ROME: Five European countries on Tuesday offered to take in the 141 migrants marooned on board the Aquarius rescue vessel after it was given permission to dock in Malta, resolving a new standoff over the charity ship.
Spain offered to take 60 people and Germany said it would take “up to 50.”
France said it would accept 60 from the Aquarius as well as a second rescue boat that arrived earlier in Malta, and Portugal offered to welcome 30 people. Luxembourg was also part of the deal.
The agreement is the fifth of its kind between Western European governments since June when Italy began turning away migrant rescue ships.
EU sources said the five host countries would send immigration officials to Malta to vet their asylum claims and identify possible economic migrants, who would be returned to their countries of origin.
The boat was initially refused entry by Italy and Malta after rescuing the migrants in two separate missions off the Libyan coast on Friday.
The Aquarius first hit the headlines in June after being stranded with 630 migrants on board, causing a major diplomatic row.
Spain’s new Socialist government helped resolve the first standoff by allowing the boat to dock in Valencia and said it was again at the forefront of the solution to the latest one on Tuesday.
“Spain has coordinated a pioneering agreement with six countries to share the hosting of the people on the Aquarius... Spain will take 60 people,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on Twitter.
But Malta and France said the deal to allow the ship disembark its passengers, many of them unaccompanied teens from violence-wracked Somalia and repressive Eritrea, was their initiative.
“Malta will be making a concession allowing the vessel to enter its ports, despite having no legal obligation to do so,” said a Maltese government statement posted on Twitter.
Thanking Malta for its gesture, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter: “There is no alternative to cooperation.”
But EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos warned that Europe could not rely on “ad-hoc arrangements.”
Calling in a statement for “sustainable solutions,” he said: “It is not the responsibility of one or a few member states only, but of the European Union as a whole.”
After elections in March that brought a populist, anti-immigrant government to power in Italy, far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini began turning away rescue ships operated by foreign NGOs.
For years, Italy had pleaded with its EU partners for help with a massive influx of arrivals that has seen 700,000 people land in the country since 2013, most of whom had made the short but treacherous sea crossing from Libya.
On Saturday, Salvini said the Aquarius would “never see an Italian port” again, accusing it of encouraging smugglers and migrants to take to the water in the knowledge that they will be rescued.
The Italian coast guard continues to rescue migrants, however.
Malta’s government initially defended its decision to turn the Aquarius away, saying it was “neither the coordinating nor the competent authority for such a rescue” and had “no legal obligation” to provide a place of safety.
The government of the British territory of Gibraltar also announced late Monday that the ship would no longer be allowed to operate under its maritime flag.
The increasingly hostile stance reflects hardening public opinion in Europe toward migrants — despite arrivals dipping sharply since 2015, when over a million people fleeing war or poverty crossed the Mediterranean.
The Aquarius has become a symbol of the unwillingness of many European countries to accept more newcomers, with Italy siding with conservative governments in eastern Europe intent on keeping out migrants.
At a summit in late June EU leaders agreed to consider setting up migrant processing centers outside the bloc, most likely in North Africa, in a bid to discourage them from boarding smuggler boats.
They also agreed to look at setting up “controlled centers” on European soil to sort refugees in need of protection from economic migrants — but no country has offered to host any such centers.
The proposals are due for discussion at an EU migration summit in Austria in September.
European countries reach deal to share Aquarius migrants
European countries reach deal to share Aquarius migrants
- Spain offered to take 60 people and Germany said it would take “up to 50”
- France said it would accept 60 from the Aquarius as well as a second rescue boat that arrived earlier in Malta
US House Republicans seek to kill EV tax credit, loan program
- The US Treasury in 2024 awarded more than $2 billion in point-of-sale rebates for EVs
WASHINGTON: Republicans in the US House of Representatives on Monday proposed killing the electric vehicle tax credit and repealing fuel efficiency rules designed to prod automakers into building more zero-emission vehicles as part of a broad-based tax reform bill.
The proposal, which is set for a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Tuesday, would repeal a $7,500 new-vehicle tax credit and a $4,000 used-vehicle credit on Dec. 31, although it would maintain the new-vehicle credit for an additional year for automakers that have not yet sold 200,000 EVs.
The president of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, Genevieve Cullen, criticized the proposal, saying that plans “to abandon US leadership in energy innovation by gutting federal investment in electrification are catastrophically short-sighted.”
The proposal, she said, would deliver “an enormous market advantage” to competitors like China and threaten US manufacturing and jobs.
The US Treasury in 2024 awarded more than $2 billion in point-of-sale rebates for EVs.
The proposal leaves in place a key battery production tax credit for automakers and battery makers, but a new provision would bar the credit for vehicles produced with components made by some Chinese companies or under a license agreement with Chinese firms.
The provision, which would take effect in 2027, could bar credits for cars powered by Chinese battery technology licensed by American companies such as Ford Motor or Tesla .
House Republicans also propose to kill a loan program that supports the manufacture of certain advanced technology vehicles. It would rescind any unobligated funding and rescind corporate average fuel economy standards and greenhouse gas emission rules for 2027 and beyond. That portion will be taken up by the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Among outstanding loans finalized in President Joe Biden’s last weeks in office are $9.63 billion to a joint venture of Ford Motor and South Korean battery maker SK On for construction of three battery manufacturing plants in Tennessee and Kentucky; $7.54 billion to a joint venture of Chrysler-parent Stellantis and Samsung SDI for two EV lithium-ion battery plants in Indiana; and $6.57 billion to Rivian for a plant in Georgia to begin building smaller, less expensive EVs in 2028.
US military replaces B-2 bombers that were sent amid Middle East tensions
- Experts say that this had put the B-2s in a position to operate in the Middle East
WASHINGTON: The US military is replacing its B-2 bombers with another type of bomber at a base in the Indo-Pacific that was seen as being in an ideal location to operate in the Middle East, US officials told Reuters on Monday. The Pentagon deployed as many as six B-2 bombers in March to a US-British military base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, amid a US bombing campaign in Yemen and mounting tensions with Iran.
Experts say that this had put the B-2s, which have stealth technology and are equipped to carry the heaviest US bombs and nuclear weapons, in a position to operate in the Middle East.
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the B-2 bombers were being replaced by B-52 bombers.
The Pentagon said it did not comment on force posture adjustments as a matter of policy.
Fresh talks between Iranian and US negotiators to resolve disputes over Tehran’s nuclear program ended in Oman on Sunday, with further negotiations planned. The fourth round of talks took place ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to the Middle East. Trump, who has threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails, has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since returning to the White House in January.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among what the officials have called “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks. Additionally, Trump announced last week that a deal had been reached to stop bombing Yemen’s Houthi group. The B-2 bombers had been used to carry out strikes against the Iran-backed group.
UN chief warns of ‘painful’ reforms, including staff cuts
- The proposed restructuring within the Secretariat includes merging units from the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) with the Department of Peace Operations (DPO)
UNITED NATIONS, United States: United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Monday said reforming the global body will require “painful” changes, including staff reductions, to improve efficiency and deal with chronic budget constraints exacerbated by Trump administration policies.
In March, the secretary-general launched the UN80 initiative to streamline operations.
“Our shared goal has always been to make our organization more efficient, to simplify procedures, eliminate overlaps, and enhance transparency and accountability,” Guterres said Monday during an update to member states.
“The liquidity crisis we now face is not new. But today’s financial and political situation adds even greater urgency to our efforts.”
He warned “we know that some of these changes will be painful for our UN family.”
The proposed restructuring within the Secretariat includes merging units from the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) with the Department of Peace Operations (DPO).
“I believe we’ll be able to eliminate 20 percent of the posts of the two departments,” he said, adding that the level of reduction outlined for DPPA and DPO “must be seen as a reference for the wider UN80 exercise.”
Guterres also raised the possibility of relocating positions from New York and Geneva to less expensive cities.
Member states will have to decide on their own changes.
The internal workload has also stretched the capacity of the UN system “beyond reason,” Guterres said.
“It is as if we have allowed the formalism and quantity of reports and meetings to become ends in themselves. The measure of success is not the volume of reports we generate or the number of meetings we convene,” he said.
Guterres called on member states to make tough decisions.
“Many of you have agreed that this must be the moment to be bold and ambitious. That is what our Organization needs — and that is what our times demand,” he said.
“Make no mistake — uncomfortable and difficult decisions lie ahead. It may be easier — and even tempting — to ignore them or kick the can down the road. But that road is a dead end.”
In a memo seen recently by AFP, an internal working group in charge of the UN80 initiative suggested some major reforms, including merging UN agencies.
Guterres did not directly address those changes but indicated that “clusters” working on similar issues would propose reforms, and potentially some structural changes.
Trump administration welcomes 59 white South Africans as refugees
- South Africa’s government says the US allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country
DULLES, Virginia: The Trump administration on Monday welcomed a group of 59 white South Africans as refugees, saying they face discrimination and violence at home, which the country’s government strongly denies.
The decision to admit the Afrikaners also has raised questions from refugee advocates about why they were admitted when the Trump administration has suspended efforts to resettle people fleeing war and persecution who have gone through years of vetting.
Many in the group from South Africa — including toddlers and other small children, even one walking barefoot in pajamas — held small American flags as two officials welcomed them to the United States in an airport hangar outside Washington. The South Africans were then leaving on other flights to various US destinations.
A group of 49 Afrikaners had been expected, but the State Department said Monday that 59 had arrived.
“I want you all to know that you are really welcome here and that we respect what you have had to deal with these last few years,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said.
President Donald Trump told reporters earlier Monday that he’s admitting them as refugees because of the “genocide that’s taking place.” He said that in post-apartheid South Africa, white farmers are “being killed” and he plans to address the issue with South African leadership next week.
That characterization has been strongly disputed by South Africa’s government, experts and even the Afrikaner group AfriForum, which says farm attacks are not being taken seriously by the government.
South Africa’s government says the US allegations that the white minority Afrikaners are being persecuted are “completely false,” the result of misinformation and an inaccurate view of the country. It cited the fact that Afrikaners are among the richest and most successful people in the country.
The view from South Africa
Speaking at a business conference in Ivory Coast, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said Monday that he spoke with Trump recently and told him his administration had been fed false information by groups who were casting white people as victims because of efforts to right the historical wrongs of colonialism and South Africa’s previous apartheid system of forced racial segregation, which oppressed the Black majority.
“I had a conversation with President Trump on the phone and he asked me, ‘What’s going on down there?’ and I told him that what you are being told by those people who are opposed to transformation back in South Africa is not true,” Ramaphosa said.
Afrikaners make up South Africa’s largest white group and were the leaders of the apartheid government, which brutally enforced racial segregation for nearly 50 years before ending it in 1994. While South Africa has been largely successful in reconciling its many races, tensions between some Black political parties and some Afrikaner groups have remained.
The Trump administration has falsely claimed white South Africans are having their land taken away by the government under a new expropriation law that promotes “racially discriminatory property confiscation.” No land has been expropriated.
Trump has promoted the allegation that white farmers in South Africa are being killed on a large scale as far back as 2018 during his first term.
Conservative commentators have promoted the allegation about a genocide against white farmers, and South African-born Trump ally Elon Musk has posted on social media that some politicians in the country are “actively promoting white genocide.”
South Africa has extremely high levels of violent crime, and white farmers have been killed in rural Afrikaner communities. It has been a problem for decades. The government condemns those killings but says they are part of the country’s problems with crime.
“There is no data at all that backs that there is persecution of white South Africans or white Afrikaners in particular who are farmers,” South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Monday. “White farmers get affected by crime just like any other South Africans who do get affected by crime. So this is not factual, it is without basis.”
Trump administration says white South Africans have been targeted
Landau said many of those who arrived Monday experienced “threatening invasions of their homes, their farms and a real lack of interest or success of the government in doing anything about this situation.”
They all had met stringent vetting standards, including the ability to assimilate into American culture, Landau said. Critics of the refugee program suggest that refugees aren’t properly vetted, though supporters say they go through some of the strictest vetting of anyone seeking to come to America.
Trump indefinitely suspended the refugee resettlement program — which historically had widespread bipartisan support — on his first day in office. A month later, he announced a plan to resettle white South African farmers and their families as refugees.
Supporters of the refugee program question how the administration can justify admitting this small group while keeping out others from conflict zones around the world.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, called it an effort to “rewrite history.”
“The Administration must clarify why these individuals qualify for refugee status and resettlement in the US and why they have been prioritized over refugees like Afghans, Burmese Rohingya and Sudanese who have fled their homes due to conflict and persecution,” she said in a statement Monday.
Who can come from South Africa under Trump’s order
According to the US Embassy in South Africa, applicants have to be South African citizens who are of Afrikaner ethnicity or a member of a racial minority, and they have to be able to show a history of or a fear of persecution.
Afrikaners, who are the descendants of mainly Dutch and French colonial settlers, number around 2.7 million among South Africa’s population of 62 million, which is more than 80 percent Black.
The US refugee program was created by Congress in 1980, and groups have sued to restart it after Trump’s halt.
Traditionally, to qualify as a refugee, applicants must demonstrate a well-founded fear of persecution due to race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Refugees are distinct from asylum-seekers because refugees must be outside of the US to qualify.
A network of resettlement agencies generally helps refugees settle in their new homes, and they get 90 days of federal assistance for things like rent. The Episcopal Church’s migration service, however, is refusing a directive from the federal government to help resettle the white South Africans, citing the church’s longstanding “commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.”
Five European defense ministers to meet in Rome on Friday
- Defense ministers to discuss support for Ukraine
- They will also discuss ways to strengthen European defense
ROME: Defense ministers from five major European military powers will meet in Italy on Friday to discuss support for Ukraine, the host country said.
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto will host his counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and Poland, his ministry said Monday in a statement.
The announcement came after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready for direct talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Istanbul on Thursday.
US President Donald Trump said Monday he was “thinking” about flying to Turkiye for the talks but Russia did not indicate whether Putin would take part.
Aside from Ukraine, the European ministers will also discuss ways to strengthen European defense — a priority for them following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The five will hold a joint press conference at the end of their meeting at 1245 GMT on Friday, the Italian statement said.
Kyiv and its European allies called on Saturday for a 30-day ceasefire starting Monday — calling it a prerequisite for direct peace talks between the two countries.
Moscow rejected their call on Monday, despite threats of “massive sanctions” in case of refusal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his daily briefing that “the language of ultimatums is unacceptable to Russia.”
He later said that Moscow wanted “serious” negotiations to achieve peace in the conflict, which has left tens of thousands of people dead.
