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Rubio meets Pope Leo in bid to ease tensions after Trump’s criticism of the pontiff – Europe live | World news
Rubio leaves after meeting with Pope Leo amid tense relations between Vatican and US
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has now left the Vatican after meeting Pope Leo after some two hours there.
He met initially with the pontiff before sitting down with senior Vatican officials, including top diplomat Italian cardinal Pietro Parolin, Reuters reported.
The Vatican and the US state department did not provide any immediate details about the talks.
I will bring you more if/when we get it.
Key events
Airlines still have to pay compensation if flights cancelled due to fuel crisis, EU says
Lisa O’Carroll
Airlines that cancel flights because of fuel shortages this summer will still have to compensate passengers under European law, the EU transport commissioner has said.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas told the Financial Times that jet fuel prices or shortages do not meet the criteria that protect EU airlines from passenger claims.
“The price of jet fuel is the reason why we have cancellations of flights and if they cancel flights without extraordinary circumstances – jet fuel prices are not extraordinary circumstances – they will have to reimburse the people,” the commissioner said.
Although the EU law remains in place in the UK post-Brexit, Keir Starmer’s government is free to take a different position. Last week, it emerged that penalties for airlines that cancel UK flights because of jet fuel shortages have been eased.
Ryanair, the biggest airline in Europe, said this week it would not be cancelling summer flights because it had hedged its fuel contracts before the Iran war broke out.
However, other airlines have cancelled flights, including Germany’s Lufthansa and Ireland’s Aer Lingus.
Tzitzikostas’s remarks came as the boss of a large airline in Asia said the fuel crisis was worse than the Covid pandemic, when planes were grounded amid global travel bans.
“I thought I’d seen it all with Covid … but having seen jet fuel go up almost three times – this is much worse,” Tony Fernandes, the chief executive of AirAsia, told the Financial Times.
Rubio leaves after meeting with Pope Leo amid tense relations between Vatican and US
Meanwhile, US secretary of state Marco Rubio has now left the Vatican after meeting Pope Leo after some two hours there.
He met initially with the pontiff before sitting down with senior Vatican officials, including top diplomat Italian cardinal Pietro Parolin, Reuters reported.
The Vatican and the US state department did not provide any immediate details about the talks.
I will bring you more if/when we get it.
‘Considerable progress’ made in EU talks on finalising trade deal with US
Lisa O’Carroll
“Considerable progress” was made in crunch talks with MEPs to finalise the US trade deal that has been on the table since last summer, Maroš Šefčovič, the EU trade commmissioner has said after six hours of talks last night.
The so-called “trilogue talks”, involving the European Commission, the European Parliament and representatives of member states, are the final stage in the ratification system in the bloc, a process that is testing Donald Trump’s patience.
Although they failed to agree on amendments sought by MEPs, both the trade committee chair Bernd Lange and Šefčovič are indicating a compromise is not far off.
Talks last six hours, double the time scheduled for negotiations.
“This significant investment of time and effort suggests that we are making considerable progress and have already achieved a lot – although, of course, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” said Šefčovič.
He said in a post on LinkedIn that he had three objectives:
“To demonstrate that the EU is walking the talk and honouring its commitments”
To secure a result that fully respects the EU-US Joint Statement.
To preserve the interests of EU stakeholders, including by equipping the Commission with the instruments necessary to ensure that the EU-US Joint Statement is faithfully implemented by both sides.”
Last Friday Trump threatened to hike tariffs on EU cars this week, in contravention of the trade deal, in protest against the lengthy delays on the EU side.
The delays were partly a response to his foreign policy, with the European parliament twice pausing ratification process over his threat to increase tariffs in January, and then his threat to take control of Greenland.
MEPs are seeking three amendments to the implementation Brussels-side – including a sunset clause which will end the deal in March 2028 unless renewed, a sunrise clause ensuring the deal will come into force on the EU side if the US respects its commitments and a suspension clause.
Current evidence shows hantavirus continues to pose ‘low’ risk to Europeans, UN insists
Speaking at the European Commission’s midday briefing, the executive’s health spokesperson Eva Hrncirova insisted that the risk to Europeans posed by the new hantarivus remained “low.”
“According to the evidence that we have at the moment, the risk for the public in Europe, the risk for the Europeans is low. Health of the citizens in Europe is our absolute priority,” she said.
She stressed there was “no cause for concern,” and the EU was working closely with the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control to monitor the situation.
EU will not leave Kyiv despite warnings of possible Russian strikes
Meanwhile in Brussels, the EU said it would not leave Kyiv after Russia warned of a possible retaliatory strike on the Ukrainian capital and urged foreign organisations to evacuate.
“As to us, the EU, we will not change our posture or presence in Kyiv. Russian attacks are… unfortunately, a daily reality in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine,” EU foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni said in comments reported by AFP.
Russia’s public threats to attack Kyiv are part of its reckless escalatory tactics.
The European Union’s diplomatic mission in Kyiv was damaged in August last year after Russian missiles struck close to the building.
Hungary’s Magyar meets with Italy’s Meloni ahead of inauguration weekend
Meanwhile, Hungary’s incoming prime minister Péter Magyar has arrived for talks at Palazzo Chigi in Rome, where he is due to meet with Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni.
Since he is not the Hungarian PM yet – he will take his role this weekend – he was officially welcomed outside the Palazzo by a senior adviser to the Italian PM instead.
Ukraine, international order, Europe’s push to arm part of discussions with Pope Leo, Poland’s Tusk says
Earlier today, Pope Leo welcomed Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk in the Vatican, and going by Tusk’s press conference afterwards, it was a good geopolitical warm up act for the big transatlantic meet with Marco Rubio.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Tusk said the pair discussed a potential papal visit to Poland signalling 2028 as an option under consideration, but that a big chunk of their conversation focused on international affairs.
“Of course, the conversation was about Ukraine, … about the international order, the armament of Poland and Europe, and the armament of Germany. Well, you know how many hot topics there are.
As you know, I will also have a meeting with prime minister Meloni today and secretary of state Rubio is here too; he will have a meeting with the Holy Father right after me. So this also shows how much is happening and how difficult the issues are to discuss and solve.”
Later today, Tusk will also meet Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, who is also expected to welcome Hungary’s incoming prime minister Péter Magyar at some point today – and will see Rubio tomorrow.
Rubio arrives in Vatican for talks with Pope Leo – in pictures
Rubio arrives for two-day visit to see Pope Leo, Italy’s Meloni
Lorenzo Tondo
in Palermo
Meanwhile, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is to meet Pope Leo at the Vatican on Thursday in an effort to ease tensions after Donald Trump’s repeated criticisms of the first North American pontiff.
Amid unprecedented strain on relations between the Holy See and Washington, Rubio is expected to meet Leo at the Apostolic Palace in the morning, before holding a series of meetings with the Italian government.
Trump on Tuesday accused the pope of supporting nuclear weapons and “endangering a lot of Catholics’’ with his stance against the Iran war, in the latest attack by the US president on the pontiff.
On Wednesday, Leo responded:
“If anyone wants to criticise me for proclaiming the gospel, let them do so with the truth: the church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons for years, there is no doubt about that. I simply hope to be listened to because of the value of God’s word.”
Rubio downplayed the rift between Trump and Leo and told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the president’s recent criticism of the pontiff was rooted in his opposition to Iran potentially obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could be used against millions of Catholics around the world.
Trump “doesn’t understand why anyone – leave aside the pope – would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Rubio said.
Relations between the Vatican and Washington have never been so fraught. In April, the US president lashed out at Leo over the pope’s criticism of the war in Iran, branding him “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy”, and claiming he had only been elected pontiff because Trump himself occupied the White House. Trump later shared – before deleting – an AI-generated image depicting himself as a Christ-like figure.
Rubio’s likely goal is to try to smooth over Trump’s insults and repair increasingly damaged ties between the US and the Vatican. According to several analysts, the secretary of state is expected to defend Washington’s rationale for launching the war in Iran, while carefully avoiding a direct clash with the church’s position.
Rubio will also meet the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, on Friday as relations between Rome and Washington have also deteriorated.
At a separate press conference with Latvia’s defence and interior ministers, we are told broadly similar things that the incident is still being investigated.
I will return to this topic if we get something substantially new.
Romania reports brief breach of its airspace by Russian drone attacking Ukraine last night
Meanwhile, Romania has just reported a brief violation of its airspace by drones taking part in a Russian attack on civilian and infrastructure targets in Ukraine last night.
The drone was monitored by two F-16 patrolling aircraft and tracked as it crossed into Romania’s airspace in the Chilia area, the country’s defence ministry said in a statement.
The ministry “firmly condemned the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation, which contravene the norms of international law and pose risks to regional security and stability in the Black Sea.”
Flanked by senior police and army officials, the Latvian prime minister Evika Siliņa is just giving a brief update after this morning’s crisis cabinet meeting in Riga.
She says there is still no clarity on who directed the drones reported in the Latvian airspace, and this continues to be investigated.
She sticks to key lines that as she stresses that the incident is a consequence of Russia’s continuing war on Ukraine, and Latvia needs to be prepared for similar situations as it continues to support Ukraine.
She also warns about any disinformation attempts coming from Russia in response to the incident.
Siliņa also talks about some practical concerns about the way Latvia’s emergency alert system worked last night.
Lisa O’Carroll
Meanwhile, the European Parliament has said it will work “expeditiously” to ensure the “spirit and the letter” of the EU’s trade deal with Donald Trump is sealed, after representatives failed to reach a deal in ratification talks with member states last night.
No deal is expected now until 19 May when talks with MEPs resume.
A timetable in Europe’s democratic process risks invoking the ire of Trump who on Friday said he would increase car tariffs from 15% to 25% because the EU were taking to long to implement its side of the Turnberry deal.
The parliamentary delegation in the so-called “trilogue” talks which also involved the European Commission were led by MEP Bernd Lange, chair of the trade committee.
Lange said in a statement last night:
“We have just concluded a constructive second trilogue during which we made good progress on the issue of the safeguard mechanism and the review and evaluation of the main regulation, but there is still some way to go.
We will continue to work expeditiously and responsibly on the two legislative proposals to ensure that the letter and the spirit of the Turnberry Deal are honoured, in full respect of our democratic norms, procedures and timelines. The next trilogue will take place on 19 May in Strasbourg.
We remain more committed than ever to advance and defend Parliament’s mandate so as to provide additional guarantees that will benefit citizens and companies in both the EU and the US.”
The 19 May date for next talks will be seen as a positive step however as yesterday Lange’s team were expecting the next date could be as far away as June.
Lange’s committee were looking for three key amendments to the deal hashed out at Trump’s golf course last July.
Jakub Krupa
We should get more on the Latvian incident before long, as we are expecting to hear from the government after this morning’s emergency cabinet meeting.
Crucially, the crash site of the second drone reported within Latvian airspace is yet to be discovered, so let’s see if we hear more on this.
I will keep an eye on this.
Morning opening: Latvia investigates drones ‘from Russia’ after overnight airspace violations
Latvia is investigating two drones which entered its airspace from Russian territory overnight and crashed in eastern part of the country near an empty oil storage facility.
Four empty oil tanks were reported damaged, with minor smouldering reported in one of the tanks. The local public broadcaster captured a drone flying in the area on their camera.
Latvian prime minister Evika Siliņa convened a crisis management meeting for 10am local time. She earlier said she was “in constant communication” with relevant ministers and state institutions.
“After the incident concludes, I expect reports from the responsible ministers on what happened,” she said.
The investigation is still in very early stages, but the drones might have been Ukrainian units that lost their way due to signal jamming, defence minister Andris Sprūds said.
This would not be the first time that a lost Ukrainian drone attacking Russia’s oil terminals loses its way and ends up in a neighbouring Nato country, with similar incidents involving Estonia and Lithuania.
“As long as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine continues, the recurrence of such incidents when a foreign unmanned aircraft enters or approaches Latvian airspace is possible,” the Latvian army said in a statement.
The air warning in the country has now been lifted, but some flight restrictions remain in place.
Elsewhere, I will also keep an eye at US secretary of state Marco Rubio’s visit to see Pope Leo in the Vatican amid a bitter war of words between the US president, Donald Trump, and the pontiff. Before that, Leo – who will mark one year in office tomorrow – will also meet with Poland’s Donald Tusk.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s incoming prime minister Péter Magyar is also expected nearby, as he is due to meet with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, formerly a close ally of Magyar’s arch-rival Viktor Orbán.
Elsewhere, I am expecting some developments in Bulgaria with Rumen Radev likely to be asked to form the next government, and obviously will continue keeping tabs on the hantavirus-hit cruise that electrified the public opinion worldwide.
Lots to cover.
It’s Thursday, 7 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
Clive Johnston from Sion Mills, County Tyrone, held an open-air service in a safe access zone near Causeway Hospital in July 2024.
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Middle East crisis live: Iran reviewing peace proposal as Trump says a deal ‘very possible’ | US-Israel war on Iran
Trump says deal with Iran is ‘very possible’ while Iran downplays reports of peace talks
Morning and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
The US and Iran have offered conflicting messages over the state of negotiations to end the war, with Donald Trump signalling the talks were “very good” and a deal “very possible”.
Iranian officials, however, have sought to dampen expectations, with state media reporting that Tehran is, at most, reviewing the US’s peace proposal and considering its response via Pakistani mediators. Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said the proposal to end the war was merely an “American wish list” and “not a reality”.
Still, the US president struck a positive tone last night while speaking to journalists about a possible deal, with a few threats sprinkled in.
“We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
“We’ll see whether or not they are agreeing. And if they don’t agree, they’ll end up agreeing shortly thereafter. That’s the way it is.”
In an interview with US broadcaster PBS, he said there was a “very good chance” of the war ending, adding: “If it doesn’t end, we have to go back to bombing the hell out of them.”
In other developments:
-
News of a possible deal followed Trump’s abrupt U-turn on a US military operation to guide ships out of the strait of Hormuz, dubbed “Project Freedom”. Trump said the decision to pause the mission on Tuesday – two days after it was launched – was to give peace a chance, but NBC reported that it was suspended after Saudi Arabia refused to allow the US military to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation. US officials told the American broadcaster that Gulf allies were caught off guard by the sudden announcement of Project Freedom, and that it had angered the leadership in Saudi Arabia.
-
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that the US’s behaviour had “deviated the path of diplomacy towards threats, pressure and sanctions” and that Tehran could not trust Washington. In a statement carried by the Iranian state-run Press TV, Pezeshkian said Iran had entered into dialogue with the US twice and “on both occasions, military aggression against Iran took place concurrently with the negotiations. Such behaviour is effectively like ‘stabbing from behind’”.
-
Iran has denied any involvement in damage to a South Korean-operated vessel in the strait of Hormuz, which suffered an explosion and fire on Monday. Trump blamed the incident on an Iranian attack, while South Korea’s foreign ministry said the cause of the fire would only be confirmed after the vessel is inspected. The Iran embassy in Seoul issued a statement this morning rejecting the allegations, saying safe passage through the waterway requires strict adherence to Iranian regulations.
-
The damage and destruction inflicted on US military sites across the Middle East during the war is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the Trump administration or previously reported, according to analysis by the Washington Post. Reviewing satellite imagery, the newspaper found Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 US structures or pieces of equipment, including hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defence equipment. The US Central Command declined to comment on the report.
-
In Lebanon, where a ceasefire has demonstrably failed to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, three people were killed this morning in Israeli strikes on Nabatieh south of the country, according to the official Lebanese National News Agency. The Israeli military said one of its soldiers was seriously injured by an explosive-laden Hezbollah drone in southern Lebanon yesterday. It did not say where the attack took place.
-
In Gaza, where another ceasefire appears to be fraying, an Israeli airstrike has killed Azzam Khalil al-Hayya, the son of Hamas political bureau leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, according to senior Hamas official Basim Naim. Azzam succumbed to his injuries this morning after being struck in an Israeli attack last night in Gaza City, Reuters reported. He is the fourth son of Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief to have been killed in Israeli attacks.
Key events
Here are the latest pictures from the Dahiyeh neighbourhood of southern Beirut, where rescue workers are searching through the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike yesterday. The Israeli military claims a Hezbollah commander was killed in the attack, the first in the Lebanese capital in nearly a month.
Pakistan, which has positioned itself as a key mediator in talks between the US and Iran, has continued to express optimism at a possible deal without offering any clues at to where the negotiations currently stand.
The Pakistani foreign ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, would not disclose details of the ongoing diplomatic efforts but said a deal could be reached soon.
“What I can tell you and this is what I have stated before that we remain positive, we remain optimist, and we hope the settlement will be soon rather than later,” he told a news briefing today.
While the first round of US-Iran talks took place in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on 11 April, Andrabi hinted a future deal could be agreed elsewhere.
“If it takes place in Islamabad, it would be an honour and a privilege to host it,” he said.
In televised remarks today, Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said Islamabad remained in “continuous contact with Iran and the United States, day and night, to stop the war and extend the ceasefire”.
IDF claims to have killed commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force in Beirut strike
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has killed the commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan force, the most elite unit of the pro-Iran armed group, in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
In a statement, the IDF named the Radwan commander as Ahmed Ghalib Balut, saying he was killed in a strike in the Dahiyeh neighbourhood in southern Beirut.
Hezbollah has not immediately commented on the report.
Israel struck Beirut yesterday for the first time since a ceasefire took effect on 16 April. At least 11 other people were killed in strikes across the south and east, according to the Lebanese health ministry.
Trump says deal with Iran is ‘very possible’ while Iran downplays reports of peace talks
Morning and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
The US and Iran have offered conflicting messages over the state of negotiations to end the war, with Donald Trump signalling the talks were “very good” and a deal “very possible”.
Iranian officials, however, have sought to dampen expectations, with state media reporting that Tehran is, at most, reviewing the US’s peace proposal and considering its response via Pakistani mediators. Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson of the Iranian parliament’s national security and foreign policy commission, said the proposal to end the war was merely an “American wish list” and “not a reality”.
Still, the US president struck a positive tone last night while speaking to journalists about a possible deal, with a few threats sprinkled in.
“We’ve had very good talks over the last 24 hours, and it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
“We’ll see whether or not they are agreeing. And if they don’t agree, they’ll end up agreeing shortly thereafter. That’s the way it is.”
In an interview with US broadcaster PBS, he said there was a “very good chance” of the war ending, adding: “If it doesn’t end, we have to go back to bombing the hell out of them.”
In other developments:
-
News of a possible deal followed Trump’s abrupt U-turn on a US military operation to guide ships out of the strait of Hormuz, dubbed “Project Freedom”. Trump said the decision to pause the mission on Tuesday – two days after it was launched – was to give peace a chance, but NBC reported that it was suspended after Saudi Arabia refused to allow the US military to use its bases and airspace to carry out the operation. US officials told the American broadcaster that Gulf allies were caught off guard by the sudden announcement of Project Freedom, and that it had angered the leadership in Saudi Arabia.
-
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that the US’s behaviour had “deviated the path of diplomacy towards threats, pressure and sanctions” and that Tehran could not trust Washington. In a statement carried by the Iranian state-run Press TV, Pezeshkian said Iran had entered into dialogue with the US twice and “on both occasions, military aggression against Iran took place concurrently with the negotiations. Such behaviour is effectively like ‘stabbing from behind’”.
-
Iran has denied any involvement in damage to a South Korean-operated vessel in the strait of Hormuz, which suffered an explosion and fire on Monday. Trump blamed the incident on an Iranian attack, while South Korea’s foreign ministry said the cause of the fire would only be confirmed after the vessel is inspected. The Iran embassy in Seoul issued a statement this morning rejecting the allegations, saying safe passage through the waterway requires strict adherence to Iranian regulations.
-
The damage and destruction inflicted on US military sites across the Middle East during the war is far larger than what has been publicly acknowledged by the Trump administration or previously reported, according to analysis by the Washington Post. Reviewing satellite imagery, the newspaper found Iranian airstrikes have damaged or destroyed at least 228 US structures or pieces of equipment, including hangars, barracks, fuel depots, aircraft and key radar, communications and air defence equipment. The US Central Command declined to comment on the report.
-
In Lebanon, where a ceasefire has demonstrably failed to stop the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, three people were killed this morning in Israeli strikes on Nabatieh south of the country, according to the official Lebanese National News Agency. The Israeli military said one of its soldiers was seriously injured by an explosive-laden Hezbollah drone in southern Lebanon yesterday. It did not say where the attack took place.
-
In Gaza, where another ceasefire appears to be fraying, an Israeli airstrike has killed Azzam Khalil al-Hayya, the son of Hamas political bureau leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, according to senior Hamas official Basim Naim. Azzam succumbed to his injuries this morning after being struck in an Israeli attack last night in Gaza City, Reuters reported. He is the fourth son of Hamas’s exiled Gaza chief to have been killed in Israeli attacks.
Amazon has become the first retailer in the UK to start a drone delivery service with a limited launch in Darlington, County Durham.
Packages weighing less than 5lb (2.2kg) and containing everyday items are now being delivered within a 7.5 mile (12km) radius of Amazon’s fulfilment centre – in as little as two hours.
The tech giant says it can carry out a maximum ten flights an hour, or up to a hundred deliveries a day on weekdays, as part of its limited launch – but hopes to slowly expand the service as the demand for ultra-fast deliveries grows.
Drones are already being trialled by the NHS to deliver blood supplies in London and Royal Mail is using them to send sending packages to remote communities in Orkney.
But this is the first time it’s being used for everyday shopping. Darlington is currently the only place outside the US where Amazon is doing drone deliveries. But the service is still at an early stage with testing expected to continue.
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