NICOSIA: A major search involving naval helicopters and police boats was underway on Monday for the passengers of a migrant boat that capsized off the coast of Cyprus, officials said.
Cypriot media reported that the authorities had recovered seven bodies and two survivors from among the estimated 20 Syrians who were on board.
A large-scale search and rescue operation was launched in open waters by the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) in Larnaca.
In an official statement, it said a search and rescue operation was “ongoing to locate missing persons after a migrant boat capsized 30 nautical miles (55 kilometers) southeast of Cape Greco,” referring to the southeasternmost point of the Mediterranean island.
It said the incident occurred within the country’s area of search and rescue responsibility but outside its territorial waters.
The authorities had yet to confirm the recovery of any bodies and when contacted by AFP, the JRCC only referred to the statement, saying the operation was ongoing.
Police also referred inquiries to the JRCC who are coordinating the rescue.
Several naval helicopters and police patrol boats were involved in the search for survivors, the center said.
According to the Cyprus News Agency, one survivor told authorities that the roughly 20 passengers on board were Syrians who had departed from the port of Tartus in Syria.
The Philenews website reported that seven bodies were recovered and two survivors rescued.
In the past, Cyprus had seen a four-fold spike in irregular arrivals by boat, almost all of them Syrians.
The eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus is less than 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the Syrian and Lebanese coasts and has long been a route for refugees seeking a better life in Europe.
Nicosia has said it has the highest number of new asylum seeker applicants in the European Union per capita but has managed to significantly reduce the figure.
Last month, the interior ministry said asylum applications dropped 69 percent between 2022 and 2024, while irregular maritime arrivals had stopped since May 2024 due to tougher government policies.
The overthrow of President Bashar Assad in December has prompted some Syrians to return home, with the government reporting that an average of 40 Syrians per day have requested to return home since then.
The government also said that more assylum seekers were leaving Cyprus than arriving for the first time in its independent history.
Major search underway off Cyprus after migrant boat capsizes
https://arab.news/4mku8
Major search underway off Cyprus after migrant boat capsizes
- Cypriot media reported that the authorities had recovered seven bodies and two survivors from among the estimated 20 Syrians who were on board
Trump and Putin conclude call on moves to end Ukraine war
White House chief of staff Dan Scavino had said earlier that the call had been “going well“
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Ukraine war on Tuesday in a phone call which Washington hoped would convince Moscow to accept a 30-day ceasefire and move toward a permanent peace deal.
Both sides said the talks, which began at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT), had later concluded.
White House chief of staff Dan Scavino had said earlier that the call had been “going well.” Kirill Dmitriev, a Putin envoy, said that under the leadership of Trump and Putin the world had become a much safer place.
Ukraine has already agreed to the US-proposed ceasefire in Europe’s biggest conflict since World War Two, in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed or wounded, millions have been displaced and towns have been reduced to rubble.
Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, said last week he supported in principle Washington’s proposal for a truce but that his forces would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.
Trump hopes also to secure progress toward a longer-term peace plan, which he has hinted could include territorial concessions by Kyiv and control of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said before the call that Trump and Putin would discuss settling the conflict in Ukraine and normalizing relations between Russia and the United States, and that they would speak “for as long as they deem necessary.”
Peskov said there was already a “certain understanding” between the two leaders, based on a phone call they held on February 12 and on subsequent high-level contacts between the two countries.
ZELENSKIY SAYS SOVEREIGNTY NOT NEGOTIABLE
Trump’s shifts in US policy and his overtures to Putin since returning to the White House in January have left traditional US allies wary.
Ukraine and its Western allies have long described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an imperialist land grab and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Putin of deliberately prolonging the war.
Zelensky, who arrived in Finland on Tuesday to discuss the NATO state’s support for Ukraine, says Ukraine’s sovereignty is not negotiable and Russia must surrender the territory it has seized. He says Moscow’s ambitions will not stop at Ukraine if it is allowed to keep the territory it has seized.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Tuesday that Russia had massively expanded its military-industrial production capacity in preparation for “future confrontation with European democracies.”
Speaking to Trump late on Monday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “reiterated that all must work together to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position to secure a just and lasting peace,” the British leader’s spokesperson said.
Russia seized the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and controls most of four eastern Ukrainian regions following its invasion in February 2022. It controls about a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
Putin said he sent troops into Ukraine because NATO’s creeping expansion threatened Russia’s security. He has demanded Ukraine drop its ambition of joining the Western military alliance.
Putin has also said Russia must keep control of Ukrainian territory it has seized, that Western sanctions should be eased and Kyiv must stage a presidential election. Zelensky, elected in 2019, rules under martial law he imposed because of the war.
UK PM’s office retracts FM’s comments accusing Israel of breaching international law
- Israel only ‘at risk’ of violations, says spokesperson for Keir Starmer
- Reversal described as ‘disgraceful’ by Council for Arab-British Understanding
LONDON: The office of the UK prime minister has retracted a statement by Foreign Secretary David Lammy accusing Israel of breaking international law by blocking aid to Gaza.
Lammy told the House of Commons on Monday that Israel had breached international law, while a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday said the country was only “at risk” of doing so. It follows a series of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that killed more than 400 Palestinians.
“Our position remains that Israel’s actions in Gaza are at clear risk of breaching international humanitarian law, and we continue to call the government of Israel to abide by its international obligations,” the spokesperson said.
“The government is not an international court, and, therefore, it is up to courts to make judgments.”
The Council for Arab-British Understanding described the reversal as a “disgraceful move” that “undermines the government’s claims that it respects international law.” It also exposes a sharp divide between Starmer and his foreign secretary, CAABU added.
Lammy’s comments concerned Israel’s blocking of food, fuel and medicine from entering Gaza.
He said on Monday: “This is a breach of international law. Israel quite rightly must defend its own security. But we find the lack of aid — it’s now been 15 days since aid got into Gaza — unacceptable, hugely alarming and very worrying.”
His acknowledgment of Israel’s violation of international law was a “welcome if belated admission” of the country’s criminal conduct, CAABU said, adding that after Lammy’s comments, the UK government should have announced measures to demonstrate consequences for Israel’s actions.
CAABU’s director, Chris Doyle, said: “Downing Street has serious questions to answer about the government’s continued complicity with Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
“We have raised the illegal blockade with David Lammy and other ministers repeatedly since October 2023 and most recently directly with a Foreign Office minister last week.
“We cannot have a business-as-usual relationship, which is why it is welcome that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will not be coming to the UK this week.”
Ukraine’s Zelensky arrives in Finland, will meet defense industry
- The two presidents will discuss Finland’s support for Ukraine
- Finland’s finance, defense and foreign ministers will participate in Wednesday’s meeting
HELSINKI: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Helsinki ahead of an official visit to Finland on Wednesday, the office of Finnish President Alexander Stubb said on Tuesday.
The two presidents will discuss Finland’s support for Ukraine, including steps to end Russia’s war, and meet with defense industry companies, it added.
The announcement comes as US President Donald Trump started a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to secure a ceasefire in Russia’s war with Ukraine and move toward a more permanent end to the three-year conflict.
Finland’s finance, defense and foreign ministers will participate in Wednesday’s presidential palace meeting, and Zelensky will also meet with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and parliament speaker Jussi Halla-aho, Finland said.
During his second visit to Finland since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky is accompanied by his wife Olena Zelenska who will visit local schools with Stubb’s wife Suzanne Innes-Stubb, the Finnish statement said.
AI ‘reshaping’ organized crime, warns Europol
- Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle described the report as a “wake-up call” for law enforcement
- “We will not let organized crime dictate the rules of the game,” she said
THE HAGUE: Artificial intelligence is turbocharging organized crime, from creating child sexual abuse images to money laundering via cryptocurrency, Europol warned Tuesday, with advances like quantum computing only poised to make things worse.
Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle described the report as a “wake-up call” for law enforcement, telling top officers from around Europe that “the future of European security is in our hands.”
“This is a fight of the rule of law, for our communities, for our businesses, and for the future of our children. We will not let organized crime dictate the rules of the game,” she said.
In its report laying out the threats posed by organized crime, the European police organization said criminals had seized on the opportunities offered by AI as a “catalyst” to accelerate their activities.
“Rapid technological advancements — especially in artificial intelligence (AI) — are reshaping how crime is organized, executed, and concealed,” Europol said in a detailed 80-page “threat assessment” report.
“These shifts are making organized crime more dangerous, posing an unprecedented challenge to security across the EU and its member states,” the police added.
The use of AI and other technologies are helping criminals across the whole of their portfolio — from drug and human trafficking, to cybercrime and identity theft.
Generative AI enables criminal gangs to hit their targets more globally across multiple languages and even generate child sexual abuse images, the police report warned.
“Explicit pictures of adults can be manipulated to make the individual look younger or applications can ‘nudify’ non-explicit images,” the report said.
“The very qualities that make AI revolutionary — accessibility, versatility, and sophistication — have made it an attractive tool for criminals,” noted Europol.
Technology is also making it harder for authorities to recover ill-gotten gains.
Confiscation of proceeds from crime has stagnated at around two percent, the police said, with the challenge “further exacerbated by the increasing criminal exploitation of digital assets.”
Criminal groups are using cryptocurrency to launder money and move funds around, making it hard to track and eventually confiscate.
“The criminal exploitation of cryptocurrency as a payment method now has moved beyond the scope of cybercrime, and is encountered increasingly in more traditional crime areas such as drug trafficking or migrant smuggling.”
As technology improves, the boost to criminal activity is only likely to increase, according to Europol, noting the rapid developments in quantum computing, the metaverse, 6G, unmanned systems and brain-computer interfaces.
“The high levels of anonymity, speed, and sophistication currently demonstrated by criminal networks will only likely increase over the coming years,” cautioned the report.
Quantum computing in particular will enable criminals to crack current encryption technology with ease.
Finally, the police raised the dystopian prospect of criminal gangs run entirely by AI.
“The emergence of fully autonomous AI could pave the way for entirely AI-controlled criminal networks, marking a new era in organized crime,” said the report.
Trump administration reinstating 24,500 fired workers after court order
- The mass firings, part of President Donald Trump’s broader purge of the federal workforce, were widely reported
- The court filings are the first full accounting of the terminations by the administration
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration in court filings has for the first time acknowledged that it fired nearly 25,000 recently hired workers, and said agencies were working to bring all of them back after a judge ruled that their terminations were likely illegal.
The filings made in Baltimore, Maryland, federal court late Monday include statements from officials at 18 agencies, all of whom said the reinstated probationary workers were being placed on administrative leave at least temporarily.
The mass firings, part of President Donald Trump’s broader purge of the federal workforce, were widely reported, but the court filings are the first full accounting of the terminations by the administration.
Most of the agencies said they had fired a few hundred workers. The Treasury Department terminated about 7,600 people, the Department of Agriculture about 5,700 and the Department of Health and Human Services more than 3,200, according to the filings.
US District Judge James Bredar on March 13 said the mass firings of probationary workers that began last month violated regulations governing the mass layoffs of federal employees, and ordered them to be reinstated pending further litigation.
Probationary workers typically have less than one year of service in their current roles, though some are longtime federal employees.
Bredar’s ruling came in a lawsuit by 19 Democrat-led states and Washington, D.C., who said the mass firings would trigger a spike in unemployment claims and greater demand for social services provided by states.
The office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, which is spearheading the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The Trump administration has appealed Bredar’s decision and on Monday asked a Richmond, Virginia-based appeals court to pause the ruling pending the outcome of the case.
Hours before Bredar issued his ruling, a federal judge in San Francisco had ordered that probationary workers be reinstated at six agencies, including five also covered by Bredar’s order and the US Department of Defense. The administration has also appealed that decision.
In the filings late Monday, agency officials said they had either reinstated all of the fired employees or were working to do so, but warned that bringing back large numbers of workers had imposed significant burdens and caused confusion and turmoil.
The officials also noted that an appeals court ruling reversing Bredar’s order would allow agencies to again fire the workers, subjecting them to multiple changes in their employment status in a matter of weeks.
“The tremendous uncertainty associated with this confusion and these administrative burdens impede supervisors from appropriately managing their workforce,” Mark Green, deputy assistant secretary at the US Department of the Interior, wrote in one of the filings. “Work schedules and assignments are effectively being tied to hearing and briefing schedules set by the courts.”
Bredar has scheduled a hearing for March 26 on whether to keep his ruling in place pending the outcome of the lawsuit, which could take months or longer to resolve.
