Tensions are escalating between Italy’s right-wing government and Spain’s leftist leaders, centered on issues of immigration and border security.

More than a week ago, Italy’s conservative administration under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni implemented stringent border checks at both air and seaports for travelers coming from Spain who are non-EU citizens. Notably, Italy and Spain lack a direct land border.

In response, Spain’s left-wing government, headed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, introduced similar measures for non-EU visitors arriving from Italy. This policy now mandates that even EU citizens provide identification, leading to travel delays at a peak time when millions, including over 2 million between Italy and Spain alone, are on the move.

The central issue is border security, particularly concerning the five-mile perimeter between Morocco and the Spanish territory of Ceuta. According to the Associated Press, an estimated 72,000 individuals attempted to cross into Ceuta illegally during a surge in late July, before Spain and Morocco fortified the border to curb what the EU deems “irregular migration.”

Emma Schubart of the Henry Jackson Society told News Media that Italy’s border checks and Spain’s reciprocal measures “highlight the Meloni–Sánchez divide: enforcement-first versus a regularization program that drew 1.2 million applications.”

On July 31, Meloni’s government, in what she called an “extraordinary measure,” decided to “temporarily suspend the free movement regime (under the Schengen agreement) in maritime and air connections with Spain, reintroducing border controls,” while also offering “to support every European initiative to assist Spanish institutions as needed to restore full control of the Union’s external borders.” The implementation involved random checks for non-EU travelers.

Even some countries of Europe’s left are taking notice. Meloni teamed up with Denmark’s left-leaning Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to lead a group of 22 European Union leaders, including Hungary’s new prime minister, Péter Magyar, in a letter calling for an “extraordinary” meeting of EU interior ministers to define a “coordinated European response.” The letter placed blame on Spain, noting that “the recent ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court has been used to trigger this attack and abuse (of) our migration and asylum system.” They added that the EU “cannot allow mass crossings, the instrumentalization of migration or other hybrid threats to create the perception that illegal entry into the European Union is possible.”

Spain’s Supreme Court issued a July 8 ruling regarding the immediate return of migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to enter Ceuta or Melilla.

Spain’s Sánchez called the letter “politically motivated,” saying the situation in Ceuta was “under control” and that his government had acted in “full compliance with EU law.” On his account, Sánchez posted, “Solidarity and empathy are optional. Respect for European treaties and data is not… It is the time to continue building a strong and united EU,” while noting EU Frontex data that there were 470,600 “irregular entries” via Italy since 2021, compared to Spain’s 234,760.

The Spanish Foreign Ministry said, “Entering Spain irregularly through Ceuta or Melilla does not grant the right to remain in the country, to travel to mainland Spain, or to move freely within Europe.”

Meloni responded on X that Ceuta “once again demonstrated how urgent it is for Europe to respond to illegal immigration.… Defending the external borders of the (European) Union is not the interest of a single Nation. It is a shared responsibility of Europe.”

As soon as the Italian border controls went into effect, Spain responded, with Sánchez’s administration calling the controls “unjust” and “discriminatory towards the Spanish population.” The Spanish warned of “proportionate measures” to defend their interests, reciprocating with their own border controls on Italian travel on Aug. 8.

The Palazzo Chigi, the office of the Italian prime minister, said, “Italy does not accept ultimatums or impositions from abroad regarding national security and border control. Under no circumstances do we intend to review our decision… at least until 15 August… Another wave of migration is expected in Ceuta on that date, as the Spanish authorities themselves have announced.”

Morocco stepped in this past Saturday, Aug. 15, ahead of that attempted rush on the border, with officials saying more than 111 were arrested trying to reach Ceuta via mountain roads in an attempt to avoid checkpoints. Morocco’s Le360 news agency said that the number was closer to 300.

After the arrests, Italian foreign ministry officials told the AGI news agency they were “closely monitoring what is happening in Morocco and reaffirm the necessity of the measures adopted,” with a spokesman telling ANSA, “The checks at the border with Spain remain necessary in light of the latest developments in Morocco.”

Lorenzo Vidino, director of the program on extremism at George Washington University, told News Media that this “tit for tat” between the two countries could continue “for the foreseeable future.” Vidino said EU immigration policies are “complicated” because “there is one policy, but enforcement is by the country,” so politics plays a role. “Country A thinks Country B is not enforcing things correctly, so Country A closes the border to create de facto border controls.” He said a contributing factor to Italy’s decision may be the large Moroccan population in Italy, especially in northern Italy, which could be a draw for illegal immigrants from Morocco.

Vidino added that these types of internal EU border controls are nothing new. “France also reintroduces these ‘routine checks’ from time to time.” Austria continues sporadic checks on land crossings from Slovenia and Hungary and traffic at crossings into Germany can also be miles long due to continued controls there.

And it’s not only outside governments upset with Madrid’s response. Ceuta’s center-right mayor-president, Juan Jesús Vivas, held a press conference Friday, two weeks after the initial incursion, in the city’s Palacio de la Asamblea. He called the situation “unsustainable,” saying “Ceuta cannot endure much longer like this.” Despite Spanish authorities saying only 5,000 migrants remained in the city, Vivas says that number is closer to 9,000, adding, “Each passing day worsens the situation.”

Vivas said he felt “misunderstood and powerless in the face of the lack of legal tools” from Madrid, adding the government is moving too slowly. “I cannot understand that if a part of our territory is invaded… there is no legal mechanism that allows for an expeditious and immediate action for the return of these people who entered this territory illegally and irregularly.”

Maldita.es, an independent Spanish fact-checking platform, reports health officials have confirmed cases of scabies, impetigo and an outbreak of gastroenteritis among the migrants. Other news outlets report at least two cases of tuberculosis, but health officials say those affected were treated in Morocco before they crossed the border, and are not contagious. The National Institute of Health Management, the Spanish body responsible for managing healthcare in Ceuta, told reporters that, as of Aug. 11, there were “no confirmed cases of tuberculosis” originating in Ceuta.

Schubart said the EU should look to the U.S. “The U.S. experience is clear, over 8.7 million Southwest border encounters under weakened enforcement produced record surges and secondary pressures. Without consistent external controls, Schengen’s internal free movement erodes.”

In the early hours of Tuesday, a woman in her thirties lost her life after being stabbed in a Brooklyn park, officials reported.

The incident occurred at Lincoln Terrace–Arthur S. Somers Park, located at the intersection of Rochester Avenue and Eastern Parkway, around 12:41 a.m. The NYPD responded to a call about a conflict in the park, as relayed to The Post.

Upon reaching the site, officers discovered the woman with several stab wounds.

She was promptly transported to Brookdale Hospital in a critical state, where she was later declared deceased.

Authorities have withheld releasing the victim’s name until her family has been informed.

No arrests have been made.

Authorities are seeking a male person of interest who was last seen wearing gray sweatpants and no shirt before fleeing on foot along Rochester Ave.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Recent revelations in leaked text messages have placed Dr. Anthony Fauci under scrutiny once more. These messages have surfaced concerns about potential miscarriage risks associated with COVID-19 vaccines—issues that the country’s former leading health authority was privately alerted to during his tenure.

In the initial rollout phase of the vaccines, Dr. John Mascola, who was at the helm of the Vaccine Research Center at that time, sent a text that has now become a focal point of a Republican-led Senate probe.

In his message to Fauci, Mascola candidly acknowledged, “I am corrected on pregnancy studies. Initial studies advise avoiding vaccination in the first trimester due to potential fever and increased miscarriage rates during this period.”

Details extracted from Fauci’s iPhone reveal that he opened Mascola’s message that evening, just within an hour of its arrival, according to metadata publicly shared by Republican Senator Ron Johnson.

There is currently no evidence showing Fauci provided any response to the message.

What the subcommittee still cannot answer is the most explosive question of all: what ‘initial studies’ Mascola was referring to, or why he sent the message in the first place.

Johnson’s office said it emailed Mascola immediately demanding answers, only to be met with silence after the former NIAID scientist retained an attorney.

Johnson has since accused federal health officials of stonewalling the American public for years, and says he hopes Mascola will finally break the pattern and cooperate.

The revelation piles yet more pressure on Fauci, whose reputation has been battered by allegations of a Wuhan lab leak cover-up, an indicted former adviser, and mounting Republican calls for prosecution despite his preemptive pardon from Biden.

On August 10, Johnson and Rand Paul dropped the first batch of texts pulled from Fauci’s government iPhone, which included more than 34,000 messages and 522 voicemails.

In a January 2021 exchange with then-CDC director Rochelle Walensky and future Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Fauci flagged that many people suffer cytokine storms and fever after the second dose.

That reaction, he warned, ‘theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.’

In another text message, Murthy asked Fauci and Walensky if they had seen a WHO advisory, ‘against pregnant women taking the Moderna vaccine bc of lack of data?’

‘It has led to a flurry of questions. What is your take? I imagine we will all get asked about this,’ Murthy probed his colleagues.

Fauci responded that ‘[with regard to] pregnant women one must weigh the potential risks against the benefits,’ of getting the vaccine versus COVID itself, before adding that ‘animal tox studies did not raise any red flags.’

Murthy then indicated that the WHO statement was a ‘strong [one] to make’ and ‘potentially quite damaging to public confidence among pregnant women.’

Paul seized on the messages to accuse Fauci of privately admitting concerns while publicly telling Americans there was nothing to worry about. 

Fauci said in February 2021 there were “no red flags of anything that anyone would be worried about” among vaccinated pregnant women.

By August 2021, the CDC explicitly recommended vaccination during pregnancy after accumulating data found no increased miscarriage risk.

Earlier this month, Fauci was found in contempt of Congress and could now be referred to the Department of Justice for prosecution. 

GOP lawmakers had probed him about his time as the nation’s leading infectious disease specialist, and the guidance he recommended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times under questioning from senators. 

In a rare sequence of events at Chicago O’Hare International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has launched an investigation following two separate incidents of aircraft tire damage occurring just hours apart on Monday.

According to the FAA, the first incident involved an American Airlines aircraft which experienced a blowout of two tires during its landing at O’Hare in the early afternoon.

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The concerned flight, AA Flight 386, had safely touched down around 2 p.m. after departing from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, as confirmed by FAA officials.

In the wake of the tire damage, passengers were evacuated without incident using stairways from the aircraft, as reported by the FAA.

By 3:45 p.m., aerial footage from Chopper 7 revealed an array of emergency response vehicles, including fire trucks and police cars, encircling the American Airlines aircraft, ensuring the situation was under control.

Buses were seen near the plane to take passengers to the terminal. The aircraft has been taken out of service to be inspected by American, the airline said.

“We thank our team members for their professionalism and we apologize to our customers for their experience,” the airline said.

Delays at O’Hare at the time were less than 15 minutes.

Hours later, United flight 739 from Omaha, Nebraska plane suffered tire damage when it arrived at O’Hare, the airline said.

Those on the plane got off using stairs and boarded buses back to the terminal.

This comes less than a week after a United plane had to abort takeoff after blowing tires.

And earlier this month, a Southwest Airlines jet had nose gear tire issues while landing at Chicago Midway International Airport.

No one has been hurt in the incidents.