MARSEILLE, FRANCE // Italy and France were embroiled in a new diplomatic row yesterday after trains were halted over French concerns that scores of Tunisian migrants were about to cross the border.
Ten trains, five scheduled services in each direction between Italy and the French Riviera, were cancelled before traffic resumed.
Eight days before the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, were due to meet in Rome, Paris firmly denied it had acted outside European law on free passage. But the denials did not stop some Italian nationalists calling for a retaliatory boycott of French products. Italy has granted temporary residence permits to more than 20,000 Tunisian migrants out of a total of about 26,000 who have arrived in the country since January to escape violence at home.
To the French, this is a cynical ploy designed to take advantage of the wishes of an overwhelming number of them to join friends or family in France and neighbouring countries to the north.
But Paris insisted it was state rail operator SNCF, acting in consultation with French regional administrators, that decided to halt cross-border trains. Officials cited public order rather than a direct attempt to prevent the Tunisians from entering France.
Up to 300 left-wing and human-rights activists had gathered in Ventimiglia, on the Italian side, intent on accompanying Tunisians on a "train of dignity" along the Mediterranean towards Marseille, which has a large Tunisian community. The French considered this a demonstration for which no authority had been given.
The French government has been watching events in Ventimiglia with growing consternation.
Mr Sarkozy's ministers are already struggling to convince a sceptical public, whose feelings have been ruthlessly exploited by Marine Le Pen's far-right, anti-immigration Front National (FN), that it is tough enough on the influx of foreigners.
Ms Le Pen has repeatedly warned that upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East would lead to a huge wave of refugees seeking to reach Europe. She is among French politicians who have beaten a path to the small Italian island of Lampedusa, where Tunisian refugees have arrived in boatloads since the wave of protests began in North Africa.
Last week, the French interior minister, Claude Guéant, was accused of pandering to FN scare mongering by announcing "as a first step" a 20,000 reduction, from 200,000, in the number of foreigners granted residential rights in France each year.
When Tunisian refugees began to head for Ventimiglia, local officials said they were anxious to prevent the development of a Franco-Italian equivalent of Sangatte, the northern French village to which streams of Asian and African refugees flocked intent on crossing to England.
France has said it will honour the Italian-issued permits only if immigrants can show they are able to support themselves financially.
Mr Sarkozy will be eager to press in his talks with Mr Berlusconi for a start, if not already made by then, to the joint sea-and-air patrols agreed between the two countries earlier this month. The declared aim is to prevent further immigrants from Tunisia, but also Egypt and Libya, from sailing to European destinations, including Lampedusa.
Paris and Rome clashed at the start of the Libyan conflict when some Italian politicians suggested French enthusiasm for military action was driven by hopes of securing future contacts with the anti-Qaddafi rebels if they seized power.
The Italian foreign minister, Franco Frattini, admitted in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica [CORR] said that the dispute on migrants represented a "shadow" over Franco-Italian relations. This had to be addressed "by reaffirming the willingness of Italy and France to work together as founding members of the European Union".
"The problem of immigration is becoming a bit like nuclear power," Mr Frattini said. "Everybody wants to talk about it, but nobody wants it in their garden."
He added that the permits handed out by the Italians were valid in France under the so-called Schengen rules covering free movement within the EU. Europe would "go nowhere if we erect walls between countries".
The Italian press strongly criticised the French measure to block trains, calling it "a slap from Paris to Rome".
But in its early analysis of events, the European Commission sided with France, saying there appeared to have been no breach of EU rules. France said it had suspended the movement of trains "to avoid any risk of incident" when faced by a convoy of demonstrators and Tunisian migrants wanting to cross the border.
The measure was "temporary" and "has not gone beyond the bare necessities", the Commission said. Francis Lamy, a French regional administrator in Nice, 40 kilometres from Ventimiglia, said that he had "no power to halt a train" but did have a duty to alert the rail operator when a risk to public order arose.
Among the hundreds of Tunisians who have headed to Ventimiglia, there is recognition that a warm welcome does not await them across the border.
"We thought France was our friend," said one young Tunisian earlier in the crisis. "Now we know differently."
crandall@thenational.ae
* Additional reporting from Associated Press.
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
You Were Never Really Here
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Starring: Joaquim Phoenix, Ekaterina Samsonov
Four stars
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
US federal gun reform since Sandy Hook
- April 17, 2013: A bipartisan-drafted bill to expand background checks and ban assault weapons fails in the Senate.
- July 2015: Bill to require background checks for all gun sales is introduced in House of Representatives. It is not brought to a vote.
- June 12, 2016: Orlando shooting. Barack Obama calls on Congress to renew law prohibiting sale of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.
- October 1, 2017: Las Vegas shooting. US lawmakers call for banning bump-fire stocks, and some renew call for assault weapons ban.
- February 14, 2018: Seventeen pupils are killed and 17 are wounded during a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.
- December 18, 2018: Donald Trump announces a ban on bump-fire stocks.
- August 2019: US House passes law expanding background checks. It is not brought to a vote in the Senate.
- April 11, 2022: Joe Biden announces measures to crack down on hard-to-trace 'ghost guns'.
- May 24, 2022: Nineteen children and two teachers are killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
- June 25, 2022: Joe Biden signs into law the first federal gun-control bill in decades.
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
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Company name: Alaan
Started: 2021
Based: Dubai
Founders: Parthi Duraisamy and Karun Kurien
Sector: FinTech
Investment stage: $7 million raised in total — $2.5 million in a seed round and $4.5 million in a pre-series A round
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: PlanRadar
Started: 2013
Co-founders: Ibrahim Imam, Sander van de Rijdt, Constantin Köck, Clemens Hammerl, Domagoj Dolinsek
Based: Vienna, Austria
Sector: Construction and real estate
Current number of staff: 400+
Investment stage: Series B
Investors: Headline, Berliner Volksbank Ventures, aws Gründerfonds, Cavalry Ventures, Proptech1, Russmedia, GR Capital
The biog
Place of birth: Kalba
Family: Mother of eight children and has 10 grandchildren
Favourite traditional dish: Al Harees, a slow cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled cracked or coarsely ground wheat mixed with meat or chicken
Favourite book: My early life by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah
Favourite quote: By Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father, “Those who have no past will have no present or future.”
Company Profile
Company name: Namara
Started: June 2022
Founder: Mohammed Alnamara
Based: Dubai
Sector: Microfinance
Current number of staff: 16
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Family offices
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Gold
Faisal Al Ketbi (Open weight and 94kg)
Talib Al Kirbi (69kg)
Omar Al Fadhli (56kg)
Silver
Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Khalfan Belhol (85kg)
Zayed Al Mansoori (62kg)
Mouza Al Shamsi (49kg women)
Bronze
Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi (Open and +94kg)
Saood Al Hammadi (77kg)
Said Al Mazroui (62kg)
Obaid Al Nuaimi (56kg)
Bashayer Al Matrooshi (62kg women)
Reem Abdulkareem (45kg women)
Pathaan
Director: Siddharth Anand
Stars: Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham
Rating: 3/5
The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 620hp from 5,750-7,500rpm
Torque: 760Nm from 3,000-5,750rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch auto
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh1.05 million ($286,000)
Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez
Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
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