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  • Trump gives 4 July ultimatum to EU to approve trade deal with US

    Trump gives 4 July ultimatum to EU to approve trade deal with US

    A fresh flashpoint has emerged in transatlantic trade negotiations, after U.S. President Donald Trump issued an ultimatum to the European Union: slash all levies on American goods to zero by July 4, or face sharply increased tariffs on EU exports entering the United States.

    The ultimatum came following a phone conversation between Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In a post on social media, Trump claimed the EU had already committed to the zero-tariff plan as part of a landmark bilateral trade agreement reached between the two leaders last July. He wrote that he granted von der Leyen an extension until the U.S. Independence Day – the nation’s 250th birthday – warning that failure to meet the demand would trigger immediate, far higher tariffs than currently in place.

    Von der Leyen offered a more measured assessment in her own post on the social platform X, acknowledging that negotiators have made solid progress toward tariff reduction ahead of Trump’s deadline. She emphasized that both sides remain fully dedicated to implementing the framework agreement the two leaders signed last year.

    The path to finalizing the deal has hit a major snag this week, however. A round of negotiations between EU lawmakers and representatives of the bloc’s 27 member states concluded Wednesday without a consensus on how to move forward with enactment.

    The original deal, struck after Trump played a round of golf at his Turnberry luxury resort in Scotland, rolled back a planned 30% Trump tariff on European goods, settling on a permanent 15% levy for EU exports to the U.S. The pact secured conditional backing from the European Parliament back in March, when a majority of lawmakers voted in favor of implementing legislation. But legislators attached critical safeguards to their approval, tying any commitment to eliminate tariffs on U.S. goods to one key demand: the U.S. must permanently exempt European-made steel and aluminum from Trump’s 50% global tariff on those metals.

    Even with parliamentary approval in hand, the deal still requires formal sign-off from all 27 EU national governments, a hurdle that has divided negotiators. Ahead of Trump’s latest social media announcement, Bernd Lange, the European Parliament’s lead negotiator on the file, noted Thursday that talks were moving forward but still had ground to cover. “We remain more committed than ever to advance and defend Parliament’s mandate so as to provide additional guarantees that will benefit citizens and companies in both the EU and the US,” Lange said in a statement. Negotiators have scheduled their next round of talks for May 19 in Strasbourg.

    This is not the first time Trump has pressed the EU to speed up compliance. Last week, he took to his Truth Social platform to accuse the bloc of failing to honor the terms of the already agreed deal, announcing he would raise tariffs on EU-produced trucks and cars to 25%. The latest ultimatum raises the stakes considerably, putting transatlantic trade relations on a countdown to a potential new trade war just over a month from now.

  • How operation to disembark passengers on virus-hit cruise will work

    How operation to disembark passengers on virus-hit cruise will work

    A high-stakes operation to get passengers off a cruise ship struck by a viral outbreak is moving forward off the coast of Tenerife, where local communities have already raised alarm over potential public health dangers posed by the vessel’s arrival. The BBC’s Guy Hedgecoe has filed on-the-ground reporting from the Spanish island, shedding light on both the logistical intricacies of the disembarkation process and the growing anxiety among residents who worry the infected ship could introduce new transmission risks to the island.

    The unusual situation has required coordinated planning across public health agencies, port authorities and cruise line operators to put in place a protocol that balances the needs of passengers trapped on board with the need to protect the local population. Every step of the process, from initial health screenings to the movement of passengers off the vessel and into either quarantine facilities or onward travel, has been mapped out to minimize the chance of viral spread. Even with these rigorous preparations in place, however, many people who call Tenerife home remain unconvinced that the risks are fully mitigated. For these locals, the presence of a virus-hit ship so close to shore represents an unwelcome threat to public health that could upend daily life and put local communities at risk of new outbreaks.

    The situation highlights the unique challenges that global tourism and cruise travel faced during viral outbreaks, when the closed environment of a passenger ship can turn a vacation voyage into a public health emergency. It also underscores the tension that often emerges between the need to assist stranded passengers and the responsibility of local officials to protect the communities they serve, as Tenerife works through one of the first major test cases of cruise ship disembarkation during a public health crisis.

  • Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year’s trade deal or it will face higher tariffs

    Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year’s trade deal or it will face higher tariffs

    WASHINGTON – In a Thursday post on social media, former U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a new ultimatum to the European Union, setting a July 4 deadline for the 27-nation bloc to formalize approval of a bilateral trade framework struck last year — or face steeply elevated tariff rates on goods imported into the United States.

    The new announcement marks a shift from Trump’s prior hardline position: just last Friday, he warned that a 25% punitive tariff on European automobiles would go into effect as early as this week. The revised timeline followed what Trump called a “great call” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, prompting him to extend the negotiating window by roughly two months.

    Despite the extension, Trump made clear his frustration with the European Parliament’s slow progress in ratifying the agreement, which has already been upended by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from February. In that decision, the high court found that Trump lacked legal authority to invoke a national economic emergency to put the initial pressure tariffs in place — the tariffs that launched the current round of negotiations in the first place.

    “A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!” Trump wrote in his social media post. “I agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels.” The U.S. will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its declaration of independence on July 4 this year.

    Trump’s post left a key detail ambiguous: it did not specify whether the tariff hike would apply to all EU exports to the U.S., or would be limited to the auto sector that has been the central focus of trade tensions in this round. Most policy analysts read the extension as a partial retreat from Trump’s earlier immediate threat, granting European legislators extra weeks to complete the ratification process.

    Under the original terms of the 2023 trade framework, the U.S. was set to impose a 15% tariff on the vast majority of imports from EU member states. But following the Supreme Court’s ruling stripping the administration of authority for the original emergency tariffs, the White House has currently levied a 10% tariff while it conducts new probes into bilateral trade imbalances and national security implications of EU imports. The administration plans to implement new, legally sound tariffs to recover the revenue lost from the lower current rate.

  • Valverde taken to hospital after alleged incident with Tchouameni

    Valverde taken to hospital after alleged incident with Tchouameni

    Spanish football is bracing for one of its most high-stakes fixtures of the season, but a sudden and shocking dressing room incident at Real Madrid has thrown the club into chaos just 72 hours before they face Barcelona in a title-deciding El Clasico clash. Uruguayan midfielder Federico Valverde required hospital treatment for a head injury following a physical altercation with French teammate Aurelien Tchouameni, the club has confirmed. Real Madrid launched immediate internal disciplinary proceedings against both players after the incident, which unfolded at the team’s Valdebebas training complex. The club’s official statement confirms Valverde received a diagnosis of cranioencephalic trauma, a common form of concussion. Following evaluation, Valverde was sent home to recover in stable condition, with medical staff ordering a 10 to 14 day rest period to manage his injury. Multiple independent sports outlets have shared additional details from anonymous sources close to the club: BBC Sport reports Valverde was knocked unconscious during the confrontation, while ESPN notes the midfielder required stitches to close a wound from the incident. Tensions between the two players first emerged during a training session on Wednesday, according to multiple on-the-ground reports. While the initial verbal disagreement carried over into the dressing room after that day’s practice, no physical conflict broke out at that time. The confrontation escalated to violence Thursday after training concluded at Valdebebas, when Tchouameni initiated a new confrontation with Valverde that turned physical, multiple sources confirm. In the hours after the incident came to light, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez called an emergency high-level meeting with club leadership, interim head coach Alvaro Arbeloa, and team captain Dani Carvajal to address the situation. “The club will provide updates on the resolutions of both proceedings once the corresponding internal procedures have been completed,” the club said in its statement, leaving fans and analysts waiting for clarity on potential sanctions. BBC Sport has reached out to both club representatives and player agents for additional comment, but no further statements have been released as of publication. The timing of the incident could not be worse for Real Madrid, who face Barcelona at the Nou Camp this Sunday in a match that will decide the 2025-26 La Liga title. A failure to secure three points for Real will see Barcelona claim their second consecutive league championship with three matchweeks still left to play, putting the title out of Real’s reach. Multiple Spanish media outlets report that club staff have described the incident as the most serious internal conflict ever recorded at the Valdebebas training facility. Beyond the immediate disciplinary investigation, the altercation has also drawn attention to a pattern of growing unrest in the Real Madrid first team squad in recent days. This incident marks the third reported internal conflict at the club in a single week. Earlier in the same week, reports emerged of a separate altercation between Spanish left-back Alvaro Carreras and German defender Antonio Rudiger. Carreras later addressed the rumors in an Instagram statement, denying that the incident was as serious as reported. “In recent days, certain insinuations and comments about me have emerged that do not correspond to reality,” Carreras wrote. “My commitment to this club and to the coaches I have had has been complete from day one, and it will continue to be so. Since I returned [after spells at Manchester United and Benfica], I have always worked with the utmost professionalism, respect and dedication. I have fought very hard to fulfil my dream of returning home. Regarding the incident with a colleague, it is a specific matter of no relevance that has already been settled. My relationship with the whole team is very good.” The unrest has also extended to fan relations, with supporters voicing public criticism of star striker Kylian Mbappe this week after the forward took a short trip to Sardinia with his girlfriend during a scheduled recovery break from team activities.

  • Trump’s ‘irresponsible war’ to blame for economic slowdown, German minister says

    Trump’s ‘irresponsible war’ to blame for economic slowdown, German minister says

    A fresh escalation in tensions between two key NATO allies has emerged after Germany’s top finance official blamed U.S. President Donald Trump’s handling of the war in Iran for a massive downward revision of the country’s projected tax revenues, piling more strain on already fractured transatlantic relations.

    Lars Klingbeil, Germany’s finance minister, told reporters in Berlin that Trump’s “irresponsible war in Iran” has triggered a widespread global energy shock that has severely damaged German economic prospects. In response to shifting economic headwinds, German federal officials have cut their expected tax revenue forecasts for the 2026–2030 period by roughly €70 billion (equivalent to $82 billion or £60.52 billion). Klingbeil emphasized that the sharp downgrade makes clear how directly the ongoing conflict in the Middle East is weighing on Germany’s stagnant domestic economy.

    Klingbeil’s remarks come just weeks after a public dispute between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Trump that already led to a U.S. announcement of troop withdrawals from German soil. Last month, Merz drew Trump’s fury when he claimed the White House had been “humiliated” by Iranian negotiators, arguing that the U.S. had no clear exit strategy for the conflict and that Iran had outmaneuvered American diplomats. Merz added that it was humiliating for the U.S. to send negotiators to international talks only to return home without any tangible progress.

    Trump hit back rapidly on his social platform Truth Social, dismissing Merz as misinformed, falsely claiming the German leader supported Iran developing nuclear weapons, and arguing that Germany’s own poor economic performance justified his criticism. The U.S. president doubled down on his rebuke, urging Merz to prioritize fixing Germany’s own domestic challenges – including immigration and energy policy – instead of criticizing U.S. foreign policy. Days after Merz’s original comments, the U.S. Department of Defense unveiled a plan to withdraw 5,000 American troops from Germany, a move linked to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. German defense officials have described the withdrawal as a foreseeable outcome of the growing diplomatic rift.

    Currently, the U.S. maintains its largest European military footprint in Germany, with roughly 12,000 troops deployed in Italy and an additional 10,000 in the United Kingdom. Trump has a long record of criticizing NATO alliance members, and has repeatedly pressured European allies to back his efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil shipping chokepoint that has been effectively closed by Iran since the outbreak of hostilities. Roughly 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies transit through the strait, and the conflict has sent global energy prices skyrocketing, hitting Germany’s already fragile economy, which has struggled with stagnation, elevated energy costs and weak export demand for years.

    Alongside other European nations, Germany has openly opposed the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran that began on February 28, warning that the conflict raises severe risks of a full-blown global economic recession. While Merz has repeatedly acknowledged that Trump’s policy agenda has opened a “deep divide” between the United States and Europe since he took office a year ago, the German chancellor has also made two trips to the White House in 12 months in an effort to repair damaged bilateral ties.

    At present, a fragile ceasefire is in place between warring parties, framed as a stepping stone to a formal peace deal. President Trump claimed this week the conflict would end quickly, and Iranian officials have confirmed they are reviewing a U.S. peace proposal. However, negotiations have stalled amid a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports, even as American work continues to clear the Strait of Hormuz to allow the nearly 2,000 commercial ships stranded in the Gulf since February to transit safely.

  • An outsider artist takes the world’s biggest stage with the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

    An outsider artist takes the world’s biggest stage with the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

    As the 2026 Venice Biennale prepares to open its gates to the global art world, self-taught American sculptor Alma Allen finds himself at the center of one of the world’s most prestigious contemporary art platforms — a spot he secured only after a turbulent, last-minute selection process that has stirred widespread criticism across the international art community.

    A Utah-born sculptor who has built his three-decade career working independently from Mexico, Allen has long positioned himself as an outsider to the insular, clique-driven contemporary art establishment. Now, just days ahead of the Biennale’s official launch, he faces intense scrutiny from critics and art world observers alike, all eyes fixed on the U.S. Pavilion, the iconic Jeffersonian-style brick venue that hosts the American presentation every two years.

    Controversy has shadowed the 2026 U.S. pavilion selection from the start, with many describing the process as uncharacteristically opaque. When the open call for the commission was revised, language centering diversity, equity and inclusion was removed, and replaced with a new mandate to promote “American values.” This shift led most major cultural institutions that typically compete for the coveted commission to step back, amid fears of being drawn into unseemly administrative politics.

    The road to Allen’s appointment was rocky from the outset. The original planned exhibition, set to feature work by artist Robert Lazzarini and curated by art historian John Ravenal, had already secured U.S. State Department approval before it collapsed last September, when the project’s required institutional sponsor pulled its support. A subsequent attempt to attach the Lazzarini project to the newly created American Arts Conservancy (AAC) fell through, and within a short timeframe, the new lineup — AAC as sponsor, Jeffrey Uslip as commissioner, Allen as the exhibiting artist — was announced.

    Ravenal, the curator behind the failed original project, has criticized the revised selection as highly irregular. He notes that after the original application deadline closed in July, there was no public committee vetting process, no open applications, breaking with 40 years of established open call and peer review practices for the U.S. pavilion. He has described Allen as “a pawn in this whole thing.”

    Allen is no stranger to the backlash his participation has sparked, but he is firm in pushing back against claims of political influence. He stresses that the current U.S. administration has not interfered in his exhibition in any way, saying bluntly: “My art is not propaganda.”

    This is the first time in Allen’s 30-year career that he has felt the need to defend his practice and his place in a major show. For three decades, he worked largely outside the constant critical gaze of the mainstream art world, a circumstance he calls a genuine pleasure. His practice centers on organic, biomorphic sculptures carved from wood, shaped from stone, and cast in bronze. He intentionally refuses to title most works, choosing instead to leave space for viewers to bring their own interpretations to each piece.

    Allen’s exhibition, titled *Call Me the Breeze*, brings together a dozen brand-new works alongside pieces he created over the past two decades. The title, he explains, is a nod to his lifelong ability to navigate unexpected obstacles — a skill he developed as a self-taught artist who has rarely benefited from institutional support throughout his career. Uslip, the pavilion’s commissioner, says that exact independent, non-institutional background is what made Allen the right choice for the commission. “I am deeply interested and invested in artists who are not, I guess, academicized … or lobotomized,” Uslip explained.

    In a playful, ironic touch that nods to the controversy surrounding the show, Allen installed a large cast bronze evil eye on the exterior of the U.S. pavilion, a talisman he joked would ward off negative energy. In a fittingly chaotic twist, the piece was stuck in transit and failed to arrive just days before the opening.

    Inside the pavilion’s central courtyard, a headless, directionless sheep sculpture stands as a quiet self-portrait, representing Allen’s status as the outsider shunned for being “the wrong sheep.” His newest body of work includes bronze wall sculptures, treated with chemical processes that turn the rigid metal into a spontaneous, fluid medium he compares to watercolor.

    Allen’s path to the Venice Biennale is a story of unconventional persistence. Early in his career, he experienced homelessness in New York City, selling his small creations from an ironing board as an act of sheer desperation — a step that launched his career, connecting him with his first collectors. Today, his work is held in major institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Palm Springs Art Museum; he previously took part in the 2014 Whitney Biennial, and made his European debut in Brussels in 2022.

    When Allen received the last-minute commission, he made his first ever trip to Venice that November to walk through the pavilion. A trip to the Venice Accademia to see Hieronymus Bosch’s *The Visions of Hereafter*, a haunting work depicting heaven, hell and purgatory, inspired the exhibition’s core structure. “I wanted there to be a bit of the chaos that we go through,” Allen said of the show’s framework.

    Looking back on the chaotic path that brought him to the Biennale, Allen says his selection came down to one key trait: his willingness to step into high-pressure, last-minute challenges. “When they do, I’m prepared to try it, and fail at it. That’s fine,” he says. Now, as opening day approaches, the outsider artist is ready to meet the world’s critical gaze with the same quiet adaptability that has defined his decades-long career.

  • Rosenberg: Russia’s Victory Day parade with no tanks a sign Ukraine war not going to plan

    Rosenberg: Russia’s Victory Day parade with no tanks a sign Ukraine war not going to plan

    Moscow’s iconic Red Square is blanketed in symbols of celebration this week, with giant crimson banners emblazoned with the word *Pobeda* – Victory – hanging over its cobblestones, digital screens flashing the same national rallying cry, and interactive art installations drawing crowds of locals snapping selfies with the iconic word. Behind metal barricades sealing off the central parade route, uniformed soldiers run through final rehearsals for Russia’s most sacred national holiday: the annual May 9 parade commemorating the Soviet Union’s 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany. For nearly a quarter century under Vladimir Putin, this date has grown into the beating heart of Russian national identity, a cornerstone of the country’s ideological framework that ties modern Russia directly to the sacrifices and triumph of the Great Patriotic War.

    But this year, a historic shift is underway: for the first time in nearly 20 years, the parade will proceed without its most dramatic centerpiece – heavy military hardware. No battle tanks, no intercontinental ballistic missiles, no armored fighting vehicles will roll across Red Square this year. Only marching infantry will take part, in a dramatic scaling back of the traditional event that experts and analysts say offers a clear window into the current reality of Russia’s more than four-year-long full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

    The reasoning offered by Russian officials is straightforward: the country’s military equipment is already committed elsewhere. “Our tanks are busy right now,” ruling party MP Yevgeny Popov explained in an on-the-record interview. “They are fighting. We need them more on the battlefield than on Red Square.” When pressed on the fact that after more than four years of war, Russia has failed to achieve its original invasion goals and the parade cutback is widely seen as a sign of weakness, Popov pushed back, blaming Western and Ukrainian military support for the decision. “What other choice do we have? Nato countries, Ukraine and Great Britain’s weapons, your king and your prime minister, are threatening us.”

    Beyond the immediate need for equipment at the front, Russian officials have also justified the scaled-back event citing rising domestic security threats. In the weeks leading up to May 9, Ukraine has stepped up long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory, bringing the war closer to Moscow than ever before. Just days before the parade, a drone managed to penetrate Moscow’s layered air defense systems and strike a luxury high-rise apartment building located just six kilometers from the Kremlin. While no fatalities were reported, the strike caused extensive damage to an upper floor of the building. A separate long-range missile and drone assault on the central Russian city of Cheboksary left two civilians dead and more than 30 others wounded.

    Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has framed the parade cutback as a necessary response to what he calls a “terrorist threat” from Ukraine. In a sharp warning to Kyiv, Russia’s defense ministry has threatened an overwhelming retaliatory response, promising a “massive missile strike” on central Kyiv if Ukraine launches any attacks on Moscow during the May 9 holiday.

    On side streets near Red Square, public opinion on the absence of military hardware is divided, reflecting growing undercurrents of war fatigue across the country. Many Russians acknowledge the safety argument, but express discomfort with what the cutback signals to the world. “There is a safety issue,” said Muscovite Sergei. “But parading our military hardware shows our strength on the world stage. Perhaps we should be displaying something.” Another local, Yulia, added: “I understand it would be foolish to showcase hardware in case something happens during the parade. On the other hand, this means that we are afraid of something. And that’s not great, either.” For Vladimir, another resident, the change is just a pragmatic response to shifting circumstances. “The parade, of course, is a symbol. But if circumstances don’t allow it to take place in full, we’ll have to wait a year for that.”

    Analysts note that the scaled-back parade is itself a powerful symbol of the current state of the war: more than four years after Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the conflict has already outlasted the entire four-year duration of the Soviet Union’s war against Nazi Germany, and a definitive Russian victory remains out of reach.

    The shifting dynamic is also leaving its mark on Putin’s domestic standing. Recent polling, even from state-run Russian agencies, shows a gradual decline in the president’s approval rating. Late last year, Putin made frequent public appearances in military fatigues, projecting confidence as he met with top generals to discuss the war. In 2026, the “Commander-in-Chief” public persona has been far less visible. Conversations with ordinary Russians reveal growing fatigue with the ongoing conflict, rising anxiety over soaring cost of living, and widespread anger over repeated state-mandated internet restrictions implemented across the country in recent months.

    Russian authorities have announced new mobile internet restrictions for central Moscow on Victory Day, framing the move as a necessary security measure to prevent drone attacks and sabotage. The restrictions mirror similar digital shutdowns that have been imposed in dozens of Russian cities and towns over the past year. When asked about the widespread public anger over the shutdowns, Popov dismissed the criticism: “It’s not your business, with all respect, what we are doing with our internet. It would be better to be with no internet than to be killed by a Ukrainian missile or drone.”

    While the central Red Square parade has been scaled back, commemorations of the 1945 victory are still taking place across every region of Russia. Outside Moscow, in the upscale village of Rublyovo, schoolchildren gathered at the local Great Patriotic War memorial to lay red carnations in honor of the 27 million Soviet citizens who lost their lives in the conflict. Standing guard at the memorial were two masked combat veterans who recently returned from fighting in Ukraine, what the Kremlin still calls a “special military operation.” One of the veterans compared the current conflict to the 1941-1945 war against Nazi Germany. When pressed on the key difference – that in 1941 the Soviet Union was invaded, while in 2022 Russia launched an invasion of its neighbor – the veteran simply replied, “Russia is a country of victors. It always was and always will be.”

    Yet even as the rhetoric of victory remains central to national messaging, four years into the full-scale invasion, that victory remains elusive for Russia on the battlefield.

  • Portugal and Italy will not suspend digital border checks for Brits

    Portugal and Italy will not suspend digital border checks for Brits

    As the European Union grapples with growing travel disruption stemming from its new border management framework, the European Commission has officially confirmed that Portugal and Italy have no plans to waive new mandatory biometric screening requirements for British citizens entering the Schengen Zone.

    The confirmation comes on the heels of unsubstantiated media speculation that the two Southern European nations would follow Greece’s lead, which quietly suspended the new fingerprint and facial scan checks for UK nationals earlier this spring in a bid to avoid crippling summer travel gridlock. Neither Portuguese nor Italian officials had publicly confirmed the rumors prior to the Commission’s statement.

    The new Entry-Exit System (EES), the EU’s digital overhaul of border processing, requires all short-term visitors from outside the European Union and European Economic Area to register their biometric data every time they enter or exit the Schengen free travel area. First launched in October last year, the system was scheduled to reach full operational capacity by April 10 of this year. While EU officials maintain the platform has largely performed as intended, widespread traveler accounts of multi-hour delays at border checkpoints have proliferated in recent months, with UK passengers disproportionately affected. In dozens of documented cases, delayed passengers have missed departing and connecting flights entirely.

    One high-profile incident last month left more than 100 EasyJet passengers stranded in Milan’s Linate Airport after they missed their flight back to Manchester, caught in what the carrier called “unacceptable” passport processing queues. A separate incident at Milan’s Bergamo Airport saw a plane full of Ryanair passengers bound for Manchester also miss their departure due to EES-related backlogs, the airline confirmed.

    In response to these mounting disruptions, Greek border authorities quietly stopped conducting mandatory biometric checks for UK citizens, despite the Greek government’s public claim that it had “successfully started the full operation of the Entry-Exit System.” The Commission confirmed this week that it has opened discussions with Greek officials to clarify the country’s deviation from EU rules and remind national governments of the bloc’s existing regulatory framework. Under current EES rules, temporary, limited suspensions of screening are permitted at specific border crossings only during exceptional circumstances, but blanket exemptions for entire nationalities over extended time frames are explicitly prohibited.

    The Commission added that it remains in regular communication with all EU member states, including Portugal and Italy, to coordinate EES implementation. “The Portuguese and Italian authorities confirmed that they do not intend to exempt any nationality,” a Commission spokesperson said in an official statement.

    The ongoing EES-related travel chaos comes as global airlines already face cascading headwinds, including skyrocketing jet fuel prices and widespread uncertainty over fuel supply security heading into the peak summer travel season. Global carriers have already cut more than 13,000 scheduled flights for May, accounting for roughly 1% of all planned global air travel for the month. Despite the mounting disruptions, UK officials have urged holidaymakers not to cancel or alter their existing travel plans, noting that the UK faces no current fuel shortage and that government contingency plans are in place to address emerging issues.

  • Tenerife resident calls docking of hantavirus ship ‘reckless’

    Tenerife resident calls docking of hantavirus ship ‘reckless’

    Residents of the popular Spanish holiday island of Tenerife, part of the Canary Islands archipelago, have lashed out at authorities over what they label a reckless decision to allow the passenger vessel MV Hondius to dock at the island’s port, raising urgent public health concerns over a potential hantavirus exposure risk. In on-the-record interviews with the British Broadcasting Corporation, local inhabitants expressed deep unease about the ship’s arrival, warning that the decision opens the door to a possible public health crisis that could upend both the local population and the island’s critical tourism industry. Hantavirus, a rare but potentially deadly pathogen spread primarily through contact with rodent excreta, can cause severe respiratory distress and organ failure in infected humans, making any potential outbreak a major worry for densely populated coastal communities that rely on steady streams of international visitors. Many local residents say they were given little to no advance warning about the ship’s docking, leaving them in the dark about what safety protocols are in place to mitigate any potential risk of transmission. The controversy has reignited long-simmering debates over how regional port and public health authorities balance the economic priorities of the cruise and passenger shipping sector against the fundamental right of local communities to safety and transparent communication about potential health hazards. As of the latest reports, authorities have not yet issued a formal public statement addressing the specific concerns raised by Tenerife residents over the MV Hondius docking.

  • Disturbances and 127 arrests mar Paris party after PSG Champions League victory

    Disturbances and 127 arrests mar Paris party after PSG Champions League victory

    Following Paris Saint-Germain (PSG)’s narrow 1-1 aggregate semi-final win over Bayern Munich that secured the club a spot in the May 30 UEFA Champions League final in Budapest, jubilant fan celebrations across the Paris region descended into pockets of destructive violence late Wednesday night, prompting a swift crackdown from French authorities.

    The night began with widespread peaceful gatherings, as thousands of supporters poured into city streets to mark the club’s historic qualification. Even newly elected Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire joined in the festivities, watching the match alongside hundreds of fans — many of them children — at the city’s Hôtel de Ville headquarters. French interior ministry officials confirmed that the vast majority of Wednesday’s celebrations concluded without any major incident.

    But the mood shifted quickly in parts of central Paris, where unruly crowds set dozens of public waste bins and parked vehicles ablaze. Riot police were deployed in large numbers to disperse crowds attempting to approach PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium, firing tear gas to clear blocked areas. Officials also reported that a planned effort to shut down Paris’s busy périphérique ringroad was successfully foiled by law enforcement.

    In an official statement to Europe 1 radio, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez publicly condemned the violent outbreaks, noting that this pattern of unrest following high-profile PSG victories has become an increasingly common problem. By the end of the night, authorities had arrested 127 people across the broader Paris region, 107 of whom were detained within city limits. A total of 34 people were injured in the clashes: 11 civilians, one with life-threatening wounds caused by a mortar firework, and 23 police officers who sustained minor injuries.

    The violence also targeted public cultural spaces: renowned French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand confirmed that his open-air exhibition at Place de la Concorde was extensively vandalized, with every display panel overturned and many of his original works damaged beyond immediate repair.

    Compared to the unrest that followed PSG’s 2025 Champions League final win against Inter Milan, Wednesday’s violence was far less severe. A year ago, related clashes across France left two people dead and resulted in hundreds of arrests, matching the scale of police deployment that secured the city during that match.

    Looking ahead to the Champions League final later this month, where PSG will face Arsenal in Budapest, Mayor Grégoire has already announced plans to organize a large public fan zone in Paris to allow supporters to watch the match together safely. He noted that city officials will work to implement strict safety measures to ensure the event can proceed without incident. However, Minister Nuñez has pushed back against the plan, criticizing it as a unilateral proposal and warning that there is significant risk of renewed unrest. He made clear that authorities will not tolerate any further disturbances, promising a firm, aggressive response to any trouble that arises on final night.