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EU seeks answers to rising security challenges as Israel-Hamas war fuels new concerns_我的网站

一 |     A Mexican official on Monday confirmed a shocking video that emerged over the weekend of cartel gunmen forcing the drivers of about a dozen tanker trucks to dump their entire loads of gasoline into a field.The official, who was not authorized to be quoted by name, said the incident occurred last week in the border city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, and was under investigation.The official said the gunmen had apparently forced the truck drivers to line their parked vehicles up on a dirt road to dump their cargo.Asked about the videos, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador acknowledged “there is resistance from criminals” in the area, long known for cartel violence, adding that “We continue to confront them.”In the video, a presumed member of the cartel can be heard mentioning the Gulf cartel faction known as The Scorpions, and saying all trucks carrying gasoline would suffer the same fate unless “they get in line,” or pay protection money to the gang.In the video, open valves on the bottom of the tankers could be seen spewing gasoline like fire hoses, as armed men looked on. “This is going to happen to all the grasshoppers,” a man's voice can be heard saying, an apparent reference to Mexican gang slang that compares those who “jump” through a cartel's territory to the hoppy insects.Criminals in the border state of Tamaulipas have long drilled into state-owned pipelines to steal fuel, but now an even more complex situation is taking place.Because of cross-border price differentials, it is sometimes profitable to import gasoline from Texas and sell it in Mexican border cities in Tamaulipas. López Obrador's administration has long complained that many of the truckers mislabel their cargo to avoid import tariffs.Others legally import U.S. gasoline, a practice the Mexican government dislikes because it reduces sales for the state-owned oil company.“We are there to protect the citizens of Tamaulipas, so they don't have to buy stolen or smuggled fuel,” López Obrador said Monday.But the Gulf drug cartel apparently demands money from both legal importers and those who seek to avoid paying import duties.One businessman who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals said the gang is demanding a payment of $500 per truck even to allow legally imported gasoline through the city of Matamoros, an important border crossing.The businessman added that Tamaulipas authorities often provide escorts for tanker trucks precisely to prevent such attacks.It was the latest instance of lawlessness in Matamoros, where in March four Americans were shot at and abducted by a drug gang. The Americans were found days later, two dead, one wounded and without physical injuries.____Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america。    BRUSSELS -- The European Union began taking steps on Thursday to limit the impact of the war between Israel and Hamas on the bloc, amid heightened security tensions after a firebomb attack on a Berlin synagogue and killings in Belgium and France by suspected Islamist extremists.Spain, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, activated a crisis mechanism to speed up decision-making and coordination between the 27 member countries, the bloc's institutions and major partners like the United Nations or the United States.Officials from across the EU have expressed concerns about a rise in antisemitic attacks, radicalization online, the use of encrypted messaging services by extremists, and the need to speed up the deportation of people who might pose a public danger.But calls for an increase in security across the board are creating deep unease as the solutions being discussed could undermine free movement and the right to assemble in Europe.Italy is introducing border checks to counter a possible rise in tensions over the Israel-Hamas war. Denmark and Sweden are too, due to what they say is an “Islamist terrorist threat.” France intends to keep checks in place until at least May 2024, citing “new terrorist threats and external borders situation.”More police have been deployed in Belgium, France and Germany.EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell believes part of the solution to Europe's security woes must involve the bloc helping diplomatically and financially to bring an end to years of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.“We have learned from history that the most difficult decisions are always taken when we are on the edge of the abyss. I believe that is where we are now: on the edge of the abyss,” Borrell told EU lawmakers on Wednesday.“When I hear Muslim religious authorities speaking the language of inter-religious conflict and explicitly stating that Europe is a party to this conflict, I feel that the storm clouds are looming,” he said.Still, not all of Europe’s challenges are directly linked to the war.Earlier on Thursday, Sweden hosted a meeting of ministers from eight countries, among them Germany, Belgium and France, focused on how to handle incidents where people burn the Muslim holy book, the Quran.Prosecutors are trying to establish whether that was a key motive for a Tunisian man to shoot three Swedes in Brussels on Monday, killing two of them, ahead of a Belgium-Sweden soccer match in the capital.While the Quran burnings are not directly linked to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, they are a sign of rising tensions between religious and other communities in Europe.The war that began Oct. 7 has become the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. More than 5,000 people have been killed in Israel and Gaza. Nearly 12,500 Palestinians have been wounded, and over 200 people in Israel taken hostage.“We have to address multiple impacts from the continuing crisis in the Middle East" in the EU, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said.“This entails the protection of our Jewish communities, but also the protection against a generalized climate of Islamophobia that has no place in our society,” he told reporters in Luxembourg, where EU interior ministers were meeting.Pro-Palestinian rallies have been held in several European cities since the war. France has banned them. Germany has also promised to take tougher action against Hamas, which is already on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations.Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the German parliament that local authorities “must not allow gatherings … at which it must be feared that antisemitic slogans will be shouted, that people’s deaths will be glorified and everything we can’t accept here.”In France, the Palace of Versailles — a major tourist attraction — and three airports were evacuated for security reasons and temporarily closed Wednesday. The incidents were the latest in a spate of evacuations in the past five days, and the French government is threatening to fine or jail prank callers.They followed the killing of a teacher in northern France on Friday by a suspected Islamist extremist.French Interior Minister Gerland Darmanin noted that two foreigners were behind the recent attacks in Belgium and France, and he insisted that long-delayed reforms of EU asylum rules must be put in place.Europe must “manage our borders, register people and conduct the security interviews that are necessary before every asylum request,” he told reporters.The EU has agreements with Turkey and Tunisia to persuade them to prevent migrants reaching Europe — and take them back if they do get through — but they are not working well. Other deals, with Egypt notably, are planned. Only around one in four people refused entry ever return home. ___John Leicester in Paris and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.。

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