BRUSSELS: After blocking the main migrant route from the Middle East, the EU will this week seek ways to check a feared spring surge from Libya and North Africa across the Mediterranean.
The European Union lacks a reliable partner in chaotic Libya, the launchpad for almost all migrant crossings over the central Mediterranean, while some African governments along the trail north have been reluctant to cooperate, EU sources and experts said.
The European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation EU, is due to unveil new proposals to tackle the issue on Wednesday, before ministers address it at talks in Malta on Thursday and Friday.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat — whose country is using its six-month presidency of the EU to highlight a crisis that has badly affected the island — warned two weeks ago that the EU should meet soon with Libyan authorities to try to avert the risk of an “unprecedented” migrant flow in the spring.
Trafficking on the central Mediterranean route is picking up sharply with more than 180,000 migrants landing in Italy last year, compared with a previous annual record of 170,100 in 2014.
Muscat wants a Libya deal that copies aspects of a controversial EU aid-for-cooperation deal with Turkey that has sharply slowed the number of Syrian and other asylum seekers landing in Greece.
But that will be tough, as the UN-backed Libyan unity government is locked in a power struggle with a rival administration in eastern Libya as it seeks to end years of lawlessness following the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi.
Meanwhile the EU’s naval operation “Sophia,” launched in 2015 to crack down on smugglers on the high seas, has no green light to intervene in Libyan waters.
“The operation is only partly useful because we can’t really act against the smugglers,” a European diplomat said. “They abandon people on rickety boats before the international waters and then let them drift.”
Now, Malta has floated the idea of having the EU step up its months-old program to train and equip Libya’s coast guard to form a “line of protection” nearer the embarcation points, according to a proposal seen by AFP.
The Libyan coast guard would then return the migrants to shore where they would be taken into the EU in the right conditions under international law.
“The problem is that you have no reliable partner on the Libyan side,” Stefan Lehne, an analyst with the think tank Carnegie Europe, told AFP.
The lack of a reliable interlocutor will likely force the EU to focus to try to work with countries through which migrants travel north, EU sources said.
Most of the migrants coming from Africa are viewed by the EU as economic migrants who should be deported to their original countries, rather than refugees like those fleeing war in Syria.
The EU’s successful cooperation on returns with Niger, a transit country, and the International Organization for Migration has led to calls for Brussels to strike similar deals with Mali, Chad, Nigeria and Sudan.
The EU already has deals with Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Niger and Ethiopia to stop people leaving for Europe in the first place, sealed at a summit in Malta in 2015.
But despite European pressure, the African countries are balking at cooperation with Europe over returns.
Lehne said the EU approach fails to recognize the fact that “migration is a positive thing” for African countries which receive remittances from workers abroad and get “rid of people who could politically destabilize the country.”
Yves Pascouau, director of the European Policy Center, said the EU should propose “legal channels of migration” in return for cooperation but this is unlikely given rising populist opposition to migration in Europe.
EU seeks curb for Libya migrant flows
EU seeks curb for Libya migrant flows
Wildfire sparks panicked evacuations in Los Angeles suburbs
LOS ANGELES: Firefighters on Wednesday battled a ferocious wildfire in Los Angeles suburbs, home to many Hollywood celebrities, which devoured buildings and sparked panicked evacuations as hurricane-force winds fueled rapid blaze growth.
Frightened residents abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the upscale Pacific Palisades area, fleeing on foot from the 3,000-acre (1,200-hectare) blaze engulfing an area packed with multimillion-dollar homes in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Firefighters used bulldozers to push dozens of vehicles — including expensive models such as BMWs, Teslas and Mercedes — to one side, leaving many crumpled and with their alarms blaring. Some celebrities posted comments and pictures on social media platforms.
More than 1,400 firefighters were on the ground, with hundreds more on the way, California Governor Gavin Newsom said.
US media reported one firefighter among several injured in the Palisades.
Hundreds of firefighters swarmed the area, attacking the blaze from the ground and the air, while crews worked through steep terrain to cut back vegetation and create firebreaks.
“Extreme fire behavior... continues to challenge firefighting efforts for the Palisades Fire,” with winds gusts up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) per hour expected to continue through Thursday, said the LA fire department in its latest update.
Around 30,000 people were ordered to evacuate the fast-spreading flames, which leveled multiple homes as powerful winds spread embers far and wide.
Velma Wright, 102, was evacuated from a care facility as embers and flames approached in Pasadena, an AFP photographer saw, from where dozens other residents were moved.
Trees and vegetation around the prestigious Getty Villa Museum were burned, but the structure and collections were spared, the museum said in a post on X.
The Getty, set up by US oil billionaire and collector J. Paul Getty and one of the world’s richest art museums, houses Greek and Roman antiquities in a replica Roman country home.
Actor James Woods posted a video on X showing flames engulfing trees and bushes near his home as he got ready to evacuate, and shortly afterward said all the fire alarms were going off.
“I couldn’t believe our lovely little home in the hills held on this long. It feels like losing a loved one,” Woods said.
Across town, on the northern edge of Los Angeles, another fire broke out in Eaton Canyon, near Pasadena, quickly consuming 200 acres (81 hectares) Tuesday night, according to Angeles National Forest officials.
The city of Malibu west of Los Angeles told its residents via social media post to “prepare to evacuate quickly if fire conditions worsen. Evacuate now, especially if you need extra time or have pets/livestock.”
US President Joe Biden — who was in Los Angeles for a planned announcement on new national monuments — said he was “being frequently briefed on the wildfires” and has offered “any federal assistance that is needed.”
Vice President Kamala Harris, who has a house in California, said she was praying for “fellow Californians who have evacuated.”
The fire erupted midmorning and swelled quickly, taking many residents by surprise.
One man, who gave his name as Gary, told broadcaster KTLA that hot ashes were raining down on his community of Sea Ridge.
“There was smoke in the distance, and I was assured that it would not come over the hill... Five minutes later, it’s coming down the hill,” he said.
“Everyone panicked, that’s when everybody made a run and went to go and pack their houses up.”
Evacuee Kelsey Trainor said she saw the fire explode in size as she was fleeing.
“By the time we got to the bottom of the hill, which is about two or three miles, there were flames on both sides of the road, and it became gridlocked,” she said.
“No one knew what to do. Everyone was honking their horns. There’s flames all around you.
“I could see people walking with suitcases, with their dogs, children. An elderly woman was really visibly upset and in tears.”
Pacific Palisades resident Andrew Hires told AFP he got a text alerting him to the fire as his child was at the dentist about to have a tooth extracted.
“We pulled off the mask and ran to the car,” he said.
The fire came as the area was being hit by seasonal Santa Ana winds that forecasters said could develop into the worst windstorm in a decade, with gusts of up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour expected.
“This looks pretty, pretty concerning,” said meteorologist Daniel Swain.
“And what’s going on now is only just the beginning, because weather conditions are going to get a lot worse.”
With a huge pall of smoke visible over the whole of Los Angeles, events throughout the area were canceled, including a red-carpet premiere of Jennifer Lopez’s new film “Unstoppable.”
Wildfires are an expected part of life in the US West and play a vital role in nature.
But scientists say human-caused climate change is altering weather patterns.
Southern California had two decades of drought that were followed by two exceptionally wet years, which sparked furious vegetative growth — leaving the region packed with fuel and primed to burn.
France urges European Commission to be firm against Musk interference
PARIS: France on Wednesday urged the European Commission to protect its member states with “the greatest firmness” against interference in political debate particularly from the billionaire owner of social media platform X, Elon Musk.
“Either the European Commission applies with the greatest firmness the laws that we have given ourselves to protect our public space, or it does not do so and then it will have to agree to give back the capacity to do so to the EU member states,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told France Inter radio.
South Korea’s Yoon faces new arrest attempt in fortified compound
Acting president Choi Sang-mok urged on Wednesday authorities to “do their best to prevent any injuries to citizens or physical conflict between government agencies” while executing Yoon’s arrest warrant.
Protesters supporting and opposing the embattled Yoon braved freezing temperatures to stage rallies on the streets around the presidential compound on Wednesday after a court re-issued a warrant on Tuesday to arrest him.
The Presidential Security Service (PSS) has been fortifying the compound this week with barbed wire and barricades using buses to block access to the residence, a hillside villa in an upscale district known as Korea’s Beverly Hills.
Yoon is under criminal investigation for insurrection over his failed attempt to impose martial law on Dec. 3, a decision that stunned South Korea and prompted the first arrest warrant for a sitting president.
He also faces an impeachment trial in the Constitutional Court.
One of Yoon’s lawyers said the president could not accept the execution of the arrest warrant because it was issued by a court in the wrong jurisdiction and the team of investigators formed to probe the incumbent leader had no mandate to do so.
Yoon Kab-keun, the lawyer, also denied suggestions by some members of parliament that Yoon had fled the official residence, saying he had met the president there on Tuesday. He said they were “malicious rumors” intended to slander Yoon.
On Tuesday, Oh Dong-woon, head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO), which is leading the investigation, apologized for failing to arrest the president last week after a six-hour standoff with hundreds of PSS agents, some of whom were carrying firearms, and military guards at the compound.
“We’ll do our best to accomplish our goal by thoroughly preparing this time with great determination that the second warrant execution will be the last,” Oh told a parliament committee.
He declined to specify how many days the court had given before the new arrest warrant expired.
Oh did not object when members of parliament called for tough action to overpower the presidential guards and military troops inside the compound, but he declined to discuss what options were being considered to achieve that.
Various scenarios reported in local media included mobilizing police special tactical units and heavy equipment to push through the barricades, followed by more than 2,000 police to drag out presidential guards, taking as long as three days if necessary to wear down presidential security agents.
Shin Yul, a Myongji University professor who has followed the political turmoil, said police had lots of experience with the tactical operations that were likely being considered. But safety should be a top priority, especially for protesters, he said, noting the risk of gunfire in a potential clash.
Although police have a clear advantage in terms of resources such as helicopters to drop in tactical units, force should not be the only option considered, said Lee Yung-hyeock, a Konkuk University professor specializing in law enforcement.
He cited “cognitive warfare” such as using loudspeakers to persuade PSS agents they could face personal repercussions by obstructing justice that could mean the end of their careers and possible criminal records.
EU won’t tolerate attacks on its borders, French foreign minister says after Trump’s Greenland comments
PARIS: The European Union will not let other nations attack its sovereign borders, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in response to US President-elect Donald Trump’s comments on Greenland regarding the “ownership and control” of the vast Arctic island that has been part of Denmark for over 600 years.
“There is obviously no question that the European Union would let other nations of the world attack its soverign borders, whoever they are ... We are a strong continent,” Barrot said.
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would not rule out the use of military force to seize control of the Panama Canal and Greenland, as he declared US control of both to be vital to American national security.
Speaking to reporters less than two weeks before he takes office on Jan. 20 and as a delegation of aides and advisers that includes Donald Trump Jr. is in Greenland, Trump left open the use of the American military to secure both territories. Trump’s intention marks a rejection of decades of US policy that has prioritized self-determination over territorial expansion.
Greenland, home to a large US military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime US ally and a founding member of NATO. Trump cast doubts on the legitimacy of Denmark’s claim to Greenland.
The Panama Canal has been solely controlled by the eponymous country for more than 25 years. The US returned the Panama Canal Zone to the country in 1979 and ended its joint partnership in controlling the strategic waterway in 1999.
Bangladesh orders banks to assist UK minister graft probe
- Last month the national anti-corruption commission launched a probe into the alleged embezzlement by Hasina’s family of $5 billion connected to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant
Dhaka: Bangladesh money laundering investigators have ordered the country’s big banks to hand over details of transactions relating to British anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq in an ongoing graft probe, officers told AFP.
Siddiq is the niece of former Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled abroad last August after a student-led uprising against her iron-fisted tenure.
Last month the national anti-corruption commission launched a probe into the alleged embezzlement by Hasina’s family of $5 billion connected to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant.
Two officials from the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Bangladeshi banks had been instructed to furnish any financial records relating to Siddiq.
A BFIU document issued Tuesday and seen by AFP showed that banks had also been told to provide transaction records for Hasina, her son and daughter, Siddiq’s two siblings and her mother Sheikh Rehana.
The kickback allegations relate to the $12.65 billion Rooppur nuclear plant, which was bankrolled by Moscow with a 90 percent loan.
“The claims of kickbacks, mismanagement, money laundering, and potential abuse of power raise significant concerns about the integrity of the project and the use of public funds,” the anti-corruption commission said last month when announcing the probe.
The order came a day after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed that Siddiq had referred herself to his standards adviser.
Siddiq insists she has done nothing wrong and a spokesman for Starmer said he retains “full confidence” in her.
The referral came after the Sunday Times and Financial Times newspapers reported that she had lived in properties linked to her aunt Sheikh Hasina’s administration.
“In recent weeks I have been the subject of media reporting, much of it inaccurate, about my financial affairs and my family’s links to the former government of Bangladesh,” Siddiq wrote in her letter to ministerial standards watchdog Laurie Magnus.
“I am clear that I have done nothing wrong,” she added. “However, for the avoidance of doubt, I would like you to independently establish the facts about these matters.”
Her aunt Hasina, 77, fled Bangladesh by helicopter on August 5, shortly before protesters stormed her palace in the capital Dhaka.
She remains in neighboring India but the interim government that replaced her has demanded her extradition to face trial for the police killing of protesters during the revolt against her regime.
