World
Survey rates parties on Green Deal – from 'pro' to 'prehistoric'
As European elections loom, a survey has revealed the extent to which the flagship Green Deal agenda of the von der Leyen Commission has divided even the centre ground in EU politics.
The voting patterns of MEPs over the past five years have confirmed a clear party political division over climate action and nature protection, revealing in addition to a predictable gulf between the positions of the Greens and the far-right a clear fault line running through the political centre.
Five of the largest Brussels based environmental NGOs analysed 30 key pieces of environmental legislation and ascribed scores from zero to 100 based on whether lawmakers supported or rejected the more ambitious action and targets the groups have been advocating, tagging the latter as ‘prehistoric’. The Greens/EFA group came top with an overall score of 92, while the far-right nationalist ID, which has routinely proposed the outright rejection of green legislation, earned just six points.
But the survey, published today (15 April), also showed wide divergence between the centre-left Socialists & Democrats who scored 70, and the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), which rated just 25 despite being the political home of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who placed the Green Deal at the centre of the EU executive’s political programme.
The liberal Renew scored 56, a reflection of frequent splits within the group when it came to votes on environmental and climate policy proposals. The results show similar splits within other groups, often based on the national party affiliation of their constituent MEPs.
The data reveals another clear voting pattern that can be seen when environment policy is subdivided into climate action, nature protection and pollution prevention. Broadly speaking, if a political party takes opposes setting the most ambitious measures to tackle climate action, it will take a similar stance in the other two broad areas.
It is nature protection legislation, which has recently seen a forceful pushback from the EPP amid widespread farmers’ protests across Europe, where the political divide is the widest, with the Greens and the Left group on 94 and 87 respectively, while the EPP and conservative ECR group rate 19 and 13 respectively.
Speaking at an event in Brussels to present the findings, the Bulgarian EPP group lawmaker Radan Kanev described himself as “greener than the average conservative” but still placed himself somewhere between the categories of ‘prehistoric thinkers’ and ‘procrastinators’ the study authors used for the lower of its three bands, with those scoring over 70 deemed ‘protectors’ of the environment.
“I am deeply convinced no policy is black and white,” he said. “We need people like you [the report’s authors] who are advocating for maximum ambition, but I also believe you need people like me who are trying to mediate…and avoid the utmost polarisation of our political spectrum,” he said, referring to what he saw as the impossibility of a stable climate strategy in the US, where the coming election could lead to a “complete overthrow” of existing policy.
The Bulgarian lawmaker was particularly critical of the extension of the EU’s emissions trading system, to road transport and buildings, where a carbon price based on fossil fuel consumption will apply from 2027 – a proposal supported by the overwhelming majority of EPP group members. “In my view there are very few more stupid things ever done at the political level,” Kanev said. “I’m sure there will be a very violent outburst of anti-European public reaction,” he said of the impact he expects in his home country.
Green Belgian MEP Saskia Bricmont warned against a return to “business as usual” on environment policy as the EU policy agenda tilts toward security and economic issues. “What I see now is a complete backlash,” she said of her opponents in the forthcoming European elections. “Even the progressives that voted with us on climate policies are not making it a priority,” the Belgian lawmaker said.
Chiara Martinelli, director of Climate Action Network Europe, one of the groups behind the survey, warned of the upcoming European elections could see environmental policy once more marginalised. “Now is the time for European citizens to wake up to the real possibility of a European Parliament full of prehistoric thinkers – to get out and vote for parties that can provide the climate protectors we so deeply need to improve and strengthen the European Green Deal,” she said.
William Todts, director of the campaign alliance Transport & Environment, suggested Brussels might be the only source of environmental protection laws for many EU member states. “The EU is a force for good when it comes to climate action,” Todts said in a statement accompanying the NGOs’ report. “From clean cars to carbon taxes for planes and ships, the EU has done what national governments couldn’t or wouldn’t do.”
World
Israeli Strikes Kill a Journalist and Injure Another in Lebanon
Israeli strikes killed one journalist and wounded another in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, rattling a tenuous cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon.
The Lebanese Ministry of Public Health said the Israeli military had targeted the journalists in the town of Tayri, where they took shelter in a nearby house after an airstrike struck a vehicle in front of the car they were traveling in. About an hour and a half later, a second strike hit the house they were hiding in, according to a statement by a Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which employed the journalist who was killed.
The Lebanese Red Cross said its teams came under fire while trying to evacuate the journalists from the house, forcing them to withdraw. The rescue crews were targeted by a warning strike and machine-gun fire, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Zeinab Faraj, a photojournalist, was rescued from the house. The other journalist, Amal Khalil, who was a reporter for Al-Akhbar, remained trapped under rubble for hours before emergency medics recovered her body, according to the Lebanese Civil Defense.
In addition to Ms. Khalil, the two people in the car in front of her were killed in the strikes, Al-Akhbar reported.
Amid the 10-day truce between Israel and Lebanon, Israel has continued strikes against what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, citing its right to self-defense. Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia group, said that it had fired rockets and drones into Israel on Tuesday in response to what it said were violations of the cease-fire. Earlier on Wednesday, the Lebanese News Agency reported that an Israeli drone strike killed one person and wounded two others in another part of the country.
The Lebanese health ministry called the strikes in Tayri a “blatant double breach, involving both the obstruction of rescue efforts for a civilian known for her media and humanitarian work, and the direct targeting of an ambulance clearly marked with the Red Cross.”
The Israeli military denied in a statement that it had prevented rescuers from reaching the injured journalists, and said the incident was under investigation.
A spokeswoman for the Israeli military said Israeli forces had spotted two vehicles emerging from a military building used by Hezbollah. The military observed the vehicles cross what the spokeswoman called the forward defense line, determining the move to be a violation of the truce agreement.
The spokeswoman confirmed that the Israeli military had struck one of the vehicles and the building some of the occupants of the second vehicle had taken shelter in.
Ms. Khalil had covered southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah exercises strong control, since at least 2006. In a tribute to Ms. Khalil, a colleague from Al-Akhbar said she embodied the resilience of the southern Lebanese through her relentless reporting, refusing to leave the front lines of war where thousands of Lebanese had been displaced.
“As with every act of aggression, wearing a press vest did not protect those who wore it from the treachery of the Israeli enemy,” Al-Akhbar said in a statement. “Instead, it has become a danger to journalists’ lives, as part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at silencing anyone who seeks to expose the crimes and practices of the occupation.”
In a forceful statement on social media, Nawaf Salam, the Lebanese prime minister, accused the Israeli military of war crimes for targeting journalists and obstructing access to medical aid. He said that Lebanon would pursue action to ensure Israel is held accountable with international bodies.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said that it was outraged by the attack, and that it raised serious concerns of deliberate targeting.
“The repeated strikes on the same location, the targeting of an area where journalists were sheltering, and the obstruction of medical and humanitarian access constitute a grave breach of international humanitarian law,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
World
Former Mexican beauty queen found shot dead as investigators examine possible family involvement: reports
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A former Mexican beauty queen was found shot to death in her Mexico City apartment, with investigators examining the possible involvement of her mother-in-law, according to local reports.
Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead inside an apartment in the Polanco neighborhood, one of the city’s most affluent areas, Reporte Índigo, a Mexico-based news outlet, reported.
Authorities said the death is being investigated as a homicide, after initial findings indicated she suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Emergency responders were called to the scene, where paramedics confirmed she showed no signs of life.
Prosecutors are investigating whether Flores Gómez’s mother-in-law, Erika María, as well as a man described in reports as her partner or husband, may have been involved in her death.
CALIFORNIA HIKER’S BODY FOUND NAKED IN BIG SUR BACKCOUNTRY
Carolina Flores Gómez was found shot dead in her luxury apartment April 15 in Mexico City. Her mother-in-law has been named the main suspect in the suspected homicide. (Jam Press)
The man, identified as Alejandro, accused his mother of killing Flores Gómez, Mexican news outlet Azteca Guerrero reported.
The outlet also reported that the woman’s mother-in-law was present at the scene when the gun was fired and that authorities are looking into the timeline of when the incident was reported.
WIDOW, SON OF LATE CHICAGO COMMISSIONER FOUND SHOT DEAD INSIDE HOME IN SUSPECTED HOMICIDE
Mexican prosecutors have opened a homicide with intent case in the death of former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez. (Jam Press)
Preliminary reports cited by Mexican news outlet Diario Puntual indicate that a security guard at the building did not hear gunshots, adding uncertainty about how the crime occurred.
Authorities in Baja California, Mexico, also responded to the case, Diario Puntual reported.
CIA PERSONNEL KILLED IN MEXICO CRASH TIED TO CARTEL OPERATION; QUESTIONS MOUNT OVER US ROLE
Former beauty queen Carolina Flores Gómez, 27, was found dead in her Mexico City apartment. (Jam Press)
Baja California Gov. Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda expressed solidarity with the victim’s family and called for the case to be clarified.
State prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez also said there is coordination with Mexico City authorities to support the investigation.
Flores Gómez previously competed in beauty pageants and was crowned Miss Teen Universe Baja California in 2017.
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The case has drawn attention in Mexico amid ongoing concerns about violence against women, with advocacy groups calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death.
The investigation into the matter is open and ongoing.
World
‘Blockade and threats’: Iran blames US siege of ports for stalled talks
Israeli attacks on Lebanon killed at least five people on Wednesday, including Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil, in what was described as a ‘heinous crime’ by the government.
Published On 23 Apr 2026
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