One of 8 migrants sent to Albania returned to Italy

Migrants disembark from the Italian navy ship Libra at the port of Shengjin, northwestern Albania, on Nov. 8, 2024, as a second group of eight migrants intercepted in international waters is processed in a reception facility despite the failure with the first group in October. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 09 November 2024
Follow

One of 8 migrants sent to Albania returned to Italy

  • The Egyptian man was diagnosed with “psychic problems,” which made it impossible for him to remain at the Gjadër reception center
  • Currently only seven migrants – five from Bangladesh and two from Egypt – remain at the Albanian center

ROME: One of the eight migrants brought for processing in an Albanian center after being intercepted in international waters has returned to Italy after being deemed “vulnerable,” a delegation of Italian activists and lawmakers visiting the center said on Saturday.
The Egyptian man was diagnosed with “psychic problems,” which made it impossible for him to remain at the Gjadër reception center, one of the activists said. Currently only seven migrants – five from Bangladesh and two from Egypt – remain at the Albanian center.
The group represented the second transfer of migrants since two processing centers started operating in October under a deal sealed between Italy and Albania. Human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations active in the Mediterranean have slammed the agreement as a dangerous precedent that conflicts with international laws.
The agreement allows up to 3,000 migrants intercepted by the Italian coast guard in international waters each month to be sheltered in Albania, and vetted for possible asylum in Italy or be sent back to their countries.
Italy has agreed to welcome those migrants who are granted asylum, while those whose applications are rejected face deportation directly from Albania.
The first group of 16 migrants from Bangladesh and Egypt was transferred to Albania on Oct. 16. Four were taken to Italy the same day because they were minors or had health issues. Twelve others were brought back to Italy three days later, following a ruling by Rome judges who rejected their detention because their countries of origin weren’t safe enough for them to be sent back.
The court ruling had shortened the list of countries considered “safe” by law, meaning that Rome can repatriate migrants from those countries who didn’t win asylum using a fast-track procedure. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni slammed the decision, noting that deeming countries such as Bangladesh and Egypt unsafe means that virtually all migrants would be barred from the Albania program.
On Oct. 21, Italy’s far-right government approved a new decree aimed at overcoming those judicial hurdles that risked derailing the contentious five-year migration deal with Albania.
A decision by Rome judges on the detention of the seven migrants currently in Albania is expected for Monday.


Millions of Nigerians go hungry as floods compound hardship

Updated 3 sec ago
Follow

Millions of Nigerians go hungry as floods compound hardship

  • Nigeria floods cause mass displacement, destroy crops
  • Nation of 200 million facing severe economic hardship

GUBIO: Unrelenting price rises and a brutal insurgency had already made it hard for Nigerians in northeastern Borno State to feed their families. When a dam collapsed in September, flooding the state capital and surrounding farmland, many people ran out of options.
Now they queue for handouts in camps for those displaced by fighting between extremist Boko Haram rebels and the military. When those run out, they seek work on local farms where they risk being killed or raped by local bandits.
“I can’t even cry anymore. I’m too tired,” said Indo Usman, who tried to start again in the state capital Maiduguri, rearing animals for the two annual Muslim holy days, after years of repeatedly fleeing rebel attacks in rural Borno.
The flood washed that all away, driving her, her husband and their six children to a bare room at Gubio, an unfinished housing project about 96 km (60 miles) northwest of Maiduguri that has become a displacement camp.
Torrential rains and floods in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states this year have destroyed more than 1.5 million hectares of cropland, affecting more than nine million people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Climate change is a factor, as is Nigeria’s poorly maintained or non-existent infrastructure as well as vulnerabilities caused by the weakening Naira currency and the scrapping of a government fuel subsidy.
The cost of staples like rice and beans has doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in a year, depending on location — an unmanageable shock for millions of poor families.
Mass kidnappings for ransom in the northwest and conflict between farmers and pastoralists in the central belt, traditionally the nation’s bread basket, have also disrupted agriculture and squeezed food supplies.

’HUNGRIEST OF THE HUNGRY’
Roughly 40 percent of Nigeria’s more than 200 million people live below the international poverty line of $2.15 per person per day, the World Bank estimates.
Already, 25 million people live in acute food and nutrition insecurity — putting their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger, according to a joint analysis by the government and UN agencies. That number is expected to rise to 33 million by next June-August.
“The food crisis in Nigeria is immense because what we are seeing is a crisis within a crisis within a crisis,” said Trust Mlambo, head of program for the northeast at the World Food Programme, in an interview with Reuters in Maiduguri.
With international donors focused on emergencies in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, Mlambo said there was not enough funding to fully meet Nigeria’s growing need for food aid.
“We are really prioritising the hungriest of the hungry,” he said.
In Borno, the Alau dam, upriver from Maiduguri, gave way on Sept. 9, four days after state officials had told the public it was secure. Local residents and engineers had been warning that it was under strain.
Hundreds of people were killed in the resulting flood, according to aid workers who did not wish to be identified for fear of offending the state government. A spokesperson for the state government did not respond to requests for comment.
Zainab Abubakar, a self-employed tailor in the city who lived in relative comfort with her husband and six children in a house with a refrigerator, was awoken at midnight by water rushing into her bedroom.
They ran for their lives while the flood destroyed their house and carried everything away, including her sewing machine. Now, they are sheltering at Gubio and collecting rice from aid agencies in a plastic bucket.
“There is no alternative,” she said.
In Banki, on Nigeria’s border with Cameroon about 133 km (83 miles) southeast of Maiduguri, Mariam Hassan lost crops of maize, pepper and then okra in repeated flooding of her subsistence farm this year, leaving her with nothing to eat or sell.
“I beg the neighbors or relatives to give me food, not even for me but for my children, for us to survive,” said Hassan, who has eight children. “The situation has turned me into a beggar.”


Visibility drops in parts of Delhi as pollution surges

Updated 13 November 2024
Follow

Visibility drops in parts of Delhi as pollution surges

  • “Low visibility procedures” were initiated at the city’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, operator Delhi International Airport Limited said in a post on social media platform X

NEW DELHI: A toxic haze enveloped India’s national capital on Wednesday morning as temperatures dropped and pollution surged, reducing visibility in some parts and prompting a warning from airport authorities that flights may be affected.
Delhi overtook Pakistan’s Lahore as the world’s most polluted city in Swiss group IQAir’s live rankings, with an air quality index (AQI) score of more than 1,000, considered “hazardous,” but India’s pollution authority said the AQI was around 350.
Officials were not immediately available to explain the variation.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the pollution had reduced visibility to 100 meters (328 feet) in some places by around 8 a.m. (0230 GMT).
“Low visibility procedures” were initiated at the city’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, operator Delhi International Airport Limited said in a post on social media platform X.
“While landing and takeoffs continue at Delhi Airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected,” the authority said.
CAT III is a navigation system that enables aircraft to land even when visibility is low.
The IMD said the city’s temperature dropped to 17 degrees Celsius (63 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday morning from 17.9C on Tuesday, and may fall further as sunlight remains cut off due to the smog.
Delhi battles severe pollution every winter as cold, heavy air traps dust, emissions, and smoke from farm fires set off illegally in the adjoining, farming states of Punjab and Haryana.
Previously, authorities have closed schools, placed restrictions on private vehicles, and stopped some building work to curb the problem.
The city’s environment minister said last week that the government was keen to use artificial rain to cut the smog.
Pakistan’s Punjab province, which shares a border with India, has also banned outdoor activities, closed schools, and ordered shops, markets and malls to close early in some parts in an effort to protect its citizens from the toxic air.


Blinken in Brussels as Trump win raises alarm over Ukraine

Updated 13 November 2024
Follow

Blinken in Brussels as Trump win raises alarm over Ukraine

  • US top diplomat Antony Blinken will meet with NATO and EU officials Wednesday to urgently discuss ramping up support for Ukraine before Donald Trump reclaims the White House

BRUSSELS: US top diplomat Antony Blinken will meet with NATO and EU officials Wednesday to urgently discuss ramping up support for Ukraine before Donald Trump reclaims the White House — potentially jeopardizing future aid.
After landing in Brussels late Tuesday, the secretary of state’s one-day visit will see him meet NATO chief Mark Rutte, European Union diplomacy boss Josep Borrell, his successor Kaja Kallas and Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga.
The emergency trip comes as Trump’s election victory, coupled with a political crisis in Germany, heightens fears about the future of assistance for Ukraine at a key point in the fight against Russia’s invasion.
Trump has in the past voiced admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin and scoffed at the $175 billion the United States committed for Ukraine since the start of the war in 2022.
The 78-year-old tycoon, who will be inaugurated on January 20, spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after winning re-election following a first stint as president between 2017 and 2021.
He has boasted he can end the war in a day, likely by forcing concessions from Ukraine, although his newly named national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said Trump may also pressure Putin.
The Washington Post reported the Republican leader also held a phone call with Putin and discouraged an escalation by Russia. The Kremlin denied the report.
The US election came as Ukraine was already bracing for the impact of thousands of North Korean troops whom US intelligence agencies say have been sent to fight for Russia — a potentially major escalation in the conflict.
US media reported Trump might pick Republican Senator Marco Rubio to replace Blinken as secretary of state.
Rubio is seen as more supportive of Kyiv but has also said Washington should show “pragmatism” rather than sending billions of dollars more in weapons as the war hit a “stalemate.”
The Biden administration has made clear it plans in its remaining weeks to push through the more than $9 billion of remaining funding appropriated by Congress for weapons and other security assistance to Ukraine.
Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expected the United States to focus in particular on sending vehicles, medical supplies and small-arms ammunition, which Ukraine needs and the United States can provide.
“Between now and the end of the administration, they’re going to try to ship everything they can that’s available,” Cancian said.
Despite Kyiv’s pleas it seems unlikely, however, that Washington will lift its veto on Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian territory.
Both Ukraine and Moscow have seen a spike in drone attacks. The New York Times reported that Russia has amassed 50,000 troops, including North Koreans, to attempt to dislodge Ukrainian forces who seized parts of Russia’s Kursk region several months ago.
“The situation on the battlefield is difficult. And that’s why we must keep working every day,” Kallas, who is to take over as the EU’s top diplomat next month subject to parliament’s green light, told lawmakers on Tuesday.
“Today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes and with as much military, financial and humanitarian help as needed.”
Trump in his first term aggressively pushed Europe to step up defense spending and questioned the fairness of the NATO transatlantic alliance — robustly defended by Biden.
“Whatever approach the US leadership takes toward Ukraine, Europe will have to step up, and we will have to take the lead in supporting Ukraine’s defense efforts and macro financial stability,” said Olena Prokopenko of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
“Unfortunately, Donald Trump’s win comes at arguably the worst possible time in terms of Europe’s political and economic shape and its ability to promptly coordinate.”


Trump nominates Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary

Updated 13 November 2024
Follow

Trump nominates Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense secretary

  • Hegseth was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2012 before joining Fox News
  • Former Republican congressman from Texas was director national intelligence in final months of Trump’s first term

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida: President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is nominating Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary.
Hegseth deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Minnesota in 2012 before joining Fox News.
“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”
President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is nominating former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. He also said he had chosen former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel and his longtime friend Steven Witkoff to be a special envoy to the Middle East.
In a flurry of announcements, Trump also named Bill McGinley, his Cabinet secretary in his first administration, as his White House counsel.
Trump is rolling out a steady stream of appointees and nominees for his upcoming administration, working thus far at a faster pace and without as much drama as his first transition following his 2016 victory.
A former Republican congressman from Texas, Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence for the final months of Trump’s first term, leading the US government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. He is a more traditional pick for the role, which requires Senate confirmation, than some rumored loyalists pushed by some of Trump’s supporters.
Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel, and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align US foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Witkoff is a Florida real estate investor who is serving as a chair of Trump’s inaugural committee. He also spent time in the world of New York real estate, where Trump first made his mark as a public figure.
As intelligence director, Ratcliffe was criticized by Democrats for declassifying in the final days of the 2020 presidential election Russian intelligence alleging damaging information about Democrats during the 2016 race even though he acknowledged it might not be true.
Ratcliffe’s visibility rose as he emerged in 2019 as an ardent defender of Trump during the House’s first impeachment proceedings against him. He was a member of Trump’s impeachment advisory team and strenuously questioned witnesses during the impeachment hearings.
After the Democratic-controlled House voted to impeach Trump, Ratcliffe said, “This is the thinnest, fastest and weakest impeachment our country has ever seen.” He also forcefully questioned former special counsel Robert Mueller when he testified before the House Judiciary Committee about his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement. “He will be a fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans, while ensuring the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”
Huckabee has led paid tour group visits to Israel for years, frequently advertising the trips on conservative-leaning news outlets.
“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor, and Leader in Faith for many years,” Trump said in a statement. “He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”
David Friedman, who served as Trump’s ambassador to Israel in his first term, said he was “thrilled” by Trump’s selection of Huckabee.
Witkoff is also the president-elect’s golf partner and was with him when he was the target of a second assassination attempt at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, in September.
Trump’s transition team did not offer details about the Middle East envoy role, but Trump said in a statement, “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud.”
The selection of Witkoff follows a pattern for Trump in putting people close to him in pivotal roles on the Middle East portfolio. Eight years ago he appointed his former corporate attorney Jason Greenbaltt as his special representative for international negotiations and relied on his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, as his personal envoy in talks in the region.


Trump says Musk, Ramaswamy will form outside group to advise White House on government efficiency

Updated 13 November 2024
Follow

Trump says Musk, Ramaswamy will form outside group to advise White House on government efficiency

  • Musk has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election
  • Trump said in his statement the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies”

WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency” — which is not, despite the name, a government agency.
The acronym “DOGE” is a nod to Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House “advice and guidance” and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.” He added that the move would shock government systems.
It’s not clear how the organization will operate. It could come under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, which dictates how external groups that advise the government must operate and be accountable to the public.
Federal employees are generally required to disclose their assets and entanglements to ward off any potential conflicts of interest, and to divest significant holdings relating to their work. Because Musk and Ramaswamy would not be formal federal workers, they would not face those requirements or ethical limitations.
Musk has been a constant presence at Mar-a-Lago since Trump won the presidential election.
The president-elect has often said he would give Musk a formal role overseeing a group akin to a blue-ribbon commission that would recommend ways to slash spending and make the federal government more efficient. Musk at one point suggested he could find more than $2 trillion in savings — nearly a third of total annual government spending.
Trump had made clear that Musk would likely not hold any kind of full-time position, given his other commitments.
“I don’t think I can get him full-time because he’s a little bit busy sending rockets up and all the things he does,” Trump said at a rally in Michigan in September. “He said the waste in this country is crazy. And we’re going to get Elon Musk to be our cost cutter.”
Ramaswamy suspended his campaign in January and threw his support behind Trump.
Trump said in his statement the two will “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”