LONDON/BRUSSELS: British Prime Minister Theresa May will urge EU leaders to approve an agreement to move Brexit talks on to a second phase on Thursday, describing it as a fair deal that offers a good base for a discussion of future ties.
At the beginning of a dinner in Brussels, 24 hours after an embarrassing parliamentary defeat at home, May will repeat her case for unlocking talks to unravel more than 40 years of union to allow for the discussion of future trade, which she sees as crucial to offering certainty for businesses.
The 27 other EU leaders are all but certain to approve the deal to move to ‘phase two’ on Friday, after May has left Brussels, launching a new stage of talks that could be hampered by divisions at home and differences with the EU.
“The prime minister will say that reaching the agreement on phase one has required give and take on both sides but a fair outcome has been achieved,” a senior government official told reporters.
After days of often fraught diplomacy, May rescued the initial deal last Friday, easing the concerns of her Northern Irish allies over the wording to protect a free border with EU member Ireland without separating the province from the UK.
Then, EU negotiators said the talks had made “sufficient progress,” a recommendation that will, barring accidents, be blessed by the leaders of the other member states.
Her success has won her some respite at home from political infighting between enthusiasts and skeptics of Brexit in her ruling party, and has reduced the prospect of a disorderly departure from the bloc.
But there are hurdles still to come. May and her cabinet are due next Tuesday to hold a discussion of the senior ministers’ competing views on Britain’s future outside the EU — to remain close to the bloc or forge a new path.
The EU is willing to start talks next month on a roughly two-year transition period to ease Britain out after March 2019 but wants more detail from London on what it wants before it will open trade negotiations from March.
Pro-Brexit lawmakers are concerned by a fall-back promise in the initial deal to have “full regulatory alignment” with the EU if there is no overall agreement on future ties, and fear that their desire for an independent Britain is being undermined.
In a blow to May, already weakened after losing her Conservative Party’s majority in a June election, parliament voted on Wednesday in favor of an amendment that requires a meaningful future parliamentary vote on any final Brexit deal.
Up until the last minute of an often bitter debate, May’s team tried to convince lawmakers in her party to block the measure, which the government fears will weaken its hand in Brexit negotiations. But enough conservatives rebelled to carry it narrowly by 309 votes to 305 in the 650-seat lower house.
“This defeat is a humiliating loss of authority for the government on the eve of the European Council meeting,” opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said in a statement.
“Theresa May has resisted democratic accountability. Her refusal to listen means she will now have to accept Parliament taking back control,” he said, co-opting a Brexit slogan.
Divisions have split not only the governing Conservatives but Labour and the wider country — which voted narrowly for Brexit 18 months ago.
Before dinner on Thursday, May and her EU peers will discuss the bloc’s plan for closer defense cooperation with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Long blocked by London, the plan now has backing from Britain, which as one of Europe’s main military powers, wants to keep ties with the EU on defense.
Over dinner, leaders will discuss their response to the migration crisis from Africa and the Middle East, and lingering deep divisions over how to share the load.
They will confirm a rollover of sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis and are likely to reaffirm their opposition to US President Donald Trump’s move to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Britain’s May urges EU leaders to move on with Brexit talks
Britain’s May urges EU leaders to move on with Brexit talks
M23 group seizes key town in eastern DR Congo
- Capture of Walikale leaves rebels in control of road linking 4 provinces
GOMA: Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have entered the center of the eastern Congo town of Walikale, a local activist and an M23 source said on Thursday, expanding the insurgents’ presence deep into the Congolese interior despite renewed calls for a ceasefire.
Their entry into Walikale, an area rich in minerals including tin, followed fighting on Wednesday with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army and allied militias on the outskirts of the town.
The town’s capture would leave the rebels, who took eastern Congo’s two largest cities earlier this year, in control of a road linking four eastern Congo provinces and within 400 km of Kisangani, the country’s fourth-biggest city.
“The rebels are now visible in the city’s center,” said Fiston Misona, a civil society activist in Walikale.
“There are at least seven people wounded who are at the general hospital.”
An M23 source said the rebels were in complete control of the town.
A spokesperson for Congo’s army did not respond to requests for comment about the situation in Walikale.
The rebels’ move on Walikale, a town of about 15,000 people, came despite calls on Tuesday by Congo President Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame for an immediate ceasefire after their first direct talks since M23 stepped up its offensive in January.
The conflict, rooted in the fallout from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and competition for mineral riches, has quickly become eastern Congo’s worst conflict since a 1998-2003 war that drew in multiple neighboring countries.
Rwanda has been supporting the ethnic Tutsi-led rebels by providing arms and sending troops, according to the UN, Western governments, and independent experts.
Rwanda has denied backing M23 and says its military has been acting in self-defense against Congo’s army and a militia founded by some of the perpetrators of the genocide.
Trump administration to open more Alaska acres for oil, gas drilling
- US to lift restrictions on building an LNG pipeline and mining road in Alaska
WASHINGTON: US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Thursday announced steps to open up more acreage for oil and gas leasing and lift restrictions on building an LNG pipeline and mining road in Alaska, carrying out President Donald Trump’s executive order to remove barriers to energy development in the state.
Burgum said the agency plans to reopen the 82 percent of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve that is available for leasing for development and reopen the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas leasing.
He also said the administration would revoke restrictions on land along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Corridor and Dalton Highway north of the Yukon River and convey the land to the State of Alaska, which would pave the way forward for the proposed Ambler Road and the Alaska Liquified Natural Gas Pipeline project.
“It’s time for the US to embrace Alaska’s abundant and largely untapped resources as a pathway to prosperity for the Nation, including Alaskans,” said Burgum.
Drilling in Alaska’s pristine Arctic refuge has long been a source of friction between Alaska lawmakers and tribal corporations seeking to open more acres to drilling to spur economic growth, and Democratic presidential administrations that sought to preserve the local ecosystem and wildlife.
A January 8 lease auction that had been mandated by Congress held under the Biden administration’s Interior Department received no bids from energy companies.
The Biden administration last year rejected the Ambler Road Project, a proposed 211-mile road that would connect to a rare earths mining district.
Alaska’s Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy and the state’s congressional delegation have pushed for a reversal of Biden’s Alaska resource development policies.
The oil industry has signalled it would be hesitant to rush into Alaska given its high risk and the possibility of a political pendulum swing in four years that could put Alaska off limits again.
Ceasefire talks put Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia in the spotlight, so what’s next for the nuclear power plant?
- Zelensky said the discussion with Trump had focused specifically on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
- It has been under Russian control since the early days of the war, making it unclear what future US involvement could look like
KYIV: During a call between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart, the US leader apparently suggested Volodymyr Zelensky consider transferring ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to the US for long-term security, according to a US statement.
Briefing the media later, Zelensky said the discussion with Trump had focused specifically on the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, ZNPP, in southern Ukraine.
While the facility remains connected to Ukraine’s energy grid without producing electricity, it has been under Russian control since the early days of the war, making it unclear what future US involvement could look like.
Who controls the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant?
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is one of the world’s 10 largest and Europe’s biggest. Located in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces occupied it shortly after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion.
While Russia declared the region annexed in fall 2022, its largest city, Zaporizhzhia, remains under Ukrainian control.
Ukraine has accused Russia of stationing troops and weapons at the plant and using it as a launchpad for attacks across the Dnipro River. Russia denies this, accusing Ukraine of shelling the facility.
How many nuclear power plants does Ukraine have?
Besides Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine operates three active nuclear power plants, which generate the majority of the country’s electricity following sustained Russian attacks on thermal and hydroelectric plants.
These facilities are located in southern, western and northwestern Ukraine, away from frontline areas.
What did Trump and Zelensky discuss and are there negotiations over Zaporizhzhia’s fate?
During their call on Wednesday, Trump suggested that Zelensky should consider giving the US ownership of Ukraine’s power plants to ensure their long-term security, according to a White House statement from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
“American ownership of those plants could be the best protection for that infrastructure,” Trump suggested, according to the statement.
Zelensky later told journalists their conversation focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and the following day, made it clear that “the issue of ownership” of the other three plants was never discussed.
“All nuclear power plants belong to the people of Ukraine,” he said.
Zelensky said that when they discussed Zaporizhzhia, the US leader had inquired about the facility’s future. “Trump asked my thoughts on the plant,” Zelensky said. “I told him that if it is not Ukrainian, it will not operate. It is illegal.”
Even though ZNPP is a state-owned plant, Zelensky acknowledged that if the US were to claim it from Russian control, invest in it and modernize it, Ukraine might consider it. “That is a separate question, an open one,” he said.
What is the current state of Zaporizhzhia’s nuclear plant?
Since falling under Russian control, the plant’s conditions have deteriorated. While its six reactors have been shut down for years, they still require power and qualified staff to maintain cooling systems and safety features.
Energoatom, Ukraine’s state nuclear operator, said that after Russian forces took over, Ukrainian personnel were forced to sign contracts with Russian authorities and take Russian citizenship. Those who refused faced abduction or threats, forcing thousands to flee, leaving the facility understaffed and harder to manage.
The collapse of a dam in June 2023 further jeopardized the plant’s cooling systems, which relied on water from the reservoir. In response, plant administrators dug wells, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Zelensky said extensive repairs would be needed before the plant could operate again, estimating the process could take at least two years.
The IAEA has repeatedly warned the war could cause a radiation leak. While the plant no longer produces electricity, it still holds large amounts of nuclear fuel, requiring constant cooling.
Regular blackouts caused by the fighting have disrupted the facility, though power has been quickly restored each time.
IAEA experts permanently stationed there still face restricted access, with Russian authorities blocking some inspection requests, according to IAEA head Rafael Grossi.
Is any kind of deal imminent?
Zelensky said the discussions with Trump on restoring Zaporizhzhia were a positive step, but cautioned that no one would work at the plant if Russian forces remained stationed nearby.
Control over the plant is likely to remain a legal and logistical challenge, intertwined with a highly divisive issue for both warring sides: control over the land itself. Russian troops hold the area, while Ukrainian forces are separated from it by the Dnipro River and more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) of terrain.
“Simply handing over the plant while everything within a meter of it remains occupied or armed by Russia — no one will work under such conditions,” Zelensky said after the call with Trump. “It’s impossible.”
He said there would be no way to operate securely in such a scenario. “That would mean that the plant could start operating tomorrow, only to be blown up by the Russians the following day.”
UK police chiefs warn of increased Islamophobia as British government defunds Tell Mama service
- Tell Mama, the UK’s leading anti-Muslim hate-monitoring service, faces imminent closure unless the decision is reversed
LONDON: Senior police officials have issued a warning that the British government’s plans to cut funding for Tell Mama, the UK’s leading anti-Muslim hate-monitoring service, could severely impact efforts to tackle Islamophobia.
The charity, which has been entirely funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government since its establishment in 2015, faces imminent closure unless the decision is reversed, The Times reported on Thursday.
Earlier this year, Tell Mama recorded the highest number of anti-Muslim hate incidents in its history.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council has urged the government to reconsider, stressing the charity’s “invaluable” role in providing police forces with critical data.
The NPCC, which has a data-sharing agreement with Tell Mama, says the organization’s work has been instrumental in preventing hate-fueled social disorder.
“This research lays bare the hostility and abuse faced by many in our Muslim communities,” said Mark Hobrough, NPCC lead for hate crime and chief constable of Gwent police.
“Our longstanding and trusted relationships with key partners like Tell Mama have been invaluable amidst these events, and I am confident that the strength of our partnerships will continue to help us reassure communities and bring hate crime offenders to justice.
“We all have a right to live our lives free from targeted abuse, and I would urge anyone who suffers anti-Muslim hate crime to report it to the police or to Tell Mama.”
Experts in policing and hate crime have echoed concerns about the consequences of defunding Tell Mama. Mike Ainsworth, chair of the National Independent Advisory Group on Hate Crime for Policing and Criminal Justice, warned against downplaying the seriousness of Islamophobia in Britain.
“Tell Mama have provided the clearest picture we have of the extent of anti-Muslim hate crime and prejudice in the country,” he said. “It’s an uncomfortable picture to look at, but it is essential that we do not look away.
“The figures are stark, but they help us understand the scale of the problem and what we must do to move forward. Tell Mama have provided the foundations that government departments and the legal justice system must build on to restore trust and confidence.”
Tell Mama’s founder, Fiyaz Mughal, expressed frustration over what he saw as a failure by British ministers to appreciate the organization’s vital role in tackling hate crime.
“Tell Mama has worked tirelessly with many police forces in the United Kingdom,” he said. “We have met with officers from every corner of the country and met committed, dedicated, and true professionals who have tried to get victims of anti-Muslim hate access to justice.
“They are the unsung heroes with the victims themselves, and some people, including a handful of politicians, reduce our work to numbers and figures and disrespect the whole picture of the range of activities, statutory agencies, and the good men and women in law enforcement in our country that we work with on a daily basis.”
Tell Mama has yet to receive £500,000 from last year’s government grant. While discussions about a potential six-month extension to its funding are ongoing, there is no guarantee the charity will be able to continue its operations.
Despite the widespread criticism, the government has maintained that it remains committed to tackling religious hatred.
An Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: “Religious and racial hatred has absolutely no place in our society, and we will not tolerate Islamophobia in any form.
“That’s why we will tackle religiously motivated hate crime and provide a comprehensive service to monitor Anti-Muslim Hatred, so we can deliver on the government’s Plan for Change mission for safer streets.
“We will soon be opening a call for grant applications to ensure we can meet the challenges communities face today and continue to provide support for victims, with further detail to be set out in due course.”
Bangladesh passes new women, child protection law after rape and death of 8-year-old
- 8-year-old victim died after battling for her life for almost a week in hospital
- New law halves investigation and trial time, removes DNA test requirement
DHAKA: Bangladesh passed a new law on Thursday, expediting the investigation and trial process in rape cases. The move follows nationwide outrage after an eight-year-old girl was raped and subsequently died from her injuries.
The girl, from Magura in southwestern Bangladesh, was staying at the house of her elder sister-in-law when the incident took place in early March. She was admitted to the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka in a critical condition and died six days later.
The news of her death sparked protests across the country. As her body was taken for burial in Magura, thousands of people gathered in the city to participate in her funeral prayers.
An absentee funeral was also held for her at Dhaka University, followed by a protest march.
The incident resulted in mounting pressure on the government to reform laws related to rape and the safety of women and children.
The first law to be amended was the Women and Children Repression Prevention Ordinance, which was passed by Bangladesh’s Advisory Council — the highest institution of its interim government led by Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus.
“To ensure speedy trial and punishment of rape suspects, this reform was necessary. It will also help in ensuring proper investigation,” Azad Majumder, the chief adviser’s deputy press secretary, told Arab News.
The new law reduces the investigation period of rape cases from 30 days to 15 days and the time for completing the trial from 180 days to 90 days.
Under the law, a special tribunal will be dedicated to handling child rape cases.
Judges will also be allowed to proceed with trials based on medical certificates and circumstantial evidence without requiring DNA tests. The tests were previously mandatory for the trial to begin, even though samples were not always available as it often takes time for victims or their families to register a case.
“Earlier, the trial process had to wait for the DNA profiling report of the accused. But now the trial can begin based on circumstantial evidence,” Majumder said.
The rape of minors is punishable by death in Bangladesh.
More than 5,600 reports of the rape of girls aged below 18 were filed across the country in the past 10 years, according to data from Ain o Salish Kendra — a key women and children’s group in Bangladesh. However, the numbers are unlikely to reflect reality as many victims do not report the crime.
Part of the problem, according to advocate Elina Khan from the Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, is the slow response by police.
“The investigation process demands extra care and attention. Sometimes, our police stations don’t respond immediately to rape cases. If their responses were quick, evidence collection would be easier and investigation would also take less time,” she told Arab News.
“Authorities should also improve logistical preparations in court, especially to protect the child from emotional distress and psychological harm during the hearing. The child should be brought to court with care, considering the psychological impact on the victim.”
She said she also expected more accountability from law enforcement officials if the new law was to have any effect.
“The ordinance doesn’t say anything about what will happen if an investigation officer fails to complete the investigation process within the guided timeframe. Investigators should be held accountable for failing to investigate within the time,” Khan said.
“We have the appropriate human resources in this regard. We just need to engage them all. If we can ensure the proper application of the law, monitoring from the authority and accountability of the responsible persons, justice can be swiftly delivered.”
