A sweeping power outage left millions of people in Spain, Portugal and parts of France without electricity on Monday, leading to chaotic scenes and widespread disruption.

A problem with the power connection between France and Spain was a contributing factor to the outage, the head of a trade body that represents Europe’s power industry said.

Kristian Ruby, of Eurelectric, told the BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight a “specific incident with an interconnector between France and Spain” occurred on Monday.

Mr Ruby said this “meant the Spanish grid was disconnected from the broader European grid”.

He added that the interconnector incident was unlikely to have caused the outage on its own and that there were “likely to have been other elements in this equation”.

A day of widespread disruption saw trains cancelled and evacuated in some regions, and traffic lights stop working as delays mounted at airports.

As of Monday evening, 11 trains remained stranded, Spanish Transport Minister Oscar Puente said.

With shops, homes and restaurants plunged into darkness – and some people stuck in lifts – Spain’s electricity network said by mid-afternoon that restoring power could take several hours.

By Monday night, 50% of power had been restored across Spain, according to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. While Portuguese energy provider REN said electricity had been restored to 750,000 customers.

But a state of emergency remained in place, with regions able to request the special status.

Sánchez said the cause of the outage was still being investigated and warned against speculation, while Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said there was “no indication” of a cyber attack.

(BBC News)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary ceasefire for the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin said the ceasefire would run from the morning of 8 May until 11 May – which coincides with victory celebrations to mark the end of World War Two.

In response, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called for an immediate ceasefire lasting “at least 30 days”.

While US President Donald Trump, who has been attempting to broker a truce between the two sides, said he wants to see a permanent ceasefire, the White House said.

The Kremlin announced a similar, 30-hour truce over Easter, but while both sides reported a dip in fighting, they accused each other of hundreds of violations.

Ceasefires have been attempted more than 20 times in Ukraine – all of them failed eventually, and some within minutes of going into effect.

The most recent one, over Easter, was very limited in scope and only resulted in a slight reduction in fighting, with both sides accusing each other of violating the truce.

In a statement on Monday, the Kremlin said Putin declared the ceasefire “based on humanitarian considerations”.

A translation of the statement said: “Russia believes that the Ukrainian side should follow this example.

“In the event of violations of the ceasefire by the Ukrainian side, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will give an adequate and effective response.

“The Russian side once again declares its readiness for peace talks without preconditions, aimed at eliminating the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, and constructive interaction with international partners.”

Following its release, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha said: “If Russia truly wants peace, it must cease fire immediately.”

“Why wait until May 8th?” he wrote on X. “If the fire can be ceased now and since any date for 30 days—so it is real, not just for a parade.”

He said Ukraine is ready to support a “lasting, durable, and full ceasefire. And this is what we are constantly proposing, for at least 30 days”.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was growing “increasingly frustrated with leaders of both countries”.

“He wants to see a permanent ceasefire.

“I understand Vladimir Putin this morning offered a temporary ceasefire. The president has made it clear he wants to see a permanent ceasefire first to stop the killing, stop the bloodshed.”

The latest announcement comes during what the US has described as a “very critical” week for Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

Washington has been trying to broker a deal between the two sides, but the Donald Trump administration has threatened to pull out if they do not see progress.

Putin is keen to create the impression that Russia is serious about seeking peace – and he is keen for Trump to hear that message given Ukraine has accepted Washington’s proposal for a more lasting 30-day ceasefire.

It comes after the US president expressed annoyance with Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, and currently controls about 20% Ukraine’s territory, including the southern Crimea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people – the vast majority of them soldiers – have been killed or injured on all sides since 2022.

(BBC News)

The international internet celebrity city of Chongqing in China will host a grand equipment manufacturing industry event – the 25th Lijia International Intelligent Equipment Exhibition 2025 next month.

The Expo will be held at the Chongqing International Expo Center from May 13th to 16th, 2025, attracting exhibitors and professional visitors from all over the world to discuss and showcase the latest technologies and products in the equipment manufacturing industry.

This exhibition, spanning across 100,000 sq. meters will bring together 1,400 globally renowned enterprises which will showcase their intelligent manufacturing equipment and technology, particularly the latest achievements, cutting-edge technologies, and high-end products in the fields of machine tools, industrial automation and robots, tool holders and measuring tools, sheet metal, die-casting casting, molds, rubber and plastic.

The 2025 Lijia Exhibition will also create multiple themed exhibition islands showcasing manufacturing powerhouses of China, which will comprehensively showcase solutions to industry pain points through on-site demonstrations, technical explanations, and physical displays.

In addition, the exhibition will also hold over 100 industry conferences and events. The main forum, “FIM-Future Intelligent Manufacturing Conference,” focuses on future factories, with the theme of AI+manufacturing. Industry experts are expected to provide suggestions and recommendations for manufacturing transformation.

Organizers point out that for global manufacturing enterprises, the expo is not only an excellent opportunity to learn about the latest technologies and products in China’s equipment manufacturing industry, but also also an important platform for gaining a deeper understanding of the Chinese market and expanding international cooperation. It will also open up opportunities to engage in in-depth exchanges and cooperation with Chinese counterparts, and to jointly promote the development and prosperity of the global equipment manufacturing industry.