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Portugal’s interior minister steps down in response to growing criticism over storm response

By The Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Portugal’s interior minister has stepped down in response to growing criticism of her government’s response to successive winter storms this season, in which at least seven people have died.

Maria Lúcia Amaral resigned after concluding that she “no longer possessed the personal and political conditions necessary to hold the position,” President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s office said late Tuesday.

Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro will temporarily take over her role, the statement said.

An ongoing series of deadly winter storms have wreaked havoc on the European Union nation of 10.7 million people, triggering floods, landslides and power outages, and causing significant infrastructure damage across many parts of the country.

Amaral, a lawyer, was criticized for her government’s slow response, particularly during Storm Kristin, which struck the country in late January, killing six people, according to media reports.

Another person died last week when Storm Leonardo hit Spain and Portugal.

Amaral is the first minister to step down since the center-right government led by Montenegro came to power last May.

Europe hopes to repair trans-Atlantic trust as Rubio attends key security conference

By The Associated Press
MUNICH (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Friday for the United States and Europe to “repair and revive trans-Atlantic trust together,” saying that even the U.S. isn't powerful enough to go it alone in an world whose old order has withered. Merz called for a “new trans-Atlantic partnership,” acknowledging that “a divide, a deep rift” has opened up across the Atlantic as he opened the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of top global security figures, including many European leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Merz said that the post-World War II world order, “as imperfect as it was at its best times, no longer exists” today. Hours later, French President Emmanuel Macron said that “Europe has to become a geopolitical power.” He said that “it's ongoing, but we have to accelerate” in areas such as defense, technology and “derisking vis-a-vis all the big powers in order to be much more independent.” At last year's conference, a few weeks into U.S. President Donald Trump's second term, U.S. Vice President JD Vance stunned European leaders by lecturing them about the state of democracy and freedom of speech on the continent — a moment that set the tone for the last year.
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