European, African leaders meet in Paris for migration talks

August 28, 2017

PARIS (AP) — The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain are meeting Monday with counterparts from Libya, Niger and Chad to discuss ways to curb illegal migration across the Mediterranean Sea to European shores.

As a key transit point on the route, Libya is expected to be a focus of the discussions convened by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The leader of Libya's internationally-backed government, Fayez Serraj, is representing the troubled north African country.

The leaders also plan to discuss security cooperation, and the European leaders will then hold separate talks focused on European Union matters. A top diplomatic official at the French presidency said the goal of the meeting is to produce a common "roadmap" that would define priority actions on migration routes.

One issue to be addressed is helping Libya and other countries of Africa's Sahel region to fight human smuggling. Another is developing a resettlement policy for migrants who appear to fulfill criteria for obtaining asylum, the French official said.

An idea under discussion is establishing "protection missions" in Chad and Niger that would be operated by the United Nations' refugee and migration agencies in cooperation with EU countries' domestic migration agencies. The pre-asylum centers would receive European financing.

The official, in keeping with French presidential policy, requested anonymity and would not provide details on the precise locations and procedures for the missions. Macron commented last month about establishing "hotspots" in Libya, Niger and Chad where people hoping to migrate to Europe could be screened for asylum eligibility. The comment prompted confusion, and his office later downplayed the remark.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of the meeting that she wants more support for Libya's coast guard and a "migration partnership" with Niger to inhibit migrant smuggling. While European and African leaders were to meet in Paris, interior ministers from Libya, Chad, Niger and Mali met Monday at Rome's interior ministry Monday morning.

A joint statement after the meeting said the ministers expressed satisfaction with the Paris summit's agenda, which they said "can constitute the beginning of a new relationship between Europe and Africa."

The ministers also renewed a pledge to back peace accords among Libya's southern tribes and to stress the importance of backing Libya in the creation of a border guard force. They agreed with the aim of setting up in Niger and Chad and of improving in Libya "reception centers for irregular migrants, coherent with their own legislation, with the aim of bringing them up to international humanitarian standards."

Frances D'Emilio contributed in Rome.

London's Notting Hill Carnival honors tower fire victims

August 28, 2017

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people are expected at London's Notting Hill Carnival, where celebrations will pause to remember victims of the deadly Grenfell Tower fire. The Caribbean carnival, billed as Europe's biggest street party, winds through west London streets near the tower block gutted by a blaze in June that killed at least 80 people.

The carnival's floats, steel bands and sound systems will fall silent Monday afternoon to remember those who died. The two-day festival opened Sunday with the release of dozens of white doves to commemorate the victims. Participants also held a minute's silence Sunday for the fire victims.

Security has been tightened this year in the wake of vehicle and knife attacks across Europe, with steel barriers and concrete blocks around the edge of the route.

Brexodus: UK immigration falls as EU citizens leave Britain

August 24, 2017

LONDON (AP) — Net migration to Britain has fallen to a three-year low as a growing number of European Union citizens have left the country following last year's Brexit referendum. Data released Thursday by the Office for National Statistics provides evidence that the uncertainty and economic jitters caused by Britain's vote to quit the EU are deterring immigrants and sparking a "Brexodus."

The statistics office said net migration — the difference between arrivals and departures — was 246,000 in the year to March 31, a fall of 81,000 on a year earlier. More than half the change was due to a decline of 51,000 people in net migration from the EU.

A total of 122,000 EU citizens left Britain in the year to March, up 31,000 from the year before and the highest outflow in nearly a decade. There was a particularly sharp rise in departures from citizens of the "EU 8" — the eastern European nations that joined the bloc in 2004. Hundreds of thousands of Poles, Lithuanians and other eastern Europeans moved to Britain to work after 2004.

EU citizens have the right to live and work in any member state, and more than 3 million nationals of other EU countries reside in Britain. When Britain leaves the EU in March 2019, it will have the power to set restrictions on the movement of people from the EU, leaving many EU citizens uncertain about their future rights in Britain.

Nicola White, head of international migration figures at the U.K. statistics office, said the figures "indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing people's decision to migrate into and out of the U.K., particularly EU and EU8 citizens."

"It is too early to tell if this is an indication of a long-term trend," she said. A fall in the value of the pound since last year's referendum and a slowdown in the British economy may also be making the country less attractive to migrants. The statistics agency confirmed Thursday that the economy grew by a modest 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2017 from the previous three months, slower than any other Group of Seven economy.

Pro-EU opposition politicians and business leaders said the decline in migration was an early-warning sign, and Britain would face a shortage of workers if it severely restricted immigration after Brexit.

Matthew Percival, head of employment at the Confederation of British Industry said the loss of "vital skills" should concern everyone in Britain. But Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative government, which has a longstanding and unmet pledge to cut net immigration below 100,000 a year, said the figures were "encouraging."

"People who come to our country to work bring significant benefits to the U.K., but there is no consent for uncontrolled immigration," said immigration minister Brandon Lewis.

Big Ben bell falls silent in London for repairs until 2021

August 21, 2017

LONDON (AP) — After more than 150 years as Britain's most famous timekeeper, London's Big Ben bell fell silent Monday for four years of repair work that will keep it quiet on all but a few special occasions.

The giant bell atop Parliament's clock tower sent a dozen deep bongs into a gray sky at noon, marking the hour as it has done almost continuously since 1859. It is not due to resume its regular duties until 2021.

Hundreds of parliamentary staff, journalists and lawmakers gathered in a courtyard under the Victorian clock tower to mark the moment, while hundreds more tourists and passers-by lined sidewalks and filled nearby Parliament Square, cellphones held aloft.

The mood was light-hearted — it is, after all, just a bell — but total silence fell as the first bong sounded. The crowd burst into cheers and applause as the last faded away, and bells at nearby Westminster Abbey pealed a noisy farewell to their neighbor.

The bell is being stilled to allow workers to carry out much-needed maintenance to the clock and clock tower without being deafened. But a handful of lawmakers have criticized the lengthy silence, calling Big Ben an important symbol of British democracy. Prime Minister Theresa May said last week that "it can't be right for Big Ben to be silent for four years."

In response to the criticism, House of Commons officials have said they will take another look at the repairs schedule once Parliament returns next month from its summer break. Labour Party lawmaker Stephen Pound said it was sad to see the silencing of "the chimes of freedom."

"You don't know what you've got till it's gone," he said. And Pound expressed skepticism that the repair work would be finished on schedule in 2021. "Dream on," he said. "Have you known any government project ever come in on time and on budget?"

Big Ben has been silenced by malfunction and for repairs before, most recently in 2007, but this stretch is by far the longest. Parliamentary officials say it will still be heard on special occasions such as New Year's Eve.

The sound of the 13.5 U.K. ton (15.1 U.S. ton, 13.7 metric ton) bell became associated with Britain around the globe through World War II radio news broadcasts. The clock tower — also commonly called Big Ben, but formally named the Elizabeth Tower after Queen Elizabeth II — is one of London's most-photographed buildings.

"Parliament and the clock tower and Big Ben are just iconic parts of London and Great Britain and so it's very exciting to be out here and see it," said Mitchell Polay, visiting one day recently from Yonkers, New York. "In the States when you think of England, that's one of the first things that pop up into your mind."

He felt there must be a way to keep Big Ben bonging. "We have an international space station," Polay said. "I'm sure they could figure out a way to make a bell ring and not damage the hearing of the workers."

During the repair work, scaffolding will obscure parts of the tower, and the clock faces will be covered at times — though at least one face will always be visible. Adam Watrobski, principal architect at the Houses of Parliament, said authorities are well aware of how much interest the bell and the tower generate.

"But you know at the end of the day all buildings have to be serviced," he said. Watrobski added that once this round of work is finished, "the building will be sound and secure for the next 60 years or so."

Kevin Scott and Caroline Spiezio contributed to this story.

UK's new flagship aircraft carrier arrives at home port

August 16, 2017

LONDON (AP) — Britain's new flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived at its home port in southern England on Wednesday to great fanfare as tens of thousands jammed the harbor in welcome. Sailors lined the flight deck as the 3 billion-pound ($3.87 billion) aircraft carrier arrived at Portsmouth Naval Base. The 919-foot (280-meter) vessel has been training at sea since June after setting out from Rosyth dockyard in Scotland.

Two flybys of Royal Navy helicopters added to the pageantry. A band of Royal Marines entertained the crowds, and the families of service members lined the jetty to cheer. "She is Britain's statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role," Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said. "The thousands of people across the U.K. who have played a part in building her and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, should be immensely proud as our future flagship enters Portsmouth."

Fallon said in June that Russia would look at the new carrier with envy, pointing at Russia's "dilapidated" Admiral Kuznetsov carrier. Russia's defense ministry spokesman fired back, dismissing the British carrier as just a "conveniently large sea target" that should stay close to U.S. protection assets.

The carrier is the largest ever for the Royal Navy, and is built specifically for the F-35, the much heralded next generation fighter jet. The military has estimated that by 2023, it will have 24 jets on board.

New US commander takes control of anti-IS coalition

2017-09-05

DAMASCUS - The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria swore in a new commanding general Tuesday, with the fight against the jihadists now in its fourth year.

Lieutenant General Paul Funk assumed command of the Operation Inherent Resolve joint task force at a ceremony on a military base in the region, officials said in a statement.

As part of a regular rotation, he took over from Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, who had been deployed a year ago.

"The very existence of ISIS poses a threat to the civilized world and our way of life. We must defeat them, and our collective effort will defeat them," Funk said, according to the statement.

IS seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014 as it sought to establish its self-declared "caliphate," but has faced a series of major defeats in recent months.

Forces backed by the coalition, which was founded in June 2014, have ousted the jihadists from Iraqi bastions such as Mosul and the extremists also have lost control of more than half of their de facto Syrian capital, Raqa.

Funk heads up the Army's III Corps, which had previously led the anti-IS coalition from September 2015 to August 2016.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=84695.

Flight attendant wins discrimination case against Aeroflot

September 06, 2017

MOSCOW (AP) — A Moscow court on Wednesday ruled in favor of a flight attendant who claimed Russia's flagship airline stopped assigning her to work long-haul international flights because of her looks.

The Moscow City Court overturned a ruling by a district court that had rejected Yevgeniya Magurina's claim that she was sidelined as part of Aeroflot's drive to make its cabin crews younger and more physically attractive.

The flight attendant's lawsuit put a spotlight on how women in modern Russia still often are judged by their looks. Magurina submitted pay slips showing that she stopped receiving bonus pay that had comprised roughly 20 percent of her income after she asked for a larger-sized uniform. She says she also no longer was assigned the role of senior steward.

Magurina had requested 500,000 rubles ($8,700) in damages and for the court to rule the company's regulations on clothing sizes discriminatory. The court on Wednesday upheld her discrimination claim, but awarded the flight attendant just 5,000 rubles ($87) in damages.

Her attorney welcomed the ruling, calling it "definitely a victory." "We were not suing for money. We wanted the court to acknowledge that you cannot treat people like that," lawyer Ksenia Michaylichenko said.

Aeroflot's press office did not have immediate comment. Magurina claimed her experience was part of a broader move that affected hundreds of other flight attendants who faced pay cuts and were taken off the prestigious long-haul flights. An appeal by another Aeroflot flight attendant who came forward with a similar claim is expected to be heard later this month.

Magurina said a sympathetic manager leaked her documents showing that some 600 of Aeroflot's 7,000 cabin crew employees, most of them women, were reassigned to shorter flights without bonus pay because they were considered too "old, fat and ugly."

Aeroflot denied the claims of discrimination in court, arguing that the company had no obligation to pay bonuses. But it acknowledged its preference for slimmer cabin crews, arguing that there were objective reasons for it. Aeroflot insisted that overweight attendants could pose a safety risk by blocking emergency exits and require more costly fuel to transport.