A roundup of the latest news on Thursday

Spain pledges closer ties with Vietnam after tariff shock

During a visit by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to Hanoi, he and counterpart Pham Minh Chinh signed a joint declaration aiming to elevate ties to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership.

It came on the same day US President Donald Trump’s 20 percent tariffs on EU products, and a massive 46 percent levy on Vietnamese goods, came into force.

Sánchez said Spain was committed to an international order based on rules, “free trade and economic freedom”.

“Trade wars benefit no one, but harm everyone,” he said.

“In a global context as complex as the one we are in, the Spanish government is firmly committed to the opening up of our country and Europe to Southeast Asia,” he added.

Chinh said Vietnam had proposed Spain be “a bridge to promote our relationship with the EU and Latin American countries (and), for its part, Vietnam agrees to be a bridge to strengthen the relationship between Spain and ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian nations)”.

The pair signed five memoranda of understanding including on financial cooperation, culture cooperation and agricultural safety.

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        <strong>Spain's former king to sue ex-lover</strong>

Juan Carlos I is preparing a new lawsuit, this time against his former partner Corinna Larsen, days after the emeritus king sued former Cantabrian president Miguel Ángel Revilla for “insulting and defamatory statements.”

Now, the monarch is reportedly preparing similar legal action against the German businesswoman for public comments she made also suggesting that the monarch, in self-imposed exile in Abu Dhabi, is corrupt and has over a billion euros stashed away in offshore accounts.

Larsen filed a lawsuit against the emeritus king several years ago, claiming €146 million for allegedly harassing her for years after she ended their relationship.

Spain among destinations London millionaires are fleeing to 

Thousands of millionaires fled London in the past year with some moving to the United States, Asia or European countries such as Spain, driven out by high taxes and Brexit, according to a report in published Wednesday.

The exodus continued a decade-long trend that has been attributed to tax increases, failure to recover from the 2008 financial crisis and Britain’s acrimonious departure from the European Union.

Some 11,300 dollar millionaires exited London in 2024, found the annual World’s Wealthiest Cities Report published by advisory firm Henley & Partners and data intelligence company New World Wealth.

The Times newspaper said tax advisers revealed some people were moving to countries such as Portugal, Spain, Greece, as well as the United Arab Emirates and Italy, where taxes are lower or people can pay a fixed annual fee to avoid them.

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        <strong>European police dismantle online child abuse image network</strong>

Polish police announced Wednesday the dismantling of a vast online network for images of child sexual abuse, an operation carried out in cooperation with 11 other European countries, including Spain.

The operation — codenamed FEVER — led to the arrest of 166 people across Europe, including 98 in Poland.

“Among those arrested were people who produced photographs and videos showing the sexual exploitation of minors, ran online forums where they exchanged the material, and pushed minors to have suicidal thoughts,” said the Polish police cybercrime office.

“The perpetrators also included the victims’ relatives and confidants.”

The vast operation was conducted with the backing of the EU’s law enforcement agency Europol, the US Joint Counterterrorism Assessment Team (JCAT) alongside authorities from Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Romania and Spain among others, Polish police said.

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