Since Friday, 435 migrants from Africa have arrived at the Spanish coast in small boats, with most of them landing on the Canary Islands and the Andalusian coast. Police are also currently searching for 34 migrants infected with coronavirus who escaped from quarantine.

Of the 435 migrants, 168 arrived in the Canary Islands, eight in the Balearic Islands, 128 in Andalusia, and five in the neighboring region of Murcia, according to Europrvy.cz.

On Sunday, Spanish media reported that police in Murcia were still looking for 45 migrants from the group of 454 refugees who arrived in Murcia the previous weekend and fled the center. They were originally supposed to spend 14 days in quarantine. The situation is all the more urgent as 34 migrants from this group tested positive for COVID-19.

One week ago, the authorities in Sicily, Italy, also dealt with the issue of over 700 migrants escaping from quarantine, for example, on the island of Lampedusa, which has recorded thousands of illegal migrants arriving in recent weeks.

Last week, approximately 11,000 illegal migrants arrived in Italy in just one week. The Italian Minister of the Interior, Luciana Lamorgese, discussed the increase in the number of migrants arriving in Italy, especially on Lampedusa, with counterparts in Tunisia. In the coming days, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio also plans to meet with Tunisia’s representatives to talk about the issue.

According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 14,000 migrants had arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean since the beginning of this year, which is more than last year, when it was 11,471. In 2018, however, 23,370 migrants arrived in Italy, and 119,369 a year earlier.

Behind the lower numbers in the previous year was the strict anti-immigration policies of the then Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini, who currently leads the League party.

Since the beginning of this year, 1,000 refugees have arrived in Spain, according to UNHCR. Last year, 26,168 migrants had arrived in the country via the sea, while 6,345 refugees crossed the border fences to Ceuta and Melilla.

Source: https://rmx.news/article/article/435-illegal-migrants-land-in-spain-34-escape-quarantine-despite-testing-positive-for-covid-19

The post 435 illegal migrants land in Spain, 34 escape coronaivrus quarantine first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

One of the most common mistakes European leaders make in interpreting US President Donald Trump’s hostility toward America’s traditional allies is to assume that all of this is unprecedented. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“My philosophy is that all foreigners are out to screw us, and it’s our job to screw them first.” Thus argued John Connally, then-US secretary of the treasury, in 1971, in his successful bid to convince president Richard Nixon that the time had come to punish Europe by pulling the plug from the Bretton Woods system.

What distinguishes today’s situation from the one Europe faced in the 1970s is the Weimar-like implosion of Europe’s political centre. In the 1970s, America’s financial assault on Germany, France, and Britain was met by a united European establishment. By contrast, today’s defenders of the European status quo must fight on two fronts: against Trump’s encroachments and, within Europe, against the likes of Matteo Salvini and Luigi di Maio, the rising stars of Italian politics who, despite their parliamentary majority, were denied the right to form a government by the country’s besieged pro-establishment president.

The US announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, while ostensibly aimed at China, was also the latest signal to Europe that the Trump administration’s “America First” rhetoric must be taken seriously. Next came the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, which offered Trump yet another splendid opportunity to luxuriate in Europe’s powerlessness, and especially that of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Forced to insist that Germany would uphold the Iran deal, Merkel found herself immediately humiliated as one German company after another pulled out of Iran. All were unwilling to challenge US financial might or to forfeit the tax cuts Trump had delivered to almost 5,000 German companies with a combined balance sheet of $600 billion. And, before the Iran shock had been absorbed, the US threatened a 25% import tariff on cars, which would shave at least $5 billion annually from German exporters’ revenues.

The scale of Germany’s difficulties can be comprehended only once their causal link with developments in Italy is grasped.

Just as it is Trump’s aim to overturn the global system from which Germany has benefited for decades, Salvini and di Maio see the disintegration of the euro as a welcome development and a boon to their anti-immigration campaign. Just over three years ago, when I was negotiating on behalf of Greece with the German government to end the combination of unsustainable loans and hyper-austerity that are still crushing my country, I warned my interlocutors at a Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers:

“If you insist on policies that condemn whole populations to a combination of permanent stagnation and humiliation, you will soon have to deal with anti-Europeanist xenophobes who see it as their vocation to disintegrate the EU”

That is precisely what is happening now. Having vetoed much-needed EU reforms, Merkel’s successive governments guaranteed Europe’s fragmentation. Germany’s establishment media are now referring to the Italian economist, whose appointment as finance minister was vetoed by the president, as “Italy’s Varoufakis”. That moniker obscures a fundamental difference: I wanted to keep Greece in the eurozone sustainably and was clashing with Germany’s leaders in favour of the debt restructuring that would make this possible. By crushing our Europeanist government in 2015, Germany sowed the seeds of today’s bitter harvest: a majority in Italy’s parliament that dreams of exiting the euro.

The causal link between Germany’s two political headaches has an economic basis. Trump understands one thing well: Germany and the eurozone are at his mercy, owing to their dependence on large net exports to the US and the rest of the world. And this dependence has grown inexorably as a result of the austerity policies that were first tried out in Greece and then implemented in Italy and elsewhere.

To see the link, recall the “fiscal compact” to eliminate structural budget deficits that Germany insisted upon as a condition of agreeing to bailout loans for distressed governments and banks. Then note that this pan-European austerity drive took place against the backdrop of excess savings over investment. Finally, note that large excess savings and balanced government budgets mean large trade surpluses—and thus the increasing reliance of Germany, and Europe, on massive net exports to the US and Asia. In other words, the same incompetent policies that gave rise to the xenophobic, anti-Europeanist Italian government also bolstered Trump’s power over Merkel.

Europe’s inability to get its own house in order has engendered a new Italian majority that is planning to expel a half-million migrants, blowing fresh winds into the sails of militant racists in Hungary, Poland, France, Britain, the Netherlands, and, of course, Germany itself. Meanwhile, with Europe too enfeebled to tame Trump, the US will aim to force China to deregulate its financial and tech sectors. If it succeeds, at least 15% of China’s national income will gush out of the country, adding to the deflationary forces that are breeding political monsters in Europe and in the US.

All of this was predictable—and in fact was predicted. So no one should be surprised by the position in which Merkel and Europe find themselves today. But only a dangerous fool would celebrate. ©2018/Project Syndicate

Yanis Varoufakis is professor of economics at the University of Athens.

Comments are welcome at views@livemint.com

Source: https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/dcJd94pydQ0TvjaC6FzW5M/Angela-Merkels-comeuppance-is-Europes-misfortune.html

The post Angela Merkel’s comeuppance is Europe’s misfortune first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term over the weekend. She struck a deal with the Social Democrats (SPD) to form government. Two-thirds of SPD members backed the deal, despite the threat of a veto.

We’re not surprised…

Although both parties want different things, those in power don’t want to risk another election. The anti-immigrant party (AfD) won more than 12% of the vote in September. It’s the largest opposition group. Another election could have been catastrophic for Merkel’s plans.

Perhaps in four years’ time…

Until then, Merkel will remain arguably the most powerful women in Europe. That shouts ‘more of the same’. Higher taxes, more regulation and austerity are the name of the game. Merkel is also a huge supporter of the European Union. That’s an unelected and power-hungry establishment, mind you.

Europe would be very different without her direction.

Merkel is solely responsible for the European refugee crisis. She set a ‘hard-line’ approach on Greece in 2015 and lost support in the polls. To backtrack, she announced her ‘open border policy’.

It was a disaster.

That’s why we’re seeing political change across Europe. It took Merkel six months to form government. There’s a major divide between left and right brewing. Support for left-wing governments has collapsed to historical lows. And that’s setting the stage for another gold bull market.

Why Italy could leave the European Union?

BBC News reported yesterday:

‘The leaders of two anti-establishment parties have each claimed they have the right to govern Italy, after voters in Europe’s fourth-largest economy did not return a majority to any single party.

‘The Eurosceptic, populist Five Star Movement was the biggest single party with a third of the vote.

‘But the anti-immigrant League said it had been endorsed to run the country as part of a centre-right alliance.

‘Forming a government could take weeks of negotiation and coalition-building.

‘Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has resigned as leader of the governing centre-left Democratic Party, which performed poorly, taking less than 20% of the vote.’

Five Star Movement is an anti-establishment party. If it forms government with the anti-immigrant league, uncertainty should rise across Europe. Both parties want to renegotiate the country’s policies with the EU. But, as discussed last week, the chances are slim. If the two parties form government, expect a referendum later in the year.

That spells trouble.

Italy could leave the Eurozone.

Italians have been ignored for too long. They are demanding change. The former socialist government, led by Matteo Renzi, kept raising taxes to pay the bills. It led to a major depression across the country. Europe’s third largest economy has been in a depression since 2012.

The Italian economy is an absolute mess. The unemployment rate has stayed above 11% for nearly six years. Youth unemployment stands around 35%.

It gets worse…

Italian banks have more than €270 billion (AU$424 billion) in non-performing loans. That’s about 30% of the entire Eurozone bad debt load. A bad loan, as you know, is debt that may never be repaid.

Luigi Di Maio wants to restructure the banking system. He wants to make it easier for banks to recover their bad loans. But good luck getting a cent from people who can’t buy bread. The problem is likely to get worse. An Italian bank could easily trigger the next sovereign debt crisis.

Could Italy’s nightmare be fueling the gold market?

Governments are bankrupt everywhere — not just in Italy. A banking collapse could set off a major crisis throughout Europe.

The European Central Bank (ECB) knows it…

For a decade, Mario Draghi, ECB Chairman, has kept interest rates at zero for that reason. He’s ‘cooking the books’ to avoid a crisis.

But the clock is ticking.

Draghi can’t print money or keep interest rates low forever. He can try. But it won’t work. Eventually, the market will wake up and smell a rat. Draghi is, therefore, trapped between a rock and a hard place. When the monetary policy officially changes in Europe, it’s pretty much lights out.

There’s literally no way to avoid a bigger financial crisis than 2008. That’s why you should take gold — and gold stocks — seriously today.

For more details, go here.

Regards,

Jason Stevenson,
Resources Analyst, Gold & Commodities Stock Trader

Jason Stevenson

Analyst at Markets & Money

Jason Stevenson is Markets and Money’s resource analyst. He shares over a decade’s worth of investing and trading experience across resource stocks and commodity futures and options.

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The post Europe’s Nightmare Awakening the Gold Bull? first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.