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05 Feb

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Thousands protest in London and Paris against Trump travel ban

Text by FRANCE 24

© Niklas Halle’n, AFP | Demonstrators holding placards march in central London during a protest against US President Donald Trump on February 4, 2017.

Several thousand people demonstrated outside the US embassy in London on Saturday against US President Donald Trump and his temporary ban preventing refugees and nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

Protesters held black banners with blood stains bearing slogans such as “No to Trump. No to War” and “Trump: Special Relationship? Just Say No”, at the demonstration against the ban and Trump’s foreign policy.

Trump signed an order just over a week ago putting a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the US as well as barring travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days.

Protesters held black banners with blood stains bearing slogans such as “No to Trump. No to War” and “Trump: Special Relationship? Just Say No”, at the demonstration against the ban and Trump’s foreign policy.

Trump signed an order just over a week ago putting a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the US as well as barring travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the country for 90 days.

On Friday, a Seattle judge blocked the order but many in Britain are angry about the measure, which they see as discriminatory, as well as the time it took for Prime Minister Theresa May’s government to criticise it.

The Department of Homeland Security wrote in a statement on Saturday, “In accordance with the judge’s ruling, DHS has suspended any and all actions implementing the affected sections of the executive order.”

It added, “DHS personnel will resume inspection of travelers in accordance with standard policy and procedure,” but said that US Department of Justice officials would launch an appeal “at the earliest possible time” to reinstate the ban, which the Trump administration believes “is lawful and appropriate.”

“The order is intended to protect the homeland and the American people, and the President has no higher duty and responsibility than to do,” the DHS statement said.

In Paris, around 1,000 protesters, including a number of expatriates who reside in the French capital, marched near the Eiffel Tower against the ban.

“We are seeing the signs of an authoritarian government. This flashback to the past is terrifying,” French student Anna Dory, 22, told Agence France-Presse.

French President François Hollande, during a phone call with Trump last weekend in the wake of the US president’s controversial executive order, told his American counterpart he is convinced that “the battle to defend our democracies will only be effective if it respects their founding principles, in particular the welcoming of refugees.”

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Politics

Travel ban: US appeals court rejects White House request to reinstate executive order

Legal battles to continue after higher court denies justice department’s request for immediate reinstatement of Donald Trump’s travel ban

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida on Saturday where he told reporters: ‘For the safety of the country, we’ll win.’

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, on Saturday where he told reporters: ‘For the safety of the country, we’ll win.’ Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

and agencies

The US appeals court has denied the justice department’s request for an immediate reinstatement of Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban.

The ninth US circuit court of appeals in San Francisco made the ruling early on Sunday morning, and asked those challenging the ban to respond to the appeal filed by the Trump administration late on Saturday night, and the justice department to file a counter-response by Monday afternoon.

“Appellants’ request for an immediate administrative stay pending full consideration of the emergency motion for a stay pending appeal is denied,” the ruling said.

The justice department had earlier filed an appeal against a judge’s order lifting the ban, as the new administration’s flagship immigration policy threatened to unravel after one week.

The higher court’s denial of an immediate stay means legal battles over the ban will continue into the coming week at least.

After the appeal was lodged on Saturday, Trump told reporters at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida: “We’ll win. For the safety of the country, we’ll win.”

The president’s comments followed a personal attack on US district judge James Robart, the Seattle-based justice who made the court ruling on Friday that questioned the constitutionality of Trump’s order banning entry to the US by people from seven mainly Muslim countries.

But the justice department filing warned that Robart’s ruling posed an immediate harm to the public, thwarted enforcement of an executive order and “second-guesses the president’s national security judgment about the quantum of risk posed by the admission of certain classes of (non-citizens) and the best means of minimizing that risk”.

The filing also criticised Robart’s legal reasoning, saying it violated the separation of powers and stepped on the president’s authority as commander-in-chief. The appeal said the state of Washington lacked standing to challenge the order and said Congress gave the president “the unreviewable authority to suspend the admission of any class of visitor”.

Earlier on Saturday, Trump had unleashed a Twitter assault on Robart. “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” Trump tweeted.

Trump, who has said “extreme vetting” of refugees and immigrants is needed to prevent terrorist attacks, continued to criticise the decision in tweets throughout Saturday.

“The judge opens up our country to potential terrorists and others that do not have our best interests at heart. Bad people are very happy!” he tweeted.

The justice department’s appeal promises to create a showdown between the new administration and the judiciary over a policy that Trump consistently promised to deliver while on the campaign trail.

But the ban’s implementation has also placed under close scrutiny the role of the authors of the travel ban order – Trump’s strategist Steve Bannon and aide Steven Miller – as the administration tries to assert its authority on the Washington bureaucracy.

After a week of chaos at airports across the US since the ban was imposed, the Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday it would return to its normal procedures for screening travellers as it lifted the restrictions in accordance with the court ruling.

Refugees and thousands of travellers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen who had been prevented from travelling since last weekend by Trump’s executive order scrambled to get flights to quickly enter the US.

Immigration advocacy groups including the American Civil Liberties Union and International Refugee Assistance Project issued a joint statement on Saturday urging those with now-valid visas from the seven nations “to consider rebooking travel to the United States immediately” because the ruling could be overturned or put on hold.

A US state department email seen by Reuters said the department was working to begin admitting refugees, including Syrians, as soon as Monday.

A three-judge panel made the decision to uphold the order pending the further filings. The panel consists of appointees of George W Bush and two former Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama.

The travel ban brought protests across the US and the world at the weekend. There were demonstrations in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles as well as in other cities, and also outside Trump’s Florida resort on Saturday night where he was attending a ball with his wife, Melania. There were also protests in London, Paris, Berlin, Jakarta, Manila, Hong Kong, Sydney and Melbourne.

Trump’s attack on Robart also brought an angry response from Democrats. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader in the House, said: “No matter how many times the president attacks this judge … it won’t change the fact that this ban is unconstitutional, immoral and dangerous.”

Democratic senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in a statement on Saturday that Trump’s “hostility toward the rule of law is not just embarrassing, it is dangerous. He seems intent on precipitating a constitutional crisis”.

Criticising the judge’s decision could make it tougher for justice department attorneys as they seek to defend the executive order in Washington state and other courts, said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University.

Presidents were usually circumspect about commenting on government litigation. “It’s hard for the president to demand that courts respect his inherent authority when he is disrespecting the inherent authority of the judiciary. That certainly tends to poison the well for litigation,” Turley said.

It is unusual for a president to attack a member of the judiciary, which the US constitution designates as a check to the power of the executive branch and Congress. Reached by email on Saturday, Robart declined to comment on Trump’s tweets.

“Read the ‘so-called’ Constitution,” tweeted Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee.

In an interview with ABC scheduled to air on Sunday, the vice-president, Mike Pence, said he did not think Trump’s criticisms of the judge undermined the separation of powers. “I think the American people are very accustomed to this president speaking his mind and speaking very straight with them,” Pence said, according to an excerpt of the interview.

The court ruling was the first move in what could be months of legal challenges to Trump’s push to clamp down on immigration.

Read Full Article>>

‘Lack of respect’: Democrats hit back at Trump’s outrage over travel ban ruling>>

Donald Trump repeats his respect for ‘killer’ Putin: ‘Do you think our country’s so innocent?’>>

James Robart: judge derided by Trump known for fairness and helping children>>

‘An epic confrontation’: Trump travel ban takes US to brink of crisis>>

‘I love Trump. He’s doing what he said.’ President’s supporters keep the faith>>

Donald Trump’s first 100 days as president – daily updates>>

We will boycott Trump speech, say Labour’s female MPs>>

Britain’s verdict on Trump? Improve non-US allies and be prepared>>

Pence says Gorsuch will fill supreme court seat ‘one way or the other’>>

Travel ban in disarray as airlines told they can board barred passengers – reports>>

How high street clothes were made by children in Myanmar for 13p an hour

Children of 14 were working a six-day week

Workers at the Shweyi Zabe garment company in Yangon, Myanmar, which produces clothing for international brands.

Workers at the Shweyi Zabe garment company in Yangon, Myanmar, which produces clothing for international brands. Photograph: Gethin Chamberlain

Children as young as 14 have been employed to make clothes for some of the most popular names on the UK high street, according to a new report.

New Look, Sports Direct’s Lonsdale brand and H&M have all used factories found to have employed children, after several major brands switched their production to low-cost factories in Myanmar. Workers told investigators that they were paid as little as 13p an hour producing clothes for UK retailers – half the full legal minimum wage.

Labour rights campaigners say that the use of children in factories supplying household names is the result of a “race to the bottom”, as brands chase ever lower labour costs.

The Netherlands-based Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (known by its Dutch initials as Somo) interviewed 400 workers in 12 factories supplying international brands and worked with the Observer to finalise the report.

“We thought that brands were getting the message on child labour but this investigation shows the risks involved in constantly trying to cut labour costs,” said researcher Pauline Overeem. “The widespread use of children in Myanmar to manufacture clothes for western brands is alarming and depressing and we urge all companies to take responsibility and to ensure that children are getting the education they need and deserve.”

Brands have had some success eliminating child labour from their main supplier factories in recent years, but as wages have risen in countries such as China, companies are increasingly moving production to cheaper markets, including Myanmar, where children can legally be employed for up to four hours a day from the age of 14.

The legal minimum wage in Myanmar is 3,600 kyat (£2.12) for an eight-hour day – equivalent to 26p an hour. Workers in all the factories investigated worked six-day weeks. Labour NGOs argued when the minimum wage was set that a minimum of 6,000 kyat a day was required for a basic standard of living.

All the factories investigated employed workers below the age of 18. Several workers at factories supplying Lonsdale and New Look stated in detailed interviews that they had started work at the age of 14.

A German brand that sourced from the same factory as New Look reported that it had found “misconducts” at the factory, including evidence of child employment. Researchers said the factory subsequently dismissed all workers below the age of 18. But one of the workers, asked her age by the researchers, replied: “Do you want to know my real age or my age at the factory?” A worker at another factory told researchers: “When buyers come into the factory the child workers are being told not to come to work that day.”

There were also reports of several workers below the age of 15 at a factory supplying H&M and Muji. H&M confirmed that it had found two 14-year-olds but that an inspection in November found no one under 14.

Researchers found wages below the full legal minimum at factories supplying Sports Direct, Henri Lloyd, New Look, H&M, Muji, Pierre Cardin and Karrimor (owned by Sports Direct).

The lowest wages of just 13p an hour were found in factories supplying H&M, Karrimor, Muji and Pierre Cardin. The day rate for those workers was £1.06. Myanmar’s labour laws permit factories to pay newer workers at reduced rates.

Workers say they struggle to live on such low wages. Thiri and Yadana, who both worked at a factory supplying Lonsdale, said they could only afford to live in a makeshift hut in a squatter area without electricity or running water.

Thiri said: “The upside of living here is that we don’t need to spend money on rent which makes it easier to get by.”

According to Myanmar’s factories act, workers should not be expected to do more than 60 hours a week, including overtime, but workers reported longer hours in factories supplying New Look, Sports Direct, Henri Lloyd, Karrimor and H&M. Forced overtime was reported by workers in factories supplying H&M, Muji, Sports Direct and Henri Lloyd, while there were reports of unpaid overtime at factories supplying New Look, Pierre Cardin and H&M.

Read Full Article>>

Romania: government retracts controversial decree after protests

Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu announces repeal of law that would have watered down fight against corruption

Protester with Romanian flag

An estimated 140,000 protesters gathered in the capital, Bucharest, on Saturday. Photograph: Darko Bandi?/AP

The Romanian government has backed down from plans to decriminalise corruption offences after days of mass protests in Bucharest.

The prime minister, Sorin Grindeanu, said that the law would be repealed in a cabinet meeting on Sunday after an estimated 140,000 demonstrators protested against the law close to his office. It was the fifth consecutive night of protests against the proposal.

Protesters are angry the measure will water down the country’s anti-corruption fight against politicians and senior officials. The anti-corruption drive was prompted by a nightclub blaze that killed 64 people, which was blamed on corrupt officials turning a blind eye to fire regulations.

“We’ll hold an extraordinary meeting on Sunday to repeal the decree, withdraw, cancel it … and find a legal way to make sure it does not take effect,” Grindeanu said in a televised speech.

The prime minister said the proposal would be sent to the Romanian parliament for debate, which experts warn is not likely to appease protesters, who want the proposal to be cancelled completely.

“I don’t want to divide Romania … it can’t be divided in two. Romania in this moment seems broken in two,” he said.

The decree was due to come into force at midnight on Friday. Under its proposed terms it would have decriminalised abuse of power offences when sums of less than €44,000 (£38,000) are involved.

One immediate beneficiary would have been Liviu Dragnea who leads the ruling PSD party and faces charges of defrauding the state of €24,000.

The country’s constitutional court is expected to rule next week on whether the measure was legal. The EU had warned Romania against undoing progress against corruption.

A separate bill to go before parliament would free about 2,500 prisoners on short sentences.

The government said it was bringing legislation into line with the constitution and reducing overcrowding in prisons.

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François Fillon sinks in polls after ‘Penelopegate’ scandal

French presidential candidate’s chances decline after allegations family members were paid for fake jobs

François Fillon

François Fillon, right, insisted on TV that his wife Penelope, left, had a ‘real’ and ‘legal’ job. Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images

and agencies

French presidential candidate François Fillon is fighting for his political future as polls show he is likely to be eliminated in the first-round vote by former economy minister Emmanuel Macron.

Fillon, a one-time prime minister who is representing the centre-right, was favourite to become France’s next leader but has seen his chances sink after a scandal over alleged fake jobs for members of his family.

Police continued to investigate allegations that Fillon’s Welsh-born wife, Penelope, and two of his five children were paid €900,000 of public money for work they did not do. Fillon has insisted he will continue his campaign and ask supporters to hold firm until the investigation is finished.

On Friday, Fillon accused “shadowy” forces of seeking to crush him, in what has become known as Penelopegate. “I will hold firm, faced with those in the shadows who are trying to attack me,” he said in a video message to supporters. However, he admitted: “I understand that the accusations are troubling to certain among you because they are pounding … and because of the sums involved.”

The latest polls suggested that support for Fillon ha d plummeted in the wake of the allegations.

Pollsters Ifop and BVA both suggest Fillon could be knocked out of the first-round presidential vote in April, with between 18.5% and 20% of support, compared with 25% for the far-right Front National leader Marine Le Pen and 20%-22% for Macron. Benoît Hamon, a surprise choice for the Socialist party candidate, polled 16.5%, and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon got 10%. The polls have Macron winning the second round, with a bout 63% against Le Pen’s 37%.

Earlier last week, another poll suggested Le Pen could win the first round with as much as 27%, with Macron in second place with 23%, but that Macron would still win the second round.

Fillon, standing on a conservative and Catholic programme, has faced pressure even from within his own Les Républicains party since the Penelopegate allegations were first revealed in the satirical newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, and later by the France2 investigations programme, Envoyé Spécial.

A preliminary inquiry into alleged fraud is attempting to establish whether Penelope Fillon worked as a parliamentary assistant . Police searched offices and archives at the National Assembly last week and demanded documents from the Senate, the upper house where Fillon was said to have employed his two eldest children, Marie and Charles.

Fillon went on television to insist his wife’s job was “real” and “legal”. Last week the couple were questioned separately for several hours by anti-fraud police.

In 2007, I interviewed Penelope Fillon for the Sunday Telegraph. In a video of that interview she can be heard telling me she did “bits and pieces” for her husband, including handing out leaflets and accompanying him on the election trail. But she added: “I have never actually been his assistant or anything like that.”

Envoyé Special was watched by a record 5.4 million viewers when it aired the 10-year-old video on Thursday evening. On his Facebook account, Fillon said the accusations against him were “pure calumny”.

Read Full Article>>

 

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English Online International Newspapers

Nearly all of these are English-edition daily newspapers. These sites have interesting editorials and essays, and many have links to other good news sources. We try to limit this list to those sites which are regularly updated, reliable, with a high percentage of “up” time.

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