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How extreme heat is exposing extreme inequality

Call it a tale of two heatwave experiences. As brutally hot conditions brought much of western Europe to its knees, an American writer living in Paris asserted that, for many, the heat was not “nearly as apocalyptic” as most media were suggesting. He said he had yet to buy a fan, instead relying on closed shutters, misting sessions and open windows in the evening to keep his ground-level flat cool. Less than 20km away, in a southern suburb of Paris, Aboubakar, 60, wept as he explained that temperatures had climbed as high as 40C inside his fourth-floor flat. “I’m suffocating,” he told the Guardian. “I can’t afford to buy a fan. There are no shutters on my flat. At night I can’t sleep, it’s like a furnace.” It’s a glimpse of a disparity that researchers in Europe and beyond have increasingly sought to highlight as the climate crisis intensifies. As scorching summer temperatures become the new normal, those living in poverty are disproportionately bearing the brunt. Julio Díaz Jiménez, a professor at Madrid’s Carlos III health institute, told me when I first started to dig into this: “It’s common sense. A heatwave is not the same when you’re in a shared room with three other people and no air conditioning, as when you’re in a villa with access to a pool and air conditioning.” This disparity burst into view in recent days, as the most severe heatwave on record swept across much of Europe, leaving up to 150 million people, from Bordeaux to Budapest, grappling with days of record-breaking temperatures. As the mercury soared past 40C at times, people got creative: heat-choked Parisians took to sleeping in parks, police in Berlin deployed water cannon to cool people down and households in Amsterdam hung curtains outside their windows to block out the sun. It soon became clear, however, that not everyone was equally exposed, or able to access such strategies. In the UK, hotels reported a surge in demand from people booking air-conditioned rooms. In the richest area west of Paris, some towns banned access to their municipal swimming pools for anyone coming from other areas, while in Germany, a public swimming lake turned away visitors who did not speak German. Others, including those who live in the half of French homes that have insufficient protection from high temperatures, said they had little choice but to suffer through the heat. Some live in heat-trap homes or concrete-heavy areas with little access to green spaces; many rely on crowded, hot buses to get around the city. Many spoke of struggling to access adequate healthcare, leaving them more likely to suffer conditions that could be exacerbated by extreme heat or working in sectors where they are regularly exposed to high temperatures, such as agriculture and construction. *** The hardest hit As Asad Rehman, chief executive of Friends of the Earth, told the Guardian, the heat “throws a grenade into every vulnerability you already have”. The sharp divergence in experiences should set off alarm bells for policymakers across Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent. As my colleague Ajit Niranjan pointed out in a climate crisis Q&A this week: “Each year heat kills 10 times more people than murderers in Europe.” The point was underlined by recent research suggesting that the combination of extreme temperatures and inequality could be responsible for more than 100,000 deaths a year in Europe. Instead, the heatwave laid bare just how unprepared much of Europe is for extreme heat, with most people left to their own devices to cope. A fuller picture of the consequences of this most recent heatwave is now beginning to emerge, as France’s national public health agency said about 1,000 additional deaths were recorded between 24 and 27 June, while in Spain, a public institute suggested that the heatwave could be linked to more than 600 deaths. It’s a bleak display of how the climate crisis is exacerbating inequalities, argued the leftwing Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, launched by Greece’s former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis in a stark social media post. “This heat is not only a climate emergency, but it is also a class war,” it said. “The rich burn the planet, then buy air conditioning, private pools and second homes while workers are left in overheated flats, unsafe jobs, failed public services and burning cities.” To receive the complete version of This Is Europe in your inbox every Wednesday, please subscribe here.

Bayeux tapestry tickets generate nine-hour online queues as public scramble for access

People keen to see the Bayeux tapestry faced online queues of up to nine hours when tickets went on sale for the first time on Wednesday morning. The British Museum, which is hosting the wool-on-linen artwork from September, saw huge traffic to its ticketing website as a scramble for access began. There were reports of 40,000 people queueing by mid morning, with that figure ballooning to almost 80,000 by mid afternoon. Those queueing online were told: “We’re currently experiencing high levels of demand. Booking online is still recommended however wait times may extend up to nine hours.” Those waiting were asked to “be patient” and were advised queueing online was still a better option than contacting the museum’s “exceptionally busy” phone lines or email inbox. Ticket sales today would be for slots between the show’s opening in September and December. Two other releases will follow in October and January for the remainder of the tapestry’s historic stay in Britain, which runs until July 2027. Tickets are priced at £33 during peak times, which is almost triple the €12 (£10) charged where it is normally on display in Normandy. Off-peak tickets will cost adults £27; it is estimated that the British Museum could generate more than £8.6m from the exhibition. The museum’s director, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, defended the ticket prices in advance of the sale. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Well, £33 are the peak tickets. “The majority of tickets are off-peak, so they’re less and all children under 16 will see it for free. We felt it was very important to make this something that all young people have access to.” The tapestry’s arrival in Britain is one of the most anticipated cultural moments of the year and is closely tied to the soft power agenda of both Britain and France. In exchange for allowing the British Museum to show the tapestry – which is almost 1,000 years old and depicts William the Conqueror’s victory over King Harold II of England at Hastings in 1066 – the Lewis chessmen, the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Mold gold cape and the Dunaverney flesh hook will travel to Normandy. The 70-metre-long cloth has not been seen in England since it was created in the 11th century and has been insured for £800m before the British Museum exhibition. It is covered under the Government Indemnity Scheme, an alternative to commercial insurance that allows art and cultural objects to be shown in the UK. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has faced a backlash for allowing the loan to go ahead, critics saying he ignored expert advice that said the artefact was too fragile to be transported to UK. French campaigners sought to block the loan by taking their case to the Conseil d’État, France’s highest court for determining the legitimacy of executive power. Despite those efforts the tapestry will come to the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027, and joins France’s 1963 loan of the Mona Lisa to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as one of the most high-profile loans ever. The piece will be transported in a specially designed container made to absorb any shocks and vibrations from potholes, while humidity levels will be closely monitored.

EU must keep promises on Ukraine accession talks, says Zelenskyy, as Ireland takes presidency – as it happened

We are now closing the blog. Here is your summary of the day so far: Ireland’s prime minister Micheál Martin has pledged to “give it our all” as Ireland begins its six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union and lead the bloc’s discussions on the next EU budget, Ukraine, and accession talks (15:24). Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union will be one of the central issues of the presidency, with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urging the bloc to “show that the EU keeps its promises” (15:39). Ever an optimist, the European Council president António Costa said “we will be counting on the Irish humour and charm to see us through” (15:46). In other news, At least five people were killed and more injured in a fire in a 10-storey apartment tower in the Belgian city of Antwerp (13:07, 13:35), with the country’s monarch and prime minister set to visit the scene later today (16:49). A rebel group of ultra-conservative Catholics has defied Pope Leo by ordaining bishops without his consent, which they declared a “sacred duty” despite it causing their automatic excommunication. Canada will join the Eurovision song contest in 2027, becoming the first new ⁠participant since Australia in 2015, organisers have announced. If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

Fears of Catholic schism as defiant sect ordains ultra-conservative bishops

A rebel group of ultra-conservative Catholics has defied Pope Leo by ordaining bishops without his consent, which they declared a “sacred duty” despite it causing their automatic excommunication. In a ritual-filled ceremony on Wednesday, streamed live from the Swiss village of Ecône, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) went ahead with the consecrations of four bishops, one from Switzerland, one from France and two from the US. Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, who himself was consecrated without papal consent in 1988, placed his hands on the head of the four new bishops, a ritual laying of the hands that Catholics believe confers the Holy Spirit from one bishop to another. Under Catholic church law, all five now face automatic excommunication. The SSPX, founded in 1970 in Ecône to oppose liberalising changes in the Catholic church, is a considered a threat to Pope Leo’s leadership since it represents a parallel, ultra-Catholic church. The pontiff had made a last-ditch effort to persuade the society to halt the ordinations, calling them a “schismatic act” and a “sin of extreme gravity”. But, as the mass began on Wednesday, a priest read aloud a statement defending the consecrations while lamenting the Catholic church’s deviation from tradition. “Therefore before God we consider it a sacred duty toward holy church and toward souls to proceed with the consecration of bishops who are entirely faithful to her holy tradition and to her constant magisterium,” the priest said. “We consider every punishment and censure brought to bear against this step will have no validity.” Organ music played and a large crowd gathered to watch as hundreds of priests processed through the mountain village towards the society’s seminary, where the ordinations were carried out. Among those in the crowd were members of the Italian neofascist party Forza Nuova, and Futuro Nazionale, a new far-right force threatening the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s chances of winning a second mandate in general elections next year. Despite being a splinter group, the SSPX has a wide reach, gaining a significant following in the US, where it has a large operations base in Kansas, as well as in France, Argentina and other countries. The order has nearly 1,500 priests, seminarians and other vocational members. The society rejects central changes that emerged from the Second Vatican Council – a landmark Vatican gathering of cardinals, patriarchs, bishops, theological experts and others between 1962 and 1965 – including allowing mass to be celebrated in local languages. Until then it had been said only in Latin. However, the live stream of Wednesday’s ceremony, carried out in French, was translated into English, German, Italian and Polish. During the offertory, a QR code appeared on the screen so that those following remotely could make donations. The ordinations could prove to be the first significant crisis for Pope Leo because they provoke a schism – an intentional rupture of the church’s unity. Since Leo was elected in May last year, the first North American pope, he has made church unity a priority and has worked especially hard to heal rifts with traditionalists, which had deepened during the papacy of his predecessor, Francis. The clash is the first between the Vatican and the SSPX since 1988, when Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the society’s founder, and four bishops he had ordained without the permission of the then pope, John Paul II, were excommunicated, including a British bishop, Richard Williamson. In 2009, the conservative Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications. Shortly before, Williamson had caused uproar by denying the Holocaust.

Venezuelan police officers arrested over alleged looting after earthquakes

Four Venezuelan police officers have been arrested and are facing dismissal after being accused of looting cash from the rubble of a building that collapsed during last week’s devastating twin earthquakes. Local people and national and international rescue teams continue to search for survivors in the aftermath of the back-to-back quakes, which have killed almost 2,000 people, injured more than 10,000, and left tens of thousands missing. Videos on social media showed angry people trying to stop members of the scientific, penal and criminalistic investigation service corps (CICPC) helping themselves to a safe full of dollars from a ruined building in the hard-hit state of La Guaira. In a statement, the CICPC said four officers had been arrested and relieved of their duties, and disciplinary action for their “immediate dismissal” had begun. “In light of the recent events in the areas affected by the earthquakes in La Guaira state, it was confirmed that a group of officers, deviating from their duties and taking advantage of the rescue and humanitarian aid efforts, acted improperly by appropriating valuables found among the rubble,” the statement said. “This individual conduct, reprehensible and contrary to the fundamental values of our doctrine, directly undermines the institution’s prestige and public respect.” Although a three-year-old boy was pulled alive from the rubble of a building in La Guaira on Tuesday, hopes of finding more survivors are dwindling. Meanwhile, public anger over the slow pace of the government’s rescue effort – and over the conduct of some members of the military and police – is growing. Volunteers, many equipped with little more than with shovels, ropes and their bare hands, say they are doing everything they can to locate survivors while, they say, some Venezuelan military and police personnel are looting, blocking aid and co-opting donations. On Wednesday hundreds of volunteers were still streaming into La Guaira, the disaster’s ground zero, to offer their support. “We want to do everything we can to help,” said Fabiano Nadales, 35, a volunteer from the city of Valencia who was travelling on the back of a pickup truck with a team of about 15 medical students and amateur searchers. Nadales said he still had hope that more survivors could be found. “Miracles happen. Some people can survive 10 days,” he said as his convoy waited in a huge traffic jam. “It’s really tough … but we are just trying to help,” said Estefania Callejas, 25, a third-year medical student from Valencia who was also among those battling to reach the scene in the hope of helping treat the thousands of walking wounded. Senior government officials have blamed misinformation for the growing civilian anger and ⁠reports of military personnel involvement in looting and slow aid. They have urged the public to ignore “manipulation strategies on social networks” and rely on official information. But some of the volunteer rescuers say they see little evidence of the authorities rushing to help, a week after the disaster hit. “You see the ⁠firefighters and [Mexican rescue team] Los Topos,” Alexander Delgado, a teacher from the central ⁠Venezuelan state of Aragua, told Reuters. “But you don’t see the state, per se.” His team has spent five days shifting rubble and listening intently for sounds of life under the hot Caribbean sun in La Guaira. They are supported by other local volunteers, who bring water, face masks, ice and knowledge about the eight-tower Hugo Chávez housing development, where six towers are now debris. Venezuela’s ministry of communications, which handles media inquiries for the military and police, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. By Tuesday, six days in, there ‌were two international rescue teams and some local firefighters, as well ‌as one truck from Venezuela’s forensic service, but they still lacked heavy equipment, said Delgado. Mijaed Díaz, a veterinarian who had joined other volunteers, also said more help was needed from the Venezuelan authorities. “I would like more presence of public entities, who really are those responsible for this,” he said as he looked for body bags for four cadavers that had just been pulled from the rubble. “But in the end we’re used to making do with almost nothing.” Daniela Armas, who was waiting to get food in an emergency shelter in La Guaira, said the situation was desperate. “They give out supplies here, but sometimes people nearly kill each other for food,” she told Agence France-Presse. “It’s like a cockfight.” After initially thanking civilian volunteers, the government on Friday restricted public access to La Guaira, enraging people trying to help find survivors. One government employee stationed at a checkpoint in La Guaira on Sunday told Reuters they had witnessed police officers and military personnel commandeer aid from three trucks carrying supplies, bragging about what they had managed to “score”. The acting Venezuelan president, Delcy Rodríguez, is trying to shore up her power after the US snatched her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, in January. “Delcy and company have been in charge for 26 years and they only have one script,” said James Story, who was the US ambassador to Venezuela until 2023. “They take credit for anything positive, push blame for anything negative and try to control the narrative.” Donald Trump, however, has hailed the US relationship with Rodríguez, and American companies have expressed interest in everything from oil to gold. The US embassy’s charge d’affaires, John Barrett, also vouched for Rodriguez’s handling of the disaster, telling Univision on Monday that he had “a great deal of confidence” in local authorities. The 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude shocks – one of the worst earthquake disasters in Latin American history – collapsed whole residential complexes on 24 June. Preliminary analysis of satellite data suggests that more than 58,000 buildings may have been damaged or destroyed in the quake, dwarfing official estimates of the devastation. On Monday, Jorge Rodríguez, the president of the National Assembly, said 855 buildings had been damaged, including 189 “total collapses”. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report

Businessman accused of ordering Daphne Caruana Galizia murder stands trial in Malta

The businessman accused of ordering the murder of the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has gone on trial, more than nine years after her death in a car-bomb attack that sent shockwaves through Europe. Yorgen Fenech, the heir to a property empire worth hundreds of millions, is one of seven men prosecutors accused of involvement in the killing, and the last to face trial. He faces two charges: complicity in the voluntary homicide of Caruana Galizia, and association with a person or persons in Malta with the intention of committing a crime there. He denies the charges. The attorney general has called for a life sentence for the murder charge and between 20 and 30 years for the criminal association charge. A jury was sworn in on Wednesday morning at the courts of justice in Malta’s capital, Valletta. Of the other six men already prosecuted in relation to the murder, five were convicted and one secured a pardon in exchange for testimony. Caruana Galizia died in 2017, shortly after a general election in Malta that was dominated by revelations from her investigations. A magazine publisher, newspaper columnist and blogger, she was one of the most recognised media figures in the country. Her reporting on leading government and business figures had made her a target of repeated attacks by politicians and their supporters. A subsequent public inquiry, demanded by her family, concluded the state had allowed “an atmosphere of impunity” to spread from the highest level of government to regulators and the police, leading to a collapse in the rule of law and creating a “favourable climate” for her murder. Caruana Galizia’s car swerved off the road into a field shortly before 3pm on 16 October 2017, as she was driving away from her home in the village of Bidnija. A powerful bomb contained in a children’s shoebox had been placed under the driver’s seat. The bombers, who prosecutors say were paid €150,000 (£130,000) to carry out the attack, had broken into the vehicle the night before after weeks spent watching her movements and planning the attack. Her son Matthew Caruana Galizia, who had been with her at home, was the first to arrive on the scene, discovering her remains in the burning wreckage of the car. She was 53. Three men accused of planting the bomb were arrested soon afterwards in a televised raid on a warehouse in the docks of Marsa, across the harbour from the capital. Brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, and their friend Vincent Muscat were taken into custody. The investigation then appeared to stall. Reporting by Reuters and the Times of Malta eventually revealed that Muscat and a taxi driver who claimed to have been the middleman had offered to testify. The driver, Melvin Theuma, who is expected to give evidence at Fenech’s trial, claims it was the businessman who ordered and paid for the killing. Theuma was arrested on 14 November 2019, clutching an ice-cream box containing USB drives with copies of what he claims are covertly recorded conversations with Fenech that the prosecution is relying on. Fenech’s team have requested the original recordings and claim Theuma’s testimony contains “half truths” and “blantant lies”. On the night of Theuma’s arrest, his lawyers, determined to preserve the evidence, sent the material to The Hague, where it was held at Europol’s offices for safekeeping. The then prime minister, Joseph Muscat, responded by announcing on 19 November that Theuma, whom he did not name at the time, had been offered a presidential pardon and immunity from prosecution in exchange for information about the killing. In the early hours of 20 November 2019, Fenech boarded his yacht, Gio, and set to sea. The vessel had been docked in Portomaso marina, a luxury development of waterfront apartments and restaurants overlooked by a 23-floor tower and owned by Fenech’s family company, Tumas Group. The Maltese military intercepted the yacht and forced it back to harbour, where Fenech was arrested. As more details of the case emerged, Joseph Muscat’s government was engulfed in a political and constitutional crisis. The pressure on him to resign mounted and he stepped down in December 2019. In the months and years that followed, Fenech was held in custody while the prosecutions of his co-accused ran their course. Vincent Muscat was given a reduced sentence of 15 years and a presidential pardon after pleading guilty to all charges, including wilful homicide, and testifying against the Degiorgio brothers. They at first denied the charges against them, which also included wilful homicide, before changing their pleas to guilty on the first day of their trial in October 2022. A plea bargain reduced their sentences from life to 40 years. Two men accused of supplying the bomb, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella, were sentenced to life in June 2025. They are not eligible for parole or any other form of early release. Theuma has been living under a witness protection scheme since 2019. Fenech’s legal team have brought repeated challenges, including questioning whether the extensive publicity around the case has jeopardised his right to a fair trial. Delays bringing the case to trial meant the state was eventually obliged to grant him bail in February 2025. He was released under strict conditions after agreeing to what is believed to be Malta’s largest ever bail. He paid an €80,000 deposit and pledged a €120,000 personal guarantee, while his aunt put her shareholding in Tumas Group, estimated to be worth aabout €50m, up as security. Strict reporting conditions in the run-up to the trial meant the scheduled date could not be disclosed in advance. • This article was amended on 1 July 2026. Daphne Caruana Galizia died on 16 October 2017, not 17 October as an earlier version said.

Sudan’s RSF committed crimes against humanity in El Fasher, Amnesty says

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing during its campaign to capture El Fasher, Amnesty International has alleged. Many of the crimes, including murder, torture, rape, enslavement and sexual slavery, were carried out as part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians and amounted to crimes against humanity, the human rights organisation said in a report released on Wednesday. In the report, Amnesty also accused the RSF of deliberately targeting children during attacks in the city in North Darfur state. In October, the paramilitary force captured El Fasher, the last stronghold of the Sudan armed forces in the Darfur region, after an 18-month siege. The brutal takeover was marked by widespread massacres, with tens of thousands of people killed. In February, an independent fact-finding mission for the UN said the RSF’s seizure of El Fasher showed “hallmarks of genocide” against non-Arab communities. For the report, Amnesty interviewed 247 people, including 208 survivors of the fighting in the city and surrounding areas. It also analysed documentary and video material, and carried out analysis of satellite imagery from North Darfur. Amnesty concluded that the RSF had committed war crimes in El Fasher and surrounding areas between mid-2024 and late 2025. It found the paramilitary force had often targeted non-Arab civilians and repeatedly used derogatory and dehumanising language in attacks. The RSF committed the crime against humanity of persecution on the basis of ethnicity, Amnesty concluded. The human rights organisation said RSF’s destruction of towns and villages between December 2024 and March 2025 including Abu Zerega, which is populated by non-Arab ethnic groups, was consistent with ethnic cleansing. The report said the abuses carried out by the paramilitary force had orphaned countless children and displaced hundreds of thousands of others, exposing them to death and injury during attacks or while fleeing. Agnès Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said: “The war in Sudan is a war on civilians. The world was warned of the horrors that civilians in El Fasher confronted as the RSF laid siege to the city. It is a stain on the conscience of humanity.” The report named three RSF commanders whom it said were responsible for serious violations of international law: Maj Gen Gedo Hamdan Ahmed Mohamed, also known as “Abu Shok”, Lt Col Abbas Khater Bakhit and commander Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, also known as “Abu Lulu”. The Sudanese civil war began in April 2023 when a power struggle between the Sudan armed forces led by Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF headed by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, erupted into violence in the capital, Khartoum. The fighting has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced more. Amnesty called for an immediate ceasefire and for the urgent deployment of an international force to protect civilians. Callamard said: “The international community must move beyond statements of concern and take concrete steps to protect civilians, breaking the cycle of impunity.”

Salzburg bans tourists from driving into historic centre over summer

Salzburg has begun enforcing a summer ban on visitors driving into its historic centre, picking up a policy modelled by other car-choked European cities plagued by overtourism. Authorities in Austria’s fourth largest municipal area said they hoped the “less traffic, more city” restrictions in July and August would reduce the number of vehicle entries by 1,000 a day. As part of the campaign against gridlock, park-and-ride facilities are offering a day ticket including travel on local public transport for five people for €7.50 (£6.45). “We don’t want chaotic traffic situations like we saw last year,” said the mayor, Bernhard Auinger, when he announced the measure in May. “It is aimed at day trippers who travel by car from farther afield. It is important to me that residents of the central Salzburg area and business-related traffic are not affected by this.” Auinger said tourists themselves, drawn to attractions such as Mozart’s birthplace and the baroque-style 17th-century cathedral, would also benefit from the policy. “It’s certainly much better than spending hours stuck in traffic. And it also makes life a lot easier for the people who live and work in the city of Salzburg.” The mayor said mounting complaints by residents about traffic during the summer months had prompted the city to take action. “We basically allowed tourists to drive into our sitting room,” he told the news website Salzburg24. Patrolling police officers will impose fines of up to €80 on any drivers with numberplates from outside the Salzburg region entering the old town in the radius around the Staatsbrücke (state bridge) spanning the Salzach River. Exceptions will be granted to commuters, delivery vehicles, taxis and rental cars, as well as disabled visitors and hotel guests with a reservation confirmation in the restricted zone. German motorists from the neighbouring Bavarian areas of Berchtesgaden and Bad Reichenhall are also exempted. Heidi Strobl, of the local tourism board, said Salzburg’s policy, approved by the city council in May, had taken a page from the zona a traffico limitato (limited traffic zones) in Italian cities such as Rome, Florence and Pisa as well as a ban in Dubrovnik, Croatia, after they had become inundated with tourist vehicles during the summer months. Salzburg, whose historic centre is a Unesco world heritage site, has just over 158,000 residents but records more than 3m overnight stays each year. Last year’s celebrations of the 60th anniversary of The Sound of Music, the classic movie filmed in the Salzburg region, spurred an extra tourist boom.