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The European Union (EU) economy is expected to grow at a slower pace with higher inflation, and the positive trend in labor markets is set to halt amid the energy shock triggered by the Middle East conflict, the European Commission's spring forecast said on Thursday. EU's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is projected to slow to 1.1 percent in 2026, a downward revision of 0.3 percentage points from the last year's autumn forecast, before edging up to 1.4 percent in 2027. In the eurozone, growth is forecast at 0.9 percent this year and 1.2 percent next year. Inflation in the EU is expected to reach 3.1 percent in 2026 -- a full percentage point higher than previously forecast -- before easing to 2.4 percent in 2027. Eurozone inflation is projected at 3.0 percent in 2026 and 2.3 percent in 2027. Although energy-driven inflation may ease in 2027, energy commodity prices are still forecast to stay about 20 percent above pre-war levels. The forecast pointed out that EU consumer confidence has dropped to a 40-month low amid mounting fears of surging inflation and job losses. For 2026, employment growth is forecast to slow to 0.3 percent, then rise to 0.4 percent in 2027, while the long-term decline in the unemployment rate is set to end, stabilizing at around 6 percent in 2027. Data released by S&P Global on the same day showed the eurozone composite PMI -- a key indicator of business activity -- fell to 47.5 in May, the lowest level in 31 months. The service sector, a key pillar of the economy, took a heavy hit, with its PMI plunging to 46.4, a 63-month low. Meanwhile, the manufacturing PMI stood at 51.4, suggesting the pace of its expansion slowed to its weakest since January. According to the Commission's forecast, high energy costs have evidently weighed on public finances across the bloc. The general government deficit in the EU is expected to increase from 3.1 percent of GDP in 2025 to 3.6 percent by 2027, reflecting subdued economic activity, higher interest expenditure, energy support measures, and increased defence spending.  

Russia has said it is prepared to assist efforts to resolve tensions between the United States and Iran if both sides request its support. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Moscow is willing to help facilitate negotiations but has no intention of forcing its mediation role. “Russia is ready to provide all possible assistance in resolving this conflict, which is well known to its parties. At the same time, we have never imposed and do not intend to impose our services. But in the event of an appropriate request, we will extend a helping hand,” he said in an interview with Russia’s TASS state news agency. Ryabkov stressed that Russia has always remained “committed to finding solutions exclusively through political and diplomatic channels”. He said Moscow welcomes renewed efforts by Washington and Tehran to restart negotiations. Ryabkov also praised the “active role of the Pakistani side in stabilising the situation and creating conditions for moving towards a lasting peace”. #From Al Jazeera

At least three people were killed in what Russian authorities described as one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and surrounding areas in recent months. A woman died after a drone struck her house in Khimki, just northwest of the Russian capital, during what local governor Andrei Vorobyev termed a “massive” strike on the region. He added that another person remained trapped under the debris. Russia launches 800 drones across Ukraine despite talk of possible peace Two men were also killed in the village of Pogorelki, about 10 kilometres north of Moscow, after drone debris hit a construction site. Vorobyev said several high-rise buildings and unspecified infrastructure were also damaged. In Moscow city, at least 12 people were injured in overnight strikes, mostly near the entrance of an oil refinery, according to mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who said the refinery’s technology was not affected. Russian air defences shot down 81 drones targeting Moscow overnight,  media  reported, citing Sobyanin, marking the largest such attack in over a year. Meanwhile, Sheremetyevo International Airport reported drone debris falling on its premises without causing damage.

The death toll from a Russian missile strike on a residential apartment building in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has risen to 24, including three teenagers, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday. Emergency crews completed search and recovery operations at the destroyed nine-story building after more than a day of clearing rubble, Zelenskyy wrote on social media platform X. According to the Ukrainian air force, the cruise missile strike was part of Russia’s largest aerial assault since the start of its full-scale invasion, with Kyiv being the main target. At least 48 people were injured in the attack, including two children. Zelenskyy said the strike came amid a broader wave of Russian attacks in the days following a brief ceasefire period, which US President Donald Trump had earlier urged both Kyiv and Moscow to observe. Despite the ceasefire call, fighting reportedly continued at reduced intensity. He further claimed that more than 1,560 drones had been launched against Ukrainian areas since Wednesday, damaging around 180 sites nationwide, including dozens of residential buildings. Ukraine’s air force also reported shooting down hundreds of drones in response. In a separate development, Russian authorities said Ukrainian drone attacks caused casualties in Russia’s Ryazan region, including four deaths. Ukraine has not commented on the claim. Kyiv observed a day of mourning on Friday, and Zelenskyy visited the site of the strike. He also said the missile used in the attack was recently manufactured, accusing Russia of continuing to obtain sanctioned components for weapons production. Meanwhile, both sides confirmed a prisoner exchange involving 205 captives each, marking the first phase of a planned larger swap, with mediation support from the United Arab Emirates.  

Russia carried out a large-scale drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s capital early Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring 31, local officials said. Ukrainian authorities said the strikes hit residential areas and civilian infrastructure across multiple cities, with Kyiv bearing the heaviest damage. Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said six districts in the capital were affected. He warned that Russia used a mix of ballistic missiles and drones in the attack, damaging homes and public facilities. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said several other cities, including Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa, were also targeted in the coordinated assault involving both cruise and ballistic missiles. In Kyiv’s Darnytsia district, part of a multi-storey residential building collapsed after being hit, trapping people under debris. Emergency services said at least 27 people were pulled out alive from the rubble. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 18 apartments were destroyed and reported disruptions in water supply on the city’s left bank following the strikes. Rescue teams continued searching through debris as smoke rose from damaged buildings. Emergency workers said operations were also ongoing in Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi districts. Residents described hearing repeated explosions during the early hours of the morning. “I heard many blasts and rockets around 3 a.m. Then the building shook and there was a loud explosion, and all my windows shattered,” said 78-year-old resident Lyudmila Hlushko. In another incident, a drone struck the roof of a five-storey residential building in the Dnieper district, while a separate building in the Dniprovskyi district was also damaged, officials said. The overnight attack came just hours after another major daytime strike on Kyiv that killed at least six people, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That earlier assault involved around 800 drones and hit nearly 20 regions across Ukraine. Zelenskyy said the sustained attacks were aimed at causing “maximum pain and suffering” to civilians. The escalation comes amid renewed talk of possible peace efforts. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he believes Russia and Ukraine could soon reach a deal to end the war, while Russian President Vladimir Putin recently suggested the conflict may be “coming to an end.” However, neither side has outlined any concrete progress, and both continue to hold sharply different demands. Previous diplomatic efforts led by the United States have stalled over key issues, including territorial control and long-term security guarantees.

Russia launched at least 800 drones at nearly 20 regions across Ukraine on Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring dozens, including children, in one of the longest and most extensive attacks of the four-year war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. The barrage began in midmorning and continued for hours, targeting Kyiv, the western city of Lviv near Poland and the Black Sea port of Odesa, along with other population centers, Zelenskyy said on Telegram. “Our soldiers are defending Ukraine, but Russia’s clear goal is to overload our air defenses,” he said, warning that cruise and ballistic missile strikes could follow. Zelenskyy described it as “one of the longest, massive Russian attacks against Ukraine.” The assault also heightened tensions in neighboring Hungary. Prime Minister Péter Magyar said his government had summoned the Russian ambassador after a drone strike near Hungary’s border in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region. “The Hungarian government strongly condemns the Russian attack on Transcarpathia,” Magyar told reporters. He said Foreign Minister Anita Orbán would ask Moscow when Russia and President Vladimir Putin plan to end what he called a “bloody war.” Zelenskyy later thanked Hungary on X for its “compassion and strong position.” In Kyiv, debris from intercepted drones fell in an open area in the Obolonskyi district, but no casualties were reported, city officials said. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said emergency services were sent to the site. Explosions were heard across the capital earlier in the day. In the Rivne region west of Kyiv, three people were killed in a drone strike, according to regional governor Oleksandr Koval. The attacks came despite renewed optimism about a possible end to the war. On Tuesday, Zelenskyy said 14 Ukrainian regions had come under attack, including overnight strikes on residential areas, energy facilities and railway infrastructure. “It is important to support Ukraine and not remain silent about Russia’s war,” Zelenskyy said, suggesting that global attention has shifted to the conflict involving Iran. “Every time the war disappears from the headlines, it encourages Russia to become even more savage.” US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he believes Russia and Ukraine may soon reach a deal. “The end of the war in Ukraine is getting very close,” Trump said as he left the White House for a summit in Beijing. Putin said last weekend that Russia’s invasion may be “coming to an end.” Neither leader explained why they believe peace could be near. US-led diplomatic efforts over the past year have made little progress on key issues, including whether Russia will keep the Ukrainian territory it has seized and what guarantees can prevent another invasion. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Moscow’s core demands remain unchanged. Russia continues to insist that Ukraine withdraw its forces from the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which Moscow illegally annexed in September 2022 but does not fully control. “At that point, a ceasefire will be established, and the parties can calmly engage in negotiations,” Peskov said, adding that any talks would be complex and involve many important details. Speaking in Bucharest, Romania, to representatives of countries on NATO’s eastern flank, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would continue pressing Moscow through diplomacy and other means. “We’re not giving up on diplomatic efforts, and we hope that pressure on Russia, together with negotiations in different formats, will help bring peace,” he said. “Sanctions are working, our long-range capabilities are working, and every form of pressure is working.” European governments are also considering whether to reopen talks with Putin after years of isolating him and imposing broad sanctions on Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron is facing backlash after he interrupted a panel at the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya to demand silence from the audience. Macron reportedly stormed the stage to rebuke audience members for what he called a “total lack of respect,” accusing them of disrupting speakers during a presentation by artists and young entrepreneurs. He had earlier described himself as a “Pan-Africanist” during a news conference. The summit is meant to showcase France’s new policy for the continent — a shift from a former colonial power seen as dominating to what Paris describes as a partnership of equals. On Tuesday, Macron announced a $27 billion investment into various sectors in Africa, including energy, artificial intelligence and agriculture. Videos of Macron’s heated intervention on Monday quickly spread across social media, drawing a mix of mockery, praise and criticism. Appearing visibly frustrated by the noise in the room, Macron abruptly walked onto the stage and asked the speaker to hand him the microphone, saying he would “restore order.” Addressing the audience in English, he criticized attendees for talking over the speakers and creating disruptions during the session. Some audience members applauded the intervention, but Macron also drew criticism over his response. “Just imagine what would happen if an African leader did the same thing in America or Europe,” said Thierno Mbaye, a history student at a university in Senegal’s capital, Dakar. “He acted like a schoolteacher scolding children,” Mbaye told The Associated Press. The intervention also drew criticism in France. “It’s stronger than him: as soon as he sets foot on the African continent, he can’t help but behave like a colonizer,” Danièle Obono, a lawmaker for the hard-left party France Unbowed, said in a post on X. Diplomatic and military setbacks in West Africa The Africa Forward Summit, which is set to close on Tuesday with a declaration that is expected to be signed by all 30 heads of state, comes amid a fallout between France and its former colonies, mostly in West Africa. France has long maintained a colonial policy of economic, political and military sway dubbed Françafrique, which included keeping thousands of troops in the region it controlled. After years of criticism from leaders and opposition parties in many West African countries over what they described as a demeaning and heavy-handed approach, France has withdrawn most of its troops from the region. It completed the withdrawal of troops from Senegal in July. Macron had already faced a backlash ahead of the summit for claiming Sunday at news conference alongside Kenyan President William Ruto that “we are the true Pan-Africanists.” “We believe that Africa is a continent, and that this continent has an enormous amount to build,” Macron said. Pan-Africanism refers to an ideology seeking the unity of Africans and the elimination of colonialism. Given France’s colonial history across the continent, the remark went viral on social media and drew swift backlash. “Pan Africanism is not a brand, Mr. Macron, neither is it a diplomatic posture,” Farida Nabourema, a Togolese human rights activist, said in an open letter on Monday. “It is a political philosophy that said no to everything France spent three centuries saying yes to: slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism,” she added. Beverly Ochieng, a senior analyst at geopolitical risk consultancy Control Risks, said Macron is trying to distance France from its diplomatic and military setbacks in West Africa by turning to the east of the continent, signaling that its strategic priorities now follow where it finds goodwill. She said Macron’s remarks were raising questions about whether France’s renewed engagement with Africa represented a genuine equal partnership or merely convenient rhetoric. The French presidency and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Paris will be respectful of each African country’s independence, Macron said on Tuesday, adding that “sovereignty and autonomy is shared, and your success is our success.” ‘Inauthentic or politically manipulated’ Alioune Tine, founder of the Afrikajom Center think tank, said Macron’s remark might also be a subtle jab at Russia, which has replaced France as the main security partner in some West African countries. “When Macron describes himself as the ‘true’ pan-Africanist, it is also a subtle response to the pro-Russian pan-Africanist voices online, which French officials tend to view as inauthentic or politically manipulated,” Tine said. He said relations between Western powers and African states are inherently paternalistic and France is no exception, but that Macron has shifted policy away from the colonial legacy through a more informal diplomatic style aimed at rebuilding trust. According to an Ipsos survey conducted on behalf of the French Foreign Ministry in nine African countries ahead of the summit, 74% of respondents said they have a positive image of France. Support was highest in English-speaking countries and among respondents under 35. Macron, who is the first French president born after the colonial era, had pledged after his first election in 2017 that he would reset French relations with Africa.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Europe remains firmly committed to preserving the North Atlantic Treaty Organization despite differences with the United States over the conflict involving Iran. Speaking at a joint news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Merz said European countries are determined to keep the transatlantic alliance strong. “We are really willing to keep this alliance alive for the future,” he said. Merz acknowledged that disagreements exist but stressed that Europe and the United States share the same objective: ending the conflict and ensuring that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons. “We know that there are some differences. We know that we are seeing challenges, all of us,” he said. “But our final goal is to bring this conflict to an end and to guarantee that Iran is not able to produce nuclear weapons.” He added that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remains a common goal for both Europe and the United States.  #From Al Jazeera

Russian President Vladimir Putin used his Victory Day address in Moscow’s Red Square to defend the war in Ukraine and criticise NATO, as the annual parade took place on a reduced scale this year. Addressing military personnel and a limited number of foreign leaders, Putin described the conflict in Ukraine as a “just” war and accused NATO of backing Kyiv. “They are confronting an aggressive force armed and supported by the whole bloc of NATO. And despite this, our heroes move forward,” he said, referring to Russian troops involved in what Moscow calls its “special military operation.” The ceremony marked Russia’s most important national holiday, commemorating the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. However, celebrations were more subdued compared to previous years. For the first time in recent years, the parade did not feature armoured vehicles or ballistic missiles, though large numbers of troops marched across Red Square under heightened security. Putin began his speech by honouring the sacrifices of Soviet soldiers during World War II, saying their legacy continues to inspire Russian forces today. “The great feat of the generation of victors inspires the soldiers carrying out the goals of the special military operation today,” he said. He also praised the contributions of ordinary citizens, including scientists, doctors, teachers and workers, to the country’s war effort. Ahead of the event, Russia and Ukraine agreed to observe a three-day ceasefire, announced by US President Donald Trump. Among the leaders present at the parade were Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Fewer international leaders attended compared to last year’s event. Following the ceremony, Putin laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and later hosted a reception at the Kremlin. Victory Day events were also held earlier in Russia’s eastern regions, including Vladivostok, where people took part in the traditional “Immortal Regiment” march to honour war veterans.Source: BBC  

Spanish authorities are preparing to evacuate more than 140 passengers and crew from a cruise ship affected by a hantavirus outbreak as it heads toward the Canary Islands, health officials said Friday. The vessel is expected to arrive near the island of Tenerife, off the northwest coast of Africa, on Saturday or Sunday. Authorities said passengers will be transferred in a strictly controlled and isolated area. “They will arrive at a completely isolated, cordoned-off area,” said Virginia Barcones, head of Spain’s emergency services. Spain is coordinating with multiple governments to arrange evacuation plans for their nationals on board. The United States has agreed to send an aircraft to repatriate 17 American citizens, while the United Kingdom will charter a plane to evacuate nearly two dozen British passengers. At least three people have died in the outbreak, while several others have fallen ill. The World Health Organization has assessed the risk to the general public as low, noting that hantavirus is mainly transmitted through contact with contaminated rodent droppings and is not easily spread between humans. Health officials said none of the remaining passengers or crew currently show symptoms. The cruise operator, Oceanwide Expeditions, confirmed the situation on Thursday. However, international health agencies are still tracing passengers who disembarked earlier, including more than two dozen people from at least 12 countries who left the ship without formal contact tracing after an April 24 stop. Some countries are now tracking potential secondary exposures. UK health authorities on Friday said a third British national is suspected of being infected while on Tristan da Cunha, a remote British territory in the South Atlantic. Two other British passengers have already tested positive, with one hospitalized in the Netherlands and another in South Africa. South African authorities are also tracking contacts linked to passengers who left the ship earlier, including travelers who passed through Johannesburg after disembarking in St. Helena. Officials continue to monitor the situation as evacuation preparations intensify in the Canary Islands.