Ethiopia fears ‘dangers’ of new Somalia peace mission

Ethiopia fears ‘dangers’ of new Somalia peace mission
African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) peacekeepers travel in an armored vehicle as they leave Jaale Siad Military academy, Mogadishu, Somalia, Feb. 28, 2019. (Reuters)
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Updated 28 August 2024
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Ethiopia fears ‘dangers’ of new Somalia peace mission

Ethiopia fears ‘dangers’ of new Somalia peace mission
  • New mission, known as AUSSOM, is due to replace in January an AU peacekeeping force that is deployed in Somalia to fight the Al-Shabab extremist group
  • Addis Ababa warned it was ‘fraught with dangers’ and accused Somalia of colluding with unnamed actors seeking to destabilize the volatile Horn of Africa

NAIROBI: Ethiopia on Wednesday warned that a new African Union-led mission for Somalia could worsen tensions in volatile East Africa, after Egypt said it sent military aid to the conflict-ridden nation.
The new mission, known as AUSSOM, is due to replace in January an AU peacekeeping force that is deployed in Somalia to fight the Al-Shabab extremist group.
Addis Ababa warned it was “fraught with dangers” and accused Somalia of colluding with unnamed actors seeking to destabilize the volatile Horn of Africa.
The concern came after Egypt — which has long been at odds with Ethiopia — sent military equipment to Somalia in a move likely to escalate tensions between Cairo and Addis Ababa.
“The region is entering into uncharted waters,” Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
“Ethiopia cannot stand idle while other actors are taking measures to destabilize the region,” it said, adding that it was monitoring the developments.
Cairo and Addis Ababa have been at loggerheads for years, trading incendiary words over Ethiopia’s mega-dam project on the Blue Nile, which Egypt says threatens its fragile water security.
Egypt has long viewed the massive $4.2-billion dam as an existential threat, as it relies on the Nile for 97 percent of its water needs.
Protracted negotiations over the dam since 2011 have thus far failed to bring about an agreement between Ethiopia and its downstream neighbors.
Relations between Mogadishu and Addis Ababa also nosedived after Ethiopia in January struck a controversial maritime deal with the breakaway Somali region of Somaliland.
Somaliland, a former British protectorate of 4.5 million people, has not had its independence claim recognized by the international community.
Egypt and Somalia have meanwhile drawn closer together and signed a military cooperation agreement this month.
It was not immediately clear what Egypt had sent to Somalia but Somali ambassador to Egypt Ali Abdi on Wednesday lauded the consignment as important.
“It is the first practical step to implement the outcomes of the Egyptian-Somali summit held recently in Cairo between President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud and President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi,” the statement quoted Abdi as saying.
He added that Egypt will be the first country to deploy forces to support the Somali security after the withdrawal of the current AU force, known as ATMIS, according to a statement published by local media.
ATMIS, which operates with a mandate from the AU but is also mandated by the UN Security Council, is due to fully withdraw and hand over security responsibilities to the Somali army and police by the end of 2024.
The mission comprises troops from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.


Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants

Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants
Updated 16 sec ago
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Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants

Trump cancels protection for 500,000 Haitian migrants
  • The number of Haitians eligible for protection has skyrocketed from 57,000 in 2011 to 520,694 in 2024
  • Temporary Protected Status extension afforded by Joe Biden was ‘far longer than justified or necessary’
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration canceled on Thursday an extension of Temporary Protected Status that was granted to more than 500,000 Haitians by former president Joe Biden.
The United States grants Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions.
It had been extended for Haitians by 18 months, to February 2026, by the Biden administration, but will now expire on August 3.
“President Trump and I are returning TPS to its original status: temporary,” Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem said in a department statement.
“This is part of President Trump’s promise to rescind policies that were magnets for illegal immigration and inconsistent with the law,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement said.
The number of Haitians eligible for protection has skyrocketed from 57,000 in 2011 to 520,694 in 2024, according to the US government’s estimates.
The TPS extension afforded by Biden was “far longer than justified or necessary,” said a DHS spokeswoman.
Trump – who during his election campaign said that immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the United States – quickly ordered a review of the whole TPS program on returning to office.
During his campaign he made baseless claims that Ohio city had seen a recent influx of Haitian migrants who were stealing and eating residents’ cats and dogs.
“The Trump administration is ripping stability away from half a million Haitians who have built their lives here -children, workers, parents, and neighbors who have become integral to American communities and contributed to our economy,” said Beatriz Lopez, Co-Executive Director of the Immigration Hub, an organization working on advancing policy solutions for aspiring citizens.
“This reckless decision doesn’t just harm them; it destabilizes the very businesses, families, and local economies that rely on them.”
Last month, the Trump administration revoked protection from deportation for more than 600,000 Venezuelans in the United States.
“The people of this country want these dirtbags out. They want their communities to be safe,” Noem said on Fox News in January.
Struck by a devastating earthquake in 2010, Haiti has suffered from chronic political instability for decades and more recently from increasing violence by armed groups.
Despite the election of Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime in November and the deployment of a UN-backed security mission to support Haiti’s national police, violence persists.
At least 5,601 people were killed by gang violence in Haiti in 2024, according to the UN.

Myanmar returns 300 more Chinese scam center workers

Myanmar returns 300 more Chinese scam center workers
Updated 7 min 9 sec ago
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Myanmar returns 300 more Chinese scam center workers

Myanmar returns 300 more Chinese scam center workers
  • Thousands of foreigners are expected to be sent home from scam compounds in Myanmar over the coming weeks
  • The compounds are run by criminal gangs and staffed by foreigners, many of whom say they were trafficked

BANGKOK: Myanmar handed over 300 Chinese scam center workers to be repatriated through Thailand on Friday, as authorities intensify a crackdown on the illegal operations.
Thousands of foreigners are expected to be sent home from scam compounds in Myanmar over the coming weeks, with the first batch already flown out on Thursday.
The compounds are run by criminal gangs and staffed by foreigners, many of whom say they were trafficked and forced to swindle people around the world in protracted Internet scams.
Myanmar’s junta said in a statement that a second group of 300 Chinese nationals was handed over on Friday via the Thailand-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2 at the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
The statement also said the junta has been working “to identify, arrest, and take action on foreigners who are involved in online scam centers and those who are behind it.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun hailed the “thunder-style cooperation” between China, Myanmar and Thailand to tackle the scam centers.
“China and various countries are firmly determined to fight cross-border online gambling and telecom fraud and protect the lives and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens,” Guo said.
Live footage on Thai media outlet The Reporters showed people disembarking from two double-decker coaches and boarding a Southern China Airlines plane, a scene similar to that witnessed by AFP journalists on Thursday.
It said that the first 50 Chinese nationals boarded a 10:40 am (0340 GMT) flight, with the rest expected to depart on five additional flights throughout the day.
A last set of flights is expected to return more Chinese nationals on Saturday.
Many of those freed from scam centers say they were duped into working in them and held against their will, but the Chinese government and state media have described them all as “suspects.”
Chinese police officers are accompanying them on the repatriation flights and a state TV report on Thursday showed the returnees, handcuffed and dressed in brown jumpsuits, being frogmarched off the plane in China with a police officer on each arm.
They had boarded uncuffed, in casual clothes, without any luggage.
The Thai government said Thursday that biometric data would be collected from repatriated Chinese nationals to prevent “future misuse of Thailand as a criminal transit hub.”
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinwatra also met with her Laos counterpart on Thursday to discuss joint efforts to combat scam centers along their shared border.


Americans, Russians have discussed Ukraine war through Swiss side channel, sources say

Americans, Russians have discussed Ukraine war through Swiss side channel, sources say
Updated 22 min 50 sec ago
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Americans, Russians have discussed Ukraine war through Swiss side channel, sources say

Americans, Russians have discussed Ukraine war through Swiss side channel, sources say
  • Talks described as ‘Track Two’ conversations
  • Attendees not government officials, unclear if they were sent by governments
WASHINGTON: US and Russian participants have met in Switzerland for unofficial talks about the Ukraine war in recent months, including as recently as last week, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
While the attendees have diplomatic and security experience, they are not government officials and it was not immediately clear if any were sent by their governments, two of the sources said. The sources declined to identify the attendees. The sources described the talks as a side channel with some contacts occurring during the transition period following US President Donald Trump’s Nov. 5 election victory.
At least a small number of advisers to Trump are aware of the encounters, said one of the sources, who had direct knowledge of the matter.
Many other details remain unclear, including whether Ukrainians were present, when the encounters began and what the meetings’ agendas covered.
But the previously undisclosed meetings highlight behind-the-scenes US and Russian efforts to explore ways to end the Ukraine war despite a near-freeze on official contact under Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Trump, in office for just a month, has upended the US approach toward the three-year-old Ukraine conflict, engaging directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin and pushing for a quick deal to end the war. On Tuesday, top US officials met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
One of the sources described the Switzerland talks as “Track Two” discussions — diplomatic parlance for unofficial dialogue geared toward improving communication and floating ideas, rather than developing concrete proposals.
The White House National Security Council, the Ukrainian government and Russia’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The Swiss foreign ministry said meetings are regularly held in Switzerland between parties involved in the Ukraine conflict on a Track Two basis, and that it was informed of them.
Organized by non-state actors, they enabled exchanges not directly involving governments, it said in a statement.
“These activities help to sustain diplomatic efforts relating to the conflict,” the ministry said.
Two of the sources said at least one encounter took place in Geneva during last week’s Munich Security Conference, a gathering of international political leaders and security chiefs in the German city. Reuters reported last year on separate Track Two talks in 2023 and early 2024, when Putin sent signals that he was willing to consider a ceasefire in Ukraine. Those talks appeared to come to nothing.
Historically, Track Two talks have helped build dialogue among deeply distrustful counterparties in the hope that better communication might lead to diplomatic breakthroughs.
In 2023, NBC reported that former US national security officials held secret talks with Russians believed to be close to the Kremlin, with some members eventually meeting with Lavrov, the foreign minister.
One of the sources suggested Track Two talks may have lost much of their relevance as US and Russian officials have established official channels of dialogue in recent weeks.

Kremlin: Details of a possible Trump-Putin meeting have yet to be worked out

Kremlin: Details of a possible Trump-Putin meeting have yet to be worked out
Updated 33 min 1 sec ago
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Kremlin: Details of a possible Trump-Putin meeting have yet to be worked out

Kremlin: Details of a possible Trump-Putin meeting have yet to be worked out
  • Mutual understanding about the need for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that there was a mutual understanding about the need for a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that the details of such an encounter had yet to be worked out.


France to deploy police at schools for spot bag searches: minister

France to deploy police at schools for spot bag searches: minister
Updated 47 min 49 sec ago
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France to deploy police at schools for spot bag searches: minister

France to deploy police at schools for spot bag searches: minister
  • The new policy was prompted by stabbings becoming more common

PARIS: French police will start random searches for knives and other weapons concealed in bags at and around schools in a bid to fight an increase in violent attacks, the education minister said Friday.
The spot searches will begin in the spring, Elisabeth Borne told the BFMTV/RMC broadcaster.
“I want us to be able to organize, together with the prefect, the prosecutor and the representative of the education system, regular bag searches at the entrance of schools,” she said.
These would be carried out by police, she said, as teachers and school staff are not authorized to search pupils.
The new policy was prompted by stabbings becoming “much more common,” Borne said.
The minister said she would also seek a rule change by which any pupil found with a bladed weapon at school would automatically have to appear before a disciplinary council. Any such case would also trigger a notification of prosecutors, without exception.
Currently such a procedure is at the discretion of heads of schools.
At the start of the month, a 17-year-old high school student was seriously wounded in a stabbing at his school in Bagneux, a southwestern suburb of Paris.
Seine-Saint-Denis, a region north of the capital with above-average crime rates, this month placed around 20 middle and high schools under police surveillance, with some 100 police deployed.
The move was to help “prevent a repetition of violent acts” after a series of incidents, the authorities said.