EU and Japan create world's biggest free trade zone

DW, 1 February 2019

Almost all tariffs on trade between the European Union and the world's third-biggest economy have been removed. European companies could save around a billion euros in duties each year.

   

A free trade agreement between Japan and the EU entered into force on February 1, covering 635 million people and almost one-third of the world's economy.

Dubbed the world's largest free trade agreement, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement removes duties on almost all agricultural and industrial products and opens up the service sector and procurement. It also moves to eliminate non-tariff barriers to trade.

The highlights of the deal

• Japan will have scrappped duties on 97 percent of goods imported from the EU once the agreement is fully implemented.
• Open access to the Japanese market will save EU companies from paying €1 billion ($1.14 billion) of duties annually.
• The EU will eliminate tariffs on 99 percent of imports from Japan.
• In the automotive sector, the EU will eliminate duties over a seven-year transition period.
• Both sides will eliminate duties on nearly all food and agricultural products.
• The service market will be opened, including financial services, e-commerce, telecommunications and transport.
• For the first time, the trade agreement includes countries' Paris climate deal commitments.
• The text also addresses sustainable development and sets standards for labor, safety, environmental and consumer protection.

'Protecting brand names'

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said: "This agreement has it all: it scraps tariffs and contributes to the global rulebook, whilst at the same time demonstrating to the world that we both remain convinced by the benefits of open trade."

The president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said: "The new agreement will give consumers greater choice and cheaper prices; it will protect great European products in Japan and vice-versa, such as the Austrian Tiroler Speck or Kobe Beef; it will give small businesses on both sides the chance to branch out to a completely new market; it will save European companies 1 billion euro in duties every year and turbo-boost the trade we already do together."

Trade groups also welcomed the move.

"This agreement is the perfect example that building bridges is better than raising walls," said Pierre Gattaz, president of BusinessEurope. "When protectionism is on the rise, the EU and Japan show to the world they remain open to modern and rules-based trade."

Hiroaki Nakanishi, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, said the agreement "will stimulate additional growth and create jobs for both sides."

Read more: Japan wants to attract more European travelers

The deal protects 'Geographical Indications' such as Cheddar, Kobe beef and
Scotch whiskey

What is the status of EU-Japan trade?

Japan is the EU’s second-largest trade partner in Asia after China. EU businesses export €58 billion in goods and €28 billion in services to Japan every year. The EU estimates exports to Japan will increase 13 percent, or €13 billion, as a result of the free trade zone.  Japan exports €69 billion in goods and €18 billion in services to the EU annually.

How did we get here and what’s next?

The EU and Japan began negotiations for a free trade agreement in 2013. The European Parliament and Japan’s parliament approved the deal last year after both sides finalized negotiations in December 2017.

EU and Japan are continuing investment protection negotiations and hope to reach an understanding as soon as possible.

Sudden shift in Iran as hardliners back Rouhani

Yahoo – AFP, Marc Jourdier, July 5, 2018

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a joint press conference with Austria's
Chancellor Sebastian Kurz on July 4, 2018 in Vienna (AFP Photo/ALEX HALADA)

Tehran (AFP) - Frequently a target of attack by hardliners, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani is benefiting from a sudden surge in support from his former critics, a week after he called for national unity.

The apparent sea-change in conservative rhetoric follows hawkish comments by the president himself following Washington's unilateral May withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Visiting Europe to seek economic guarantees, Rouhani lashed out at Israel in the Swiss capital Bern on Tuesday, saying Iran "sees the Zionist regime as an illegitimate regime".

And he has questioned the American government's ability to make good on threats to prevent other countries buying Tehran's oil.

The latest evidence of the domestic shift came on Wednesday, in a letter by prominent General Qassem Soleimani to the moderately conservative president.

Soleimani -- head of the elite Revolutionary Guards' foreign operations -- thanks the president for his "wise and appropriate" words on Israel and the US, in the letter published by Fars news agency.

Rouhani's remarks were "a source of pride", wrote the general.

'Meeting in the Strait'

Rouhani is the main Iranian architect of the July 2015 nuclear accord with world powers, under which his country agreed to rein in its nuclear programme in exchange for easing multilateral sanctions which had strangled the economy.

Some Iranians have interpreted Rouhani's recent hawkish comments as meaning he could be open to blocking the Strait of Hormuz -- a threat Tehran has brandished during past bouts of regional tension.

Some 30 percent of all the world's sea-borne oil exports pass through the strait, which runs from the Gulf into the Indian Ocean.

Conservative Iranian media outlets have thrown their weight behind Rouhani.

"Meeting in the Strait" read a headline in Javan -- a daily close to the Revolutionary Guards -- along with a picture of the president and General Soleimani shaking hands in front of a map of the Strait of Hormuz.

A photo of Soleimani was splashed across the front page of Sazandegi newspaper with the headline "Unity Sepah-Government" (Sepah is the Farsi acronym for the Revolutionary Guards).

Rouhani, who has sought to open up various economic sectors to private enterprise, has repeatedly criticised the Revolutionary Guards for exerting too tight a grip on Iran's economy.

Since he first took office in 2013, Rouhani has regularly been attacked by ultra-conservatives.

He was elected for a second four-year term in May 2017, with the support of reformers.

After protests around the New Year in many Iranian cities against economic hardship, they accused Rouhani of abandoning the country's weakest citizens.

Some have held up America's withdrawal from the nuclear agreement as proof of the president's naivety in trusting the West.

'Survival of the nation'

As Iran's rial plunged in value and protests re-ignited, some legislators called in late June for Rouhani to be impeached.

But things changed abruptly after June 27 when he appealed to his opponents for help.

Kayhan is another ultra-conservative newspaper now backing the president.

"We must put to one side our differences because, at present, the national interest and the survival of the nation are at stake," said an editorial.

But Javan signalled the truce may only be temporary.

"Resisting the enemy and preserving the nation's independence require us to be together and put our differences to one side until a later date", wrote editor-in-chief Abdollah Ganji.

EU's top diplomat 'encouraged' by Rohingya talks with Suu Kyi

Yahoo – AFP, November 20, 2017

Aung San Suu Kyi (L) speaks with Mogherini after a family photo during the 13th
 Asia-Europe foreign ministers' meeting in Naypyidaw (AFP Photo/AUNG HTET)

Yangon (AFP) - The EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Monday hailed "extremely encouraging" talks with Aung San Suu Kyi on the Rohingya crisis, welcoming steps towards the repatriation of Muslims driven from Myanmar into Bangladesh.

But her optimistic tone appeared sharply at odds with the realities on the ground in a crisis that has seen 620,000 Rohingya flee rape, murder and arson in Myanmar's Rakhine state since late August.

Deadly attacks by Rohingya militants on August 25 sparked a massive backlash from Myanmar's security forces that the UN says may amount to "ethnic cleansing".

Diplomatic pressure has been growing on Myanmar, especially on its Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader Suu Kyi.

In response the country has said it is ready and willing to take back refugees, if they can "verify" they belong in Rakhine.

Mogherini, who visited refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar over the weekend, emerged from Monday's talks with Suu Kyi in a positive mood.

"I found it (the talks) extremely encouraging," she told reporters in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw at a meeting of Asian and European foreign ministers.

"I am very much encouraged by the possibility -- that I believe is real and concrete -- of Myanmar and Bangladesh" reaching an agreement for the repatriation of refugees.

The two countries have yet to strike a binding deal on repatriation.

Rights groups say a speedy and safe repatriation of significant numbers of Rohingya is highly unlikely since large numbers are still fleeing violence, fear and hunger on a daily basis.

The status of the Muslim minority also remains highly emotive in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are denied citizenship and labelled "Bengalis", or illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

Rohingya villages have been razed and rice fields commandeered or left to ruin, raising major questions over what they can return to.

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, pushed out of Myanmar in several previous army-backed operations, have also yet to return despite decades-old repatriation deals with Bangladesh.

Those who have fled Rakhine in recent months have told horrific stories of rape, murder and arson by Myanmar troops and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists.

Myanmar's military denies the allegations.

Washington's top diplomat Rex Tillerson last week cited "credible" reports of atrocities since late August.

Myanmar's diplomatic isolation over its treatment of the Rohingya has been eased by China, which has helped shield it from censure at the UN Security Council.

China was one of the few foreign friends of the country's former junta.

Beijing covets access to Myanmar's western coast for ports and pipelines including in Rakhine state, where Chinese businesses are spending billions of dollars.

On Sunday Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Suu Kyi and reaffirmed support for Myanmar over the Rakhine issue, according to the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

He added that "poverty alleviation" was the crux of the problem and urged Myanmar and Bangladesh to solve the crisis through "dialogue".

Taboo-breaking liberal mosque opens in Berlin

Yahoo – AFP, Yannick PASQUET, June 17, 2017

Lawyer and women's rights activist Seyran Ates opened the
Ibn-Rushd-Goethe-Mosque with words of welcome before Christian and
Jewish guests and a large media contingent (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

Berlin (AFP) - With a mission to spread a liberal form of Islam, a mosque where men and women pray side by side has opened its doors in Berlin, complete with female imams.

The Arabic phrase "Allahu Akbar" ('God is greatest') resonated through the crowded Ibn-Rushd-Goethe-Mosque Friday as US-Malaysian Ani Zonneveld, one of the world's few female imams, launched the call to prayer.

Then one of the founders of the new place of worship, lawyer and women's rights activist Seyran Ates, opened the event with words of welcome before Christian and Jewish guests and a large media contingent.

"We want to send a signal against Islamic terror and the misuse of our religion," said Turkish-born Ates, 54, dressed in a long white robe. "We want to practise our religion together."

Ates -- no stranger to breaking taboos, having called for a "sexual revolution" in the Muslim world -- vowed she would not allow ultra-conservatives "to rob me of my right to be Muslim".

Kneeling on green carpets, the faithful -- men and women, side by side -- bowed to Mecca for the traditional prayer as the imam spoke in German.

Some of the women wore veils or head coverings, others did not.

'Depoliticise' Islam

The new mosque, the 88th in the German capital, is located in a rented room on the third floor of the Protestant Johanniskirche (St. John's Church) building.

Founded by Seyran Ates, the mosque aims to establish a humanistic, 

secular and liberal reading of Islam (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

All Muslims -- Sunni or Shia, Alawite or Sufi -- are welcome in the mosque named after one of Germany's greatest writers, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and 12th century Islamic scholar Ibn Rushd, also known as Averroes.

The seven founding members said they want to open their prayer hall to all groups, including gays and lesbians.

"This mosque allows Muslims to define themselves in a new way," said co-founder and German Islam scholar Abdel-Hakim Ourghi.

He added that "we will try to depoliticise Islam", as the religion was being torn by rival political movements. "Because religion is a private matter."

Police stood guard outside the entrance of the building.

The founders said they had not received any threats or insults, but that they fully expected not everyone would be happy.

Time for change

Germany, with some four million Muslims, has been the target of jihadist attacks, the deadliest last December when a truck tore through a Berlin Christmas market crowd killing 12 people.

Seyran Ates -- who has campaigned against forced marriages,
domestic violence and so-called "honour killings" among Muslim
migrants -- said the project was eight years in the making (AFP
Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

The arrival of more than one million refugees, most from mainly Muslim countries, since 2015 has worsened the fears of some Germans.

Ates -- who has campaigned against forced marriages, domestic violence and so-called "honour killings" among Muslim migrants -- said the project was eight years in the making.

"Many left along the way," she said. "They told us it was dangerous, that they were afraid."

Elham Manea, a Swiss political scientist of Yemeni background, said the time had come for change, with other so-called liberal mosques having also opened in the United States, Britain and Switzerland.

The Berlin mosque, financed by private donations, is located in the Berlin district of Moabit, which has a large immigrant population.

It was in this neighbourhood that Tunisian Anis Amri, the Christmas market attacker, frequented a radical mosque that has since been closed.

Pakistani human rights activist Mukhtar Mai (C) receives a standing ovation
as she takes the stage following performance of the opera 'Thumbprint', at
the Roy and Edna Disney/Calarts Theater (REDCAT) in Los Angeles, on
June 16, 2017 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

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Woman mosque leader seeks new Muslim in Europe

Yassmine el Ksaihi poses in the prayer hall of the Polder Mosque in Amsterdam, 

Netherlands, Tuesday, March 2, 2010. Uniquely in the Netherlands, men and 

women pray together in her mosque, albeit segregated, with the women praying

 in the back of the prayer hall. Devotions and sermons are conducted mostly in

 Dutch rather than Arabic. And non-Muslims are welcome. Across Europe Muslims

 are seeking a formula that lets them be an inseparable part of their country while

 maintaining their loyalty to their faith and origin. (AP Photo/ Evert Elzinga)

Asean Committed to Greater Economic Integration

Jakarta Globe, Shoeb Kagda, June 01, 2016

More than 500 participants, including 40 government ministers, three heads of
state and two deputy heads of state and 400 chief executives are gathered for
the two-day meeting, which began in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday (01/06).
(Photo courtesy of the World Economic Forum)

Kuala Lumpur. Integration, inclusivity and reform are the key themes of the 25th meeting of the World Economic Forum on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Kuala Lumpur.

More than 500 participants, including 40 government ministers, three heads of state and two deputy heads of state and 400 chief executives are gathered for the two-day meeting, which began on Wednesday (01/06).

In opening the conference, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak noted that the global focus was now squarely on Asean as the regional grouping moved towards greater economic integration.

Collectively the 10 members of Asean have a gross domestic product of $2.3 trillion, making them the seventh-largest economy in the world. With a population of 600 million, Asean is also the world's fourth-largest consumer market.

"We know what we are and we know where we want to go, but do we have the determination to reform our economies to claim the prize?" Razak said. "The great opportunity and promise will not miraculously appear without continued efforts to reform, liberalize and integrate our economies."

He added that as a result, greater efforts needed to be undertaken by all member countries in lowering trade barriers and fostering more openness.

Razak cited the example of how Asean member states have reduced tariffs on imports to near zero but non-tariff barriers have tripled. "The AEC [Asean Economic Community] will never reach true fruition if we do not eradicate these barriers," Razak said. "In short, what is required is nothing short of a complete transformation of Asean."

Speaking on the same panel as the Malaysian prime minister, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said Asean was moving from cooperation to integration but that the process would require time and effort.

Kalla added that for fuller integration, Asean member states will need to discuss standardization of regulations as well as fostering greater connectivity.

"In Indonesia, our philosophy is equity and equality and we are working very hard to create more inclusive growth," he said.

To this end, the government of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is focusing on infrastructure development, improving the agriculture sector and boosting manufacturing.

The vice president added however, that Asean needs to juggle between cooperation and competitiveness as a number of countries in the regional bloc are competing for the same investments.

"We should not allow investors to push our labor costs down and force members to compete against each other," he noted. As a possible solution, Kalla floated the idea of having coordinated minimum wages across the region.

Related Article:

"The Timing of the Great Shift" – Mar 21, 2009 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

“… Human Nature is Changing

There's a new concept afoot, a change in Human nature. We've spoken about this before. How many of you studied European history? And in school, did your mind fill up with all of the dates you had to memorize? Who conquered whom and when? Over and over and over, every single country had their turn conquering another country. Borders moved constantly. As far back as you want to go, that's what Humans did. They separated, gathered, and conquered. But as little as 50 years ago, it all stopped.

We've said this before. Fifty years ago, a seed, an idea, was planted at the end of World War II. "Let's put these European countries together," they said. "Let's even drop the borders and eventually give them one currency." Do this and they'll never war again, they predicted, for countries with common economic sources don't go to war! And that's exactly what's happened. Did it work? It's fairly fresh, but their money is threatening to take over the strength of your money, did you notice? It's worth more than yours. They still struggle to make it work and balance it. But then again, you do the same in the United States, always fine tuning the unity.

South America is considering the same thing right now. The seeds are being planted in Brazil. Within a generation, they would love to see the borders dropped and one currency. Can they do it? Perhaps. Perhaps it will take longer. Why do it? Because they see the European Union with the strongest currency on Earth. We've said this before. Here is a prediction: Perhaps not in your time, but there'll come a day when there are only five currencies in the world, because continents will start understanding that unification creates peace and prosperity. Separation creates chaos. What a concept. …”

EU foreign policy boss lands in Iran for talks

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has arrived at the head of an EU delegation to Iran. The short trip, designed to boost trade and regional peace after last year’s nuclear deal, is not to everyone's liking.

Deutsche Welle, 16 April 2016

Mogherini talks Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and other ministers about EU-Iran economic ties, the security situation in Syria, the opening of an EU mission in Tehran and issues including Iran's use of capital punishment and refugee flows.

"This visit is an important step towards building cooperative relations between the EE and Iran on the areas where there is mutual interest and to have frank discussions on the issues where differences remain," Mogherini said.

The 24-hour trip comes days after Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi became the highest-ranking European leader to visit Tehran since July’s nuclear accord.

The US, UK, China, France, Russia and Germany agreed in 2015 to lift sanctions in return for Tehran accepting curbs to prevent it acquiring nuclear weapons.

U.S. Secretary of State Kerry meets with
EU High Representative Mogherini at the
Nuclear Summit in Washington

Energy, banking and the WTO

According to the European Commission, the EU's executive, the EU is also interested in discussing future energy imports from Iran.

Tehran is also thought to be interested in closer cooperation with the EU on energy and also trade issues, notably possible membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

An EU official told reporters Saturday that Brussels is “willing to play a supportive role” in Iran’s bid to join the WTO. But the EU wants Iran to do more to fight money laundering and terrorism financing, which are impediments to foreign investment, the official said.

The trip comes after Iran raised concerns about banking sanctions, with officials saying the West - particularly the US - is creating obstacles to its access to the global financial system.

The governor of Iran's Central Bank said Friday in the US that the international community was not sticking to its promises. "The impact that we were expecting to get is not what we see, at least on a tangible basis," Valiollah Seif told a forum at the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington.

Seif, in the US capital for the IMF-World Bank spring meetings, pointed to a reluctance by European banks to engage with Iran for fear of falling foul of US sanctions.

"They have been asked not to work with Iranian banks, and they're afraid," he said.

Industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska, transport commissioner Violeta Bulc and energy commissioner Miguel Arias Canete will be among those travelling with Mogherini. They will meet Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, parliament speaker Ali Larijani and the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, an EU statement said.

An Iranian woman casts her ballot
to vote in February's elections

Migrants

Europe is struggling to cope with an influx of migrants and asylum seekers, including Afghan migrants from Iran.

Iran hosts around 3 million refugees from neighboring Afghanistan.

“Migration is a very important theme for discussion,” a senior EU official said.

Mogherini is expected to brief the bloc's 28 foreign ministers about the visit on Monday at talks in Brussels.

Not all on board

Critics attacked the visit for appearing to legitimze Tehran's poor track record on huma rights, among other things.

The British Parliamentary Committee for Iran Freedom (BPCIF), for example, said in a statement that: "[the trip] is highly inappropriate considering the regime's domestic repression and destructive policies abroad."

It said that "during the 'moderate' administration of Hassan Rouhani, nearly 1000 people were executed in Iran last year alone, including juveniles in violation of international law. At least 47 journalists and social media activists were reportedly detained in the country as of January 2016, according to reports by the UN Special rapporteur for Iran and Amnesty international."

The EU did not request a meeting with Iranian civil society representatives because of the shortness of the visit, a senior EU official said on condition of anonymity. Iranian President Hassan Rowhani went at short notice to Ankara and was also unable to meet the EU delegation, the Iranian press reported.

"Our objective remains to reassure everyone - particularly in the financial sector - that re-engaging with Iran is possible now," an EU official said.

Regional conflicts

An EU official said that Mogherini - who personally helped negotiate the nuclear deal - will also seek to advance diplomatic efforts on Syria and Yemen, two regional conflicts where Iran plays a role.

jbh/ (dpa, AFP)

Ai Weiwei brings white grand piano to muddy refugee field

Yahoo – AFP, 12 March 2016

Syrian Nour Alkhzam, 24, plays the piano during a concert organized by Chinese 

artist Ai Weiwei at the Greek-Macedonian border near the Greek village of Idomeni, 

on March 12, 2016 (AFP Photo/Sakis Mitrolidis)

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei set up a white grand piano in a muddy, rain-drenched refugee camp on the Greek-Macedonian border Saturday, allowing a young Syrian woman to tinkle the ivories for the first time in years.

Performing in the pouring rain under a plastic sheet held up by Ai and others, 24-year-old Nour Alkhzam, who is hoping to reach her husband in Germany, played for 20 minutes in a field at the Idomeni border camp, where 12,000 migrants and refugees are stuck in grim conditions.

"This is our attempt to create an opportunity for this lady," Ai said at the end of the impromptu performance.

"She has been victimised by these wars. She has not had the chance to touch a piano in three years. She and her husband have been separated for one-and-a-half years."

He added that watching her play was "very touching".

"It tells the world that art will overcome the war," he told reporters.

The stunt was the latest in a series of projects by Ai to shine a spotlight on the people caught up in Europe's worst migrant crisis since World War II.

"We want to reveal a new image of them, to relay possibility, art and imagination. This is the image that needs to be relayed to the world," he said.

Greek authorities estimate that 12,000 people are stuck at the camp at Idomeni, but thousands more are camped out in fields nearby, waiting in vain for the border to reopen so they can continue their journey north.

Ai Weiwei has been a noted supporter of refugees in recent months and 

condemned European politicians' handling of the situation (AFP Photo/

Sakis Mitrolidis)

Macedonia and several other countries on the migrant trail have sealed their borders over recent weeks, leaving the Greek government to struggle with a huge bottleneck of people stuck on its territory and forced to camp in increasing squalor.

Ai, a thorn in the side of China's Communist authorities, has repeatedly spoken out in support of refugees and denounced European politicians' handling of the crisis.

Last month, he draped thousands of lifejackets discarded by migrants arriving in Greece around the columns of Berlin's Konzerthaus concert hall.

And in January, the artist closed down an exhibition of his work in Copenhagen in protest after lawmakers passed a controversial bill allowing authorities to seize valuables from asylum seekers.

China's most prominent contemporary artist, Ai helped design the Bird's Nest stadium for the Beijing Olympics and has been exhibited around the globe, but his works have often run afoul of China's authorities.

He was detained in 2011 for 81 days over his advocacy of democracy and human rights as well as other criticisms of the government in Beijing.

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"New Systems" - Feb 27, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

European Parliament calls for arms embargo against Saudi Arabia

EU officials have called on Brussels to stop shipping weapons to Saudi Arabia. The move is in response to alleged human rights violations committed by Riyadh in neighboring Yemen.

Deutsche Welle, 25 February 2016

European lawmakers called on Thursday for the EU's foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini to approve an arms embargo against Riyadh in response to the government's involvement in the ongoing war in Yemen.

The European Parliament's resolution followed a petition signed by 750,000 European citizens calling for an end to weapons sales. The resolution would not be legally binding, but officials hope that it would dissuade countries like Britain and France, who are the two main European exporters of arms to Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Germany announced it would look harder at its decision to export arms to Saudi Arabia.

"This is about Yemen. The human rights violations have reached a level that means Europe is obliged to act and to end arms sales to Saudi Arabia," said British lawmaker Richard Howitt, according to Reuters news agency.

Calls to end the war

Saudi Arabia and its Sunni Arab allies intervened in Yemen last year after a Houthi rebel uprising led to a wider war that has claimed the lives of some 6,000 people.

Riyadh buys most of its weapons from the United States, and the EU-wide embargo would go against Washington's policy of aiding the Sunni Arabs in the fight to help the internationally recognized government retake swathes of territory back from the rebel and al Qaeda factions that have divvied up the country.

Some EU officials also warned that an embargo could trigger a backlash from Riyadh. Howitt, for instance, said the Saudis had threatened to cut off relations with the EU in response.

blc/sms (Reuters, AFP)

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Australian hospital refuses to return asylum baby to Nauru

Yahoo – AFP, Glenda Kwek, 14 February 2016

Greenpeace holds a #LetThemStay banner on Sydney's harbour calling for the 

asylum-seekers, who are set to be deported after being brought to Australia 

for medical treatment, to be allowed to stay (AFP Photo/Peter Parks)

An Australian hospital has refused to return an asylum-seeker baby to detention in Nauru, as momentum built across the country on Sunday against offshore Pacific camps for processing refugees.

Under the government's tough immigration policy, asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are sent to detention camps in the Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

They are blocked from being resettled in Australia even if found to be refugees.

The hospital's move came as state governments, churches and activists stepped up their efforts to stop the return of some 267 refugees to Nauru following a High Court ruling.

On Sunday, campaigners from ActionAid, Amnesty International, GetUp! and Greenpeace unfurled a #LetThemStay banner on Sydney's iconic harbour calling for the asylum-seekers, who are set to be deported after being brought to Australia for medical treatment, to be allowed to stay.

People hold placards at a protest outside an immigration office in Sydney on February 4, 

2016, as Australian church leaders say they would offer sanctuary to asylum-seekers set to be

deported to Nauru to defy the government's harsh immigration policy (AFP Photo/William West)

The #LetThemStay campaign, which has been trending on Twitter, has also seen hundreds of people maintain a vigil -- now in its third day -- outside the Brisbane hospital where the baby is being cared for.

The 12-month-old infant, who is called Asha and the child of Nepalese asylum-seekers, was brought to the eastern city of Brisbane for treatment in late January after being scalded with hot water at the remote Nauru facility.

Following the High Court's ruling earlier this month in favour of the government's policies, Asha and 36 other babies born in Australia are among the asylum-seekers facing removal.

But a spokesman for Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children's Hospital said Asha "will only be discharged once a suitable home environment is identified".

Growing political, community support

Their stance was supported by Queensland state's Health Minister Cameron Dick, who said in a statement Sunday that he "strongly support(s) doctors in our hospitals to make the right clinical decisions".

"Doctors must expect to advocate for their patients," Doctors For Refugees co-founder Richard Kidd, who has joined the vigil outside the hospital, told AFP.

People protest outside an immigration office in Sydney on February 4, 2016, as 

Australian church leaders say they would offer sanctuary to asylum-seekers set to

 be deported to Nauru, to defy the government's harsh immigration policy (AFP 

Photo/William West)

"We have... overwhelming evidence over many years now that detention does terrible harm to babies and children, particularly their mental health but also physical health."

Australian church leaders in early February vowed to defy the federal government, offering sanctuary to the asylum-seekers.

Several state government premiers have said they would help settle in their communities those facing deportation if they were allowed to stay.

There have also been numerous community-led protests. Thirty-seven cots -- one for each of the Australia-born babies -- were set up on Sydney's Bondi Beach, while two campaigners abseiled from a Melbourne bridge with a "Let Them Stay" banner.

"I think the case of the 267 people has just really spoken to the hearts of the people across Australia," GetUp! organiser Sally Rugg told AFP.

"It's people from all walks of life. We are seeing churches and hospitals and teachers and premiers, it's a whole movement."

Canberra has long defended its policy, saying it has prevented the deaths of asylum-seekers at sea and secured its borders.

But rights groups have criticised the measures and detention conditions, while the government-funded Human Rights Commission has found that children who lived in the Nauru centre had high levels of mental illness.

"This offshore detention policy is being operated by the Australian government in secrecy and there's a severe lack of transparency and that's obviously not how people of Australia want their taxpayers' money being spent," Amnesty's Ming Yu Hah told AFP.

Australia doctors demand children be freed from #immigration detention http://t.co/oSHkZyvn5V pic.twitter.com/s9yLBKHA2Z

— AFP news agency (@AFP) October 12, 2015

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EU states agree relocation of 120,000 refugees 'by large majority' 
UN Security Council approves EU anti-trafficking mission


"The New Human P1" - Sep 19-20, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)
"Return of the Masters" - Apr 11-12, 2015 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)