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Divine intervention: why Pope Leo visit could be a godsend for Pedro Sánchez

While Pope Leo XIV isn’t due to touch down in Madrid until 10.30am on Saturday, his presence in the Spanish capital is already verging on the ubiquitous. The smiling, avuncular face of the first US pontiff greets visitors from posters, from the sides of buses, from commemorative travel cards and even from the digital screens on the metro system, where it flickers up between adverts for sun cream and banking deals. In the Plaza de Cibeles, in front of the wedding-cake palace that serves as the seat of Madrid city council, the huge stage from which Leo will say mass on Sunday in front of as many as 1 million worshippers is taking shape. The Paseo del Prado, which runs off Cibeles and down to the eponymous museum, is hung with banners welcoming the pope and urging the faithful to heed Jesus’s words in the Gospel of John and “alzad la mirada”, or “lift up your eyes”. For a country that is not the Roman Catholic redoubt it was 50 – or even 20 – years ago, there is palpable excitement over the first papal visit since Benedict XVI came to Spain in 2011. Back then, 71.7% of Spaniards described themselves as Catholics; today, that figure has slumped to 56.1%, with only 18.3% of them practising. Still, Leo may take heart from a survey that found that the number of young people aged 15-29 who identify as Catholics rose from 31.6% in 2020 to 45% last year. He will also find a land far more politically polarised than it was 15 years ago. Issues such as housing, immigration, public services and a seemingly never-ending slew of political corruption allegations have created a febrile – some would say feral – political mood. The seven-day itinerary for Leo’s first visit to an EU country outside Italy, which takes in Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, is a carefully curated mix of the official, the pastoral and the personal. As well as the protocol meetings with King Felipe, Queen Letizia and the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez – and the inauguration of the Jesus Christ tower of the basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona – the pontiff will spend time with homeless people, migrants and the professionals and volunteers who work with them. On Thursday, he will visit the port of Arguineguín on the island of Gran Canaria to speak to some of the people who have risked their lives on the perilous Atlantic migration route from Africa to Europe. Leo’s determination to highlight the plight of migrants and asylum seekers – at least 1,172 of whom died en route to the Canaries last year – will not go unremarked in Spain or beyond. The pope’s commitment to the basic human rights of migrants has led him to criticise the Trump administration, over what he has termed its “extremely disrespectful” treatment of foreigners in the US. That stance has also brought him into alignment with the policies of Sánchez’s socialist-led government, which has bucked European political trends by defending the economic and social benefits of migration, and which is now regularising the status of at least 500,000 undocumented migrants and asylum seekers. After a meeting at the Vatican last month, the prime minister praised the pontiff for being a “moral compass in the fight against injustice’” and said they shared “a humanist vision of migration”. Such talk does not go down well with the far-right Vox party, which opposes the regularisation programme and its endorsement by the Spanish bishops’ conference. In July last year, Vox floated the idea of deporting up to 8 million people of foreign origin – including the children of immigrants – arguing that “it’s very difficult for them to get used to our customs”. The party later backtracked on the “remigration” plan. Vox’s leader, Santiago Abascal, recently took exception when the bishop of the Canaries diocese suggested that looking after migrants was a basic Christian, and human, duty – and that anyone who believed otherwise would do well to spend five days without food on a small boat. Abascal hit back by claiming that the bishops were out of touch and urging them to “leave their palaces and go out to see the consequences that illegal immigration has for Spaniards when it comes to healthcare, safety, salaries and taxes”. He later said that while his party respected the bishops’ conference – which he described as “a very important alliance within Spanish society” – he would probably not endorse the pope’s address to congress on Monday. “Look, if a religious leader – whether it’s the Dalai Lama, the pope or a rabbi … tells us that we have to accept a process of massive immigration and an advance of Islamism within society, then we’re going to say no,” he said in an interview last week. Vox’s lukewarm reaction to the papal visit is significant. Its “Spaniards first” policies are having a big influence on the conservative People’s party (PP), which is forecast to win next year’s general election, but to fall short of a majority, leaving it dependent on the support of Abascal’s MPs. Vox has recently re-entered three regional coalition governments with the PP after convincing the conservatives to adopt its “national priority” policy, which would favour Spaniards over foreign-born people when it comes to housing and benefits. Although the prime minister once described himself as “an atheist, plain and simple”, the timing of the pontiff’s visit could prove something of a godsend. Spain’s international profile is arguably higher than ever – thanks largely to Sánchez’s pro-immigration stance, his repeated criticisms of Israel’s war in Gaza and his stinging rebukes of Trump’s attacks on Iran. Leo’s presence will boost that profile further. A full-page advert in Tuesday’s Guardian, taken out by Spain’s tourist board, showed a picture of the Sagrada Familia with the caption: “We build peace. Good things are happening in Spain.” There are also more immediate political dividends. Not only will the pope’s visit reinforce Sánchez’s pro-immigration policies and put the PP in an awkward spot because of its growing proximity to Vox, it may also drag the spotlight away from the mounting corruption allegations facing his family, his party and his administration. The prime minister’s brother, David Sánchez, is on trial for alleged influence-peddling and misuse of public office while his wife, Begoña Gómez, has been charged with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds, and is due to appear before a judge on Tuesday 9 June. Both David Sánchez and Gómez deny any wrongdoing – as does the prime minister’s socialist predecessor José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who was recently placed under investigation for alleged influence peddling and other offences. Police are also investigating allegations that a team inside the socialist party acted to thwart police and judicial investigations that threatened the interests of the party or the government. But for the next few days, at least, attention is likely to be blessedly focused on the words and deeds of a 70-year-old American visitor whose purview extends far beyond the temporal.

EU summit with western Balkan leaders to reaffirm membership prospects

European leaders will seek to show six western Balkan countries that they have a real chance of joining the EU one day, despite splits over how to handle enlargement of the 27-member bloc. Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Giorgia Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen are among more than 30 leaders expected to gather in the Montenegrin coastal resort of Tivat on Friday for summit talks. The focus will be on integrating the six Balkan countries – among them Montenegro and Albania – more deeply into the EU single market, paving the way for them to join the bloc. “The commitment of the European Union to the western Balkans is real. As real as the opportunity for enlargement,” said the European Council president, António Costa, earlier this week in Sarajevo. Costa described EU enlargement, as Russia and China vie for influence in the region, as a “geostrategic interest for Europe” and an “investment in the peace, stability and security of our continent”. The summit comes after Hungary’s new government dropped its veto over Ukraine moving to the next stage of EU talks, a step hailed as a milestone by insiders. Péter Magyar’s decision on Wednesday enables Ukraine and Moldova to open negotiations later this month on the first chapters of the EU rulebook, the section dedicated to the rule of law and democratic standards. The two eastern European countries were fast-tracked to EU candidate status after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. But EU institutions are anxious to show six western Balkan countries they are not in the slow lane. Montenegro, which hopes to become the EU’s 28th state by 2028, is the most advanced in its membership quest, prompting existing members to put safeguards on new joiners. The Guardian reported earlier this month that new member states could be denied veto rights for several years, to prevent a repeat of the experience with the Russia-friendly former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, who repeatedly blocked EU decisions. Albania is seen by Brussels as the next country likely to join, although some EU governments harbour doubts about its progress in tackling organised crime. The hopes, meanwhile, of North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina are clouded by internal and external political disputes. Serbia is perceived as drifting away from the EU under its autocratic president, Alexander Vučić, who has cracked down on anti-government protesters and refused to align with European sanctions against Russia. Faruk Bašić, a researcher at the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, said the region was no longer peripheral for the EU but a strategic priority. “The war in Ukraine has singlehandedly reframed what European enlargement is meant to be and what it is for.” While the EU’s traditional enlargement logic was that “you align with EU values and principles and you eventually join”, Bašić said, Ukraine’s candidacy – granted within four months in 2022 – showed “real geopolitical urgency that we haven’t seen before”. EU leaders are at odds over when and how Ukraine should join. A German proposal for Ukraine to gain associate membership – essentially, representation in EU institutions without voting rights, as a step to fully joining – has gone down badly in Kyiv and some EU countries. Berlin thinks the associate membership plan – presented in a letter by Merz to von der Leyen and Costa – is an unprecedented and generous offer that will accelerate Ukraine’s path to EU accession, in the face of unspoken reluctance from some member states, notably France. Despite these assurances, some EU member states have doubts. One senior EU diplomat said the German proposals on associate membership were a “substitute” for Ukraine joining the EU that would make it “almost impossible” for that to happen. “It will decrease the will to move forward and find the solutions,” the person said. While Ukraine’s path to EU membership is seen as unique because of its status as a country at war and colossal needs for postwar recovery finance, its treatment is likely to affect the western Balkans. One EU official said “people underestimate the progress being made”, citing the first meeting of a technical group tasked with drafting Montenegro’s accession treaty last month. “This is actually something extremely real, which starts a clock ticking for the next accession of the European Union.” Sources also cautioned against expecting further big announcements on membership talks on Friday, suggesting the focus would be on how the EU could make a tangible difference to people’s lives in the region. Before the summit, the EU council rubber-stamped a decision to begin talks on dropping mobile roaming charges in the western Balkans. The abolition of the charges, often presented as an EU success story, would be extended to western Balkan states pending their take-up of relevant EU law and further negotiations. While no launch date for the policy is fixed, it would give European citizens reciprocal benefits to make calls, texts and use data without facing extra charges while travelling in the European Economic Area or the six western Balkan countries. The “roam like at home” plan is part of a wider strategy of gradually integrating the western Balkans into the EU single market. Several Balkan countries, for instance, have joined schemes under the single euro payments area, which harmonises electronic payments, enabling consumers to use just one account and card when making payments in euros.

‘You can stop your war’: Zelenskyy’s open letter to Putin – in full

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an open letter to the Vladimir Putin, has called for a face-to-face meeting with the Russian president to end his war against Ukraine. The letter sets out Zelenskyy’s view of the four-year-old conflict and says that while Ukrainians’ resilience remains intact, most Russians have grown weary of its effects and are ready for peace. The Ukrainian president has rarely addressed Putin directly, but has repeatedly called for a meeting with him, saying it is necessary for any agreement on territory. Putin has previously ruled out such direct talks, falsely calling Zelenskyy an “illegitimate” leader and saying he would meet him only to finalise a deal agreed beforehand. Here is the full text of Zelenskyy’s letter, which is published on the president’s website and his office says has been sent to other countries including the US. 4 June 2026 – 21:20 Open Letter To the President of the Russian Federation From the President of Ukraine When you came to power in Russia more than 26 years ago, many people in Ukraine viewed you positively. That is how it was. But that is now in the past. Now, the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians view it positively that our long-range drones paid a visit to the opening of your forum in St Petersburg, covering a distance of more than 1,000 kilometres. As you know very well, that distance is not the limit of our capabilities. For 26 years, your time in power has completely changed the agenda of relations between Ukraine and Russia. From discussions about trade and other civilian matters, our nations have moved to talking almost exclusively about strikes and losses. You have spent nearly half of your 26 years in power in Russia waging war against Ukraine. Whatever you may say about Nato, geopolitics, or the Russian language, this war is your personal choice – a war without a real cause. That is how history will remember it. Those years could have been very different. We often hear that you are comfortable with this war. Of course, not in those cases when it comes to the security of your residence in Valdai or your parade in Moscow. Your own life is valuable to you. But now we can all see that Russians are finally becoming less comfortable with this reality – with the fact that the war is bringing more and more negative consequences to Russia. They do not like our drones and missiles. They do not like gasoline shortages and constantly rising prices. They do not like constant restrictions. They do not like your intention to launch a second wave of mobilisation in order to expand the war into another direction in Ukraine or to use it against other countries neighbouring Russia. They do not like the fact that there is no end in sight to your war. Yes, you can still force Russians to exist this way. But your resources are shrinking significantly. You will not have enough money or political capital to keep buying the loyalty of Russians the way you have for the past 26 years. And we will do everything we can to ensure that the world helps bring that moment closer. As you yourself like to say, “we need to run the numbers.” Yesterday, I received a report on the losses of your army on the front in Ukraine during May. Once again, the number exceeded 30,000 Russian soldiers killed and seriously wounded. We have been maintaining that level month after month, and we have video confirmation of every one of your losses – these are not empty claims. We know that 63% of your battlefield losses are killed, while only 37% are wounded. In the 21st century, no army can afford such a ratio. And the share of those killed will continue to grow. It is not as if we in Ukraine are concerned about the fate of Russian soldiers after everything your war has brought to our country. But I do care about Ukrainians. We are losing our people, and every loss is painful to us. Even when the ratio of Ukrainian losses to Russian losses is one to five or one to six, it still matters greatly. It also matters that you regularly postpone, every few months, your own deadlines for capturing our regions – especially the Donetsk region. And you will not capture it this year either. But we in Ukraine do not want a permanent war. We know very well that life without war is infinitely better. And we want to achieve that. I am convinced that the majority of Russians would respond positively to this as well – and you know it. Many did not believe that Ukraine would be able to hold out for so long. You did not believe it. And those who advised you did not believe it either. That was a mistake. You did not expect full-scale resistance from Ukraine, and you did not foresee that things would go this far. Yet here we all are – in the fifth year of this full-scale war. Do not be afraid to take the path out of this war. That is the main thing that is required of you now. Ukraine has preserved its independence. And it will preserve it. Despite all predictions to the contrary. We have united many around the world to stand with Ukraine and against you. We found the weapons and the financing we needed. We receive support. You receive sanctions. And this will continue until there is justice for Ukraine – the justice we seek and the justice that can be achieved. We will not allow those who are trying to convince you that sanctions against Russia will be significantly eased, and that support for Ukraine will be significantly reduced, without any meaningful change in your position toward Ukraine, to succeed. The example of Orban shows how those who choose to help Russia in its war against us end in disgrace. Ukraine has endured harsh winters while you tried to destroy our energy system. We held firm – and even in darkness, the resilience of Ukrainians remained intact. We brought the war on to your territory, and you would not have been able to cope with it without North Korea’s help. You are the first ruler of Russia to turn to Pyongyang for assistance. And today you are fully dependent on China – also for the first time in Russia’s history. You believed Ukrainians would not have the strength to defend themselves. Yet today, our people are helping our partners in the Middle East and the Gulf build their own defences. You hoped for internal unrest in Ukraine. Instead, it was your own military formations that staged a mutiny against you. June 23 will mark another anniversary of that event, and silence will not erase this fact from history. And now it is you whom your own officials, businessmen, and propagandists look at with obvious fatigue. The world can see it. The world has not grown tired of Ukraine, as you long hoped it would. But there is growing fatigue with Russia – even among those in the wider world who help you bypass sanctions and keep your economy afloat. You cannot fail to notice it. After 26 years in power, age is beginning to take its toll. And with time, the fatigue with you will only grow. We have seen intelligence reports showing that you are now considering plans to continue the war into 2027 and 2028. We also know that you hope ballistic missiles will achieve for you what everything else has failed to achieve. You want to draw Belarus even deeper into this war, and we are now forced to prepare for that as well. We see that you are trying to orchestrate something around Transnistria. Your propagandists threaten, in one way or another, every country neighbouring Russia. Do you really want to go through all of this? The choice is yours now. Enough of war. Ukraine proposes to end this war. This must be done honestly, with dignity, and with guarantees that the war will not be reignited. We see that the United States is fully focused on the issue of Iran, and it would be wrong to simply wait until the war in Europe returns to the centre of its attention. Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us – and you. I am proposing a meeting. Everyone heard your representatives, smiling, say that I could supposedly come to Moscow. But after these 26 years, there is nothing for a Ukrainian leader to do in your capital – just as there is nothing for a Russian leader to do in Kyiv. There are countries that have traditionally hosted leaders to resolve issues of war and peace. Switzerland, Türkiye, the countries of the Arab world – many are able and willing to host such a meeting. It is leaders who resolve the key issues. That has always been the case, and it always will be. I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting. We have heard that you were promised in Alaska the resolution of certain issues concerning Ukraine and Europe. But you can see for yourself that Ukrainian and European issues are not decided in Anchorage. Other agreed participants could join the bilateral track to be established between us. Since the war is taking place in Europe, and since Ukraine needs security guarantees, while you also seek security guarantees for yourself, it would be logical to involve those who can genuinely serve as guarantors. We believe Europe should be part of this process – those who truly have the capacity to influence the situation. We also believe that the United States must be part of the process. This is what could help shape a new security architecture for our part of the world. We’ve already experienced many agreements with Russia, including the Minsk agreements, that ultimately failed. That is why we must first find direct answers between us to the questions that remain, and not hide from difficult issues behind formulas, technical working groups, or endless time lost in shuttle diplomacy. Your war has permanently set Ukraine and Russia apart. The frontline today is the line from which diplomacy must begin. Ukraine is ready for a full ceasefire for the duration of the negotiations. This is standard practice, and current developments around Iran only reinforce that point. An attempt to establish real silence is the best way to begin talking to one another. We believe it would not simply be an attempt, but a real ceasefire – if that is what you want. You know that the United States has the capability to monitor a ceasefire along the line where hostilities stop. Ukraine is ready for an all-for-all exchange of prisoners of war, and this could become a good prologue to ending the war. Serious steps must be taken to return civilians and children who were taken away during the war. We must determine what kind of future awaits the generations of Ukrainians and Russians who will come after us. If you do not personally come to the conclusion that it is time to end this war, Ukraine will continue fighting for its existence. We will have those who support us. But you, too, will have to fight much harder for your own existence – not Russia’s, but your own. And this is not a threat from me or from Ukraine. It is a fact of Russian history that you know well: when Russia grows tired, change comes. We can work toward that fatigue. You can stop your war. Eternal memory to all those whose lives were taken by this war. Glory to Ukraine!

Ukraine war briefing: Ukrainian men should be turned back from EU to fight, says Swedish minister

Temporary protection should be rolled back for Ukrainian men of military age wanting to shelter in Europe, while EU visas should also be refused to Russians coming for “shopping weekends and fancy trips”, Sweden’s migration minister, Johan Forssell, said on Thursday. EU ministers heard the proposals at a Luxembourg meeting. After Russia’s 2022 invasion, the EU activated a “temporary protection directive” granting residency, work and welfare rights to manage large-scale arrivals of displaced Ukrainians. “It is essential for us to provide Ukrainians with protection, but at the same time the war needs to be fought and won,” said Forssell. “For that to happen, it is essential that more men stay in Ukraine and fight.” Any restrictions should apply only to new arrivals seeking temporary protection status, not to those already covered by the scheme, he said. The European Commission would need to propose any extension or modification of the scheme, which must then be approved by EU countries. More than 4.33m people who have fled Ukraine currently receive protection under the directive, according to Eurostat data. Most are in Germany, followed by Poland and the Czech Republic. A group of member states has meanwhile demanded the EU make it harder for Russians to holiday in Europe. The issue was raised in a letter by Poland, Norway, the Baltic states and another nine members of the free-movement Schengen area at the Luxembourg meeting on Thursday. Despite wartime restrictions, more than 470,000 tourist Schengen visas were issued to Russian citizens in 2025, many multi-entry, according to the letter. “I want there to be no more shopping weekends. I want there to be no more fancy trips to Europe while Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield,” said Sweden’s Forssell. “This situation is completely insane and it needs to be stopped.” According to Agence France-Presse, member states wrote: “It has been deeply troubling to witness increasing numbers of Russian tourists enjoying leisure travel on European beaches and in European resorts while missiles and drones continue to strike civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for face-to-face negotiations in a public letter addressed directly to Vladimir Putin. “It is leaders who resolve the key issues. That has always been the case, and it always will be,” he wrote. “I propose to set a clear date for such a meeting.” Zelenskyy suggested Switzerland, Turkey or Arab states as possible hosts. Donald Trump, the US president, responded by saying “we had a lot to do with it” and both sides would need to agree to compromises that were his idea. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin had not seen the letter yet and repeated his statement that Zelenskyy could come to Moscow if he wanted talks. Vladimir Putin said at his drone-affected St Petersburg economic event on Thursday that Trump had asked Russia to make some compromises for a Ukraine peace deal and Russia was ready to do so provided Ukraine did the same. Putin acknowledged the damage from Ukrainian drone attacks. “To our regret, some of them break through,” Putin said of the strikes on his home town of St Petersburg. “Russia has an air defence system, we need to improve it, strengthen it, and we will do that.” Asked whether the war had become a strategic disaster for Moscow, Putin falsely claimed that “Russian troops are advancing along the entire line of contact”. Russian-controlled Crimea tightened its rationing of fuel supplies on Thursday as attacks by Kyiv have constricted supplies from adjoining Russian-controlled territory in south-east Ukraine. Ukraine’s military said on Thursday that it struck a Russian gunpowder factory in the Ryazan region. As a result of the strike, a fire covering an area of more than 400 sq m (4300 sq ft) broke out, said the Ukrainian general staff. The US House of Representatives has passed legislation that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy. The 226-195 vote, which included 18 Republicans, is a sign of impatience with Trump and his approach of trying to appease and cajole Putin. It seeks to provide more than $1bn in security and reconstruction aid, and make another $8bn available for Ukraine’s defence through loans. Republican leaders objected to the bill, but supporters forced action by gathering 218 signatures on a discharge petition, which allows a majority of the House to bypass leadership and bring on a vote. Supporters know the Senate would also have to pass the bill, which is unlikely without Trump’s endorsement. The Senate has been dithering over its own bill that would impose sweeping tariffs and secondary sanctions on countries that purchase Russia’s oil, gas, uranium and other exports. Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of state, told a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday that there would be news “pretty soon” on $400m Congress has approved for Ukraine-related needs but which has been delayed at the defence department.

Mexico’s ex-president accuses US of plotting to weaken governing party

Mexico’s former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has accused US officials of trying to weaken the governing party to strengthen the opposition, amid rising tensions between the two countries over Washington’s investigations into several Mexican governors. “Some US officials are plotting to weaken Morena and strengthen the rightwing opposition in Mexico with the aim of restoring a subservient, corrupt, mafia-like, and cruel government,” López Obrador wrote in a lengthy letter posted on X on Wednesday. The former leader, known popularly as Amlo, also accused officials of using “Hitler-like propaganda of repeating and repeating lies with an eye toward the upcoming November elections, to continue blaming Mexico for each and every one of their problems.” Amlo’s letter comes as tensions between Mexico and the US reach a boiling point following revelations that CIA agents were working in Mexico, as well as the Department of Justice’s indictment of the governor of Sinaloa on drug-trafficking charges in April. The LA Times has also reported that two more Mexican governors had their US visas revoked and were under investigation by US authorities. Amlo, who is reportedly living in retirement on a ranch in southern Mexico, continues to hold tremendous influence over the Morena party he founded: Mexico’s current president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has hewn closely to the former leader’s rhetoric and followed through on several of his political projects. On Thursday, she displayed Amlo’s letter during her morning news conference, reading excerpts from the missive and saying with apparent glee: “This debate is so great. Truly. It’s so good! Very important.” In the five-page letter, López Obrador also mused about the “surprising change in President Donald Trump’s attitude, especially regarding relations with Mexico”. Despite Trump’s disparaging comments about Mexicans during his campaign, he and Amlo formed an unlikely alliance as populist leaders. As López Obrador writes in his letter, they found common ground on matters like trade and security. “There were several issues that we resolved, for the good of our people, through reasoned dialogue and without confrontation,” López Obrador writes. Amlo then speculates why the US leader might have changed during his second term, suggesting perhaps it was due to changing circumstances, the fact that he is in his final term or that he “increasingly relies on his inexperienced, resentful, and fanatical advisers for decision-making”. Amlo suggests this latter point is the true reason behind Trump’s apparent transformation: “his false friends and advisers, both internal and external, who have been leading him into vile and sinister adventures.” López Obrador urges Trump to “tell the parasites surrounding him to go to hell” and concludes by saying “for everyone’s sake, let the other Trump return”.

Outrage in Argentina after two teen girls murdered as femicide crisis endures

Argentina has reacted with fury after the bodies of two murdered teenage girls were found just two days apart. The latest killings underscore the South American country’s enduring femicide crisis despite years of feminist campaigning, and have prompted alarm over the decision to cut support for victims of gender-based violence under the far-right administration of Javier Milei. Police found the remains of Agostina Vega, 14, on Saturday, in a field on the outskirts of the city of Córdoba. She had been fatally strangled and her body had been dismembered, according to local media reports. She had left home on the night of Saturday 23 May, and took a taxi to the home of Claudio Barrelier, 33, a friend of the family. He was arrested after a taxi driver told police that he had taken Vega to an intersection that matched the location of Barrelier’s house. CCTV footage showed her entering the house, but there was no sign of her leaving. The case is being investigated as femicide: killing of a woman or girl because of her gender. Barrelier is in custody and denies murder. “Just like they murdered my daughter, there are going to be loads of Agostinas, and this can’t happen again,” said Agostina’s father, Gabriel Vega, during a press conference on Wednesday evening. He also questioned online speculation about her lifestyle. “People are posting photos of her when she went out dancing,” he said. “Why don’t they post photos of her going to school?” Barrelier was already involved in a legal case for allegedly kidnapping a woman in 2025. He was held for 20 days in that case before being released on bail. The body of Dulce Candia, 17, was found in a septic tank at an abandoned building site in the town of Eldorado, in Misiones province, on 28 May. She had been missing for 12 days, and pathologists believe she had been dead for five or six days. Like Vega, the cause of her death was strangulation. A 47-year-old taxi driver has been arrested on suspicion of her murder. Raúl Maslowski, director general of security for Misiones provincial police, told local TV channel 6 that Candia had been in a “romantic relationship” with the man, who was 30 years her senior. The two girls were found just days before feminist activists held the 11th annual Ni Una Menos (Not a single woman less) anti-femicide march on Wednesday. The protest, which became the nucleus of a new wave of feminist activism across Latin America, was first held on 3 June 2015 after 14-year-old Chiara Páez was murdered by her boyfriend. This year’s march came two and a half years into the presidency of Milei, a far-right economist whose government has shuttered the ministry of women, genders and diversity, axed support for women fleeing gender-based violence, and moved to remove the crime of femicide (as distinct from murder), from the nation’s criminal code. Data compiled by the supreme court indicates that rates of femicide have fallen from 250 in 2023 – the final year of the previous government – to 200 in 2025. The government has argued that its economic reforms create a stronger and more stable economy, which they say leads to lower rates of violence without the need for state intervention. Feminist campaigners have rejected this narrative. They say much of the decline is because fewer femicides are properly registered. Moreover, the main jurisdiction that appears to be seeing a genuine drop in cases is the populous province of Buenos Aires – but this is controlled by the opposition, and unlike the national government, it still has a provincial ministry of women and diversity. “This decline that the government is claiming, which isn’t true, has to do with refusals to register a crime as a femicide,” said Lucía de la Vega, who coordinates work on violence against women at the Center for Legal and Social Studies, a human rights non-profit. “It also has to do with the elimination of places and entities that gathered statistics and registered violence against women.” Senator Carolina Losada, of the government-aligned Juntos por el Cambio party, has pushed a draft law that would introduce harsher punishments for false accusations of rape and other sexual crimes. However, a recent analysis by the public prosecutor’s office showed that just 0.09% of gender-based violence reports were false. Meanwhile, an estimated 77% of all crimes are never reported. The bill, and similar projects, have not been approved at present but, as support for survivors is withdrawn, such discourse makes it even harder for them to seek justice, said feminist lawyer Soledad Deza. When she heard of Agostina and Dulce’s cases, Deza felt “a great sense of powerlessness”, she said. “Given what we feminists have been warning of all along, it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy,” she added. Amid the outcry over the deaths of Vega and Candia, news broke of the killing of a 30-year-old woman on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Noelia Romero had called the police and told them that her boyfriend, Tomás Adrián Núñez, was holding her hostage. Officers went to the house, but while they spent hours waiting to be granted a warrant, Romero was murdered. Immediately afterwards, Núñez attempted to take his own life, according to local media. He was taken to hospital, where he was accused of the murder and formally placed in police custody. Núñez had previously been reported for gender-based violence by both Romero and a former partner.

Jamaican police officer charged with murder after woman shot during protest

Authorities in Jamaica have taken the rare step of charging a police officer with murder after he was accused of shooting a 45-year-old woman in a case that prompted violent protests. According to the Independent Commission of Investigations (Indecom), Constable Andrew Wilson appeared in court on Wednesday and was denied bail. Another hearing is scheduled for mid-June. The killing of Latoya “Buju” Bulgin on 17 May in north-west Jamaica sparked protests after footage circulated on social media showing an officer firing at her vehicle during a demonstration over police violence. According to Indecom, police were “conducting crowd control duties” during a protest in Granville, St James, against a police shooting days earlier, in which 17-year-old Tjey Edwards, identified by local media as Bulgin’s cousin, was killed. In the CCTV footage, Bulgin’s minivan is seen stationary at the side of the road as several people climb out. Police officers can be seen standing nearby. With one of the side doors still open, the vehicle starts to pull out into the road. Apparently without warning, an officer standing a few feet in front of the vehicle pulls a handgun and shoots at the driver, amid screams and cries from people nearby. Some people are seen running. Police officers are seen dragging Bulgin’s limp body out of the car and on to the ground and putting her in the back of a police pickup truck. The officers do not appear to make any attempt to offer first aid to the injured woman. Indecom and Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), a human rights group, have been calling for strengthened accountability in police fatal shootings through mechanisms such as body-worn cameras. No body camera was worn by the police officer accused of shooting Bulgin, and JFJ said the incident demonstrated the importance of independent footage. “Without the availability of that CCTV footage, we would not be in the position to even be having this conversation and we would not perhaps have seen the JCF high command responding,” the group’s executive director, Mickel Jackson, told Radio Jamaica News last month. In a statement on Wednesday, Indecom said the “prompt collection and analysis of video evidence” during its independent investigation into Bulgin’s death “assisted in establishing an objective understanding of this fatal shooting incident”. The commission has reported 140 fatal shootings so far this year in the country of 2.8 million people. Last year, JFJ staged a protest against what it described as a “significant and alarming” increase in fatal shootings by police. The PNP Women’s Movement, a branch of the opposition People’s National party, said the CCTV footage “raises serious questions about the use of lethal force by members of the security forces”. It also said it was “disturbing” how Bulgin’s body was thrown into the back of a police vehicle after she was shot. “This conduct falls below the respect that should be afforded to our citizens by members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force,” the group said. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights denounced Bulgin’s killing and urged a “prompt, independent, impartial and transparent inquiry”. With reporting by the Associated Press

Israel to continue ground operation in southern Lebanon despite agreed ceasefire – as it happened

Iran’s supreme leader Motjaba Khamenei said in a written statement read out by a cleric that “the enemy is experiencing a meaningful and profound humiliation in the field and the streets, and it is now focused on trickery.” “After Iran was able to repel the enemy, who was defeated on the battlefield, it now seeks to undermine the resilience of the Iranian people and sow discord. The US created a military base called Israel, and Iran will not back down from its stance toward Israel,” Khamenei wrote. Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Thursday that as long as Lebanese villages were being bombed and people were being killed, northern Israel will not be safe. It comes as Israeli strikes killed at least four people in Lebanon, according to local authorities, and a UN peacekeeper was killed in the crossfire on Thursday. Qassem also said that Hezbollah has rejected the latest ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and the Lebanese government, demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal. In a written statement read on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV on Thursday, the Iran-backed group’s leader said the agreement’s demand that Hezbollah fighters leave southern Lebanon under fire would mean “surrender, defeat and achieving the enemy’s goals.” Donald Trump has brushed off a House vote to rein in his powers to attack Iran without approval from Congress (see post at 12:34), saying it was “meaningless”. He singled out the four Republicans who joined Democrats to pass the bill in a vote of 215 to 208 yesterday. Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam said that the army would begin deploying in ‘pilot zones’ in the country’s south, a day after Israel and Lebanon agreed in Washington to implement a ceasefire. “The next step is practical and tangible: the deployment of the Lebanese army in pilot zones as a first phase,” Salam said, according to remarks read out by information minister Paul Morcos after a cabinet meeting, adding that “this does not prejudice our right to a full [Israeli] withdrawal, but brings us closer to it”. Israel’s Supreme Court has said Israel must allow visits to Palestinian prisoners by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), ruling in favour of a petition against a ban that was brought in at the start of the Gaza war. The bar on Red Cross visits to Palestinian detainees has restricted independent verification of their treatment, following reports of systemic abuse, starvation, and denial of medical care towards Palestinian prisoners. The UN peacekeeper who was killed in southern Lebanon (see post at 10:08) has been identified as a Serbian soldier. The Serbian defence ministry issued a statement naming the soldier as Milovan Jovanović. The UN nuclear watchdog has sent a report to member states repeating its calls on Iran to urgently inform the agency of the fate of its enriched uranium since its atomic sites were bombed a year ago and let inspections resume fully. “The [International Atomic Energy Agency] director-general has emphasised to Iran that it is indispensable and urgent to implement effectively the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) Safeguards Agreement... and that its implementation cannot be suspended by Iran under any circumstances,” the confidential report, seen by Reuters, said. Four Iranian-flagged oil tankers passed through the strait of Hormuz on Monday, a first since 15 April and the US blockade of Iranian ports, according to maritime tracking firm Kpler. In data published on Thursday, the firm detected the passage of the Hilda I, the Amber, the Silvia 1, and the Happiness I, which were carrying a total of seven million barrels of oil. In Gaza, at least nine people have been killed in overnight Israeli strikes, including members of the same family, according to Palestinian health officials. They were killed in at least four separate strikes in Gaza City, the al-Shifa hospital said, which received the bodies. Five members of one family were killed in a strike north-east of the city, the hospital reported, adding that 15 others were injured in the attacks.