Ivanti flaw exploited by Chinese hackers


ByDr. Tim Sandle
June 7, 2025
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Image: © AFP/File

It has been revealed that Chinese hackers have been exploiting a remote code execution flaw in Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) to breach high-profile organizations worldwide. The vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2025-4427 and CVE-2025-4428, can allow an unauthenticated attacker to achieve remote code execution. Ivanti is urging customers to immediately upgrade to a fixed version of the software.

Looking into the hacker threat for Digital Journal is Randolph Barr, CISO at Cequence.

Barr sees the current threat as demonstrating a weakness with many IT systems: “This campaign highlights a critical reality in modern cybersecurity: trust is not just assumed, it must be actively maintained between organizations and their vendors. In the case of Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM), this trust is especially important given the platform’s deep integration into mobile device ecosystems and its ability to issue configurations and updates at scale.”

However, there is something specific about the threat, which Barr highlights: “What’s even more concerning is the continued presence of CVE-2023-35078, a critical vulnerability disclosed and patched nearly two years ago, that remains exploitable in some environments. This situation speaks to a larger issue across the industry: many organizations struggle to meet internal SLAs or commonly accepted timeframes for vulnerability remediation, particularly for high-risk flaws. In this case, the remediation window far exceeded industry norms, which significantly increased exposure.”

Building a solid security infrastructure requires a partnership approach, which Barr draws out: “From a shared responsibility standpoint, both Ivanti and its customers have a role to play. Vendors must take ownership of secure development practices, including: comparing security implications across product versions; running internal testing and static/dynamic code analysis; and leveraging third-party penetration testing to uncover latent risks.”

Compromise of a server has serious downstream effects

Building robust security defences is not easy, as Barr observes: “While it’s understood that zero-day detection is challenging and some issues will only surface after real-world exposure, known vulnerabilities, especially those with public exploits, must be prioritized and remediated swiftly. This responsibility includes not just patch issuance by the vendor but also timely application by customers as part of their vulnerability management processes.”

There are also caveats to observe: “It’s important for users and stakeholders to understand that these vulnerabilities impact the Ivanti EPMM server, not the mobile devices themselves. Exploitation of the server does not provide direct access to user content such as messages, photos, or files on mobile devices; nor does it provide immediate remote control or execution capabilities on the devices, unless the trust relationship between EPMM and the endpoint is abused.”

However, Barr notes: “because EPMM acts as a Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform, compromise of its server can still have serious downstream effects: malicious commands or profiles can be pushed to enrolled devices; unauthorized apps or updates can be deployed, depending on MDM policy enforcement; and sensitive device metadata, including user associations, inventory, and system configurations, can be accessed and exfiltrated.”

Organizations should reevaluate

Rounding up his comments, Barr finds: “This campaign should serve as a wake-up call for any organization managing mobile infrastructure at scale. Time-to-remediate (TTR) has become a critical risk metric, and any delay in patching high-severity vulnerabilities, especially ones already known and exploited, can open the door for sophisticated threat actors.”

This extends to a recommendation: “Organizations should reevaluate: their patch management and remediation workflows, the degree of automation and trust configured in MDM tools; and the vendor expectations they’ve set around secure coding and proactive disclosure. Trust in software vendors must be continually validated, not just through promises of security, but through transparent, timely, and accountable practices on both sides.”

Germany faces two more years of recession if US trade war escalates: central bank


By  AFP
June 6, 2025


Volkswagen cars waiting last month to be put aboard a ship for export near the company's factory in Emden, northwestern Germany - Copyright AFP Indranil Mukherjee

Germany could face two more years of recession if a trade war with the United States escalates sharply, the central bank said Friday, a bleak warning for Europe’s struggling top economy.

If US President Donald Trump’s tariffs were to be implemented in full from July and the EU were to retaliate, then German output would decline 0.5 percent this year and 0.2 percent in 2026, the Bundesbank forecast.

This would be due to a “marked decline in exports and significant uncertainty weighing on investment,” it said.

There would be a return to growth in 2027, with a rebound of one percent, it said.

The eurozone’s traditional growth engine has already contracted for the past two years due to a manufacturing slump and surging energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine, but hopes had been high for a modest recovery from this year.

When Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs in early April, he threatened to hit the European Union with a 20-percent levy over its hefty surplus in goods traded with the United States.

He then paused those higher rates until July to allow for talks to try to reach a deal. More recently he said he would slap the EU with a 50-percent tariff rate as negotiations stalled — but has also delayed that measure.

The bloc still faces a “baseline” 10-percent tariff rate on all its exports to the United States, as well as higher levies on some specific sectors.

Trump’s tariff blitz stands to hit export power Germany hard, as the United States was Germany’s top trading partner in 2024, receiving huge quantities of its cars, pharmaceuticals and machinery.

As well as a worse-case scenario, the Bundesbank also released “baseline” growth projections.

This envisages US trade policy having a more moderate impact on Germany as new Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s planned spending surge on infrastructure and defence helps support the economy.

Under these forecasts, the economy would stagnate this year before expanding 0.7 percent in 2026 and then 1.2 percent in 2027.

The German government and many economic institutes have already slashed their growth forecasts for this year to zero, citing the uncertainty triggered by Trump’s trade war.

India’s Modi opens strategic railway in contested ‘crown jewel’ Kashmir

KASHMIR IS INDIA'S GAZA


By AFP
June 6, 2025


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to Kashmir since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan, to open a strategic railway line - Copyright Indian Press Information Bureau (PIB)/AFP -

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to Kashmir on Friday since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan, opening a strategic railway line to the contested region he called “the crown jewel of India”.

Modi launched a string of projects worth billions of dollars for the divided Muslim-majority territory, the centre of bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan fought a four-day conflict last month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10.

“Pakistan will never forget… its shameful loss,” the Hindu nationalist premier told crowds a month since India launched strikes on its neighbour after an attack on tourists in Kashmir.

“Friends, today’s event is a grand festival of India’s unity and firm resolve,” Modi said after striding across the soaring bridge to formally launch it for rail traffic.

“This is a symbol and celebration of rising India,” he said of the Chenab Bridge which connects two mountains.

New Delhi calls the Chenab span the “world’s highest railway arch bridge”, sitting 359 metres (1,117 feet) above a river.

While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China.



– ‘Our troubles’ –



Modi called it “an extraordinary feat of architecture” that “will improve connectivity” by providing the first rail link from the Indian plains up to mountainous Kashmir.

With 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, the new railway runs for 272 kilometres (169 miles) and connects Udhampur, Srinagar and Baramulla.

It is expected to halve the travel time between the town of Katra in the Hindu-majority Jammu region and Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir, to around three hours.

The new route will facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as troops, that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and by air.

More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire during last month’s conflict.

The fighting was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing, a charge denied by Islamabad.

Rebel groups in Indian-run Kashmir have waged an insurgency for 35 years demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.

Modi also announced further government financial support for those families whose relatives were killed, or whose homes were damaged, during the brief conflict — mainly in shelling along the heavily militarised de facto border with Pakistan, known as the Line of Control.

“Their troubles are our troubles,” Modi said.


India’s Modi arrives in Kashmir to open strategic railway


By AFP
June 6, 2025


An Indian security officer keeps watch outside the Srinagar railway station ahead of the inauguration of the Kashmir rail link by Prime Minister Narendra Modi - Copyright AFP Tauseef MUSTAFA

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Kashmir on Friday, his first visit to the contested Himalayan region since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan last month, and opened a strategic railway line.

Modi is launching a string of projects worth billions of dollars for the divided Muslim-majority territory, the centre of bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan fought an intense four-day conflict last month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10.

His office broadcast images of Modi at a viewing point for the Chenab Bridge, a 1,315-metre-long (4,314-foot-long) steel and concrete span that connects two mountains with an arch 359 metres above the river below.

“In addition to being an extraordinary feat of architecture, the Chenab Rail Bridge will improve connectivity,” the Hindu nationalist leader said in a social media post ahead of his visit.

Modi strode across the bridge waving a giant Indian flag to formally declare it open for rail traffic soon after his arrival.

New Delhi calls the Chenab span the “world’s highest railway arch bridge”. While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China.

The new 272-kilometre (169-mile) Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway, with 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, has been constructed “aiming to transform regional mobility and driving socio-economic integration”, Modi’s office says.

The bridge will facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as troops, that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and by air.

The railway “ensures all weather connectivity” and will “boost spiritual tourism and create livelihood opportunities”, Modi said.

The railway line is expected to halve the travel time between the town of Katra in the Hindu-majority Jammu region and Srinagar, the main city in Muslim-majority Kashmir, to around three hours.

More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire during last month’s conflict.

The fighting was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing — a charge Islamabad denies.

Rebel groups in Indian-run Kashmir have waged a 35-year-long insurgency demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Hinduism Is Fascism

Bacteria cancels water shows at Japan’s World Expo

By AFP
June 6, 2025


A photo taken on April shows a general view of the waterfront area of the World Expo, that has suspended shows because of high levels of bacteria - Copyright AFP/File Richard A. Brooks

The discovery of high levels of bacteria has led the World Expo in Japan’s Osaka to suspend daily water shows and use of a shallow play pool, organisers said.

It comes after visitors also complained that swarms of tiny flying insects had invaded the vast waterfront site where Expo 2025 runs until mid-October.

Nearly six million people have visited exhibits from more than 160 countries, regions and organisations since it opened in April.

Although polls showed that public enthusiasm for the Expo was lukewarm before its opening, organisers say crowds have been growing, especially in recent weeks.

But concerns were raised over environmental conditions at the reclaimed island site in Osaka Bay, which was once a landfill.

Organisers said Thursday that high levels of legionella bacteria had forced them to close an area with shallow water where visitors, including children, could cool off.

That followed a statement released Wednesday saying daily fountain shows with music and lights at an artificial pond had been suspended for the same reason.

They said they were cleaning the affected areas, adding that a decision would come on Friday on whether the shows could resume.

Days before the Expo opened, a level of methane gas high enough to potentially ignite a fire was detected at the site.

More recently, organisers sprayed insecticide to deter swarms of non-biting midges bothering guests.

Also known as a World’s Fair, the Expo phenomenon, which brought the Eiffel Tower to Paris, began with London’s 1851 Crystal Palace exhibition.

It is now held every five years in different global locations.

Hundreds evacuated as Guatemalan volcano erupts


By AFP
June 5, 2025


Smoke rises from Guatemala's Fuego volcano - Copyright AFP -

Guatemalan authorities said Thursday they were evacuating more than 500 people after Central America’s most active volcano spewed gas and ash.

Residents were moved to shelters from communities near the Fuego volcano, located 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the capital Guatemala City.

“We prefer to leave rather than mourn the death of everyone in the village later,” Celsa Perez, 25, told AFP.

The government suspended local school activities and closed a road linking the south of the country to the colonial city of Antigua, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, disaster coordination agency Conred reported.

There have been several such mass evacuations in recent years because Fuego erupted, including in March of this year.

In 2018, 215 people were killed and a similar number left missing when rivers of lava poured down the volcano’s slopes, devastating a village.

ECO TERR0RIST

‘No doubt’ Canadian firm will be first to extract deep sea minerals: CEO

By AFP
June 5, 2025


The Metals Company CEO Gerard Barron says the Canadian company will "no doubt" be the first to extract coveted minerals in the open sea - Copyright AFP CHARLY TRIBALLEAU

Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS

The head of submarine mining pioneer The Metals Company told AFP he had “no doubt” the Canadian firm would be the first to to extract coveted minerals from the deep seas, with help from Donald Trump.

Metal-containing deep-sea nodules, which have the appearance of potato-size pebbles and typically contain nickel and cobalt, are highly sought for use in electric vehicle batteries and electric cables, and the race is on to be the first to extract them from the untapped deep sea.

TMC’s chief executive Gerard Barron told AFP in an interview in New York that his company was sure to win the race.

The company turned its back on the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which has jurisdiction over the international seabed, complaining over its slow pace in adopting a mining code that establishes the rules for exploiting seabed minerals.

Instead, TMC surprised everyone when its US subsidiary submitted a request to Washington, which is not an ISA member, to grant it the first commercial mining permit in international waters.

TMC has asked to harvest so-called polymetallic nodules — deposits made up of multiple metals — in 9,700 square miles (25,200 square kilometers) of the Pacific’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone.

Here is what Barron said about what might lie ahead.



Q: When is your target to start mining?



A: “With the help of the executive order from President Trump,… we’re expecting an expedited permitting process. And that hopefully will mean that within this next year, maybe even by the end of the year, we’ll see the permission from the US government to move forward.”

“We do have our first production vessel, the Hidden Gem,… We’ve finalized how we turn these nodules into the intermediate nickel and copper and cobalt and manganese products. So we’re all set.”

“We haven’t formally told the market when we’ll be seeing first production. But what I’m confident of is that it’ll be sooner than people expect.”

“If you would have suggested me 2027, I’d say I hope so.”



Q: Do you need to first modify the Hidden Gem to increase its production capacity?



A: “The original plan was that we were going to make quite extensive modifications to suit a much higher production number. But (expecting) an expedited permit, our thinking is, let’s get the boat into production as quickly as possible, and then focus on the bigger production scale for boat number two, three, four and five.”



Q: When do you expect to reach the hoped-for full-scale production of 12 million tonnes of nodules per year?



A: “I hope by 2030-2031.”



Q: How important is it to be the first to extract minerals from the deep sea?



A: “It’s not important, but it’s a fact that we will be… No doubt.”



Q: Do you expect this to be seen as a historical step?



A: “I think time will be the judge of just how important ocean metals are going to be to society.”

“The people that oppose us are pretty (much) the same people that oppose nuclear… They dramatized the potential impacts. They lied about the facts. We ended up burning a whole heap of fossil fuels. We contributed a lot of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. That didn’t need to happen, and now the world is waking up with the fact that we need nuclear energy. So shame on those people that created that situation. And I think ocean metals will be the same.”

“I know based on the environmental research and the more than a petabyte of data that we’ve gathered to support our claims that the impacts of picking up these rocks and turning them into metals are a fraction compared to the land based alternatives.”



Q: Would you consider going back to ISA if it adopts a mining code for deep sea mining?



A: “Not the way it stands now, no. Because the mining code has been overtaken by activists.”

“There are many ways that you can frustrate the process if you’re Greenpeace. One way is to get countries to sign on to moratoriums… Another way is to get your countries to do the bidding for you by resisting language in the mining code that makes it practical.”

“China (has) five licenses more than any other nation, they have state-owned enterprises controlling those licenses. And they can afford to be more patient… They play the long game, whereas private contractors like ourselves, our shareholders won’t sit around waiting for that.”

Slain UK journalist’s book on saving the Amazon published


By AFP
June 6, 2025


Alessandra Sampaio, widow of murdered British journalist Dom Phillips, speaks during a demonstration in tribute to Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira, murdered while on a reporting mission in the Amazon rainforest - Copyright AFP MAURO PIMENTEL

Pablo San Roman

Three years after UK journalist Dom Phillips was murdered, his widow and colleagues have published the book he was working on to expose illegal destruction of the Amazon and seek solutions to save the rainforest.

“I think of him every day,” his widow, Alessandra Sampaio, told AFP of her husband, who was shot dead in the Amazon on June 5, 2022 along with Indigenous-rights activist Bruno Pereira.

She was in London for the global launch of “How to Save the Amazon”, which Phillips, a freelancer for The Guardian and the Washington Post, was researching when he was killed.

The double murders triggered an international outcry and drew attention to the lawlessness fuelling the destruction of the world’s biggest rainforest.

Brazilian federal police have concluded the men were killed because of Pereira’s monitoring of poaching and other illegal activities in a remote reach of the Amazon.

Three years to the day after the murders, a prosecutor from Amazonas state indicted the suspected mastermind, the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement Thursday. So far, several suspects have been charged in the killings.

Phillips, who had taken a break from journalism to write his book, was seeking to raise the alarm about the environmental damage and illegal activities plaguing the region.

“He died trying to show the world the importance of the Amazon,” said Sampaio.

Pereira was a former senior official with Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, and disappeared along with Phillips as they travelled through a remote Indigenous reserve, close to the borders of Colombia and Peru.

Their hacked-up bodies were found and identified days later, after an alleged accomplice confessed to burying them.

Phillips, 57, was shot in the chest, while Pereira, 41, sustained three gunshot wounds, one of them to the head.

They were killed in the northwestern Javari Valley, where drug traffickers, illegal fishermen and hunters, and gold miners operate.

“It was his second-to-last trip. One more was left, and he would have finished the book,” said Sampaio, adding Phillips had already written the first four chapters.



– ‘Dom’s book’ –



After his death, his widow spent months collecting his extensive writings, journals and reams of notes.

“He had two or three notebooks from each trip, with dates, places, explaining everything,” she said. But she confessed that at times she had to stop as she got “too emotional”.

Each new chapter has been written by a group of six journalists and writers: Britons Jonathan Watts and Tom Phillips; Americans Andrew Fishman, Stuart Grudgings, and Jon Lee Anderson; and Brazilian Eliane Brum.

The book is “dedicated to everyone fighting to protect the rainforest”.

They all travelled to the region, and interviewed new people following Phillips’s trail in a bid to faithfully complete his manuscript.

The afterword has been written by Beto Marubo, a leader of the Indigenous Marubo people, with Amazonian activist and writer Helena Palmquist.

Sampaio, who lives in Brazil’s northeastern Salvador da Bahia region, paid tribute to the “loyal friends” who helped complete the book, which she says is also a tribute to activist Pereira.

“There’s no way to separate Dom and Bruno. They’re there together. It’s a message for everyone to understand the importance of the Amazon and its people,” she said.

Watts, global environment writer with The Guardian, said: “It’s more than a tribute to Dom, it is Dom’s book.”

“In this process, I’m always imagining what would Dom think, but it’s my imagination,” he added.

“I’m sad that Dom is not here to see it, but I’m very happy that we are here.”

The murders threw a spotlight on a long-threatened corner of the planet, and stoked criticism of the policies of Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro, accused of encouraging the plundering of the rainforest.

The book, launched simultaneously in Britain, Brazil and the United States, ends with a plea from Marubo for more people like Phillips and Pereira, who he says wanted to “truly help” save the Amazon.

“They were brave and they acted. If everyone did the same we might begin to see change,” Marubo writes.

Silents Synced: ‘Nosferatu’ to be set to Radiohead’s ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’ for new cinema release

Copyright AP Photo - Film Arts Guild

By David Mouriquand
Published on 06/06/2025 - RFI

A new initiative in the UK is pairing iconic silent films with era-defining records. The first sees 1922’s classic 'Nosferatu' paired with two Radiohead albums – and it’s only the beginning.

The original 1922 version of Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is set to get a new cinema release – with a brand new soundtrack, courtesy of Radiohead.

F.W. Murnau’s silent German Expressionist classic, which was based on Bram Stoker’s "Dracula" and is widely regarded as an influential masterpiece of cinema and the horror genre, will be set to Radiohead’s classic albums ‘Kid A’ (2000) and ‘Amnesiac’ (2001).

This comes as part of a new series called Silents Synced. Created by Josh Frank, the series pairs iconic silent films with era-defining records.

Kicking off in the UK this autumn, the series will begin with Nosferatu – which was recently remade by Robert Eggers.

In our review of the remake, we said: “While fans of Eggers may bemoan this pronounced reverence for the source material, especially since the director’s unique sense of creativity has never felt restrained before, Nosferatu’s bite will satisfy those wanting purist vampire folklore, more sexual overtones, and a lot of close-up shots of Lily-Rose Depp in states of both euphoria and agony.”

Screenings in October coincide with the 25th anniversary of ‘Kid A’ - a critically acclaimed album widely regarded as one of Radiohead’s most ambitious.

In 2026, the second instalment of the Silents Synced series will see Buster Keaton’s 1924 comedy Sherlock Jr. matched to R.E.M’s albums ‘Monster’ (1994) and ‘New Adventures in Hi-Fi’ (1996).

“The question for independent cinemas all across the world has become: what can we do to not remain solely reliant on new tentpole Hollywood releases to get product and experiences people can—increasingly—often wait and get at home?” said Silents Synced creator Josh Frank.

He added: “This has led us to something brand new out of necessity, in the same way great outsider art has always been created. It’s a whole new cinema experience that we feel both film obsessives and music fans will find something really unique in.”

Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of HorrorPress

This is not the first time that Radiohead’s music has been used to update a classic.

Last year, we reported that Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke was adapting the band’s 2003 album ‘Hail To The Thief’ for a new production of Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”.

The production, titled “Hamlet Hail To The Thief”, sees Yorke team up with Tony and Olivier Award-winning directors Steven Hoggett and Christine Jones to create a contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, described as a “feverish new live experience, fusing theatre, music and movement”.

Yorke “personally reworks” and orchestrates ‘Hail To The Thief’ for a cast of over 20 musicians and actors, and the music will be performed live during each show.

'Radiohead X Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror' will be playing in cinemas from 2 October, while 'R.E.M X Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr.' will be available from 5 February 2026. Visit here for more information.

Turner's earliest exhibited oil painting is up for auction after disappearing for 150 years

Copyright Courtesy Sotheby’s

By Amber Louise Bryce
Published on 06/06/2025 - RFI

The painting is being auctioned with an estimated value of £200,000-300,000 (approx. €237,500 to €356,000).

Lost for over 150 years, one of JMW Turner’s earliest oil paintings is about to go on display at London’s Sotheby’s before being auctioned.

Titled ‘The Rising Squall, Hot Wells, from St Vincent’s Rock, Bristol’, it depicts a dramatic stormy scene engulfing Hot Wells House in Bristol, UK - as seen from the east bank of the River Avon, where the Clifton Suspension Bridge now sits.

Painted by Turner when he was just 17 years old, it is now believed to be the artist's earliest exhibited oil painting, having been displayed at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1793.

RelatedMore than 200 items from Princess Diana’s wardrobe go up for auction

T

he painting is now thought to be Turner's earliest exhibited work. 

Courtesy Sotheby's

Its last public appearance was in 1858, at an exhibition in Tasmania, before disappearing into private collections for over a century and a half. Upon being rediscovered last year, Turner's signature was revealed during the restoration process.

“Its reemergence now allows viewers and scholars alike to appreciate the startling ambition of this great artist at such an early moment in his career, by which stage he is already demonstrating a level of confidence and competency in oil painting far beyond what was previously known,” a press release states.

The painting will go on public display at Sotheby’s in London from 28 June to 1 July 2025, ahead of being auctioned for an estimated value of £200,000-300,000 (approx. €237,544 to €356,316).

The auction also coincides with the 250th anniversary of Turner's birth, as various exhibitions and events across the UK - including London's Tate, National Gallery and the Turner Contemporary - celebrate the artist's legacy.

Considered one of the world's most influential 18th-century artists, Turner was a key figure within Romanticism and best known for his dramatic landscapes, ambient with bold colour and tumultuous skies.

While 'The Rising Squall' had previously been referenced in obituaries, it was mistaken as a watercolour and therefore excluded from the first catalogue of Turner's exhibited oil paintings.

Based on a drawing from the artist's earliest sketchbook and a watercolour, both of which are currently held at the Tate Britain, the artwork is believed to have been first acquired by, and possibly painted for, Reverend Robert Nixon - a friend and early supporter of Turner’s.

Before now, experts considered Turner’s earliest exhibited oil painting to be the ‘Fisherman at Sea’, displayed at the Royal Academy in 1796.

Measles in Europe: Where are cases of one of the world's most contagious diseases on the rise?

Copyright Canva

RFI
By Gabriela Galvin
Published on 03/06/2025

A handful of countries have reported measles outbreaks this year, with Romania reporting by far the highest number of cases. This is the picture for the rest of the European Union.

One of the world’s most contagious diseases is spreading in Europe.

Measles has been on the rise for months. Last year was the worst for measles in Europe and Central Asia since 1997, with more than 120,000 cases reported across the region.

Health authorities have warned that cases are likely to rise in the coming months.

So far in 2025, about 5,500 measles cases have been reported across the European Union, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Over the past year, many cases have been among unvaccinated children under the age of five, the agency says.

Related Measles cases in Europe and Central Asia at highest level in over 25 years

Measles is usually a mild or moderately severe illness, but in some cases it can lead to deadly complications. It’s extremely contagious, but vaccination is effective at keeping people from getting sick.

Here’s where cases are highest in 2025, according to ECDC data through the end of April.

A map displays the measles cases reported in the EU in 2025.

Measles in Romania

The vast majority of the EU’s measles cases are in Romania, which has reported 3,605 infections as of late April. Three people have died.

The country’s years-long outbreak has been driven by anti-vaccine sentiment, conflicting health guidance, and a medical system struggling to keep up.

In 2023, just 62 per cent of the population was fully vaccinated against measles, far below the 95 per cent threshold needed to prevent outbreaks.

Related Romania’s measles crisis: What’s driving Europe’s biggest outbreak?

Measles in France

There have been 526 measles cases so far this year in France, spurred in part by a "notable increase" in the number of measles cases brought into the country this year, the ECDC said.

At least 41 infections have been linked to someone who brought the virus in from Morocco, compared to 26 cases in 2024.

In 2023, 93 per cent of people in France were fully vaccinated. But if there are pockets of unvaccinated people in a community, measles can easily take hold.

Measles in the Netherlands

The Netherlands reported 371 measles infections in the first four months of 2025. More than two dozen cases were among people who contracted measles in Morocco or Romania and then came into the Netherlands.

Dutch health authorities said there are "clusters" of measles infections, for example, at primary schools or childcare facilities, with most cases among children under the age of 10.

But they stressed there is no national measles outbreak.

At 81 per cent, the Netherlands has one of the lowest measles vaccination rates in the EU. Only Romania and Cyprus (80 per cent) had lower coverage levels.

Measles in Italy

In Italy, 268 measles infections have been recorded so far in 2025. Overall, in the year ending in late January, it’s had more cases than anywhere in the EU except Romania.

The country’s measles vaccination rate was 85 per cent in 2023, too low to stave off outbreaks.

Related 21 million fewer children are receiving critical vaccines than before COVID, WHO says

Measles in Spain

Spain is experiencing outbreaks in several parts of the country, resulting in 251 measles infections this year. Several cases were also imported from outside of Spain, the ECDC said.

Notably, 92 per cent of people in Spain were fully vaccinated against measles in 2023, landing the country near herd immunity.

In May, the Spanish Ministry of Health encouraged people to check their vaccination status amid the uptick in measles cases both worldwide and within Spain.

"The resumption of mobility after the pandemic has increased the risk of imported cases," the ministry said.