World News

A prominent German far-right lawmaker said Wednesday that he will dismiss an assistant who was arrested on suspicion of spying for China, but will remain the Alternative for Germany party's top candidate in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

Maximilian Krah's assistant, Jian Guo, was arrested Monday. Prosecutors accuse Guo — a German national who had worked for Krah since his election to the European Union legislature in 2019 — of working for a Chinese intelligence service and of repeatedly passing on information on negotiations and decisions in the European Parliament in January.

Prosecutors allege that he also snooped on Chinese dissidents in Germany. On Tuesday night, a judge ordered Guo held in custody pending a possible indictment.

GERMAN LAWMAKER'S AIDE ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF SPYING FOR CHINA IN EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The arrest cast an unflattering light on the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which already faced criticism for having Russia-friendly positions. The European Parliament elections will take place June 9 in Germany.

Krah said Wednesday he had held "a very friendly and constructive, but appropriately serious" meeting with the party's leaders. Now that Guo has been ordered kept in custody, "I will dismiss the employee concerned today," he said.

"I am very much interested in clearing this up, and will endeavor to find out what exactly he is accused of," Krah said, adding that his office would work to "reconstruct everything" Guo worked on.

Krah conceded that "the election campaign is, of course, being terribly overshadowed by this matter." He said that, as a result, he won't appear at AfD's official opening campaign rally Saturday in the southwestern town of Donaueschingen.

"But if you think this the end of me as the lead candidate, I must disappoint you," he told reporters. "I am and remain the top candidate; what this is about now is refocusing the election campaign on European issues and getting away from this very unpleasant matter."

Krah said there was no wrongdoing on his own part.

News of Guo's arrest came a day after three Germans suspected of spying for China and arranging to transfer information on technology with potential military uses were arrested in a separate case.

Also on Monday, British prosecutors said a former researcher working in the U.K. Parliament and another man were charged with spying for China.

European Union auditors said on Wednesday that they are unable to establish whether some of the billions of euros the bloc has given to Turkey to help it cope with Syrian refugees is actually having any impact.

Under a deal concluded between EU leaders and Turkey in 2016, the bloc committed to provide at least $6.4 billion to Turkey to help it cope with migrants crossing in from Syria. Turkey in turn committed to stop migrants leaving its territory for Europe.

16 DEAD, INCLUDING 4 CHILDREN, AFTER MIGRANT BOAT SINKS OFF THE COAST OF TURKEY

In March 2016, a month after the deal came into effect, Turkey’s government said the number of migrants crossing illegally into Greece had dropped from around 6,000 per day in November 2015 to about 130 daily.

In 2021, the leaders announced plans to send a further $3.2 billion for refugees in Turkey. The pact, which was hailed in Europe as a great success, served as a template for other more recent and elaborate deals with Tunisia and Egypt.

Money from the agreement is used to supply cash cards to some of the more than 4 million registered refugees, as well as to improve education and health, help people to better integrate and to build facilities in Turkey that people fleeing the war in Syria might need.

But the European Court of Auditors, or ECA, in a follow-up last year on whether the money was being used effectively, said that Turkey’s education ministry had refused to provide information that might allow them to assess what impact EU projects are having.

"I’m quite sure that European citizens would like to see some results coming out of the various development and humanitarian projects that the EU is funding," ECA member Bettina Jakobsen told reporters.

According to the European Commission, the bloc's executive branch, at least $566 million was destined to "support quality inclusive education of refugees in Turkey." It's meant to pay teacher salaries and provide education equipment, Turkish language and teacher training, as well as counselling and other guidance.

Auditors sought a list of the schools receiving EU support and the number of refugee pupils who are attending, as well as information on whether children who were not in education had been reintegrated into the school system and their exam pass rates, compared to Turkish students.

Without the data, Jakobsen underlined, "we are not able to conclude on measuring impact or sustainability" of the education projects underwritten by the EU.

Asked by The Associated Press what was preventing the auditors from getting the information from the education ministry, one EU auditor involved in the process said: "They just claimed that they didn’t have the data."

"We do know that data should normally exist," said the auditor, who under ECA regulations could not be named. "It’s not up to us to guess why or why not they don’t want to provide the data."

An ECA official noted that it is relatively rare for authorities to fail to cooperate with auditors.

The auditors and officials from the commission, which is responsible for ensuring that the bloc’s money is correctly spent, made joint and individual requests for the information, but without success.

The auditors were able to visit some schools, as well as hospitals, which benefit from EU funds and could see that the facilities were used by refugees and Turkish pupils and that teachers were working there.

In general, given the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, a major earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in February 2023, and Turkey's rampant inflation, the auditors found that the EU funding package "provided relevant support to refugees and host communities" in Turkey.

But Jakobsen also noted that auditors "found weaknesses in the commission’s assessment of project budgets" and said the EU’s executive branch "did not systematically assess whether project costs were reasonable or compare similar costs between different projects."

Argentina's libertarian President Javier Milei has tried to dismiss the worsening budget crisis at public universities as politics as usual, a contest with his leftist political rivals who hold sway over liberal campuses.

It does not feel that way to many of the students at the elite University of Buenos Aires, where halls went dark, elevators froze and air conditioning stopped working in some buildings last week. Professors taught 200-person lectures without microphones or projectors because the public university — among the best in Latin America — couldn't cover its electricity bill.

"This is an unthinkable crisis," said Valeria Añón, a 50-year-old literature professor protesting Milei's austerity measures in downtown Buenos Aires with thousands of others on Tuesday. "I feel so sad for my students and for myself."

JAVIER MILEI CRUSHES ARGENTINE LEFT, BECOMES WORLD'S FIRST LIBERTARIAN HEAD OF STATE

In his drive to reach zero deficit, Milei is slashing spending across Argentina — shuttering ministries, defunding cultural centers, laying off state workers and cutting subsidies. On Monday he had something to show for it, announcing Argentina’s first quarterly fiscal surplus since 2008.

"We are making possible the impossible even with the majority of politics, unions, the media and most economic actors against us," he said in a televised address.

Crowds of university students and professors walked out of class Tuesday in a massive display of defiance, joining thousands of demonstrators streaming into the city center. Some privately financed schools closed in solidarity. Protests also gripped other cities in Argentina. "The university will defend itself!" students shouted.

"We are trying to show the government it cannot take away our right to education," said Santiago Ciraolo, a 32-year-old student in social communication protesting Tuesday. "Everything is at stake here."

In a sign of the larger ideological battle at play, members of trade unions and left-wing parties also filled the streets. Describing universities as bastions of socialism where professors indoctrinate their students, Milei has accused his political enemies of fomenting discontent. "The cognitive dissonance that brainwashing generates in public education is tremendous," he said.

Since last July, when the fiscal year began, the 200-year-old University of Buenos Aires, or UBA, has received just 8.9% of its total budget from the state as annual inflation now hovers near 290%. The university says that's barely enough to keep lights on and provide basic services in teaching hospitals that have already cut capacity.

Declaring a financial emergency, UBA warned last week that without a rescue plan, the school would shut down in the coming months, stranding 380,000 students mid-degree. It's a shock for Argentines who consider a free and quality university education a national birthright. UBA has a proud intellectual tradition, having produced five Nobel Prize winners and 17 presidents.

"I've been given access to a future, to opportunities through this university that otherwise my family and many others at our income level could never afford," said Alex Vargas, a 24-year-old economics student. "When you step back, you see how important this is for our society."

President Milei came to power last December, inheriting an economy in shambles after years of chronic overspending and suffocating international debt. Brandishing a chainsaw during his campaign to symbolize slashing the budget, he repeats a simple catchphrase to compatriots reeling budget cuts and the peso’s 50% devaluation: "There is no money."

Overall, Argentina puts about 4.6% of its gross domestic product into education. Critics of the university system say the budget cuts also are an attempt to raise efficiency and increase fiscal transparency. Some want foreign students to start paying dues. Public universities are free not only for Argentines but also for international pupils, drawing legions of students from across Latin America, Spain and further afield.

"Where I'm from, high-quality education is unfortunately a privilege, not a basic right," said Sofia Hernandez, a 21-year-old from Bogota, Colombia studying medicine at UBA. "In Argentina there is a model that I wish more countries could have."

The government said late Monday it was sending some $24.5 million to public universities and another $12 million to keep medical centers operating. "The discussion is closed and settled," presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni said Tuesday.

University authorities disagreed, saying the promised transfer — which they still have not received — covers just a fraction of what they need. For UBA, that means a 61% annual budget cut, when accounting for inflation.

It also won't help the income of teachers who have seen their salary decline in value more than 35% in the past four months, said Matías Ruiz, UBA's treasury secretary. Staff salaries can be as low as $150 a month. Many teachers juggle multiple jobs just to scrape by, and they wonder if they'll get any salary all next month.

"This has a major impact on our research, on the projects and academic activities we're able to do," said Ines Aldao, a 44-year-old literature professor at UBA. "We've had funding and salary freezes under previous right-wing governments but these cuts are three times worse."

The angry laborers, professors and students snaking through the capital's streets just hours after Milei declared economic victory from his presidential palace put the government's precarious balancing act on vivid, split-screen display Tuesday.

"We are building a new era of prosperity in Argentina," Milei said in his national address. Boasting that Argentina had posted a quarterly fiscal surplus of 0.2% of gross domestic product, the president promised the public that the pain would pay off.

Two former United Nations employees in Montreal have been charged with participating in a conspiracy to sell Chinese-made drones and other military equipment in Libya, Canadian police said Tuesday.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Charles Poirier said the alleged offenses occurred between 2018 and 2021, when the two men were working at the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency headquartered in Montreal.

Police identified the two men as Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhaouek, 61, and Mahmud Mohamed Elsuwaye Sayeh, 37. Poirer said they violated U.N. sanctions related to the Libyan civil war. The sanctions have the force of law in Canada by way of federal regulation.

UN PLASTIC POLLUTION TREATY TALKS APPROACH DEADLINE IN CANADA

"What we found is that through some shell companies, they attempted to sell this Chinese military equipment to Libya, which is a direct violation of the regulation," Poirier said, adding that the military equipment included large drones that can carry multiple missiles.

Poirier said the regulation prohibits anyone in Canada from supplying military equipment to any of the factions that were fighting in the Libyan civil war, or helping to finance those groups. The alleged conspiracy, he said, would have benefited one of the two main factions in the conflict, which ended in 2020.

"The second part of this scheme was to export Libyan oil to China," Poirier said. "So at the time, the oil fields were under the control of Gen. Khalifa Hifter and the plan was to sell millions of drums of crude oil to China without anyone knowing about it."

Hifter's self-styled Libyan National Army fought against Libya’s U.N.-backed government and held much of the country’s east during the civil war; he continues to be a powerful figure in that region.

Poirier said Mhaouek, a Canadian citizen, was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in the Montreal suburb of Ste-Catherine, Que., and was scheduled to appear in a Montreal court later in the day.

Mhaouek’s alleged accomplice remains on the run. An Interpol red notice — an alert sent to police around the world — and a Canada-wide warrant have been issued for Sayeh’s arrest.

Poirier said investigators have no indication that military equipment or crude oil ever reached their alleged final destinations, but he said if they had, the two co-conspirators stood to gain several million dollars in commissions.

"The theory behind the motivation is primarily financial," he said. However, it would have also benefited China by allowing it to covertly support Hifter's faction and by giving the country prime access to Libyan oil.

Poirier said the investigation began in 2022 after the RCMP received what he described as "credible intelligence."

Both men had diplomatic immunity due to their work with the U.N. Their immunity had to be waived by ICAO before the two men could be charged.

The U.N. organization, which sets international aviation standards, has been collaborating with the police investigation.

"There’s no indication that ICAO was aware of the conspiracy until they were approached by us," Poirier said.

Police don’t know where Sayeh, a Libyan national, may be.

"He could be in Libya, but with the level of influence and the networking that these men had working at ICAO, he could be anywhere," Poirier said.

The UN’s civil aviation agency said in an emailed statement that it is committed to upholding Canadian laws, U.N. standards and its own ethics code.

"ICAO is fully cooperating with the RCMP investigation of the individuals involved in the complaint, who left the organization a number of years ago," the agency said. "ICAO strongly condemns any actions of individuals that are inconsistent with the organization’s values."

Armenia and Azerbaijan on Tuesday came a step closer toward normalizing relations after a bitter conflict over territory, as experts in both countries worked to demarcate their boundaries and the first border marker was placed.

The two nations are working toward a peace treaty after Azerbaijan regained full control of the Karabakh province that had been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since the 1990s. A six-week war in 2020 resulted in Azerbaijan retaking large parts of the breakaway region, and in September 2023, Azerbaijani forces launched a lighting blitz that forced Karabakh's Armenian authorities to capitulate in negotiations mediated by Russian forces.

ARMENIAN VICTIMS GROUP ASKS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO INVESTIGATE GENOCIDE CLAIM

Several days ago, Armenia and Azerbaijan reached an agreement over a stretch of border that would cut through four Armenian villages in the Tavush province, meaning that Armenia would cede some territory to Azerbaijan.

Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities on Tuesday announced that the first border marker was installed. It wasn’t immediately clear where exactly it was placed.

In Armenia, protests erupted, and demonstrators blocked roads in the northeastern region that the proposed border would run through. They also set up roadblocks along two key routes elsewhere in the country, including one leading to neighboring Georgia. Photos carried by Armenian and Russian media showed cars and trucks lining country lanes as protesters stood in groups around them.

And yet, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said Baku and Yerevan were edging closer to a common understanding of what a peace agreement might look like.

"We are close and maybe closer than ever before (to signing a peace agreement)," Aliyev said.

Last month, Armenia’s prime minister said the Caucasus nation needs to quickly define the border with Azerbaijan to avoid a new round of hostilities. Many residents of Armenia’s border regions have resisted the demarcation effort, seeing it as Azerbaijan’s encroachment on areas they consider their own.

Earlier this month, Russia began withdrawing its forces from Karabakh, where they have been stationed as peacekeepers under a truce brokered by Moscow that ended the 2020 war.

The peacekeepers’ duties included ensuring free passage on the sole road connecting Karabakh with Armenia. But Azerbaijan began blocking the road in late 2022, alleging Armenians were using it for weapons shipments and to smuggle minerals, and the Russian forces did not intervene.

After months of increasingly dire food and medicine shortages in Karabakh due to the blockade, Azerbaijan launched its offensive last year.

After Azerbaijan regained full control of Karabakh, the vast majority of its nearly 120,000 population fled to Armenia, although Azerbaijan said they were welcome to stay and promised their human rights would be ensured.

Armored vehicles roll slowly past Haiti’s National Palace as police scan the horizon for gangs. Every day, bullets whiz past the area, striking buildings and people alike.

Gangs control most of the territory that surrounds the palace, but a transitional council charged with selecting a new prime minister and Cabinet for Haiti is demanding that its members be sworn in at the palace.

HAITI'S HEALTH SYSTEM PUSHED TO THE BRINK OF COLLAPSE BY RAMPANT GANG VIOLENCE

The ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday even as officials scramble to impose tight security measures, according to two high-ranking regional officials with knowledge of the matter who asked that their names be withheld because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The push to hold the ceremony at the palace is considered by some a show of force to suggest the Haitian government is still in charge despite marauding gangs who have previously attacked the palace and have promised to derail the ceremony as a daily barrage of gunfire persists in downtown Port-au-Prince.

"No one out here is safe," said Josil Djaimeska, 33, as he waved his hand in reference to the sprawling public park known as Champ de Mars where he sat Tuesday morning near the palace.

Just steps from where he sat, a stray bullet struck Djaimeska late last week. The bullet is still in his calf, and he’s hoping a doctor will operate on him soon.

Shortly after he spoke, a pop-pop-pop of gunfire erupted briefly nearby.

More than 2,500 people were killed or wounded across Haiti from January to March, a more than 50% increase compared with the same period last year, according to a recent U.N. report. Much of the violence is concentrated in Port-au-Prince.

In a speech Monday at the U.N. Security Council, María Isabel Salvador, the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, said the council’s priorities should include a plan for near-term security.

"Gang leaders and other spoilers have stated their intention to violently disrupt the current political process," she said. "I cannot stress enough the need to assist Haiti with its efforts to reestablish security."

While gangs have long operated in Haiti, they now control 80% of Port-au-Prince, and the coordinated attacks launched starting Feb. 29 have paralyzed the capital and beyond. They have burned police stations and hospitals, opened fire on the main international airport that remains closed since early March and stormed Haiti’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates.

"I am 63 years old and this is the first time I see something like this in Port-au-Prince," said Renoir Auxil, who now lives in an abandoned bathroom in the Champ de Mars park after gangs raided his neighborhood.

He said the ongoing violence should not deter Haiti from moving forward.

"Whatever the circumstance is, they have to swear in the council," he said.

The transitional council consists of nine members, seven of them with voting powers. Those awarded a seat are Petit Desalin, a party led by former senator and presidential candidate Jean-Charles Moïse; EDE/RED, a party led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; the Montana Accord, a group of civil society leaders, political parties and others; Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; the Jan. 30 Collective, which represents parties including that of former President Michel Martelly, and the private sector.

As preparations to install the council continue, sporadic gunfire broke out several times near the National Palace on Tuesday.

It’s a sound that hundreds of people who were forced to flee their homes and are now living in a makeshift shelter close to the palace have gotten used to. But they are still talking about the shooting that occurred Sunday. One of their own was hit in the back by a stray bullet in the yard of the shelter while buying spaghetti.

The man remains hospitalized and requires surgery, said Chesnel Joseph, 46, director of the shelter, which previously housed Haiti’s Ministry of Communications.

Joseph once worked as a math teacher, but since nearly all schools in Port-au-Prince have closed as a result of the violence, he is now unemployed.

Regional officials told The Associated Press that swearing in the council at the National Palace is considered too risky and that they are urging members to choose a safer venue.

While the venue of the ceremony is still being debated, some Haitians like Marie-André Blain, 46, doubt it will be held at the palace.

"There is no security in this country. You just basically pray to God," she said. "If the higher ranks aren’t safe, we ourselves aren’t safe."

Officials at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Tuesday unveiled a new security baggage system and a dedicated baggage handling area ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The new equipment includes a revamped scanner system to allow a more detailed scan of passengers’ baggage, so that travelers won’t have to remove items such as electronic devices, aerosols or liquids from their bags.

STOWAWAY FROM ALGERIA FOUND BARELY ALIVE AT PARIS AIRPORT

"If we have doubts about a piece of luggage, the luggage won’t leave," said Edward Arkwright, CEO of Aéroports de Paris Group, the body that runs Paris’ airports. "We prefer an athlete to leave without their luggage rather than leaving (with something) questionable."

As the first gateway to the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, Charles de Gaulle Airport expects to process over 114,000 baggage from delegations and the media and will receive an estimated 47,000 pieces of sports equipment.

The airport also unveiled the "baggage factory," a dedicated space covering 10,000 square meters to process equipment and luggage of the athletic delegations leaving the airport following the closing ceremony.

"The biggest challenge is the oversized luggage," said Sébastien Malaussene, the airport’s project manager. "Athletes travel with all their sports equipment and they are not your average passenger bringing up to four, five bags. They have sports items, many of which are oversized."

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led government scored a victory Tuesday with the Senate approving a law allowing anti-abortion groups access to women considering ending their pregnancies. The development revives tensions around the issue of abortion in Italy, 46 years after it was legalized in the overwhelmingly Catholic country.

The Senate, where the government has a majority, voted 95-68, giving final approval to legislation tied to European Union COVID-19 recovery funds that included an amendment sponsored by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party.

MARCHERS IN ROME PROTEST ITALY'S ALLOWING ABORTION

The law, already passed by the lower Chamber of Deputies, allows regions to permit groups "with a qualified experience supporting motherhood" to have access to public support centers where women who are considering abortions go to receive counseling.

For the right, the amendment merely fulfills the original intent of the 1978 law legalizing abortion, known as Law 194, which includes provisions to prevent the procedure and support motherhood.

For the left-wing opposition, it chips away at abortion rights that opponents had warned would follow Meloni’s 2022 election.

"The government should realize that they keep saying they absolutely do not want to boycott or touch Law 194, but the truth is that the right-wing opposes women’s reproductive autonomy, fears women’s choices regarding motherhood, sexuality, and abortion," Cecilia D’Elia, a Democratic Party senator, said at a protest this week against the legislation.

Under the 1978 law, Italy allows abortion on request in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, or later if a woman’s health or life is in danger. It provides for publicly funded counseling centers to advise pregnant women of their rights and services offered if they want to terminate the pregnancies.

But easy access to abortion isn't always guaranteed. The law allows health care personnel to register as conscientious objectors and refuse to perform abortions, and many have — meaning women sometimes have to travel far to have the procedure.

Meloni, who campaigned on a slogan of "God, fatherland and family," has insisted she won’t roll back the 1978 law and merely wants to implement it fully. But she has also prioritized encouraging women to have babies to reverse Italy’s demographic crisis.

Italy’s birthrate, already one of the lowest in the world, has been falling steadily for about 15 years and reached a record low last year with 379,000 babies born. Meloni’s conservative forces, backed strongly by the Vatican, have mounted a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033, a rate that demographers say is necessary to prevent the economy from collapsing under the weight of Italy's aging population.

Meloni has called the left-wing opposition to the proposed amendment "fake news," recalling that Law 194 provides for measures to prevent abortions, which would include counselling pregnant women about alternatives. The amendment specifically allows anti-abortion groups, or groups "supporting motherhood," to be among the volunteer groups that can work in the counseling centers.

"I think we have to guarantee a free choice," Meloni said recently. "And to guarantee a free choice you have to have all information and opportunities available. And that’s what the Law 194 provides."

The new tensions over abortion in Italy come against the backdrop of developments elsewhere in Europe going somewhat in the opposite direction. France marked International Women's Day by inscribing the guaranteed right to abortion into its constitution. Last year, overwhelmingly Catholic Malta voted to ease the strictest abortion laws in the EU. Polish lawmakers moved forward with proposals to lift a near-total ban on abortion enacted by the country's previous right-wing government.

At the same time, Italy's left fears the country might go the way of the U.S., where states are restricting access after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down landmark legislation that had guaranteed access to abortion nationwide.

Elly Schlein, head of Italy's opposition Democratic Party, told a conference on women on Tuesday that the country needs to establish an obligatory percentage of doctors willing to perform abortions in public hospitals, "otherwise these rights remain on paper only."

Skies over southern Greece turned an orange hue on Tuesday as dust clouds blown across the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa engulfed the Acropolis and other Athens landmarks.

Strong southerly winds carried the dust from the Sahara Desert, giving the atmosphere of the Greek capital a Martian-like filter in the last hours of daylight.

WILDFIRE RESPONSE PLANS OVERHAULED IN GREECE AHEAD OF SUMMER FIRE SEASON

The skies are predicted to clear on Wednesday as winds shift and move the dust, with temperatures dipping. On Tuesday, the daily high in parts of the southern island of Crete topped 86 degrees Fahrenheit, more than 68 degrees higher than what was registered in much of northern Greece.

The strong southerly winds over the past few days have also fanned unseasonal early wildfires in the country's south.

The fire service said Tuesday evening that a total 25 wildfires broke out across the country in the past 24 hours. Three people were arrested on the Aegean Sea resort island of Paros on suspicion of accidentally starting a scrub blaze on Monday, it added. No significant damage or injuries were reported, and the fire was quickly contained.

Another blaze that broke out on Crete near a naval base was brought under control Tuesday.

Greece suffers devastating, and often deadly, forest blazes every summer, and last year the country recorded the European Union's largest wildfire in more than two decades. Persistent drought combined with high spring temperatures has raised fears of a particularly challenging period for firefighters in the coming months.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said she was confident water quality in the River Seine will be up to Olympic standards this summer — and that she’ll be able to prove it by swimming there, possibly alongside President Emmanuel Macron.

The Seine is the venue for marathon swimming at the Games and the swimming leg of the Olympic and Paralympic triathlons.

AHEAD OF OLYMPIC GAMES, PARIS GRAPPLES WITH SECURITY, TRANSPORTATION PREPARATIONS

Asked Tuesday about whether she’ll meet her promise to swim in the Seine before the Games, Hidalgo said "for sure, because water quality will be good."

For decades, the Seine was too toxic for most fish and for swimmers, useful mainly as a waterway to transport goods and people or as a watery grave for discarded bicycles and other trash. Swimming in the Seine has, with some exceptions, been illegal since 1923.

Hidalgo mentioned new facilities that have been specially built to clean up the river, whose water quality was recently denounced by an environmental group.

A water treatment plant in Champigny-sur-Marne, east of Paris, was inaugurated Tuesday.

Next week will see the official opening of a huge storage basin meant to reduce the need to spill bacteria-laden wastewater into the Seine untreated when it rains. The giant hole dug next to Paris’ Austerlitz train station will hold the equivalent of 20 Olympic swimming pools of dirty water that will now be treated rather than being spat raw through storm drains into the river.

Hildago said she had invited top officials to swim in the Seine at an event dubbed "the big dive" to be staged at the end of June or beginning of July. Macron, who himself promised to swim in the river, has been invited, she confirmed, as well as Paris Olympics organizers and IOC president Thomas Bach.

"We’re going to dive into the Seine, and many volunteers have already come forward to come and dive with me and all the athletes who will be there," Hidalgo said. "We’ll all be safe to swim in the Seine."

Marc Guillaume, the Paris regional prefect, earlier this month dismissed a recent NGO report about poor water quality, saying it was based on testing during the winter, when no one was swimming in the Seine.

Water quality must be good enough for swimming during the Games and, from 2025, in the summer, because the city plans to open some areas to the public. However, swimming out of season will remain illegal.

The estimated cost of the Seine cleanup efforts amount to $1.5 billion, paid by the state and local authorities.

Guillaume said routine water testing will start on June 1 when all the new treatment facilities are operational. During the Olympics, water will be tested at 3 a.m. each day and determine whether to hold events as planned, he detailed.

Olympics organizers said if pollution levels were too high, events could be rescheduled and in the worst-case scenario, the swimming section of the triathlon would be canceled.

In a recent report, the Surfrider Foundation called the Seine "a particularly polluted spot" after it monitored bacteria levels for over six months. The group concluded that athletes "will be swimming in polluted water and taking significant risks to their health."

The Paris mayor's news conference on Tuesday was meant to unveil cultural and sports celebrations to be staged on 26 sites across Paris during the summer.

"We are working together to ensure that the party is beautiful," Hidalgo said, adding that security is the authorities' top concern.

Around 30,000 police officers are expected to be deployed each day during the Games, with 45,000 working during the opening ceremony on the Seine.

"We work ... with a lot of professionalism and determination so that never, ever the issue of security finally comes to prevent our freedom to be able to live together," Hidalgo said.

A legal challenge over the British government's role in allowing weapons to be sent to Israel can be heard at the High Court later this year, a judge said Tuesday.

Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq and the U.K.-based Global Legal Action Network filed the challenge in December, calling for the U.K. to stop granting licenses for arms exports to Israel. They said they acted after Britain’s government ignored their written requests to suspend arms sales to Israel following the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the Israeli-Hamas war.

OUTRAGE AT PRO-HAMAS PROTEST AS LONDON COP THREATENS MAN WITH ARREST FOR 'OPENLY JEWISH' APPEARANCE

The case had been dismissed in February, but a High Court judge on Tuesday granted a judicial review hearing for it in October.

Lawyers for the human rights groups argued there was a "clear risk" that the weapons "might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law" in Gaza.

But lawyer James Eadie, representing the U.K. Department for Business and Trade, said the issue is considered "with conspicuous care and thoroughness."

"The secretary of state’s position is that those decisions have at all times been lawful and, in particular, rational," he said in a written submission.

Rights groups have long opposed British arms exports to Israel, but such calls have gained ground since an Israeli airstrike killed seven aid workers from the aid charity World Central Kitchen on April 1. Three of the aid workers were British.

Earlier this month more than 600 British lawyers and judges, including three retired judges from the U.K. Supreme Court, joined calls for the government to suspend arms sales to Israel.

They said the U.K. could be complicit in "grave breaches of international law" if it continues to ship weapons, and that it is legally obliged to heed the International Court of Justice’s conclusion that there is a "plausible risk of genocide" in Gaza.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade nonprofit group says British industry, namely BAE Systems, provides about 15% of the components in the F-35 stealth combat aircraft used by Israel. The group alleges that the jets were used in recent bombardment of Gaza.

"The U.K. government has stretched legal reasoning to the point of absurdity in order to arm a country that is committing grave violations of international humanitarian law," said Dearbhla Minogue, a senior lawyer at the Global Legal Action Network.

"The government seems to be making this process as painstakingly slow as possible," Minogue added. "Given the urgency of the situation in Gaza, the government should listen to the international legal consensus and halt weapons sales now."

Moroccan officials want to turn the country into an aviation hub, luring investors aiming to spread out their supply chains to more nations with available and affordable workers.

The North African kingdom is among a longer list of countries vying for contracts with big manufacturers looking to speed up production and deliver more planes to meet demand. Companies like Boeing and Airbus — as well as the manufacturers that build their components — are outsourcing design, production and maintenance to countries from Mexico to Thailand.

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In Morocco, efforts to grow the country's $2 billion-a-year aerospace industry are part of a years-long push to transform the largely agrarian economy through subsidizing manufacturers of planes, trains and automobiles. Officials hope it dovetails with efforts to grow Moroccan airlines, including the state-owned Royal Air Maroc.

"The needs are huge and we are in a very good position," said Hamid Abbou, the airline's CEO. "Most of the big suppliers in Europe are struggling to get people to work in this industry. We don’t have that issue."

Despite hopes among its cheerleaders, the air travel industry faces headwinds. When demand rebounded after much air traffic stopped during the pandemic, manufacturers faced challenges building enough planes to meet demand from airlines. For Boeing, delays caused by supply chain issues were compounded by high-profile emergencies and deadly crashes that further curtailed deliveries.

From eastern Europe to southeast Asia, new levels of demand have forced manufacturers to seek out new locations to build and repair parts.

Safran Aircraft Engines, a French manufacturer, sends engines for Boeing 737s and Airbus 320s to a repair plant outside of Casablanca every six to eight years and then sends them back to airlines from countries including Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The company is among 130 in the sector active in Morocco, where parts ranging from wings to fuselages are produced in an industry that employs 42% women — a proportion that industry lobbyists say is larger than its European and North American manufacturing industry counterparts.

Though many companies eye Morocco as a source for comparatively cheap labor, the industry and government have worked to train skilled workers at IMA, an institute for aeronautics professions in Casablanca.

At an event celebrating Safran's 25-year partnership with Royal Air Maroc, Safran CEO Jean-Paul Alary said he hoped Morocco's aviation industry would continue to expand, particularly as industrywide demand increases and companies face labor shortages in Europe.

"It’s the access to well-qualified talent that's been well-trained," Alary said of Morocco. "They are the key players for achieving our goals."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian missile strike that smashed a prominent skyline television tower in Kharkiv was part of the Kremlin’s effort to intimidate Ukraine’s second-largest city, which in recent weeks has come under increasingly frequent attack.

The strike sought to "make the terror visible to the whole city and to try to limit Kharkiv’s connection and access to information," Zelenskyy said in a Monday evening address.

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The northeastern Kharkiv region straddles the approximately 600-mile front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in battle for more than two years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The front line has changed little during a war of attrition, focused mostly on artillery, drones and trenches.

Since late March, Russia has stepped up the pressure on Kharkiv, apparently aiming to exploit Ukraine’s shortage of air defense systems. It has pounded the local power grid and hit apartment blocks.

On Monday, a Russian Kh-59 missile struck Kharkiv’s 820-foot-high TV tower, breaking it roughly in half and halting transmissions.

A Washington think tank said Russia may be eyeing a ground assault on Kharkiv.

"The Kremlin is conducting a concerted air and information operation to destroy Kharkiv City, convince Ukrainians to flee, and internally displace millions of Ukrainians ahead of a possible future Russian offensive operation against the city or elsewhere in Ukraine," the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment.

The expected arrival in Ukraine in coming weeks of new military aid from its Western partners possibly has prompted Russia to escalate its attacks before the help arrives, the ISW said, adding that trying to capture Kharkiv would be "a significant challenge" for the Kremlin’s forces.

Instead, the Russian military command "may attempt to destroy Kharkiv City with air, missile, and drone strikes and prompt a large-scale internal displacement of Ukrainian civilians," it said.

The U.S. Senate was returning to Washington on Tuesday to vote on $61 billion in war aid to Ukraine after months of delays. Zelensky said U.S. President Joe Biden assured him the aid would include long-range and artillery capabilities.

"Four priorities are key: defense of the sky, modern artillery, long-range capacity, and to ensure that packages of American aid arrive as soon as possible," Zelenskyy said.

Also Tuesday, Britain pledged $620 million in new military supplies for Ukraine, including 400 vehicles, 60 boats, 1,600 munitions and 4 million rounds of ammunition.

The shipment will also include British Storm Shadow long-range missiles, which have a range of about 150 miles and have proven effective at hitting Russian targets, the British government said.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke with Zelenskyy on Tuesday morning to confirm the new assistance. He announces the aid during a visit to Warsaw later in the day where he was meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Less cheering news came from the European Union, however. EU countries that have Patriot air defense systems gave no clear sign Monday that they might be willing to send them to Ukraine, which is desperately seeking at least seven of the missile batteries.

Ukraine’s army is also heavily outnumbered in the fight, and expanding the country’s mobilization has been a delicate issue.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Tuesday signaled that authorities plan to clamp down on young men of conscription age who have moved abroad, with details of the specific measures to be made public soon.

"Staying abroad does not relieve a citizen of his or her duties to the homeland," Kuleba said on the social media platform X.

Meanwhile, Russia launched 16 Shahed drones and two Iskander-M ballistic missiles over Ukraine’s southern and central regions, the Ukrainian air force said Tuesday morning. It said all but one of the drones were intercepted.

In Odesa, an overnight attack injured nine people, regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said. Among those injured were two infants and two children aged nine and 12, Kiper said. City mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said 58 apartments in 22 buildings were damaged.

In other developments:

A Russian missile strike near Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, injured four people who were admitted to hospital, regional Gov. Serhii Lysak said.

Russian forces dropped a guided aerial bomb in Kostiantynivka, a city in the eastern Donetsk region, injuring five people who were riding in a car, police said. Two of them were in critical conditions.

An Australian hospital urged snakebite victims to stop trying to catch the slithery culprits when seeking medical attention after one patient came in carrying a serpent in a loosely locked box.

"We honestly don't want people interacting with snakes any more than they already have," Dr. Adam Michael, director of emergency medicine at Bundaberg Hospital near Brisbane, told the Australian Broadcast Company. "Any attempts to either get close to a snake to catch or to kill, or to photograph the snake, just puts people at risk."

About 3,000 people suffer suspected snakebites each year in Australia, according to the National Institutes of Health. Only between 100 and 200 cases end up requiring anti-venom. 

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Michael related how one victim brought an eastern brown snake with them, carrying the serpent in a plastic food container that was "not very well secured." The snake tried to get out, which ended up frightening hospital staff.

He also cited examples of patients bringing in snakes contained in plastic bags and even less-secured plastic containers. The hospital then had to pay for the snakes to be relocated to the wild. 

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"We want people to be able to get seen and assessed quickly and having a live snake in the department slows up that process," Michael said, assuring that doctors do not need to see and identify the snake in order to treat poisonous bites. 

"We can determine if you need anti-venom and if so, what anti-venom you need based on clinical signs, blood tests and also the snake venom detection kits that we keep here at the hospital," Michael stressed. "We're actually not trained to identify snakes, and so it's not helpful. It just puts the staff at risk as well as yourself."

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Instead, Michael asked patients to focus on their wound and receiving treatment: Stay calm, avoid cleaning the affected area and apply firm pressure while seeking medical attention as soon as possible, according to The Guardian.

The Wide Bay Hospital & Health Service, which oversees operations of the Bundaberg Hospital, posted further guidelines on Facebook: Avoid washing the area, firmly bandage it, immobilize the limb to slow the spread of venom, mark the bandage to show where the bite is and continue to hold pressure – tight enough to slow the spread but not enough to cut off circulation. 

"Applying a tourniquet, cutting the wound, sucking the venom or bringing the snake with you to emergency are not recommended," the post warned. "We understand that being bitten by a snake is scary, but all facilities across our health service hold stocks of polyvalent and are well-prepared to treat snake bites."

North Korea’s missile test on Monday was in fact a drill to test nuclear force preparedness, according to local media. 

The incident raised alarms around the region after several short-range ballistic missiles were launched near Pyongyang and flew approximately 185 miles before falling in the waters between the Korean Peninsula and Japan. 

The drill’s main purpose, however, was to "demonstrate the reliability, superiority, might and diverse means" of the country’s nuclear forces and the Haekbangashoe system that serves as "a clear warning signal to the enemies" of North Korea, according to the Pyongyang Times. 

The Haekbangashoe system, which means "nuclear trigger," included the maneuver of troops into a "counterattack posture" that aimed at "substantially strengthening the prompt counterattack capacity of the state nuclear force." 

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North Korea launched missiles from at least four launch vehicles that delivered a single firing salvo against an island within a 220-mile range, the U.S. Naval Institute reported. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly oversaw the drill, which occurred as the U.S. and South Korea started a combined joint formation drill at Kunsan Air Base, which commenced on April 12 and is expected to end April 26. He reportedly likened the weapon system to "the firing of a sniper’s rifle." 

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff claimed that any reports of such accuracy or capabilities of its weapons system were likely exaggerated, and that South Korea’s military could detect and intercept any weapons. 

US INTENDS TO MONITOR NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH OR WITHOUT UN, AMBASSADOR SAYS

To combat North Korea’s aggressive pursuit of nuclear preparedness, Washington, Tokyo and Seoul agreed to a system of real-time missile data-sharing, which would allow the three countries to monitor Pyongyang’s launches, according to Newsweek. 

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the launch "does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies," stressing instead the "destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s illicit weapons program." 

Local media accused the two allies of inciting "war fever" in the region that was a "confrontation racket" against the hermit kingdom "with extremely provocative and aggressive nature."  

"The event will highlight the ROK-U.S. Alliance by demonstrating lethality in the air domain, and enhancing its ability to deter, defend, and defeat any adversary," the United States Air Force said in a press release. 

US INTENDS TO MONITOR NORTH KOREAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS WITH OR WITHOUT UN, AMBASSADOR SAYS

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that North Korea launched at least one ballistic missile that flew 155 miles at a maximum altitude of about 30 miles. He also said the missile tests threaten the peace and safety of Japan, the region and the international community.

North Korea in 2022 declared itself an "irreversible" nuclear weapons state and adopted a doctrine that authorizes the military to launch preemptive nuclear strike if the country’s leadership determines it is under threat, according to the Arms Control Association. 

Kim declared that he would never give up any nuclear weapons or negotiate any denuclearization, confirming suspicions that many experts and leaders had held for years. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Spain on Tuesday approved a plan aimed at making reparation and economic compensation for victims of sex abuses committed by people connected to the Catholic Church.

It also announced the future celebration of a public act of recognition for those affected and their families.

The Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, said the plan was based on recommendations in a report by Spain's Ombudsman last year. From that report he said it was concluded that some 440,000 adults may have suffered sex abuse in Spain by people linked to the church and that roughly half of those cases were committed by clergy.

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Bolaños said the compensation would be financed by the church.

But in a statement Tuesday, Spain’s Bishops Conference rejected the plan, saying it discriminated against victims outside of church circles.

No details of how much or when financial compensation would be paid were released. Neither was a date set for any public act of recognition.

Bolaños said the plan aimed to "settle a debt with those victims who for decades were forgotten by everyone and now our democracy aims to repair" that, and make it a central part of government policy.

After years of virtually ignoring the issue, Spain’s bishops apologized for the abuses committed by church members following the Ombudsman's report but disputed the number of victims involving the church as exaggerated. That report accused the church of widespread negligence.

Bolaños said the government hoped to carry out the plan over the next four years in collaboration with the church.

The project will include free legal assistance for all victims of sexual abuse and it will reinforce the prevention supervision in schools.

Only a handful of countries have had government-initiated or parliamentary inquiries into clergy sex abuse, although some independent groups have carried out their own investigations.

Four Aboriginal spears that were taken to England by Captain James Cook more than 250 years ago were returned Tuesday to Australia's Indigenous community at a ceremony in Cambridge University.

The artifacts were all that remain of some 40 spears that Cook and botanist Joseph Banks took in April 1770, at the time of the first contact between Cook's crew and the Indigenous people of Kamay, or Botany Bay.

The spears were presented to Trinity College, Cambridge by John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich the following year, along with other items from Cook’s voyage across the Pacific. The spears have been held at the university's Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology since the early 20th century.

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Their return, agreed last year following a campaign and a formal repatriation request, was hailed as a step toward reconciliation and a greater understanding of Britain and Australia's shared history.

Sally Davies, head of Trinity College, said it was the "right decision" to return the spears and that the institution was "committed to reviewing the complex legacies of the British empire, not least in our collections."

The spears were "exceptionally significant" because they were the first artifacts collected by the British from any part of Australia that remain, said Nicholas Thomas, director of Cambridge's archaeology museum.

"They reflect the beginnings of a history of misunderstanding and conflict," he said.

The Gujaga Foundation, which leads cultural and research programs within the La Perouse Aboriginal community, said the artifacts' return marked a "momentous occasion."

"The spears were pretty much the first point of European contact, particularly British contact with Aboriginal Australia," said Ray Ingrey, the foundation's director.

"Ultimately, they’ll be put on permanent display for everyone to go see, at the very spot they were taken from 250 years ago," he added.

The spears were taken by members of Cook’s expedition from an unoccupied Aboriginal campsite, according to the National Museum of Australia’s website.

A diary entry by Banks that the website cited read: "(We) threw into the house to them some beads, ribbands, cloths &c. as presents and went away. We however thought it no improper measure to take away with us all the lances (spears) which we could find about the houses, amounting in number to forty or fifty."

Ingrey said the spears were "undoubtedly taken without permission."

The spears will be displayed at a new visitor center to be built at Kurnell, Kamay.

A Spanish judge has reopened a probe into the suspected spying on the cellphone of Spain’s prime minister after receiving a request to collaborate with a similar investigation in France.

The judge with Spain’s National Court said Tuesday there is reason to believe that the new information provided by France can "allow the investigations to advance."

Both probes concern the alleged use of Pegasus spyware developed by the Israeli NSO Group. The spyware silently infiltrates phones or other devices to harvest data and potentially spy on their owners. NSO asserts that it is only made available to governments for fighting terrorism and other security threats.

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Pegasus has been used to target more than 1,000 people across 50 countries, including activists and journalists, according to security researchers and a 2021 global media investigation.

Spain announced in May 2022 that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and three of his ministers, including the ministers of defense and interior, had been targeted by Pegasus spyware. The resulting judicial probe was provisionally shelved when it failed to get results.

French President Emmanuel Macron and several of his ministers have also been allegedly targeted by Pegasus.

In a separate case of alleged Pegasus spying in Spain, Spain’s government has admitted to using it to hack phones of leading Catalan separatists.

The increase in China's defense spending is concerning given its economy is "failing", the head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Admiral John Aquilino said China's economy had been battered by turmoil in its real estate sector and asserted that its official growth rates were "not real".

He also said China was spending "drastically more" on its military than the 7.2% increase it declared last month.

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"Despite a failing economy, there's a conscious decision to fund military capability. That's concerning to me," said Aquilino, who is due to leave his post next month.

He also criticized China's increasingly aggressive rhetoric and actions in the South and East China Seas, specifically around the disputed Second Thomas Shoal and Taiwan.

"As it applies specifically to Taiwan, I am watching an increasingly aggressive campaign plan of coercion and pressure," he said.

The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

A top Chinese military leader told a gathering of senior foreign naval officials this week that China remains committed to resolving maritime disputes with other countries through dialogue but will not allow itself to be "abused".

Aquilino also labeled North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's regime "disgusting" for spending on its military even as the country has grappled with food shortages.

"This is another regime where every bit of economic advance that they may have despite the sanctions are going towards military capability and not to feeding the North Korean people. That's disgusting," he said.

Britain’s plans to send some asylum-seekers to Rwanda were swiftly condemned by international humanitarian organizations after Parliament approved legislation allowing the deportation flights to begin later this year.

Both the U.N. refugee agency and the Council of Europe on Tuesday called for the U.K. to rethink its plans because of concerns that the legislation undermines human rights protections and fears that it will damage international cooperation on tackling the global migrant crisis.

"The new legislation marks a further step away from the U.K.’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement. "Protecting refugees requires all countries – not just those neighboring crisis zones – to uphold their obligations."

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The statement came just hours after Britain’s House of Lords dropped its attempts to amend the legislation, paving the way for it to become law. On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said deportation flights to Rwanda would begin in 10-12 weeks.

Michael O’Flaherty, the Council of Europe’s commissioner for human rights, criticized the legislation for preventing asylum-seekers from asking the courts to intervene when they are they are threatened with being sent back to the countries they are fleeing.

"The adoption of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill by the U.K. Parliament raises major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law more generally," O’Flaherty said in a statement. "The United Kingdom government should refrain from removing people under the Rwanda policy and reverse the bill’s effective infringement of judicial independence."

The reaction came as French authorities reported that at least five people died Tuesday when a boat carrying about 100 or more migrants got into trouble while trying to cross the English Channel.

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Sunak’s government says its deportation plans will help stop the tide of people entering Britain illegally because migrants won’t make the risky crossing in leaky inflatable boats if they know there is a chance they will be sent on one-way ticket to Rwanda.

Small boat crossings are a potent political issue in Britain, where they are seen as evidence of the government’s failure to control immigration.

Sunak has made his plan to "stop the boats" a key campaign promise with his Conservative Party trailing badly in opinion polls ahead of a general election later this year.

The number of migrants arriving in Britain on small boats soared to 45,774 in 2022 from just 299 four years earlier as people fleeing war, famine and economic hardship paid criminal gangs thousands of pounds to ferry them across the channel.

Small boat arrivals dropped to 29,437 last year as the government cracked down on people smugglers and reached an agreement to return Albanians to their home country.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson first proposed the Rwanda plan more than two years ago, when he reached an agreement with the East African nation to accept some asylum-seekers in return for millions of dollars in aid. Implementation has been held up by a series of court challenges and opposition from migrant advocates who say it violates international law.

The deportees will be eligible to apply for asylum in Rwanda but they won’t be allowed to return to Britain.

The legislation approved early Tuesday, known as the Safety of Rwanda Bill, is a response to a U.K. Supreme Court decision that blocked deportation flights because the government couldn’t guarantee the safety of migrants sent to Rwanda. After signing a new treaty with Rwanda to beef up protections for migrants, the government proposed the new legislation declaring Rwanda to be a safe country.

The Rwandan government welcomed approval of the bill, saying it underscores the work it has done to make Rwanda "safe and secure" since the genocide that ravaged the country 30 years ago.

"We are committed to the migration and economic development partnership with the U.K. and look forward to welcoming those relocated to Rwanda," government spokesperson Yolande Makolo said.