The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, November 19, 2018, Image 6

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The times., November 19, 2018, Image 6

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Newspaper Page Text6A Monday, November 19, 2018 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com WORLD MICHAEL SOHN I Associated Press German Chancellor Angela Merkel, left, and France’s President Emmanuel Macron, right, shake hands Sunday, Nov. 18, after a joint statement prior to a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany. French, German leaders approach issues similarly BY DAVID MCHUGH Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany — French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel consulted Sunday on migration, fixing the euro currency, Europe’s defense, taxing digital companies and other issues as the two leaders looked to preserve their influence abroad while their authority flags at home. Macron, who came to Berlin to take part in Germany’s national remembrance day for the victims of war and dictatorship, urged European government to seize more responsibility for their own fate, especially regarding defense. Macron said that the French-German alliance “is invested with this obligation not to allow the world to slide into chaos, and to accompany it on the road of peace.” He said that Europe can’t play its role “if it doesn’t take more responsibility for its defense and security and is con tent to play a secondary role on the international scene.” Macron looked ahead to the European Parliament elec tions in May, which will give populist and anti-EU parties another chance to test their appeal with voters. “We must do a great deal by May next year to achieve a more united, more sovereign and more efficient Europe, which we so urgently need,” he said. The two biggest coun tries in Europe can be a powerful force, but their leaders at the moment are hampered by falling domestic support. Macron has seen his poll ratings sag at home, where more than a quarter-million people protested Saturday over proposed gas tax hikes. Merkel has been a lame duck since saying she wouldn’t seek another term. Merkel has offered support for Macron’s proposal for a European army someday. Both leaders have said Europe needs to depend less on others — such as the U.S. — for its defense. U.S. President Donald Trump has unsettled NATO allies by demanding member countries either pay more for defense or “protect themselves,” as he put it in a recent tweet. However, ceremonial appearances and warm words offered ahead of a December summit on the euro can’t hide the persistent friction between the French and Ger man approaches to the European Union’s economic issues. Germany and France have apparently struck a deal on a common budget for the EU countries that use the shared euro currency, something Macron pushed for. German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz told the dpa news agency the proposal was to be presented to European finance ministers Monday. The size of the budget — mentioned by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire as 20 to 25 billion euros — is far short of Macron’s idea. The amount is only 0.2 percent of the eurozone economy, less than the several percentage points of gross domestic product originally mentioned by Macron. The compromise underscores German reluctance to sign off on anything seen as transferring taxpayer money from richer countries like Germany to more fiscally shaky ones such as Italy or Greece. The European summit in December is to take up lim ited proposals to strengthen the euro currency, such as upgrading the eurozone’s bailout fund and a long-term road map for introducing EU-level deposit insurance. The two sides can’t agree on a tax on digital companies such as Amazon and Google. ‘We must do a great deal by May next year to achieve a more united, more sovereign and more efficient Europe, which we so urgently need.’ Emmanuel Macron French president Tijuana protesters want migrant caravan to leave Photos by RODRIGO ABD I Associated Press Police stand guard to protect a migrant shelter Sunday, Nov. 18, as demonstrators protest the presence of thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. Protesters accused the migrants of being messy, ungrateful and a danger to Tijuana; complained about how the caravan forced its way into Mexico, calling it an “invasion,” and voiced worries that their taxes might be spent to care for the group as they wait possibly months to apply for U.S. asylum US processing about 100 asylum claims a day at border crossing Demonstrators with signs that read in Spanish: “No more Caravans”, and “Let’s save Tijuana, no more caravans,” stand under an statue of indigenous Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc Sunday, Nov. 18, to protest the presence of thousands of Central American migrants in Tijuana, Mexico. BY YESICA FISCH AND AMY GUTHRIE TIJUANA, Mexico — Hundreds of Tijuana resi dents congregated around a monument in an affluent section of the city south of California on Sunday to pro test the thousands of Central American migrants who have arrived via caravan in hopes of a new life in the U.S. Tensions have built as nearly 3,000 migrants from the caravan poured into Tijuana in recent days after more than a month on the road, and with many more months ahead of them while they seek asylum. The fed eral government estimates the number of migrants could soon swell to 10,000. U.S. border inspectors are processing only about 100 asylum claims a day at Tijuana’s main crossing to San Diego. Asylum seekers register their names in a tat tered notebook managed by migrants themselves that had more than 3,000 names even before the caravan arrived. On Sunday, displeased Tijuana residents waved Mexican flags, sang the Mexican national anthem and chanted “Out! Out!” in front of a statue of the Aztec ruler Cuauhtemoc, 1 mile from the U.S. border. They accused the migrants of being messy, ungrateful and a danger to Tijuana. They also complained about how the caravan forced its way into Mexico, calling it an “invasion.” And they voiced worries that their taxes might be spent to care for the group. “We don’t want them in Tijuana,” protesters shouted. Juana Rodriguez, a housewife, said the gov ernment needs to conduct background checks on the migrants to make sure they don’t have criminal records. A woman who gave her name as Paloma lambasted the migrants, who she said came to Mexico in search of handouts. “Let their gov ernment take care of them,” she told video reporters cov ering the protest. A block away, fewer than a dozen Tijuana residents stood with signs of support for the migrants. Keila Samarron, a 38-year-old teacher, said the protesters don’t represent her way of thinking as she held a sign saying: Childhood has no borders. Most of the migrants who have reached Tijuana via caravan in recent days set out more than a month ago from Honduras, a country of 9 million people. Dozens of migrants in the caravan who have been interviewed by Associated Press report ers have said they left their country after death threats. But the journey has been hard, and many have turned around. Alden Rivera, the Hon duran ambassador in Mex ico, told the AP on Saturday that 1,800 Hondurans have returned to their country since the caravan first set out on Oct. 13, and that he hopes more will make that decision. “We want them to RODRIGO ABD I Associated Press return to Honduras,” said Rivera. Honduras has a murder rate of 43 per 100,000 resi dents, similar to U.S. cit ies like New Orleans and Detroit. In addition to vio lence, migrants in the cara van have mentioned poor economic prospects as a motivator for their depar tures. Per capita income hovers around $120 a month in Honduras, where the World Bank says two out of three people live in poverty. The migrants’ expected long stay in Tijuana has raised concerns about the ability of the border city of more than 1.6 million people to handle the influx. While many in Tijuana are sympathetic to the migrants’ plight and trying to assist, some locals have shouted insults, hurled rocks and even thrown punches at them. The cold reception contrasts sharply with the warmth that accompanied the migrants in southern Mexico, where residents of small towns greeted them with hot food, campsites and even live music. Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum has called the migrants’ arrival an “avalanche” that the city is ill-prepared to handle, cal culating that they will be in Tijuana for at least six months as they wait to file asylum claims. Gastelum has appealed to the federal government for more assis tance to cope with the influx. Mexico’s Interior Ministry said Saturday that the fed eral government was flying in food and blankets for the migrants in Tijuana. Tijuana officials con verted a municipal gym nasium and recreational complex into a shelter to keep migrants out of public spaces. The city’s privately run shelters have a maxi mum capacity of 700. The municipal complex can hold up to 3,000. At the municipal shelter, Josue Caseres, 24, expressed dismay at the protests against the caravan. “We are fleeing violence,” said the entertainer from Santa Barbara, Honduras. “How can they think we are going to come here to be violent?” Some from the caravan have diverted to other bor der cities, such as Mexicali, a few hours to the east of Tijuana. U.S. President Donald Trump, who sought to make the caravan a campaign issue in the midterm elec tions, used Twitter on Sun day to voice support for the mayor of Tijuana and try to discourage the migrants from seeking entry to the U.S. Trump wrote that like Tijuana, “the U.S. is ill-pre pared for this invasion, and will not stand for it. They are causing crime and big prob lems in Mexico. Go home!” He followed that tweet by writing: “Catch and Release is an obsolete term. It is now Catch and Detain. Illegal Immigrants trying to come into the U.S.A., often proudly flying the flag of their nation as they ask for U.S. Asylum, will be detained or turned away.” Netanyahu takes on defense post amid call for early polls BY TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netan yahu said Sunday he would take on the defense minister portfolio, rejecting calls to dissolve his gov ernment even as early elections appeared increasingly likely. Netanyahu said heading to elec tions now, amid repeated violent confrontations with Gaza militants, was “irresponsible” of his coalition partners, who have been pushing for early polls since the resigna tion last week of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman over a Gaza cease-fire. “Today, I take on for the first time the position of defense min ister,” said Netanyahu, speaking from Israel’s defense headquar ters in Tel Aviv in a statement broadcast live at the top of the eve ning newscasts. “We are in one of the most com plex security situations and during a period like this, you don’t topple a government. During a period like ARIEL SCHALIT I Associated Press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement Sunday, Nov. 18, in Tel Aviv, Israel. this you don’t go to elections,” he said. The sudden coalition crisis was sparked by the resignation of the hawkish Lieberman, who had demanded a far stronger response last week to the most massive wave of rocket attacks on Israel since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war. He alleges the cease-fire agreement reached with Gaza’s Hamas rulers will put southern Israel under a growing threat from the group, similar to that posed to northern Israel by Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbol lah group. The departure of Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party leaves the coalition with a one-seat majority in the 120-member parlia ment. Netanyahu’s other partners say that makes governing unten able and would leave the coalition susceptible to the extortion of any single lawmaker until elections scheduled for November 2019. Education Minister Naftali Bennett, of the pro-settler Jewish Home party, has already threat ened to bring down the govern ment if he is not appointed defense minister. He and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, also of Jewish Home, are set to deliver a state ment to the media Monday. If the party leaves the coalition, it would strip Netanyahu of his parliamen tary majority. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, another senior partner, says another year of such instability will harm the economy. A meeting between him and Netanyahu Sun day meant to convince Kahlon to stay ended with no results. Netanyahu’s Likud allies are already preparing to pin the blame on coalition partners if the effort to salvage the government fails. “I think that there is no reason to shorten the term of a national government, not even for one day, and at this moment it’s in the hands of the education minister and the finance minister,” said Gilad Erdan, the minister of public security. No Israeli government has served out its full term since 1988. Since then, elections have almost always been moved up because of a coalition crisis or a strategic move by the prime minister to maximize his chances of re-election. Though Netanyahu has been reportedly flirting with the idea of moving up elections himself in recent months, the current timing is not ideal for him. He has come under heavy criticism for agreeing to the Gaza cease-fire, especially from within his own political base and in the working-class, rocket-battered towns in southern Israel that are typically strongholds of his Likud Party. But with Lieberman forc ing his hand and the other coali tion partners appearing eager to head to the polls he may not have a choice. Most opinion polls show Netan yahu easily securing re-election, which would secure him a place in Israeli history as the country’s longest serving leader. But several factors could trip him up, includ ing a potential corruption indict ment that could knock him out of contention. Police have recommended he be indicted on bribery and breach of trust charges in two cases and have questioned him at length on another. The country has long been eagerly awaiting the attorney gen eral’s decision on whether to press charges. Netanyahu has angrily dis missed the accusations against him, characterizing them as part of a media-driven witch-hunt that is obsessed with removing him from office.