Emmanuel Macron

Aug. 18 (UPI) — President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet Monday in the White House.

Zelensky said he expects to discuss “key issues” at the meeting. It comes after Trump’s Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

European leaders began arriving at noon Monday, and Trump is expected to greet Zelensky at 1 p.m. with a meeting soon after.

European Council leaders are scheduled to meet via videoconference Tuesday to discuss the meeting. EC President Antonio Costa called the conference, he announced on X Monday.

“I have convened a video conference of the members of the European Council for tomorrow at 1 p.m. CEST, for a debriefing of today’s meetings in Washington, D.C., about Ukraine,” Costa wrote. “Together with the U.S., the EU will continue working towards a lasting peace that safeguards Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.”

European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are scheduled to accompany Zelensky to Washington Monday for the talk.

In a brief on Truth Social, Trump said Zelensky “can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.”

“Remember how it started,” Trump said. “No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE.”

Aug. 7 (UPI) — A landmark Anglo-French “one-in, one-out” migrant agreement saw the first small boat arrivals on the British coast taken into custody in preparation for being returned to France, the government said Thursday.

The detentions got underway on Wednesday with migrants who had crossed the Channel “illegally” held in secure immigration centers pending their removal to France, which was expected to take place in a matter of weeks, according to a Home Office news release.

It pledged full transparency, saying detainees would be briefed on the process for returning them to France and kept updated on their progress through the system on an individual basis.

For each migrant sent back, Britain will take in one pre-approved to claim asylum who has not previously attempted to enter the country and who has completed a formal application and security clearance process in France that is only open to those with a passport or identity document.

Pre-checked individuals, or family groups, will then journey safely from France via scheduled rail, ferry or airline services.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper declined to say how many migrants had been detained but vowed to fight any challenge launched in the courts in an attempt to block them from being sent back to France.

“The transfers to immigration removal centers are underway as we speak, so we won’t provide operational details at this point that criminal gangs can simply use and exploit. But no one should be in any doubt: anyone who arrives from now on is eligible for immediate detention and return,” she said.

Cooper added that it was the very early stages of a pilot that would take time to scale up, but stressed, given that France was a safe country for all, including migrants, the government would “robustly defend against any legal challenge that people try.”

However, Home Office sources told The Guardian that the scheme inked last month during a state visit to Britain by French President Emmanuel Macron would initially only involve about 50 asylum seekers.

Immigration lawyers warned that the ambiguous terms of the treaty left it open to legal challenge by individuals trying to prevent their removal from the country.

At least one charity cautioned that the scheme shut out people fleeing war or famine in countries including Eritrea or Sudan because they were unlikely to meet the criteria for official identification.

“This week in Calais, we spoke with many people from Eritrea and almost none of them have copies of their Eritrean passports because they were never able to obtain one,” said a spokesperson for Refugee Legal Support.

The spokesperson said the largest group making the journey across the Channel so far this year were Eritreans, 86% of whom had their refugee claims upheld once they reached Britain — but virtually all of them would never get that chance under the scheme.

The deal, marking the first time Britain has been able to return migrants who arrive from France, came as the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats in the first seven months of 2025 topped a record 25,436.

Under the treaty, Britain is responsible for the costs of transporting migrants in both directions, and France is entitled to refuse to accept returnees it believes pose “a threat to public policy, internal security, public health or the international relations of any of the Schengen states.”

Schengen states refer to the borderless, free travel area comprising 25 of 27 member countries of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

Southern Europe is battling deadly wildfires and extreme heat this week, with record temperatures and dry conditions forcing evacuations across France, Spain and Portugal.

An enormous wildfire in southern France’s Aude region has killed one person, injured nine others, marking the country’s largest wildfire this season.

The blaze, which erupted on Tuesday, has already scorched at least 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) – an area larger than the city of Paris – in less than 24 hours. Fires have consumed forests, ravaged villages and damaged or destroyed at least 25 homes, with emergency officials warning that the blaze remains out of control.

“All of the nation’s resources are mobilised,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X, urging people to act with “the utmost caution”.

More than 1,800 firefighters have been sent to battle the flames, backed by 600 vehicles and water-dropping aircraft.

“We have at our disposal in the Aude department the maximum number of personnel and resources that we can have in the south of France in its entirety,” said Remi Recio, deputy prefect of Narbonne.

An elderly woman who refused to evacuate was killed, while another person is missing. Two civilians were injured, including one in critical condition with burns, and seven firefighters suffered smoke inhalation.

Camping grounds and at least one village were partially evacuated, and roads were closed. “I left everything behind me,” said David Cerdan, 51, who fled the village of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse. “I’m putting it into perspective. I only have material damage.”

Officials say the fire has already consumed as much land as all French wildfires in 2024 combined – more than double that of 2023. “The fire is advancing in an area where all the conditions are ripe for it to progress,” said fire official Roesch. “This fire will keep us busy for several days. It’s a long-term operation.”

An investigation into the cause is under way. France’s environment ministry said drought conditions and dry vegetation contributed to the spread, with water restrictions already in place in the Aude region.

“The risk of fire is greatest in the Mediterranean,” said climate and agriculture analyst Serge Zaka. “In France, it is the hottest and driest area. But with climate change, these fire risks are expected to become more significant during the summer.”

Last month, a blaze near Marseille injured about 300 people. Scientists warn that climate change is driving more intense heat and dryness across Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent.

Spain and Portugal face heat-driven blazes

In Spain, a prolonged heatwave since Sunday – with temperatures reaching 43C (109F) – has helped fan multiple wildfires across the country.

The resort town of Tarifa in Andalusia saw more than 1,500 people and 5,000 vehicles evacuated after a fire broke out near La Pena, a wooded area close to the beach. The fire, believed to have started in a camper van, was rapidly spread by strong winds.

“What concerns us most right now is the wind, whether it shifts between the west and east,” said Antonio Sanz, Andalusia’s interior minister.

Fire crews worked through the night to keep flames away from hotels and tourist accommodation, but the blaze remains active, and residents have not been allowed to return.

Elsewhere, a fire near Ponteceso in the Galicia region forced the evacuation of Corme Aldea village. In Cadiz, a blaze that erupted Tuesday led to mass evacuations, according to state broadcaster RTVE.

The Spanish meteorological agency AEMET has issued orange alerts across several regions through Friday. Civil protection authorities warn of “high” or “extreme” fire risk in much of the country.

Spain’s Ministry of Health reported 1,060 excess deaths linked to extreme heat in July, a 57 percent increase over the same month last year, based on data from the national mortality monitoring system. While the data does not confirm direct causation, it is widely used to estimate heat-related deaths.

In neighbouring Portugal, wildfires have already burned more than 42,000 hectares (104,000 acres) in 2025 – the largest area since 2022 and eight times more than this time last year. More than half of that land was scorched in just the past two weeks.

Firefighters managed to bring a large blaze under control near Vila Real in the north on Wednesday, but others remain active. A fire in the city of Amarante continued to burn, while another in A Coruna reached emergency level 2 due to its proximity to populated areas.

Lisbon declared a state of alert until August 7, with more than 100 municipalities on maximum fire risk amid soaring temperatures.

Scientists say Southern Europe is on the front line of climate breakdown. Rising global temperatures are creating the conditions for longer and more destructive fire seasons.

Aug. 5 (UPI) — A special session of the U.N. Security Council was set to convene Tuesday morning at the request of Israel to discuss the dozens of its citizens being held in Gaza after Hamas released footage of starving hostages over the weekend.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called for an urgent meeting of the 15-member council after shocking videos of hostages Evyatar David, 24, and Rom Braslavski, 21, in which they appear severely emaciated, were circulated by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

“The international community must make it not worthwhile for the terrorists. The world must put an end to the phenomenon of kidnapping civilians. It must be front and center on the world stage,” he said at a news conference Monday.

He thanked the United States and Panama for seconding his call for the special session meeting in New York.

The Israeli consulate in New York upped the pressure by uploading the video of David for all to see on a giant screen in Times Square in midtown Manhattan.

“Hamas kidnapped him. Hamas tortures him. Hamas is starving him. This is what real hunger looks like. This is what truth looks like. Evyatar David is being starved by a Nazi terrorist organization that dares, with the backing of parts of the media, to spread the blood libel that Israel is starving the people of Gaza,” Consul General Ofir Akunis said in a post on X.

“We will continue to expose, everywhere and at all times, the lies of these vile terrorists and their collaborators. Now his face is on Times Square — because the world can’t look away anymore.”

Hamas insisted that the same provisions were provided to the hostages as those available to its members and ordinary people in Gaza and that it did not purposely starve them, stressing that the enclave was in the depths of the hunger crisis.

World leaders joined in the condemnation of the images of the hostages released after Hamas said it would not lay down its arms until the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy led the criticism, calling what he described as hostages being paraded for propaganda “sickening” and demanding their release without conditions.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Hamas stood for “abject cruelty,” while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was left shocked by the images and reiterated that no cease-fire could be reached without the hostages’ release.

Calling the videos “appalling,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a post on X that the images provided “stark evidence of the life-threatening conditions in which the hostages are being held,” and demanded it be allowed to visit them.

“We know families watching these videos are horrified and heartbroken by the conditions they see their loved ones held in. We reiterate that all hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally. This dire situation must come to an end now.”

Israel said David and Braslavski are among 22 hostages who remain alive out of 49 still being held captive.

In its latest update posted to social media Tuesday morning, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said the number of malnutrition deaths recorded by hospitals in the Palestinian enclave in the past 24 hours had risen to 188 martyrs, including 94 children.

Published on
30/07/2025 – 18:23 GMT+2

ADVERTISEMENT

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on the EU Commission to rebalance EU’s trade relationship with the US, particularly in the services sector, just days after a deal was reached between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump.

“To be free, one must be feared. We haven’t been feared enough,” Macron said during a meeting of the French council of ministers, French media reported, calling for “relentless efforts to rebalance trade, particularly in the services sector.”

“This is not the end of the story, and we will not stop here,” the French president added, as the EU Commission is still negotiating exemptions to the 15% US tariffs on EU imports agreed on 27 July.

Since the beginning of the tariff war with the US, France has consistently favoured a hardline approach, brandishing the threat of the anti-coercion instrument — an EU tool that allows foreign companies to be denied access to public procurement, licenses, or intellectual property rights.

The tool would enable the EU to target US services, where the bloc runs a trade deficit with the US, unlike in goods.

Countermeasures

The EU has also adopted a package of countermeasures worth €95 billion targeting US products, but these were suspended until 4 August. The Commission is now awaiting a US executive order confirming that a 15% blanket tariff will apply to imports of EU goods as of 1 August.

“Of course the measures are there,” an EU official said, adding: “They have been approved by the member states. So if there was a need, we could always bring them back on Tuesday [4 August]. But that is not the assumption from which we start this next phase in transatlantic relations.”

The French President acknowledged that negotiations with the US had been difficult, and welcomed exemptions secured for the aerospace sector, considered strategic for Paris. France also hopes that the Commission will manage to negotiate an exemption for wine and spirits, which represent France’s leading export market to the US.

“We are continuing to negotiate with the Americans so that, if possible, spirits, perhaps wine, and other sectors can be exempted. It’s a work in progress,” French Economy Minister Éric Lombard told French radio on Wednesday.

On top of aircraft, Von der Leyen on Sunday announced that zero-for-zero tariffs will apply to certain chemicals, generic drugs, semiconductor-making equipment, some agricultural products (but with the exclusion of all sensitive products like beef, rice, ethanol, sugar or poultry), some natural resources and critical raw materials.

July 29 (UPI) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday said the United Kingdom will recognize a Palestinian state if Israel does not agree to a cease-fire in Gaza by September.

Starmer said the Israeli government must take “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza” by agreeing to a cease-fire and committing to a lasting peace, the BBC reported.

The United Kingdom will announce its recognition of a Palestinian state before the U.N. General Assembly, which is scheduled to start on Sept. 9, Starmer said in his ultimatum.

“Ultimately, the only way to bring this humanitarian crisis to an end is through a long-term settlement,” Starmer told media.

“Our goal remains a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state,” he added, “but, right now, that goal is under pressure like never before.”

Starmer told reporters he always has supported recognizing a Palestinian state as a way to contribute to a lasting peace.

“We demand an immediate cease-fire to stop the slaughter, that the U.N. be allowed to send humanitarian assistance into Gaza on a continuing basis to prevent starvation and the immediate release of the hostages,” Starmer said in a prepared statement on Tuesday.

Starmer did not say where the Palestinian state would be located or what incentive Hamas would have to agree to a cease-fire if continued hostilities would cause the United Kingdom to recognize such a state.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday announced that France will announce its recognition of a Palestinian state during September’s U.N. conference.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected Starmer’s statement, which it said endangers a viable cease-fire in Gaza.

“The shift in the British government’s position at this time, following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a cease-fire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Hamas-run Gaza Health ministry has reported more than 60,000 deaths of Gazans following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israeli civilians that killed about 1,200 and kidnapped about 250 others.

Hamas continues holding 50 hostages, including 28 that Israel and others say likely are dead.

U.N. reports indicate Gaza is undergoing a “worst-case scenario of famine” after Israel temporarily halted aid shipments to Gaza from March to mid-May.

Starmer did not respond to a UPI request for comment on the matter.

Published on
24/07/2025 – 11:44 GMT+2

ADVERTISEMENT

The member states on Thursday approved the list of retaliatory tariffs proposed by the European Commission to counter US trade measures, with only Hungary voting against.

The list includes an initial package of measures adopted in early April and targets products including aircraft, cars and car parts, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel and aluminium, yachts.

Bourbon whiskey was also included in the list despite intense lobbying by France and Ireland which fear US retaliation on wine and spirits. EU Industries were also consulted before the Commission proposed the list to the member states.

The countermeasures will only enter into force if no deal is reached by the 1 August, the deadline set by US president Donald Trump from when he’s set to impose 30% tariffs on EU imports.

Anti-coercion instrument 

A qualified majority of member states also appears willing to trigger the anti-coercion instrument, which would enable the EU to hit US services if no deal is reached.

Germany was for a long time resistant to using this powerful bazooka, but has now joined France, which has long been a strong advocate of the anti-coercion instrument.

Following a dinner on Wednesday between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, a source from the Élysée stated the shared vision of both leaders on the ongoing negotiations between the EU and the US.

“They hoped for a satisfactory outcome to the discussions that would safeguard the EU’s interests,” the source said, adding “while simultaneously accelerating work on countermeasures — including the anti-coercion instrument — in coordination with the Commission, should an agreement not be reached.”

The US currently impose 50% on EU steel and aluminium, 25% on cars and 10% on all imports.

US officials are ‘optimistic’ that an agreement could be imminent.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that negotiations between the European Union and the United States over a long-running trade dispute are making progress.

Speaking in Berlin on Wednesday ahead of a dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron, Merz said, “We have been hearing in the last few minutes that there could possibly be decisions,” referring to ongoing talks aimed at avoiding steep tariffs on European goods.

The United States has threatened to impose a 30 percent tariff on EU exports if no agreement is reached by August 1.

But hopes for a breakthrough rose this week after reports that both sides are close to a deal that would set a 15 percent tariff rate on EU goods – a compromise similar to a recent agreement between the US and Japan.

Macron said that European leaders and the European Commission had been in “constant contact” to coordinate their response to the US pressure.

He added: “We want the lowest possible tariffs, but also to be respected as the partners that we are.”

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent echoed the optimism, telling Bloomberg Television that the talks were “going better than they had been”, and that progress was being made.

Further discussions between EU Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also took place on Wednesday, while officials from the European Commission briefed EU member states following the latest round of discussions.

Diplomats say the recent deal between Washington and Tokyo has increased pressure on Brussels to accept a compromise, even if reluctantly.

“The Japan agreement made clear the terms of the shakedown,” an EU diplomat told the Financial Times. “Most member states are holding their noses and could take this deal.”

If finalised, the EU-US deal could include some exemptions, such as for aircraft, medical devices and alcoholic beverages, according to the newspaper.

However, the European Commission, which leads trade policy for the EU, has already prepared a plan to hit back with more than $100bn in tariffs if talks collapse.

It comes as EU exporters have already been facing a 10 percent tariff on goods sent to the US since April, on top of pre-existing levies.

July 14 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump‘s state visit to Britain will take place Sept. 17 through Sept. 19 at Windsor Castle where King Charles III will host him and First Lady Melania Trump, Buckingham Palace announced Monday.

Buckingham Palace said Trump had formerly accepted the invitation, six years on from his first state visit when he was the guest of the late Queen Elizabeth II in June 2019. The visit is unprecedented because Trump will become the first U.S. president to receive the honor twice — second-term presidents traditionally receive a tea or lunch invitation.

Itinerary details remain pending but will comprise a packed schedule of events — including a full ceremonial welcome and a state banquet in the castle’s Saint George’s Hall — with all senior members of the royal family involved, including Prince William and Kate, said the palace.

Trump and the first lady will spend two nights at Windsor Castle. The location was moved from the customary Buckingham Palace due to renovations that are underway at the king’s official residence.

Trump, who has hereditary roots in Scotland, is known to be a fan of Britain, and in particular the royal family and all the associated pomp and grand ceremonies.

British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson said Trump could expect a warm welcome.

“He should expect a warm reception because he really does love Britain. He hugely admires it,” said Mandelson.

“He trusts [British Prime Minister] Keir Starmer. It’s not a question of expressing our gratitude. My lodestar here is to demonstrate respect, not sycophancy. I don’t think the administration has any problem with that.”

However, the timing sidesteps the issue of the traditional address given to parliament by visiting heads of state, as Trump will arrive a day after the legislature rises for the month-long ‘conference” recess, when political parties hold their annual conventions.

A group of 20 MPs signed a motion back in April calling on the speakers of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords not to allow Trump to officially address either chamber, saying his “misogynism, racism and xenophobia, comments on women, refugees and torture” made it inappropriate.

The motion noted “several concerns on his comments about the U.K., parliamentary democracy, the Middle East and equalities; expresses concern about his conduct around Ukraine; believes it would be inappropriate for President Trump to address Parliament.”

Of the lawmakers who backed the motion, 15 belong to Starmer’s ruling Labour Party.

The stance of parliamentarians contrasts with the optics surrounding French President Emmanuel Macron‘s state visit last week, during which he addressed a packed joint session of parliament and laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Westminster Abbey.

The king initially extended the royal invite to Trump in February in a letter that Starmer brought with him on a visit to Washington to meet with Trump in the White House, which the president accepted on the spot.

During his last visit in 2019, mass street protests forced the cancellation of a procession down the mall leading to Buckingham Palace for security reasons and he traveled between events by helicopter, instead of by road.

He also became embroiled in a social media spat with the mayor of London and appeared to breach royal protocol by walking ahead of the queen.

July 11 (UPI) — British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said Friday she expected Brussels to back a new so-called “one-in, one-out” deal with France aimed at curbing the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Cooper said she was confident the European Commission would endorse the pilot scheme signed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron during a state visit after Paris said it needed legal authorization.

The deal, which would see France take back migrants from Britain for the first time in an arrangement under which one migrant who arrives without permission is returned for each migrant with a legal asylum claim in France that Britain takes in, must also be approved by the other 26 EU countries.

Speaking to a London radio station, she added that she didn’t believe the scheme would be blown off track by resistance from countries fearful they might end up dealing with returned migrants, particularly frontline nations Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Italy and Malta which bear the brunt of migration from Africa and the Middle East and beyond.

“We have been talking to the EU commissioners. We’ve also been talking to other European interior ministers and governments throughout this process. The French interior minister and I have been speaking about this, to develop this, since October of last year, and the EU commissioners have been very supportive,” Cooper said.

“So that is why we have designed this in a way to work, not just for the U.K. and France, but in order to fit with all their concerns as well.”

However, Brussels said Friday that it needed more information regarding the “substance and form” of the deal to be able to form a view on its legality before endorsing the plan, saying it needed to comply with EU law, both in spirit and practice.

“What we have now is an announcement and a political agreement, in principle, to have a pilot agreement,” said an EU commission spokesman.

“Once we know more about the substance and the form of that, we can tell you more about it, but we will look at this together with U.K. and France we will be working with all parties involved.”

Cooper also insisted she was confident the plan would hold up against legal challenges that caused years of delays that ultimately sank a previous “deterrence” strategy championed by then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak involving sending irregular migrants to Rwanda.

Shadow Home Secretary, Conservative MP Chris Philp, condemned the scheme as a publicity stunt.

“Starmer’s deal yesterday is a gimmick that won’t work, just like his ‘smash the gangs’ claim (now never mentioned) was a gimmick that didn’t work,” he said in a post on X.

The deal announced Thursday has been short on details, apart from stressing it would dismantle the business model of the criminal gangs smuggling people to Britain in often unseaworthy small dinghies, but the BBC said 50 people would be exchanged each week, initially.

A news release from the Home Office, Downing Street and the Border Force said the plan will be rolled out in tandem with action on so-called “pull factors,” such as the ability to find work illegally, that make Britain so attractive to migrants, which was repeatedly raised by Macron and the French side during his visit.

The government pledged a “major nationwide blitz targeting illegal working hotspots, focusing on the gig economy and migrants working as delivery riders.”

“The U.K. will go further by changing the law to support a clampdown on illegal working in the gig economy. New biometric kits will be rolled out for Immigration Enforcement teams so they can do on-the-spot checks,” the statement added.

The United Kingdom and France are close to a new agreement aimed at preventing tens of thousands of migrants from crossing the English Channel from France in small boats, UK media reported on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in London on Tuesday for a three-day visit, marking the first state visit by a European leader since Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Here is all we know about the “one-in-one-out” migrant deal being discussed during a bilateral summit between Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London.

What’s in the deal Macron and Starmer are discussing?

The deal is aimed at deterring migrants from making dangerous trips across the English Channel from France to the UK in small boats. This year so far, more than 20,000 people have undertaken this journey.

At the start of the summit with Macron on Thursday, Starmer said the two must “apply our collective strength and leadership” to the challenges of undocumented migration.

“We all agree that the situation in the Channel cannot go on as it is so we’re bringing new tactics into play and a new intent to tackle illegal migration and break the business model of the criminal gangs.”

Many migrants without visas or permits departing France by sea attempt to cross to the UK in small, inflatable boats. They frequently pay large sums of money to gangs who arrange the boats in northern France. Journeys can be incredibly dangerous and people have died making the crossing.

Under a new agreement, France would agree to take back asylum seekers who have crossed over to the UK and who cannot prove a family connection to the UK. For each migrant France takes back, the UK would grant asylum to one migrant from France who can prove a family connection to the UK.

During the initial stages of the agreement, details of which were reported by French newspaper Le Monde, the UK would initially send about 50 migrants to France per week. Le Monde also reported that the UK would only be able to return 2,600 migrants in a single year.

The UK press quoted a government source on Thursday that plans would be scaled up if the initial scheme is successful.

Who is to blame for the influx of people by boat to the UK?

Both France and the UK have laid the blame on each other.

One of France’s main criticisms of the UK is that it attracts migrants without visas because UK laws are too lenient or not adequately enforced. In his speech to Parliament during his state visit on Tuesday, Macron said that one-third of all migrants arriving in France intend to move on to the UK.

During negotiations with the UK 18 months ago when he was interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, France’s current justice minister, said: “Britain must do something to make itself less attractive and change the rules of their labour market because you can work without papers in the UK,” he said.

The UK disputes this, saying people are drawn to it because of family or diaspora ties, as well as many being able to speak English. Instead, some politicians in the UK have blamed France for not policing its northern shores enough. However, Starmer is also expected to unveil new plans to crack down harder on illegal work in the UK.

France, in turn, says it is making huge efforts to deter migrant departures from northern beaches and to take action against people-smuggling gangs.

Why is this agreement being discussed now?

The deal is being discussed because of the rising number of unauthorised migrants arriving from France to the UK, Peter Walsh, a senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, told Al Jazeera.

Just one year since Starmer’s Labour party won a landslide election, the prime minister’s popularity has tanked in the UK – in large part because of the failure to stop undocumented migration – while support for the far-right, anti-migration Reform UK party has soared.

In particular, Reform’s manifesto pledges to clamp down on migrants coming to the UK in small boats. It states: “Illegal migrants who come to the UK will be detained and deported. And if needed, migrants in small boats will be picked up and taken back to France.”

The Conservative Party, which was in power before Starmer won last year’s general election, pledged to impose a binding cap for legal migration and to deport asylum seekers who arrive by irregular means to Rwanda for processing and potential resettlement. Labour scrapped this plan as soon as it came to power.

As of July 7, immigration and asylum stand as the most significant issue in the UK, at 51 percent, according to polling by YouGov.

According to commentary in UK media, Starmer’s meeting with Macron also holds symbolic significance, as it allows the British PM to show that he has been able to maintain a good relationship with his main European partners since he negotiated a “reset” trade deal with the EU in May.

How many people cross the English Channel in small boats each year?

This year, 21,117 people crossed the English Channel from France to the UK in small boats as of July 6, according to UK government data. This was a 56 percent increase in the number of people crossing in small boats during the same period in 2024.

In the whole of 2024, nearly 37,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats, bringing the weekly average to about 700 arrivals.

In the past year, 73 people have died trying to cross the English Channel, the highest number recorded in one year so far, according to data by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental organisation within the United Nations.

Small boat arrivals made up one-third of all asylum applications in 2024, according to an analysis by the Migration Observatory based on statistics from the UK Home Office.

Why do so many people make this risky crossing?

Walsh told Al Jazeera that people take the risk to cross the Channel for a wide range of reasons. “One is the presence of family members, friends, and members of their community already in the UK,” he said.

He explained that because the UK is no longer part of the EU following Brexit, it does not have access to the bloc’s asylum fingerprint database any more. Therefore, British authorities cannot know if people who arrive in small boats have already claimed asylum in an EU country.

“If it did, the UK would be able to dismiss the claims,” he said. “The UK is also no longer a part of the Dublin system that would allow for such asylum claimants to be returned to the EU. Migrants understand this, so view reaching the UK as giving them another chance at securing residence in the UK.”

The Dublin regulation – the framework for the EU’s rules on asylum seekers – establishes the criteria that determine which EU member state is responsible for examining asylum applications submitted by someone who is originally from a third country.

Between 2018 and 2024, 68 percent of asylum applications from migrants who arrived in small boats were granted in the UK. This was higher than the grant rate for asylum applications generally, which was 57 percent for the same duration. This may be another reason people are attracted to the UK, experts say.

What steps have France and the UK taken to stop boats crossing the English Channel?

In March 2023, the UK, under former Conservative PM Rishi Sunak, signed a three-year deal with France, under which the UK agreed to pay France 480 million pounds ($650m) to tighten its border patrols and surveillance.

Under this deal, France agreed to deploy 500 officers and provide a new detention centre in France, which would be operational by the end of 2026. France also agreed to increase funding for stricter enforcement, without specifying the amount of money.

Separately, in June this year, France agreed to come up with a plan to intercept small boats heading to the UK, for the first time, expanding its navy with six patrol boats that will rescue migrants but also intercept them from heading to the UK.

Paris has agreed to do this for boats which are within 300 metres (1,000ft) from the French shore, and has asked the UK for extra funding to fund the police and equipment to enforce these interceptions, according to UK media.

French police have recently taken to damaging the small boats, slashing their rubber frames with knives. The French Interior Ministry told The Associated Press that the police had not been ordered to do this, however.

What are the criticisms of the new deal under discussion?

Since an average of 700 migrants enter the UK by small boat each week, if the UK government sends an average of 50 people back to France per week, that would amount to just one in 14 being returned.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp of the opposition Conservative Party told The Times newspaper: “This deal will mean that 94 percent of illegal migrants crossing the Channel will get to stay. That is pathetic and will not deter anyone. By contrast, the Rwanda deterrent would have seen 100 percent of illegal migrants removed and that would have worked to deter people crossing the Channel. Keir Starmer’s failure continues.”

The plan could potentially face a legal challenge under the UN Refugee Convention, which mandates asylum seekers’ rights to request protection.

French officials are also critical of the deal, cautious it could result in France becoming a “return hub” for migrants that the UK refuses to accept. “We are putting ourselves into the hands of the British without minimal reciprocal elements,” an unnamed French official involved in the talks told Le Monde.

The policy could also provide ammunition against Macron for his right-wing political critics, who may question why he has agreed to take back migrants wanting to live in Britain.

The UK is not subject to the EU’s Dublin regulations, while France is. This makes the status of migrants returning from Britain to France unclear, causing concern among other European nations, who are upset with France for bilaterally negotiating the deal without consulting the EU.

“Why should other Europeans be obliged to take these returns under EU, Dublin rules when they result from French obligation under a bilateral deal with the UK, a non-EU member, that France negotiated without asking us?” The Times quoted an unnamed EU diplomat as saying on Thursday.

A deal is also opposed by the southern European countries of Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain, who have been receiving unauthorised migrants at an increasing rate, the Financial Times reported. These countries are concerned that if migrants are sent back to France from the UK, they may try to enter southern Europe from France instead.

As the 2000s came to a close, the immigrant population multiplied by more than fivefold in Spain, Italy and Greece, according to a 2016 research article written by scholars from the University of Liege in Belgium.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said on Wednesday during Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament that the UK must refuse to accept “undocumented males” coming in small boats as part of a deal with France. Farage said Starmer should not bow to an “increasingly arrogant, anti-Brexit French president”. Starmer responded, saying Farage’s approach is to “break everything and claim that’s how you fix things”.

Weighing the viability of an agreement between Paris and London, Walsh said: “A returns deal may have an impact if it affects enough people. We don’t know how many people could plausibly be returned to France under this deal, but there’s a risk that if an insufficiently low share of individuals are returned, then people wishing to reach the UK by small boat may see the risk of return as another risk worth taking – alongside the much greater risk of getting in a small boat.”

French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit to the United Kingdom has moved from the genteel royal pomp and ceremony to the harder edges of the political realm as his hosts are expected to press for new measures to curb undocumented immigration in crunch talks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was set to push Macron to do more to stop refugee and migrant crossings across the English Channel as the two leaders met Wednesday at 10 Downing Street.

The number of refugees and migrants arriving on England’s southern coast via small boats from northern France is a major political issue for the Labour government, which has seen the far-right Reform UK party make significant political gains with a hardline anti-immigration platform.

The talks come on Macron’s second day of his visit to the UK, which began with a warm welcome from King Charles III and members of the royal family and a lavish banquet at Windsor Castle.

It’s the first state visit by a French president to the UK since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 and the first by a European Union head of state since Brexit was made official in 2020. Macron’s trip came at the invitation of King Charles III.

‘One in-one out’ deal not favoured by EU

Macron addressed the British parliament on Tuesday, promising to deliver on measures to cut the number of people crossing the English Channel, describing the issue as a “burden” to both countries. He also said that France and the UK had a “shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness”.

Britain hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat refugees and migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link, the domestic Press Association news agency reported.

France has previously refused to sign such an agreement, saying the UK should negotiate an arrangement with all European Union countries.

“This deal is far from being finished because there is a lot of opposition from certain European nations, which are usually the port of entry for people seeking to come to Europe, places like Spain, Malta, Italy, Greece and Cyprus,” said Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic, reporting from London.

“That is because under EU law, in theory, France could just move on the people they receive from Britain and onto those countries, the first port of entry countries, to claim asylum there. So Keir Starmer doesn’t only need to convince President Macron of this deal, but he also has quite significant stumbling blocks when it comes to convincing other European nations.”

In parliament Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, challenged Starmer to “say to the French president we will not accept undocumented males across the English Channel”.

There has been increasing frustration in the UK over funding for France to prevent refugees and migrants setting off and a law that prevents police intercepting boats while in the water close to shore.

“We will only provide funding that delivers for our priorities,” Starmer told parliament, adding that Britain had persuaded the French “to review their laws and tactics on the north coast to take more effective action”.

“I’ll be discussing this at meetings with President Macron,” he added.

After he took power a year ago, Starmer promised to “smash the gangs”, getting thousands of people onto the small boats – only to see numbers rise to record levels.

More than 21,000 people have crossed from northern France to southeast England in basic vessels this year, on a perilous journey.

The Macrons began the second day of their visit by paying their respects at the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor’s St George’s Chapel.

Macron then discussed biodiversity issues with the king during a stroll in the castle grounds before he bade farewell to his host and headed to central London.

At Tuesday evening’s banquet, Charles used a speech to about 160 guests – including royals, Starmer and music icons Elton John and Mick Jagger – to warn that the two nations’ alliance was as crucial as ever amid a “multitude of complex threats”.

Macron had also said in his address to parliament that “Britain and France were too dependent on the US and China, and that they really need to take joint decisions on defence and security even though Britain has left the European Union, as geographically it is part of Europe,” said Veselinovic.

Charles concluded by toasting a new UK-France “entente… no longer just cordiale, but now amicale”, prompting Macron to laud “this entente amicale that unites our two fraternal peoples in an unwavering alliance”.

Macron is due to visit the British Museum to formally announce the loan of the famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England, allowing the 11th-century masterpiece to return for the first time in more than 900 years. London, in exchange, will loan Paris Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasures.

June 21 (UPI) — Israel’s military on Saturday killed two more top Iranian military officials during overnight strikes as fighting between the two nations entered a second week.

Iran warned it would be “very dangerous for everyone” if the U.S. intervened in the conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump said he has a maximum two-week timeline given Thursday on whether the United States will strike.

Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestine Corps of al-Quds, which is the foreign branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp, was killed in a strike at a home in the city of Qom in central Iran, Israel Defense Forces said. He played a key role in the financing and arming Hamas‘ attack of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, according to IDF.

Behnam Shahriyari, another senior official, also died in a strike. He was responsible for al-Quds helping finance the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.

An Iranian nuclear scientist, Isar Tabatabai-Qamsheh, and his wife, additionally died in an Israeli strike in Tehran, the Mehr News Agency reports.

At the start of the conflict, several leaders died, including Hossein Salami, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces. Also killed were Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the IRGC’s aerospace forces, and Ali Shadmani, who was recently appointed as head of the central command.

Early Saturday morning, Iran launched missiles at Israel with at least one building in central Israel catching fire from shrapnel of an intercepted Iranian missile. Later Saturday morning, a drone strike damaged a residential building in north Israel. No casualties were reported from the strikes.

Israel said it deployed 50 aircraft over Iran overnight, hitting Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant for the second time in Qom. Nearby, a strike on a residential building killed two people and injured four others Saturday, according to Iran’s state media.

More than 400 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict began eight days ago, Iran state broadcaster IRIB reported Saturday in citing Iran’s health ministry.

“As of this morning, the Israeli regime’s hands are stained with the blood of 400 defenseless Iranians, and it has injured 3,056 people with its missiles and drones,” the health ministry said.

“Most of the casualties and fatalities were civilians.”

Iranian strikes have killed at least 25 and injured hundreds, according to Israel. Israel has intercepted 99% of the 470 Iranian drones launched since the war began.

Diplomatic efforts

Talks between Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and European counterparts in Geneva, Switzerland, ended Friday night with no breakthrough. Britain, France, Germany and the European Union are involved in the negotiations.

“It is obvious I cannot go to the negotiations with the United States when our people are under bombardment, under the support of the United States,” Araghchi told reporters Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey.

Foreign ministers with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation met there.

Araghchi urged for the “aggression” to end “for us to come back to diplomacy.”

The meetings in Geneva were focused on a nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran as part of a cease-fire. The European nations’ proposal includes Iran moving to zero uranium enrichment, restricting its missile program and ending Tehran’s financing of proxy groups.

Trump has wanted Iran to end all uranium enrichment, claiming they are building a nuclear bomb. Iran has said it is for peaceful purposes, including energy plants.

“Israel is doing well, in terms of war, and Iran … is doing less well,” Trump said Friday. “It’s a little bit hard to get somebody to stop.”

Trump said U.S. officials have been speaking to Iran.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday he spoke on the phone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, noting that France will “accelerate” negotiations between European nations and Iran.

“Here again, my position is clear: Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and it is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful,” Macron wrote in a post on X. “I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers. To achieve this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report on May 31 that Iran had produced enriched uranium to a level of 60%, which was of “serious concern.”

The airstrikes have delayed efforts to build an operational nuclear weapon.

“According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,” Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told German newspaper Bild in an interview published and broadcast Saturday.

Also, more than 50% of Iran’s missile launchers were destroyed, an Israeli military official said.

A senior Iranian official told CNN that they are replacing quantity with quality and the nation has been using more advanced precision missiles.

Strikes hit residential areas

Though the attacks have been focused on military and nuclear targets, tens of thousands of city residents have been displaced, particularly those in Tehran.

Esmaeil Baghaei, who is Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said on Friday that three aid workers were killed, and six ambulances and four healthcare centers.

“The intentional attack on a Red Crescent ambulance in Tehran is a clear example of a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” Baghaei said.

Despite the bombings, residents in Tehran told CNN they are trying to return to normal life.

“The initial shock had passed,” one resident said. “People are trying to go about their lives as best and as normally as they can.”

The resident also said: “Things are fine. Roads are getting busier back into Tehran from other areas because the government has said work begins on Sunday.”

In Israel, a two-story residential building in northern Israel was hit by a drone, the Magen David Adom said in a statement Saturday, Al Jazeera reported. No casualties were reported.

On Friday, an Iranian missile hit Israel’s northern city of Haifa, wounding at least 31 people.

June 17 (UPI) — The Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa and other iconic works of art in Paris, closed abruptly Monday as the museum’s staff staged an impromptu strike over a surge of tourists who were left standing in long lines.

Ticket agents, gallery attendants and security refused to return to work, following a morning union meeting, citing overcrowding and understaffing. After four hours of talks with management, the Louvre reopened to confused and tired visitors.

Monday’s strike comes after French President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this year that the centuries-old Louvre would undergo renovations to include a separate wing for the Mona Lisa to control crowds better.

The “New Renaissance” project, which will repair and modernize the former royal palace, will take a decade to complete. Ticket prices are slated to go up next year for tourists who do not live in the European Union to help pay for the project.

Last year alone, 8.7 million tourists visited the Louvre with many complaining about insufficient signage, tight spaces and lack of restrooms. The Louvre was originally designed to accommodate 4 million visitors a year.

Louvre President Laurence des Cars, who was appointed in 2021, limited visitors to 30,000 a day after attendance surged in 2018 to more than 10 million. He has warned that parts of the museum are “no longer watertight” and that fluctuating temperatures could damage the priceless artwork.

The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, has withstood war, terror, and pandemic – but on Monday, it was brought to a halt by its own striking staff, who say the institution is crumbling under the weight of mass tourism

The Louvre was thrust into shutdown by a staff walkout, with workers arguing it is buckling under the strain of excessive tourism.

In what seemed an unimaginable scene, the sanctuary housing da Vinci masterpieces and centuries of cultural marvels was brought to a halt on Monday. Countless tourists, clutching their entry passes, were left languishing in long queues underneath I. M. Pei’s famed glass pyramid.

Kevin Ward, 62, from Milwaukee, said: “Thousands of people waiting, no communication, no explanation. I guess even (the Mona Lisa) needs a day off.”

The busiest museum in the world was brought to a halt the day after anti-tourism demonstrations rippled through southern Europe. Protesters assembled in Mallorca, Venice, Lisbon and further afield, criticising an economic regimen they claim marginalises residents and undermines city life.

READ MORE: Spain warning for Brits as new holiday rule comes into force from July 1

The Louvre was hit by an unexpected strike during a routine meeting when gallery attendants, ticket agents and security staff refused to work, protesting against overwhelming crowds, insufficient staffing and what has been described by one union as “untenable” working conditions.

It’s a rarity for the Louvre to shut its doors unexpectedly. The museum has closed in times of war, during the pandemic, and on the occasion of a few strikes – including impromptu walkouts due to overcrowding in 2019 and safety concerns in 2013.

However, it is unusual for such closures to occur so abruptly, without prior notice, and in plain sight of waiting visitors.

Moreover, this disruption occurs mere months after President Emmanuel Macron announced an ambitious ten-year plan aimed at addressing the very issues now coming to a head – water damage, hazardous temperature fluctuations, antiquated infrastructure, and visitor numbers exceeding the museum’s capacity.

Yet, for the employees on the front line, the proposed improvements seem a long way off. “We can’t wait six years for help,” declared Sarah Sefian, a gallery attendant and visitor services agent. “Our teams are under pressure now. It’s not just about the art – it’s about the people protecting it.”

At the heart of the turmoil is the Mona Lisa – the iconic 16th-century painting that attracts contemporary throngs more reminiscent of a celebrity meet-and-greet than a traditional art viewing.

An estimated 20,000 visitors cram daily into the Salle des États, the Louvre’s most expansive chamber, all eager to capture a selfie with Leonardo da Vinci’s mysterious lady behind her protective glass. The atmosphere is often chaotic, bustling, and so crowded that numerous visitors overlook the surrounding masterpieces by Titian and Veronese, which remain underappreciated.

READ MORE: Tourist warning to 10 million as Europe’s hottest capital on alertREAD MORE: Universal set to tick off big milestone for huge UK theme park

“You don’t see a painting,” lamented Ji-Hyun Park, 28, who travelled from Seoul to Paris. “You see phones. You see elbows. You feel heat. And then, you’re pushed out.”

President Macron’s strategy for revolutionising the museum, labelled the “Louvre New Renaissance,”, aims to offer a solution. The Mona Lisa is set to be housed in a new, specially designated space, with timed-entry tickets to facilitate better viewing experiences.

Plans also include inaugurating a fresh entrance near the Seine River by 2031 to alleviate congestion at the current pyramid entry point. “Conditions of display, explanation and presentation will be up to what the Mona Lisa deserves,” Macron declared in January.

Nonetheless, Louvre staff have accused Macron of hypocrisy, arguing that the proposed 700 million to 800 million-euro renovation plan conceals an underlying issue. Despite Macron’s commitment to creating new access points and exhibition areas, the museum’s yearly governmental subsidies have plummeted over 20% in the past ten years, a period when visitor figures dramatically increased.

“We take it very badly that Monsieur Le President makes his speeches here in our museum,” Sefian remarked, expressing discontent over the state’s diminishing financial contributions year on year.

While many striking staff intend to stay off work for the entire day, Sefian mentioned that some may briefly return to open a limited “masterpiece route” for a few hours, granting visitors access to key attractions like the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. The full museum is expected to resume normal operations by Wednesday, and tourists with time-sensitive tickets from Monday might have the opportunity to use them then.

The Louvre saw 8.7 million visitors last year, which is more than twice what its facilities were designed for. Despite imposing a daily limit of 30,000 visitors, staff report that the experience has become an everyday challenge, citing insufficient rest areas, scarce bathrooms, and intensified summer heat due to the pyramid’s greenhouse effect.

June 16 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday night cut short his participation at the G7 summit to leave Alberta, Canada, and returned to Washington, D.C., to focus on the conflict between Israel and Iran.

French President Emmanual Macron announced Trump had made a cease-fire offer between the two countries.

“There is an offer that has been made, especially to have a cease-fire and to initiate broader discussions,” Macron told reporters at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada on Monday.

“If the United States of America can achieve a cease-fire, it is a very good thing and France will support it and we wish for it,” Macron said, using a translator.

“It is absolutely essential that all strikes from both sides against energy, administrative and cultural infrastructures, and even more so against the civilian population, cease,” Macron added. “Nothing justifies this.”

The conflict became the top issue among the G7 leaders during the three-day summit after Iran and Israel began exchanging airstrikes Thursday night. Trade issues, which became a major issue following tariffs imposed by Trump, also are occupying their time.

Trump arrived in Canada on Monday and flew back to Washington, D.C., after a dinner with heads of state. Trump was previously scheduled to depart Canada on Tuesday after a news conference.

“Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt

During the dinner, he said to Canada’s host, Prime Minister Mark Carney: “I have to be back early for obvious reasons. They understand. This is big stuff.”

Trump met earlier with Carney, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

But before he left, Trump signed off on a joint statement about the Israel-Iran situation because language was added to seek a diplomatic resolution to the situation and uphold international law, CNN reported.

Trump hadn’t planned to sign the declaration because he had already made his stance clear.

“We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,” the statement read.

“In this context, we affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel. We also affirm the importance of the protection of civilians. Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror. We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”

Carney, Starmer, Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer were seeking consensus among the leaders about the Middle East situation.

The other leaders are Japanese President Kishida Fumio and Italy’s President Giorgia Meloni. The European Union represents 27 members, including France, Germany and Italy.

No other nations have helped Israel fire missiles at Iran, including the United States. But the United States is concerned about protecting its airbases and embassies in the region.

The United States only possesses the bomb required to strike Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site, Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. told Merit TV on Monday.

Trump said he believes Iran wishes to de-escalate the situation. They had been in talks for a nuclear deal, but Sunday’s negotiations in Oman were canceled because of the airstrikes.

Later Monday, Trump posted on Truth Social about stalled nuclear talks: “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

Trump also talked about the situation during a public meeting with Canada’s prime minister.

“They’d like to talk, but they should have done that before,” Trump said. “I had 60 days, and they had 60 days, and on the 61st day, I said, ‘We don’t have a deal.’ They have to make a deal, and it’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late.”

Carney cut off comments from Trump when he started to speak about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s plans to expand efforts to detain and deport illegal immigrants in America’s largest cities run by Democratic mayors in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

“If you don’t mind,” Carney said, “I’m going to exercise my role if you will as G7 chair, since we have a few more minutes with the president and his team, and then we actually have to start the meeting to address some of the big issues. So thank you.”

Trump was making his first appearance at the summit since attending a meeting in the south of France in 2019. The previous year’s gathering in Canada ended with him withdrawing support for the final communique.

Trade talk

Trump formalized tariff cuts on British goods, and said he anticipates reaching new trade deals in Canada.

“We just signed it, and it’s done,” Trump told reporters. “It’s a fair deal for both.”

Trump lowered tariffs on the British aerospace sector to zero at the end of the month. The deal also cuts tariffs on British auto imports to 10% on the first 100,000 vehicles, according to the White House. Previously, vehicles imported from Great Britain faced a 27.5% duty.

The agreement does not lower steel tariffs to none from 25% as the leaders agreed in May. Trump has imposed a 50% steel and aluminum in other countries that went into effect earlier this month.

Canada is among the countries hardest hit, with a 25% tariff on autos imported into the United and 50% on steel and aluminum. Canada also faces tariffs, along with Mexico on imports of goods not exempted by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The EU, in particular, wants to get a deal done before the July 9 expiration of a 10% tariff implemented by Trump to allow time for negotiations.

Before going to the summit, Trump had said he expected to sign new trade agreements with other nations.

Russia

The nation hasn’t been invited to the summit in 10 years.

Like in the past, Trump called it wrong for Russia to have been removed from the G8 in 2014 for annexing Crimea.

“The G7 used to be the G8,” Trump said.” And I would say that that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn’t have a war right now if you had Russia in.”

“It was a mistake in that you spend so much time talking about Russia. And he’s no longer at the table, so it makes life more complicated.”

Trump also said he won’t impose more sanctions on Russia with more sanctions at the G7 summit, saying European nations should hit the target with more sanctions.

“Let’s see them do it first,” he told reporters in a joint news appearance with Starmer. “When I sanction a country, that costs the U.S. a lot of money — a tremendous amount of money.”

The president held a roughly 60-minute call with Putin on Saturday in which much of the focus was on the Israel-Iran fighting, and less on Russia’s war with Ukraine. Trump was scheduled to have a one-on-one meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the summit.

June 9 (UPI) — World leaders at a United Nations conference in France called for an end to ocean-plundering activity with a global agreement likely on the horizon.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the UN’s third ocean conference Monday in Nice with over 120 nations and more than 50 heads of state taking part in the five-day gathering.

“The ocean is the ultimate share resource,” Guterres said to global representatives at the port of Nice. “But we are failing it.”

He said oceans are absorbing 90% of excess heat fro greenhouse gas emissions and buckling under the strain of overfishing, rising temperatures, plastic pollution, acidification, dying coral reefs and collapsing marine life.

The conference co-hosted by France and Costa Rica was focused on ratifying the 2023 High Seas Treaty, which required 60 other countries to sign-on to before it becomes a binding international law.

Rising seas, accordion to Guterres, could soon “submerge deltas, destroy crops, and swallow coastlines — threatening many islands’ survival.”

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron revealed that the milestone was within reach.

“The sea is our first ally against global warming,” Macron said in his opening speech.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said if the world neglects the ocean and its treated “without respect” then it “will turn on us,” she said, adding there will be “ever more violent storms” that ravage the world’s coastlines.

Last month, the European Union ratified the treaty.

“The ocean is our greatest ally, whether you live here in Europe, or anywhere in the world,” said von der Leyen.

The treaty sets a global commitment to protect at least 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030, and provides countries with meaningful tools and ways to create protected ocean areas and conduct evaluations of such things as the damage of commercial activities like deep sea mining to marine life.

The United States was not present at the meeting as a State Department spokesman said it was “at odds” with current U.S. policy.

Macron said 15 other countries have “formally committed to joining” in addition to the more than 50 countries.

“So that’s a win,” said the French president, at one point saying the ocean “is not for sale” in an apparent swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump.

Meanhwile, von der Leyen said Monday that Europe would contribute more than $45 million to the Global Ocean Programme.

“So I ask you all today: Please speed up ratification, because our ocean needs us to play (our) part,” she said.

French leader’s visit to Greenland comes after US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex the Arctic territory.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Greenland this month, the French presidency has announced, in the wake of United States expressions of interest in taking over the mineral-rich Arctic island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semi-autonomous Danish territory on June 15, hosted by Greenland’s new Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

The talks between the leaders will focus on North Atlantic and Arctic security, climate change, energy transition and critical minerals, the French presidency said in a statement on Saturday.

Frederiksen welcomed Macron’s upcoming visit and said in a statement that it is “another concrete testimony of European unity” in the face of a “difficult foreign policy situation”.

The visit comes amid US President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland.

This trip aims to “strengthen cooperation” with the Arctic territory in these areas and to “contribute to the strengthening of European sovereignty”, the French presidency statement stressed.

Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to control the immense Arctic territory, rich in mineral resources and strategically located, “one way or another”.

“We need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it,” Trump said in an interview in March.

The US has also suggested that Russia and China have strategic designs on Greenland.

Trump’s Vice President JD Vance visited the US military base in Pituffik, northwest Greenland, on March 28, in a trip seen as a provocation at the time.

Vance accused Denmark of not having “done a good job for the people of Greenland”, not investing enough in the local economy and “not ensuring its security”.

The vice president stressed that the US has “no option” but to take a significant position to ensure the security of the island as he encouraged a push in Greenland for independence from Denmark.

“I think that they ultimately will partner with the United States,” Vance said. “We could make them much more secure. We could do a lot more protection. And I think they’d fare a lot better economically as well.”

Denmark, for its part, insists that Greenland “is not for sale”.

Addressing American leaders from the huge island, the prime minister said in early April: “You cannot annex another country.”

Faced with American threats, Denmark announced 14.6 billion Danish kroner ($2.1bn) in financial commitments for Arctic security, covering three new naval vessels, long-range drones and satellites.

Greenland’s main political parties, which are in favour of the territory’s independence in the long term, are also against the idea of joining the US.

According to a poll published at the end of January, the population of 57,000 mostly Inuit inhabitants, including more than 19,000 in the capital, Nuuk, rejected any prospect of becoming American.

Incoming Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen told a news conference in March that the territory needed unity at this time.

“It is very important that we put aside our disagreements and differences … because only in this way will we be able to cope with the heavy pressure we are exposed to from outside,” he said.

May 31 (UPI) — President Trump plans to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz next week in Washington, D.C..

Merz, who was elected May 6 in a parliamentary election, is scheduled to visit with Trump on Thursday in the White House, German government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said in a news release Saturday.

Merz, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, replaced Olaf Scholz, who served since 2021 with the Social Democratic Party. Merz was first elected to the Bundestag in 1994 and was leader of the opposition since February 2022.

He will travel to the U.S. capital one day ahead, according to broadcaster n-tv.

They will focus on bilateral relations, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East and trade policy, which includes tariffs, according to Kornelius.

A White House official confirmed the meeting to The Hill.

Like Trump, Merz wants a cease-fire in the war between Ukraine and Russia that began in February 2022.

Merz met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin on Wednesday.

The chancellor said that Germany will increase financial support for Ukraine as part of a more than $5.5 billion agreement. That includes sending over more military equipment and increasing weapons manufacturing in Kyiv.

Members of the Trump administration have criticized Germany’s designation of the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party as an “extremist” political entity.

“We have largely stayed out of the American election campaign in recent years, and that includes me personally,” Merz said in an interview with Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which is part of Politico, that was published on May 7.

Last Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul traveled to Washington and met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump spoke on the phone with Merz during his visit on May 10 with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv.

Macron, Starmer and Zelensky have already met with Trump in the White House.

Other foreign leaders who met with Trump since he took office again on Jan. 20 include Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Irish Prime Minister Micheel Martin, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Many heads of state, including Trump, went to the funeral for Francis on April 26 in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Merz wasn’t one of them.

May 31 (UPI) — President Trump plans to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz next week in Washington, D.C., in the meeting between the two leaders.

Merz, who was elected May 6 in a parliamentary election, is scheduled to visit with Trump on Thursday in the White House, Germany government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Saturday in a news release to The Hill and Politico Europe.

Merz, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union, replaced Olaf Scholz, who served since 2021 with the Social Democratic Party. Merz was first elected to the Bundestag in 1994 and was leader of the opposition since February 2022.

He will travel to the U.S. capital one day ahead, according to broadcaster n-tv.

They will focus on bilateral relations, the Russia-Ukraine war, the Middle East and trade policy, which includes tariffs, according to Kornelius.

A White House official confirmed the meeting to The Hill.

Like Trump, Merz wants a cease-fire in the war between Ukraine and Russia that began in February 2022.

Merz met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin on Wednesday.

The chancellor said that Germany will increase financial support for Ukraine as part of a more than $5.5 billion agreement. That includes sending over more military equipment and increasing weapons manufacturing in Kyiv.

Members of the Trump administration have criticized Germany designating the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland party as an “extremist” political entity.

“We have largely stayed out of the American election campaign in recent years, and that includes me personally,” Merz said in an interview with Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which is part of Politico, that was published on May 7.

Last Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul traveled to Washington and met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Trump spoke on the phone with Merz during his visit on May 10 with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to meet with Zelensky in Kyiv.

Macron, Starmer and Zelensky have already met with Trump in the White House.

Other foreign leaders who met with Trump since he took office again on Jan. 20 include Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Jordan’s King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Irish Prime Minister Micheel Martin, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Many heads of state, including Trump, went to the funeral for Francis on April 26 in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Merz wasn’t one of them.