strikes

Published on
13/06/2025 – 7:57 GMT+2

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European indexes prepared to take a hit on Friday as Asian markets dropped on news that Israel had attacked Iran’s capital. The strikes came amid the ramping up of tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.

Oil prices, on the other hand, soared — linked to concerns that the conflict could restrict supply.

US benchmark crude oil rose 8.8%, to just under $74 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, increased by 8.28% to $75.10 per barrel.

In share trading, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.2% to 37,719.82 while the Kospi in Seoul edged 1.4% lower to 2,879.08.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng retreated 0.9% to 23,831.85 and the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8% to 3,375.16.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 drifted 0.3% lower to 8,535.90.

An Israeli attack on Iran is in “our top ten of global risks”, but “Asian markets are expected to recover quickly as they have relatively limited exposure to the conflict and growing ties to unaffected Saudi Arabia and the UAE”, said Xu Tiachen of The Economist Intelligence.

Following the strikes on Iran, S&P 500 futures dropped 1.5%, Nasdaq 100 futures fell 1.7% and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 1.4% by around 1.30am ET.

On Thursday, US stock indexes had ticked higher following another encouraging update on inflation across the country.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% to 6,045.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2% to 42,967.62, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.2% to 19,662.48.

Oracle pushed upward on the market after jumping 13.3%. The tech giant delivered stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected, and CEO Safra Catz said it expects revenue growth “will be dramatically higher” in its upcoming fiscal year.

That helped offset a 4.8% loss for Boeing after Air India said a London-bound flight crashed shortly after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on Thursday with 242 passengers and crew onboard. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a residential area near the airport five minutes after taking off.

Stocks broadly got some help from easing Treasury yields in the bond market following the latest update on inflation. Thursday’s update said inflation at the wholesale level wasn’t as bad last month as economists expected.

Wall Street took it as a signal that the Federal Reserve will have more leeway to cut interest rates later this year in order to give the economy a boost.

The Fed’s next meeting on interest rates is scheduled for next week, but the nearly unanimous expectation on Wall Street is that officials won’t cut.

In currency trading early Friday, the US dollar rose slightly to 143,67 Japanese yen. The euro fell about 0.5% against the US dollar, to $1.1528.

United States President Donald Trump has signed a series of congressional resolutions to roll back standards in California that would have phased out petrol-powered cars and promoted the use of electric vehicles (EVs).

But Thursday’s signing ceremony gave Trump a platform to strike blows against several of his political foes, including the Democratic leadership of California and ally-turned-critic Elon Musk.

Musk famously leads the electric vehicle company Tesla. California, meanwhile, has long been a Democratic stronghold, and since taking office for a second term in January, Trump has continuously sparred with its governor, Gavin Newsom.

Thursday’s resolutions gave Trump a chance to skewer one of Newsom’s signature environmental achievements: a state mandate that would have gradually required new cars in California to produce zero greenhouse gas emissions.

That goal was meant to unfold in stages. By 2026, 35 percent of all new cars sold would be emission-free vehicles. By 2030, that number would rise to 68 percent. And by 2035, California would reach 100 percent.

But Trump argued that California’s standards would hamper the US car industry and limit consumer choice. Already, 17 other states have adopted some form of California’s regulations.

“Under the previous administration, the federal government gave left-wing radicals in California dictatorial powers to control the future of the entire car industry all over the country — all over the world, actually,” Trump said on Thursday.

“ This horrible scheme would effectively abolish the internal combustion engine, which most people prefer.”

But critics point out that many carmakers did not necessarily oppose California’s mandate: Rather, automobile companies like General Motors had already put in place plans to transition to electric-vehicle manufacturing, to keep up with global trends.

Already, California and 11 other states have announced they will sue to keep the electric vehicle mandate in place. Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s signing ceremony.

A continuing feud with California

The decision to roll back California’s electric-vehicle standards was only the latest chapter in Trump’s long-running beef with the state.

Just last week, protests broke out in the Los Angeles area against Trump’s push for mass deportation, as immigration raids struck local hardware stores and other workplaces.

Trump responded by deploying nearly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines to southern California, in the name of tamping down protest-related violence.

Though Thursday’s ceremony was ostensibly about the electric-vehicle mandate, Trump took jabs at the state’s management of the protests, blaming Governor Newsom for allowing the situation to spiral out of control.

“If we didn’t go, Los Angeles right now would be on fire. It would be a disaster. And we stopped it,” Trump said, accusing Newsom of having “a faulty thought process” and trying to protect criminals.

Trump also drew a parallel to the wildfires that ravaged the Los Angeles area in January, whose flames were whipped and spread by dangerous wind conditions that kept aerial support out of the skies.

“Los Angeles would be right now burning to the ground just like the houses burned to the ground,” Trump said, referencing the wildfires. “It’s so sad, what’s going on in Los Angeles.”

California’s electric-vehicle mandate, he argued, would have likewise spurred another emergency.

“Today, we’re saving California, and we’re saving our entire country from a disaster. Your cars are gonna be thousands of dollars less,” Trump said.

“Energy prices would likewise soar as the radical left forced more electric vehicles onto the grid while blocking approvals for new power plants,” he continued. “ The result would be rolling blackouts and a collapse of our power systems.”

Earlier this week, Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta dismissed Trump’s concerns as little more than an attack on state rights.

“Trump’s all-out assault on California continues — and this time he’s destroying our clean air and America’s global competitiveness in the process,” Newsom said in a statement. “We are suing to stop this latest illegal action by a President who is a wholly-owned subsidiary of big polluters.”

Newsom has also denounced the deployment of troops to Los Angeles as an “unmistakable step toward authoritarianism” and has sued to limit that action as well.

Trump weighs in on Elon Musk

As Trump continued to outline his reasoning for peeling back the EV mandates, his speech briefly veered into another area of conflict: his recently rocky relationship with Musk.

A billionaire, Musk leads several high-profile companies with government contracts, including the rocket manufacturer SpaceX and the satellite communication firm Starlink. And then, of course, there is Musk’s car company Tesla, which produces electric vehicles.

Musk was one of the largest donors in the 2024 elections, spending north of $280m to back Trump and other Republicans. Trump, for his part, featured Musk on the campaign trail and named him the leader of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shortly after his election.

In January, Musk joined the Trump administration as a “special government employee”, an advisory role with a time limit of about 130 days per year.

As he reached the end of that term, Musk became increasingly outspoken about Trump’s signature budget legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill. While the bill would have cemented Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and funnelled more money into immigration enforcement, it would have also increased the national debt by trillions of dollars.

Musk also objected to the “pork” — the extra spending and legislative provisions — that were packed into the lengthy, thousand-page bill. The billionaire took to social media to call the bill a “disgusting abomination“, as the two men entered into an increasingly heated exchange of words.

Trump called Musk “crazy”, and Musk suggested Trump should be impeached. The billionaire has since said he “regrets” some of his remarks.

On Thursday, Trump repeated his assertion that Musk’s outburst was the result of his policies towards electric vehicles, something Musk has denied. Early in his second term, Trump pulled the plug on a goal set under former President Biden to have 50 percent of all new vehicles sold be electric by 2030.

“On my first day in office, I ended the green new scam and abolished the EV mandate at the federal level,” Trump said on Thursday. “Now, I know why Elon doesn’t like me so much. Which he does, actually. He does.”

He continued to muse on their unravelling relationship, saying that Musk “never had a problem” with his electric vehicle policies.

“I used to say, ‘I’m amazed that he’s endorsing me,’ because that can’t be good for him,” Trump said.

“He makes electric cars, and we’re saying, ‘You’re not going to be able to make electric cars, or you’re not gonna be forced to make all of those cars. You can make them, but it’ll be by the market, judged by the market.’”

Trump added that he feels Musk “got a bit strange” but that he still likes the car company Tesla — and “others too”.

An increase in auto tariffs ahead?

Amid the talk about his feuds with Musk and California, Trump also dropped a possible bombshell: More automobile tariffs may be on the way.

Already, Trump has relied heavily on tariffs — taxes on imported products — to settle scores with foreign trading partners and push for greater foreign investment in domestic industries, including car manufacturing.

“If they want a Mercedes-Benz, you’re going to have it made here. It’s OK to have a Mercedes, but they’re going to make it here,” he said on Thursday. “Otherwise, they’re going to pay a very big tariff.  They already are.”

Currently, automobiles imported to the US from abroad are subject to a 25-percent tax, a cost that critics say is passed along to the consumer.

But Trump warned on Thursday that he is prepared to go higher, as he has done with taxes on steel and aluminium.

“ To further defend our auto workers, I imposed a 25-percent tariff on all foreign automobiles. Investment in American auto manufacturing is surging because of it,” Trump said.

“Auto manufacturing — all manufacturing — is surging. I might go up with that tariff in the not-too-distant future. The higher you go, the more likely it is they build a plant here.”

Trump pointed to his negotiations over steel imports as a success story.

“American Steel is doing great now because of what we did. If I didn’t put tariffs on steel, China and a lot of other countries were dumping steel in our country,” he said. “Garbage steel, dirty steel, bad steel, not structurally sound steel. Real garbage.”

But by raising tariffs from 25 to 50 percent earlier this month, Trump said he protected the US steel industry. He also shared details about a deal that would see the Japanese company Nippon invest in the company US Steel.

“We have a golden stock. We have a golden share, which I control — or the president — controls. Now, I’m a little concerned whoever the president might be, but that gives you total control,” Trump said. “It’s 51-percent ownership by Americans.”

US industry leaders had been concerned that the deal with Nippon would see further erosion of the US manufacturing industry, which suffered from decades of foreign competition. The deal with Nippon has been previously described as a takeover, prompting concerns about the future and independence of the US steel industry.

At least 26 people were killed in Israeli drone strikes while waiting for basic aid distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Israeli attacks have killed at least 42 people across Gaza since dawn, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as the United Nations General Assembly prepares for a vote urging an unconditional ceasefire in the besieged enclave.

Sources told Al Jazeera that at least 26 of the people killed on Thursday died in Israeli drone attacks while waiting for food and basic supplies being distributed by the controversial United States and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

Gaza civil defence official Mohammed el-Mougher told AFP news agency that al-Awda Hospital received at least 10 bodies and about 200 others who were wounded “after Israeli drones dropped multiple bombs on gatherings of civilians near an aid distribution point around the Netzarim checkpoint in central Gaza”.

El-Mougher said that Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital also received six bodies after Israeli attacks on aid queues near Netzarim and in the as-Sudaniya area in northwestern Gaza.

Since the GHF began its operation in Gaza in late May, dozens of Palestinians have been killed while trying to reach the aid distribution points, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.

The previously unknown GHF has come under intense criticism from the United Nations, which says its distribution model is deeply flawed.

“This model will not address the deepening hunger. The dystopian ‘Hunger Games’ cannot become the new reality,” Philippe Lazzarini, the chief of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), wrote on X.

“The UN including @UNRWA has the knowledge, expertise & community trust to provide dignified & safe assistance. Just let the humanitarians do their jobs,” he added.

Separately, a medical source at al-Shifa Hospital told Al Jazeera that two Palestinians were killed as a result of Israeli shelling targeting the Bir an-Naaja area west of Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas condemned on Thursday the decision of Israel to cut off communication lines in Gaza, describing it as “a new aggressive step” in the country’s “war of extermination”.

“We call on the international community to assume its responsibility to stop the aggression and ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian and civilian facilities.”

The disruption of communications has resulted in the UNRWA losing contact with its colleagues in the agency in Gaza, the UN’s main humanitarian provider in Gaza said.

The latest developments come as the UN General Assembly is set to vote on a draft resolution that demands an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

The 193-member General Assembly is likely to adopt the text with overwhelming support, diplomats say, despite Israel lobbying countries this week against taking part in what it called a “politically motivated, counterproductive charade”.

Last week, the United States vetoed a similar effort in the Security Council.

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports one dead and two others wounded in the Israeli attack on a vehicle.

The Israeli army has again bombed Syria, claiming it killed a Hamas member during an air strike in the south of the country, in the latest in its series of attacks on Syria in the wake of former President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster last December.

In a statement on Telegram on Sunday morning, the Israeli army said it had struck the alleged Hamas member in the Mazraat Beit Jin area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that one person was killed and two others were wounded in the Israeli attack targeting a vehicle in the town near the United Nations-patrolled buffer zone.

Hamas has not yet commented on the death of the alleged member.

The observatory says Israel has carried out 61 attacks – 51 by air and 10 by ground – in Syria so far this year.

Two rockets launched from Syria targeted Israel earlier this week, a first since the fall of al-Assad.

Two groups claimed responsibility for the attack.

The first group, named the “Martyr Mohammed Deif Brigades”, is a little-known group named after the Hamas military commander who was killed last year. A second little-known group, the “Islamic Resistance Front in Syria”, called for action against Israel from southern Syria a few months ago.

Israel struck southern Syria shortly afterwards, with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz saying that he was holding Syria “directly responsible”.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani condemned Israel’s attacks and called them “coordinated provocations aimed at undermining Syria’s progress and stability”.

“These actions create an opening for outlawed groups to exploit the resulting chaos,” he said, adding, “Syria has made its intentions clear: we are not seeking war, but rather reconstruction”.

Syria and Israel had recently engaged in indirect talks to ease tensions, a significant development in relations between states that have been on opposite sides of conflicts in the Middle East for decades.

But Israel has relentlessly waged a campaign of aerial bombardment that has destroyed much of Syria’s military infrastructure. It has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and taken more territory in the aftermath of al-Assad’s removal, citing lingering concerns over the country’s new government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who it dismisses as a “jihadist.”

Syria’s new government has taken several major steps towards international acceptance after the United States and European Union lifted sanctions on the country last month, giving a nation devastated by nearly 14 years of civil war a lifeline to recovery.

June 4 (UPI) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will respond to the Ukrainian drone strikes that destroyed Russian military aircraft in several locations on Sunday, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday.

Trump spoke with Putin by phone for more than an hour on Wednesday and said it was “not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace,” CNBC reported the president saying in a Truth Social post.

Putin told Trump the Russian military will retaliate against Ukraine for the drone strikes conducted during a long-planned operation dubbed “spiderweb.”

The drone strikes destroyed more than 40 Russian heavy bombers that are capable of deploying missiles that contain nuclear warheads.

Putin said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is disrupting peace talks with such attacks.

Putin aide Yury Ushakov said the conversation lasted about 70 minutes and was the fourth between the two world leaders.

“It was emphasized that Ukraine tried to derail these talks by carrying out targeted attacks on entirely civilian targets and civilians on direct orders from the Kiev regime,” Ushakov said in an online announcement.

“These attacks unequivocally constitute an act of terrorism under international law,” Ushakov said. “The Kiev regime has essentially degenerated into a terrorist organization.”

Trump said the United States had no advance knowledge of the drone strikes, Ushakov said, adding that the two presidents agreed to continue working to achieve peace between Ukraine and Russia.

Putin and Trump also discussed matters in the Middle East, the conflict between India and Pakistan, and a potential restoration of cooperation between Russia and the United States regarding various global issues.

“We also discussed Iran and the fact that time is running out on Iran’s decision pertaining to nuclear weapons, which must be made quickly!” Trump said in his Truth Social post.

Putin said he could assist with nuclear talks with Iran, which Trump is working to stop from developing nuclear weapons, the BBC reported.

Ushakov credited Trump with halting the recent armed conflict between India and Pakistan and said both agreed their phone conversation was “positive and highly productive.”

A HUGE 5.8 magnitude earthquake has struck Greece and Turkey killing one person and leaving fearful locals jumping off buildings.

The quake struck just after 2am local time this morning (12am BST) about 68km deep and just off the coast of Turkey.

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Seven people were injured after jumping from windows or balconies in a panic, the governor of the Turkish city of Marmaris, Idris Akbiyik, said.

It was felt in neighbouring regions, including in the Greek island of Rhodes, waking many from their sleep, Turkey’s NTV television reported.

The Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency said the earthquake was centred in the Mediterranean Sea and struck at 2.17am.

Brit holiday company TUI told customers currently holidaying on the resort island that local authorities were assessing the situation.

They said: “At this time, there are no reports of significant damage or injuries. As a precaution, please remain calm and follow any safety instructions provided by your accommodation or local officials.

“Should any specific action be required on your part, rest assured that we will contact you directly with further guidance. Your safety and well-being are our top priority.”

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

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June 1 (UPI) — Ukrainian intelligence officials claimed Sunday to have attacked at least 40 bombers deep inside Russia, which would be the most aggressive such attack on Russian territory since Moscow-led troops invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine targeted “41 strategic Russian aircraft” in an offensive code-named “Spiderweb,” NBC News reported, citing a source within the Security Service of Ukraine.

The attack happened at the Belaya air base in Russia’s Irkutsk region in Siberia, almost 3,000 miles from Ukraine, according to video posted by the Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday on X that he is “doing everything to protect our independence, our state, our people,” and said he was receiving regular updates from his security forces.

Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the President of Ukraine, posted an emoji on the spiderweb.

“At the right moment, the roofs of the cabins were opened remotely, and the drones flew to hit Russian bombers,” the Independent reported of the “Spiderweb” operation, which sources told the paper was a year-and-a-half in the making.

Ukraine announced in March that it had developed a new, more cost-effective drone with a range of nearly 2,000 miles, but did not say when they would go into operation or if these drones were used in the Sunday attack.

At least seven people died and more were injured when a passenger train derailed following a bridge collapse and explosion in Russia’s Bryansk region near Ukraine, Duetsche Welle reported. A second bridge was said to have collapsed in the Kursk region.

The Russian defense ministry said Ukraine lost 510 troops and five armored personnel carriers, although it offered no evidence in a post on Telegram.

Ukraine has not commented on the collapsed bridges or ensuing explosion and deaths.

A TOP doctor campaigning for pay rises and strike action has a sideline running two start-up companies, we can reveal.

Cardiologist Dr U Bhalraam is deputy co-chairman of the British Medical Association’s resident doctors committee — which is backing six more months of walkouts.

It is urging members to strike, claiming they are paid 23 per cent less in real terms than in 2008.

This is despite resident doctors — formerly known as junior doctors — getting an almost 30 per cent pay rise over the past three years.

On his website, Dr Bhalraam says he’s “focused on full pay restoration”.

But The Sun on Sunday has found that Dr Bhalraam has also set up two firms of which he is sole director and owner.

He launched Datamed Solutions Ltd, a data processing company, last June and just a few days later UBR Property Holdings Limited, which is described as a letting company.

They are both registered to his smart £330,000 house in Norwich, where he works at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Resident docs have taken industrial action 11 times since 2022, causing about 1.5million appointments to be cancelled.

A YouGov poll of 4,100 adults found almost half oppose the strikes.

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BRITS chasing the sun this summer could face fresh holiday hell as bar staff prepare to strike during peak season.

It comes after 80,000 employees took to the streets in Tenerife earlier in the year demanding better pay and working conditions.

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In a move that could spark chaos for Brits travelling to Tenerife this summer, union bosses said industrial action could start as early as July.

The unions, Sindicalistas de Base and UGT, have issued bosses with an ultimatum, warning of a major walk out if they are not granted a 6.5 per cent salary bump.

They have made it clear that no further negotiations will happen if these conditions are not met.

This isn’t the first time Tenerife has been at the centre of sweeping industrial action.

Last month, cleaners and restaurant workers in the sunny hotspot took to the streets after deeming an offer from their employer not acceptable.

The tourism employers’ association, formed by Ashotel and AERO, had offered a four per cent increase in pay for workers, hoping it would prevent them from protesting during the Easter holidays.

But unions wanted 6.25 per cent.

They said their decision was unanimous and would not change plans to strike against tourists.

With over 170,000 tourism workers in the Canary Islands set to protest, business owners about to welcome thousands of tourists were despairing.

They planned to demonstrate in all the tourist hotspots, including Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote.

By law, strikers have to provide a “minimum service” but the unions said hotel cleaning, food and entertainment don’t fall into this category.

They said they must try and preserve the health of hotel workers and provide them with the very best of working conditions.

Elsewhere, locals flooded the streets to protest against mass tourism in the area.

Activists vowed to storm popular tourist attractions, disrupt public events and “confront political leaders” in a fiery new phase of protests kicking off May 18 — right as peak holiday season begins.

“From now on, we will take our fight to the very spaces where their predatory model is perpetuated,” declared pressure group Canarias tiene un límite (The Canaries Have a Limit).

“We will boycott public events, confront political leaders during their appearances and occupy symbolic tourist spaces to make it clear that we will not stop until real change is achieved.”

“The Canary Islands can no longer be a postcard backdrop for the enjoyment of a privileged few,” the statement read.

In a separate warning, the group said: “This cry, which reflects the feelings of a people tired of being ignored and mistreated, will be the beginning of a new stage of struggle: firmer, more direct, more uncomfortable for those who refuse to listen to us and take real measures.”

The backlash follows a 170,000-strong hotel and restaurant workers’ strike across the islands just days ago, with locals slamming low wages and poor working conditions in the booming holiday industry.

In June last year, beach workers also walked off the job over what unions called “precarious” conditions.

As tensions boil over, the Canary Islands Government has now announced plans to completely overhaul its outdated 30-year-old tourism laws in a landmark reform effort.

Alfonso Cabello, spokesperson for the regional government, said: “We’re doing this the Canary Islands way — extending a hand and listening to everyone.”

The sweeping reforms aim to tackle everything from sky-high housing costs in tourist areas to crumbling infrastructure and overworked public services.

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Israeli air strikes hit homes in Gaza City on Friday, forcing families to flee through smoke and rubble. The attack came as Hamas is reviewing a new US-backed ceasefire proposal but has said that its current terms would result in “the continuation of killing and famine” in Gaza.

Although easyJet has not announced the cancellation of any flights yet, there is potential for considerable disruption involving UK flights. EasyJet is scheduled to run services from the UK to Milan, Naples, Catania and Caserta tomorrow

Passengers have been told to expect a ‘perfect storm’ of disruption when three separate strikes coincide to potentially cause travel chaos this week.

EasyJet customers travelling to or from Italy tomorrow may face a triple-whammy of disruption, starting with the airline’s air crew going on strike. The budget airline’s flight attendants belonging to European trade union USB Lavoro Privato are set to walk out tomorrow, potentially resulting in widespread disruption to the airline’s services tomorrow.

Although easyJet has not announced the cancellation of any flights yet, there is potential for considerable disruption involving UK flights. EasyJet is scheduled to run services from the UK to Milan, Naples, Catania and Caserta tomorrow.

However, the budget airline has told the Mirror that is does not expect any disruption to its schedule.

Do you have a travel story to share? Email [email protected]

READ MORE: Spain holiday resort horror as huge, bubbling mass turns sea brown

There are two other strikes taking place tomorrow that may impact travellers. Taxi services in cities including Rome, Naples and Turin may be significantly limited due to a series of strikes by local drivers.

Workers at Swissport an airport ground services and handling company that lists easyJet, British Airways, TUI and Wizz among its customers, are set to walkout, also on Wednesday. All strikes are set to take place between 1pm and 5pm CET (12pm and 4pm UK time).

While easyJet staff plan to strike nationally, the airports most likely to be affected by the handler strikes include two of Milan’s major air hubs, Malpensa and Linate airports.

Anton Radchenko, CEO at air passenger rights experts AirAdvisor, said: “Strikes by easyJet staff and workers from one of the airline’s key handling partners could present a perfect storm of disruption for passengers planning to fly with the company on the 28th.

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“These strikes represent the fourth wave of easyJet staff strikes in 2025 already, with staff previously walking out in February, March and April this year – and four sets of strikes in four months suggests that discontent from the airline’s workers could be a theme that continues throughout the year.

“While easyJet can’t be blamed for Swissport staff striking on the same day – the two strikes combining gives the airline a real headache to try and navigate, as Swissport works with easyJet on airport operations. As these strikes specifically involve easyJet staff, you may be due compensation of up to £520 if your flight is cancelled. This is because that disruption to journeys caused by airline staff taking industrial action is viewed as within its control, i.e. they could have prevented the strikes from happening through negotiations.

“Likewise, if your easyJet flight is delayed by over three hours as a result of the strikes, you may be due compensation for the inconvenience. If your flight is moved to the day after you were originally due to travel, easyJet will be responsible for putting you up in overnight accommodation.

“As well as Wednesday 28th, it’s possible that easyJet services in the days that follow will be affected. If your journey is disrupted, keep evidence like SMS or email notifications from the airline as evidence, and use a free compensation calculator to establish what you may be owed.”

A spokesperson for easyJet said: “There is no impact expected to our flying programme tomorrow.”

A car hit multiple pedestrians during Liverpool FC’s victory parade on Monday evening in Liverpool, UK. Police say a 53-year-old British man has been arrested. The parade was to celebrate Liverpool FC winning the Premier League title.

May 26 (UPI) — Dozens of Palestinians were killed overnight by further Israeli air strikes on the war-torn enclave amid a breakdown in a new cease-fire agreement.

An estimated 54 Palestinians sheltering at Fahmi Al-Jargawi School in Gaza City have been killed by airstrikes carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces, the BBC reported Monday.

The scores of dead refugees included children from Beit Lahia after fires were seen engulfing two classrooms fixed as living quarters in the school, which was housing hundreds of people, according to the Hamas-run civil defense authority.

At least 35 were reported to be killed when the school was hit.

Video footage depicted fire engulfing parts of the school and graphic images of severely burned victims, including kids.

On Monday morning, the IDF said it hit 200 “terrorist organizations” across the Gaza Strip in 28 hours as military ops carried on.

The IDF claimed it targeted a “Hamas and Islamic Jihad command and control center” in an area used by “terrorists” to presumably “plan” attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops, accusing Hamas of using the Gaza population “as human shields.”

Meanwhile, a senior Hamas official told the BBC that the terror syndicate agreed to the latest cease-fire deal.

The proposal permitted the release in two phases of 10 Israel hostages in exchange for a 70-day truce, a gradual withdrawal of IDF troops out of the territory and release of an undetermined number of Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas further demanded the entrance of 1,000 humanitarian aid trucks a day to aid the ailing population in Gaza.

However, a senior Israeli official said Monday that it had rejected the cease-fire proposal after reports that Israel had agreed to it in principle.

“The proposal received by Israel cannot be accepted by any responsible government,” the official told The Times of Israel without providing further detail, claiming that Hamas was setting “impossible conditions that mean a complete failure to meet the war goals, and an inability to release the hostages.”

On Sunday, IDF officials claimed that since its war began, Israel has “facilitated” the entry of over 1.7 million tons of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

On Monday, Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories office — a unit of its Ministry of Defense — claimed that 107 humanitarian aid trucks transporting flour and food were transferred into Gaza “following inspection” via the Kerem Shalom Crossing.

But according to international human rights organizations, Gaza is at a “breaking point” while the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification has warned of imminent famine on top of reputable accusations of genocide by Israel against Palestinians.

Nearly 54,000 people, including at least 16,000 children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its invasion, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Attacks on civilian infrastructure rising amid Israel’s ‘intensified’ offensive on battered enclave.

Israeli attacks on northern Gaza are reported to have killed more than 50 people since dawn.

The death toll from the overnight attacks was being tallied on Monday morning. Among the targets hit was a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza City and a family home in Jabalia, according to Palestinian Civil Defence officials.

At least 33 people were killed in an attack in the middle of the night on the Fahmi al-Jarjawi school in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City, Civil Defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told the AFP news agency.

The school had been sheltering “hundreds” of people, Bassal said, adding that those killed were mostly children and women. Dozens were injured, he added.

The Israeli military claimed on Monday that the target of the attack had been a Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad control centre housing “key terrorists”.

“Numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians,” it added.

Video footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed fires in classrooms where forcibly displaced people had been sleeping, a child wandering alone among the flames, and people on the outside desperately trying to break windows.

In a separate attack on a residence in the town of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, 19 members of the Abd Rabbo family were killed, according to Bassal.

A nearby tent camp in Gaza City was also targeted, according to unconfirmed reports, killing six people.

Schools targeted

Despite mounting international pressure, which has pushed Israel to lift a blockade on aid supplies in the face of warnings of looming famine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated last week that Israel would carry out an intensified military campaign until it controls the whole of Gaza.

International humanitarian law forbids attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools. But Israel has repeatedly bombed schools, mostly being used as shelter by displaced people, throughout its 19-month war in Gaza.

At least 50 people were killed by bombs and artillery attacks in November 2023 at al-Buraq School in Gaza City

At the nearby al-Tabin School, more than 100 people were killed as they gathered for morning prayers in August last year.

May 25 (UPI) — The Ukrainian and Russian militaries exchanged massive air strikes overnight Saturday, even amid a planned swap of some 303 prisoners of war from each side.

The Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement that Russia’s bombardment began around 8:40 p.m. Saturday, during which Russia launched some 367 air attack weapons. It was the second night of such a large-scale attack by Russia.

Kyiv said it had shot down some 311 of them, including 45 cruise missiles and 266 drones. Still, some landed on Ukrainian territory.

“The air attack was repelled by aviation, anti-aircraft missile troops, electronic warfare and unmanned systems units, and mobile fire groups of the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” the Ukrainian Air Force said in its statement.

The Ukrainian Air Force said “most regions of Ukraine” were affected by Russia’s attack, with strikes recorded in at least 22 locations.

The scope of the attack prompted the Armed Forces Operational Command of neighboring Poland, a NATO alliance member, to scramble jets in case it needed to defend its airspace, Polish officials said in a statement.

When the strike ended, the Polish military said it had observed no violations of its airspace and that defense systems had returned to normal.

“Unfortunately, last night, due to the barbaric attack of the Russians, there are dead and wounded, including children,” the Ukrainian Air Force said. “We express our condolences to the families of the victims and the wounded.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed Sunday that it carried out a “massive strike” against “enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex” that it said make missile components, drones, explosives, rocket fuel and radios for the Ukrainian military.

“The strike objectives have been achieved,” the Russian Defense Ministry said. “All designated targets have been hit.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted Sunday that the Russian strike was against “ordinary cities” and hit “ordinary residential buildings” in Ukraine.

“In Kyiv, dormitories of the university’s history department were hit. There were also strikes on enterprises. Tragically, people were killed, including children,” Zelensky said.

Zelensky called on world powers to levy new sanctions against Russia, which he said “is dragging out this war and continues to kill every day” as he criticized the “silence of America.”

“Without truly strong pressure on the Russian leadership, this brutality cannot be stopped. Sanctions will certainly help,” he said. “The war can be stopped, but only through the necessary force of pressure on Russia.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that it too had defended against a large-scale air attack by Ukraine on Russian territory Saturday night.

In total, Russia said it had intercepted and destroyed some 110 Ukrainian drones over the several Russian regions along the Ukraine-Russia border, including Moscow and the contested region of Crimea.

The Russian Defense Ministry later said that its troops are continuing to advance every day to push Ukrainian troops further from the Russia border to create a protection zone for Russia’s civilian population.

In another statement, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that 303 prisoners of war were returned from “territory controlled by the Kyiv regime” and that Russia handed over 303 Ukrainian soldiers in return.

The Russian soldiers are currently undergoing psychological and medical assistance in Belarus, an ally of Russia. They will then be taken back to Russia for further treatment and rehabilitation at Russian military hospitals.

In total, since Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement on May 16 in Istanbul, the two nations have swapped some 1,000 prisoners of war each.

“303 Ukrainian defenders are home. The third part of the 1,000-for-1,000 exchange deal, agreed upon in Turkey, has been completed,” Zelensky said in a statement.

“I thank the team that worked around the clock to successfully carry out this exchange. We will definitely bring every single one of our people back from Russian captivity.”

A former senior member of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ staff has struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors, admitting he called in a fake bomb threat to City Hall late last year that was blamed on anti-Israel sentiment, federal prosecutors announced on Thursday.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Brian Williams, a longtime law enforcement oversight official who served as Bass’ deputy mayor of public safety, agreed to plead guilty to a single count of threats regarding fire and explosives, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. He is expected to make his initial court appearance in the next few weeks.

“In an era of heated political rhetoric that has sometimes escalated into violence, we cannot allow public officials to make bomb threats,” U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a news release announcing the deal. “My office will continue its efforts to keep the public safe, including from those who violate their duty to uphold the law.”

In a statement to The Times, Williams’ lawyer Dmitry Gorin said his client “has demonstrated his unreserved and full acceptance of responsibility for his actions.”

“This aberrational incident was the product of personal issues which Mr. Williams is addressing appropriately, and is not representative of his character or dedication to the city of Los Angeles,” Gorin said.

Williams was participating in a virtual meeting at City Hall on Oct. 3, 2024, when he used the Google Voice application on his personal phone to place a call to his city-issued cell phone, according to the plea agreement.

Williams admitted he left the meeting and called Scott Harrelson, a top aide to the LAPD chief. According to the plea, Williams falsely stated that he had just received a call on his city-issued cell phone from an unknown male caller who made a bomb threat against City Hall.

At no time did Williams intend to carry out the threat, according to the plea agreement.

About 10 minutes after calling the LAPD, according to the plea, Williams texted Bass and several other senior mayoral officials a message that read: “Bomb threat: I received phone call on my city cell at 10:48 am this morning. The male caller stated that ‘he was tired of the city support of Israel, and he has decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the rotunda.’ I immediately contacted the chief of staff of LAPD, they are going to send a number of officers over to do a search of the building and to determine if anyone else received a threat.”

Soon after, LAPD officers searched the building and did not locate any suspicious packages or devices, according to the agreement. Williams told the officers that a man called and said: “I’m tired of the city support of Israel, I have decided to place a bomb in City Hall. It might be in the Rotunda.”

Williams showed the officers the record of an incoming call, which appeared as a blocked number on his city-issued phone. According to the plea deal, that call was the one Williams had placed from Google Voice.

Williams followed up with the mayor and other high-ranking officials some time later with several other texts, saying that there was no need to evacuate City Hall.

“I’m meeting with the threat management officers within the next 10 minutes. In light of the Jewish holidays, we are taking this thread, a little more seriously. I will keep you posted,” the text read, according to federal authorities.

Federal authorities revealed they were looking into Williams last December, when FBI agents raided his home in Pasadena. It sent shock waves through City Hall and the Police Department, where many expressed incredulity at the prospect of a respected government official faking a bomb threat.

Before the case was turned over to the FBI, detectives from the LAPD’s Major Crimes Division conducted surveillance that led them to conclude that Williams was responsible for the bomb threat, sources previously told The Times.

Williams, who was the deputy mayor overseeing the police and fire departments, was on leave because of the criminal investigation in January when Pacific Palisades was engulfed in flames, killing 12 people and destroying more than 6,000 structures.

“Like many, we were shocked when these allegations were first made and we are saddened by this conclusion,” said Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Bass.

Bass named a former FBI official to replace Williams in early April. The official, Robert Clark, led anti-gang efforts in Los Angeles during his time with the Bureau before retiring in 2016 and serving as a law enforcement consultant and director of public safety for the city of Columbus, Ohio, among other roles.

Williams has held a variety of government positions spanning more than three decades. He had spent nearly two years as a deputy mayor in Bass’ office, working on issues such as police hiring, public safety spending and the search for a new police chief.

Previously, Williams was a deputy mayor in the administration of Mayor James K. Hahn, who held office from 2001 to 2005. Before that, he spent several years as an assistant city attorney in Los Angeles.

From 2016 to 2023, Williams was the executive director of the Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission, according to his LinkedIn page.

Working in Bass’ office, Williams oversaw the Police Department, the Fire Department, Port Police, Airport Police and the city’s emergency management agency, according to his hiring announcement. He was also a member of the mayor’s inner circle, playing a key role in the monthslong search for a new police chief that ended with the hiring of Jim McDonnell.

When Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman was sworn in last year, Williams was the city official chosen to address the audience on behalf of the mayor. He was also a fixture at police graduations, news conferences, community meetings and other events across the city, often wearing a well-pressed suit and a bowtie.

Williams’ attorney Gorin called his client “a career public servant who has worked closely with law enforcement, community groups, public safety and prosecuting agencies throughout his many years in local government and has devoted his life to the service of others.”

Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said in a statement that Williams “not only betrayed the residents of Los Angeles, but responding officers, and the integrity of the office itself, by fabricating a bomb threat.”

“Government officials are held to a heightened standard as we rely on them to safeguard the city,” the statement read. “I’m relieved that Mr. Williams has taken responsibility for his inexplicable actions.”

Thousands of hotel, bar and restaurant staff are planning industrial action in the Balearics. The UGT union says there will be a mass walkout on June 6 followed by several days of strike action in July, the height of the busy tourist season

Chaos is due to befall hotels Majorca, Ibiza and Menorca as workers prepare to strike.

The holiday islands could face significant disruption in June and July as thousands of hospitality workers plan further strike action. Unless a last-minute agreement is reached, a mass walk-out is planned for June 6, followed by several days of strikes in July, during the height of the tourist season.

The UGT workers’ union has warned strikes are nearing as no progress is being made regarding their demands for improved pay and conditions. The union warns the industrial actions will greatly affect holidaymakers and urges hotels to do everything possible to prevent it.

“If we don’t see the possibility of an agreement in principle, we will call a strike lasting several days,” declared the general secretary of its Services federation on the islands. The union has made it clear that their goal is to exert maximum impact on tourists.

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At the same time, overtourism protests are due to break out across major resort cities. They include plans to occupy beaches and super-glue apartment locks.

Protests are set to take place in Platja de Palma and Palmanova-Magaluf. The UGT, the largest union in the sector, is playing a key role in negotiating the Collective Agreement of the Balearic hotel industry.

A strike involving thousands of hotel workers, including restaurant and bar staff and cleaners, already took place on May 1. On June 6, the first of the new protests will occur outside the headquarters of the Mallorca hotel federation.

Demonstrations are scheduled for the end of June in Platja de Palma and Palmanova-Magaluf, with the peak planned for July, featuring several days of strikes over alternate weeks.

On June 6, a protest is planned for 10am at the UGT office in Palma. Following the update on negotiation progress, attendees will hold a midday rally outside the Mallorcan Hotel Federation building.

Another demonstration is set to take place at Platja de Palma at the end of next month, with a worker’s march culminating in a rally in front of the local hotel association headquarters. A similar protest will target the Palmanova-Magaluf area, highlighting the workers’ unrest in key tourist hubs around the Bay of Palma.

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The unions are fighting for adequate housing and addressing issues such as tourist overpopulation without life quality improvements for workers, increased job demands, salaries not matching living costs, and pay inequality for identical work.

The union wants wages to rise by 19 per cent across the three years to 2027, while the offer from employers flags at 8.5 percent.

In other recent protest news, the CEO of Jet2 Steve Heapy expressed fears that tourist levies could rise in response to overtourism protests in Spain, which have been rumbling on for years and are due to disrupt key destinations this summer. The CEO told a roundtable event at the Spanish embassy in London that he opposed tourist taxes, but feared rises would prove “irresistible”.

In its latest assault on Gaza’s decimated healthcare system, Israel has once again targeted the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza, this time with drones, as its forces are also carrying out a ground offensive in the north and south of the bombarded territory.

Health officials said late on Sunday that fighting around the Indonesian Hospital in Gaza and an Israeli military “siege” forced it to shut down.

It was the main medical facility in the north after Israeli air strikes last year also forced the Kamal Adwan and Beit Hanoon hospitals to stop providing health services.

“There is direct targeting on the hospital including the intensive care unit,” Indonesian Hospital director Dr Marwan al-Sultan said in a statement, adding that no one could reach the facility, which had about 30 patients and 15 medical staff inside.

Israel has repeatedly targeted hospitals during its 19-month war on Gaza. Human rights groups and United Nations-backed experts have accused Israel of systematically destroying Gaza’s healthcare system.

Earlier, Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Hospital in the besieged enclave’s north, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the latest strikes – which have been ongoing since Saturday – indicate that Israeli attacks on Gaza’s hospitals are intensifying.

“The medical teams are really suffering, and we have a few numbers of medical teams and staff … and a lot of people are in need [of] more medical care,” Abu Salmiya said by phone from the hospital on Sunday.

Thousands of sick and wounded people could die, he warned. Blood donations are urgently needed.

This has been underscored by Gaza’s Health Ministry, which confirmed that Israeli forces besieged the facility in Beit Lahiya, adding that “a state of panic and confusion is prevailing”.

The ministry later said that Israel had cut off the arrival of patients and staff, “effectively forcing the hospital out of service”.

With “the shutdown of the Indonesian Hospital, all public hospitals in the North Gaza Governorate are now out of service”, it said.

Gaza’s healthcare facilities have been targeted repeatedly throughout Israel’s deadly assault that began 18 months ago.

Other facilities in the north that have been bombed, burned, and besieged by the Israeli military since the start of the war include Kamal Adwan Hospital, al-Shifa Hospital, al-Ahli Hospital, and al-Awda Hospital. Dozens of other medical clinics, stations, and vehicles have also come under attack.

The targeting of health facilities, medical personnel and patients is considered a war crime under the 1949 Geneva Convention.

Israel has also battered several hospitals in Gaza’s central and southern areas, including Deir el-Balah’s Al-Aqsa Hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.

Earlier this week, Israel struck two hospitals in Khan Younis. Nine missiles slammed into and around the courtyard of the European Gaza Hospital, killing at least 16 people, while an attack on the Nasser Medical Complex killed two people, including a wounded journalist.

Incessant attacks on Gaza’s healthcare sector have left it reeling, devastating its ability to function, while doctors say they are out of medicine to treat routine conditions.

Hospitals have also been on the verge of total collapse amid a brutal and ongoing blockade, where Israel continues to bar the entry of much-needed medical supplies, fuel, and other humanitarian aid including food and clean water.

The crisis in Gaza has reached one of its darkest periods, humanitarian officials warn, as famine also looms.

Israeli air strikes have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the last 72 hours.

Strikes over the weekend have also put the European Hospital, the only remaining facility providing cancer treatments in Gaza, out of service.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said dozens of Palestinians have been wounded, and doctors say “they’re facing numerous challenges in treating injuries because of a lack of medical supplies”.

“Israeli air strikes in Gaza are still escalating as drones and fighter jets hover in the sky,” Khoudary said.

The death toll has reached the same level of intensity as the earliest days of the war, said Emily Tripp, executive director of Airwars, an independent group in London that tracks recent conflicts.

She says preliminary data indicate the number of incidents where at least one person was killed or injured by Israeli fire hovered around 700 in April. It’s a figure comparable only to October or December 2023 – one of the heaviest periods of bombardment.

In the last 10 days of March, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates, an average of 100 children were killed or maimed by Israeli air strikes every day.

Almost 3,000 of the estimated 53,000 killed by Israel since October 7, 2023, have lost their lives since Israel broke a fragile ceasefire on March 18, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

Among those killed in recent days include a volunteer pharmacist with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, who was killed with her family in a strike on Gaza City on May 4.

A midwife from Al Awda Health and Community Association was also killed with her family in another strike on May 7.

A journalist working for Qatar-based television network Al Araby TV, along with 11 members of his family, was also killed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises more strikes if the group continues to launch attacks on Israel.

Israel says it has launched strikes on the Yemeni ports of Hodeidah and as-Salif in response to the Houthi rebels firing missiles towards Israel, days after the Yemeni group agreed a truce with the United States.

The Israeli military said it carried out strikes on “terrorist infrastructure” on Friday, saying on X that the two ports had been used by the Houthi rebel group to “transfer weapons”.

Al Masirah TV, a Houthi-affiliated outlet, also reported Israeli strikes on the two ports. The extent of any damage was not clear, and there no immediate reports of casualties.

The Houthis have carried out a campaign of attacks against Israel in self-proclaimed solidarity with Palestinians after Israel launched its assault on Gaza in October 2023.

Israel has carried out strikes in response, including one on May 6 that damaged Yemen’s main airport in Sanaa and killed several people.

Friday’s attacks were the first since US President Donald Trump agreed to a ceasefire deal with the Houthis earlier this month, with the US halting its attacks on Yemen and the group agreeing to end its attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea.

Israel was not included in that agreement, and its military said it intercepted several missiles fired from Yemen towards Israeli airspace this week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that the attacks are “just the beginning”, describing the Houthis as “just a tool”, alleging that Iran was “behind them”.

“We will not stand idly by and allow the Houthis to harm us. We will strike them with greater force, including at their leadership and all the infrastructure that enables them to attack us,” he said in a statement posted on the government’s social media account.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz pledged to “hunt down and eliminate” Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi if the rebel group continued “to fire missiles at the State of Israel”.

Alluding to recent Houthi attacks on Israel, Katz indicated leader al-Houthi would meet the same fate as Hamas commanders Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon – all killed in Israeli attacks over the last year.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Jordan’s capital Amman, said that since Israel broke a ceasefire agreement with Hamas back in March – killing almost 3,000 since then, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry – the Houthis had launched “at least 34 different projectiles” towards Israel.

She said that Israel’s policy “moving forward” would be to strike back. “For every missile that’s fired, they’re going to be conducting these types of air strikes,” she said.