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Rome — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni in Rome on Monday to discuss tackling illegal immigration, a day after another Channel migrant shipwreck claimed eight lives.   Starmer, whose center-left Labour Party was elected with a crushing parliamentary majority in July, has vowed to fight illegal immigration, a hot-button topic in British politics for years.   "Here, there's been some quite dramatic reduction [in migrant arrival numbers] so I want to understand how that came about," Starmer said in Rome ahead of his meeting with Meloni.   He was speaking while touring a national immigration coordination centre with Italy's interior minister, Matteo Piantedosi.    Starmer was received with a welcome ceremony at 12:00 local time (10:00 GMT) at Rome's Villa Doria Pamphili before his meeting with Meloni.    Far-right riots shook cities and towns across England and Northern Ireland shortly after Starmer's election, the U.K.'s worst unrest since 2011, with mosques and migrant accommodation centers often targeted.   The perilous cross-Channel journeys migrants attempt from northern France have posed a fiendishly difficult problem to solve for successive British prime ministers   Eight migrants died on Sunday after their overcrowded boat capsized in the Channel between France and England, bringing to 46 the number of people who have lost their lives this year trying to reach British shores.   Around 800 people crossed the Channel on Saturday, the second-highest figure since the start of the year, according to the U.K. interior ministry.   Starmer has rejected the previous Conservative government's plan to expel all undocumented migrants to Rwanda while their asylum claims are examined.   Instead, U.K. media say he is interested in the strategy of Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, whose country is on the front line of illegal migration into the European Union.   Italy signed an agreement with Albania in November to open two centers in the Balkan country where undocumented migrants would be housed while their asylum claims are processed.   Italy is to fund and manage the centers, which will be capable of accommodating up to 3,000 migrants who have arrived on Italian shores by boat.    Migrants with rejected asylum claims would be sent back to their country of origin, whereas those with accepted applications will be granted entry to Italy.    That is a key difference from the former U.K. government's Rwanda scheme, whereby migrants sent to the East African nation could never have settled in Britain irrespective of the outcome of their claim.    Fewer arriving migrants While touring the migrant coordination center, Starmer said it looked like the lower migrant arrivals to Italy were due to "work that's been done in some of the countries where people are coming from."    "I’ve long believed, by the way, that prevention and stopping people travelling in the first place is one of the best ways to deal with this particular issue," he added.    Starmer's trip to Italy has already spurred criticism, even within his own party.   Labour MP Kim Johnson told The Guardian newspaper it was "disturbing that Starmer is seeking to learn lessons from a neo-fascist government, particularly after the anti-refugee riots and far-right racist terrorism that swept Britain this summer."     The newly appointed chief of the U.K.'s new Border Security Command, Martin Hewitt, was accompanying Starmer during his trip, his office said.   Besides Albania, Meloni's government has also inked a deal with Tunisia, granting aid in exchange for greater efforts to stop Italy-bound migrants who leave the North African country and cross the Mediterranean.   Italy has also renewed a controversial deal with the UN-backed Libyan government in Tripoli, dating from 2017, in which Rome provides training and funding to the Libyan coastguard in order to stem departures of migrants or return to Libya those already at sea.   Human rights groups say the policy pushes thousands of migrants back to Libya to face torture and abuse under arbitrary detention.    Since the start of the year, migrant arrivals to Italy by sea have dropped markedly, according to the interior ministry.   Between January 1 and September 13, 44,675 people arrived in Italy compared to a figure of 125,806 for the same period in 2023.   Across all the EU borders, meanwhile, the number of migrants crossing has dropped by 39 percent, according to border agency Frontex.   But multiple factors are behind these trends, experts say, with many migrants seeking entry into the EU having changed their route.    While the Balkan and Central Mediterranean migration routes saw flows fall significantly this year, by 77 percent and 64 percent respectively, the West African and Eastern land border routes recorded sharp increases, of 123 percent and 193 percent respectively.    Crossings are up 13 percent over the Channel this year, Frontex said. 

PRAGUE — The death toll was rising in Central European countries on Sunday after days of heavy rains caused widespread flooding and forced evacuations. Several Central European nations have already been hit by severe flooding, including Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. Slovakia and Hungary might come next as a result of a low pressure system from northern Italy dumping record rainfall in the region since Thursday. The floods have claimed six lives in Romania and one each in Austria and Poland. In the Czech Republic, four people who were swept away by waters were missing, police said. It's not over yet Most parts of the Czech Republic have been affected as authorities declared the highest flood warnings at around 100 places across the country. But the situation was worst in two northeastern regions that recorded the biggest rainfall in recent days, including the Jeseniky mountains near the Polish border. In the city of Opava, up to 10,000 people out of a population of around 56,000 have been asked to move to higher ground. Rescuers used boats to transport people to safety in a neighborhood flooded by the raging Opava River. “There’s no reason to wait,” Mayor Tomáš Navrátil told Czech public radio. He said that the situation was worse than during the last devastating floods in 1997, known as the “flood of the century.” “We have to focus on saving lives,” Prime Minister Petr Fiala told Czech public television on Sunday. His government was set to meet Monday to assess the damages. The worst “is not behind us yet,” the prime minister warned. President Petr Pavel sounded more optimistic, saying “it's obvious we've learned a lesson from the previous crisis.” At least 4 missing and villages cut off Thousands of others also were evacuated in the towns of Krnov, which was almost completely flooded, and Cesky Tesin. The Oder River that flows to Poland was reaching extreme levels in the city of Ostrava and in Bohumin, prompting evacuations. Ostrava, the regional capital, is the third-largest Czech city. Mayor Jan Dohnal said the city will face major traffic disruptions in the days to come. Almost no trains were operating in the region. Towns and villages in the Jeseniky mountains, including the local center of Jesenik, were inundated and isolated by raging waters that turned roads into rivers. The military sent a helicopter to help with evacuations. Jesenik Mayor Zdenka Blistanova told Czech public television that several houses in her and other nearby towns have been destroyed by the floods. A number of bridges and roads have been badly damaged. About 260,000 households were without power Sunday morning in the entire country, while traffic was halted on many roads, including the major D1 highway. A firefighter dies as Lower Austria declared a disaster zone A firefighter died after “slipping on stairs” while pumping out a flooded basement in the town of Tulln, the head of the fire department of Lower Austria, Dietmar Fahrafellner, told reporters on Sunday. Authorities declared the entire state of Lower Austria in the northeastern part of the country a disaster zone, while 10,000 relief forces have so far evacuated 1,100 houses there. Emergency personnel have started setting up accommodation for residents who had to flee their homes due to the flooding. The municipality of Lilienfeld with about 25,000 residents is cut off from the outside world. Residents were told to boil tap water as a precaution. In Vienna, the Wien River overflowed its banks, flooding homes and forcing first evacuations of nearby houses. Romania reports 2 more flooding victims Romanian authorities said Sunday that another two people had died in the hard-hit eastern county of Galati after four were reported dead there a day earlier, following unprecedented rain. Dramatic flooding in Poland In Poland, one person was presumed dead in floods in the southwest, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday. Tusk said the situation was “dramatic” around the town of Klodzko, with about 25,000 residents, located in a valley in the Sudetes mountains near the border with the Czech Republic. Helicopters were used to pick up people from roofs in a few cases. In Glucholazy, rising waters overflowed a river embankment and flooded streets and houses. Mayor Paweł Szymkowicz said, “we are drowning,” and appealed to residents to evacuate to high ground. The weather change arrived following a hot start to September in the region. Scientists have documented Earth’s hottest summer, breaking a record set just a year ago. A hotter atmosphere, driven by human-caused climate change, can lead to more intense rainfall.

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Hanoi — Typhoon Yagi caused $1.6 billion in economic losses in Vietnam, state media said Monday, as the UN's World Food Program said the deadly floods it triggered in Myanmar were the worst in the country's recent history. Yagi battered Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand with powerful winds and a huge dump of rain more than a week ago, triggering floods and landslides that have killed more than 400 people, according to official figures. It tore across Vietnam's densely populated Red River delta — a vital agricultural region that is also home to major manufacturing hubs — damaging factories and infrastructure, and inundating farmland. The typhoon caused an estimated $1.6 billion in economic losses, state media reported, citing an initial government assessment. The death toll in Vietnam stands at 292, with 38 missing, more than 230,000 homes damaged and 280,000 hectares of crops destroyed, according to authorities. In Myanmar, the ruling junta has reported 113 fatalities and said that more than 320,000 people have been forced from their homes into temporary relief camps. "Super Typhoon Yagi has affected most of the country and caused the worst floods we have seen in Myanmar's recent history," Sheela Matthew, WFP's representative in Myanmar, said in a statement, without giving precise details. Exact details of the impact on agriculture were not yet clear, she said. "But I can say for sure that the impact on food security will be nothing less than devastating," Matthew said. Severe flooding hit Myanmar in 2011 and 2015, with more than 100 deaths reported on both occasions, while in 2008 Cyclone Nargis left more than 138,000 people dead or missing. The latest crisis has prompted the junta to issue a rare appeal for foreign aid, with neighbor India responding with 10 tons of materials, including dry rations, clothing and medicine. Myanmar's military has blocked or frustrated humanitarian assistance from abroad in the past, including after powerful Cyclone Mocha last year when it suspended travel authorizations for aid groups trying to reach around a million people. Even before the latest floods, people in Myanmar were already grappling with the effects of three years of war between the junta and armed groups opposed to its rule, with millions forced from their homes by the conflict.

Osaka, Japan — Japan celebrated on Monday the record-breaking Emmy Awards triumph of "Shogun", although many confessed not having watched the series about the country's warring dynasties in the feudal era. "Shogun" smashed all-time records at the television awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, taking home an astounding 18 statuettes and becoming the first non-English-language winner of the highly coveted award for best drama series. Lead Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Lord Toranaga, became the first Japanese actor to win an Emmy, while Anna Sawai achieved the same for her performance as Lady Mariko. "As a Japanese, I'm happy Sanada won," Kiyoko Kanda, a 70-year-old pensioner, told AFP in Tokyo. "He worked so hard since he moved to Los Angeles," she said. "In 'Last Samurai', Tom Cruise was the lead, but it's exciting Sanada is the main character in 'Shogun'," Kanda added. But she admitted that she only watched the trailer. The series is available only on Disney's streaming platform, which is relatively new in Japan. "I want to watch it. I'm curious to know how Japan is portrayed," Kanda said. Otsuka, who declined to give her first name, said she, too, has not watched the show. "But I saw the news and I'm happy he won." Sanada, now 63, began his acting career at the age of five in Tokyo and moved to LA after appearing in "Last Samurai" in 2003. The words "historic achievements" and "Hiroyuki Sanada" were trending on X in Japanese, while Sanada's speech at the awards racked up tens of thousands of views. Yusuke Takizawa, 41, also only watched a trailer but he said he was amazed by the quality of the show. "I was impressed by the high-spirited acting, the attention to detail and the film technology," Takizawa told AFP outside Osaka Castle, a major historical location for the series. "I think many young people will want to try their hand in Hollywood after watching Sanada," he said. Tourists at the castle also welcomed the record Emmy win. "I think was the best TV show that I've seen this year," said Zara Ferjani, a visitor from London. "I thought it was amazing... The direction was beautiful, and I really enjoyed watching something that wasn't in English as well," the 33-year-old said. She said she had planned to watch "Shogun" after returning home from Japan. "But one of my friends strongly advised me to watch it beforehand, just to appreciate the culture more and definitely Osaka Castle more," she added. Breaking from cliches Many in the Japanese film industry were also jubilant. "He won after many years of trying hard in Hollywood. It's too cool," wrote Shinichiro Ueda, director of the hit low-budget film "One Cut of the Dead", on X. Video game creator and movie fan Hideo Kojima, who has described the show as "Game of Thrones in 17th-century Japan", reposted a news story on the win. The drama, adapted from a popular novel by James Clavell and filmed in Canada, tells the tale of Lord Toranaga, who fights for his life against his enemies alongside Mariko and British sailor John Blackthorne. A previous TV adaptation made in 1980 was centered on Blackthorne's perspective. But the new "Shogun" breaks away from decades of cliched and often bungled depictions of Japan in Western cinema, with Japanese spoken throughout most of the show. Sanada, who also co-produced the drama, is credited with bringing a new level of cultural and historical authenticity to "Shogun." An army of experts, including several wig technicians from Japan, worked behind the scenes to make the series realistic, poring over sets, costumes and the actors' movements.

CHENNAI, India — Police on Monday detained 104 striking workers protesting low wages at a Samsung Electronics plant in southern India as they were planning a protest march without permission, with the dispute disrupting output at the key factory for the past week. The detention marks an escalation of a strike by workers at a Samsung home appliance plant near Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. Workers want higher wages and have stopped work at the plant that contributes roughly a third of Samsung's annual India revenue of $12 billion. The Samsung protests have cast a shadow on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan of courting foreign investors to "Make in India" and his goal of tripling electronics production to $500 billion within six years. Lured by cheap labor, foreign companies are increasingly using India for manufacturing to diversify their supply chain beyond China. On Monday, the workers planned to start a protest march, but were detained as no permission was given since there are schools, colleges and hospitals in that area, said senior police officer of the Kancheepuram district K. Shanmugam. "It is the main area which would become totally paralyzed and [the protest would] disturb public peace," he said. "We have detained them in wedding halls as all of them can't be in stations," he said. Samsung workers since last week have been protesting at a makeshift tent near the plant, demanding higher wages, recognition for a union backed by influential labor group the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), and better working hours. Samsung is not keen to recognize any union backed by a national labor group such as the CITU, and talks with workers, as well as state government officials, have not yielded resolution. The CITU Tamil Nadu Deputy General Secretary, S. Kannan, condemned the police action, saying "This is an archaic move by the state government." Despite Monday's police action, 12 union groups, including one affiliated with the ruling party of Tamil Nadu, said in a public notice dated Sept. 11 that they will stage a protest in support of the striking workers in Chennai on Wednesday, a move that could intensify the tensions between the company and the workers. "We are going ahead with Wednesday's protest ... no changes to the plan," said A. Jenitan, a deputy district secretary for the CITU. The protests add to Samsung's challenges in India, a key growth market. The South Korean company is planning job cuts of up to 30% of its overseas staff in some divisions, including in India. And India's antitrust body has found Samsung and other smartphone companies colluded with e-commerce giants to launch devices exclusively, violating competition laws, Reuters has reported. Samsung did not respond to a request for comment on Monday, but on Friday said it has initiated discussions with workers at the Chennai plant "to resolve all issues at the earliest." Video footage from Reuters partner ANI showed dozens of Samsung workers wearing the company uniform of blue shirts being transported in a bus to a hall. The Samsung plant employs roughly 1,800 workers and more than 1,000 of them have been on strike. The factory makes appliances such as refrigerators, TVs and washing machines. Another Samsung plant that makes smartphones in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh has had no unrest. The police also detained one of CITU's senior leaders, E. Muthukumar, who was leading the Samsung protests at the factory near Chennai, according to the CITU's Jenitan. Kancheepuram police official Shanmugam said there was no timeline as to how long the workers will be detained.

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SYDNEY — Australia is imposing more sanctions on Iranian officials on the second anniversary of the jailing and death of Mahsa Jina Amini. The 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman was arrested in September 2022 for "improperly" wearing her hijab. Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said Monday that Australia stood in solidarity “with Iranian women and girls in their struggle for equality and empowerment.” Wong announced financial sanctions and travel bans on senior security and law enforcement officials who have allegedly been involved in the "violent repression" of protests in Iran.   She said the human rights situation in Iran was “dire” as female activists continued to be detained and handed death sentences. Wong told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that abuses by Iranian authorities have continued since the death of Amini two years ago. “We have sanctioned five Iranian security and law enforcement officials who have been involved in these law enforcement so-called activities, which are ultimately a repression - a violent repression - of the Iranian people,” Wong said. Nikita White a campaigner with Amnesty International Australia, a rights group, told local media Monday that human rights have rapidly deteriorated in Iran.  “The people who are being executed are being executed after facing horrifically unfair trials," White said. She said torture and and ill-treatment have been reported. Australia has now imposed sanctions on almost 200 individuals and organizations with links to Iran, including those associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It was listed by Canada as a terrorist group earlier this year following a similar move by the United States in 2019.   In Canberra on Monday, opposition lawmaker and shadow foreign affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham urged the Australian government to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. Earlier this month, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi described sanctions announced by Britain, France and Germany as “economic terrorism.” Araghchi has rejected U.S. claims that Tehran has sent ballistic missiles to Russia to help in its war with Ukraine. 

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — On its website, Global Ikhwan Services and Business Holdings (GISB) describes itself as a Malaysian conglomerate with a vision to implement the Islamic way of life in line with the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. But the rescue this week of hundreds of children and youths from what Malaysian authorities said was suspected sexual abuse at charity homes allegedly run by GISB has put back in the spotlight the firm's roots in a religious sect outlawed by the government three decades ago. GISB acknowledges links to the religious sect Al-Arqam, which was banned in 1994, and names the sect's late preacher Ashaari Muhammad as its founder, but has largely sought to distance itself from the group's practices and beliefs, which the government views as heretical. GISB has said it did not run the homes and has denied all allegations of abuse. In a video posted on Facebook, however, its chief executive said the firm had broken unspecified laws and that there were "one or two" cases of sodomy at the youth homes. In 2011, GISB made headlines for its controversial views on sex and marriage, which included encouraging polygamous families and setting up the Obedient Wives' Club, a group that called on wives to submit to their spouses "like prostitutes." The police raids on the charity homes in two Malaysian states this week came after several Islamic leaders called on the government to probe GISB's activities. Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin, a lecturer on Islam at the International Islamic University of Malaysia, said he was aware of reports made to Malaysia's Islamic Development Department (Jakim) about worker exploitation and deviant teachings at GISB as far back as a decade ago. "They would stress that they were exploited, and they were not being paid for work," he told Reuters, citing reports made by former GISB members. The former members had also held on to Al-Arqam's teachings and beliefs, Abu Hafiz added. Police say they are investigating other allegations, including money laundering. Authorities say they also plan to scrutinize religious schools run by GISB while Jakim said it would present a report into deviant teachings involving the firm to the cabinet. Police say most of the youths rescued from the homes in two Malaysian states were children of GISB members. Many showed signs of abuse, neglect and emotional trauma, while 13 had been sodomized, officials said on Friday. Residents in Bukit Beruntung, a town in which a police source and locals said authorities had raided several youth homes, expressed shock at the abuse allegations. "If it's true, then that is really worrying," said Mohd Khair Syafie, the imam of a surau, or Muslim prayer hall, in the town, some 50 km outside the capital. Ashaari Muhammad founded the Al-Arqam movement in 1968, which was initially focused on discussing religious issues. In the 1980s, the group, which had tens of thousands of followers, was condemned by Malaysia's religious authorities over what they said were deviant teachings by Ashaari, whose followers claimed he had supernatural powers and could defer death. Ashaari, who had five wives and 37 children, spent two years in prison in the 1990s and died in 2010. In 2006, Malaysia's government outlawed Rufaqa Corp, another company founded by Ashaari, which it described as an attempt to revive Al-Arqam. A Rufaqa official at the time denied it had an other agenda than preaching Islam and building its business. In an August interview with business daily The Malaysian Reserve, GISB said the company was rebranded from Rufaqa Corp and reiterated it was a commercial entity compliant with Islam. Munira Mustaffa, executive director of security consultancy Chasseur Group, said GISB's businesses appeared to help it "hide under the veil of legitimacy." "Living in a country where they know they are being watched, GISB have been careful to present themselves as entrepreneurial individuals and legitimate businesspeople," said Munira. "But at the same time, they follow the same template as other isolationist communities or cults."

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong man on Monday pleaded guilty to sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan, becoming the first person convicted under the city's new national security law passed in March. Chu Kai-pong, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of "doing with a seditious intention an act." Under the new security law, the maximum sentence for the offense has been expanded from two years to seven years in prison and could even go up to 10 years if "collusion with foreign forces" was found involved. Chu was arrested on June 12 at a MTR station wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” and a yellow mask printed with “FDNOL”- the shorthand of another slogan, "five demands, not one less.” Both slogans were frequently chanted in the huge, sometimes violent, pro-democracy protests in 2019 and June 12 was a key kick-off day of the months-long unrests. Chu told police that he wore the T-shirt to remind people of the protests, the court heard. Chief Magistrate Victor So, handpicked by the city leader John Lee to hear national security cases, adjourned the case to Thursday for sentencing. Hong Kong was returned from Britain to China in 1997 under Beijing's promise of guaranteeing its freedoms, including freedom of speech, would be protected under a "one country, two systems" formula. Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 punishing secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison, after the months-long protests in the financial hub. In March 2024, Hong Kong passed a second new security law, a home-grown ordinance also known as "Article 23" according to its parent provision in the city's mini constitution, the Basic Law. Critics, including the U.S. government have expressed concerns over the new security law and said the vaguely defined provisions regarding "sedition" could be used to curb dissent. Hong Kong and Chinese officials have said it was necessary to plug "loopholes" in the national security regime.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.