Greece said on Tuesday it would move 2,000 asylum-seekers from the island of Lesbos to the mainland by the end of the month as pressure mounted on the government to ease overcrowding. Human rights groups and local authorities have criticized Greece for the poor conditions at the country’s biggest migrant camp, Moria, currently operating at almost three times its capacity. Source Daily Sabah
World Policies
Hungary has said it will resist any EU-wide attempt to strip it of its right to protect its borders and will fight to overturn the pro-migration policies of the centre-right grouping to which it belongs in the European parliament. Source: The Guardian
The German chancellor and her Austrian counterpart, Sebastian Kurz, have agreed to stem migrant arrivals to the EU. European leaders are under pressure after the main route across the Mediterranean shifted. Source: Deutsche Welle
Luxembourgish Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn drew the ire of Italy’s Matteo Salvini on Sunday after accusing the far-right interior minister of using “fascist” methods, in a worsening spat over immigration between the two men. Source: The Local
Hundreds of migrants are trying to cross the Croatian border from Una-Sana Canton every day. According to the estimates, there are between 3,000 and 3,500 migrants in Bihac, and new groups from many countries of Asia and Africa arrive daily. Many of them try to cross the well-guarded border of the Republic of Croatia and continue their journey towards the countries of Western Europe, through the mountain of Plješevica. Members of the Mountain Rescue Service Bihac registered columns of migrants in an attempt to illegally cross the state border near Bihac. Source krajina
Jean Asselborn, Luxembourg’s minister of foreign affairs, rudely interrupted Matteo Salvini’s speech on immigrants in the presence of other European politicians
The Luxembourg Eurocrat loses his mind when Salvini said: “I heard some colleagues before me saying that we need immigration because of the ageing of European population: I have a very different perspective. I think I was put in charg and being paid by my citizens to see young people go back to having children as they did until few years ago, and not to explant the best of young Africans and replace Europeans who for economic reasons can no longer have children.These are two completely different visions. Maybe in Luxembourg have this need, in Italy we need to have children, not to have new slaves to supplant the children we can not have anymore”. Source: Il Giornale
Thousands of migrants to the EU would be moved from Greek island camps within weeks to ease chronic overcrowding and make space if Syrians flee from an assault on rebel-held Idlib province, under plans being discussed by Brussels and Athens. Source: Financial Times
A major bridge connecting Italy’s Abruzzi and Molise regions has been closed indefinitely by the authorities in Isernia province after it failed safety checks. Its main 185 metre pylon needs to be secured and gaps have appeared between some of the concrete segments on the top of the bridge. Source EuroNews
Saudi Arabia is the first major country Pakistan has formally invited to become a partner in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, Minister of Information Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday. Source Dawn
According to our source, these migrants left Algeria. Morocco, Algeria, Libya and Turkey are functioning now as transit countries while Frontex nor the European Union are showing any signs to solve the problems. A total of 152 immigrants aboard 13 pateras have been rescued while they were adrift in Cartagena waters. The navigators have been assisted by Red Cross personnel. Once identified, they have been taken into the custody of the National Police, which processes the following documents. Source Telecartagena
“There is no need for Frontex to protect the Hungarian border in our place,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in Salzburg on Thursday. Arriving at a summit of European Union leaders, Orbán told journalists that the European Commission has put forward a proposal saying that “if there’s trouble”, national competencies should be “taken away from member states” and border protection should be managed by the EU. Source Hungary Today
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen voiced outrage Thursday (Sept 20) after being ordered to undergo psychiatric tests for having posted pictures of atrocities committed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group on Twitter. Ms Le Pen shared the gruesome images in December 2015, a few weeks after ISIS militants killed 130 people in attacks in Paris, sparking widespread condemnation in France. Source The Straits Times
South Korean President Moon Jae-in told Pyongyang residents on Sept. 19 that the Korean people “must live together.” Source: The Hankyoreh
Israel’s air force commander will lead a delegation to Moscow to share the military’s findings on the Syrian downing of a Russian warplane following Israeli air strikes. Source: Arab News
The United States has once again named Iran as the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, accusing it of fueling conflicts and undermining governments throughout the Middle East. Source: Radio Free Europe
The sale of arms to parties in the Yemen conflict is against the German government’s coalition agreement. But Berlin has now approved a delivery of weapons to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, despite allegations of war crimes. Source: Deutsche Welle
Will be able to assess NK’s economy on the ground and flesh out areas for cooperation. The 17 chaebol chairmen and business figures that will accompany the South Korean delegation to the Pyongyang summit will have the opportunity to personally assess, “out in the field” in North Korea, the possibilities and limits of inter-Korean economic cooperation. Source Hankyoreh
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un jointly announced the September Pyongyang Declaration, which includes an agreement by North Korea to permanently shut down its missile engine test site and launch pad at Dongchang Village. The agreement also includes a promise to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear facility, depending on corresponding measures from the US.Source Hankyoreh
Turkey will not allow any unilateral hydrocarbon drilling or exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Turkey’s Energy Minister said. Minister Fatih Dönmez said that Turkey would not allow any parties to breach Turkey’s rights or those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) based on international law. Source Hurriyet Daily News
The Libyan National Oil Corporation (NOC) has remarked that Al-Wafaa oilfield’s airfield has been blockaded on Wednesday morning an attempt to blackmail Mellitah Oil and Gas Company into awarding an unwarranted catering contract. Source The Lybia Observer
Acting commerce and industry minister Ajmal Hamid Abdul Rahimzai on Tuesday said Afghanistan’s exports increased by 32 per cent in the first eight months of the ongoing fiscal year. Source: The Frontier Post
The Trump administration persuaded Volkswagen AG to comply with sanctions on Iran and end almost all of its business in the country, according to a U.S. official, a symbolically charged step in undercutting European Union efforts to keep the 2015 nuclear deal alive. Source: Bloomberg
A Japanese digital currency exchange has been hacked, and 6.7 billion yen ($60 million) worth of cryptocurrencies are gone. Source: The New York Times
Russian oil producer Surgutneftegaz (SNGS.MM) is pushing buyers to agree to pay for oil in euros instead of dollars if the need arises, apparently as insurance against possible tougher U.S. sanctions, traders who deal with the firm told Reuters. Source: Reuters
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has ordered the transfer of ownership of the federal state-held company controlling Chechnya’s oil refining and petrochemical industry to the Chechen authorities. Source: Oil Price
Iranian cybercrime group APT33 has stepped up its attacks on a variety of companies in the Persian Gulf, including energy firms, The National reports, citing research from security company FireEye. Source: Oil Price
The U.S.-China trade war deepened as Beijing announced retaliatory tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods and the Trump administration threatened duties on virtually all Chinese imports. Source: Bloomberg
The St Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) has launched crude oil trading with loadings on the peninsula of Crimea that Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, data published by the exchange showed on Tuesday. Source: Reuters
Saudi Arabia’s state oil firm Saudi Aramco plans to spend more than US$133.3 billion (500 billion Saudi riyals) on oil and gas drilling over the next decade, Saudi Aramco’s Senior Vice President for Upstream said at an event on Monday. Source: Oil Price
