International
Pope plans new migrant transfer to Rome on Cyprus visit
AFP
Pope Francis plans to arrange the transfer of a number of migrants to Rome during his visit to Cyprus next week, Cypriot officials said Friday, in the second such gesture by the pontiff.
Government spokesman Marios Pelekanos told reporters that the pope, making a December 2-4 visit to the island, wants to arrange for an unspecified number of migrants to be relocated.
In 2013, the pope took back to Rome three Syrian families from Greek island of Lesbos, then the main point of entry for migrants into Europe.
He is returning to Lesbos next month when he flies on to Greece after Cyprus.
“This is an act that proves the solidarity of the leader of the Roman Catholic Church to our fellow human beings in need,” Pelekanos said of the pope’s new gesture.
It also “confirms the Vatican recognises the problem facing the Republic of Cyprus today, due to increased migration flows”, Pelekanos said.
He reiterated the eastern Mediterranean island’s call for “a fairer distribution between EU member states to alleviate the problem in the front line countries”
European Union member Cyprus says it has a “migration crisis” and seeks to suspend asylum applications to those entering illegally.
It claims the highest number of first-time asylum applications among all 27 EU members relative to its population of one million.
The island also accuses Turkey of orchestrating the crisis by allowing migrants to cross over from the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
Cyprus has been divided since Turkish troops invaded the north in 1974 after a Greek Cypriot coup engineered by the then ruling junta in Athens.
Migrant flows recorded in Cyprus in 2021 are 38 percent higher than for all of last year.
Cyprus has called for the relocation of asylum seekers to other EU member states and the repatriation of asylum seekers to their countries of origin.
International
Meta Says Russia Seeks to Ban WhatsApp for Defending Secure Communication
U.S. tech giant Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, said that Russia is seeking to ban the messaging app because it “challenges government attempts to violate people’s right to secure communication.”
Russian authorities have encouraged citizens to switch to state-backed applications, and in August they already blocked WhatsApp’s calling feature.
On Friday, the communications regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that the platform was being used to “organize and carry out terrorist acts in the country, recruit perpetrators, and facilitate fraud and other crimes.”
“If the messaging service does not comply with Russian law, it will be completely blocked,” the regulator warned.
WhatsApp remains one of Russia’s most widely used messaging services, alongside Telegram.
Moscow is pressuring both platforms to grant authorities access to user data upon request for investigations into fraud and activities the government labels as “terrorist.”
Human rights advocates fear the demand could be used to target critics of the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin, or the war in Ukraine.
International
Archbishop Wenski criticizes Trump’s deportation policies, calls for stronger push for reform
The Archbishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, has called for increased pressure on the U.S. Congress to advance comprehensive immigration reform and criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies, arguing that they “do nothing to help.”
“We need to apply more pressure on Congress so lawmakers can make the necessary changes. It is also important for the Administration to listen to our voice. We do not want to be anyone’s enemy—we are Americans,” Wenski said in an interview with EFE.
The religious leader, who heads one of the dioceses with the largest Latino and Haitian populations in the United States, issued a call to defend the rights of migrants. He also emphasized that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has maintained a strong and public stance in favor of migrants for decades.
International
Trump relaunches diplomatic push to finalize U.S.-Backed peace plan for Ukraine War
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his diplomatic team will resume meetings with delegations from Russia and Ukraine in an effort to pressure both sides to accept the peace plan proposed by Washington to end the war in Ukraine.
As part of this new round of talks, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll will hold discussions with Ukrainian representatives to narrow differences on the remaining points of the agreement.
Trump also confirmed his intention to meet personally with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Putin, though he emphasized that such meetings will only take place “when the agreement is fully finalized or in its final stage.”
The president claimed that his administration has made “tremendous progress” toward resolving the conflict and reiterated that the war “never would have started” if he had been in the White House at the onset of the crisis.
The U.S.-backed peace plan consists of 28 points and has been revised following feedback from both sides. According to Trump, only “a few points of disagreement” remain under active discussion.
One of the most controversial aspects of the proposal is the suggestion that Ukraine cede parts of the Donbas region to Russia and limit the size of its armed forces. Kyiv is working closely with Washington to soften these clauses in search of an arrangement that does not compromise its sovereignty or security.
With this diplomatic push, Trump aims to solidify his role as the main mediator in the conflict and steer the war toward a political resolution after years of devastation, humanitarian crisis, and rising global geopolitical tensions.
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