World
Key EU transport network projects set to miss 2030 targets
Key transport projects intended to increase connectivity of people and goods across the European Union by 2030 are well behind schedule despite the €15.3 billion invested from EU funds since 2020, the latest report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published on Monday reveals.
The bloc’s legislation designed to improve transport networks, the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), was adopted in 2013, but suffered major setbacks first from the COVID pandemic and then Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which led to a massive surge in energy and construction prices.
The EU auditors write that the eight megaprojects previously assessed in 2020 and again in the latest report had experienced an overall real cost increase of 47% against original estimates.
Data from 2025 shows that costs have increased further to more than 82%, with two of the audited projects contributing most to the drastic cost gap: Rail Baltica, intended to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network, and the Lyon-Turin rail link, intended to link the Italian and French high-speed rail networks.
The EU executive’s oversight of the completion of the core network corridors by the member states “remained distant”, the auditors’ report says, arguing that the Commission should have been more proactive in light of a 2020 ECA report that flagged major delays, cost increases, and weaknesses in the Commission’s supervision.
“We also provided the Commission with a set of recommendations aimed at improving the financial management of the EU co-funding going to megaprojects,” reads the ECA report.
Fragmented continent
Failure to deliver TEN-T badly undermines the EU’s 2030 targets since transport is central to Europe’s economy and climate goals. Delayed rail, waterways, and clean infrastructure keep emissions high, threatening the bloc’s aim to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
Moreover, fragmented and inefficient transport will inevitably lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers and reduce trade opportunities across the EU.
Even though the upward trend has slowed down in recent years, EU auditors say, construction costs of the Canal Seine Nord Europe have tripled in total since the project began.
“EU transport flagship infrastructures are supposed to reshape Europe, bringing people closer together and facilitating economic activity”, said Annemie Turtelboom, the ECA member leading the report.
“But three decades after most of them were designed, we are still a long way from cutting the ribbon on these projects, and a long way from achieving the intended improvements in passenger and freight flows across Europe.”
EU auditors have assessed eight major projects in their latest report. Among them are four railways, Rail Baltica, Lyon-Turin, Brenner Base Tunnel and Basque Y; one waterway, Seine-Scheldt; one motorway, the A1 in Romania; and two multimodal connections, the Fehmarn Belt road/rail link and the E59 rail link to ports in Poland.
These megaprojects directly involve 13 EU countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Poland, Romania and Finland.
“The conclusion is unambiguous: the 2030 objective for the completion of the EU TEN-T core network will undoubtedly be missed,” EU auditors said.
Repeated delays
An average delay of 11 years against original deadlines was noted in the ECA’s 2020 report on the TEN-T’s implementation. The 2025 report reveals that the situation has worsened, with an average delay of 17 years for five of the assessed projects.
The Basque Y railway line, which was supposed to be operational by 2010 according to its initial timeline and by 2023 according to the revised plan from 2020, is now expected to be ready by 2030 at the very earliest.
The opening of the Lyon-Turin rail link is now forecast for 2033, rather than the original goal of 2015 or revised one of 2030; the Brenner Base Tunnel is now expected to open at the earliest in 2032, not in 2016 or 2028.
The Canal Nord Seine Europe, meanwhile, was initially scheduled to commence operations in 2010, and was postponed to 2028. 2032 is now considered more likely.
Timeline of a failure
The TEN-T was proposed in the early 1990s as part of the EU’s effort to strengthen the internal market and improve connectivity across member states. Its initial guidelines were adopted in 1996, focusing on a list of priority projects mainly for major cross-border infrastructure.
Over time, the policy evolved to address gaps, bottlenecks, and technical fragmentation, especially in rail, inland waterways, ports, and intelligent transport systems. A major reform in 2013 introduced a two-layer structure, defining routes to be completed by 2030 and a more comprehensive route to be finished by 2050.
The latest revision in 2024 was designed to align the TEN-T with the bloc’s European Green Deal and defence goals.
“The agreement falls short of our expectations and raises concerns about the real commitment of member states to create a functioning European transport network,” said former lawmaker Barbara Thaler (European People’s Party/Austria) after the last TEN-T’s revision, noting that national priorities jeopardise shared European goals.
“The impracticalities imposed on cargo trains create even more disparity between rail and other modes of transport. It goes against the EU’s commitment to shift traffic from road to rail,” the former Austrian lawmaker said.
Back in 2024, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) said that completing the TEN-T required “massive investments” – €500 billion by 2030 and €1,500 billion by 2050.
“The new Connecting Europe Facility, the EU’s dedicated funding instrument, should be increased to at least €100 billion under the next long-term EU budget plan (2028-2035) and be complemented with other funds to be able to meet the new TEN-T targets and completion deadlines,” a CER statement said.
World
Indonesia receives bodies of peacekeepers killed in southern Lebanon
Foreign Minister Sugiono told reporters that Indonesia wants a thorough UN investigation into the deaths of the peacekeepers.
Published On 4 Apr 2026
Indonesia has received the bodies of three United Nations peacekeepers who were killed in southern Lebanon during Israel’s invasion of the country, amid the ongoing United States-Israel war on Iran.
The coffins of the killed soldiers arrived in Indonesia on Saturday. They were carried on the shoulders of uniformed officers for a ceremony attended by President Prabowo Subianto.
list of 3 itemsend of listRecommended Stories
After the ceremony, Foreign Minister Sugiono told reporters that Indonesia wants a thorough UN investigation into the deaths of the peacekeepers who were part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
“This is a peacekeeping mission. Incidents such as this should not happen,” the minister told reporters at the airport.
“There must be a security guarantee for peacekeeping soldiers,” he added.
Last week, peacekeeper Farizal Rhomadhon, 28, was killed after a projectile exploded. A UN security source told the AFP news agency anonymously on Tuesday that fire from an Israeli tank was responsible for the attack.
A day later, two more Indonesian peacekeepers, Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, 33, and Muhammad Nur Ichwan, 26, were killed after an explosion struck a UNIFIL logistics convoy in southern Lebanon.
Iskandar’s father said he was shocked that peacekeepers were losing their lives in the conflict.
“We were really sad and regretful, because this is a UN troop, a peacekeeping troop, not deployed for war,” Iskandarudin, 60, told reporters at his house in West Java province.
The three men are expected to be laid to rest on Sunday, and the government has promised financial support for the families.
On Friday, UNIFIL announced that three peacekeepers were wounded after a blast at a UN facility near Adeisse and were taken to hospital.
The UN information centre in Jakarta said the “origin of the explosion” was unknown, but identified the injured soldiers as Indonesian.
“Repeated attacks or incidents of this kind are unacceptable,” the Indonesian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The government urged the UN Security Council “to immediately convene a meeting of troop-contributing countries to UNIFIL to conduct a review and take measures to enhance the protection of personnel serving with UNIFIL”.
The US-Israel war on Iran spread to Lebanon after Iran-aligned Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel, following the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war on February 28.
Israel has bombarded the country for weeks and launched an invasion, with Israeli officials saying the mission intends to set up a security zone extending 30km (18.6 miles) from the Israeli border.
World
Ye attempts a comeback with sold-out LA-area concert, support from Lauryn Hill
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The artist formerly and possibly again known as Kanye West reveled in support from one of his musical idols, Lauryn Hill, as he staged a sold-out Southern California concert meant to mark a comeback from years of controversy.
Eleven months after releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler” and just over two months after publishing an apology letter for his antisemitism, Ye let two decades of hits — and 70,000 screaming loyal fans — speak the loudest on Friday night at SoFi Stadium.
“I want to thank y’all for sticking by me all these years. Through the hard times, through the low times,” he told the crowd. “I love you for that.”
Hill joined Ye on a stage for the first time ever for an energetic rendition of his 2004 hit “All Falls Down,” which originally sampled her voice. Ye left the stage as she performed “Lost Ones” and “Doo Wop (That Thing)” before rejoining for his 2021 “Doo Wop”-sampling song “Believe What I Say.” They hugged as she exited.
Travis Scott, CeeLo Green and Ye’s tween daughter North West also strapped on safety harnesses to join Ye high above the stadium floor atop a striking half-orb stage, which alternately depicted a moon, a rotating Earth and a smoking sphere throughout the two hours-plus livestreamed performance.
A loud singalong of “Heartless” midway through the more than 40-song Good Friday show seemed to boost Ye’s spirits: “That’s what 80,000 people sound like, ladies and gentlemen. … They said I’d never be back in the States. Two sold-out concerts, baby!”
The first SoFi show Wednesday, his first major U.S. performance in nearly five years, turned out to be more of a warm-up as Ye was tentative in his rapping and drew attention to technical mishaps.
Fans at that show said they separated the 48-year-old performer’s personal beliefs and public statements from his music — and were ready to forgive after his January apology letter.
“You gotta back your family no matter what,” said Vince Da Prince, a rapper from Downey, Calif. “He’s a part of our fam since we were little kids.”
Added fan Yovani Contreras: “I don’t really bring into politics or the way someone’s personal opinion are. I’m into the music artistry … Like, I just, to me, Ye is always gonna be Ye. Kanye is always gonna be Kanye.”
Luis Velasquez said he’d been a longtime fan and had been put off by controversies in recent years, but felt the apology was sincere.
“Yeah he did apologize,” he said. “He’s taking the medication I think is what he mentioned. … For me as a fan that’s, like, respect, right? Like I think that’s cool enough to bridge that gap.”
Ye released his latest album, “Bully,” under both the names Ye and Kanye West, at the end of March. He dominated hip-hop and pop charts in the 2000s and early 2010s, winning 24 Grammy Awards despite public outbursts and a polarizing personality. He lost nearly all his major business partnerships and many fans after a string of controversies in the last several years including antisemitic remarks and social media posts.
He closed Friday night’s show with his “toast to the douchebags” hit “Runaway,” and walked out of the stadium behind his wife Bianca Censori and two of his children.
World
Cuba releases 2,000 prisoners amid Trump pressure, energy crisis
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Cuba’s government released more than 2,000 prisoners as the island faces mounting economic pressure linked to U.S. sanctions and worsening fuel shortages.
The Cuban Embassy in Washington said authorities granted pardons to 2,010 inmates under provisions of the country’s constitution, citing factors such as good behavior, time already served and health conditions.
“This humanitarian and sovereign gesture was based on a careful analysis of the nature of the offenses committed by the inmates, their good conduct while in prison, [and] the fact that they had served a significant portion of their sentences,” the embassy said in a statement posted on X.
RUSSIA SHIPS FUEL TO CUBA USING ‘SPOOFING’ TACTIC CHALLENGING TRUMP EMBARGO: REPORTS
Inmates celebrate as they walk free from La Lima prison in Havana on April 3, 2026, after Cuba announced it would pardon 2,010 prisoners amid mounting U.S. pressure. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
Officials said those released include young people, women, older adults, as well as foreign nationals and Cuban citizens who live abroad but were imprisoned on the island.
The government said it excluded prisoners convicted of serious crimes, including murder, sexual assault, violent robbery, drug offenses and corruption of minors, as well as repeat offenders.
CUBA’S ENTIRE ELECTRICAL GRID COLLAPSES, LEAVING WHOLE ISLAND WITHOUT POWER
The move marks the second prisoner release this year and comes during Holy Week, which Cuban officials described as a customary period for such actions.
The release comes as Cuba grapples with a deepening economic and energy crisis driven in part by a renewed pressure campaign from the Trump administration aimed at cutting off the island’s access to foreign oil. The restrictions have contributed to widespread fuel shortages, blackouts and growing unrest across the country.
WATCH: Cuban power blackout sparks protests as Trump hints at US intervention
President Donald Trump has threatened tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba and has pressured nations such as Mexico to halt shipments as part of a broader effort to squeeze the island’s energy supply.
The U.S. also allowed a tanker to deliver fuel to Cuba earlier this week after months of severe shortages, with the White House framing the move as a humanitarian exception rather than a shift in policy.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
A man embraces a loved one after being released from La Lima prison in Havana on April 3, 2026, as Cuba began freeing more than 2,000 inmates. (Yamil Lage/AFP via Getty Images)
Trump has also escalated his rhetoric, recently saying “Cuba’s next” while discussing U.S. actions abroad, though he later sought to downplay the remark.
The deepening crisis has also sparked protests and clashes across the island.
Cuba has been under communist rule since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, and is now led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who succeeded Raúl Castro in 2018.
-
South-Carolina6 days agoSouth Carolina vs TCU predictions for Elite Eight game in March Madness
-
Miami, FL1 week agoJannik Sinner’s Girlfriend Laila Hasanovic Stuns in Ab-Revealing Post Amid Miami Open
-
Education1 week agoVideo: Transgender Athletes Barred From Women’s Olympic Events
-
Minneapolis, MN1 week agoBoy who shielded classmate during school shooting receives Medal of Honor
-
Vermont6 days ago
Skier dies after fall at Sugarbush Resort
-
Politics6 days agoTrump’s Ballroom Design Has Barely Been Scrutinized
-
Atlanta, GA6 days agoFetishist ‘No Kings’ protester in mask drags ‘Trump’ and ‘JD Vance’ behind her wheelchair
-
Politics1 week agoWATCH: Senate hearing goes silent after Angel Father confronts top Dem over daughter’s death