ATHENS: Greece will start bringing in workers from Egypt this summer to take on temporary farming jobs under a deal between the countries to tackle a labor shortage, the migration ministry said on Friday.
After a decade of pain, the Greek economy is forecast to grow nearly 3 percent this year, far outpacing the euro zone average of 0.8 percent.
But an exodus of workers during Greece’s economic crisis, a shrinking population and strict migration rules have left the country struggling to find tens of thousands of workers to fill vacancies in farming, tourism, construction and other sectors.
Greece will take in around 5,000 seasonal farm workers under the 2022 deal signed with Egypt.
The countries have discussed expanding the “mutually beneficial” scheme to the Greek construction and tourism sectors, the Greek Migration Ministry said in a statement.
Migration has long been a divisive issue in Europe, but the plan had won broad support from employers groups keen to find workers.
Greek Migration Minister Dimitris Kairidis met Egyptian Labour Minister Hassan Shehata in Cairo this week and said the countries should also step up cooperation to fend off illegal migration flows in the region.
Egyptian officials have said their country deserves recognition for largely stopping migrants setting off from its northern coast across the Mediterranean to Europe since 2016.
The European Union this year announced a multi-billion euro funding package and an upgraded relationship with Egypt, part of a push to cut down on the number of migrants crossing over from North Africa.
Rights groups have criticized Western support for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who came to power a decade ago after leading the overthrow of Egypt’s first democratically elected leader.
Greece to bring in Egyptian farm workers amid labor shortage
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Greece to bring in Egyptian farm workers amid labor shortage
- Greece will take in around 5,000 seasonal farm workers under the 2022 deal signed with Egypt
Turkiye arrests pro-Kurdish mayor two months after election
After previous municipal elections, Turkiye detained pro-Kurdish mayors, removing virtually all from their posts to be replaced by state officials over charges of ties to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Mehmet Siddik Akis, mayor of Hakkari province bordering Iran and Iraq, was accused of having a high-level role in the PKK militant group, the ministry said in a statement on X.
A security source said police teams carried out a search at the Hakkari municipal building and kept out members of Akis’ pro-Kurdish DEM party, the third largest in Turkiye’s parliament.
Akis and his lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment but his party was set to hold a news conference regarding the situation. DEM has previously denied any association with the PKK.
“The government, which is defeated by the will of the people every time, has again resorted to the way it knows best: usurping (the people’s) will and conducting a coup,” DEM said in a statement about the mayor’s arrest.
In the March 31 local elections, DEM reaffirmed its regional strength, winning 10 provinces in the mainly Kurdish southeast.
Turkish authorities accuse DEM and its pro-Kurdish predecessors of ties to the PKK, which is designated a terrorist group by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Over 40,000 people have been killed in the PKK’s separatist insurgency against the Turkish state, launched in 1984.
China calls on Iran, UAE to resolve differences, says Chinese foreign ministry
BEIJING: China calls on Iran and the United Arab Emirates to resolve their differences peacefully through dialogue and consultation, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.
Iran's foreign ministry has summoned the Chinese ambassador in Tehran to protest about a China-UAE statement related to Iran's sovereignty over three islands also claimed by the UAE, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.
“China's position on the three islands is consistent,” said Mao Ning, when addressing a question on the issue at a regular press briefing.
Georgia’s parliament speaker signs a divisive foreign influence bill into law
- The bill, which was approved by Parliament last month, requires media, nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”
- Veto of President Salome Zourabichvili was dismissed by lawmakers
TBILISI, Georgia: The speaker of Georgia’s parliament said he gave the final endorsement on Monday to a divisive “foreign agents” bill that has prompted weeks of protests by critics who say it will restrict media freedom and jeopardize Georgia’s chances of joining the European Union.
Shalva Papuashvili signed the bill into law after the legislature, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party, dismissed the veto of President Salome Zourabichvili.
The bill, which was approved by Parliament last month, requires media, nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.
Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with the governing party, vetoed it, accusing the governing party of jeopardizing the country’s future and “hindering the path toward becoming a full member of the free and democratic world.”
The government argues that the law is needed to stem what it deems to be harmful foreign actors trying to destabilize the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million, but many Georgian journalists and activists say that the bill’s true goal is to stigmatize them and restrict debate ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
Opponents have denounced the legislation as “the Russian law” because it resembles measures pushed through by the Kremlin to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists. Critics say the measure may have been driven by Moscow to thwart Georgia’s chances of further integrating with the West.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday again dismissed the criticism as “unnecessary emotions that had only an artificial basis.”
“Now the law has already come into force and we all have to act pragmatically, with a cool mind and put aside unnecessary emotions,” he said.
The bill is nearly identical to one that the ruling party was pressured to withdraw last year after massive street protests. Renewed demonstrations again gripped Georgia as the bill made its way through parliament this time. Demonstrators scuffled with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them.
Papuashvili, the parliament speaker, reaffirmed after signing the bill that its main purpose is to “increase the resistance of the political, economic and social systems of Georgia to external interference.” “If non-governmental organizations and mass media want to participate in the decision-making process and influence the life of the Georgian people with funding from foreign governments, they must meet the minimum standard of transparency — the public must know who is behind each actor,” he said.
The European Union’s foreign policy arm has said that adoption of the law “negatively impacts Georgia’s progress on the EU path.”
The EU offered Georgia candidate status last December, while making it clear that Tbilisi needs to implement key policy recommendations for its membership bid to progress.
Following parliamentary approval of the bill last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that travel sanctions would be imposed on Georgian officials “who are responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia.” He voiced hope that the Georgian government will reverse course and “take steps to move forward with their nation’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”
The opposition United National Movement has described the bill as part of efforts by Georgian Dream to drag the country into Russia’s sphere of influence — claims the ruling party angrily rejects. Georgian Dream was founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a former prime minister and billionaire who made his fortune in Russia.
Russia-Georgia relations have often been rocky since Georgia became independent after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 2008, Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which had made a botched attempt to regain control over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Moscow then recognized South Ossetia and another separatist province, Abkhazia, as independent states and strengthened its military presence there. Most of the world considers both regions to be parts of Georgia.
Tbilisi cut diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the regions’ status remains a key irritant even as Russia-Georgia relations have improved in recent years.
China denies pressuring other countries over Ukraine peace summit
- Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky claimed Beijing was ‘working hard today to prevent countries from coming to the peace summit’
- Beijing’s foreign ministry: ‘China’s position is open and transparent, and there is absolutely no instance of us putting pressure on other countries’
BEIJING: China on Monday denied accusations by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that it was trying to prevent other countries from attending a planned peace summit on the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky said at a security forum in Singapore on Sunday that Beijing was “working hard today to prevent countries from coming to the peace summit” due to be hosted by Switzerland later this month.
Kyiv hopes the summit will help it win broad international backing for its vision of the terms needed to end Russia’s invasion.
China criticized the conference last week, saying it would be “difficult” for it to attend if Russia did not participate.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said Monday that “China’s position is open and transparent, and there is absolutely no instance of us putting pressure on other countries.”
“On peace talks, China’s position is fair and just. It does not target any third country, and of course is not aimed at Switzerland’s hosting of this summit for peace,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing.
Zelensky said Sunday that more than 100 countries and organizations had signed up to the conference so far.
China insists it is a neutral party in the conflict and is striving to bring an end to hostilities through dialogue.
But Beijing has been criticized by Western nations for cultivating strong ties with Moscow and giving Russian President Vladimir Putin diplomatic and political cover to wage a war of aggression.
UN forecasts La Nina could help lower temperatures this year
- The WMO warned that global temperatures would continue to rise in the long term due to human-induced climate change resulting in extreme weather worse and upend seasonal rainfall
GENEVA: The return of the cooling La Nina weather phenomenon this year should help lower temperatures somewhat after months of global heat records, the United Nations’ weather agency said Monday.
The impact is likely to be felt in the next few months because the warming El Nino weather pattern — which has helped fuel a spike in global temperatures and extreme weather around the world since mid-2023 — “is showing signs of ending,” the UN’s World Meteorological Organization said in its latest update.
The WMO warned, however, that global temperatures would continue to rise in the long term due to human-induced climate change, which continues to make extreme weather worse and upend seasonal rainfall and temperature patterns.
La Nina refers to the cooling of the ocean surface temperatures in large swathes of the tropical Pacific Ocean, coupled with winds, rains and changes in atmospheric pressure.
In many locations, especially in the tropics, La Nina produces the opposite climate impacts to El Nino, which heats up the surface of the oceans, leading to drought in some parts of the world and triggering heavy downpours elsewhere.
The WMO said there was a “60 percent” chance of La Nina conditions in the period from July to September and a “70 percent” likelihood during August-November.
The chances of El Nino redeveloping are negligible, it added.
Every month since June 2023, when El Nino returned, has set a new high temperature record, and 2023 was by far the warmest year on record globally.
The WMO said the planet would continue to heat up overall from the use of fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases.
“The end of El Nino does not mean a pause in long-term climate change, as our planet will continue to warm due to heat-trapping greenhouse gases,” WMO deputy secretary general Ko Barrett stressed.
“Exceptionally high sea surface temperatures will continue to play an important role during next months.”
Much of the planet’s excess heat from climate change is stored in the oceans.
In the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already factored the expected La Nina into its forecasts for this year’s Atlantic hurricane season.
The NOAA said it expected four to seven major hurricanes in the Atlantic between June and November.
“The upcoming Atlantic hurricane season is expected to have above-normal activity due to a confluence of factors, including near-record warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean, development of La Nina conditions in the Pacific, reduced Atlantic trade winds and less wind shear,” the NOAA said on May 23.
The WMO noted that the past nine years had been the warmest on record, even with the cooling influence of a La Nina event that lasted from 2020 to early 2023.
The latest El Nino, which peaked in December, was one of the five strongest on record.
“Our weather will continue to be more extreme because of the extra heat and moisture in our atmosphere,” Barrett said.
The WMO has made it a priority to ensure that all regions of the world are covered by early warning systems by 2027, particularly the least well-equipped, such as Africa.
“Seasonal forecasts for El Nino and La Nina, and the anticipated impacts on the climate patterns globally, are an important tool to inform early warnings and early action,” Barrett said.
