Prancūzijos pietvakarinėje Atlanto vandenyno pakrantėje esančiame kurortiniame Bjarico mieste netoli švyturio trečiadienio vakarą nugriuvo didžiulis pakrantės luitas, pranešė vietos pareigūnai.

Marijampolės savivaldybė praneša apie ilgametės savivaldybės administracijos darbuotojos Violetos Švetkauskienės (1995–2026) netektį.

Tens of millions of people are grappling with punishing temperatures, which have led to red heat alerts across the continent.

France is being forced to re-think its longstanding reservations about air-conditioning as temperatures soar.

Signs that traffic through the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route is gradually resuming has helped to push the oil price down.

The airline had typically charged adults a fee of £8 each way to sit with their young children.

President Donald Trump asked Congress for nearly $88 billion Wednesday to help cover the costs of the Iran war, aid farmers and combat the Ebola virus. The request had long been expected, given the expenses incurred during the four-month conflict in the Middle East. But the package — which needs at least some bipartisan support to pass the Senate — faces an uphill fight as lawmakers in both parties are increasingly wary of major new expenditures amid a deeply unpopular war. The proposal includes $67.1 billion for the Pentagon, including $21 billion for munitions to rebuild stockpiles of missiles used in the conflict. It also includes $17.3 billion for operations, $1.7 billion for military readiness and $1.5 billion for fuel costs. That defense package also includes $2.4 billion for drones and $5.1 billion for cybersecurity and autonomy efforts. $12.1 billion of the request would go toward classified programs. Many Democrats, who oppose the war and contend the conflict is illegal, are almost certain to object to spending such a substantial sum. The request for tens of billions of dollars in extra war spending comes as Trump pushes for a record-breaking $1.5 trillion military budget, a roughly 50 percent hike from this year’s level. Democrats have balked at the historic request as wasteful and criticized Trump and Republicans for simultaneously pushing to slash domestic programs. The package Trump sent to lawmakers, however, is significantly less than the approximately $200 billion the Trump administration was reportedly weighing in recent months. The measure also includes $11.1 billion in farm assistance, in the form of direct aid to farmers impacted by Trump’s tariffs, higher costs and weather-related disasters in Florida. Farm-state Republicans in the Senate have been seeking $17.2 billion for key agriculture industries in their states and plan to boost the farm funding beyond the White House’s proposal, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive spending issues. The request lands as Trump is attempting to convince lawmakers and the American public that a peace deal is at hand after U.S. and Iranian officials inked a memorandum of understanding earlier this month. But the White House proposal could complicate House Republicans’ pursuit of a third party-line spending package, which was supposed to be centered around $350 billion in defense funding that Democrats wouldn’t support. In the supplemental package, the administration also proposed $1.4 billion to respond to the Ebola virus outbreak in Central Africa. Another $500 million in the package would go toward restoration and construction projects in Washington, D.C. Trump also requested an extra $1 billion to aid in the design and construction of a modernized Penn Station in New York City. The supplemental request also would update the statutory definition of hemp-derived cannabinoid products to create a regulatory framework that will allow consumers to access “appropriate full-spectrum CBD products” while preserving Congress’ intent to crack down on bad actors that have taken advantage of a loophole in the 2018 farm bill. Senior appropriators Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) secured a provision in last year’s agriculture funding bill that would crack down on intoxicating hemp products that were legalized through the 2018 farm bill. The hemp industry has warned that the provision, which is set to take effect in November, would effectively kill their business. Trump’s request will also ask Congress to pass legislation to allow year-round sales of E15 fuel, a move farm-state Republicans have championed to boost corn farmers ahead of the midterms. The legislation passed the House in May but has prompted an internal fight between Senate Republicans who are split over whether to side with oil or agriculture interests. Trump called on Congress in January to pass the E15 bill. Jennifer Scholtes, Meredith Lee Hill and Katherine Tully-McManus contributed to this report.

The White House intervened to try to spare Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai from appearing at an upcoming Senate hearing on their companies’ child safety practices, five people with knowledge of the events told POLITICO. Instead, Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has agreed to let the heads of the tech giants’ Instagram and YouTube brands testify in the chief executives’ place at next month’s hearing, tentatively scheduled for July 28, four of the people said. And in turn, the White House is supporting a Grassley-backed package of bills — called the James T. Woods Act — aimed at combating online child exploitation, they added. The five people, who were not directly involved in negotiations between the White House and the tech companies, were granted anonymity to discuss the private negotiations. Four of the people cautioned that the list of executives testifying at the hearing is still unfinished and subject to change. The White House involvement, which has not been previously reported, illustrates tech giants’ ability to leverage their alliances with President Donald Trump’s administration, even under intense scrutiny from lawmakers and courts about their platforms’ impact on society. “Chairman Grassley isn’t interested in simply generating clicks and views online like past hearings. He’s working to get lifesaving child safety legislation actually signed into law,” a Grassley spokesperson told POLITICO. “The Grassley-Durbin James T. Woods Act is hugely bipartisan and widely supported because it’s universally recognized this bill will save kids’ lives. Chairman Grassley is committed to being an effective senator, conducting oversight of Big Tech and getting laws passed that will protect America’s children.” A Meta spokesperson declined to comment. A Google spokesperson said the company “did not engage with the White House on the hearing or ask them to intervene.” A White House official said the administration supports the bipartisan James T. Woods Act because it would strengthen federal law against online child exploitation, create new criminal offenses targeting technology-enabled abuse and direct a review of sentencing guidelines to ensure penalties reflect the seriousness of those crimes. The official said it was normal for the White House to back such a measure, which builds on the Take It Down Act S. 146 (119) and other efforts to combat child sexual abuse material and protect children online. Grassley previously called on Zuckerberg, Pichai and the chief executives of TikTok and Snap to testify at next month’s hearing, which he billed as exploring the question “Is This Social Media’s Big Tobacco Moment?” The hearing is expected to focus on child online safety, according to three of the people. It comes as social media companies are facing wide-ranging litigation under the same types of product-liability law that states once used to target cigarette makers, a trend that is showing signs of spreading to AI. The string of recent litigation includes a March verdict in which a California jury found that Meta and YouTube had negligently designed addictive platforms that harmed children, and a New Mexico case in which a jury found Meta liable for endangering kids. People representing Meta met with White House staff about the hearing in late May and early June, according to three of the people with knowledge of the events. In discussions with committee staff, Meta and Google representatives expressed concerns that the hearings would only further worsen negative attention arising from recent child online safety litigation, they added. After a back and forth, the White House agreed to publicly support Grassley’s James T. Woods Act on the condition that Grassley permit lower-profile executives from Meta and Google to testify, according to the same three people. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan would appear for Google while Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, would stand in for Zuckerberg, four of the people said. The committee also expects Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and the CEO of TikTok’s American-owned joint venture company, Adam Presser, to testify, POLITICO reported Tuesday. Committee members could still subpoena Zuckerberg and Pichai to compel their attendance. Meanwhile, Meta is pushing for an even less prominent executive than Mosseri to appear, one of the people said. Congressional committees have previously subpoenaed the CEOs of Big Tech companies to testify before Congress, including over kids’ online safety in 2023. In January 2024, then-Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and ranking member Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) worked together to push tech CEOs to appear at a hearing where Zuckerberg dramatically stood and apologized to relatives of children harmed by social media. Since then, Meta and Google have made a concerted effort to cultivate their relationships with Trump and his White House. Tech leaders, including those at Meta, have promised to help Trump pay for his new White House ballroom. Meta and Google each donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund, and both Zuckerberg and Pichai were given prominent seats on the dais at Trump’s inauguration. Most recently, Zuckerberg was spotted in the crowd at this month’s mixed martial arts fight on the White House lawn. Jordain Carney and Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.

A US-backed initiative aiming to unify Libya's divided institutions tests political loyalties in the country's west.

Weak leaders are only part of the story. Restless MPs and volatile voters have made Downing Street harder to survive.

Also in today’s newsletter, Russia receives an oil windfall amid Iran war

How to become an autonomous global power in monetary matters

A new scheme by the International Maritime Organisation to evacuate some 11,000 commercial sailors stuck in the Gulf has got underway. But with mines still not totally cleared and a bottleneck created by the past few months, it will be a complex, international operation which will take weeks to complete. Meanwhile, global oil prices have fallen to their lowest level since the war began.

Extreme heat has been smashing temperature records across Europe: in Spain, the United Kingdom and in France. A persistent high pressure system known as a heat dome has settled above the continent for the second time in a month, trapping hot air in like a lid on a pot. Scientists say extreme heat is being driven by climate change, but what makes Europe so vulnerable? Eliza Herbert and France 2 take a look at why it is the fastest-warming continent.

Kenyan police shut off traffic on key routes around Nairobi on Thursday, hoping to prevent protests marking two years since a landmark Gen Z uprising. This year many braved the streets again, but fled as shots were fired and tear gas deployed.

Brent crude was trading at around $72 a barrel on Thursday morning, the price it was at the day before the launch of attacks on Iran.