CNN
 — 

A restaurant chain has apologized after sparking outrage when it cut down an oak tree in London that was believed to be up to 500 years old.

Described by British conservation charity the Woodland Trust as “one of London’s largest and most significant ancient trees,” the huge oak was located outside a branch of Toby Carvery, a popular restaurant chain known for its roast dinners, in Whitewebbs Park in the borough of Enfield.

The tree’s remains, surrounded by its severed branches, were discovered by council workers on April 3. Enfield Council owns the land the tree was located on, and it is leased to Toby Carvery.

The owner of Toby Carvery, Mitchells & Butlers, said the chain was advised by contractors to cut the tree as it “caused a potential health and safety risk.”

With a girth of 6.1 meters (20 feet), the tree ranked in the top 100 of London’s 600,000 oak trees for size, according to the Woodland Trust.

“I am outraged that the leaseholder has cut down this beautiful ancient oak tree without seeking any permissions or advice from Enfield Council,” said Ergin Erbil, the leader of Enfield Council, in a statement Wednesday. “We have evidence that this tree was alive and starting to grow new spring leaves when this action was taken.”

He said the council believes the action has “broken the terms of the lease which requires Toby Carvery to maintain and protect the existing landscape.”

“The tree was the oldest one on site and cutting it down seems to be a clear breach of this condition. This tree would have been home to countless wildlife, fungi, and pollinators. This tree is a part of our ecological and cultural heritage,” he added.

The council said it is considering legal action.

According to the council, when experts inspected the oak in December, it was deemed “healthy” and “posed no risk” to the neighboring carpark and its users. An emergency tree preservation order has been imposed on the base of the stump, the Woodland Trust said.

A spokesperson for Mitchells & Butlers said in a statement to CNN that the felling of the tree was “an important action to protect our employees and guests as well as the wider general public.”

“We took necessary measures to ensure any legal requirements were met,” it added.

Phil Urban, the chain’s CEO, later apologized for “all the anger and upset that this incident has caused.”

“Clearly the felling of a beautiful old tree is a very emotive subject and is not something that any of us would undertake lightly,” said Urban in a letter addressing the incident. “We cannot undo what has been done,” he said, adding: “We need to tighten our protocols.”

Benny Hawksbee, who lives in Enfield and is a member of the Guardians of Whitewebbs group, said in the Woodland Trust statement that people want “answers.”

“The tree belonged to Enfield and to our national heritage. I am devastated,” said Hawksbee.

Jon Stokes, director of trees, science and research at the Tree Council, said in the trust’s statement that ancient oaks can live up to 1,000 years.

Despite the damage, council leader Erbil said the oak “shows clear signs of life,” adding: “We will also do everything we can to help the tree regrow.”

The Metropolitan Police Service told CNN in a statement Thursday that it was treating the felling as a civil matter and has closed its investigation.

This is not the first time that the felling of a tree has sparked outrage in the United Kingdom.

Last year, a famous sycamore tree in northern England that featured in the 1991 blockbuster film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves” was cut down in what authorities at the time labeled an “act of vandalism.” Meanwhile, in 2021 there was a mysterious spate of tree felling in southern England that saw dozens cut down in the dead of night.

CNN
 — 

Editor’s Note: This story contains minor spoilers for the upcoming season of “Emily in Paris.”

“Emily in Paris” looks to be saying au revoir – or ciao – to one cast member that has been part of the Netflix series since the beginning.

Camille Razat, who plays Emily’s (Lily Collins) frenemy of the same first name, does not appear to be returning for Season 5, according to a cast announcement published on Netflix’s Tudum on Thursday. Razat has been a series regular for the past four seasons playing Gabriel’s (Lucas Bravo) on-again-off-again romantic partner.

CNN reached out to a representative for Netflix for comment on Razat’s future with the franchise, as well as representatives for Razat.

Among the cast members who are returning are Collins, Bravo, Ashley Park, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu and Lucien Laviscount. Emily’s new Italian love interest Marcello, played by Eugenio Franceschini, will also be back.

Bravo’s return to the series comes after the actor previously spoke out about his displeasure with his character’s arc, telling IndieWire in an interview last year that he was questioning if he wanted “to be part of Season 5.”

Netflix also announced on Thursday that the series will start production on Season 5 in May, filming in Rome before heading back to Paris later this summer.

Season 4 ended with Emily being tasked with opening up a Roman branch of Agence Grateau.

Of course, her love interest Marcello will be part of that story, further complicating her already complex romantic relationship with Gabriel as they work toward his restaurant earning a Michelin star.

“Marcello is a whole other adventure that we want for Emily because we ultimately want Emily to be able to have a better work/life balance,” star Collins told Tudum. “We want to have Emily be able to smile without condition. We want to see her beyond her vacay mode. And he comes at that perfect time.”

A release date for Season 5 has not yet been announced.

Washington
CNN
 — 

It took Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni exactly two sentences in the Oval Office on Thursday to signal to her host she was a kindred spirit.

“We both share another fight, which is the fight against the woke and DEI ideology that would like to erase our history,” she proclaimed in English, using some of President Donald Trump’s favorite codewords to describe her battle against what they see as progressive ideals run amok.

It was an unsubtle attempt to make clear from the get-go she was not the kind of European leader Trump has hosted in the same room over the course of the past two months.

Populist, conservative and a shrewd political operator, Meloni has captured the attention of Trump and his advisers. She was the lone leader from Europe to attend his inauguration in January. She is friends with his most powerful adviser, billionaire Elon Musk. And she has adopted the same type of anti-migration stance that helped fuel Trump’s return to the White House.

Like El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, another likeminded ally who visited the White House this week, Meloni appeared to know exactly what to say to convey her MAGA bonafides.

“The goal for me is to make the West great again,” she said. “And I think we can do it together.”

Whether that is Trump’s ambition is another question. Europe is hardly a major priority for Trump. To the extent he is paying attention — on trade and the war in Ukraine — he’s been harshly critical, suggesting the continent has spent the last several decades conniving to “screw” the United States.

Still, having a leader in Rome who shares his hostility toward liberal ideals amounts to a convenient opening for Trump at a moment when transatlantic ties have strained to their breaking point.

Unlike the actual leader of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen — who, despite repeated attempts, hasn’t secured a meeting or conversation with Trump since he took office, according to European officials — Meloni is a national leader who was elected, in part, based on her far-right platform.

And while officials in Joe Biden’s administration voiced pleasant surprise at Meloni’s staunch support for Ukraine and praised her stewardship of the Group of 7 last year, she is not regarded by Trump as having been overly close to his immediate predecessor — something some of Trump’s aides say has hampered von der Leyen’s attempts to cultivate Trump.

Ahead of her visit, one Trump aide described Meloni as a conduit for Europe who could act as an intermediary for the rest of the continent.

“We certainly see her as a valuable interlocutor with the EU,” the official said.

Meloni herself said before arriving in Washington she well understood the expectations for her visit.

“I am aware of what I represent, and I am aware of what I am defending,” she said, joking that she felt zero pressure from the high stakes.

At least in their public engagements, there is little more Meloni could have asked for in terms of accolades from Trump.

“Everybody loves her and respects her,” Trump said as their meeting was getting underway. “I can’t say that about many people.”

That may be an overstatement — her opponents in Italy accuse her of duplicity in currying favor with both Washington and Brussels — but at least in Trump’s mind, Meloni’s ability to maintain relations both with European leaders and with himself is a major feat.

Unlike France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Keir Starmer or Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky — whose own Oval Office visit in February ended in cacophonous disaster — Meloni wasn’t at the White House to convince the president to adopt a certain course when it comes to Ukraine or to try correcting his views of European financial support.

When Trump began laying into Zelensky during their meeting on Thursday, declaring himself “not a big fan” of the Ukrainian president, Meloni chose not to intervene.

And while she described Russian President Vladimir Putin as l’invasore — the invader — while answering a question in Italian about who was responsible for the war, she cut off her interpreter mid-sentence before the statement could be read aloud in English for Trump to hear.

“I will do that,” she told the translator, going on to recount in English what she’d just said about raising Italy’s defense spending, but skipping over her answer on Putin.

Meloni coordinated closely with von der Leyen before traveling to Washington, according to European officials, and maintains close relationships with her counterparts in Paris, London and Berlin. Yet her power to secure relief from the 20% tariff Trump has threatened on the EU is limited; any new trade deal would have to be negotiated between Washington and EU officials in Brussels.

So far, those officials have gained little clarity on what Trump is looking for in a new agreement, and it wasn’t obvious that Meloni was departing Washington with any new insights.

Still, Trump was optimistic a trade agreement could be reached — “there’ll be a trade deal, 100%,” he said as he sat down for lunch — which was at least a glimmer of hope for avoiding a transatlantic trade war.

On both trade and defense, Meloni’s Italy is not exactly what Trump is looking for from Europe. Its trade surplus with the United States runs about $45 billion as Americans buy up Chianti, parmesan cheese and Gucci bags. And it currently spends only about 1.5% of its domestic output on defense, well below the 2% target set by NATO.

Ordinarily, both would be areas ripe for an angry lecture from Trump. But he glossed over those irritants at the White House, treating Meloni only with respect.

“I would say that she has taken Europe by storm,” he said glowingly.

He even accepted her invitation to visit Rome for a meeting with other Europeans.