Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to have strengthened her position at the head of her restive coalition on Friday after a hard-fought deal on migration following marathon talks with her European Union counterparts.
A deal on migration announced early on Friday made only vague pledges to strengthen external borders and to set up processing centres outside of the EU, but it appeared enough to placate her hardline coalition partners.
After disastrous elections last year, Mrs Merkel’s fragile coalition relies on the support of a Bavarian sister party, which demanded significant concessions at the talks in Brussels after threatening to close Germany’s borders to migrants. The move could have triggered the collapse of her three-month-old government as well as the EU's Schengen zone of free travel.
Hans Michelbach, deputy leader of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union, said Friday that he wanted to continue the partnership with Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats, to prevent the collapse of the coalition and likely new elections.
"We want to work together. The alliance … has absolute priority,” he told ARD television. He said the summit’s conclusions were a positive signal. “The question is about what's next for national borders and the integration of migrants in the next months."
Mr Michelbach’s comments came after European leaders struggled to overcome deep divisions on migration at a tense EU summit that dragged into the early hours on Friday.
The meeting in Brussels, dominated by a nine-hour dinner, underscored how Europe's 2015 spike in immigration continues to haunt the bloc despite a sharp drop in arrivals of people fleeing conflict and economic hardship in the Middle East and Africa.
It took place in an atmosphere of political crisis because of the pressure on Mrs Merkel and a new eurosceptic Italian government threatening to torpedo any deal that did not meet its demands.
A bleary-eyed Mrs Merkel, speaking to reporters at 5am tried to put a positive spin on the result, saying it was a good signal that leaders had been able to agree a common text on the controversial migration issue.
But she acknowledged that the bloc still had "a lot of work to do to bridge the different views."
"Italy is not alone anymore," said Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
French President Emmanuel Macron said European cooperation had "won the day".
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Read more:
EU leaders reach migration deal after all-night talks
Merkel's make or break deal on EU migration
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In a final statement full of convoluted language meant to satisfy the divergent views, the leaders agreed to set up joint asylum processing sites and restrict migrant moves within the bloc, but they made clear that virtually all of their pledges would be carried out on a "voluntary basis" by member states.
They also agreed to tighten their external border and increase financing for Turkey, Morocco and other North African states to prevent migration to Europe.
Diplomats described a tense, tortured meeting with small groups of leaders huddled together in a desperate bid to break the deadlock and avert the humiliation of heading home without having produced an agreement.
Early in the evening, Mrs Merkel and Mr Conte set aside 45 minutes for a chat, only to break it off after 20 minutes when the Italian leader rejected the German leader's overtures, according to diplomats.
Before the dinner clash over migration started, Mr Conte, head of a new government that includes the anti-establishment 5-Star movement and far-right League, refused to endorse a summit text on security and trade until other leaders had bowed to his demands to help Italy manage the Mediterranean arrivals.
That forced the summit chairman Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to cancel their pre-planned news conference.
"It is so toxic. They go into the room, clash, storm out, go back again, clash again. With no end in sight," said one exasperated diplomat as dawn approached.
"It's pure politics driving this, emotions are flying as high as back in 2015," another EU diplomat said.
Fewer than 45,000 migrants have made it to the European Union this year, according to United Nations data, a sharp drop from the tidal wave of 2015 when many thousands were entering on a daily basis.
But the political tremors are still being felt across Europe, with populist, anti-immigrant parties on the rise in many countries.
Ex-communist easterners led by Poland and Hungary are still refusing to accept a share of the new arrivals to alleviate the burden on countries like Italy and Greece.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16. first leg
Atletico Madrid v Juventus, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
TALE OF THE TAPE
Floyd Mayweather
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
- Record
Conor McGregor
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
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Brief scoreline:
Al Wahda 2
Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
Al Nassr 3
Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score)
Porto (0) v Liverpool (2), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
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England Test squad
Joe Root (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Dawid Malan, Jamie Porter, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes.
It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
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Dominic Rubin, Oxford
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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