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New Tensions between White House, Israeli PM

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said 'no other country is doing more' to help Israel defend itself. SAUL LOEB / AFP/File
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said 'no other country is doing more' to help Israel defend itself. SAUL LOEB / AFP/File
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New Tensions between White House, Israeli PM

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said 'no other country is doing more' to help Israel defend itself. SAUL LOEB / AFP/File
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said 'no other country is doing more' to help Israel defend itself. SAUL LOEB / AFP/File

New tensions emerged this week between President Joe Biden's administration and Benjamin Netanyahu over the Israeli premier's criticism of US weapons deliveries -- comments the White House described Thursday as "vexing" and "disappointing."
The issue began when Netanyahu claimed in a video posted on social media earlier this week that the US administration -- Israel's main military backer -- has been "withholding weapons and ammunitions" from his country in recent months, AFP reported.
"Those comments were deeply disappointing and certainly vexing to us, given the amount of support that we have and will continue to provide," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists.
"No other country is doing more to help Israel defend itself against the threat by Hamas and, quite frankly, other threats that they're facing in the region," Kirby said.
The previous day, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that "we genuinely do not know what he's talking about."
With the exception of "one particular shipment of munitions," Jean-Pierre said "there are no other pauses. None."
She was referring to a shipment of 2,000 pound bombs that Washington has said is under review because of concerns about their use in densely populated areas.
Biden-Netanyahu tensions
But Netanyahu appeared to double down later on Thursday, saying in a statement that he is "prepared to suffer personal attacks provided that Israel receives the ammunition from the US that it needs in the war for its existence."
The spat is not the first between the head of the Israeli government and Biden's administration since the start of the Gaza war, which began with an unprecedented Hamas attack in October.
Biden previously stated his strong opposition to a major Israeli operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than a million civilians were located, and threatened to stop certain arms deliveries if his warning was not heeded.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also warned Israel against escalating tensions in Lebanon as fears of a wider regional war grew with Hezbollah militants firing dozens of rockets into northern Israel.
During a meeting with top Israeli officials in Washington, Blinken "underscored the importance of avoiding further escalation in Lebanon and reaching a diplomatic resolution that allows Israeli and Lebanese families to return to their homes," the State Department said in a statement.
The Gaza war is a particularly thorny issue for 81-year-old Biden, who is seeking a second term in office this year.
The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the ever-rising death toll has led to sharp criticism of the president from the progressive wing of his party -- pressure Biden has had to balance with a long-standing US policy of backing Israel.
The latest round of bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas was triggered by an unprecedented October 7 attack by Palestinian militants on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
The militants also seized 251 hostages. Of these, 116 remain in Gaza, although the army says 41 are dead.
Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 37,431 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

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Huge Power Outage Paralyzes Parts of Spain and Portugal

This photograph shows a flamenco dress factory without light and workers during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows a flamenco dress factory without light and workers during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
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Huge Power Outage Paralyzes Parts of Spain and Portugal

This photograph shows a flamenco dress factory without light and workers during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville on April 28, 2025. (AFP)
This photograph shows a flamenco dress factory without light and workers during a massive power cut affecting the entire Iberian peninsula and the south of France, in Seville on April 28, 2025. (AFP)

A huge power outage hit large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday, paralyzing traffic, grounding flights, trapping people in elevators and leaving power operators scrambling to restore power to millions of homes and businesses.

Some hospitals halted routine work and the two countries' governments convened emergency cabinet meetings, with officials initially saying a possible cyber-attack could not be ruled out. Outages on such a scale are extremely rare in Europe, and the cause could not immediately be established.

Reuters witnesses said power had started returning to the Basque country and Barcelona areas of Spain in the early afternoon, a few hours after the outage began. It was not clear when power might be more widely restored.

Hospitals in Madrid and Cataluna in Spain suspended all routine medical work but were still attending to critical patients, using backup generators. Several Spanish oil refineries were shut down and retail businesses shut.

The Bank of Spain said electronic banking was functioning "adequately" on backup systems, though residents also reported ATM screens had gone blank.

"I'm in a data center, and everything has gone off. All the alarms popped up, and now we're with the groups, waiting to find out what happened," said Barcelona resident and engineer Jose Maria Espejo, 40.

In a video posted on X, Madrid Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida urged city residents to minimize their journeys and stay where they were, adding: "It is essential that the emergency services can circulate."

In Portugal, water supplier EPAL said water supplies could also be disrupted, and queues formed at stores by people rushing to purchase emergency supplies like gaslights, generators and batteries.

The main Portuguese electricity utility, EDP, said it had told customers it had no forecast for when the energy supply would be "normalized", Publico newspaper said. It warned it could take several hours.

Parts of France also suffered a brief outage. RTE, the French grid operator, said it had moved to supplement power to some parts of northern Spain after the outage hit.

Play at the Madrid Open tennis tournament was suspended, forcing 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov and British opponent Jacob Fearnley off the court as scoreboards went dark and overhead cameras lost power.

TRAFFIC JAMS

Spanish radio stations said part of the Madrid underground was being evacuated. There were traffic jams in Madrid city center as traffic lights stopped working, Cader Ser Radio station reported.

Hundreds of people stood outside office buildings on Madrid’s streets and there was a heavy police presence around key buildings, directing traffic as well as driving along central atriums with lights, according to a Reuters witness.

One of four tower buildings in Madrid that houses the British Embassy had been evacuated, the witness added.

Local radio reported people trapped in stalled metro cars and elevators.

Portuguese police said traffic lights were affected across the country, the metro was closed in Lisbon and Porto, and trains were not running.

Lisbon's subway transport operator Metropolitano de Lisboa said the subway was at a standstill with people still inside the trains, according to Publico newspaper.

A source at Portugal's TAP Air said Lisbon airport was running on back-up generators, while AENA, which manages 46 airports in Spain, reported flight delays around the country.

Such widespread outages are unusual in Europe. In 2003 a problem with a hydroelectric power line between Italy and Switzerland caused a major outage across the whole Italian peninsula for around 12 hours.

In 2006 an overloaded power network in Germany caused electricity cuts across parts of the country and in France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands and as far as Morocco.