‘Yellow vests’ vow to fight on

Europe UN global migrant pact inked, but ‘foes’ remain

MARRAKECH, Morocco, Dec 12 (Agencies): Seeking to remind the world that migrants are people, too, a UN migration conference ended Tuesday with pledges to put a landmark new accord to work, but it left unfinished business on ending the divisive debate between nationalists and globalists as migrant detention centers, caravans and deaths at sea or in deserts make headlines.

UN officials and governments touted the adoption of the Global Compact on Migration by 164 countries a day earlier, but with signs that it was already fraying and still the source of disgruntlement from populist, right-wing politicians who see the call for global cooperation as a threat to national sovereignty.

The agreement is a sort of one-stop-shop to bring together existing, and disparate UN agreements that touch on migration. It is rich in lofty – if ill-defined and uncertain – ambitions typical of UN technocracy: Its top officials trumpeted a new “network on migration” and a “startup fund” linked to the UN migration agency.

They envision a regular check-up on implementation of the pact every four years, starting in 2022.

Nasser Bourita, foreign minister of host country Morocco, said simply: “We don’t want this compact just to be ink on paper.”

Officials will be at pains to entice back countries like the US, Italy, Australia and Hungary that shunned the accord – and stem any further defections. Brazil’s newly elected populist government said the Latin American country will pull out in January.

The UN General Assembly will meet Dec 19 to formally endorse the pact, and opponents who stayed away in Marrakech could voice their concerns there.

UN officials aren’t giving up hopes of getting them on board.

Bourita

‘Yellow vests’ pledge to fight on:

Many “yellow vest” anti-government protesters in France on Tuesday vowed to press on with their demonstrations, a day after wringing out fresh concessions from President Emmanuel Macron that are set to cost the state an estimated 11 billion euros ($12.5 billion).

Macron announced a series of measures on Monday night in an address to the nation, including a hike in the minimum wage and tax relief for pensioners and on overtime work.

The 40-year-old centrist, facing the most serious crisis of his presidency, is hoping his sweeteners will appease low-income families in rural and small-town France who have taken to the streets in anger over the last three weeks.

Polls taken immediately after his 13-minute speech, which was watched by 23 million people, showed that support fell sharply for the “yellow vests”, but around half of French people want them to continue protesting.

Greece cancels pension cuts:

Greek lawmakers have voted to cancel a major round of pension cuts which were to take effect on Jan 1, following a fasttrack debate procedure in parliament.

Lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted unanimously late Tuesday in favor of canceling the cuts that would have been worth around 1 percent of Greece’s annual GDP.

The measures would have seen 1.4 million of Greece’s 2.6 million pensioners suffer monthly losses of at least 14 percent, according to European Commission estimates.

Greece’s third and final international bailout program ended in August, but the country pledged to continue imposing stringent fiscal policies for years to come in return for lenders’ promise to ease repayment terms on existing loans.

Bailout lenders recently agreed the cuts were no longer necessary for a balanced budget.

Italian police identify IS cell:

Italian authorities said Wednesday they had identified members of the Islamic State group believed to have been behind the 2013 kidnapping in Syria of Italian aid worker Federico Motka and Briton David Haines, who was later killed.

Carabinieri police said they had issued arrest warrants against six suspected jihadis who were “seriously implicated” in the crimes of terrorist association and kidnapping with the aim of terrorism. Police said two of the suspects are already detained in Belgium, while three are at large and a fourth is believed to have been killed.

Three of the suspects were born or raised in Britain and were part of a group known as “the Beatles.” They are considered the most violent, police said.

Motka and Haines were seized by Islamic State militants in northern Syria on March 12, 2013. Both had been working for the French aid group ACTED at a refugee camp in Atmeh, near Syria’s border with Turkey, police said.

Pope removes 2 cardinals:

Pope Francis has removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle months after they were tainted by paedophile scandals.

Australian Cardinal George Pell and Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz were both removed from the so-called C9 Council of Cardinals, an international advice body set up by Francis himself, the Vatican said Wednesday.

The last time the C9 met in September, Errazuriz, who is accused of ignoring reports of abuse in Chile, and Pell, who faces charges in Australia related to historical child sexual offences, were both absent, and the council said it was considering restructuring.

Despite being removed from the C9, Pell remains in charge of Vatican finances, the third most powerful position in the Roman Catholic Church.

The Church has been hit by a series of child abuse scandals in recent years, with widespread allegations of cover-ups, including against the pope himself.

The pope clarified the composition of the C9 ahead of a February meeting with leaders of bishops’ conferences from around the world dealing with the “protection of minors”, to which victims of priest sex abuse have been invited.