Storm batters Greece, killing one, flooding homes and disrupting travel
Greek authorities have recovered the body of a man in the seaside holiday town of Nea Makri, 35 kilometres (21.75 miles) northeast of Athens, a fire brigade official told Reuters on Thursday
International News via Reuters:
A man died and dozens of homes were flooded after heavy rain and gale-force winds battered Greece, leaving authorities rushing to repair damage on Thursday.
Greek authorities have recovered the body of a man in the seaside holiday town of Nea Makri, 35 kilometres (21.75 miles) northeast of Athens, a fire brigade official told Reuters on Thursday. The man was believed to have been carried away by a torrent and trapped under a car as he attempted to cross a flooded street, local media reported.
The fire brigade said it has received hundreds of calls to rescue people trapped in floodwater and help clear roads of fallen trees as the Erminio storm swept through Athens and several islands in the Aegean Sea on Wednesday.
Early on Thursday, crews were still removing debris, pumping water from flooded buildings and repairing damaged infrastructure east of the capital. Authorities also banned some ferries from sailing from the port of Piraeus near Athens to the Greek islands.
On the Mediterranean island of Crete, skies turned an eerie orange on Wednesday as winds of up to force 9 on the Beaufort scale carried dust from North Africa, disrupting flights.
Greece, which sits at Europe’s southernmost tip, has suffered destructive floods and wildfires in recent years, which analysts attribute to a rapidly warming climate.
Reporting by Stamos Prousalis, Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Ros Russell
Macron says it is unrealistic to open Hormuz Strait by force
“Some people defend the idea of freeing the Strait of Hormuz by force via a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States, although it has varied,”
International News via Reuters:
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday it would be unrealistic to launch a military operation to force open the Strait of Hormuz, after U.S. President Donald Trump challenged U.S. allies to work towards reopening it.
“Some people defend the idea of freeing the Strait of Hormuz by force via a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States, although it has varied,” Macron told reporters during a trip to South Korea.
“This was never the option we have supported because it is unrealistic,” he added. “It would take forever, and would expose all those who go through the strait to risks from the guardians of the revolution but also ballistic missiles,” he said.
Reporting by Michel Rose, Editing by Dominique Vidalon
Four suspects in foiled BofA Paris bombing put in pre-trial detention
The explosive device was the most powerful of its kind discovered in France and “could have generated … a powerful fireball several metres in diameter and spread a fire,”
International News via Reuters:
A man and three minors have been put in pre-trial detention as part of investigations into a foiled March bomb attack on the Bank of America’s Paris office, authorities said – a plot that officials say may be linked to a pro-Iranian group.
The explosive device was the most powerful of its kind discovered in France and “could have generated … a powerful fireball several metres in diameter and spread a fire,” the anti-terrorism prosecutor said late on Wednesday.
The adult and three minors aged 16 and 17 are under formal investigation on suspicion of manufacturing, transporting and handling an explosive device and trying to destroy property as part of a terrorist organization, according to the statement.
All four denied terrorist intent, it added. The adult said he was contacted on a social network by someone who identified themselves as an intermediary and then sent him the device, according to the statement.
The teenagers acknowledged knowing the target was not a residential building, it added. There were no immediate statements from any lawyers representing the suspects.
Being placed under formal investigation in France does not imply guilt, but indicates judges consider there is enough evidence to proceed with the probe. Investigations can last years before being sent to trial or dropped.
France suspects a pro-Iranian group known as HAYI could be behind the plot that was foiled on March 28, even though the link has not yet been formally established, the prosecutor said earlier this week.
HAYI had posted a video on social media on March 23 specifically naming Bank of America’s Paris headquarters.
Investigators established through CCTV footage, phone data and police interviews that the adult had recruited the three teenagers between the nights of March 26 and 27, paying them between 500 and 1,000 euros ($580-$1,160) to plant the device, light it and film the scene, the prosecutor’s office said.
The three minors had no criminal record and the adult was convicted in a drug-related case in 2025, according to the statement. A fifth person was arrested and interrogated by police but later freed for lack of evidence.
Reporting by Inti Landauro, Editing by Dominique Vidalon and Andrew Heavens
Ahead of Greek social media ban, parents desperate to separate children from phones
The government has declined comment on the ban or when and how it will be implemented
International News via Reuters:
Greek mother Georgia Efstathiou has tried everything to loosen the grip that social media has on her 14-year-old son: heart-to-heart talks; internet-free time; confiscating his phone. Arguments flare as she fights the allure of his screen and its videos and messages.
Now, Efstathiou may be getting the help she desperately wants. In the coming days, the Greek government is expected to announce a social media ban for children under 15, joining the growing ranks of nations seeking to shield young children from addiction and online abuse.
“Ban them, shut them down. We’ve reached our limits… We parents need help,” said Efstathiou, 43, holding her son’s mobile phone in her living room in Athens.
Efstathiou isn’t alone. An opinion poll by ALCO published in February showed about 80% of those surveyed approved of a ban. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government has already outlawed mobile phones in schools and set up parental control platforms to limit teenagers’ screen time.
The government has declined comment on the ban or when and how it will be implemented.
Reuters reported on the plan in February and sources said a formal announcement is pending. Last month, Mitsotakis told a Greek-Australian newspaper that Greece will move “in a similar direction to that of Australia”, where social media companies were ordered in December to keep out users under 16 or face fines.
WORRIES OF ADDICTION AND BULLYING ABOUND
As in countries across the world, Greece faces a reckoning with social media sites such as Meta’s Instagram, TikTok and online gaming platforms.
At the EU-funded Greek Safer Internet Centre in Athens, calls to a helpline which offers support to child victims of cyberbullying more than doubled between 2024 and 2025, said George Kormas, who runs the helpline. Other complaints include blackmail of minors, misinformation and hate speech.
According to the helpline’s data, 75% of children using social media in Greece are of primary‑school age.
“This undoubtedly worries us, because they cannot handle social media or protect themselves,” he said.
The head of the National Organization for the Prevention and Treatment of Addictions, Athanasios Theocharis, said roughly 48% of teenagers have felt the negative impact of social media.
“Clearly (the ban) has the potential to provide a significant degree of protection,” he said.
KIDS CAN’T IMAGINE A LIFE WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA
Meanwhile, parents who spoke to Reuters fear they have lost control of what their children do online or expressed concern that kids will find a way around the ban. Some prefer no government intervention at all.
“I’d prefer a different approach, limiting mobile phone use within the family,” said Dimitris, 44. “But where that’s not possible, perhaps a ban would work as the extreme remedy.”
His 14-year-old daughter Catherine says most teenagers her age have never known a world without social media.
“It is the way we learned since we were born,” she told Reuters, before playing basketball with her father near the Acropolis.
“I can control it — but then again I usually get carried away.”
Additional reporting by Deborah Kyvrikosaios and Louisa Gouliamaki in Athens; Editing by Edward McAllister and Lincoln Feast
Energy crisis raises concerns for financial stability, ECB’s Panetta warns
Addressing a conference in Rome, Panetta said changes in global investors’ risk perception could quickly lead to pressure on government bonds, especially given high levels of public debt in many economies, such as Italy
International News via Reuters:
Tensions in the energy markets due to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran are a cause of concern for their potential repercussions on financial stability, European Central Bank Governing Council member Fabio Panetta said on Thursday.
Addressing a conference in Rome, Panetta said changes in global investors’ risk perception could quickly lead to pressure on government bonds, especially given high levels of public debt in many economies, such as Italy.
“There are already signs pointing in this direction, as the rise in the value of the dollar, pressure on long-term interest rates and capital outflows from emerging markets reflect a growing preference for safer assets,” he said.
At the same event, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the war could boost migration flows if the Strait of Hormuz, normally the conduit for large amounts of fertiliser for Africa in particular, as well as oil and gas, remained largely blocked.
Panetta also warned about liquidity and leverage levels in non-bank financial institutions, with investors having growing concerns about the U.S. private credit sector.
Even if there were a swift end to the war, which has embroiled the whole Gulf region, a return to normal production would take time, Panetta said, pointing to more pessimistic ECB scenarios that energy supply would recover in the fourth quarter of 2026 or in 2027.
Euro zone inflation rose sharply to 2.5% in March from 1.9% in February as energy prices surged.
These data “highlight the intensity and speed with which the energy shock is being transmitted, whose effects are also likely to be reflected in the data for the coming months as well”, Panetta said.
“At the same time, the trend in leading indicators, in particular the decline in household confidence, points to a possible slowdown in the real economy.”
Despite the darkening outlook, both Panetta and Tajani said Italy was in a better position now than when Russia began its war on Ukraine in 2022, as investors had a more favourable perception of Italy’s public finances.
“This has kept us safe so far,” Panetta said.
Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Kevin Liffey
UK firms report biggest jump in price expectations in nearly two years, BoE survey shows
The BoE is keeping a close watch on companies’ pricing plans as it tries to gauge how much of the spike in energy prices caused by the Iran war will be passed on and push up inflation
International News via Reuters:
British companies expect to raise prices more quickly in the coming 12 months as they respond to a surge in energy prices due to the Iran war, cut jobs and raise pay by less than before, a Bank of England survey showed on Thursday.
The BoE is keeping a close watch on companies’ pricing plans as it tries to gauge how much of the spike in energy prices caused by the Iran war will be passed on and push up inflation.
The monthly Decision Maker Panel showed firms polled in March expected to raise their prices by 3.7% over the next year, the most since October.
This rate was up from 3.4% among firms surveyed in February, before the start of the conflict, and represents the biggest month-to-month increase in the rate since April 2024.
BoE Governor Andrew Bailey told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday that firms had limited pricing power to pass on cost increases to their customers although some pass-through of higher energy costs was likely.
Firms’ expected year-ahead wage growth fell to 3.5% on a three-month moving-average basis in March and 3.4% on a monthly basis, both the lowest since the series started in 2022.
Companies also said they expected to cut jobs, with average staffing levels expected to fall 0.3% over the coming year compared with a 0.3% increase expected in February.
Businesses expected consumer price inflation of 3.5% in the coming 12 months, the highest since December 2023 and 0.5 percentage points higher than in February, making it the biggest month-on-month jump since September 2022.
“More dovish members on the Monetary Policy Committee will likely be tempted to discount that increase as news-driven noise for now. But rate setters will be acutely aware of other measures of households’ inflation expectations jumping recently … so risks of second-round effects will remain a major worry,” said Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
Britain’s headline rate of inflation held at 3.0% in February and had been expected to fall to near the BoE’s 2% target in April before the Middle East conflict, but the BoE now forecasts it will rise towards 3.5% in the middle of the year.
Investors added to their bets on interest rate hikes by the central bank on Thursday and are fully pricing in two quarter-point hikes this year.
The BoE survey was conducted from March 6-20, after the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran started on February 28, and received 2,004 responses.
Reporting by Suban Abdulla; editing by David Milliken, Alexandra Hudson
UK to host talks with 35 countries on reopening Strait of Hormuz
British foreign minister Yvette Cooper will chair the virtual meeting of about 35 countries including France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the United Arab Emirates around midday in London
International News via Reuters:
Britain will host talks on Thursday aimed at forming a coalition of countries to explore ways to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. President Donald Trump said securing the vital waterway was a problem for other nations to resolve.
British foreign minister Yvette Cooper will chair the virtual meeting of about 35 countries including France, Germany, Italy, Canada and the United Arab Emirates around midday in London to explore ways to restore freedom of navigation in the area. The United States is not due to attend.
The meeting takes place after Trump said in an address to his nation on Wednesday evening that the Strait could open “naturally” and it was the responsibility of countries that rely on the waterway to ensure it was open.
FOCUS ON MINES, PROTECTING TANKERS
Iran has effectively shut down the Strait, which carries about a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption, in retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes which began in late February. Reopening the waterway has become a priority for governments around the world as energy prices soar.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday the meeting would assess “all viable diplomatic and political measures” to restore the freedom of navigation in the area after a ceasefire has been reached.
European countries initially refused Trump’s demand to send their navies to the area because of fears about being dragged into the conflict.
But concerns about the impact of the rising cost of energy on the global economy have prompted them to try to form a coalition to explore ways to reopen the waterway once a ceasefire is agreed, according to European officials.
The talks on Thursday will be the first formal meeting of the group before more detailed discussions involving military planners over the coming weeks, the officials said.
One European official said it was expected that any first phase of any plan for reopening the Strait would be on ensuring the waterway was free of mines, followed by a second phase to protect tankers crossing the area.
Starmer said reopening the waterway would “not be easy” and would require “a united front of military strength and diplomatic activity” alongside working with the shipping industry.
Trump said on Wednesday that other countries that use the Strait of Hormuz should “build up some delayed courage” and “just grab it”.
“Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves,” he said.
Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Andrew Heavens
Sterling slides as Trump vows more strikes on Iran, driving up dollar
Sterling was last down 0.7% at $1.321, just a day after rising 0.6% on hopes that the war could soon be winding down
International News via Reuters:
The pound fell sharply on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran and gave little reassurance about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil surging and investors flocking to the U.S. dollar.
Sterling was last down 0.7% at $1.321, just a day after rising 0.6% on hopes that the war could soon be winding down.
The fall was largely a function of a jump in the dollar, which is seen as a safe-haven asset. The index measuring the U.S. currency against its peers rose 0.5%.
In a televised address on Wednesday, Trump said military operations would be intensified in the next two to three weeks and offered no concrete timeline for ending the conflict.
“We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” he said. “We’re going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.”
Trump said the U.S. did not need the Strait of Hormuz and again challenged allies who depend on Gulf oil to work towards reopening it.
Oil prices jumped after Trump’s speech and stock markets and equity futures tumbled. Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last up 6.6% at $107.90 a barrel.
“Risk aversion is following the typical playbook that we’ve seen throughout the conflict,” said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.
“Crude rallying, and taking everything but the dollar lower in turn, with the greenback remaining the only real safe haven.”
The pound and British government bonds have been hit hard during the conflict, reflecting worries about the economy due to the country’s reliance on imported energy and its fragile public finances.
Sterling dipped against the euro on Thursday, with the euro zone’s currency up 0.15% at 87.24 pence.
Reporting by Harry Robertson; Editing by Jan Harvey
Registration opens for municipal elections
The Parliamentary Registry asks eligible voters to review their details ahead of the 7 April 2026 deadline
The Parliamentary Registry advises that the Writ of Election has been issued for the Ordinary Municipal Elections for the Corporation of Hamilton and the Corporation of St. George.
In accordance with the Parliamentary Election Act 1978, a seven (7) day registration period is now open for eligible business ratepayers and residents within the municipal areas to ensure their details are current and that they are properly registered to participate in the upcoming elections.
The registration period will close on Tuesday, 7 April 2026. All applications and updates must be completed by the end of this period.
Eligible persons are strongly encouraged to review their registration details as soon as possible by visiting the Parliamentary Registry’s website at https://elections.gov.bm/.
Please note that applications for registration or updates are not available online and must be completed in person at the Parliamentary Registry.
Nomination Day has been appointed for Wednesday, 23 April 2026. Advanced Polling will take place on Wednesday, 30 April 2026, and Polling Day has been set for Wednesday, 7 May 2026.
The Parliamentary Registry remains committed to ensuring that all eligible voters are afforded the opportunity to participate in the electoral process and encourages timely action to avoid any inconvenience.
For further information, members of the public may visit the website or contact the Parliamentary Registry directly on 293-VOTE.
Rider and driver sustain non-life-threatening injuries
Police continue inquiries and ask witnesses to contact Constable Thomas Greenslade
A collision involving a male motorcyclist and a car around 7:25pm Tuesday, 31st March 2026, has apparently resulted in less serious injuries for the rider than initially believed.
The man hurt, understood to be a 42-year-old Pembroke resident, was medically assessed and ultimately treated at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
The car driver, said to be a 58-year-old Pembroke man, also sustained non-life threatening injuries.
Both vehicles were damaged and traffic diversions lasted for approximately three hours, while the collision scene was processed.
Inquiries continue and any witnesses that have not already come forward are encouraged to contact Constable Thomas Greenslade by calling 211, or e-mailing tgreenslade@bps.bm.
One-way traffic on Langton Hill to facilitate tree removal
Motorists are asked to use caution and expect delays during the works
The Ministry of Public Works and Environment advises the motoring public that a one-way traffic flow will be in effect on Langton Hill, Pembroke, from North Shore Road to Mount Hill to facilitate tree removal works. The traffic measure will be in place on Tuesday, 7 April 2026, and Wednesday, 8 April 2026.
Working hours will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days. Residents will continue to have access during the works.
Traffic controls will be managed by Bermuda Arborist using barriers and stop-and-go personnel within the one-way system. Motorists are asked to use caution, expect delays, and allow crews to carry out the work safely.
