International
Pope urges governments to stop sending migrants back to Libya
AFP
Pope Francis on Sunday urged governments to stop returning migrants to countries like Libya where they are sent to detention centres rife with abuse, and prioritise saving lives of those crossing the Mediterranean.
The pontiff’s message comes as Italy sees an increase in migrant arrivals from Libya, and the debate within a divided EU shifts to migrants entering the bloc’s eastern borders with Belarus.
“I express my closeness to the thousands of migrants, refugees and also others in need of protection in Libya,” Francis said in a heartfelt message following his Sunday Angelus prayer on Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican.
“I don’t forget you ever. I hear your cry and pray for you,” he said.
“So many of these men, women and children are subject to an inhumane violence,” the pope said. “Yet again I exhort the international community to keep their promises and find common, concrete and lasting solutions, to manage the migrant flows in Libya and all the Mediterranean.”
Governments must stop returning migrants to “non-secure countries” like Libya, the 84-year-old pontiff said.
He urged them to prioritise saving lives in the Mediterranean, offer safe disembarkations at ports and guarantee migrants “alternatives to detention” and access to asylum.
– Arrivals increase –
Italy and the European Union have for years financed, trained and equipped the Libyan coastguard to intercept migrants heading for Europe on makeshift boats.
Those intercepted at sea and returned to Libya are placed in detention centres in deplorable conditions.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told Parliament Wednesday that arrivals to Italy from the Mediterranean had doubled thus far this year to 50,500 versus 26,000 in the same year-ago period.
About 1,106 people died this year attempting the crossing, he said.
On Sunday, migrant rescue hotline Alarm Phone said two inflatable boats in the Mediterranean carrying 60 and 68 people, respectively, needed urgent intervention.
Doctors Without Borders, meanwhile, said its Geo Barents charity vessel had rescued another 95 people Saturday night, bringing the total of rescued migrants onboard to 296.
The Aita Mari rescue vessel operated by Spanish search and rescue agency Salvamento Maritimo and carrying more than 100 migrants is also seeking a safe port to disembark, Italian news agency AGI reported Sunday.
On Saturday, the 406 migrants rescued in various operations by German rescue charity Sea-Watch began disembarking after Italy allowed it to dock at the Sicilian port of Pozzallo.
A two-day summit of EU leaders that ended Friday revealed continued rifts between countries on migrant issues. A number of EU member states, including Poland and Lithuania, called for the bloc to finance barriers to stem the thousands of migrants seeking access to Europe via Belarus.
International
Six killed, including baby, in armed attack near tourist beach in Ecuador
Six people, including a baby girl about two years old, were killed on Sunday in an armed attack near a tourist beach in southwestern Ecuador, police said. The shooting, carried out with rifles, also left three people wounded.
The incident took place in the coastal town of Puerto López, in the province of Manabí, a popular tourist destination known for whale watching. The attack occurred amid a surge of violence over the weekend that left at least nine people dead nationwide, according to local media reports.
“There are six fatalities and three injured,” Colonel William Acurio, the local police commander, told reporters on Sunday. He confirmed that one of the victims was a baby “approximately two years old.”
Authorities have not released further details about the motive behind the attack or whether arrests have been made.
International
Man accused of killing nine in Paramaribo dies by suicide in police custody
The man who killed nine people, including five children, on Saturday night in Paramaribo died by suicide while in custody, Suriname police confirmed in a statement on Monday.
The suspect, identified by the initials D.A., 43, “hanged himself inside a holding cell at the Keizerstraat police station” in the capital, Paramaribo, according to the official report.
Police said the man sustained leg injuries during his arrest and was taken to a hospital before being transferred to the detention facility on Sunday night. Authorities did not provide further details on the circumstances surrounding his death.
International
Winter storm disrupts holiday travel, forcing 1,500 flight cancellations in the U.S.
Airlines canceled around 1,500 flights across the United States during the peak Christmas travel season after warnings of a severe winter storm and forecasts of heavy snowfall in the Midwest and Northeast. An additional 5,900 flights were delayed due to adverse weather conditions.
More than 40 million Americans were under snowstorm warnings or weather advisories one day after Christmas. Meanwhile, another 30 million people faced flood or storm alerts in California, where an atmospheric river triggered intense rainfall.
New York City was bracing for up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) of snow overnight, which would mark its heaviest snowfall in four years. Cold weather was expected to persist through the weekend in the nation’s largest city. According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, airports in the New York area recorded about 850 flight cancellations.
Six killed, including baby, in armed attack near tourist beach in Ecuador
Man accused of killing nine in Paramaribo dies by suicide in police custody
Winter storm disrupts holiday travel, forcing 1,500 flight cancellations in the U.S.
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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