signing

July 15 (UPI) — Spain and Gibraltar celebrated just after midnight Wednesday as border checkpoints and walls came down between the two nations after a treaty was signed in Brussels.

At midnight, the police stepped down from their border posts to open the territory, and thousands rushed across the border in both directions, celebrating the new crossing and Spain’s World Cup win against France in the semifinals, The Telegraph reported.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the Spanish border town of La Línea de la Concepción on Wednesday to see the removal of the last section of a border fence. He said an “open wound” was finally closed, The Guardian reported.

“The Gibraltar fence — the last wall in continental Europe — has fallen so that we can take a step towards a new era of coexistence and shared prosperity,” Sánchez said. “This is a deal that has the wellbeing of the 300,000 Andalucíans in the Campo de Gibraltar at its heart and which opens a new phase in the relationship between Spain and the U.K.”

Gibraltar, a British overseas territory, has been British sovereign land since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. When Britain left the European Union in January 2020, travel between Spain and Gibraltar was made more complicated.

While Gibraltar has about 40,000 residents, about 15,000 Spaniards cross into it daily for work, causing long daily lines at the checkpoint where they were fingerprinted and had their passports scanned.

Now, British citizens flying or sailing into Gibraltar will have to be fingerprinted and have their passports checked as Spain takes over EU entrance controls, which is causing some consternation among conservative Brits.

Though Spain still wants full control of Gibraltar, this compromise allows for more cooperation between the two.

Gibraltarian Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said the treaty is a new beginning.

“The frontier that has so often divided and constrained our region will now become a place of cooperation and shared opportunity,” he said. “The daily lives of thousands of people will be made easier, our economy will be given greater certainty and Gibraltar’s future will rest on firm legal foundations.

“We have reached this moment without surrendering who we are, without compromising our British sovereignty and without weakening the constitutional protections that define Gibraltar,” Picardo added.

Not everyone was celebrating.

Iain Duncan Smith, former British conservative leader, expressed disappointment.

“This arrangement will in future years be used as a model for weak negotiation. It will be a significant step in the stripping out of hundreds of years of British sovereignty,” Smith said.

Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK, told The Telegraph, “This is a dreadful surrender and the opening of the border means that Gibraltar will never be the same.”

Picardo said the treaty was “among the most significant days in Gibraltar’s modern history.”

“After years of uncertainty, endurance and determined negotiation, we have secured an international treaty that protects Gibraltar, safeguards our sovereignty and opens the way to a more secure and prosperous future,” he said.

“The frontier that has so often divided and constrained our region will now become a place of cooperation and shared opportunity. The daily lives of thousands of people will be made easier, our economy will be given greater certainty and Gibraltar’s future will rest on firm legal foundations.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump will let the bipartisan housing bill approved by Congress become law without his signature, saying Friday that he was refusing to put his name on it because of the little progress made in passing a strict voter ID bill that he has been pushing.

“I will not sign the Housing Bill, which has been fully approved by Congress and sent to the White House, in PROTEST over the fact that the United States Senate is not capable of passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT,” Trump posted on social media.

Trump had 10 days until the Friday deadline to sign the bill, issue a veto, or allow the measure to take effect without his signature. He has chosen to let the measure become law without his express approval, undercutting his administration’s claims that he considers it a priority to combat inflation.

Trump’s rejection of the bipartisan housing legislation exacerbates tensions with his own party in a midterm election year and cuts short their efforts to address a key voter concern about rising costs. His post comes more than a week after he canceled plans to sign the bipartisan legislation, announcing he was using it as leverage in his push for a strict voter ID bill.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act aims to lower the cost of housing and spur more home construction. It’s the broadest federal effort in decades to address America’s housing affordability problems, as state and local regulations have made it difficult to build in many of the communities that are also sources of job growth and economic opportunity. White House economists estimated earlier this year a national shortage of 10 million homes and the bill could help to close a portion of that gap.

But Trump called the bill “a yawn” and “so unimportant” compared to legislation that would require proof of citizenship for all voters.

He surprised Republican lawmakers on June 24, when, shortly before a planned signing ceremony at the Capitol, he announced he would not approve the bill until lawmakers first passed the voting legislation.

That bill, the SAVE America Act, doesn’t have enough Republican support to pass.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after submitting the housing bill to the White House that he told Trump he should get the “fattest black marker you have, and sign your name really big on that.”

“I hope he does sign it,” Johnson told reporters at the time. “If he doesn’t, it’s still law. We’ll still celebrate it.”

He said he also understood Trump was trying to make a point that the elections bill is the top priority. “And I think he’s making it very effectively,” Johnson said.

Still, Trump’s decision not to sign the bill gave Democrats an opening to criticize him on the issue of affordability.

“His priorities couldn’t be clearer: higher cost for families and more power for himself,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on X.

The housing bill passed the Senate on an 85-5 vote and the House approved it with an 358-32 vote.

That legislation seeks to cut federal housing rules, slim-down environmental reviews, make it faster to build homes and limit the ability of corporations to buy single-family homes.

The bill does not address all of the causes of the country’s housing woes, including a shortage of construction workers, climbing insurance costs and wages that have not risen fast enough for renters and buyers.

But the bill has drawn support from the real estate industry and housing advocates.

The U.S. housing market has been a driver of recent affordability challenges as skyrocketing prices have kept aspiring buyers out of the market. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that the median sales price increased 1.8% in June from a year earlier to $440,600, an all-time high on data going back to 1999.

Price and Boak write for the Associated Press. AP reporter Kevin Freking contributed to this report.

SIR Elton John has signed a multi-million pound deal for an un- limited residency in Las Vegas — as a hologram.

The pop superstar, 79, will be immortalised using cutting-edge tech so fans can enjoy his live performances for decades more.

Elton, whose sight is failing, retired as a touring artist in 2023, but is still set to appear at special one-off gigs.

Dua Lipa, 30, who had No1 song Cold Heart with Elton in 2021, will also appear as part of the residency.

So will Kiki Dee, 79, who topped the charts with Elton with Don’t Go Breaking My Heart in 1976.

The immersive experience is set for the new Hard Rock Hotel, opening next summer.

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Elton is booked to film his performances with Dua and Kiki at Pinewood Studios, Bucks, this autumn.

A source added: “Elton, Dua and Kiki will be holograms. It’s similar to the Abba Voyage show in London, but far more advanced as the technology has come on so much.

“Elton signed a seven-figure deal with Hard Rock. It’s a shift away from a traditional residency and is billed as a fully immersive experience.

“It’s going to look phenomenal.”

So why have Barca moved for Gordon?

After all, the La Liga champions also had the option – and still do – of making Marcus Rashford’s loan move from Manchester United a permanent one for £26m.

However, Barca have so far prioritised a move for his international team-mate, who also offers versatility on the left and through the middle, but is three years younger and on a lower wage.

There is also a belief within the club that there is more to come from Gordon both with and without the ball.

When Barcelona manager Hansi Flick spoke about Newcastle being a “very intense” side, earlier this season, the 25-year-old will have been among those at the forefront of his thoughts with his speed and aggression.

Flick places as much importance on players’ work rate as their flair and Gordon ranks in the top 40 Premier League forwards for possession won in the final third, high pressures applied and high pressures in the opponent’s half this season.

Yet it is Gordon’s goal return in Europe which clearly caught the eye of Barca and, indeed, fellow suitors Bayern Munich.

Although there were a few penalties along the way, and he came up against some leaky defences, only Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe (15) and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane (14) have scored more goals in the Champions League this season than Gordon (10).

It is a stage Gordon has relished, having sounded like someone who had grown a little jaded with how the Premier League had become “a lot slower and a lot more set-piece based”.

“Sometimes it’s about duels – who wins the duels wins the game – or moments,” he said of the top flight back in January.

“The Champions League is a bit more of an older style game. It’s a bit more football based. Teams come and try and play proper football.”