Politics
Britain, China join forces against migrant smuggling gangs
BEIJING: Britain and China are set to sign a co-operation agreement on Thursday targeting supply chains used by migrant smugglers, Downing Street said, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Beijing.
Starmer arrived on Wednesday for the first visit by a British prime minister to China since 2018, seeking to promote what he called a “pragmatic” partnership with the Asian giant after years of fraught relations.
The issue of irregular migrants is highly sensitive for the Labour leader, who has promised to crack down on people smugglers and stem a wave of arrivals that has fuelled rising support for the far right.
Last year, nearly 42,000 migrants landed on England’s southern coast after making the perilous Channel crossing from northern France – the second-highest annual number.
“More than half of small boat engines used by people smugglers crossing the English Channel are manufactured in China,” a statement from Downing Street said, as Starmer is set to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The two leaders are due to meet for lunch in Beijing on Thursday, when Starmer will also sit down with Premier Li Qiang.
The agreement to be signed calls for intelligence sharing and “direct engagement with Chinese manufacturers” of boat parts to ensure they are not “being exploited by organised crime”, the statement said.
The deal also seeks to boost co-operation on combatting the trafficking of “highly potent and dangerous synthetic opioids such as nitazenes, known to be produced in China and exported to the UK”, it added.
On Wednesday, Starmer told a delegation of around 60 business leaders and cultural representatives accompanying him that “it is in our national interest to engage with China.”
He urged them to seize the “opportunities” offered by China and said the visit was “making history”.
“You’re part of the change that we’re bringing about,” Starmer said.
The trip has been lauded by Downing Street as a chance to boost trade and investment ties while raising thorny issues such as national security and human rights.
Starmer follows a string of Western leaders courting Beijing in recent weeks, pivoting from a mercurial United States.
Britain has faced a rift with its closest ally following President Donald Trump’s bid to seize Greenland and his brief threat of tariffs against the UK and other NATO allies.
- Congress leadership condemns Modi for ties, demands answers.
- Cites Modi’s meetings with Trump, Israel trip to allege connection.
- Govt denies any advisory role or meaningful contact with Epstein.
Freshly released files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have sparked attention after an email mentioning Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surfaced in the latest batch published by the US Department of Justice, drawing a sharp response from New Delhi.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday that one of the emails, attributed to Epstein, refers to Modi’s 2017 state visit to Israel — the first ever by an Indian prime minister.
The message claims Modi acted on Epstein’s advice during the trip, a suggestion Indian authorities have firmly rejected.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the only verifiable fact in the email is Modi’s official visit to Israel, calling the rest of the claims unfounded and misleading.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the remarks as the musings of a convicted criminal, saying there was no evidence of any meaningful contact or advisory role involving Modi and Epstein.
Despite the denial, opposition parties have cited the reference to press the government for an explanation.
Meanwhile, local media reported that the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, strongly criticised Prime Minister Modi, calling any alleged link with Epstein a matter of deep national shame.
Congress, in a recent statement, said Epstein wrote in an email that Modi took his advice before visiting Israel, claiming Modi “danced and sang” there for the benefit of the US president.
The party said Modi visited Israel from July 4 to 6, 2017, and that Epstein’s email was written three days after the trip.
It added that Modi had met then US President Donald Trump in June 2017, before the Israel visit, claiming this showed a long-standing and deep connection between Modi and Epstein.
The opposition party said the issue concerns national dignity and international credibility and that Modi must answer questions about what advice he took from Epstein and the meaning of the claims made in the email.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was jailed in 2008 for soliciting paid sex from a minor.
A fresh cache of files released on Friday related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contains documents that refer to numerous high-profile figures.
President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and British billionaire Richard Branson are among some of the people named in the documents.
- Congress leadership condemns Modi for ties, demands answers.
- Cites Modi’s meetings with Trump, Israel trip to allege connection.
- Govt denies any advisory role or meaningful contact with Epstein.
Freshly released files tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have sparked attention after an email mentioning Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi surfaced in the latest batch published by the US Department of Justice, drawing a sharp response from New Delhi.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday that one of the emails, attributed to Epstein, refers to Modi’s 2017 state visit to Israel — the first ever by an Indian prime minister.
The message claims Modi acted on Epstein’s advice during the trip, a suggestion Indian authorities have firmly rejected.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the only verifiable fact in the email is Modi’s official visit to Israel, calling the rest of the claims unfounded and misleading.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed the remarks as the musings of a convicted criminal, saying there was no evidence of any meaningful contact or advisory role involving Modi and Epstein.
Despite the denial, opposition parties have cited the reference to press the government for an explanation.
Meanwhile, local media reported that the main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, strongly criticised Prime Minister Modi, calling any alleged link with Epstein a matter of deep national shame.
Congress, in a recent statement, said Epstein wrote in an email that Modi took his advice before visiting Israel, claiming Modi “danced and sang” there for the benefit of the US president.
The party said Modi visited Israel from July 4 to 6, 2017, and that Epstein’s email was written three days after the trip.
It added that Modi had met then US President Donald Trump in June 2017, before the Israel visit, claiming this showed a long-standing and deep connection between Modi and Epstein.
The opposition party said the issue concerns national dignity and international credibility and that Modi must answer questions about what advice he took from Epstein and the meaning of the claims made in the email.
Epstein died by suicide in 2019 in a Manhattan jail while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. He was jailed in 2008 for soliciting paid sex from a minor.
A fresh cache of files released on Friday related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contains documents that refer to numerous high-profile figures.
President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and British billionaire Richard Branson are among some of the people named in the documents.
- Tasnim news agency rejects reports of IRCG official targeting.
- Iranian media says govt investigation cause of explosion.
- Blast comes amid heightened tensions Tehran and Washington.
An explosion occurred at Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, Iranian media reported, without giving a cause for the blast.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that social media reports alleging that a Revolutionary Guard navy commander was targeted in the explosion were “completely false”.
Iranian media said the blast was being investigated but gave no further information. Iranian authorities could not immediately be contacted for comment.
The port of Bandar Abbas lies on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway between Iran and Oman which handles about a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil.
The reported explosion comes amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington after Iranian the biggest protests to convulse the country in three years, and also amid ongoing Western concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme.
The nationwide protests erupted in December over economic hardship and posed one of the toughest challenges to the government.
At least 5,000 people were killed in the protests, including 500 members of the security forces, an Iranian official told Reuters.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said an “armada” was heading toward Iran. Multiple sources said on Friday that Trump was weighing options against Iran that include targeted strikes on security forces.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accused US, Israeli and European leaders of exploiting Iran’s economic problems, inciting unrest and providing people with the means to “tear the nation apart”.
Despite repeated threats of military action against Iran, Trump predicted that Tehran would seek to negotiate a deal rather than face American military action.
“I can say this, they do want to make a deal,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday.
Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to enter talks on its nuclear and missile programmes, Trump said “yeah, I have,” but refused to say what it was.
“We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading towards Iran right now,” Trump said, referring to a US naval carrier group in waters off Iran.
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