LONDON: More than 600,000 people had by Sunday signed a petition asking London transport authorities to reverse their decision not to renew Uber’s license when it expires.
Friday’s decision to ban the ride-sharing service was “affecting the real lives of a huge number of honest and hard-working drivers” and would “show the world that London is far from being open and is closed to innovative companies,” the petition said.
Transport for London said the conduct of Uber, which has around 40,000 drivers and 3.5 million customers in the British capital, had raised safety concerns.
“TfL has concluded that Uber London Limited is not fit and proper to hold a private hire operator license,” it said in a statement.
It said Uber’s “approach and conduct demonstrate a lack of corporate responsibility in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications,” citing concerns over background checks of drivers.
The petition, on change.org, said that Uber provided a “safe, reliable and affordable ride,” and thar its users would be “astounded” by the ban.
“By wanting to ban our app from the capital, Transport for London and their chairman the Mayor have given in to a small number of people who want to restrict consumer choice,” it added.
The license expires on September 30 but Uber has 21 days to appeal the decision, and has said it plans a challenge.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on Saturday backed his London mayor Sadiq Khan, telling Sky News that authorities had done the “right thing.”
“Obviously people need to be able to travel, obviously they want to be able to access cabs,” he said. “Those cabs must be safe, must be regulated and must be available for all.”
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600,000 sign petition to overturn London Uber ban
600,000 sign petition to overturn London Uber ban
Trump signs order to get ‘transgender ideology’ out of military
- He signed further orders reinstating service members dismissed for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine
- He extended a wider government crackdown on diversity programs to the armed forces
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump said Monday he had signed an executive order ridding the military of what he called “transgender ideology,” in a potentially major setback for LGBTQ rights.
In a series of orders related to the military that Trump told reporters he had signed on Air Force One, he also called for the building of a US version of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
The Republican signed further orders reinstating service members dismissed for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and extending a wider government crackdown on diversity programs to the armed forces.
“To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military,” Trump told a Republican congressional retreat earlier in Miami.
Trump has previously promised to bring back a ban on transgender troops, but it was not immediately clear what specific steps were contained in the new order, which has not yet been published.
A White House official with him said the order involved “eliminating gender radicalism in the military.”
Trump’s orders came at the start of his second week back in the White House and on the day a welcome ceremony was held at the Pentagon for his new defense secretary, military veteran and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth.
“Thank you for your leadership Mr. President. We will execute!” Hegseth — who was confirmed last week despite concerns over his inexperience, and alleged record of heavy drinking and domestic violence — said on X.
Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly while Trump has repeatedly sought to keep them out of the ranks.
The US military lifted a ban on transgender troops serving in the armed forces in 2016, during Democrat Barack Obama’s second term as president.
Under that policy, trans troops already serving were permitted to do so openly, and transgender recruits were set to start being accepted by July 1, 2017.
But the first Trump administration postponed that date to 2018 before deciding to reverse the policy entirely, sparking criticism from rights groups.
Trump claimed that transgender service members were disruptive, expensive and eroded military readiness and camaraderie among troops.
Trump’s Democratic successor Joe Biden moved to reverse the restrictions just days after he took office in 2021, saying all Americans qualified to serve should be able to do so.
While the number of transgender troops in the American military is fairly small — with estimates of some 15,000 out of more than two million uniformed service members — their dismissal would reduce US forces at a time when the country is already facing difficulties recruiting new personnel.
Biden’s outgoing defense secretary Lloyd Austin appeared to criticize Trump’s plans during a farewell address earlier this month, saying: “Any military that turns away qualified patriots who are eager to serve is just making itself smaller and weaker.”
Transgender issues have roiled US politics in recent years, as states controlled by Democrats and Republicans have moved in opposite directions on policies ranging from medical treatment to what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.
Trump has meanwhile repeatedly promised to build a version of the Iron Dome system that Israel has used to shoot down missiles fired by Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But he ignored the fact that the system is designed for short-range threats, making it ill-suited to defending against intercontinental missiles that are the main danger to the United States.
“We need to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield,” Trump said in Miami, adding that it would be “made right here in the USA.”
In a series of orders related to the military that Trump told reporters he had signed on Air Force One, he also called for the building of a US version of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
The Republican signed further orders reinstating service members dismissed for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, and extending a wider government crackdown on diversity programs to the armed forces.
“To ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, we will get transgender ideology the hell out of our military,” Trump told a Republican congressional retreat earlier in Miami.
Trump has previously promised to bring back a ban on transgender troops, but it was not immediately clear what specific steps were contained in the new order, which has not yet been published.
A White House official with him said the order involved “eliminating gender radicalism in the military.”
Trump’s orders came at the start of his second week back in the White House and on the day a welcome ceremony was held at the Pentagon for his new defense secretary, military veteran and Fox News personality Pete Hegseth.
“Thank you for your leadership Mr. President. We will execute!” Hegseth — who was confirmed last week despite concerns over his inexperience, and alleged record of heavy drinking and domestic violence — said on X.
Transgender Americans have faced a roller coaster of changing policies on military service in recent years, with Democratic administrations seeking to permit them to serve openly while Trump has repeatedly sought to keep them out of the ranks.
The US military lifted a ban on transgender troops serving in the armed forces in 2016, during Democrat Barack Obama’s second term as president.
Under that policy, trans troops already serving were permitted to do so openly, and transgender recruits were set to start being accepted by July 1, 2017.
But the first Trump administration postponed that date to 2018 before deciding to reverse the policy entirely, sparking criticism from rights groups.
Trump claimed that transgender service members were disruptive, expensive and eroded military readiness and camaraderie among troops.
Trump’s Democratic successor Joe Biden moved to reverse the restrictions just days after he took office in 2021, saying all Americans qualified to serve should be able to do so.
While the number of transgender troops in the American military is fairly small — with estimates of some 15,000 out of more than two million uniformed service members — their dismissal would reduce US forces at a time when the country is already facing difficulties recruiting new personnel.
Biden’s outgoing defense secretary Lloyd Austin appeared to criticize Trump’s plans during a farewell address earlier this month, saying: “Any military that turns away qualified patriots who are eager to serve is just making itself smaller and weaker.”
Transgender issues have roiled US politics in recent years, as states controlled by Democrats and Republicans have moved in opposite directions on policies ranging from medical treatment to what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.
Trump has meanwhile repeatedly promised to build a version of the Iron Dome system that Israel has used to shoot down missiles fired by Hamas from Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But he ignored the fact that the system is designed for short-range threats, making it ill-suited to defending against intercontinental missiles that are the main danger to the United States.
“We need to immediately begin the construction of a state-of-the-art Iron Dome missile defense shield,” Trump said in Miami, adding that it would be “made right here in the USA.”
Syrian refugees in Jordan camp say they have nothing to go home to
- Refugees fear the security situation might once again deteriorate after 13 years of civil war
- In 2012, neighboring Jordan opened Zaatari camp and is now hosting 75,000 Syrians
ZAATARI REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan: They have lived for years in Zaatari, the world’s biggest refugee camp for Syrians, but many are unsure they want to return home from Jordan even after the ouster of former president Bashar Assad.
They fear the security situation might once again deteriorate after 13 years of civil war, and some say their homes have been destroyed while others lost their jobs and feel they have nothing to go back to.
In 2012, a year into the war in Syria, neighboring Jordan opened Zaatari camp to host people fleeing the conflict.
It is now home to 75,000 people, according to UN figures.
To begin with, it was a squalid collection of tents dotting an arid landscape, but over time, it grew into a town of prefabricated homes, supplied with free electricity, water, health and schools.
On a street named the Champs-Elysees, after the famed Parisian avenue, 60-year-old shop owner Yousef Hariri told AFP he wanted to stay in Zaatari with his family, where they feel safe.
“I can’t go back. That would mean losing everything and selling the shop would be hard,” said Hariri, whose store sells construction materials.
“The situation in Syria is not good at the moment and it is not clear what will happen. Prices are through the roof and there are armed rebels. Our houses are destroyed.”
The war in Syria, which began with Assad’s crackdown on democracy protests in 2011, forced millions of people to flee the country, with most of them seeking refuge in neighboring countries.
Tens of thousands have returned since an Islamist-led coalition ousted Assad on December 8, but most refugees have yet to make the journey home.
Most of the refugees in Zaatari came from the south Syrian province of Daraa, near the Jordanian border.
It was, earlier in the conflict, home to 140,000 people.
Refugees in the camp receive cash assistance for food, and they have the right to work outside the camp.
“Where are we going to go back to?” said Khaled Al-Zoabi, 72, who has lived in the camp since 2012, and who cited the destruction wrought by the war.
“The refugees’ finances aren’t good enough for anyone to return, and no one knows what will happen in Syria,” he said.
“We fled the injustice and tyranny of Assad’s gangs in Syria, where human life had no value. Here, I feel I am a human being, and I prefer to stay,” said the shop owner.
To date, there is no financial assistance to help people return.
Radwan Al-Hariri, a 54-year-old father of three, said his contacts in Syria had all advised him to stay put.
An imam at a mosque, the grandfather of 12 children all born in Zaatari said that in Syria, “no one helps you and there is no work.”
According to the Jordanian authorities, 52,000 Syrians have returned home through the Jaber border crossing between the two countries since Assad’s overthrow.
“Insecurity remains a concern. There is still a lot of instability, armed clashes in some parts of the country and an increasing number of civilian casualties due to remnants of war and unexploded ordnance,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesperson in Jordan Roland Schoenbauer said.
“Every refugee has the right to return to their homeland,” he said. “However, when it is the right time to voluntarily cross into Syria will have to remain their decision.”
The UN says around 680,000 Syrians were registered in Jordan from 2011 onwards, though the kingdom says it welcomed 1.3 million.
Not all Syrians in Zaatari were hesitant to return.
Mariam Masalmeh, 63, said she and her husband have decided to go home, as have their children.
But she said she would be “sad to leave Zaatari, which has become my homeland,” as she showed off her garden of rosebushes and apple trees.
Mohammed Atme, 50, could not wait to go home.
“It is time to go back to my family, I haven’t seen my mother and brothers for 13 years,” he said.
“Here, we were treated with respect and our dignity was preserved. But everyone’s destiny is to go back to their country.”
They fear the security situation might once again deteriorate after 13 years of civil war, and some say their homes have been destroyed while others lost their jobs and feel they have nothing to go back to.
In 2012, a year into the war in Syria, neighboring Jordan opened Zaatari camp to host people fleeing the conflict.
It is now home to 75,000 people, according to UN figures.
To begin with, it was a squalid collection of tents dotting an arid landscape, but over time, it grew into a town of prefabricated homes, supplied with free electricity, water, health and schools.
On a street named the Champs-Elysees, after the famed Parisian avenue, 60-year-old shop owner Yousef Hariri told AFP he wanted to stay in Zaatari with his family, where they feel safe.
“I can’t go back. That would mean losing everything and selling the shop would be hard,” said Hariri, whose store sells construction materials.
“The situation in Syria is not good at the moment and it is not clear what will happen. Prices are through the roof and there are armed rebels. Our houses are destroyed.”
The war in Syria, which began with Assad’s crackdown on democracy protests in 2011, forced millions of people to flee the country, with most of them seeking refuge in neighboring countries.
Tens of thousands have returned since an Islamist-led coalition ousted Assad on December 8, but most refugees have yet to make the journey home.
Most of the refugees in Zaatari came from the south Syrian province of Daraa, near the Jordanian border.
It was, earlier in the conflict, home to 140,000 people.
Refugees in the camp receive cash assistance for food, and they have the right to work outside the camp.
“Where are we going to go back to?” said Khaled Al-Zoabi, 72, who has lived in the camp since 2012, and who cited the destruction wrought by the war.
“The refugees’ finances aren’t good enough for anyone to return, and no one knows what will happen in Syria,” he said.
“We fled the injustice and tyranny of Assad’s gangs in Syria, where human life had no value. Here, I feel I am a human being, and I prefer to stay,” said the shop owner.
To date, there is no financial assistance to help people return.
Radwan Al-Hariri, a 54-year-old father of three, said his contacts in Syria had all advised him to stay put.
An imam at a mosque, the grandfather of 12 children all born in Zaatari said that in Syria, “no one helps you and there is no work.”
According to the Jordanian authorities, 52,000 Syrians have returned home through the Jaber border crossing between the two countries since Assad’s overthrow.
“Insecurity remains a concern. There is still a lot of instability, armed clashes in some parts of the country and an increasing number of civilian casualties due to remnants of war and unexploded ordnance,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesperson in Jordan Roland Schoenbauer said.
“Every refugee has the right to return to their homeland,” he said. “However, when it is the right time to voluntarily cross into Syria will have to remain their decision.”
The UN says around 680,000 Syrians were registered in Jordan from 2011 onwards, though the kingdom says it welcomed 1.3 million.
Not all Syrians in Zaatari were hesitant to return.
Mariam Masalmeh, 63, said she and her husband have decided to go home, as have their children.
But she said she would be “sad to leave Zaatari, which has become my homeland,” as she showed off her garden of rosebushes and apple trees.
Mohammed Atme, 50, could not wait to go home.
“It is time to go back to my family, I haven’t seen my mother and brothers for 13 years,” he said.
“Here, we were treated with respect and our dignity was preserved. But everyone’s destiny is to go back to their country.”
PM Sharif thanks Moroccan authorities for rescue of Pakistani migrants in recent shipwreck
- The boat capsized off Morocco on Jan. 15 while carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis
- Pakistan’s Foreign Office has said that it is in process of repatriating 22 survivors of the tragedy
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday thanked Morocco’s King Muhammad VI and the Moroccan government for the rescue of 22 Pakistani nationals in a shipwreck off the coast of Dakhla city as he met the Moroccan ambassador, Mohamed Karmoune, in Islamabad.
The boat capsized near Morocco’s coast on Jan. 15 while carrying 86 migrants, including 66 Pakistanis, according to migrant rights group Walking Borders. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said last week that it was in process of repatriating 22 survivors of the tragedy.
Pakistan’s embassy in Rabat has been working closely with Moroccan authorities to oversee the relief efforts and finalize the complex repatriation procedure, according to the Pakistani Foreign Office.
In his meeting with the Moroccan ambassador, Sharif expressed Pakistan’s “deep appreciation” of the Moroccan leadership for the support extended in rescuing stranded Pakistanis who had survived the boat capsize.
“He thanked the local Moroccan authorities for extending their full cooperation to the Pakistani officials involved in repatriation of the survivors as well as the remains of those deceased,” Sharif’s office said.
The Morocco tragedy has once again underscored the perilous journeys many migrants, including Pakistanis, embark on due to conflict and economic instability in their home countries.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos, marking one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea. More recently, five Pakistani nationals died in a shipwreck off the southern Greek island of Gavdos on Dec. 14.
The Pakistani government has ramped up efforts in recent months to combat human smugglers facilitating dangerous journeys for illegal immigrants to Europe, resulting in several arrests.
Recalling brotherly ties between Pakistan and Morocco at Monday’s meeting, Sharif said there was a need to strengthen trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. Islamabad has been actively pursuing trade and investment opportunities to put the $350 billion South Asian economy on the path of recovery since avoiding a default in mid-2023.
The Moroccan ambassador reaffirmed his country’s commitment to further strengthen cooperation with Pakistan across all areas of shared interest, according to Sharif’s office.
“The two sides are working closely to convene meetings of the institutional consultative mechanisms, including Bilateral Political Consultations at an early date,” it added.
Trump says Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok
US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok and that he would like to see a bidding war over the app.
Microsoft and TikTok did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for a comment outside regular business hours.
Trump has previously said that he was in discussions with several parties about purchasing TikTok and expects to make a decision on the app’s future within the next 30 days.
The app, which has about 170 million American users, was briefly taken offline just before a law requiring ByteDance to either sell it on national security grounds or face a ban took effect on Jan. 19.
Trump, after taking office on Jan. 20, signed an executive order seeking to delay by 75 days the enforcement of the law that was put in place after US officials warned that there was a risk of Americans’ data being misused under ByteDance.
EU, Britain to face off in post-Brexit fishing battle case
THE HAGUE: A tiny silver fish which is an important food source in the North Sea will take center stage Tuesday as the European Union and Britain square off over post-Brexit fishing rights.
The bitter arbitration case over sandeels is seen as a bellwether for other potential litigation between London and Brussels in a perennial hot-bed industry, experts said.
Tuesday’s clash at the Hague-based Permanent Court for Arbitration also marks the first courtroom trade battle between the 27-member trading bloc and Britain since it left the EU in 2020.
Brussels has dragged London before the PCA following a decision last year to ban all commercial fishing of sandeels in British waters because of environmental concerns.
London in March ordered all fishing to stop, saying in court documents that “sandeels are integral to the marine ecosystem of the North Sea.”
Because of climate change and commercial fishing, the tiny fish “risked further decline... as well as species that are dependent on sandeels for food including fish, marine mammals, and seabirds.”
This included vulnerable species like the Atlantic puffin, seals, porpoises and other fish like cod and haddock, Britain’s lawyers said.
But Brussels is accusing London of failing to keep to commitments made under the landmark Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which gave the EU access to British waters for several years during a transition period after London’s exit.
Under the deal, the EU’s fishing fleet retained access to British waters for a five-and-half-year transition period, ending mid-2026. After that, access to respective waters will be decided in annual negotiations.
“The EU does not call into question the right of the UK to adopt fisheries management measures in pursuit of legitimate conservation objectives,” Brussels’ lawyers said in court papers.
“Rather, this dispute is about the UK’s failure to abide by its commitments under the agreement.”
London failed to apply “evidence-based, proportionate and non-discriminatory measures when restricting the right to EU vessels to full access to UK waters to fish sandeel,” the EU lawyers said.
Brussels is backing Denmark in the dispute, whose vessels take some 96 percent of the EU’s quota for the species, with sandeel catches averaging some £41.2 million (49 million euros) annually.
“The loss of access to fisheries in English waters could affect relations with the EU, including Denmark, as they are likely to lead to employment losses and business losses overseas,” the EU’s lawyers warned.
The case will now be fought out over three days at the PCA’s stately headquarters at the Peace Palace in The Hague, which also houses the International Court of Justice.
Set up in 1899, the PCA is the world’s oldest arbitral tribunal and resolves disputes between countries and private parties through referring to contracts, special agreements and various treaties, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The EU’s decision to open a case before the PCA “will not have been taken lightly and reflected the political importance it places on fishing rights,” writes Joel Reland, a senior researcher at UK in a Changing Europe, a London-based think tank.
In a number of “influential member states — including France, the Netherlands and Denmark — fishing rights are an important issue, with many communities relying on access to British waters for their livelihoods.”
“This dispute is an early warning that the renegotiation of access rights, before the TCA fisheries chapter expires in June 2026, will be critical for the EU,” said Reland.
A ruling in the case is expected by the end of March.
The bitter arbitration case over sandeels is seen as a bellwether for other potential litigation between London and Brussels in a perennial hot-bed industry, experts said.
Tuesday’s clash at the Hague-based Permanent Court for Arbitration also marks the first courtroom trade battle between the 27-member trading bloc and Britain since it left the EU in 2020.
Brussels has dragged London before the PCA following a decision last year to ban all commercial fishing of sandeels in British waters because of environmental concerns.
London in March ordered all fishing to stop, saying in court documents that “sandeels are integral to the marine ecosystem of the North Sea.”
Because of climate change and commercial fishing, the tiny fish “risked further decline... as well as species that are dependent on sandeels for food including fish, marine mammals, and seabirds.”
This included vulnerable species like the Atlantic puffin, seals, porpoises and other fish like cod and haddock, Britain’s lawyers said.
But Brussels is accusing London of failing to keep to commitments made under the landmark Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which gave the EU access to British waters for several years during a transition period after London’s exit.
Under the deal, the EU’s fishing fleet retained access to British waters for a five-and-half-year transition period, ending mid-2026. After that, access to respective waters will be decided in annual negotiations.
“The EU does not call into question the right of the UK to adopt fisheries management measures in pursuit of legitimate conservation objectives,” Brussels’ lawyers said in court papers.
“Rather, this dispute is about the UK’s failure to abide by its commitments under the agreement.”
London failed to apply “evidence-based, proportionate and non-discriminatory measures when restricting the right to EU vessels to full access to UK waters to fish sandeel,” the EU lawyers said.
Brussels is backing Denmark in the dispute, whose vessels take some 96 percent of the EU’s quota for the species, with sandeel catches averaging some £41.2 million (49 million euros) annually.
“The loss of access to fisheries in English waters could affect relations with the EU, including Denmark, as they are likely to lead to employment losses and business losses overseas,” the EU’s lawyers warned.
The case will now be fought out over three days at the PCA’s stately headquarters at the Peace Palace in The Hague, which also houses the International Court of Justice.
Set up in 1899, the PCA is the world’s oldest arbitral tribunal and resolves disputes between countries and private parties through referring to contracts, special agreements and various treaties, such as the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The EU’s decision to open a case before the PCA “will not have been taken lightly and reflected the political importance it places on fishing rights,” writes Joel Reland, a senior researcher at UK in a Changing Europe, a London-based think tank.
In a number of “influential member states — including France, the Netherlands and Denmark — fishing rights are an important issue, with many communities relying on access to British waters for their livelihoods.”
“This dispute is an early warning that the renegotiation of access rights, before the TCA fisheries chapter expires in June 2026, will be critical for the EU,” said Reland.
A ruling in the case is expected by the end of March.
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