Category: Politics

{Turkish citizens to get visa-free travel to Schengen zone by June in return for cooperation on refugees, officials say.}

Turkey has asked for an additional $3.3bn from the European Union to help it check the flow of refugees across the Aegean Sea, according to reports.

The country is due to receive $3.3bn until the end of 2018 to cover the costs of dealing with the refugees, but it has reportedly asked for double the amount.

Martin Schulz, head of the European Parliament, said the request came at a summit in Brussels on Monday between Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkish prime minister, and EU leaders.

Under a draft proposal, Turkey and the EU could cooperate to end the flow of irregular refugees to Greek islands and start resettling Syrian refugees directly from Turkey to the EU.

In exchange for readmitting refugees from Greece to Turkey, Brussels will grant Turkish citizens the right to travel to the EU’s Schengen zone without a visa latest by end of June 2016.

The Turkish government is also trying to secure the country’s EU membership.

“Turkey is ready to work with the EU, and Turkey is ready to be a member of the EU as well,” Davutoglu said before the summit.

He expressed hope that the talks “will be a success story and a turning point in our relations”.

Temporary home

Turkey is a temporary home to an estimated 2.75 million refugees, many from the conflict in Syria.

It is also a transit country for waves of people heading to Europe from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

“We are not sending them. They are going [to Greece] by sea and many of them are dying,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, said, criticising the EU for its reluctance to take in more refugees as well as its demands on Turkey to halt the flow of people.

Inside Story – Can Greece cope with refugee crisis?
“We have rescued close to 100,000 from the sea. Others are puncturing their boats and causing their deaths.”

On Sunday, at least 25 people drowned off the Turkish coast while trying to reach Greece.

The Greek coastguard launched a search-and-rescue mission for people believed to be missing from the accident near the Turkish town of Didim.

At least 15 people were rescued and brought to land in the care of emergency aid workers.

About 13,000 people are living in precarious conditions in Greece as they wait for authorities to let them into Macedonia so they can move towards Western Europe.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says a humanitarian crisis is quickly unfolding at the border, with refugees living in makeshift camps and in the open, as authorities allow only 250 a day to pass through.

More than one million asylum seekers have arrived in Europe since the start of 2015 – the majority fleeing the war in Syria – with nearly 4,000 dying while crossing the Mediterranean.

{Islanders, who blame nuclear tests before 1958 for health damage, accuse the nations of breaching legal duty to disarm.}

The tiny Republic of the Marshall Islands in Micronesia is taking on the world’s nuclear powers with an unprecedented legal case that is being heard at The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The islanders say their lives were ruined by dozens of nuclear tests in the 12 years to 1958 along their territory. Generations past and present have suffered the after-effects.

“I can just go down the list of my wife’s family. You don’t even have to go that far and almost every Marshall islander out here can do this. My wife’s mother died of cancer of the uterus; my wife’s uncle died of thyroid cancer,” Jack Niedenthal, trust liaison for the People of Bikini Atoll, said.

To begin with, the Marshall Islands has brought a case against the three nuclear powers which recognise the ICJ – the UK, India and Pakistan – on the argument that they have breached a legal duty to disarm.

Similar logic is being used against six other nations including the US, Russia and China.

{A PR drive on Twitter by Najib Razak to defend his position in corruption scandal has turned into a criticism tool.}

Just days after facing a political call to step down as Malaysia’s prime minister, Najib Razak now faces more pressure from the public.

The hashtag #RespectMyPM was supposed to support Najib, 62, on Twitter as he launched a public-relations campaign defending his position.

However, that turned into a criticism tool by Monday – a day after it was launched – for alleged corruption and crackdown on media outlets as well as opponents.

On Friday, leaders from across Malaysia’s political spectrum – led by Mahathir Mohamad, the 90-year-old former prime minister – joined hands for a national movement to remove Najib.

“We call upon all Malaysians, irrespective of race, religion, political situation, creed or parties, young and old, to join us in saving Malaysia from the government headed by Najib Razak,” read a joint statement endorsed by heavyweights from the ruling party, the opposition and top civil society groups.

Mahathir said the assembled leaders, despite their differences, shared “one goal”.

“We must rid ourselves of Najib as prime minister,” he said.

The move marks the most direct political challenge yet to Najib, and lends a potent voice to a growing sense of public anger with his tenure.

Najib’s honesty and credibility have been under attack since last July when the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) revealed a deposit of approximately $700m into his personal bank account.

Najib said the money came from an Arab donor but questions surrounding the amount and its presence in a personal instead of political party account remains unanswered.

The WSJ report said the funds came via a series of financial transfers from a heavily indebted state investment fund 1MDB which Najib, as finance minister, also oversees.

In January, Malaysia’s attorney general cleared Najib of any criminal offences or corruption, saying the transfer was a gift from Saudi Arabia’s royal family and that no further action needed to be taken.

Opposition leaders denounced the finding, saying the appointment of the attorney general by Najib in the middle of the crisis suggested a conflict of interest.

But others said it was a victory for Najib that would allow him to focus on winning the next general elections in 2018.

{Damages sought from Sheldon Adelson and others for financing construction of settlements on Palestinian soil.}

New York, US – A group of Palestinians has launched an ambitious $34.5bn lawsuit against US-based tycoons, charities and firms for supporting Israeli land grabs, settlement-building and other violations of Palestinians’ rights these past four decades.

They seek damages from Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson; Irving Moskowitz, a philanthropist with property interests in East Jerusalem; and megachurch pastor John Hagee for financing the construction of settlements on Palestinian soil.

Lawyers also name such charities as Christian Friends of Israeli Communities and private firms, including Dead Sea-based cosmetics maker Ahava, UK-based security firm G4S and the industrial powerhouse Israel Chemicals Limited.

“We’re not in this for the money, but we’ll probably pick the pockets of some very wealthy corporations,” Martin McMahon, a lawyer for the complainants from the firm Martin McMahon and Associates, told Al Jazeera on Monday.

“It’s about time that the world woke up to the fact that Palestinians are being murdered every day with US taxpayer dollars.”

The case is brought by Bassem al-Tamimi, an activist, and about 35 other Palestinians and Palestinian Americans who say they have seen their loved ones killed by Israeli forces and lost their land to settlers and business and construction schemes.

They allege five counts of conspiracy, war crimes, aggravated trespass, pillage and racketeering via various legal mechanisms, including laws against organised crime and US entities linked with overseas human rights abuses.

Al Jazeera contacted Adelson, Hagee and some of the four dozen charities, firms and individuals named in the case but spokespeople were not immediately able to comment.

The suit was filed in the Federal District Court of Washington DC on Monday.

The pro-Palestinian lawyers said they expected protracted legal arguments over the court’s jurisdiction and potential dismissal proceedings.

A trial, possibly by jury, would likely not take place for five years, they said.

“We have cases going that have lasted 13 years, so we are used to long cases,” Jameson Fox, another lawyer for the Palestinians, told Al Jazeera.

In a statement, al-Tamimi, said he was tortured and jailed for staging protests at Halamish, a West Bank settlement.

Doaa Abu-Amar, another complainant, lost 14 family members when Israeli forces bombed a day-care centre during the 2009 assault on Gaza, it is claimed.

Ahmed al-Zeer was beaten and left disabled by settlers who attacked him outside the settlement of Ofra, it is claimed.

Susan Abulhawa, another complainant and poet, said she sought official recognition of Palestinian suffering.

“I want a court, somewhere, somehow, to hold accountable those who have financed my pain of dispossession and exile and to hold accountable the financiers of Israel’s wholesale theft of another people’s historic, material, spiritual, and emotional presence in the world,” Abulhawa said in a statement.

Palestinians have a poor track record for winning in US civil courtrooms.

Pro-Palestinian lawyers suffered a setback in New York in February 2015, when jurors awarded $218.5m in damages against the Palestinian leadership and blamed it for terror attacks in Israel that killed or wounded American citizens a decade previously.

Pro-Israel lawyers chalked up another victory in New York last year, when jurors agreed that Jordan’s Arab Bank was liable for materially supporting Hamas.

A US class action suit against Avi Dichter, Israel’s former security chief, over a one-tonne bomb hitting a Gaza City apartment block in 2002, failed in the US after Dichter was granted immunity from prosecution.

Palestinian lawyers complain that US jurors are biased. A Gallup opinion survey last month found that 62 percent of Americans sympathise with Israelis compared to 15 percent who side with Palestinians.

McMahon said that unconditional support for Israel was waning.

“Forty per cent of Jewish Americans condemn settlements so there is a complete reversal going on in America against tolerating these actions from the Israeli government, and our law suit apparently is a vehicle for those who are completely frustrated by that process,” McMahon said.

George Bisharat, a Palestinian-American law professor at California University, described a growing number of so-called lawfare cases between Israelis and Palestinians, where courts are used in part to sway public opinion.

“I’m sceptical of courts and their willingness to be politically daring and would put the odds of this case winning at less than 50 per cent,” Bisharat told Al Jazeera.

“As a matter of publicity, there is great potential to be exploited here. Palestinian have not effectively explored all of their legal remedies or been artful in managing cases, so there is untapped potential there.”

{Main points of proposal, which needs formal approval by EU leaders, announced after long negotiations in Brussels.}

Turkey and the European Union have reached agreement on the main points of a proposal to tackle the influx of refugees into Europe, according to statements by officials.

The next step involves the presentation of the proposal to EU leaders at a key European Council meeting due to be held on March 17 and 18.

Donald Tusk, European Council president, said the leaders had made a “breakthrough”, and he was hopeful of sealing a deal at the next meeting.

He said the progress sent “a very clear message that the days of irregular migration to Europeare over”.

The announcement came at the end of a long day of meetings in Brussels, during which Turkey is known to have asked for an additional $3.3bn in return for checking the flow of refugees across the Aegean Sea.

Turkey is due to receive $3.3bn until the end of 2018 to cover the costs of dealing with refugees, but it reportedly asked for double the amount during Monday’s talks.

Martin Schulz, head of the European Parliament, confirmed that the request for additional money came at the summit between Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s prime minister, and EU leaders.

After protracted negotiations, Martin Selmayr, spokesperson for Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission (EC), said on Twitter: “Deal. Breakthrough with Turkey.”

Another statement, from the Twitter account of Xavier Bettel, Luxembourg’s prime minister, said: “President of #EUCO will take forward the proposals and work out the details with the Turkish side before the March #EUCO.”

Grand bargain

The agreement could see Turkey and the EU cooperate to end the flow of irregular refugees to Greek islands and start resettling Syrian refugees directly from Turkey to the EU.

In exchange for readmitting refugees from Greece to Turkey, Brussels is expected to grant Turkish citizens the right to travel to the EU’s Schengen zone without a visa latest by end of June 2016.

The Turkish government is also trying to secure the country’s EU membership.

“Turkey is ready to work with the EU, and Turkey is ready to be a member of the EU as well,” Davutoglu said before the summit.

Turkey is a temporary home to an estimated 2.75 million refugees, many from the conflict in Syria.

It is also a transit country for waves of people heading to Europe from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

{{Inside Story – Can Greece cope with refugee crisis?}}

“We are not sending them. They are going [to Greece] by sea and many of them are dying,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, said, criticising the EU for its reluctance to take in more refugees as well as its demands on Turkey to halt the flow of people.

“We have rescued close to 100,000 from the sea. Others are puncturing their boats and causing their deaths.”

On Sunday, at least 25 people drowned off the Turkish coast while trying to reach Greece.

The Greek coastguard launched a search-and-rescue mission for people believed to be missing from the accident near the Turkish town of Didim.

At least 15 people were rescued and brought to land in the care of emergency aid workers.

About 13,000 people are living in precarious conditions in Greece as they wait for authorities to let them into Macedonia so they can move towards Western Europe.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says a humanitarian crisis is quickly unfolding at the border, with refugees living in makeshift camps and in the open, as authorities allow only 250 a day to pass through.

More than one million asylum seekers have arrived in Europe since the start of 2015 – the majority fleeing the war in Syria – with nearly 4,000 dying while crossing the Mediterranean.

{Texas senator splits Saturday’s contests with frontrunner, while Sanders beats Clinton in two states in Democratic race.}

United States Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has won nominating contests in Kansas and Maine, denting frontrunner Donald Trump’s momentum and bolstering Cruz’s case that he is the best alternative for those bent on stopping Trump.

On the Democratic side, frontrunner Hillary Clinton won in Louisiana, while her rival Bernie Sanders, a US senator from Vermont, won in Kansas and Nebraska.

Five states were holding nominating contests on Saturday as Trump and Clinton looked to strengthen their leads in the battle to pick nominees for the November 8 presidential election to succeed President Barack Obama.

The Listening Post: The Donald Trump Show

Trump won in Louisiana and in Kentucky. The results were bad news for the remaining two Republican candidates, Marco Rubio, a US senator from Florida, and Ohio Governor John Kasich, who trailed in all four contests.

“The scream you hear, the howl that comes from Washington, D.C., is utter terror at what ‘We the People’ are doing together,” Cruz told supporters in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after his win in Kansas.

Cruz, a US senator from Texas who has promoted himself to voters as a true conservative, in contrast to Trump, also won a non-binding “straw poll” of activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington.

“What we saw in Kansas is a manifestation of a real shift in momentum,” Cruz told reporters in Idaho.

In the overall race for Republican delegates, Trump leads with at least 375 and Cruz has at least 291. Rubio has 123 delegates and Kasich has 33. It takes 1,237 delegates to win the Republican nomination for president.

The races on Saturday were open only to registered Republicans, excluding the independent and disaffected Democratic voters who have helped Trump’s surge to the lead.

Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Washington D.C., said that even though Cruz had made an apparent breakthrough, Trump had still won Louisiana, the largest state voting on Saturday.

Saturday’s contests were the first since retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson dropped from the race, after polling in the single-digits in most of the nominating contests. Carson had drawn support from evangelical voters, a group that has also been a stronghold of Cruz.

Since winning seven of 11 contests on Super Tuesday, Trump has come under withering fire from a Republican establishment worried he will lead the party to a resounding defeat in November’s election.

Mainstream Republicans have blanched at Trump’s calls to build a wall on the border with Mexico, round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants and temporarily bar all Muslims from entering the US.

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, called Trump a phony and a fraud who was playing American voters for suckers, and 2008 nominee John McCain, a US senator from Arizona, said Trump’s foreign policy views were uninformed and dangerous.

On the Democratic side, Clinton has opened up a big delegate lead and Sanders might have a tough time making up the difference. All states in the Democratic race award their delegates proportionally, meaning Clinton can keep piling up delegates even in states she loses.

Clinton has at least 1,117 delegates to Sanders’ 477, including superdelegates – members of Congress, governors and party officials who can support the candidate of their choice. It takes 2,383 delegates to win the Democratic nomination.

The three states holding Democratic contests on Saturday had a total of 109 delegates at stake.

“Sanders might have rejuvenated his campaign after upsetting Clinton in two of the three states that voted, showing that while he trails Clinton in the delegate count needed to secure the nomination, he still has wide support,” said Al Jazeera’s Elizondo.

“In this most unpredictable election season, voters continue to surprise….sending a message that they are not ready for any candidate in either party to run away with the nomination just yet.”

{Anti-refugee Smer party captures most votes but will be hard-pressed to form a government as the EU looks on.}

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico won parliamentary elections with nearly all votes counted on Sunday, but opposition parties – including those on the far-right – will complicate the formation of a new government.

Fico, a leftist whose anti-immigration views are in line with neighbours Poland and Hungary, took 28.7 percent of the vote, far ahead of others but less than the 35 percent predicted in opinion surveys.

Refugee crisis takes centre stage in Slovakia election

With eurozone member Slovakia set to take over the European Union’s rotating presidency from July, giving it a bigger role in EU policy discussions over the bloc’s refugee crisis, the election is being watched closely in Brussels.

Fico bet on a combination of popular welfare measures, such as free train rides for students and pensioners, to secure a third term after ruling from 2006-2010 and 2012-2016.

Fico, who had hoped to rule with one smaller coalition partner, said building a new coalition in a highly fragmented parliament would take time and be tough, given the “very complicated” election results.

“As the party that won the election, we have the obligation to try build a meaningful and stable government,” Fico told reporters. “It will not be easy, I am saying that very clearly.”

Fico, who dismisses multiculturalism as “a fiction”, has pledged never to accept EU-agreed quotas on relocating refugees who have flooded into Greece, Turkey, and Italy from Syria and beyond.

Slovakia has not seen any large numbers of refugees pass through its territory.

Opponents portray Fico as an inefficient and unsavory populist who ignores the need to reform education and healthcare. However, most opposition parties in the predominantly Catholic country agree with Fico’s hardline stance on refugees.

If Fico fails to put together a government, a group of centre-right parties could try to form a broad but possibly unstable anti-Fico coalition, a repeat of the 2010 election.

Any centre-right coalition would include the libertarian Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party, which held second place in the partial results with 11.5 percent of the vote.

Fico’s strongly anti-refugee policies echo those of other hardliners in the EU’s poorer ex-communist east, including Czech President Milos Zeman, Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban, and Poland’s Jaroslaw Kaczynski.

All have shunned refugees as Europe grapples with its worst migration and humanitarian crisis since World War II.

Most opposition parties agree with Fico’s views that Muslims cannot integrate into predominantly Catholic Slovakia and pose a security threat, although they use less aggressive language.