Austria pulls out of UN Migration Pact +++ U.S calls for ceasefire in Yemen +++ FBI investigates “plot” to discredit Mueller

1. Dezember 2018, 02:00

Austria pulls out of U.N. Migration Pact

Austria is withdrawing from the United Nations Pact on Global Migration. The ÖVP-FPÖ government says it will not sign the agreement when it is adopted, in December, at a U.N. conference in Morocco. The pact, which deals with the rights of refugees and migrants, is not legally binding but Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says the document blurs the line between legal and illegal migration, and could undermine Austrian sovereignty. Austria joins Hungary and the U.S. in not signing on to the agreement.

U.S. calls for ceasefire in Yemen

The U.S. Defence Secretary, Jim Mattis, has called for a swift ceasefire in Yemen. The country is facing a growing humanitarian disaster, as the four-year conflict there continues between a Saudi-led coalition, which supports the Yemeni government, and Houthi rebels, who are backed by Iran. Mattis says only diplomacy can stop the war: “30 days from now, we want to see everybody around a peace table, based on a ceasefire, based on a pull-back from the border, based on ceasing dropping of bombs. That is the only way we’re going to really solve this.”

FBI investigates “plot” to discredit Mueller

The U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked the FBI to investigate an alleged plot to discredit him. The scheme was uncovered by a woman who worked for Mueller in the 1970s. She told journalists that she had been offered $20,000 and other benefits if she would sign a sworn affidavit accusing her former boss of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment.

Trump vows to end birthright citizenship

President Trump says he will sign an executive order ending the automatic right to U.S. citizenship for children born in the country to non-citizens. The announcement has invited widespread criticism, even from inside Trump’s Republican Party. Legal experts say such a move would likely be defeated in the courts. Ted Davis, a civil rights lawyer in Washington D.C., says Trump is simply playing politics: “We are just one week away from the election, from the mid-term elections, and the president wants to put the issue of illegal immigration front and center.”

Lion Air fires technical chief

The Indonesian budget airline Lion Air has fired its technical director, following Monday’s fatal crash of one of its planes. The Boeing 737 crashed into the Java Sea shortly after take-off from Jakarta – killing all 189 people on board. Lion Air has admitted there was a technical problem with the aircraft on a previous flight.

Rohingyas to be repatriated despite U.N. genocide warning

Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to start the repatriation of Rohingya Muslim refugees next month – despite warnings from the U.N. that this would place them at risk. Only last week, investigators said that genocide against the Rohingya was still continuing in Rakhine state, in Myanmar. Matthew Saltmarsh from the U.N.C.H.R. says more investigations are needed: “We haven’t really been able to look at the conditions in real detail on the ground. So as of yet, we firmly believe that the conditions are not right for refugees to return to Myanmar right now.”

The weather

Mainly sunny and very mild. Clouds in the south-west. Top temperatures will range from 10 to 19 degrees. The outlook for tomorrow's national holiday: Increasing cloud with rain in the west and the south. There will be strong föhn winds and highs will range from 9 to 22 degrees.

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