Italy’s far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, promised not to back down from his call for a new census of the country’s Roma community on Tuesday, even as critics said that his drive to root out and expel non-Italians was reminiscent of fascist-era race laws. The call for a new “register”, and for all non-Italian Roma to be expelled, has caused the first major rift between Salvini’s League and its Five Star Movement coalition partners, a week after Salvini violated humanitarian law to block a ship carrying more than 600 migrants from docking in Italy, forcing it to divert to Spain.

Luigi Di Maio, the leader of the anti-establishment M5S, called Salvini’s order “unconstitutional”. A similar census pitched by the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi was blocked by an Italian court. It was also lambasted by Noemi Di Segni, the president of Italy’s union of Jewish communities, who said the proposal recalled the fascist race laws of the late 1920s and 1930s. The former centre-left prime minister Paolo Gentiloni also tweeted his disgust, saying: “Yesterday the refugees, today the Roma, tomorrow guns for all.” At first, Salvini seemed prepared to back down from his new policy – saying he was only seeking to ensure that Roma children were being adequately looked after – but in a tweet on Tuesday afternoon he promised to stand by his call for mass expulsions.(theguardian)…[+]

Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces have captured the airport at Hodeidah and have started preparations for the more complex task of capturing the city and its port nine miles (15km) to the north. The port is critical to the supply of aid to the rest of the famine-struck country.

Confirmation that the airport on the southern outskirts of the city had been seized after three days of fighting came from both TV pictures and eyewitness accounts. At least 40 Houthi fighters who had held the airport were killed, but most retreated into the city, preparing to fight a potentially intense street-by-street campaign that could endanger tens of thousands of civilians.

The military advance came after the UN special envoy for Syria, Martin Griffiths, left the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, after failing to broker a ceasefire that would have seen the port taken under UN control. Griffiths provided a closed-door briefing to the UN security council by satellite link on Monday, but departed Sana’a without speaking to the press. The security council has been divided over whether to demand a ceasefire, and Russia, its current chair, gave a downbeat assessment of the chances for a diplomatic breakthrough after the meeting. Most western states oppose the Iranian-backed Houthi takeover of Yemen, but also assert a military solution to the civil war is not possible.(theguardian)…[+]

The EU is to consider the idea of building migrant processing centres in north Africa in an attempt to deter people from making life-threatening journeys to Europe across the Mediterranean, according to a leaked document. The European council of EU leaders “supports the development of the concept of regional disembarkation platforms”, according to the draft conclusions of an EU summit due to take place next week. The EU wants to look at the feasibility of setting up such centres in north Africa, where most migrant journeys to Europe begin. “Such platforms should provide for rapid processing to distinguish between economic migrants and those in need of international protection, and reduce the incentive to embark on perilous journeys,” the document says.Migration is high on the agenda of the two-day summit, which opens on 28 June. EU leaders will attempt to reach a consensus on how to manage the thousands of refugees and migrants arriving each month.(theguardian)…[+]