EU chief says talks with UK PM could ‘pave way’ for defense pact

EU chief says talks with UK PM could ‘pave way’ for defense pact
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrive for a meeting in 10 Downing Street, London, on Apr. 24, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 24 April 2025
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EU chief says talks with UK PM could ‘pave way’ for defense pact

EU chief says talks with UK PM could ‘pave way’ for defense pact
  • Both sides are seeking to improve ties amid the global turmoil ushered in by US President Donald Trump
  • Von der Leyen said Thursday’s talks could lead to the UK joining a European defense program

LONDON: Talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday could “pave the way” for a defense and security pact, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said as the pair met in London.
With a landmark post-Brexit EU-UK due summit next month, both sides are seeking to improve ties amid the global turmoil ushered in by US President Donald Trump.
However Starmer faces a tricky balancing act, as he is also looking to reach out to the Trump administration and secure a favorable trade deal with the United States.
UK and EU officials have been hoping a defense and security pact will be the highlight of the May 19 meeting, as Trump’s return to the White House casts doubt on the United States’ commitment to NATO and European security.
European Commission President von der Leyen said Thursday’s talks could lead to the UK joining a European defense program.
“We will discuss work on a strategic security and defense partnership agreement, which might pave the way then to a joint procurement and UK participation in our SAFE program,” she said, referring to a 150 billion euro ($170 billion) joint EU fund allowing countries to buy missiles, artillery, drones, ammunition and other equipment.
Britain needs to sign a defense pact to be included in the fund, which could benefit UK companies including BAE Systems and Rolls Royce.
The London summit in May is also meant to turn the page on years of post-Brexit strife, as part of a “reset” in relations promised by Starmer.
Welcoming von der Leyen to Downing Street after the pair attended a global energy security summit in London, Starmer said: “In a world which seems increasingly unstable with an uncertain future, it is so good that we are working so closely together on so many issues.”
“I’m really pleased that we’ve committed to a reset of our relationship, a really important relationship, which I think will be of huge benefit to both of us,” he said.
The summit is set to be a key milestone in the Labour leader’s pursuit of closer relations with the bloc following Britain’s bitter 2020 departure under the previous Conservative government.
However Starmer has laid out strict red lines, while the EU has its own demands, raising questions about what exactly the talks can achieve.
The UK prime minister has vowed Britain will not return to the single market or customs union and has ruled out signing up to freedom of movement.
Some EU countries, led by France, have been pushing to link progress on defense agreements to successful negotiations in other areas, with fishing a major sticking point.


EU proposes Black Sea maritime security hub

EU proposes Black Sea maritime security hub
Updated 6 sec ago
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EU proposes Black Sea maritime security hub

EU proposes Black Sea maritime security hub
The move comes as European officials warn about a continued threat from Russia
The hub will use contributions from Black Sea and EU countries

BRUSSELS: The European Union on Wednesday proposed creating a hub to boost security in the Black Sea by gathering information from multiple countries to monitor the strategically important region more closely.

The move comes as European officials warn about a continued threat from Russia and as concerns deepen across the EU about risks to undersea infrastructure.

The hub would be set up in the short-term and “with a sense of priority due to the Russian war of aggression,” an EU document said.

The hub will use contributions from Black Sea and EU countries and “enhance maritime situational awareness and information sharing on the Black Sea, real-time monitoring from space to seabed, and early warning,” the document said.

The proposal from the European Commission and the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas notes that the hub would include monitoring of submarine cables, offshore installations and gas and wind energy operations.

It would use underwater sensors, remotely piloted vessels and surveillance drones, it added.

Kallas told reporters that the hub could also help monitor the maritime element of a future peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

French court sentences former surgeon to 20 years for raping 299 children

French court sentences former surgeon to 20 years for raping 299 children
Updated 10 min 24 sec ago
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French court sentences former surgeon to 20 years for raping 299 children

French court sentences former surgeon to 20 years for raping 299 children
A 74-year-old pedophile and former surgeon who raped hundreds of victims over a period spanning more than two decades was given a maximum 20-year prison sentence on Friday by a French court.
Joël Le Scouarnec was found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting 299 children.
Judges followed the public prosecutor’s recommendations regarding the length of the sentence and the criminal court of Morbihan ordered that Le Scouarnec should serve at least two-thirds of the sentence before he can be eligible for release.
Le Scouarnec is already serving a 15-year prison sentence, for a conviction in 2020 for the rape and sexual assault of four children, including two nieces.
The new trial in Brittany, western France, began in February and laid bare a pattern of abuse between 1989 and 2014. Most of the victims were unconscious or sedated hospital patients at the time of the assaults. The average age was 11. Among the victims were 158 boys and 141 girls.
Accusations of inaction
During the trial, advocacy groups have accused health authorities of inaction after they were notified as soon as 2005 of Le Scouarnec’s conviction for possessing child pornography pictures.
At the time, no measures were taken to suspend his medical license or limit his contact with children and Le Scouarnec continued his abuse in hospitals until his arrest in 2017.
“Should Joël Le Scouarnec have been the only one in the defendant’s box?” prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger asked during his closing arguments.
“More could have been done,” Kellenberger said. “Things could have been done differently, even within the notorious layers of French bureaucracy, where responsibilities are so often passed from one authority to another until, eventually, that responsibility is lost, and hits innocent lives.”
Le Scouarnec has confessed to all the sexual abuse alleged by the 299 civil parties, as well as to other assaults that are now beyond the statute of limitations. In a shocking admission during the trial, he also acknowledged sexually abusing his granddaughter — a statement made in front of her visibly distraught parents.
Le Scouarnec had been convicted in 2005 for possessing and importing child sexual abuse material and sentenced to four months of suspended prison time. Despite that conviction, he was appointed as a hospital practitioner the following year. Child protection groups that have joined the proceedings as civil parties hope that the case will help strengthen the legal framework to prevent such abuse.
Dismantling taboos
Le Scouarnec’s trial came as activists continue to push to dismantle taboos that have long surrounded sexual abuse in France. The most prominent case was that of Gisèle Pélicot, who was drugged and raped by her now ex-husband and dozens of other men who were convicted and sentenced in December to three to 20 years in prison.
In a separate case focusing on alleged abuse at a Catholic school, an inquiry commission of the National Assembly, France’s lower house of parliament, is investigating allegations of physical and sexual abuse over five decades.
Victims of Le Scouarnec have, however, complained of a perceived lack of attention.
“This trial, which could have served as an open-air laboratory to expose the serious failings of our institutions, seems to leave no mark on the government, the medical community, or society at large,” a group of victims said in a statement.
Horrific notebooks
Not all victims were initially aware they had been abused. Some were contacted by investigators after their names appeared in journals kept by Le Scouarnec, in which he meticulously documented his crimes. Others only realized they had been hospitalized at the time after checking medical records. Two of his victims took their own lives some years before the trial.
Using the cover of medical procedures, the former abdominal and digestive surgeon took advantage of moments when children were alone in their hospital rooms. His method was to disguise sexual abuse as clinical care, targeting young patients who were unlikely to remember the encounters.
The notebooks, which detail the abuse in graphic language, have become central to the prosecution’s case.
Despite the scope of the allegations, Le Scouarnec has remained calm and composed throughout the trial.
“I didn’t see them as people,” he told the court. “They were the destination of my fantasies. As the trial went on, I began to see them as individuals, with emotions, anger, suffering and distress.”
He said his first act of abuse occurred in 1985, when he raped his 5-year-old niece.
Detached and emotionless
While he offered apologies to some victims, his demeanor struck many as detached and emotionless.
“I don’t show emotion, that’s just how I am,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t feel it, but I don’t express it.”
The case first came to light in April 2017, when a 6-year-old neighbor told her mother that the man next door had exposed himself and touched her through the fence separating their properties.
A search of his home uncovered more than 300,000 photos, 650 pedophilic, zoophilic and scatological video files, as well as notebooks where he described himself as a pedophile and detailed his actions.
“Joël Le Scouarnec says he no longer feels any sexual attraction to children, but there’s no way to verify that,” Kellenberger, the prosecutor, told the court. “Experts concluded that we cannot rely on his word alone and that his potential for future danger remains significant.”
A third trial is expected in the coming years, following the emergence of new allegations during this trial, including further abuse involving his granddaughter.

Labor members pressure Australian govt to impose Israel sanctions

Labor members pressure Australian govt to impose Israel sanctions
Updated 3 min 51 sec ago
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Labor members pressure Australian govt to impose Israel sanctions

Labor members pressure Australian govt to impose Israel sanctions
  • Campaigner: ‘There is a deep frustration that Australia has failed to move beyond words’
  • PM Albanese: Gaza blockade ‘an outrage’ and ‘completely untenable’

LONDON: Australia’s Labor government is under pressure from its own party activists to impose sanctions on Israel.

A motion will be put to members of the party drafted by the Labor Friends of Palestine group to call on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to impose measures on people and groups involved in war crimes in Gaza and the displacement of Palestinians in the West Bank. It also calls on the government to “redouble” efforts to secure a ceasefire.

LFP’s Peter Moss told The Guardian: “There is a deep frustration that Australia has failed to move beyond words and take effective action under international law to protect the Palestinian people and hold Israel accountable.”

He added: “We are seeing a surge in anger and frustration among Labor members and the broader community. Labor Friends of Palestine is signing up a stream of new members horrified by the genocide.
“There are many Labor voters and supporters who cannot accept Australia’s failure to act effectively under international law to stop the starvation.”

Last week, Australia condemned Israel’s months-long blockade of the Gaza Strip, signing a statement alongside 22 other nations including the UK, Canada and New Zealand.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Israel “cannot allow the suffering” in Gaza to continue, and statements by several Israeli ministers about the situation in the Palestinian enclave are “abhorrent and outrageous.”

Wong made the remarks after holding talks with her Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar on Friday.
But the Australian government did not go as far as to say it was considering targeted sanctions, unlike fellow signatories the UK, Canada and France, which is co-chairing a UN meeting in June on Palestinian statehood with Saudi Arabia. Australia is set to participate in the conference.

Moss told The Guardian: “At a minimum, Australia should immediately support the statement from the UK, France and Canada and prepare sanctions targeted at Israeli officials responsible for using starvation as a weapon of war.”

On Monday, Albanese called Israel’s blockade — preventing vital aid reaching millions of Palestinian civilians — “completely untenable” and “an outrage,” adding that he had conveyed his feelings personally to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Labor MP Ed Husic praised Albanese’s comments on ABC radio station on Tuesday, but said Australia needs to do more to pressure Israel and alleviate the suffering of Palestinians.

He added that sanctions of individuals and organizations are “probably under consideration” by the government to “exert maximum international pressure to stop this blockade.”

At an event for Gaza at Parliament House on Tuesday night, Sen. David Pocock, an independent, said: “If the horror unfolding in Gaza is not our country’s red line for stronger action, then I don’t know what is.”

Mohammed Mustafa, a British doctor who has been working in Gaza, also spoke at the event, calling on the Australian government to do more.

“You don’t have to be a major player to feed children. You don’t have to be a major player to heal children,” he said. “We need healers in the Middle East, and Australia can be the healer. It can lead the world.”


Greece drafts tougher law for rejected asylum seekers, PM says 

Greece drafts tougher law for rejected asylum seekers, PM says 
Updated 28 May 2025
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Greece drafts tougher law for rejected asylum seekers, PM says 

Greece drafts tougher law for rejected asylum seekers, PM says 
  • Migration remains a politically charged issue in Greece
  • Mitsotakis has pledged to toughen his stance

ATHENS: Greece has prepared legislation that will introduce tougher penalties for rejected asylum seekers and speed up returns to their home countries, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Wednesday.

The Mediterranean nation was on the frontline of a 2015-2016 migration crisis when more than a million people fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa crossed into Europe.

The surge in arrivals triggered calls for countries on Europe’s southern frontier like Greece and Italy to shore up their borders.

The numbers have since fallen. But migration remains a politically charged issue in Greece, and Mitsotakis has pledged to toughen his stance.

“Penalties will be heavier for those who enter the country illegally or stay in our country, if their asylum application is being rejected,” Mitsotakis told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, which discussed a new draft law on illegal migration.

Mitsotakis said the bill will also aim to speed up returns through a “more effective and fair mechanism.” The regulations will need parliamentary approval before taking effect.

Migrant flows to Greece dropped 30 percent in the first four months of this year compared to the previous year as fewer people entered along its eastern border with Turkiye.

But sea arrivals from Libya to the outlying islands of Crete and Gavdos have surged in recent months along a new smuggling route on the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of rejected asylum seekers are stranded in Greece.

In order to accelerate asylum processes and reduce pressure on asylum systems, the EU’s executive last week proposed amending European law to allow member states to deport rejected asylum seekers if they can be sent to a third country deemed safe by the bloc.


Migrant boat capsize kills seven in Spain’s Canary Islands

Migrant boat capsize kills seven in Spain’s Canary Islands
Updated 28 May 2025
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Migrant boat capsize kills seven in Spain’s Canary Islands

Migrant boat capsize kills seven in Spain’s Canary Islands
  • Rescuers supported by a helicopter were working to save people in the port of La Restinga on the island of El Hierro
  • Red Cross spokesman Alexis Ramos told RTVE there could be “more than 100 people” on the boat

MADRID: Four women and three girls died after their migrant boat capsized shortly before reaching safety in Spain’s Canary Islands on Wednesday, emergency services said, the latest tragedy on the perilous route.

Emergency services in the Atlantic archipelago said rescuers supported by a helicopter were working to save people in the port of La Restinga on the island of El Hierro.

Red Cross spokesman Alexis Ramos told RTVE there could be “more than 100 people” on the boat but was unable to provide a figure for the number of missing.

Public broadcaster RTVE aired footage of rescuers throwing lifebuoys to people clinging onto an overturned boat and treading water off El Hierro.

Emergency services initially confirmed on X “the death of two women after the capsizing of a vessel” in La Restinga and later said “health services confirm another two dead women.”

The rescuers then reported the death of two girls aged five and another aged 16, which meant the incident “has resulted in seven people dead.”

A three-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl were being treated after they almost drowned and would be transported by helicopter to a hospital in Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, the emergency services added on X.

Four other minors with breathing difficulties were being taken to hospital on El Hierro, they added.

Spain takes in each year tens of thousands of Europe-bound migrants who arrive in the Canary Islands from west Africa — with Mali, Senegal and Morocco the most common nationalities.

Strong ocean currents and ramshackle vessels make the long crossing dangerous.

According to the NGO Caminando Fronteras, at least 10,457 migrants died or disappeared while trying to reach Spain by sea from January 1 to December 5, 2024.

Local authorities have consistently warned of unsustainable pressure on their resources and complained about a lack of solidarity from the rest of the country.

“Once again we witness the harshest face of immigration which those far away fail to appreciate in its true measure,” the Canary Islands’ regional leader Fernando Clavijo said on X. “Please listen to us!“

Almost 47,000 irregular arrivals reached the archipelago in 2024, breaking the annual record for the second year running, as tighter controls in the Mediterranean pushed migrants to attempt the Atlantic route.

But numbers are down so far this year, dropping 34.4 percent between January 1 and May 15 compared with the same period in 2024, according to the latest interior ministry figures.