PARIS: The French government said this week it was closing down an activist-run media outlet and a Muslim website deemed at odds with “national values“
This is the latest in a series of steps that rights groups and lawyers say infringe on democratic freedoms.
Following a violent protest against the extreme right in Nantes, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he would shut down “Nantes Révoltée,” a local media platform, which had relayed information about the protest.
Days earlier, he had announced plans to close the website “La Voie Droite,” which publishes Islamic religious content.
The government has been making increasing use of powers to shut down organizations or groups. In the last two years, there have been 12 such shutdowns, an uptick from seven between 2016 and 2019, according to French public records.
Before dissolving an association, the Ministry of Interior informs the concerned party, which has 15 days to reply with its counter-arguments. Then, once the decree is published, the organization can take the case to the Council of State, an administrative court.
To date, Nante Révoltée says it has not received any communication from the Ministry of Interior regarding its closure.
Of the organizations shut by decree since January 2020, seven are Muslim-related, including associations to run mosques, a humanitarian organization and anti-Islamophobia groups, the records show. Three far-right groups have been closed.
Announcing the plan to close “Nantes Révoltée” to MPs in the French parliament on Tuesday, Darmanin described it as an “ultra-left” group that had repeatedly called for violence against the state and the police in the run-up to the weekend protest, at which three people were arrested, shop windows were broken and fights broke out.
Raphael Kempf, a lawyer for Nantes Révoltée, said that a website sharing information on an event could not be held responsible for what happens there.
“We are seeing a government that is using this legal tool to attack voices that criticize them,” says Kempf, adding that the government now has enhanced powers under 2021 legislation that makes inciting violence grounds for dissolution. Previously the groups had to themselves be armed or violent.
CRITICAL VOICES
The 2021 legislation was introduced in response to violent attacks that France has seen in recent years, including the beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty in 2020 and the 2015 attacks on Paris that killed 130 people.
But some lawyers and campaign groups say the authorities are overreaching to muzzle critical voices and target anyone practicing a form of Islam not approved by the state.
During a TV interview on Sunday, Darmanin announced the Islamic website “La Voie Droite” would be closed using the 2021 legislation for “content inciting for hatred and calling for jihad.”
La Voie Droite denied publishing such content, saying in a statement that “when we encourage Muslims to respect the texts, it is opposed to any type of threat or legitimation of violence.”
The French Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
In another step that has alarmed some rights groups, the French government has ramped up censorship of content on the Internet deemed to be terrorist-related or justifying violence under a 2014 law. Officials say that is necessary to stem violent attacks.
Noémie Levain, a lawyer with digital rights organization La Quadrature du Net, said these powers were open to abuse.
“The decision-making process is opaque,” she said. “[The police] can designate something Muslim as problematic even if it is not violent, they can do the same with something activist that is calling to protest.”
France targets groups, websites with expanded powers under anti-terror law
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France targets groups, websites with expanded powers under anti-terror law
- Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he would shut down "Nantes Révoltée", a local media platform, which had relayed information about the protest
- The government has been making increasing use of powers to shut down organisations or groups
UN warns of new threat to global food security after Russia limits Ukraine grain shipments
- UN spokesman expressed serious concern that only 33 ships departed from Ukrainian ports in May, half the number compared to April
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric expressed serious concern that only 33 ships departed from Ukrainian ports in May, half the number compared to April, and exports of grain and other foodstuffs totaled just 1.3 million metric tons last month, less than half the amount of the previous month.
He said Russia informed the center in Istanbul coordinating the arrivals, departures and inspections of ships involved in the Black Sea Grain Initiative “of its decision to limit registrations in the port of Yuzhny as long as ammonia is not exported, and currently it’s not.”
Ammonia is a key ingredient for fertilizer and Moscow wants Ukraine to open a pipeline from the Russian city of Togliatti to the Ukrainian port of Odesa that it used before the war to ship ammonia to its global customers.
Turkiye and the UN brokered the breakthrough initiative with Russia and Ukraine last July, opening a path for Ukrainian grain exports from three of its key Black Sea ports: Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
In a separate memorandum, the United Nations said it would work to overcome obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer shipments, which UN trade chief Rebeca Grynspan has been trying to do for months but Moscow has criticized the lack of results.
To reinforce the failure to export its fertilizer, Russia in March unilaterally decided to renew the grain deal for 60 days instead of the 120 days outlined in the agreement. And just before its expiration, in another example of Moscow’s brinkmanship, it agreed on May 17 to another two-month extension until July 17.
Following Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022 invasion of Ukraine, one of the world’s major breadbaskets, global food prices skyrocketed, hitting poorer, developing countries especially hard.
After the July agreements, food prices started to drop but Dujarric warned that “global hunger hotspots are increasing and the specter of food inflation and market volatility lurks in all countries.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted Wednesday that the port of Yuzhny is blocked and more than 1.5 million tons of agricultural products are waiting there for shipment to at least 10 countries including Turkiye, China, Egypt and Bangladesh.
He urged everyone to pressure Russia to unblock food supplies saying, “Obviously the less food is supplied to these countries, to these regions, the higher the food prices are, the more people in these countries lose from their family budgets.”
Dujarric noted that in May only three ships departed from the port of Yuzhny.
He said that since May 24 the number of teams inspecting ships has been reduced from three to two. This, along with the slowdown in registering ships, is creating a serious situation.
The UN has put forward practical suggestions “at the strategic and operational level” and will continue to engage with Russia and Ukraine, Dujarric said.
“In particular, we are looking for commitments on unconditional access of vessels to all three ports under the initiative, increased number of successful inspections completed per day and predictable registrations to avoid undue delay of vessels, exports of fertilizers, including ammonia, and the resumption of the Togliatti-Odesa ammonia pipeline,” Dujarric said.
US Congress averts historic default, approves debt-limit suspension
- The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on June 5 if Congress failed to act by then
- Biden was directly involved in negotiations on the bill with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Thursday passed bipartisan legislation backed by President Joe Biden that lifts the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, averting what would have been a first-ever default.
The Senate voted 63-36 to approve the bill that had been passed on Wednesday by the House of Representatives, as lawmakers raced against the clock following months of partisan bickering between Democrats and Republicans.
The Treasury Department had warned it would be unable to pay all its bills on June 5 if Congress failed to act by then.
“We are avoiding default tonight,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday as he steered the legislation through his 100-member chamber.
Biden praised Congress’ timely action. “This bipartisan agreement is a big win for our economy and the American people,” the Democratic president said in a statement, adding that he will sign it into law as soon as possible. He said he would make an additional statement on Friday at 7 PM
Biden was directly involved in negotiations on the bill with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
While this bitter battle has ended, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell wasted no time flagging the next budget fight.
“In the coming months, Senate Republicans will continue working to provide for the common defense and control Washington Democrats’ reckless spending,” he said in a statement.
McConnell was referring to 12 bills Congress will work on over the summer to fund government programs in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, which will also carry out the broad instructions of the debt limit bill.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, meanwhile, issued some pointed advice saying, “I continue to strongly believe that the full faith and credit of the United States must never be used as a bargaining chip,” as Republicans did over the past several months.
Before the final vote, senators tore through nearly a dozen amendments — rejecting all of them during a late-night session in anticipation of Monday’s deadline.
With this legislation, the statutory limit on federal borrowing will be suspended until Jan. 1, 2025. Unlike most other developed countries, the United States limits the amount of debt the government can borrow, regardless of any spending allocated by the legislature.
“America can breathe a sigh of relief,” Schumer said in remarks to the Senate.
’TIME IS A LUXURY’
Republicans had blocked passage of any debt limit increase until they locked in some wide-ranging spending cuts in a move they said would begin addressing a rapidly escalating national debt.
Biden instead pushed for tax increases on the wealthy and corporations to help address the growing debt. Republicans refused to consider any sort of tax hikes.
Both parties walled off the sprawling Social Security and Medicare retirement and health care programs from cuts, and McCarthy refused to consider reducing spending on the military or veterans.
That left a somewhat narrow band of domestic “discretionary” programs to bear the brunt of spending cuts. In the end, Republicans won about $1.5 trillion in reductions over 10 years, which may or may not be fully realized. Their opening bid was for $4.8 trillion in savings over a decade.
Treasury technically hit its limit on borrowing in January. Since then it has been using “extraordinary measures” to patch together the money needed to pay the government’s bills.
Biden, Yellen and congressional leaders all acknowledged that triggering a default for lack of funds would have serious ramifications. Those included sending shock waves through global financial markets, possibly triggering job losses and a recession in the United States and raising families’ interest rates on everything from home mortgages to credit card debt.
The Republican-controlled House passed the bill on Wednesday evening in a 314-117 vote. Most of those who voted against the bill were Republicans.
“Time is a luxury the Senate does not have,” Schumer said on Thursday. “Any needless delay or any last-minute holdups would be an unnecessary and even dangerous risk.”
Among the amendments debated were ones to force deeper spending cuts than those contained in the House-passed bill and stopping the speedy final approval of a West Virginia energy pipeline.
COBBLED OVER WEEKS
Republican Senator Roger Marshall offered an amendment to impose new border controls as high numbers of immigrants arrive at the US-Mexico border. His measure, he said, would “put an end to the culture of lawlessness at our southern border.”
The Senate defeated the amendment, however. Democrats said it would strip away protections for child migrants and rob American farmers of needed workers.
Some Republicans also wanted to beef up defense spending beyond the increased levels contained in the House-passed bill.
In response, Schumer said the spending caps in this legislation would not constrain Congress in approving additional money for emergencies, including helping Ukraine in its battle against Russia.
“This debt ceiling deal does nothing to limit the Senate’s ability to appropriate emergency supplemental funds to ensure our military capabilities are sufficient to deter China, Russia and our other adversaries, and respond to ongoing and growing national security threats, including Russia’s evil ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine,” Schumer said.
The bill was cobbled together over weeks of intensive negotiations between senior aides for Biden and McCarthy.
The main argument was over spending for the next couple of years on discretionary programs such as housing, environmental protections, education and medical research that Republicans wanted to cut deeply.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated the bill would save $1.5 trillion over 10 years. That is below the $3 trillion in deficit reduction, mainly through new taxes, that Biden proposed.
The last time the United States came this close to default was in 2011. That standoff hammered financial markets, led to the first-ever downgrade of the government’s credit rating and pushed up the nation’s borrowing costs.
There was less drama this time as it became clear last week that Biden and McCarthy would find a deal with enough bipartisan support to get through Congress.
Girl unable to enter Kyiv shelter killed in Russia attack, Zelensky demands change
- President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed frustration at the miscue and said if local officials were unable to provide protection, they could be prosecuted
- Police opened a criminal investigation into the three deaths near a medical clinic in the Desnyanskyi district of Kyiv
KYIV: A nine-year-old Ukrainian girl, her mother and another woman were killed in a Russian missile strike on Kyiv on Thursday after the air raid shelter they rushed to failed to open, witnesses said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed frustration at the miscue and said if local officials were unable to provide protection, they could be prosecuted.
His comments appeared aimed at Kyiv city authorities and Mayor Vitali Klitschko, with whom he has periodically clashed during the war.
Police opened a criminal investigation into the three deaths near a medical clinic in the Desnyanskyi district of Kyiv after the 18th attack on the capital since the start of May.
“Three people, one of them a child, died near the clinic last night,” Klitschko said. “A rocket fragment fell near the entrance to the clinic four minutes after the air alert was announced. And people headed for the shelter.”
Residents said people were unable to enter the shelter because it was closed. It was not clear why.
“The air alert sounded. My wife took our daughter and they ran to the entrance here,” local resident Yaroslav Ryabchuk told Reuters in the Desnyanskyi district.
“The entrance was closed, there were already maybe five to 10 women with children. No one opened up for them.”
The case prompted calls for residents to check shelters and report safety violations. Local media said prosecutors searched city administration offices as part of the investigation.
PRESIDENT CALLS OUT LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Zelensky, in his nightly video message, said shelters “must be kept accessible. Never again should we see a repeat of the situation that occurred last night in Kyiv...”
This was “very clearly” the duty of local authorities “and if this duty is not fulfilled at the local level, it is the direct duty of law enforcement bodies to prosecute.”
In earlier comments to reporters in Moldova, Zelensky said that as well as facing the Russian enemy, “we also have internal ones.” He said the response could be a “knockout” blow, a veiled dig at Klitschko, a former heavyweight boxing champion.
At a makeshift memorial for the girl, another parent woken by the attacks spoke of her terror.
“I grabbed my child and ran into the corridor because I didn’t have any other options. We sat there the whole time, there were a few more explosions,” said Oleksandra, 25, visiting the memorial with her five-year-old son Hryhoriy.
“My child got really scared, he sat in the corner of our corridor. He cried, saying that we’re all gonna die. I was terrified to hear this from him. It was terrible.”
Russia has denied targeting civilians or committing war crimes though its air strikes have caused devastation in cities across Ukraine since the full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
Ukraine reported no major damage from Thursday’s attack, saying it had shot down all 10 missiles. But, in a statement on International Children’s Day, UN human rights monitors in Ukraine said 525 children had been killed since the invasion.
Biden trips, tumbles on Air Force stage
- Biden, 80, had just shaken hands with a cadet and begun walking back to his seat when he fell
- Air Force personnel helped him back up and he did not appear to require further help
COLORADO SPRINGS, United States: President Joe Biden took a face-first tumble on Thursday after tripping over an obstacle on stage at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, but he appeared unhurt.
Biden, 80, who had delivered the commencement address to graduates of the military academy, had just shaken hands with a cadet and begun walking back to his seat when he fell.
Air Force personnel helped him back up and he did not appear to require further help.
As he rose, Biden pointed to the object that had apparently caught his foot. It resembled a small black sandbag on the stage.
Biden is the oldest person ever in the presidency and is seeking a second term in the 2024 election. His official doctor’s report this year declared him physically fit and he exercises regularly.
In November 2020, shortly after winning his election against the incumbent Donald Trump, Biden broke his foot while playing with a pet dog.
Russia says it seeking third suspect over war blogger killing
- Tatarsky, a native of eastern Ukraine's Donbas whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had been addressing an event in the cafe when the blast occurred
- Roman Popkov, a Ukraine-based Russian journalist who was previously a leader of Russia's banned ultranationalist National Bolshevik Party, was wanted on terrorism charges
MOSCOW: Russian investigators said on Thursday they were seeking a third suspect over the April 2 killing of popular pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg.
In a statement posted on the Telegram messenger app, the Investigative Committee, which probes serious crimes, said that Roman Popkov, a Ukraine-based Russian journalist who was previously a leader of Russia’s banned ultranationalist National Bolshevik Party, was wanted on terrorism and explosives charges.
Tatarsky, a native of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas whose real name was Maxim Fomin, had been addressing an event in the cafe when the blast occurred. Russian officials later said a bomb had been hidden inside a statuette given to him as a gift during the event.
Russian officials have previously named Russian citizen Darya Trepova and Ukrainian national Yury Denisov as suspects in the killing.
Trepova, an anti-war and feminist activist, was arrested on April 3, while Denisov is believed to be still in Ukraine. Trepova is accused of giving Tatarsky the explosive statuete and has been charged with terrorist offenses.
Trepova’s husband told independent Russian media outlets he believed she had been framed and had not known the statuette she had been told to deliver contained explosives.
In its statement, the Investigative Committee said Popkov had exchanged messages with Trepova over social media and had given her “instructions regarding the preparation of the terrorist act.”
