EU proposes 'Humanitarian Visas' for migrants en route to Europe

EPA Photo

A European Union committee proposed "humanitarian visas" for migrants Wednesday in a bid to promote regular migration and lower the death count on routes to European countries.

"EU countries should be able to issue humanitarian visas at embassies and consulates abroad, so people seeking protection can access Europe without risking their life," said the European Parliament in a statement after a meeting of the Civil Liberties Committee.

The committee agreed to ask the European Commission to submit by March 31, 2019, a legislative proposal for the visa.

"Despite numerous announcements and requests for safe and legal pathways for asylum-seekers into Europe, the EU lacks a harmonized framework of protected entry procedures," the statement added.

Around 90 percent people granted international protection reached the EU countries through irregular means, the European Parliament said.

Each applicant should go through a security screening before the visa is issued, it was proposed.

Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar said: "The vote today is a limited step, but nonetheless a very important political signal to the EU Commission.

"We need to do more to help those human beings in need, as there are currently clearly not enough legal and safe pathways to the EU for those seeking international protection," Aguilar added.

If the proposal is adopted by the full house in the November plenary session, the commission will have to give a reasoned reply to the parliament's request, the statement added.

Source: (Daily Sabah)

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At least 5 Died in heavy rains in Spain’s Mallorca

At least five people were died in flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca late on Tuesday, according to police, with a British couple reportedly among the fatalities.

At least nine others were reported missing.

Spain’s National Police confirmed on social media that five people had been Died in the heavy rains in the municipality of Sant Llorenc, and urged people to avoid driving in the Llevant area on the east of the island.

Local media reported that at least another 12 people were still missing following the downpours, but emergency services declined to confirm the figure to Reuters.

When asked to confirm reports that a British couple were among the fatalities, the UK Foreign Office responded with a statement to Euronews saying: “We are in contact with the Spanish authorities responding to flooding in Majorca, and urgently seeking updates from them.”

The town of Sant Llorenc is around 60 kilometres east of Palma — the capital of the Mediterranean island. It was deluged by torrential rain on Tuesday evening.

Dramatic video footage on social media shows raging torrents of water gushing through the streets of the town, with reports that more than 20 centimetres of rain fell in just four hours.

“My solidarity and support goes out to the families and friends of victims and all those affected by these tragic floods,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Twitter.

He was planning to travel to the area later on Wednesday, his office said.

Source: (Euronews)

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Britain expects 5,000 financial services jobs to leave by Brexit Day

LONDON: Britain’s financial services minister said he would do all he can to ensure that the City of London continues to be major financial center after Britain leaves the European Union, although thousands of jobs will move to the continent.

John Glen told lawmakers that he agreed with Bank of England estimates that 5,000 financial services jobs will have moved to continental Europe by the time Britain is due to leave the EU next March.

“My sole objective in respect of the City is to ensure as much continuation as possible in respect of economic value able to be generated by the City,” Glen told a committee in parliament’s House of Lords.

“We have not seen wholesale moves of large institutions to other cities in continental Europe,” Glen said.

He “fully expects” that Britain and the EU will agree on a deal that would introduce a transition period from next March to avoid a disorderly Brexit.

A no-deal Brexit, however, might not necessarily be as hostile and difficult as some might anticipate, he added.

Source: (Reuters)

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‘Fighting EU to save Europe:’ Salvini, Le Pen vow to start ‘revolution of common sense’

French National Rally leader, Marine Le Pen, and Italy's Lega leader and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini shake hands before holding a news conference in Rome, Italy, on October 8, 2018. © REUTERS/Max Rossi

Italy’s Matteo Salvini and France’s Marine Le Pen have pledged to fight the “totalitarian” EU and bring Europeans “their future back” as they launched their campaign ahead of the European Parliament elections.

“The enemies of Europe are those, who are entrenched in the Brussels bunker,” Salvini, the Italian Interior Minister and the head of the anti-immigrant Lega (the League) party, told journalists at a joint press with Marine Le Pen, the leader of French National Rally (formerly National Front), in Rome.

He went on to directly attack the EU Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker and EU Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici by calling them “the enemies of the European people and the happiness of the European people.”

The two EU officials “have brought precariousness and fear into Europe but still refuse to leave their thrones,” Salvini added. He said that the forthcoming EU Parliament elections would herald a “revolution of common sense.” He believes it would bring anti-establishment forces, like his and Le Pen’s parties, to power and bring “500 million European citizens their future back.”

'People like Juncker and Moscovici have ruined Europe and our country' - Italy’s deputy PM Salvini https://t.co/qNSI4jTQtB pic.twitter.com/te8FWq1yBO

— RT (@RT_com) October 5, 2018

“The real challenge is the fight against insecure employment, unemployment... the empty cots,” he added. Meanwhile, Le Pen rushed to assure people that the two parties “are not fighting against Europe” but are actually seeking to “save the real Europe” from the dictate of the EU, which “has become too totalitarian.”

"We are today at a historic moment. This is history with a capital 'H' that will be written in May 2019. It will be the emergence of a Europe of nations, a Europe of respect, a Europe of protection,” she said, referring to the EU Parliament vote.

Juncker hopes Salvini ‘will never have to remove heap of Europe’s ruins’https://t.co/JxwPjlZ0Zs pic.twitter.com/WS5nqpg4I4

— RT (@RT_com) October 5, 2018

The two parties, known for their anti-establishment and Euroskeptic stance, have been at odds with Brussels over its mass immigration policy. Salvini recently locked horns with Junker and Moscovici over Italy’s 2019 budget deficit plans which exceed the limits set by the EU.

Tensions between the politicians have been running high. In mid-September they had a heated war of words when Moscovici complained about the spread of “little Mussolinis” across Europe, referring to the rise of right-wing forces across the bloc and Salvini in particular. That remark prompted the Italian minister to tell the EU official to “wash his mouth out.”

The upcoming EU Parliament elections might indeed mark a significant change in European politics as various anti-establishment and Euroskeptic forces are gaining popularity throughout the bloc. Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio previously said that the union might expect a “political earthquake” after the 2019 European Parliament election.

Source: (RT) Russian Times

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Romanian man detained over slaying of Bulgarian Journalist to be freed, Police say

People attend a vigil as a protest against the rape murder of journalist Viktoria Marinova in Sofia, Bulgaria, October 8, 2018. (EPA Photo)

Bulgarian authorities on Tuesday will release and won't charge a man taken into custody in connection with the slaying of Bulgarian television reporter Viktoria Marinova, whose body was found after she highlighted possible government corruption.

The man, who wasn't identified, would be freed "very shortly," said Teodor Atanassov, chief police officer of the northern town of Ruse. He declined to provide further details on the ongoing investigation.

Police are investigating the rape and slaying of Marinova, 30, who was strangled. Her body was found Saturday near the Danube River. Marinova hosted a show last month featuring two investigative journalists who were detained for their work on suspected fraud involving European Union funds.

The Interior Ministry said late Monday that prosecutors had opened an investigation into GP Group, a large private Bulgarian building company alleged to have misused the EU money, and froze 14 million euros ($16 million) of its assets.

Interior Minister Mladen Marinov and Bulgaria's leading organized crime investigator, Ivaylo Spiridonov, are part of the investigating team.

While Marinova didn't appear to have been closely involved in the fraud investigation, her show touched on a sensitive subject in Bulgaria, where corruption is endemic. The Balkan nation joined the EU in 2007 and was ranked 71st on Transparency International's corruption list last year. Joining the bloc opened an enormous spigot of possible new EU funding for Bulgarian infrastructure projects or other programs designed to bring the nation up to EU standards.

Journalists' groups and European leaders expressed shock at Marinova's murder. Margaritis Schinas, spokesman for European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, said Monday that the commission expected "a swift and thorough investigation .... that will bring those responsible to justice and clarify whether this attack was linked to her work."

The German government also sharply condemned the slaying, with the Foreign Ministry saying it was imperative "that there's a fast investigation and that this horrible event will be illuminated as comprehensively as possible."

Bulgarian Interior Minister Mladen Marinov insisted Monday there was no evidence to suggest the killing was linked to Marinova's work.

Marinova was a director of TVN, a TV station in Ruse, and a TV presenter for two investigative programs.

Her final show on Sept. 30 was a program about Attila Biro, an investigative journalist with the Rise Project Romania, and Dimitar Stoyanov from the Bulgarian investigative site Bivol.bg. The two men were briefly detained on Sept. 13 south of Sofia as they investigated a tip that documents connected to suspected fraud involving EU funds were being destroyed.

Bivol.bg owner Assen Yordanov said he couldn't directly link Marinova's slaying to her work, but noted her show tackled "our very sensitive investigation into the misuse of EU funds."

"This is a topic on which no other Bulgarian national media dared to report on," he told The Associated Press.

Biro told the AP that he had never met Marinova — he said one of her colleagues had interviewed him and Stoyanov about their work.

"They are on the right path, but let's see how the investigation proceeds," he said.

Source: Daily Sabah

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UK announces $22.25 million fund for Rohingya in Bangladesh

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Bangladesh has welcomed a new contribution of US $22.25 million from the United Kingdom that will help meet the immediate food and nutrition needs of Rohingyas living in Cox's Bazar.

The WFP urgently needs US $66 million to continue providing assistance through to March 2019.

The Department for International Development (DFID) has been a generous supporter of WFP activities in Cox's Bazar, including an innovative e-voucher programme which allows refugees to purchase a variety of food items at specially designated shops, said the WFP.

DFID has also supported engineering and logistics cluster activities, enabling WFP to preserve humanitarian access during the monsoon period.

This new contribution will support a wide variety of activities within WFP's response, including in-kind food assistance to over 680,000 refugees, e-vouchers for some quarter of a million refugees, and essential nutritional interventions for the most vulnerable.

In addition, the host Bangladeshi community will benefit from programmes that support women and their families with a grant for entrepreneurship activities.

The contribution also allows WFP to continue the provision of logistics, telecommunications and engineering common services for the entire humanitarian community.

"DFID's aid allows us to continue to provide urgent life-saving assistance. As we move into the second year of the response, the needs remain substantial. This significant contribution enables us to deliver on the food security and nutritional needs of the most vulnerable who depend on WFP for the daily meal," said WFP Representative and Country Director, Richard Ragan.

International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt said, "One year into this latest crisis it is still difficult to comprehend the depth of human suffering endured by the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya people living within the Cox's Bazar camps."

"Ensuring that nursing mothers are fed and malnourished children have enough to eat so that they get the best start in life is at the heart of what we do. UK aid through the World Food Programme is providing a vital lifeline to the Rohingya people who have been forced to flee their homes in Burma and are struggling to survive in Bangladesh," she said.

In Cox's Bazar, WFP provides food assistance to over 860,000 refugees per month. WFP also supports nutrition and livelihoods interventions in the host community, supporting the most vulnerable people.unb.

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Macedonian PM Urges Parliament to Back Renaming for Sake of NATO, EU Accession

© AP Photo / Boris Grdanoski

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev has called on the members of the parliament (the Assembly) to back the bill on changing the country's name, as it had been agreed upon with Greece, for the sake of Macedonia's future membership in the European Union and NATO.

"All the lawmakers have a historical duty toward the [Macedonian] citizens to ensure Macedonia's path to stability and economic prosperity. This is a path to NATO and the European Union, which goes through the Macedonian-Greek agreement," Zaev wrote on Facebook.

In order to ensure the bill passing, Zaev's ruling party Social Democratic Union of Macedonia will need to secure the support of 80 lawmakers out of 120. Zaev has secured the support of over 70 parliamentarians and is currently engaged in talks with the country's major opposition party Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity, urging it to back the bill.

On Monday, the Macedonian government adopted a draft law on renaming the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia following a referendum on the issue, and passed it to the assembly for adoption. The assembly's committee on constitutional matters will have 10 days to review the bill, and then the decision will be announced at a plenary session.

On September 30, Macedonia held a referendum on its renaming, which was prompted by the related agreement signed between Greece and Macedonia in June. According to the State Election Commission, 91.46 percent of those, who cast their ballots, voted in favor of renaming the country, while 5.65 percent voted against. However, the referendum cannot be recognized as valid as the turnout amounted to 36.91 percent instead of the required 50 percent.

If the county is renamed, it will be able to seek accession to NATO and the European Union, something which Greece has long been blocking over its concerns that neighboring Macedonia might have territorial claims to Greece’s own region of the same name.

Source: (Sputnik)

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Spain acquits doctor found guilty in 'Stealing Babies' case

@ Copyright : REUTERS

A Spanish doctor accused of abducting a newborn baby girl in 1969 and giving it to another woman was absolved of all charges by a Madrid court due to the statute of limitations on Monday in the first verdict of the "stolen-babies" case in Spain.

Eduardo Vela, 85, who is the former gynaecologist behind the suspected baby-stealing programme started during the regime of then-dictator Francisco Franco, was found guilty of abducting a baby, faking a birth certificate, and official documents. However, he cannot be punished because of the statutory limitation and because the plaintiff, Ines Madrigal, was no longer recognised as a kidnapped person once she became an adult, in 1987.

Madrigal filed a complaint in 2012.

The statute of limitations sets the maximum time in which courts can complete legal proceedings.

Prosecutors had asked for an 11-year jail sentence for all three crimes.

What has been the reaction from 'stolen babies'?

Jose Maria Garcia Gonzalez, one of the “stolen babies”, told Euronews the verdict left him with a “bittersweet” taste.

“The bitter part is that this man has been absolved,” he said, “and that he’s been absolved due to the statute of limitations.”

Garcia Gonzalez, 35, who was born in Madrid's San Ramon clinic where Vela was director at the time, found out he was adopted six years ago.

But despite the verdict, the fact that it was acknowledged that Vela was found guilty of the crimes remains a small victory for Garcia Gonzalez.

“It’s been acknowledged that he stole babies in Spain even if the statute of limitations prevents any consequences.”

Madrigal, 39, had accused Vela of forging her 1969 birth certificate to show she was given to another woman falsely certified as her biological mother.

Madrigal's lawyer said they would appeal against the decision.

How did the 'stolen-babies' programme start?

Franco came to power in 1939, after defeating the Republican left-wing party in the Spanish civil war. Under his government, Franco tried to purge Spain from Marxist influence, which included the practice of taking babies away from left-wing families once they were born. Many of these newborns were given to couples who were part of the regime, while other babies were given to supporters of Franco's ideology.

In the 1950s, the system was extended to poor families or couples seen as "unfit" to raise a child, as it was at odds with the Catholic and nationalist ideology of the regime.

Ten years later, the business side of the programme gained momentum after those working the system realized how lucrative the scheme had become.

Vela was the first person to ever be prosecuted in the “stolen-babies” scandal.

Source: Euronews

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Leader of Northern Ireland's DUP says wants Brexit that works for Ireland

FILE PHOTO: Arlene Foster, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, waits for a television interview at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Britain, October 2, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Staples/File Photo

The Northern Irish party which props up Prime Minister Theresa May’s government said on Monday that it wanted a Brexit that worked for the Republic of Ireland too, as its leader travels to Brussels for talks with EU negotiator Michel Barnier.

The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is the last major sticking point in Brexit talks between Britain and the European Union, and both sides are trying to work out how to monitor and regulate trade over the border.

Last week the Democratic Unionist Party’s leader, Arlene Foster, said avoiding a customs border which separates Northern Ireland from mainland Britain was a “blood red” line for the party, ratcheting up rhetoric on the issue.

On Monday, Foster said this remained a red line but struck a more conciliatory tone.

“I want to see the United Kingdom exit the EU in a sensible manner which works for each part of the UK but also importantly in a way that works for our nearest neighbour in the Republic of Ireland,” she said in a statement ahead of talks.

Foster will meet Barnier and representatives of EU states in Brussels over the next three days.

EU sources told Reuters on Thursday that EU negotiators see the outline of a compromise on the Irish border issue which is holding up Brexit talks, raising hopes that a new British offer could unlock a deal.

A second source said Barnier was looking at where the bloc could make improvements to what it has offered London as both sides race to overcome the remaining obstacles to a Brexit deal before a high-stakes EU summit on Oct. 17-18.

Source: Reuters

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Euro hits seven-week low on Italy budget row

Europe: The European euro fell to a seven-week low against the dollar on Monday on a spat between Italy and the European Union over Rome’s budget plans, while the yuan weakened as Beijing’s move to spur more lending failed to ease concern about economic growth.

Sterling retreated as traders booked profits on recent gains tied to optimism about a Brexit deal.

Nervous investors piled more money into the dollar, as speculators’ bullish bets in the greenback grew to their highest level since December 2016 last week.

The greenback’s gain was limited by a third day of losses on Wall Street, which was stoked by anxiety about the U.S.-China trade tension and rising U.S. bond yields.

“What’s been weighing on broader markets has been supporting the dollar: rising interest rates around the world for both fundamental and worrisome reasons,” said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington. “Italian borrowing rates have climbed, a sign of investor worry in the nation’s debt crisis.”

On Monday, Italian 10-year bond yield IT10YT=RR increased nearly 20 basis points to 3.60 percent, the highest level in 4-1/2 years, while the country's stock market .FTMIB fell to its weakest since April 2017.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, speaking at a media conference with French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, denounced European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Economics Commissioner Pierre Moscovici as enemies of Europe.

The single currency fell 0.26 percent against the dollar EUR=EBS to $1.14900 and not far from a more-than one-year low of $1.1355 hit in mid-August.

The euro fell 0.31 percent to 1.14015 Swiss franc EURCHF=EBS, and shed 0.92 percent EURJPY=EBS against 129.790 yen.

Source: Reuters

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Daphne’s sister wants Europe-wide action to stop Journalist Murders

Bulgarian journalist Viktoria Marinova

Europe must act together to stop the murder of journalists investigating corruption, the sister of one of those killed has said.

Viktoria Marinova became the latest investigative reporter to be killed when she was found dead in Bulgaria over the weekend.

Now Corinne Vella, sister of murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, has told Euronews countries need to work together.

“Viktoria Marinova’s murder is the third in an EU country in less than a year,” she told Euronews.

“When my sister, Daphne, was assassinated on 16 October 2017, the fear was that it could happen again unless European countries acted together.

“Only four months later, Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova were killed. Viktoria, Jan, and Daphne had all investigated corruption.

“You can't fight transnational crime through national mechanisms alone, and journalists cannot be properly protected by the national authorities they investigate.

“We can no longer ask if another journalist will be killed, but when.

“Transnational corruption needs transnational solutions. And that means we need transnational protection for journalists who investigate and expose it.”

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