Scottish authorities slam ‘floating prison’ plan for asylum-seekers

Scottish authorities have condemned UK Home Office plans to house asylum-seekers on a cruise ship in Leith, likening it to a “floating prison”. (AFP/File)

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Updated 23 June 2023

Arab News

June 23, 2023 16:57

Scottish authorities slam ‘floating prison’ plan for asylum-seekers

‘We were not consulted’ on UK Home Office plan to house them on cruise ship in Leith, says council leader
Edinburgh Council ‘absolutely committed to supporting’ refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan, Ukraine

Updated 23 June 2023

Arab News

June 23, 2023 16:57

LONDON: Scottish authorities have condemned UK Home Office plans to house asylum-seekers on a cruise ship in Leith, likening it to a “floating prison,” the BBC reported on Friday.
Edinburgh Council leader Cammy Day said the council had shown solidarity with thousands of refugees from Afghanistan, Syria, Sudan and Ukraine, and was “absolutely committed to supporting them any way we can,” but opposed the idea of moving them to the MS Victoria.
“We were not consulted on this and urgently require further details from the UK government on their plans,” Day said.
“I know the Scottish government and Cosla (the national association of Scottish councils) are in the same position and, having written jointly to the minister of state for immigration, Robert Jenrick MP, we’ve yet to receive a satisfactory response to our questions and concerns.”
The ship has housed over 1,000 Ukrainian refugees, with the last set to leave on July 11, but Scotland’s Migration and Refugees Minister Emma Roddick said new plan is incomparable.
“Housing asylum seekers in vessels cannot be compared with their use to temporarily accommodate displaced people from Ukraine because of fundamental differences in terms of their rights and agency,” she added, noting that people waiting on asylum applications face strict restrictions on the right to work and no access to most mainstream benefits.
“If the government chooses to impose the use of the MS Victoria to accommodate people it must provide suitable funding for the council and devolved services like health and policing and ensure services are provided so people can be supported appropriately,” she said.

Joe Biden tells campaign donors running for reelection to prevent Donald Trump’s return

Updated 10 sec ago

December 06, 2023 04:26

Joe Biden tells campaign donors running for reelection to prevent Donald Trump’s return

President using a trio of fundraisers to caution against what might happen should his predecessor again claim control of the White House

Updated 10 sec ago

December 06, 2023 04:26

BOSTON: President Joe Biden told campaign donors Tuesday that he wasn’t sure he’d be running for reelection if Donald Trump wasn’t also in the race, warning that democracy is “more at risk in 2024” and that the former president and his allies are out to “destroy” democratic institutions.
The president was using a trio of fundraisers to caution against what might happen should his predecessor again claim control of the White House, noting that Trump has described himself as his supporters’ “retribution” and has vowed to root out “vermin” in the country.
“We’ve got to get it done, not because of me. ... If Trump wasn’t running I’m not sure I’d be running. We cannot let him win,” Biden said, hitting the last words slowly for emphasis.
Biden’s forceful rhetoric came as Trump, the current GOP front-runner, who tried to overturn the 2020 election he lost and is facing criminal charges connected to those efforts, attempted over the weekend to turn the tables by calling Biden the “destroyer of American democracy.”
Trump on Tuesday was asked by Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity to promise he “would never abuse power as retribution against anybody.”
“Except for day one,” Trump responded. “I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, drill.”
“After that I’m not a dictator,” Trump added.
Biden’s campaign quickly seized on the comments with an email that read, “Donald Trump: Day One Dictator.” Later, Biden was asked by reporters whether he would be running if Trump wasn’t and gave a slightly different comment, saying, “I expect so, but look, he is running and I have to run.”
He was asked if he would drop out if Trump did and said, “No, not now.”
Biden, who said he is not alone in sounding the alarm over Trump, noted that Trump is the “only losing candidate” in US history to not accept the results. Biden also said that on Jan. 6, 2021, as Trump supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in a failed attempt to stop the certification of the election results, Trump sat in his dining room just off the Oval Office, “watching them threaten his own vice president.”
Biden also highlighted recent warnings about Trump from former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, calling her a “powerful voice.”
“American democracy, I give you my word as a Biden, is at stake,” the president said at the first of three campaign fundraisers in the Boston area. Drawing some laughter from donors, Biden also mused: “He didn’t even show up at my inauguration. I can’t say I was disappointed, but he didn’t even show up.”
The warnings by Biden are increasingly part of his pitch to donors: that democracy is at stake if Trump were to win again and he must be defeated. The president is pushing to raise money for his reelection effort before the end of the year, appearing at seven events through Monday — with more to come. The events in Boston on Tuesday benefit his campaign and the broader Democratic Party.
They included an evening event in the city’s theater district featuring a concert by singer-songwriter James Taylor, who helped kick off a White House event in 2022 celebrating the Inflation Reduction Act, a climate and health care bill that Biden signed into law.
Onstage, Biden joked to the packed theater audience that he wouldn’t be long because he knew he was “the only thing standing” between the audience and the performance by Taylor.
“We’re always going to defend protect and fight for democracy,” he said. “That’s why I’m running.”
November was the campaign’s strongest grassroots fundraising month since Biden formally announced last April that he was seeking a second term, according to a campaign official who insisted on anonymity to discuss campaign finances before details are made public. The numbers will be released in January.
In October, Biden and the Democratic National Committee reported raising more than $71 million for his reelection in the three months ending Sept. 30, a sign that donors remained behind him going into the 2024 presidential race.
Biden had only political events on his public schedule for Tuesday, which is rare. Presidents who are running for reelection typically include an official event, like a policy speech, on the schedule to help defray costs for their campaign.
Biden will also attend a fundraiser Wednesday near the White House and another one Monday in Philadelphia. He’ll headline fundraisers in Washington, D.C., and in Maryland later in December.
On Friday, Biden will head to Los Angeles for a big-dollar event that will be his first since strikes by writers and actors effectively ground his fundraising to a halt in the heart of the entertainment industry, which has long served as a major source of campaign money for Democrats.

In rare Israel rebuke, US restricts visas on extremist settlers

Updated 06 December 2023

Arab News

December 06, 2023 02:24

In rare Israel rebuke, US restricts visas on extremist settlers

US would refuse entry to anyone involved in ‘undermining peace, security or stability in the West Bank’

Updated 06 December 2023

Arab News

December 06, 2023 02:24

LONDON: In a rare punitive move against Israel, the US State Department said Tuesday it will impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"Today, the State Department is implementing a new visa restriction policy targeting individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank, including through committing acts of violence or taking other actions that unduly restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities," it said in a statement by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Blinken announced the step after repeatedly warning Israel last week that President Joe Biden's administration would be taking action over the attacks. Blinken did not announce individual visa bans, but officials said those would be coming this week and could affect dozens of settlers and their families.

"Immediate family members of such persons also may be subject to these restrictions," Blinken said, however, the statement did not identify any individuals facing visa bans, or say how many would be targeted.

The decision comes at a sensitive moment in U.S.-Israeli relations. The Biden administration has firmly backed Israel since an attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, even as international criticism of Israel has mounted.

But in recent weeks, the administration has stepped up calls on Israel to do more to limit civilian casualties as the Israelis expand their offensive and target densely populated southern Gaza.

Daily settler attacks have more than doubled, U.N. figures show, since Hamas, which controls the separate Palestinian enclave of Gaza, killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 240 hostage. Israel has since bombed and invaded Gaza, killing more than 16,000 people.

"The United States has consistently opposed actions that undermine stability in the West Bank, including attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, and Palestinian attacks against Israelis," Blinken said.

"We have underscored to the Israeli government the need to do more to hold accountable extremist settlers who have committed violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank," he added. "As President Biden has repeatedly said, those attacks are unacceptable. Last week in Israel, I made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities."

During meetings in Israel last week, Blinken told officials Washington was "ready to take action using our own authorities," he said.

Blinken said Washington would "continue to seek accountability for all acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank, regardless of the perpetrator or the victim," and would "continue to engage with the Israeli leadership to make clear that Israel must take additional measures to protect Palestinian civilians from extremist attacks."

He also called on the "Palestinian Authority to make clear it must do more to curb Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

"Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have the responsibility to uphold stability in the West Bank," Blinken said, adding: "Instability in the West Bank both harms the Israeli and Palestinian people and threatens Israel’s national security interests. Those responsible for it must be held accountable."

Tuesday's move comes just a month after Israel was granted entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which allows its citizens visa-free entry into the U.S. Those targeted by the action will not be eligible for the program, and those who hold current U.S. visas will have them revoked.

(With AP and Reuters)

Topics: War on Gaza Palestine Gaza US visa

Cameron to reaffirm British support for Ukraine in US visit

Updated 06 December 2023

Reuters

December 06, 2023 03:30

Cameron to reaffirm British support for Ukraine in US visit

The US Congress has approved more than $110 billion for Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, but has not cleared any more funds since Republicans took control of the House from President Joe Biden’s Democrats in January

Updated 06 December 2023

Reuters

December 06, 2023 03:30

LONDON: Britain’s foreign minister David Cameron will underline the importance of support and humanitarian funding for Ukraine during his first visit to Washington since he assumed his post last month, the UK foreign office said on Wednesday.
The former prime minister will travel to the United States to reaffirm both the strength of Britain’s relationship with Washington and London’s continued support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
The US Congress has approved more than $110 billion for Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, but has not cleared any more funds since Republicans took control of the House from President Joe Biden’s Democrats in January.
Last month, Cameron used his first trip abroad to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
“The Foreign Secretary has announced a new winter humanitarian response package of 29 million pounds ($36.52 million) for Ukraine and will bolster support with a further 7.75 million pounds ($9.76 million) for humanitarian activities,” the foreign office said in a statement.
It comes as Britain is set to target military and foreign suppliers exporting equipment and parts to Russia, among dozens of individuals and groups, through a series of sanctions.
The foreign office said that in Washington Cameron would also discuss the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and getting humanitarian aid to those affected in Israeli-besieged Gaza.
“We also stand united in the Middle East, working together to ensure long-term security and stability in the region, and in responding to the challenges posed by China,” Cameron said.
Britain and the United States can work toward a long-term two-state solution which allows both Israel and the Palestinians can co-exist in peace, his office said. ($1 = 0.7941 pounds)

Topics: UK US Ukraine

One in five children in rich countries lives in poverty: UNICEF

Iraqi children sit in an empoverished area on the edges of Nasiriyah, capital of Dhi Qar province, on September 25, 2023. (AFP)

Updated 06 December 2023

AFP

December 06, 2023 03:08

One in five children in rich countries lives in poverty: UNICEF

The report called for action to ensure children’s well-being and for political will among the countries surveyed, stressing that a country’s’ wealth did not automatically lift its children out of poverty

Updated 06 December 2023

AFP

December 06, 2023 03:08

UNITED NATIONS, United States: Sixty-nine million children — or more than one in five — live in poverty in the world’s 40 richest countries UNICEF said in a report released Wednesday, blasting Britain and France for their particularly bad standings.
That’s despite a drop in child poverty rates in the periods from 2012 to 2014 and 2019 to 2021, by around 8 percent in the 40 European Union and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) wealthy countries assessed.
“This is equivalent to around 6 million children out of a total child population of 291 million,” said UNICEF Innocenti, the United Nations agency’s research arm.
But at the end of 2021 there were still more than 69 million kids in poverty in those countries.
“For most children this means that they may grow up without enough nutritious food, clothes, school supplies or a warm place to call home,” said Bo Viktor Nylund of UNICEF Innocenti, highlighting the impact of such struggles on young people’s physical and mental health.
The UNICEF figure is based on relative poverty, which is around 60 percent of the national median income, often used in developed countries to establish their own poverty levels.
The report called for action to ensure children’s well-being and for political will among the countries surveyed, stressing that a country’s’ wealth did not automatically lift its children out of poverty.
Since 2012, the biggest setbacks have been seen in some of the richest countries.
Britain saw a 19.6 percent jump in child poverty — or half a million extra children, and France’s rate went up 10.4 percent.
In the United States, the number of poor children has fallen by 6.7 percent, but more than one child in four still lives in relative poverty.
And the poverty rate in 2019-2021 was twice as high as in Denmark, a country with a similar per-capita income.
Underlining the link between child poverty and economic inequality, the report also highlights the greater risk of poverty for children from single-parent families and minority backgrounds.
In the United States, 30 percent of African American children and 29 percent of Native American children live below the national poverty line, compared with only one-in-10 non-Hispanic white children.
In the EU, a child with parents of non-EU nationality is 2.4 times more likely to live in poverty.

Topics: UNICEF

Zelensky cancels plan to address US lawmakers, fate of aid in balance

Updated 06 December 2023

Reuters

December 06, 2023 02:07

Zelensky cancels plan to address US lawmakers, fate of aid in balance

Senate rules dictate that most legislation requires 60 votes to advance in the 100-member chamber

Updated 06 December 2023

Reuters

December 06, 2023 02:07

WASHINGTON: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky canceled plans to appeal directly to US lawmakers for new aid on Tuesday, as a partisan battle over immigration policy threatened to derail President Joe Biden’s request for billions of dollars for Kyiv’s fight against Russia.
Republicans and Biden’s fellow Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have been debating for weeks over Biden’s October request that Congress approve $106 billion for Ukraine, Israel, security at the US border with Mexico and US interests in the Indo-Pacific.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said funds for Ukraine, which has been fighting a full-scale invasion by Russia since February 2022, must be tied to “transformative change” in US immigration policy.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats unveiled their $110.5 billion bill addressing Biden’s request, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would try to break the impasse by offering Republicans the chance to add an amendment on border policy on legislation including aid to Ukraine and Israel.
“Let’s remember here: It was the Republicans who put border on the table. We did not. They have a responsibility if they believe border should be part of Ukraine, which is so vital to our country, let them propose an amendment that can get 60 votes,” Schumer told a weekly press conference.
Senate rules dictate that most legislation requires 60 votes to advance in the 100-member chamber.
The Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, who spoke right after Schumer made his amendment offer, said he would nonetheless urge Senate Republicans to vote against the Democratic-backed legislation.
“We’re serious about having some significant changes in how we protect our southern border as a part of the overall package,” McConnell said.
“I hope all our members vote no,” McConnell said.
Members of the House of Representatives and Senate attended classified briefings by top Biden administration officials, which Zelensky had been expected to address via videolink. But Schumer said the Ukrainian leader was unable to attend.
“Something happened at the last minute,” Schumer told reporters.
Senators said their briefing was acrimonious. Schumer said one lawmaker, whom he did not identify, had shouted at one of the top generals.

HOUSE OBJECTIONS
The most serious objections to Ukraine aid came from the Republican-led House. On Tuesday, Johnson released a letter demanding more information from Biden’s administration about its strategy for Ukraine, and insisting that immigration policy changes be part of any funding bill.
“I reiterate that President Biden must satisfy Congressional oversight inquiries about the Administration’s failure thus far to present clearly defined objectives, and its failure to provide essential weapons (for Ukraine) on a timely basis,” Johnson wrote.
According to Johnson’s letter, he met with administration officials on Oct. 26 and said then “that supplemental Ukraine funding is dependent upon enactment of transformative change to our nation’s border security laws.”
Johnson’s letter was a reply to one from White House budget director Shalanda Young on Monday in which she warned that Washington was running out of time and money to help Ukraine fight its war against Russia.
Congress has approved about $113 billion for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion, but it has not backed any new funds since Republicans took control of the House from Biden’s fellow Democrats in January.
Johnson himself voted against more security assistance for Kyiv as recently as September.
Ukrainian officials have been making their own appeals for assistance. Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, told a conference that the postponement of US assistance for Kyiv being debated in Congress would create a “big risk” of Ukraine’s losing the war with Russia.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict US Russia

Scottish authorities slam ‘floating prison’ plan for asylum-seekers

Scottish authorities slam ‘floating prison’ plan for asylum-seekers

UK immigration minister says it is ‘fair’ for asylum-seekers to share hotel rooms

Asylum seekers in UK face being moved into camps and ferries, reports say

Joe Biden tells campaign donors running for reelection to prevent Donald Trump’s return

Joe Biden tells campaign donors running for reelection to prevent Donald Trump’s return

In rare Israel rebuke, US restricts visas on extremist settlers

In rare Israel rebuke, US restricts visas on extremist settlers

Palestinian killed in clashes with Israeli settlers in West Bank

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE condemn storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers

Cameron to reaffirm British support for Ukraine in US visit

Cameron to reaffirm British support for Ukraine in US visit

UK’s Sunak tells Netanyahu in call of disappointment at new fighting in Gaza

In rare Israel rebuke, US restricts visas on extremist settlers

One in five children in rich countries lives in poverty: UNICEF

One in five children in rich countries lives in poverty: UNICEF

Pakistani children march in solidarity with Palestinians, demand end to Israeli atrocities in Gaza

Inaction on Gaza amounts to ‘approval’ of killing children: UNICEF

Zelensky cancels plan to address US lawmakers, fate of aid in balance

Zelensky cancels plan to address US lawmakers, fate of aid in balance

Ex-president barred from leaving Ukraine amid alleged plan to meet with Hungary’s Viktor Orban

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Scottish authorities slam ‘floating prison’ plan for asylum-seekers

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