert after Trump ramped up his public comments on U.S. claims to Greenland earlier this year.

    Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen called the post deeply concerning in comments to Denmark’s national public broadcaster DR on Tuesday. “It’s disturbing and, in many ways, completely inappropriate,” Rasmussen said. “It’s obviously a sign that the U.S. president still harbors some kind of maximalist vision in his own mind. We need to rein that in.”

    The European Union moved quickly to shore up ties with Greenland just as Trump’s post circulated, offering the territory a new enhanced partnership and hundreds of millions of euros in targeted investment to counter growing uncertainty sparked by Trump’s repeated threats.

    For Iceland, the map post amplified already elevated tensions that have roiled the island nation’s geopolitical landscape this year. Iceland’s Foreign Secretary Thorgerdur Katrín Gunnarsdóttir formally summoned U.S. Ambassador Billy Long to an official meeting, where she made clear that Trump’s Truth Social post was unacceptable, Iceland’s national broadcaster RÚV confirmed.

    Relations between Iceland and Trump-aligned U.S. diplomatic leadership have been fraught for months. Earlier this year, Ambassador Long made a joke about Iceland becoming the 52nd U.S. state and himself as the territory’s governor, prompting thousands of Icelanders to sign a petition urging the prime minister to reject Long’s appointment. Long ultimately issued a public apology and took up his post in Reykjavik last month. Tensions rose again when Trump mistakenly name-checked Iceland four times during a speech discussing his plans for Greenland, despite the island sitting 180 miles off Greenland’s southern coast.

    That incident pushed Iceland’s left-leaning coalition government to move up a planned national referendum on restarting long-stalled EU accession negotiations. The vote, held Aug. 30, was framed in part by supporters as a way to strengthen Iceland’s European ties and shield the nation from growing regional geopolitical instability. Ultimately, Icelandic voters rejected the measure, leaving accession talks stalled for the foreseeable future. Iceland is already a member of NATO, but has remained outside the European Union for decades.

    Canada, which is prominently included as U.S. territory on Trump’s map, has also been a repeated target of the former president’s expansionist rhetoric. Trump has openly discussed making Canada the 51st state on multiple occasions, launched a trade war with the U.S. neighbor, and recently drew backlash for unilaterally renaming Lake Ontario — the Great Lake shared by Canada and the U.S. state of New York — as “Lake America.”

    Over the same Labor Day weekend that the map was posted, Trump also added another provocative proposal to his list of naming changes: he suggested renaming the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico to “New America.”

    This report includes contributions from Associated Press correspondents Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw and Darlene Superville in Washington.

  • Asbestos ‘nearly everywhere’ after 9/11 – new documents reveal air-quality concerns

    Asbestos ‘nearly everywhere’ after 9/11 – new documents reveal air-quality concerns

    Twenty-five years after the devastating September 11 terrorist attacks that brought down the World Trade Center, New York City has opened the books on long-concealed internal records that expose early official concerns about lethal air contamination at Ground Zero — concerns that were hidden from the public while officials declared the downtown Manhattan air safe to breathe.

    Under an order from newly elected Mayor Zohran Mamdani, 170,000 pages of internal test reports, memos and administrative records were published via a public online portal, coinciding with the upcoming anniversary of the 2001 attacks. The disclosure settles a years-long transparency lawsuit brought by 9/11 Health Watch, an advocacy group that represents attack survivors and first responders. Mamdani announced that the city is allocating more than $34 million to support the full document release process, with additional batches of records set to be published over the coming 12 months. The documents were discovered in 68 city storage boxes last year, decades after successive city administrations claimed the records did not exist.

    Mamdani, speaking alongside long-time 9/11 survivor advocate and television host Jon Stewart at a Tuesday press conference, laid out the damning core finding of the released records: asbestos, a known carcinogen, was detected in nearly every test sample collected near the collapse site in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. “People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air,” the mayor said, adding that for a quarter century, consecutive city governments ignored repeated calls for full transparency from survivors and victim families. “We will do no such thing,” he emphasized.

    The released records confirm what survivors and researchers have alleged for decades: just days after the Twin Towers collapsed, city and federal leaders — including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under then-administrator Christine Todd Whitman — publicly assured residents and workers that downtown air was safe to return to, even as internal tests showed widespread hazardous contamination. Whitman later apologized for the public declaration, saying the agency made the call with the limited information it had available at the time. The newly unearthed records include an October 2001 internal memo, known as the Harding Memo, that warned then-Deputy Mayor Robert Harding (serving under 9/11-era Mayor Rudy Giuliani) that the city could face up to 35,000 legal claims stemming from its handling of the air quality crisis. The memo specifically noted that inaccurate health assurances that pushed people to return to the downtown area too quickly could open the city to liability for toxic exposure and emotional harm. Stewart, who has lobbied for survivor health funding and transparency for decades, sarcastically noted that the information was concealed for 25 years, adding that city officials did not acknowledge the toxicity of downtown Manhattan air until October 2001, nearly a full month after the attacks.

    Public health data bears out the devastating human cost of the contamination. U.S. health officials confirm that the number of people killed by 9/11-related toxic dust and smoke illnesses has already surpassed the nearly 3,000 people killed directly in the 2001 attacks. Thousands of first responders, cleanup workers and downtown residents have developed chronic respiratory illnesses and cancers linked to exposure to Ground Zero contaminants. Elizabeth Cascio, a former New York Fire Department emergency medical technician who responded to the attacks, described the immediate experience of the toxic air in a prior interview: “We all knew the air quality was not safe – it was very toxic in terms of how it felt. Initially, when I came off the bus and arrived at the Trade Center, you felt like you had to hold your breath. But there’s only so long you can hold your breath. I could feel the particles coming into my nose and mouth and thought: ‘This can’t be good.” Cascio has since developed chronic sinus problems and persistent headaches linked to her exposure.

  • Lucky toddler has a narrow escape after running into speeding traffic

    Lucky toddler has a narrow escape after running into speeding traffic

    Dramatic security camera footage captured a heart-stopping moment in Puebla, Mexico, where a curious toddler escaped supervision and darted directly into a street filled with speeding vehicle traffic — only to be rescued at the last second by an alert supermarket employee. The incident, which unfolded in a busy commercial district, shows the young child breaking away from an adult companion near the store’s entrance and running across the curb into oncoming traffic, putting the child’s life in immediate danger. Witnesses say the employee, who was working near the front of the supermarket, spotted the runaway toddler within seconds. Without hesitation, the worker sprinted across the sidewalk, lunged forward, and grabbed the child just moments before a passing vehicle would have collided with them. The entire rescue was captured by the store’s outdoor security system, and the footage quickly spread across local social media platforms after it was shared by local authorities. First responders were called to the scene to check the toddler and the rescuer; both walked away from the incident with no injuries. Local community leaders have since praised the employee’s quick reflexes and calm response, noting that the worker’s split-second decision turned what could have been a deadly tragedy into a story of incredible luck and heroism. Officials have also reminded caregivers to keep close watch on young children near busy roadways, as even a moment of inattention can lead to life-threatening consequences.

  • Belgian far-right party cannot use IKEA trademarks for anti-immigration campaign, EU court rules

    Belgian far-right party cannot use IKEA trademarks for anti-immigration campaign, EU court rules

    BRUSSELS — In a landmark ruling that clarifies the balance between political expression and intellectual property protections across the European Union, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – the bloc’s highest judicial body – handed down a judgment Tuesday affirming that a far-right Belgian political party had no legal right to co-opt home goods giant IKEA’s protected trademarks for an anti-immigration campaign. The court’s opinion also notes the unauthorized political use could cause serious harm to the global furniture retailer’s long-established reputation.

    The dispute dates back to 2022, when Vlaams Belang, a Belgian far-right party that also advocates for Flemish separatism, launched a high-profile anti-immigration policy proposal branded as the “IKEA Plan – Immigration Really Can Be Different”. At the campaign’s launch press conference, party organizers replicated IKEA’s iconic logos, branded signage, and signature visual style to frame its plan to tighten Belgium’s national immigration regulations, leaning on the brand’s widespread public recognition to draw attention to its political messaging.

    IKEA, the Sweden-based multinational retailer known for its affordable flat-pack furniture and global brand identity, quickly filed a trademark infringement lawsuit with Belgian domestic courts, arguing the political campaign made illegal use of its legally registered trademarks without any prior consent or approval. Defending the campaign, Vrijheidsfonds – the independent association that managed the initiative on behalf of Vlaams Belang – contended that its unlicensed use of IKEA’s trademarks fell under the protection of the EU’s guaranteed right to freedom of political expression.

    Unable to resolve the core legal question of competing rights on its own, the Belgian domestic court referred the case to the ECJ for a binding interpretive ruling on EU trademark and expression law. In its Tuesday judgment, the ECJ concluded that the party’s reuse of IKEA’s registered trademarks creates a significant risk of material harm to the reputation of the brand and the commercial interests of its owner, IKEA.

    The court further clarified that invoking freedom of expression to justify unlicensed trademark use requires two key conditions: that the use is carried out in good faith, and that it serves a legitimate public interest. In this specific case, the ECJ found neither condition appeared to be satisfied. The judgment also emphasized that leveraging IKEA’s widely recognized positive reputation to amplify a polarizing political message does not override IKEA’s legally protected property rights and commercial interests under EU law.

    While the ECJ’s ruling provides formal legal guidance for the domestic proceedings, the final binding decision on the infringement claim will still be issued by the original Belgian court. Legal observers widely expect the Belgian court to align its final judgment with the ECJ’s clear guidance in the case, setting a broader precedent for future disputes over political use of private trademarks across the European Union.

  • European soccer leagues body accuses FIFA of ‘abusive conduct’ over women’s calendar

    European soccer leagues body accuses FIFA of ‘abusive conduct’ over women’s calendar

    NYON, SWITZERLAND – In a significant escalation of long-running tensions between European soccer governing bodies and global soccer leader FIFA, the umbrella organization representing most of the continent’s top domestic leagues has submitted an expanded complaint to the European Commission, accusing FIFA of abusive conduct in its oversight of the international women’s soccer match calendar.

    This new legal intervention from European Leagues comes on the heels of a 2024 complaint the group filed challenging FIFA’s pattern of decision-making, which has already resulted in expanded, match-heavy formats for the men’s FIFA World Cup and the expanded Club World Cup. To date, the original 2024 complaint has seen little to no forward movement through the European Union’s layered bureaucratic approval process.

    In its formal statement accompanying the expanded filing, European Leagues warned that FIFA’s current approach puts the long-term growth and financial stability of women’s professional domestic leagues across Europe at direct risk, while also endangering the physical health and overall wellbeing of female players. Notably, the organization did not name specific recent FIFA policy decisions targeted in the new complaint.

    The group specifically called out a failed initiative from FIFA President Gianni Infantino that would have sold minority stakes in top FIFA competitions, including the men’s and women’s World Cup. That controversial plan was ultimately scrapped before it could be implemented, but European Leagues argues the aborted proposal lays bare deep structural flaws in FIFA’s governance.

    “As is already the case in men’s football, FIFA consistently leverages its regulatory authority to prioritize its own commercial and competitive interests, at the expense of both women’s football development and the domestic European national leagues that form the backbone of the sport,” the statement read. “The recent controversy surrounding the scrapped FIFA Forward Enterprise initiative has further exposed this structural conflict of interest, and makes clear how profit-first motivations corrupt FIFA’s regulatory choices and internal decision-making processes.”

    European Leagues represents a broad cross-section of European women’s and men’s soccer. Eight full member women’s competitions include major top-flight leagues in England and Spain, while top women’s leagues in France, Germany, and Italy hold associate membership status. On the men’s side, the organization counts 35 member leagues, including nearly every major top-tier domestic competition across the continent.

    The original 2024 complaint against FIFA was filed jointly with FIFPRO Europe, the regional branch of the global players’ union. However, FIFPRO Europe has since withdrawn from all legal action against the governing body. In comments to the Associated Press on Tuesday, the union confirmed it exited the formal Brussels complaint as part of a broader cooperation agreement signed with FIFA this past June. The deal included a commitment from both sides to open formal negotiations over future adjustments to the international match calendar. Prior to the cooperation agreement, FIFA had spent a full year holding closed-door talks with an unofficial group of former officials with past ties to FIFPRO, a move that strained relations between the two organizations.

  • Four Renoir paintings worth millions stolen in French museum heist

    Four Renoir paintings worth millions stolen in French museum heist

    In a brazen early-morning break-in that has sent shockwaves through Europe’s cultural heritage community, four original Pierre-Auguste Renoir paintings were stolen from the small Renoir Museum in Cagnes-sur-Mer, southern France, this week. Only two of the valuable works have been recovered, after the two thieves abandoned them in the museum’s grounds during their hasty escape.

    Local mayor Bryan Masson, who has been fronting updates on the investigation, confirmed that the incident unfolded just before 6 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The alarm system triggered at 5:48 a.m., and law enforcement officers responded within five minutes of the alert, a rapid response that forced the suspects to flee before they could secure all four stolen pieces.

    Close-circuit camera footage captured the perpetrators’ methodical approach: they first cut through a perimeter fence to access the museum’s gardens before moving inside to cut through the mounting structures holding Renoir’s paintings in their frames. According to Masson, the pair were clearly prepared for a targeted heist: they arrived equipped with helmets, gloves, tactical clothing, an electric cutting knife and a hacksaw, indicating premeditation and advance planning. Investigators have also recovered two zip-up bags left at the scene, which they believe belonged to the suspects and were intended to transport the stolen art.

    Of the four stolen works, two 19th and early 20th century pieces — *Portrait of Madame Pichon* (1895) and *Coco Lisant* (1905) — were abandoned mid-escape and recovered undamaged in the museum garden. Two other works remain at large: 1910’s *Portrait of Madame Colonna Romano* and 1886’s *Jeune fille au puits*. Each of the four paintings carries an estimated market value of €9 million (approximately $10.4 million), though the mayor emphasized that as irreplaceable works by one of the founders of Impressionism, their cultural value is impossible to quantify. Unlike ordinary contraband, these famous pieces cannot be openly sold on the legal art market, leading investigators to suspect the heist was carried out for an unscrupulous private collector or organized art crime network.

    The Renoir Museum is a small, culturally significant institution housed in the iconic Impressionist painter’s final residence, where he lived until his death in 1919. Opened to the public in 1960, the museum holds 12 original Renoir works alongside a collection of the artist’s personal effects, including his easel, custom wheelchair, personal correspondence and original photographs. For the coastal town of Cagnes-sur-Mer, the museum is a core part of its local heritage and identity. Masson put it plainly: “Attacking the Renoir Museum is attacking a part of the history and heritage of Cagnes-sur-Mer.”

    This heist is far from an isolated incident. It marks the latest in a growing string of high-profile art thefts across Europe in recent months. Just one month prior, four Renaissance paintings were stolen from a museum in Sicily, Italy, and last October, a brazen break-in at Paris’s Louvre Museum saw priceless French crown jewels stolen. The wave of targeted art thefts has reignited urgent conversations about gaps in security at small and regional European museums, many of which operate on tight budgets that leave cultural heritage vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated organized criminal groups.

    In the wake of the theft, Masson issued a stark warning to national cultural authorities: “Beyond Cagnes-sur-Mer, this incident should serve as a warning about the protection of our museums, which now face a new form of organised crime targeting works of art.” He called on the French central government to allocate additional funding to regional and local museums to upgrade security infrastructure, helping them fend off what he described as “increasingly organised and determined criminals” targeting European cultural heritage.

  • US and Europe square off in 20th Solheim Cup and Rory McIlroy returns at the Irish Open

    US and Europe square off in 20th Solheim Cup and Rory McIlroy returns at the Irish Open

    The global golf calendar delivers a stacked lineup of tournaments across every major professional tour this week, headlined by the milestone 20th edition of the Solheim Cup, the premier women’s team competition between Europe and the United States, making its first-ever stop in the Netherlands.

    Hosted at Bernardus Golf in Den Bosch, this year’s match play event features a 6,557-yard, par-72 layout, with live television coverage airing on Golf Channel across Friday and Saturday from 1:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and a truncated broadcast window from 5 a.m. to noon on the final day Sunday. Team USA enters the competition as defending champions, after a dominant 2023 victory at Virginia’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, where the Americans never relinquished the lead after the opening session and carried a 10-6 advantage into final-day singles play to secure a 15½-12½ win.

    Leading the two squads are captains Anna Nordqvist for Europe and Angela Stanford for Team USA, with Nordqvist set to retire from the LPGA Tour following the event. History favors Europe on home soil: the continental side has lifted the cup five times in the last eight editions, and has not dropped a home-hosted competition since a 2015 defeat in Germany. Team USA brings a relatively inexperienced roster to the Netherlands, with just five of its 12 players notching an LPGA Tour victory since the last Solheim Cup. World-class star Nelly Korda anchors the American side, boasting 23 global individual wins alone – five more than the combined total of the rest of her teammates. Nine members of the 2023 victorious U.S. squad return for this year’s event, with Korda and Megan Khang leading the experience ranks as they prepare for their fifth Solheim Cup appearance. For Europe, captain Nordqvist has included four first-time Solheim Cup players, headlined by rising star Lottie Woad, who currently ranks eighth in the women’s world golf rankings. Two veteran European stars, Charley Hull and Carlota Ciganda, will make their eighth tournament appearances, more than any other competitor in this year’s field. The 2028 Solheim Cup is already scheduled to be hosted at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Full event details are available at https://www.solheimcup.com/.

    Across the Atlantic on the DP World Tour, the Amgen Irish Open tees off this week at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, Ireland, marking the first time the historic tournament has been hosted at the 6,838-yard, par-70 Co. Clare course. With a total $6 million purse and a $1 million winner’s share, the event draws a star-studded field led by defending champion and local favorite Rory McIlroy, who kickstarts a demanding six-tournament fall schedule spanning three continents with his home national open. Former U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to attend the tournament over the weekend.

    Multiple major champions and top-ranked contenders are in the field, including Jon Rahm, a two-time Irish Open winner (2017, 2019) who makes his first DP World Tour start since the Scottish Open. A host of LIV Golf players are competing this week, including Joaquin Niemann, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Thomas Pieters, Adrian Meronk and Thomas Detry, with Garcia and Niemann earning spots via sponsor invitation. Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka also enters on a sponsor exemption, marking his first tournament appearance since he failed to qualify for the 2024 PGA Tour postseason. Eugenio Chacarra enters the week third in the Race to Dubai standings, closing in on one of the 10 PGA Tour cards up for grabs at the end of the DP World Tour season. 2024 Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald is also in the starting field. Broadcast coverage is split across multiple networks: Golf Channel airs play Thursday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Friday 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (with early Friday coverage exclusive to Golf Channel’s mobile platform from 4:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.), while CNBC carries weekend coverage from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Next week the DP World Tour moves on to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, with full details available at https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/.

    On the PGA Tour Champions circuit for players over 50, the Sanford International gets underway this week at Sioux City, South Dakota’s Minnehaha Country Club. The 6,747-yard, par-70 course hosts a $2.2 million total purse, with the champion taking home a $330,000 winner’s share. Retief Goosen returns to defend his 2023 title. Television coverage airs on Golf Channel: Friday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. (with early coverage on Golf Channel mobile 2-2:30 p.m.), and Sunday from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Four-time tournament winner Steve Stricker returns for back-to-back weeks of play, after a tied 55th finish at last week’s Ally Challenge in Michigan. Recent hot streak holder Steven Alker, who won the Ally Challenge on PGA Tour Champions last week and added a Legends Tour title in Northern Ireland days later, is not in the field this week. Two sponsor exemptions went to Mario Tiziani and Jamie Donaldson, the latter best known for clinching Europe’s 2014 Ryder Cup victory at Gleneagles. Charles Schwab Cup leader Stewart Cink, who has notched four wins this season, is also skipping the event. Zach Johnson, who has earned three wins in his rookie Champions season, enters the field, though he trails Cink by nearly $1 million in the Schwab Cup standings. Only three players in the Schwab Cup top 10 – George McNeil, Ernie Els and Miguel Angel Jimenez – have yet to secure a win this season, though all three have already passed $1 million in 2024 earnings. The Tour will move to the PURE Insurance Championship next week, with more information available at https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions.

    The Korn Ferry Tour, the developmental circuit for the PGA Tour, hosts the Simmons Bank Open this week in Franklin, Tennessee at Vanderbilt Legends Club. The 7,197-yard, par-70 course offers a $1.5 million purse with a $270,000 winner’s check. Zach Bauchou is the defending champion, while Ross Steelman enters the week atop the season-long points standings. Broadcast coverage airs across Golf Channel and its mobile platform: Thursday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on linear television, with Friday through Sunday coverage featuring 4-5 p.m. mobile coverage and 5-7 p.m. linear coverage. Next week the Tour hosts the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, with more details available at https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour.

    The top-tier PGA Tour is off this week following last month’s Tour Championship, where Scottie Scheffler claimed both the tournament win and the 2024 FedEx Cup title. The Tour will return next week for the Biltmore Championship in Asheville, North Carolina, with full coverage details available at https://www.pgatour.com/.

    A full slate of smaller global and developmental tours are also in action this week: the Epson Tour (women’s developmental circuit) hosts the Guardian Championship in Prattville, Alabama; the Japan Golf Tour hosts the Shinhan Donghae Open in Incheon, South Korea; the Challenge Tour debuts the new English Trophy in Reading, England; PGA Tour Americas hosts the Digital Commerce Group Open in Victoria, British Columbia; the Sunshine Tour hosts the SunBet Challenge in Durban, South Africa; the Japan LPGA hosts the Sony JLPGA Championship in Ishikawa, Japan; and the Korea LPGA hosts the KB Financial Group Golden Life Championship in Icheon, South Korea.

  • What we know about the Renoir museum heist

    What we know about the Renoir museum heist

    A shocking art heist has targeted a museum holding works by iconic French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, leaving the global art community reeling. Details of the theft have been confirmed by the local mayor of the area where the museum is located, shedding light on the chaotic sequence of events that unfolded during the burglary.

    According to the mayor’s official statement, perpetrators successfully gained access to the museum and made off with four original Renoir paintings, works that hold both immense cultural and monetary value. As the thieves fled the scene to evade capture, they abandoned two of the stolen paintings in a nearby garden, a surprising twist that has left law enforcement and art experts puzzling over the motive and logistics of the heist.

    Local law enforcement has launched a full investigation into the incident, launching a search for the remaining two missing artworks and working to identify and apprehend the culprits behind the theft. Authorities have not yet released additional details about the timeline of the break-in, the security measures that were in place at the museum, or any potential leads on the identity of the thieves. The global art world is now awaiting further updates as investigators work to recover all four stolen pieces and bring those responsible to justice.

  • Ancient Roman fresco and mosaic featuring maritime city unveiled at newly restored Baths of Trajan

    Ancient Roman fresco and mosaic featuring maritime city unveiled at newly restored Baths of Trajan

    On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, Roman authorities officially unveiled a remarkable archaeological treasure long hidden from public view: what experts confirm is the largest surviving fresco and mosaic complex from ancient Rome. Dating back to the 1st century AD, the paired works depict a bustling maritime port city, and were discovered decades ago in the underground foundation galleries of the Baths of Trajan, the iconic ancient thermal complex that once stood as the largest public bath facility in the world.

    Located on Rome’s Oppio Hill, just steps from the world-famous Colosseum, the two pieces — the sweeping “Painted City” fresco and towering “Great Mosaic” — were first uncovered during excavation work in the 1990s, and have just completed a years-long restoration process ahead of their public debut. At the official unveiling ceremony, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri presented the long-awaited restored works to the public and press.

    For the first time in modern history, these ancient artworks will be accessible to visitors. Starting this month, access will be limited to a trial phase, with only small groups of 15 people allowed entry on weekends. This phased approach is designed to monitor how the fragile ancient artworks respond to changes in humidity and environmental conditions caused by human presence, before officials approve broader, more frequent public access.

    Described by Gualtieri as an unparalleled global cultural treasure, the fresco presents a rare bird’s-eye view of a walled port city, complete with detailed depictions of urban architecture. At roughly 1st century AD, it stands as the largest intact wall fresco of its era from ancient Rome, a distinction that makes its public opening a landmark moment for archaeology and heritage. “They are truly unique in the world, both from the point of view of artistic beauty and the historic and documental importance,” Gualtieri emphasized during his remarks at the unveiling.

    Claudio Parisi Presicce, Rome’s top cultural superintendent, added that the fresco’s remarkable level of preservation has left scholars with new clues about ancient urban life. The work clearly shows detailed features of the depicted city: fortified walls, a functional port, a dedicated theater, a religious temple, open public piazzas, and defensive towers, all rendered with striking artistic skill. While researchers have not yet confirmed the identity of the city shown in the painting, Parisi Presicce noted that it must have been a major, widely recognized urban center in the ancient Mediterranean world.

    The 15-meter-tall Great Mosaic, the companion piece to the fresco, is equally impressive. Its intricate surface is divided into four distinct horizontal levels, adorned with elaborately decorated columns, detailed architectural motifs, and human figures. The uppermost levels of the mosaic are arranged to resemble a staged theatrical scene, while the lower section holds a surprise: a second depiction of a port city, a detail that was only uncovered during the recent restoration work.

    To contextualize the find, the Baths of Trajan themselves are a landmark of Roman imperial engineering. Dedicated by Emperor Trajan in 109 AD, the sprawling complex covered more than six hectares of the Oppio Hill, making it the largest bath complex in the world at that time. The facility integrated an earlier imperial structure, Nero’s Domus Aurea, and was engineered with a reoriented layout to better leverage natural water temperatures, creating an optimized thermal experience for Roman residents and visitors. The newly opened underground gallery is part of the complex’s original foundation system, built to support the massive above-ground thermal structures.

    Today, the portion of the complex open to visitors includes a grand semicircular upper-level space that archaeologists have identified as a library. This finding confirms that the Baths of Trajan were far more than a recreational bathing facility: they served as a multifunctional public hub where ancient Romans could not only bathe and compete in athletic activities, but also engage with cultural and intellectual pursuits.

  • Harry and Meghan surprised by the way Buckingham Palace released letter on non-working royal status

    Harry and Meghan surprised by the way Buckingham Palace released letter on non-working royal status

    LONDON — A pre-planned disclosure from Buckingham Palace regarding the non-working royal status of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle has thrown the couple’s current visit to the United Kingdom into the center of a new public dispute, after the pair was given barely any advance notice to prepare a response before the letter was published.

    Multiple sources close to the couple’s inner circle confirm that representatives for Harry and Meghan received the full text of the letter — sent on King Charles III’s behalf to senior British government and military leaders — only 72 minutes before it was distributed to national and international media outlets. By the time the couple’s team was able to connect with Prince Harry, who was tied up in a pre-scheduled private meeting, only two minutes remained before the letter went public, leaving no window for the pair to craft an official statement or negotiate any adjustments to the text.

    Dated Monday, the formal correspondence from the Lord Chamberlain, the highest-ranking official in the British royal household, reaffirms what has been the palace’s official stance since 2020: Harry and Meghan will remain classified as non-working members of the royal family, and will continue to refrain from using their “His Royal Highness” and “Her Royal Highness” honorary titles. All philanthropic activity the couple undertakes moving forward will be done in their personal, non-official capacity, the letter adds, noting that all decisions regarding the pair’s on-the-ground operational security fall under the jurisdiction of British law enforcement agencies. In the letter, the Lord Chamberlain explained that the formal notification was intended “to help avoid doubt or confusion” following the couple’s return to UK soil.

    This public clarification of the couple’s unchanged status is not new — it aligns with the position set by the late Queen Elizabeth II when Harry and Meghan first stepped back from official royal duties in 2020. At that time, the Queen made clear that part-time royal roles were not possible, and the pair would need to relinquish all official positions if they chose to pursue independent commercial careers, a commitment King Charles has upheld since ascending to the throne in 2022. After stepping down, the couple relocated to North America and signed high-value content deals with streaming giants Netflix and Spotify to fund their independent ventures.

    What has drawn sharp criticism from the couple’s camp, however, is the way the palace chose to release the letter. The lack of advance notice caught Harry and Meghan completely off guard, according to the source familiar with internal discussions, amplifying long-simmering tensions between the couple and the senior working royal family during their first high-profile UK visit in months.

    Palace analysts have long warned that the couple’s periodic visits to the UK carry inherent risk for the monarchy, with some observers noting concerns that Harry and Meghan’s high public profile could create a de facto parallel royal platform that draws attention and support away from the working members of the House of Windsor.

    The most contentious issue on the table during this visit remains the question of personal security. When the couple gave up their official roles, publicly funded round-the-clock police protection for Harry was withdrawn, and the prince has waged a years-long legal and public campaign to have that funding restored. All final decisions on security arrangements for high-profile individuals like the couple are handled by RAVEC, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee, a specialist government panel. A source familiar with the committee’s schedule confirmed that the body is set to convene to discuss the matter as early as this week.