A hopeful to replace German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the head of the Christian Democrats had called for Syrian refugees who commit crimes in Germany to be deported. Germany’s interior minister disagrees. Source: Deutsche Welle
Immigration
Tension mounted as hundreds of Central American migrants massed at a Mexican border town headed on Thursday for a bridge crossing to the United States as President Donald Trump renewed his threats to repel them. Source: France24
The Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration is set to be formally adopted at the UN conference in Marrakesh, Morocco on December 10-11. In October, Austria and several other EU countries including the Czech Republic and Croatia also announced that they would not be part of the UN global pact on migration. Source: Sputnik
A U.S. judge on Monday temporarily blocked an order by President Donald Trump that barred asylum for immigrants who enter the country illegally from Mexico, the latest courtroom defeat for Trump on immigration policy. Source: Reuters
Germany’s coalition parties have agreed on a new draft law to ease immigration for workers from non-EU countries, local media reported on Tuesday. The ministries of the interior, labor, and economic affairs have all agreed to the new regulations, a compromise that came in October, ending long-standing disagreements within the governing coalition. Source: Deutsche Welle
According to the Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office, 24 thousand kilos of hazardous waste were illegally dumped in Italian ports. Salvini: “I did well to close the ports”. The NGO’s reply: “disturbing and instrumental attack” Source Repubblica
The 94 passengers were rescued by a passing container ship last week as they were en route to Italy. After being returned to Libya they have refused to get off the ship. Source: Deutsche Welle
German farmers got on their tractors on Tuesday and took to city roads to demonstrate against the government’s agricultural policies. Up to 10,000 protesters along with about 1,000 tractors were expected in the western German city of Bonn, where the German Agriculture Ministry is based. Source The Local
Authorities in Greece moved more asylum-seekers to the mainland on Tuesday as part of a strategy to reduce the refugee population on outlying islands after an increase in arrivals in recent months. Some 697 migrants and refugees arrived in the port of Elefsina near Athens from the island of Samos, officials said. Earlier, 120 people arrived from Lesbos. Source
“There is much to suggest that this is related to large groups of men who are carrying out unprovoked attacks on individuals or smaller groups,” Jøkling said. The suspected culprits are described as “of foreign origin and appear to be in their late teens” in NTB’s report. Source The Local
About 600 migrants are currently living in Vucjak, although there were only about two thousand here a few days ago. No one knows for sure where they went. The City of Bihac has so far allocated more than 100,000 BAM for the temporary migrant center Vucjak. There are currently more than six thousand migrants in Bihac, with an additional 150 people arriving in the area every day. Source Sarajevo Times
Cabin crew at four Lufthansa subsidiary airlines staged a day-long strike Sunday, causing dozens of cancellations at German airports in a battle for better pay and conditions. Source The Local
One man has died and several more were injured after multiple knife attacks took place in Gothenburg over the weekend. A 20-year-old was reported dead after he was stabbed during a scuffle close to the western city’s central station. Source The Local
The U.S. defense secretary arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday for an unscheduled visit, his first to a key American ally in the Mideast since taking the position this July. According to Saudi-run Al-Arabiya TV, Mark Esper will meet with Saudi officials to discuss regional issues, including tension with Iran. Source Anadolu Agency
French rail services ground to a halt in parts of the country Sunday as workers walked off the job for a third day in a dispute over train staffing levels, stranding holiday travellers. Services in the Paris suburbs, the northeastern Champagne-Ardenne region and the southern Occitanie region, which includes Toulouse and Montpellier, were particularly affected. Source France24
The violence broke out Sunday night at a former British army barrack in Hal Far, close to Malta’s airport.
The migrants took control of part of the compound, but a police spokesman said the situation was brought back under control in the early hours of Monday. Source Reuters
Catalonia suffered a fifth consecutive night of rioting on Friday after violence erupted in Barcelona following a peaceful demonstration attended by more than 500,000 people in protest at the heavy sentences handed down to Catalan politicians and activists. The Guardian
Trains across France are severely disrupted on Friday after the network was hit by unexpected strike action. The last-minute strike was announced on Thursday evening and is over safety concerns following an accident, say unions. Source The Local
The European Commission said Italy’s draft budget for next year could be in breach of European Union fiscal rules and is seeking clarification from the Italian government by Wednesday, it said in a letter sent to Finance Minister Roberto Gualtieri. Source Reuters
- The United Auto Workers and AB Volvo-owned Mack Truck are set to resume contract negotiations on Monday.
- Meanwhile, at least 3,500 hourly employees across three states continue to strike.
- Workers from six factories began their strike on October 12 after the union’s contract expired on October 1 Source CNBC
Deutsche Bank AG <DBKGn.DE> said it is considering substantial cuts to the unit that trades interest-rate securities, a division that survived a large-scale pullback as part of the lender’s sweeping revamp in July, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The bank will likely cut a low double-digit percentage of jobs at the business, which employs several hundred staff, Bloomberg said, adding no final decision had been made. Source Deutsche Bank
Authorities from Turkey issued two new Navigational Telexes (NAVTEX) on Thursday, blocking off the regions of the sea west of Cyprus and southeast of the Greek island of Limnos in the Northern Aegean Sea.
According to local reports, Turkey is continuing its game of ramping up tensions in both Greece and Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zones, where it says it will conduct military exercises and maneuvers with its Navy, using live fire. Source Greek city times
France’s Renault on Thursday cut its revenue guidance for 2019 further and lowered its profitability forecast, citing difficulties in markets such as Turkey and Argentina as carmakers grapple with a broad-based slump in auto sales.
Renault, which has just rejigged its top management as it tries to draw a line under a scandal surrounding former boss Carlos Ghosn, said sales were likely to drop between 3% and 4% this year. Source ET Auto
Putin tells UAE officials they ‘will not be disappointed’ as two sides sign deals in energy, tech and health sectors. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s has told officials in the United Arab Emirates they “will not be disappointed” as he wrapped up a short Gulf tour by signing deals worth more than $1.3bn in Abu Dhabi. Source Al Jazeera
The International Monetary Fund is growing even more pessimistic about the global economy, as higher import tariffs are strangling manufacturing activity and international trade. Source Market Watch
Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Germany’s Linde signed on 3 October an agreement to create a joint engineering venture to develop process, design and engineering documentation for natural gas processing and liquefaction facilities in Russia. Source New Europe
Conventional oil and gas discoveries during the past three years are at the lowest levels in seven decades, and aren’t expected to recover, a new report said. Source Energy Voice
The US has also been pressuring European countries to not let 5G equipment manufactured by Huawei gain a foothold – but it’s looking as if most of Europe isn’t on the same page. On that note, Germany has just finalized rules for 5G rollout and the country doesn’t believe that Huawei poses a threat. Take a look below for more details. Source Wccftech
League leader Matteo Salvini said on Monday the euro was here to stay and he hoped that nobody in his far-right, euroskeptic party would ever again raise doubts over Italy’s membership of the single currency. Source Reuters
