标签： Europe

In a landmark vote that marks the most substantial shift to abortion legislation in Ireland since the 2018 repeal of the 8th Amendment, Ireland’s lower parliament the Dáil has approved a bill to eliminate the controversial three-day mandatory waiting period between a general practitioner consultation and an early abortion. The vote on Sinn Féin’s private members’ bill passed by a clear margin of 86 votes in favour to 70 opposed, clearing its first major legislative hurdle before moving to the Oireachtas health committee for further line-by-line scrutiny.

Under current Irish law, anyone seeking an abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is required to wait a full three days between their initial GP consultation and receiving the termination procedure, a restriction that supporters of the bill frame as an unnecessary, harmful barrier to care. Notably, both Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) and Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) backed the bill, and government party Teachtaí Dála (TDs, members of the Dáil) were granted a free conscience vote on the socially divisive issue, according to Irish public broadcaster RTÉ.

Sinn Féin, the main opposition party which tabled the legislation, celebrated the outcome of the vote as a long-overdue win for reproductive rights. “This is an important step forward for women’s healthcare and one of the most significant changes since we voted to repeal the 8th amendment,” Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said following the vote. Speaking earlier in the week, Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan framed the bill as a fundamental question of autonomy, saying it centered on “trusting women” to make their own unpressured decisions about their pregnancies. McDonald added that women, reproductive health care providers, and campaigners had spent years calling for the removal of what she called an unnecessary barrier to safe, timely care.

The bill faced pushback from a cross-section of politicians who retained opposition to rolling back existing restrictions. Children’s Minister Norma Foley was among the high-profile government figures who voted against the legislation, arguing ahead of the vote that the three-day waiting period was a core component of the abortion framework put before and approved by Irish voters in the 2018 8th Amendment referendum. Aontú party leader Peadar Tóibín claimed there is no broad public demand for the rule change, while Fine Gael TD Peter Roche said his vote against was shaped by accounts of many women who changed their minds about terminating their pregnancy during the three-day waiting window.

As debate moves to the next legislative stage, the Irish Labour Party has called on the government to go beyond eliminating the waiting period, and fully implement all recommendations from a 2022 abortion law review conducted by senior barrister Marie O’Shea. O’Shea’s independent review proposed additional reforms, including dropping the threat of criminal penalties for health care providers who deviate from the formal provisions of abortion law, and removing the 28-day mortality rule that restricts late-term abortions for lethal fetal abnormalities to cases where the fetus is expected to die within 28 days of birth. Currently, abortions for lethal fetal conditions are only permitted if two doctors confirm the fetus will die either before or within 28 days of delivery. The bill now advances to committee review, where it will undergo further amendment and debate before a final vote in the Oireachtas.

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, France – U.S. President Donald Trump has long been known for his skepticism of large-scale international leader summits, even cutting his 2023 G7 appearance short to return to Washington early just one year prior. But at this year’s gathering held in the scenic French Alpine resort of Evian-les-Bains, Trump emerged with a far more enthusiastic posture – buoyed by widespread backing from fellow G7 leaders for his newly struck tentative agreement with Iran to end ongoing hostilities.

The shift marked a stark reversal from just weeks earlier, when Trump had openly lambasted U.S. allies for refusing to join Washington and Tel Aviv in launching bombing campaigns against Iran to force the rollback of its nuclear program. Now, standing before reporters at the close of the three-day summit, Trump struck a unifying tone. “We found a great deal of unity here at the G7,” he told the press corps, adding that he had received nothing but positive feedback from other leaders, who share Washington’s goal of lowering volatile global oil prices in the aftermath of the Iran conflict. “This meeting could not have come at a better time.”

Beyond the Iran deal, the summit delivered a series of notable shifts and outcomes across key global issues, from the ongoing war in Ukraine to economic tensions with China, and even the format of the summit itself. Here are the major takeaways from Trump’s trip to France:

### A Clear Blame-Shifting Strategy for the Iran Deal
True to his long-documented pattern of claiming credit for successes while deflecting responsibility for setbacks, Trump has positioned Vice President JD Vance as the party on the hook if the Iran agreement fails. Vance, who took a leading role in negotiating the deal, has spearheaded a cross-country media push to promote the agreement while Trump attended the G7, and is set to represent the United States at a formal ceremonial signing in Switzerland scheduled for Friday.

When a reporter asked if Trump’s plan was to claim credit as a political “genius” if the deal succeeds, while pinning blame on his second-in-command if it collapses, Trump did not shy away from the framing. “I like that idea, sure,” he said. “This way, if it works out, I’m going to take the credit. If it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming JD. You better be careful, JD.”

### Unlikely Unity Emerges on Two Long-Divisive Issues: Iran and Ukraine
For months, G7 leaders have been deeply at odds with Trump over both Iran and Ukraine, with European leaders openly criticizing Trump’s decision to launch hostilities against Iran without any prior consultation with allies. But by the final day of the summit, the bloc had closed ranks: in an official joint statement, all seven leaders welcomed the tentative Iran deal and explicitly acknowledged that “the strong leadership of President Trump” was instrumental to reaching the agreement.

The gathering also delivered a breakthrough on Ukraine, another issue where Trump had long clashed with European allies. Trump has repeatedly claimed Ukraine holds “no cards” in its war against Russia and that Kyiv must make territorial concessions to Moscow to reach a negotiated end to the conflict. But after three days of closed-door talks, Trump agreed to join his fellow leaders in reaffirming “unwavering support for Ukraine.”

The joint statement called on all nations to ramp up deliveries of air defense systems, interceptors, and long-range military capabilities to Ukraine, and commended Kyiv for “its resilience and progress on the battlefield in recent months.” European leaders, who have become the largest providers of military and financial aid to Ukraine, said they made meaningful progress in convincing Trump that Ukraine is capable of holding its own against Russia – contradicting the hardline position Trump laid out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2023. Macron also invited Zelenskyy to participate in portions of the summit to make his case directly to leaders.

### Contradictory Messages on China Undermine Bloc Unity
While G7 leaders presented a united front on Iran and Ukraine, cracks emerged on economic policy toward China. The bloc centered its discussion on what leaders describe as China’s practice of flooding global export markets with heavily subsidized goods, a trend they say has eroded manufacturing jobs across G7 economies.

French President Emmanuel Macron opened the discussion by arguing that Beijing’s trade practices are a core driver of global economic imbalance, pointing specifically to what he called China’s systemic industrial overcapacity, excessive state subsidies for manufacturing, and chronically weak domestic consumer demand. In their closing joint statement, G7 leaders affirmed shared concern: “We seek to deter and stand ready to take actions, where necessary in a coordinated manner, against economic coercion,” the statement read.

But Trump immediately undercut the bloc’s unified message with his own closing remarks, where he thanked both China and Russia – which has long aligned politically with Iran – for remaining neutral during the Iran conflict. Trump noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin “could have made it much more difficult for us” if they had chosen to intervene on Iran’s side, and specifically thanked Xi for refusing to supply or sell weapons to Tehran. “I just want to thank them, because they made it a lot better,” Trump said.

### The Enduring Value of In-Person Diplomatic Dialogue
As with all G7 summits, the 202X gathering faced criticism for its significant carbon footprint from the travel of dozens of leaders and their large delegations, the massive security deployment that disrupted daily life for local residents, and widespread public protests against the bloc’s policy priorities. But the informal, dialogue-focused format that has defined G7 summits since their launch in 1975 proved its value at this year’s meeting, giving U.S. allies nearly three full days to engage directly with Trump and advance their policy priorities.

That engagement paid particular dividends on the Ukraine war, European officials said, after months of growing rifts between Washington and the bloc over Kyiv’s future.

### Macron Secures a Full Summit Stay: A Versailles Dinner Wins Out
Last year, Trump left the G7 summit in Canada early, before the official closing of the gathering. To avoid a repeat snub, Macron turned to a time-tested diplomatic tool: an invitation to a private dinner at the opulent Palace of Versailles, located just southwest of Paris. The gambit worked.

Trump, who has openly spoken of his appreciation for grand historic architecture and luxury properties, agreed to stay through the entire summit. The 18th-century royal palace carries deep symbolic weight for U.S.-French relations: it was at Versailles that King Louis XVI pledged French military support to Benjamin Franklin and the American revolutionary movement in 1778, a turning point in the U.S. war for independence. More recently, Macron hosted King Charles III and Queen Camilla at the palace in 2023 to mark the 400th anniversary of the palace’s construction, with a state dinner held in the iconic Hall of Mirrors, one of the most famous spaces in the palace’s 2,300-room complex. Macron described the 202X dinner for G7 leaders as a “convivial” occasion meant to celebrate the long-standing friendship between the United States and France.

Superville reported from Geneva. Associated Press writer Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

Ireland’s head of government has issued an urgent public warning following the circulation of a convincing AI-generated deepfake video that misuses his likeness to advertise a fraudulent financial scheme. Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed that the doctored clip, which has spread across multiple social media platforms, is an obvious example of malicious synthetic content, and is highlighting the urgent need for greater vigilance among internet users. The altered video, created to appear authentic using artificial intelligence technology, features a fake version of Martin speaking with a modified English accent. In the clip, the deepfake falsely promises that investors of any age can earn up to €40,000 (equivalent to roughly £35,000) by starting with just a €250 initial investment and a mobile phone. In an official response posted to his own social media channels, Martin addressed the fraudulent content directly. “So, this is clearly very false material pertaining to myself,” he stated. “It is illustrative of the kind of manipulation and distortion that can take place on social media, and a reminder to us all to be vigilant on social media and to take care.” Beyond warning the general public, Martin also placed responsibility on social media hosting platforms, calling for stricter proactive measures to block harmful manipulated content from being uploaded in the first place, and to implement rapid removal protocols whenever deepfakes are identified. Deepfakes — AI-manipulated video, image, or audio content crafted to mimic real people and events — have become far more accessible and simple to produce in recent years, thanks to the widespread availability of consumer-facing text-to-image and generative AI tools that lower the barrier to creating convincing synthetic media. This is not the first high-profile case of malicious deepfake use in Irish politics in recent months. During the country’s October presidential election, an AI-generated video pretending to show candidate Catherine Connolly announcing her withdrawal from the race spread widely online. Connolly, who ultimately won the election and is now President of Ireland, condemned the clip at the time as a “disgraceful attempt to mislead voters and undermine our democracy.” BBC News NI has reached out to two of the world’s largest social media platforms, Meta and X, to request comment on the recent deepfake scam targeting Martin.

On NATO’s strategically critical eastern flank, Poland has taken a formal step to open the door for a long-term American military presence, with a senior Polish defense official confirming Wednesday that U.S. authorities have signaled preliminary interest in establishing a permanent base on Polish territory.

Cezary Tomczyk, Poland’s deputy defense minister, shared the update with The Associated Press in an interview at the Polish Defense Ministry in Warsaw. His comments came one day after the Polish government approved a series of regulatory and administrative measures to clear the way for the permanent base, framing Tuesday’s government resolution as a formal invitation to the United States.

Tomczyk noted that the joint financing model for the base, which would see costs split between the two allied nations, has drawn U.S. engagement with the proposal. “The Americans are interested in the Polish offer to place a permanent base here,” he told reporters. When reached for comment on Tomczyk’s remarks, U.S. Department of Defense officials based in Washington declined to share any new announcements regarding the potential deployment.

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has reiterated that Polish authorities are moving forward with all necessary preparations to facilitate the base, though he emphasized that the final decision rests entirely with U.S. leadership. Currently, approximately 10,000 U.S. military personnel are deployed in Poland, with the vast majority serving on rotational deployments rather than permanent assignments. As the U.S. undertakes a full review of its European force posture, covering both troop levels and weapons deployments, Polish officials are pushing to convert the current rotational presence into a permanent deployment of thousands of additional troops.

The current talks mark the latest development in a turbulent series of shifts in U.S. force planning for Central Europe that began earlier this year. In May, the Trump administration unexpectedly paused the deployment of 4,000 additional troops to Poland, a move that confused policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic even as the White House labeled Poland a “model ally” for meeting NATO’s defense spending target. The sudden halt came on the heels of then-President Donald Trump’s public threat to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, a decision widely attributed to then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s criticism of a U.S. military strike on Iran.

Within days of the canceled deployment, Warsaw dispatched a high-level delegation led by Tomczyk to Washington for emergency talks. While Tomczyk was still in the U.S. capital, Trump announced via social media that the U.S. would instead deploy an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, reversing the earlier pause. Since that reversal, U.S. officials have only confirmed that they are reorganizing their European troop footprint, but have released no concrete details about where specific units will be reassigned.

Despite the lack of clarity from Washington, Polish defense leaders have repeatedly expressed optimism that Poland will secure a permanent increase in U.S. troop presence. Speaking in mid-May, Kosiniak-Kamysz noted that transitioning the existing rotational deployment model to a permanent status would bring significant strategic benefits to both nations, adding “Sometimes a rotating model can change into a permanent model and this is always much better.”

When asked whether the recent Polish government resolution was prompted by clear, formal interest from the U.S. side, Tomczyk said that Warsaw and Washington have maintained ongoing working-level dialogue about the proposal. “The next step, after the two sides confirmed they are interested in this, is the official offer from the Polish state,” he said. He declined to predict a final timeline or outcome, noting “We can’t tell fortune from tea leaves. But we are a serious state which is presenting a serious offer to the Americans, in connection with the dialogue we are having with the Americans.”

On Wednesday, the Turkish government issued a firm rejection of a controversial annual European Parliament report that pushes the European Union to consider imposing punitive sanctions on Turkish Justice Minister Akin Gurlek and other officials over alleged human rights and rule of law violations.

The document, approved during a plenary sitting of the EU legislative body earlier the same day, specifically calls for asset freezes targeting a list of Turkish officials, headlined by Gurlek — a former top Istanbul public prosecutor who was elevated to the cabinet-level justice minister role earlier this 2024. In its assessment, the European Parliament frames Gurlek as a central figure in what it describes as Turkey’s state-led repressive apparatus, arguing that his promotion demonstrates he has long acted as a political actor advancing a partisan political agenda throughout his legal career.

In a sharply worded official response, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry pushed back against the findings, saying the report unfairly singles out the nation’s top justice official. “We categorically reject the report’s distortion of legal processes conducted by the independent Turkish judiciary and its targeting of our Minister of Justice with baseless accusations,” the ministry’s statement read.

Gurlek’s tenure as Istanbul’s chief prosecutor saw him oversee a series of high-profile legal cases against dozens of members of Turkey’s main opposition bloc, the Republican People’s Party, more commonly known by its Turkish acronym CHP. The opposition has long characterized these proceedings as politically motivated moves to weaken its standing. Over recent years, hundreds of CHP-affiliated municipal officials have been detained as part of corruption investigations, including Ekrem Imamoglu, the popular mayor of Istanbul widely regarded as the most formidable political rival to long-sitting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was arrested last year.

Most recently, a Turkish court ordered the removal of Ozgur Ozel from his position as CHP party leader, replacing him with his predecessor Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is viewed as far less politically popular among current opposition voters. Critics across Turkey and abroad have decried the court ruling as a deliberate effort by the Erdogan administration to eliminate the country’s main organized political opposition. The Erdogan government has repeatedly rejected these claims, maintaining that the Turkish judiciary operates independently of political pressure.

The European Parliament’s annual reports are part of the formal assessment process for Turkey’s multi-decade EU accession negotiations, which have effectively been frozen for years over widespread EU concerns about democratic backsliding and erosion of the rule of law in Turkey. Even as the report carries symbolic weight, it remains uncertain whether EU governing bodies will move forward with sanctions against a top Turkish cabinet official. Turkey holds major strategic importance for the bloc: it is a key European partner for managing irregular migration flows into the EU, and a critical NATO ally amid shifting global security dynamics. Any sanctions against a senior Turkish official would almost certainly trigger a significant backlash from Ankara, complicating cooperation on a range of priority issues for Brussels.

PARIS – As the Group of Seven summit gets underway in France this week, President Emmanuel Macron has pulled out one of the country’s most powerful diplomatic tools: the iconic Palace of Versailles. On Wednesday evening, the 17th-century royal residence of the “Sun King” Louis XIV opened its gates to U.S. President Donald Trump for a private reception, after-dinner program and state dinner held to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, a high-stakes gesture crafted to shore up personal ties at a moment of deep friction across the Atlantic alliance.

Macron’s gambit has already scored one early win: Trump confirmed to reporters that he originally planned to depart the G7 summit early, matching his early exit from the 2023 Canadian-hosted meeting, but changed his plans after receiving the exclusive Versailles invitation. “I’m a fan of beautiful places,” Trump explained, noting the “very nice man” behind the invitation changed his schedule.

For Macron, the lavish welcome is no mere act of hospitality. Speaking to France’s TF1 television earlier this week, he emphasized that keeping Trump in attendance through the final day of the summit was critical to securing full, finalized agreements from the gathering of world leaders. Speaking Wednesday ahead of the dinner, Macron framed the historic site as an active diplomatic asset, comparing international statecraft to soccer. “Whether I’m playing at home or away, my goal is to score goals. And when I host other teams, I try to give them a nice welcome,” he said. “Versailles is a diplomatic tool and an instrument of influence.”

With France lacking the outsized economic or military leverage that Washington holds on the global stage, ceremonial pageantry rooted in centuries of national history remains one of Paris’ most effective levers of power. Experts frame the event as the ultimate demonstration of French soft power: a display of national grandeur built into the stone walls of one of the world’s most recognizable landmarks.

“It is soft-power flex based on hard buildings,” explained Denis Lacorne, a professor of American studies at Paris’ Sciences Po university. This is far from the first time a French president has turned to Versailles for high-stakes diplomacy: Macron welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to the palace in 2017, and hosted Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla for a state dinner earlier in his tenure. Palace officials confirmed to the Associated Press that for more than 300 years, Versailles has served as a setting for French leaders to honor visiting dignitaries, and remains “a place in the service of French diplomacy.”

The choice of Versailles carries particular resonance for Trump, a former real estate developer who has long tied architecture to status, success and personal power. In his second term, Trump has pushed forward plans to cement his legacy in stone, including a new ballroom for the White House and a 76-meter triumphal arch modeled after Paris’ own Arc de Triomphe. Trump himself has previously acknowledged that the gilded ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida was directly modeled after Versailles’ iconic ceremonial spaces. Even Trump himself summed up the site’s unique appeal in one blunt line: “Versailles is not gold leaf — Versailles is the real deal.”

Though full details of the private evening have not been released to the public, French media reports indicate the schedule will include a private tour of Versailles’ legendary Hall of Mirrors, a display of the palace’s famous fountains, and a closing fireworks show. Completed in the 17th century, the Hall of Mirrors was a revolutionary technological feat of its era: 357 hand-blown mirrors set into 17 arches along a 73-meter gallery, purpose-built to prove French glass manufacturers could outcompete the then-dominant celebrated glassmakers of Venice. Lacorne notes the hall’s design holds a particular appeal for the U.S. president: “You will be reflected many, many times, from one mirror to another,” he said, adding that for a president who has reworked the Oval Office to feature gold finishes, the appeal of the space is unmistakable.

Macron is far from the first global leader to lean into lavish spectacle to court Trump. Back in 2017, Macron treated Trump to a front-row seat at France’s Bastille Day parade, featuring marching bands, tanks and fighter jets trailing red, white and blue smoke over the Champs-Élysées. Trump called the event “one of the greatest parades I’ve ever seen,” and returned to Washington determined to organize a matching military parade, a goal he finally achieved in 2025 when he presided over a large Army anniversary parade through the U.S. capital.

Other major powers have deployed similar tactics. During a 2017 “state visit plus” to China, Beijing granted Trump a rare private tour of the Forbidden City, an honor once exclusively reserved for Chinese emperors. Last September, the United Kingdom rolled out a full ceremonial welcome for Trump’s second state visit, including mounted honor guards, a horse-drawn carriage procession through Windsor, and a formal state banquet at Windsor Castle. That event earned high praise from Trump, who called it one of the highest honors of his life.

Yet while diplomatic pomp has reliably flattered the U.S. president, it has rarely translated to tangible policy concessions. Macron and Trump have a long history of high-profile public clashes on core policy issues: what began as an early public “bromance” has shifted to a far more transactional, tense working relationship. Today, the two leaders remain sharply divided on multiple critical fronts, from U.S. tariff threats that threaten French wine and Champagne exports to France’s opposition to U.S. policy toward Iran, and persistent differences over Western support for Ukraine.

The controversial event has also drawn criticism from domestic political opponents in France. “We must learn once and for all to live without Trump,” said veteran far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, voicing opposition to Macron’s choice to honor Trump at one of the country’s most sacred national sites.

Experts acknowledge that Macron does hold key advantages with the venue: Versailles carries centuries of diplomatic tradition, it aligns perfectly with Trump’s well-documented preference for grand, over-the-top ceremony, and the site is already familiar to the hundreds of thousands of American tourists who visit the palace each year. Even so, history offers a note of caution for Macron: back in 1982, U.S. President Ronald Reagan dined beneath the same Hall of Mirrors during a G7 summit, and core trans-Atlantic disagreements persisted long after the ceremonial dinner ended.