UK tourists rage at 'inhuman' Brexit queues at airport in travel hotspot
On Monday (May 26), around 500 UK holidaymakers found themselves stuck waiting on the tarmac at Tenerife South Airport for up to 45 minutes, before disembarking to find broken-down escalators and vast lines stretching in and out of the terminal to have their passports checked.
At the airport, some travellers reported seeing four officials manning just two passport control booths. As a result, passengers were crammed into a situation described as "claustrophobic" and "third world," reports The Mirror.
Lourdes Tourecillas, a local resident who was returning from Bristol, told Canarian Weekly: "Some parents lifted their children onto their shoulders to stop them from suffocating." "There were no toilets, and people were visibly distressed," she added.
The President of Tenerife's ruling council, Rosa Dávila, has called an emergency meeting in light of the incident, with chaos and long queues becoming a common problem at the busy airport during peak tourism periods.
Dávila called the situation "unacceptable", but blamed the situation on the continued failure to provide sufficient staff for border checks ever since the UK left the European Union.
She added: "This is a structural issue. We can't continue to operate with the same staffing levels we had pre-Brexit."
A major issue facing travellers on Monday was the inability of the airport's automated checking systems to process children's passports. This meant families having to queue with kids and baggage for hours in sweltering, lengthy, lines to kick off their holidays.
The council's President said she had written to mainland politicians, but received no meaningful response. "There's a serious lack of respect towards Tenerife. We're managing essential services locally, but without state support, we're being left to fail," she said.
Lope Afonso, Tenerife's Tourism Minister, warned: "This is the first impression our visitors get. After hours on a plane, they're met with long waits and no explanation. It's not acceptable, and it's hurting our brand as a quality tourist destination.
"Tenerife competes globally. Other countries have adapted their systems since Brexit. Why haven't we?"
He also had a warning for summer travellers if Spanish mainland politicians don't take action, saying: "We need immediate solutions to avoid this happening again, especially with the busy summer season ahead."
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Irish Independent
an hour ago
- Irish Independent
‘There's no way he killed himself' Jeffrey Epstein's former butler claims
In an interview that will heap renewed pressure on the Trump administration to make the Epstein files public, one of his closest aides said he spoke to the paedophile financier before he died and insisted he was in good spirits. Valdson Vieira Cotrin, who ran Epstein's Paris home, said he could not accept the official verdict of suicide and feared his own life was in danger. He also said he believed that Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of rape and died by suicide in April, was a victim of foul play. Mr Cotrin also made the extraordinary claim that Epstein told him he had been offered a job by Donald Trump in his first administration in 2016 – but that Epstein had turned it down. There is no evidence that the allegation is true and Mr Trump has maintained that he stopped speaking to Epstein in 2004 after they fell out over a business deal. But Mr Cotrin's recollection of a conversation with his boss will fuel a growing demand for the full Epstein files – the trove of documents from the criminal investigations into Epstein that allegedly name high-profile celebrities and politicians, possibly including Mr Trump – to be released in full. In his exclusive interview, Mr Cotrin, speaking on the record for the first time, also alleged: Prince Andrew visited Epstein in St Tropez along with a British photographer famous for taking pictures of naked girls and accused of having sex with a 13-year-old Prince Andrew was a frequent guest at Epstein's Paris townhouse with royal protection bodyguards paid for by the British taxpayer Ghislaine Maxwell was the 'authoritarian boss' who gave the orders in the Epstein household Epstein gave money to Woody Allen to finance one of his movies Mr Cotrin remains in possession of a number of photographs taken with friends of Epstein, including a photo of himself with Bill Clinton on the so-called Lolita Express, Epstein's private plane that he used to traffic underage girls and women for sex. The existence of the photo showing Mr Clinton on board Epstein's jet will also fuel demands for the former president to reveal his full dealings with Epstein. Mr Clinton was issued with a subpoena on Tuesday, demanding he give evidence to a congressional committee investigating the financier. Mr Cotrin also shared a photograph of himself with Epstein that was taken in January 2019 on his private jet, which may be one of the last taken of the financier. He looks puffy but is smiling and relaxed and notably wearing an Israel Defence Forces sweatshirt. Epstein has long been accused of being an operative for Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, although last month his former lawyer said that Epstein used to laugh off the claim. Mr Cotrin, who acted as Epstein's butler, chauffeur and cook in Paris, recalled driving his boss to Le Bourget Airport in Paris to catch a flight to New York, where he was arrested upon landing on July 6, 2019. I don't believe this was suicide. He loved life too much Epstein (66) was charged with sex trafficking underage girls and remanded in custody. He was found hanged in his cell on August 10. But Mr Cotrin is insistent Epstein would never have killed himself. Epstein had told him he was planning to negotiate with the judge in the case to secure bail, having been held in custody as a possible flight risk. 'I am like his brother [Mark Epstein]. I don't believe this was suicide. He loved life too much,' said Mr Cotrin. Mr Cotrin recalled seeing Epstein for the last time. Epstein, he said, was relaxed and had been talking about making more investments in his islands – he had discreetly bought a second, which Mr Cotrin visited – as well as spending more time in Paris. 'I drove him to Le Bourget Airport. It was a Saturday, because on Monday he was supposed to appear before the judge regarding all these accusations. 'When I got home, two young women rang, his main girlfriend who had been with him officially for several years, Karyna [Shuliak] and another who worked for him. And then they told me, 'Mr Epstein has gone to prison. He arrived in New York. The police were waiting for him'.' Mr Cotrin's partner, Maria Gomes de Melo, who also knew Epstein well, recalled that in Paris, Epstein had said goodbye to her and added: 'I'll be back next week', Ms de Melo told him: 'Sir, don't go.' She also questioned the official conclusion that he had killed himself. Epstein's brother, Mark, has suggested the financier may have been murdered, ordering a second post-mortem examination that tended to back up that assertion. 'On the Saturday late, we got the news that he had hanged himself, and honestly, he loved life too much to float away like that,' she said. The US department of justice has released nearly 11 hours of surveillance video from outside Epstein's cell in the Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Centre, but a crucial minute from 11:58:58pm to midnight was missing. That has further fuelled conspiracy theories that Epstein was murdered to silence him. Mr Cotrin remains fiercely loyal to Epstein and insists he never saw his boss cavorting – let alone having sex – with underage girls. He said young women were hired to give Epstein massages and to cut his nails. 'The girls did that to him, but it stopped there,' he said. He gave an extraordinary insight into Epstein's world – and the rich and famous who would stop by for his guidance and hospitality. Mr Cotrin, who has joint French and Brazilian nationalities, worked for Epstein for 18 years, managing his sumptuous eight-bedroom Paris apartment on Avenue Foch overlooking the Arc de Triomphe. He lived in a garret flat on the sixth floor. But he also worked dozens of times at Epstein's properties in New York, Palm Beach, Florida and on Little St James, Epstein's private Caribbean island – dubbed 'paedophile island' – where he is said to have trapped and raped often underage victims. 'He trusted me completely,' said Mr Cotrin, who has not worked since his boss's death six years ago. 'I was his chauffeur, his cook, his housekeeper. I did everything in Paris, I was his only full-time, paid-up employee and worked for him from 2001 until his death. If someone could have seen something, it's Valdson, there's no one else,' he said. His interview took place in his French home over a beer and Brazilian bread and cheese balls that he says were a hit with Bill Gates. Upstairs, a large photo of Mr Cotrin and Epstein taken on the 'Lolita Express' hung on one wall, alongside another with the butler and Mr Clinton. Mr Cotrin reeled off a list of dignitaries who came to visit Epstein over two decades, including Prince Andrew, who he cooked for and chauffeured 'five or six times' in Paris and New York; Mr Clinton, whom he met once in Epstein's jet during a stopover in Paris; Peter Mandelson, now the UK's ambassador to Washington DC; Woody Allen; and Israeli ex-prime minister Ehud Barak, along with other Middle Eastern dignitaries. A photograph of Mr Mandelson with Epstein and Mr Cotrin taken at the Paris apartment on Epstein's birthday has been widely circulated, causing Mr Mandelson, the former Labour cabinet minister, huge embarrassment. Mr Cotrin has refused countless requests for interviews since Epstein was found hanged in his prison cell, but said he was breaking his silence to 'tell my truth' about Epstein, whom he refers to as 'Monsieur' or 'Patron'. Ms Giuffre killed herself at her home in Australia in April, aged 41. 'And what about Virginia [Giuffre] Roberts?' Mr Cotrin said, adding: 'I'm scared because after what happened to them, poor Valdson, who knows?' Mr Cotrin never met Mr Trump – Mr Trump and Epstein had fallen out over the sale of a property in Palm Beach in 2004. However, Mr Cotrin said that Epstein had boasted of being offered a job by Mr Trump after his surprise first presidential election win in November 2016. The claim – if true – would be dynamite, although there is no evidence to back it up. Sources inside Trump's first administration have told The Telegraph that Mr Cotrin's recollection appeared fanciful. Mr Cotrin said: 'I can tell you one thing [regarding Mr Trump]. A few days after Trump's [2016] election, Mr Epstein arrived in Paris on Monday or Tuesday, and I went to pick him up at the airport. 'He said: 'Valdson, you saw that Trump is the new US president?' ''Yes,' I replied, 'I saw it on the news in Paris'. ''Well, Trump asked me to work for him in the new government'. 'I said: 'Congratulations. I'm happy for you,' in my bad English. 'He said: 'No I didn't accept.'' I asked no more questions as it wasn't my place Mr Cotrin insisted Epstein was not in the habit of trumpeting false claims in such a confidential setting. He said his boss made no mention of what position that might be. 'I was surprised because I would have thought such a position could be interesting, but I asked no more questions as it wasn't my place,' Mr Cotrin said. 'In my job, one waits to be spoken to. 'But in my opinion, if he did turn it down, it was because he liked his freedom, I think he didn't want to be controlled by anyone.'
The Journal
8 hours ago
- The Journal
Debunked: Fox News claims about an Irish crime wave are based on discredited claims and bad stats
A FOX NEWS segment that described Dublin as 'one of the most dangerous cities in Europe' repeats bad stats and debunked claims to argue that immigrants are responsible for a surge in crime. Ireland is consistently rated as one of the safest countries in the world. In a segment decrying immigration and celebrating recent reports that America now has negative net migration – 'that means more people leaving America than are moving here,' explains the host Will Cain – Ireland is cited as an example of immigration's perils. 'Ireland last year [was] seeing its biggest population surge since 2008, largely due to positive net migration. The country has also seen, by the way, a rise in crime,' Cain says. Onscreen three statistics are given, all attributed to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The first stat says that 2024 saw the largest year-on-year population gain since 2008, with an increase of 98,700. The other stats say robberies in Ireland are up 18% and violent crime is up 10% in Q1 2024 (the first three months of 2024). It does not specify what time period the increase is being compared to. Cain continues: 'It's even more pronounced in the city of Dublin, where murder and assault attempts are surging. This from a city that was one of the safest cities in the world.' Here, a graphic appears onscreen saying that, according to 'Garda, Dublin Metropolitan Region' there was a 114% increase in 'murder/assault attempts' in Dublin in 2024. Again, it does not specify what this figure is being compared to. The host goes on to say that Dublin 'now ranks among the top ten most dangerous cities in Europe.' Two headlines flash onscreen, one saying that Dublin is one of the World's safest cities, while a more recent on says Dublin now ranks in the top ten most dangerous cities in Europe. The host then turns to a guest described as 'British-born author', who laments that Ireland has 'lost control of its borders'. A clip of this segment posted to YouTube on the night of Monday, 4 August, has been viewed more than 33,000 times as of the time of writing. It has also been met with some very justified scepticism , including one in-depth social media post by a user called Danny Boy that calls the piece a 'brazen manipulation of statistics.' So, how do the claims in the Fox News piece add up? The stats Fox starts off by claiming that 2024 saw the largest year-on-year population gain since 2008, with an increase of 98,700. This is true. A release by the CSO last August included the finding, though it should be noted that it actually refers to the 12 months up to April that year . The actual net migration was lower, at 79,300, compared with 77,600 in the previous year. But in any case, the general thrust of what Fox is suggesting here is correct. The same cannot be said for the crime statistics. The other statistics Fox sourced to the CSO are the claims that robberies in Ireland are up 18% and violent crime is up 10% in Q1 2024. However, there is an immediate problem. 'The CSO do not publish incidents by the category of 'violent crime' or 'robberies' alone,' a spokesperson for the CSO wrote to The Journal . 'The coverage you refer to does not reference the correct CSO crime categories or comparative timelines accurately.' In other words, the CSO has to label crimes and group them together under certain labels. But Fox News is not using these labels, making it hard to figure out what they are referring to. One might interpret 'violent crime' as referring to the category 'attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences'. However, compared to the previous quarter , CSO figures show a decrease of about 5%. Compared to the first quarter of 2023, it shows an increase of about 1%, not 10% as Fox said. So, what is Fox News talking about? Tellingly, the '10%' and '18%' figures also appear in a report released by the CSO in June 2024, however they refer to something else.' Advertisement Recorded incidents of Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking offences were up by 18% or 390 to 2,572 in the year to Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024 compared with the same period in 2023,' The CSO report reads. This gives us the timeframe; when Fox News is referring to crime in 2024, they actually mean the period from Q2 of 2023 to the end of Q1 of 2024 (April to March, essentially). While confusingly presented, this is a legitimate way of looking at stats, given Fox's figures for the population increase were also based on the same time period. However, Fox's labels are still very misleading. Would most people know that extortion was counted under 'robberies'? It seems that there is a closer resemblence to the CSO's category of 'Theft and related offences', though looking at this the increase drops more than half, to 8%, when comparing the same periods. On the other hand, the 10% figure comes from somewhere unexpected. 'Crime incidents involving Weapons & Explosives offences were up by 10%,' the CSO release says. This is obviously not the same thing as 'violent crime'. The data on Fox was presented inaccurately. However, aren't we just focussing on details? Isn't the important issue whether crime is increasing at the same time that we are seeing a surge in migration? Is that what the Fox figures indicate? Is that what the CSO stats on crime say? A bigger picture Let's look at the first crime figure cited (badly) by Fox. An 18% increase in recorded incidents of Robbery, Extortion & Hijacking offences in the year to Quarter 1 (Q1) 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. While this is an increase over the year before, it is also essentially in line with the same figures for most years prior to the pandemic. The figures were even higher for every year between Q1 2010 and Q1 2015. You don't need to even go so far back for the second category of crimes cited: 'Weapons & Explosives offences' (misleadingly called 'violent crime' by Fox). In the year up to Q1 2021, there were 6% more of these crimes than the same period up to 2024. In other words, Fox News is suggesting some kind of crime wave happened due to a surge of immigration in 2024. But the same crimes they (inaccurately) cite to make their point were worse in the past. Murder Capital However, what about the claim that there has been a staggering 114% increase in 'murder/assault attempts' in Dublin in 2024? Again, confusingly, there is no such category as 'murder/assault attempts', nor is a time frame given by Fox. If we look at ' homicide offences ' for the region, there were 19 in 2024, 20 in 2023, and 25 in 2022. In other words: homicide offences are decreasing. Another possible category they could be referring to is: 'Attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassments and related offences'? These rose from 7,838 in 2023 to 8,581 in 2024, an increase of 9%, not 114% Nor does there seem to be a reasonable way to come up with such a large increase. (The online critique by Danny Boy suggests Fox are citing a right-wing website that used 2003 figures as a comparison). It might also be noted that it is odd for a news show in America to express horror at the crime statistics in Ireland when the homicide rate in America is multiple times that of Ireland. 'Most dangerous city' Finally, what about the claim on Fox News that Dublin 'now ranks among the top ten most dangerous cities in Europe.' The Journal previously debunked this claim in March after it was widely shared on social media, including by Conor McGregor. The headline about Dublin being one of the most dangerous cities in Europe was ultimately based on a website that ranks crime 'derived from surveys conducted by visitors to our website,' rather than from facts. 'There is absolutely no assurance that any statement contained on the website is correct or precise,' that site disclaims. However, as with other figures cited by Fox, a factual basis did not stop the claim from being aired. While comparing crime rates across countries is difficult, Ireland is consistently ranked as one of the safest countries in Europe and, by extension, the world. Want to be your own fact-checker? Visit our brand-new FactCheck Knowledge Bank for guides and toolkits The Journal's FactCheck is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. You can read it here . For information on how FactCheck works, what the verdicts mean, and how you can take part, check out our Reader's Guide here . You can read about the team of editors and reporters who work on the factchecks here . Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... It is vital that we surface facts from noise. Articles like this one brings you clarity, transparency and balance so you can make well-informed decisions. We set up FactCheck in 2016 to proactively expose false or misleading information, but to continue to deliver on this mission we need your support. Over 5,000 readers like you support us. If you can, please consider setting up a monthly payment or making a once-off donation to keep news free to everyone. Learn More Support The Journal
Sunday World
10 hours ago
- Sunday World
Ex-IRA man flees US after 40 years over deportation fears
'There is nothing to stop them from deporting me to Ecuador, South Sudan, or whatever' A former IRA member who had been living in the US for 40 years has 'self-deported' back to Ireland over fears that he might be picked up by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Derry man Matthew Morrison whose previous deportation proceedings were terminated during the Clinton administration, took a one-way flight back to Dublin in July. 'I would bite the dust in an ICE holding cell,' the 69-year-old told The Marshall Project - St Louis before he left the US. 'There is nothing to stop them from deporting me to Ecuador, South Sudan, or whatever. Morrison with his American wife Sandra Riley Swift News in 90 Seconds - Aug 8th "It's really gotten insane here. It's crazy what they are doing now, the Trump administration. You know what I mean?' According to Irish Central, Morrison, who is from the Brandywell in Derry, was 16 years old when he marched in the civil rights demonstration on Bloody Sunday in 1970. Morrison described how Bloody Sunday when British soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians, killing 13 people, was a "watershed moment of great significance" which has played a part in him join the Irish Republican Army. As a student at the New University of Ulster in 1975, he and two other students were arrested, charged, and convicted in a British non-jury court of the attempted murder of an RUC man. He served ten years of 20 year prison sentence in Long Kesh, where he was one of the highest-ranking members of the IRA. While in prison he corresponded with American woman Francie Broderick and when he was released in 1985 they married a week later. After having two children together they were divorced, and Morrison later remarried to another American woman, Sandra Riley Swift. He remained based in Missouri, where he worked as a nurse for the next 20 years. Morrison who wrote in in 1993 how he no longer had any connection with the armed struggle in Ireland, added that should he and his family be forced to return, they would face "significant danger." In the summer of 2000, Morrison was among the six Irish nationals who had their deportation proceedings terminated by US Attorney General Janet Reno in the wake of the Good Friday Accord. . The move was welcomed by then-US President Bill Clinton, who said: "While in no way approving or condoning their past criminal acts, I believe that removing the threat of deportation for these individuals will contribute to the peace process in Northern Ireland." However, he was not permitted to apply for a green card or US citizenship, and in June attended a scheduled check-in with US Citizenship and Immigration Services in St Louis. After stories emerged of immigrants being arrested at such check-ins, Morrison's son Matt (37) told The Marshall Project: 'We were terrified that they were just going to take him right there. Matt added: 'He has to live under that fear of somebody knocking on the door and dragging him out of the house, just like they did in Derry when he was young. 'I hate it. I am just worried about him. Until recently, I hadn't heard him cry about it.' At the appointment, Morrison was photographed and was free to go but with his work authorisation set to expire in October, he boarded a one-way flight from Cleveland to Dublin on July 21, with his wife. Leaving behind his grown children, his grandchildren, and the life he had built in the US, he told The Marshall Project: 'I've come full circle. 'I came here as an immigrant, and I am leaving as an immigrant, despite everything in between. "The whole thing is a crazy, stressful situation.'
