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TL:DR – Spain implements large-scale regularisation plan for thousands of migrants
• Immigration has become a significant focus on the European political agenda, with tough questions being debated across Brussels and national capitals.
• Lawmakers are considering applying the “safe third country” concept to develop an EU-wide list of safe countries of origin for asylum procedures.
• Spain has initiated a regularisation plan for thousands of migrants, aiming to strengthen labour markets and support integration, despite concerns over migration dynamics in the Schengen area.
• This week, Euronews’ political debate show featured contrasting views from MEPs Juan Fernando López Aguilar and Tomas Tobé on migration policy.
Who decides who belongs in Europe? The migration debate returns
Immigration has returned to the forefront of the European political agenda, as discussions intensify surrounding the “safe third country” concept this week. Lawmakers in Brussels and national capitals are debating the creation of an EU-wide list of safe countries of origin to expedite asylum procedures. The importance of these discussions lies in their potential impact on the future of migration policies in the European Union.
Simultaneously, Spain is advancing a large-scale regularisation plan that aims to grant legal status to thousands of migrants already residing and working in the country. Supporters assert that this initiative could bolster labour markets and promote integration; however, critics express concerns that it may disrupt migration dynamics across the Schengen area.
Debate on Migration Policy in the European Parliament
On the latest episode of The Ring, Euronews’ political debate show from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, two influential lawmakers presented contrasting viewpoints on migration policy. Juan Fernando López Aguilar, a Spanish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) representing the Socialists & Democrats group and Chair of the Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, emphasised the necessity of balancing migration control with adherence to international law and fundamental rights. In opposition, Tomas Tobé, a Swedish MEP and Vice-Chair of the centre-right European People’s Party, called for enhanced efficiency in border management and returns.
Their exchange underscores the significant tension at the heart of the EU’s migration debate: the challenge of reconciling control measures with compassion, and whether national initiatives can be harmonised with EU-wide regulations in practice.
Broader Implications for the European Union
As Europe confronts new proposals and changing political priorities, migration is revealed to be more than just a policy issue. It represents a critical test of how the European Union defines concepts of belonging, responsibility, and collective future.
This episode of The Ring is presented by Maria Tadeo, produced by Luis Albertos and Amaia Echevarria, and edited by Vassilis Glynos. The discussion can be viewed on Euronews TV or through the provided player link.
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‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
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Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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