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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017
Opinion
Adelle Chua, Editor Joyce Pangco Pañares, Issue Editor
mst.daydesk@gmail.com
EDITORIAL
POP GOES THE WORLD JENNY ORTUOSTE
PUSSYHATS, POLITICS, AND POWER
THE INDEPENDENT
NEARLY half a million women marched in protest against Donald J. Trump in Washington, D.C., in a crowd estimated to be three times bigger than those who attended his inauguration as US president. The women sported rectangular yarn beanies in many shades of pink, making the march in DC and 600 other solidarity marches in cities around the world, even Antarctica, a sea of pink, “a unique collective visual statement,” according to thepussyhatproject.com. The headgear has cat-ear shaped protuberances on either side of the head. It is called a “pussyhat,” a play on another word for “cat” and in reference to the female genitalia and Trump’s infamous sexist remark on grabbing women by theirs. While considered vulgar by conservatives, the deliberate use of the word is an attempt to reclaim the term as a means of empowerment, in much the same way women use “bitch” to refer to themselves and friends in a positive manner. The pussyhat, worn by millions and seen on mass media around the world, has become a symbol of female defiance and the struggle for women’s rights. But unlike another headgear that also became a symbol, but of of conservatism and Christian fundamentalism—Trump’s Make America Great Again red trucker hat— pussyhats were not bought nor sold for profit nor to raise funds, but were made by volunteers and given away for free at the various march venues. Under “The Pussyhat Project,” co-founded by Krista Suh and Jayna Zweiman, women marchers and sympathizers to the cause are encouraged to make their own hats and for others by knitting, crocheting, or sewing them in shades of pink yarn and fabric. Patterns were provided for free, and experienced yarnsmiths came up with their own designs. Pink was chosen as the color because “it is considered a very female color representing caring, compassion, and love—all qualities that have been derided as weak but are actually STRONG.” The play to make the pussyhat a symbol of the Women’s March and what it stands for is so successful that one glance at the artifact, today or in the future, will immediately place the event and the sentiment in its proper historical and cultural context. Similarly, the “brain hat”—likewise a knitted or crocheted yarn cap but with the addition of loopy, cord-like yarn strands to represent brains—is being touted as the symbol of the March for Science on April 22, Earth Day, in cities around the US and perhaps the world. At this event, scientists and other likeminded folk will march in protest against Trump’s climate-change denialism, muzzling of scientific government agencies including national parks from issuing public communications, and his administration’s other anti-science
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But it does not mean he must shut them out—or any adverse opinion from anywhere—either. This latest observation from Amnesty I nte r n at i o n a l i s j u s t another example. In an article in its web site, AI said Mr. Duterte is waging a murderous war on the poor. Immediately, a slew of denials and criticism ensued. We do not believe the President is impervious to feedback . He has modified or softened his stand, for instance, on the fate that awaited journalists. After implying that murdered mediamen deserve what befell them for being corrupt, the President soon made
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RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte says he pursues an independent foreign policy. This means we will not be beholden to anybody, and no country will dictate to us what we should or should not do. This explains the venom with which the President speaks of those who criticize the manner he is carrying out his war on illegal d r u g s. B a s i c a l l y, t h e message is “It’s none of your business.” Fair enough. A national leader must be able to do what he or she deems fit without any intervention, much less pressure, from anybody from outside. Not fellow leaders, not the foreign
press, not international non-government organizations. It’s a free world—nobody can stop them from thinking or saying what they do. Our President has, on numerous occasions, shown his maverick side. He does not feel the need to remain in the good graces of the United States or the United Nations. He does not care much for foreign aid. He slams adverse observations from foreign organizations.
distinctions between real advocates, paid hacks and rotten ones. His suspension of Oplan Tokhang last week over public outrage over reported nefarious activities of the police also shows he listens to public pulse. And just because the pulse comes from outside does not mean he must reject them outright. T h e Pr e s i d e n t m u s t acknowledge the attacks are not personal. The critics are just doing their jobs. And if he is doing his job as he is supposed to—no inadequacies and no excesses, then there is no reason he should not carry on.
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CONSIGNED TO SILENCE LONG STORY SHORT ADELLE CHUA
TWO 15-year-olds were on their way home one evening. It was later than usual because they came from the wake of their friend’s brother after school. One of the girls was seated beside a thin, elderly man who had on his lap a plastic bag of rice.
She felt something brush against her chest. She was horrified to see the man’s right hand wandering over it. She looked at the man and asked: “Tatay, hindi po ba kayo nahihiya sa ginagawa nyo?” (Aren’t you ashamed of your behavior?)
The man muttered some words angrily. The girl could not make out what he was saying although his tone implied he was denying doing anything out of the ordinary. He clutched his bag of rice more tightly and glared at the girl.
The girl, shaking, pulled her friend’s shirt sleeve even as it was not quite their stop yet. When she got home she immediately took a bath in an attempt to wash away the memory of everything that had taken place. Turn to B2
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SCIENCE EDUCATION IS VALUES EDUCATION
PUSSYHATS...
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policies and sentiments. However, the brain hat is more difficult to make than the pussyhat. Whether it will be as popular as the pussyhat will be known in the future. How do we interpret this phenomenon of making a personal, wearable, shareable, symbol of protest, that will last for years if not decades, unlike other protest artifacts such as signs, posters, and placards? In one word—craftivism. In her groundbreaking book The Subversive Stitch: Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine, psychotherapist Rozsika Parker declares that women’s work has been marginalized for centuries, ever since the arts were hierarchically divided into fine arts and craft. (Although in my opinion this would not quite apply to Japanese and Chinese art, where kimono-making, fabric dyeing, weaving, embroidery, and other textile creations and manipulations were just as much art as craft and practiced by men as well as and women). In the West, “the movement to break down boundaries between different forms of creative expression, which gathered pace in the 1970s, has undoubtedly intensified,” Parker said in 2010. This movement was concomitant to the rise of feminism and the taking back of textile craft in a statement of female power. From being instruments of domestic oppression, sewing, embroider y, knitting, and other traditionally “feminine” crafts were now used as a means of creative selfexpression and as a way to make cultural and political statements that brought the concept of femaleness to the fore, with the particular issue of the moment to be articulated against the context of women and their concerns. This gave rise to the term “craftivism”—a “social process of collective empowerment, action, expression, and negotiation. In craftivism, engaging in the social, performative, and critical discourse around the work is central to its production and dissemination.” The creation of pussyhats comes under this banner because it is social (it is made with and for others), it is performative (upon donning it the wearer becomes ‘protester’ and acts as such), and critical (it is a visual statement for women’s rights and against Trump). It empowers both maker and wearer, it drives to action and expression by the very act of wearing it, and the mere sight of it may be interpreted as a negotiation for the results desired by the marchers. “Has the pen or pencil dipped so deep in the blood of the human race as the needle?” (Olive Schreiner, 1926), and, we might add, the knitting needles and the crochet hooks? During this time of turmoil and uncertainty, craftivism becomes, more than ever, an accessible means to reiterate human concerns and to communicate female struggle against oppression of all types through the creation of artifacts that act as messageconveying symbols. How powerful and empowering this is. It’s time to learn how to knit and crochet! Dr. Ortuoste is a California-based writer. Follow her on Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @jensdecember
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*** Yet another girl, with yet another friend, were in yet another jeepney. They were seated near the entrance. It was the rush hour, so some male passengers took the risk of riding “sabit” style. The girl was jolted by her friend’s nudging her arm. “Why,” she asked, but the friend would not speak. Tilting her head to the right she saw that the “sabit” man had unzipped his pants and was playing with his genitals. The two girls shouted together: “Para po!” and practically jumped out of the vehicle. One of them later remarked: “Why did we not think of pushing that pervert out of the jeep?” *** And then, on a bus traversing Edsa one summer afternoon, a girl was traveling home from a workshop she was attending. She was tired, and was on the verge of dozing off when she felt
By Pecier Decierdo THERE is an ongoing crisis plaguing the relationship between science, politics, and people. Although it has been going on for quite some time now, recent developments reveal that it is in full swing, endangering the very future of our species. If we are to respond to this crisis, we have to remember that educating the public about science is not a matter of handing down esoteric wisdom to the ignorant masses. Instead, the focus of teaching science should not be on teaching facts; it should be on the teaching of values. While scientists and their activities still enjoy a great deal of public prestige and respect, a considerable fraction of the public have a hard time telling the difference between actual scientific findings and disinformation, between claims supported by facts and those supported by so-called “alternative facts.” This is a big problem in a democratic republic where the opinions of the people have an impact on how the country is governed, whether it is in the choosing of elected officials or in pressuring those officials to govern in certain ways. If those opinions are not based on sound evidence, how can we, the electorate, come up with democratic solutions to our common problems? Where do science and science education come in this discussion? It’s in the fact that many of the issues we face today have a scientific component. To name just a few, there’s our collective response to climate change, heavy traffic and urban gridlock, disaster risk reduction and management, slow internet connections, and reproductive health policies. But issues that are not obviously science-
related involve gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence to inform political and civic decisions. To give an example, when we ask about the social impact and effectiveness of the government’s so-called war on drugs, we are asking a question in which robust evidence can play an important role. Since gathering, analyzing, and interpreting evidence are critical parts of the methods of science, those methods play a very important role in almost every issue facing the world today. Given the important role science and its methods play in the issues facing us, how can we begin to solve them if disinformation campaigns mounted by those who wish to mislead the public are very effective at confusing the electorate about what’s really true? To make things worse, many of us are trapped in our social bubbles where the only information (or disinformation) that reaches us are the ones that agree with what we already believe in, and where information that challenges our worldview are often ignored, forgotten, misunderstood, or quickly rejected (“That can’t be true!”). The lack of consensus on what counts as fact and on which sources count as credible makes broader discussions almost impossible. The different sides of the debate end up just shouting at each other. Add to all of these the growing mistrust of experts and elites. The public is eager to “shake things up” and usher in much-needed change in the system, sometimes at the expense of the checks and balances that made the previous system slow but less prone to abuse. And who can blame the public when the elites have failed them for the longest time? With all of these problems jamming the
channels that were designed to connect the scientists with the public and the policy makers, how are we to inform the public in such a way that they can put positive pressure on a democratically-elected government? This brings me back to my answer at the start of this article. We have to remember that science education is a kind of values education. Foremost of these values are intellectual honesty and intellectual humility. A public that holds these values have an appreciation of the imperfection and incompleteness of human knowledge, an appreciation that helps in distinguishing confident charlatans from cautious scientists. Another value of science is critical thinking. There are experts in science, but there are no authorities. Even the experts must defend their views, because no ideas are considered sacred. Everything can be questioned and criticizes, and only those that survive criticism are considered valuable. Imagine a society that holds this value. Better yet, imagine how such a society will solve its problems. To name but a few more, there’s curiosity, generosity in the sharing of knowledge, the desire to innovate and improve the lives of people, and the collaborative spirit. Without these values, science would not be possible. Without them, democracy would fail. The values of science are also the values of democracy. Hence, if we are to strengthen the link between science, politics, and the public, we must realize that we cannot do it by hurling facts. We can only do it by convincing people of the value of our values. Decierdo is resident astronomer and physicist for The Mind Museum.
A SLICE OF DANTE’S HELL By Andrej Isakovic BELGRADE—It’s a dark world. You step inside and it takes time for your eyes to adjust. You see people on blankets. They look like corpses. You see shadows moving around. The smell is overpowering. For a moment you think that everyone inside is dead. I’ve covered plenty of stories on refugees and migrants but never have I seen conditions as deplorable as those of the hundreds of young men who are living in an abandoned warehouse behind a train station in Belgrade. They have been here since the summer. Even though Europe has closed its borders, they keep coming, hoping to cross. And since the onset of the winter, always harsh in the Balkans, their conditions have been in the spotlight again. Around 1,000 of them live here. They’re mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Those who got here first managed to grab small rooms, probably former offices, which are protected from the cold on three sides. The rest freeze in the middle, where the cold comes from everywhere. They spread blankets and cartons, wrap another blanket over their head and wait for the time to pass. The first thing that hits
a hand brushing her thigh. She looked at her seatmate, a man who looked like he was in his mid 30s, carrying a backpack. It seemed he was on his way to, or home from, work. Now this girl is feisty, so she flung her pouch at him and cursed him. “Manyak!” she shouted, attracting the attention of all the other passengers. “P*ina mo, lumayas ka dito...tingnan nyo po yan manyak po yan!” The man stood up and alighted on the next stop. But she was not so feisty, after all. When the girl got off on her stop and met up with her mother at a coffee shop near their home, she burst into tears. *** This week we heard about a college student who found herself in a similar situation inside a UV Express van. The circumstances are as told by her brother on his Facebook account. The entire issue, especially the school’s resolution of the case, is now the subject of talk on social media, but here I prefer to zero in on how she dealt with her abuser.
you when you come here is the smell. There is no proper sanitation. The smell of human feces and urine is all around. There are two broken pipes of running water. The men try to wash themselves, but there is only so much that they can do. On top of that, they don’t have proper heat. In recent days, they got a few heaters. But they mostly burn things to keep warm. Often they burn plastic. You know what that smells like. And how dangerous that is. They burn everything they can and often the smoke is black and noxious. The smoke turns their faces dark, so they look like coal miners. “No one leaves his house unless his house is the mouth of a shark.” This sentence is written in English on the wall of the warehouse. When I ask them why they left their homes, most say because they wanted to find a better life in European countries. Some are afraid of Islamists back home. When you show up with a camera around your neck, the vast majority of them—90 percent— are totally friendly. They approach you, or they don’t mind at all if you approach them. The majority sees the media as a way for the world to see what is happening to them and
How should one react to abuse? The first reac tion was denial. Perhaps he was not really touching her. Perhaps he, too, was sleepy and not aware of where his hands were. And then, self-doubt. The girl did not want to make a scene inside the vehicle. Maybe they would think she was presumptuous for saying he was making a pass at her. In the end, the girl took a photo—a blurred one, she insisted to her brother—and posted it on Twitter, telling other commuters to be careful when they take public transportation. Alas, some people did recognize the fellow in the photo, and it reached the authorities of the school where, it turns out, both of them were enrolled.
Mohamed Darwich, a 17-year-old migrant from Afghanistan in January 2017, when nighttime temperatures dropped to -15 Celsius. the few that refuse to have their picture taken seem to be afraid that someone back home may recognize them. They generally welcome you with a smile and they are open to talk to you. Many times they ask you to join them for a cup of tea, or to share a meal that they are preparing for themselves. I always ask before I take a picture. Some of them don’t want to be bothered, but they’re not aggressive about it. A guy will put a scarf on his face and I’ll say no worries, I won’t take a picture of you. I’ve been photographing them
on and off since November. Most of them stayed here, refusing to go to official refugee camps set up by NGOs and the Serbian government because they feared being stuck in the camps. Or expelled. But over the past few weeks, as conditions have gotten worse and the media have reported on them, the government stepped up efforts to have them voluntarily leave for camps. About a third of them complied with the government request. A third ran away when they saw the buses. And a third is still here. AFP
After an investigation, the girl was found guilty of falsely accusing another student of wrongdoing and was made to apologize to the very boy she said touched her. *** But how should someone react to abuse? It is easy for people to say she should have done this, or said that. Slap the jerk, shame him, curse him to the high heavens as Feisty Girl did above. Call on the attention of the other passengers to do the same. Grab him by the collar and drag him to the police station. And why take pictures when the unwelcome hand was where it should not be? If at all, should not the picture have been shown to school authorities instead of being posted online? Perhaps her pants were too tight? These questions and suggestions are precisely why the culture of victim blaming persists even in a society that claims to be modern or progressive.
Nobody will ever know what it feels like to be abused unless one has experienced it. Whatever goes through the mind of the abused, and whatever she decides to do out of impulse, fear or intimidation—she has her reasons. After all, in such situations, the mind is likely to go blank. The only way we can arm ourselves —our daughters and our sisters and perhaps even our sons and brothers— against predators in all shapes and sizes, is to contemplate the scenario beforehand. What should they do if this happens? Why should they not cower? Why should they not entertain the thought they are, even at the slightest degree, to blame? Why should not the word “victim” carry the stigma of being weak or stupid? Only then can we give these predators, and the dangerous thinking that enables them, what they deserve. adellechua@gmail.com
World YEMEN TRIBESMEN KILL 13 AL-QAEDA FIGHTERS ADEN, Yemen—Yemeni tribesmen on Saturday killed 13 Al-Qaeda fighters who had slipped back into a southern town hours after pulling out in the face of street protests, a security official said. The jihadists had reemerged during the night and sought to take control of public buildings in the Abyan province town of Loder, the official said. They met with fierce resistance from armed residents and withdrew after gun battles lasting two hours. Loder was one of three towns in Abyan province that Al-Qaeda fighters entered on Thursday. They withdrew from two of them on Friday in the face of warnings of resistance from local tribes. Yemen’s powerful and heavily armed tribes play a leading role in the country’s politics and frequently determine local allegiances. Al-Qaeda has taken advantage of nearly two years of fighting between government forces and Shiite rebels who control the capital Sanaa to entrench its presence in swathes of the south. AFP
BEIJING TO US: STOP DESTABILIZING EAST ASIA BEIJING—China warned the United States Saturday not to destabilise East Asia after Donald Trump’s new defence secretary said an island chain claimed by both Tokyo and Beijing was covered by a US-Japan military accord. The Senkaku islands, known in China as the Diaoyus, sit in rich fishing grounds and are at the centre of a festering row between Tokyo and Beijing, which claims they have been part of Chinese territory for centuries. “The Diaoyu Island and its adjacent islets have been an inherent part of Chinese territory since ancient times, which is a unchangeable historical fact,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, according to the official news agency Xinhua. “We urge the US side to take a responsible attitude, stop making wrong remarks... and avoid making the issue more complicated and bringing instability to the regional situation”. Speaking in Tokyo at the tail end of a visit to East Asia, new US Defense Secretary James Mattis said the islands were subject to a long-standing treaty between Washington and Tokyo. “I made clear that our long-standing policy on the Senkaku Islands stands –- the US will continue to recognise Japanese administration of the islands,” Mattis said. “And as such Article 5 of the US-Japan Security Treaty applies.” Article 5 commits the United States to defend Japan or territories it administers against any attack. AFP
UN LIFTS SANCTIONS ON NOTORIOUS AFGHAN WARLORD KABUL—The UN Security Council has lifted sanctions on the notorious Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, previously branded “a global terrorist” and accused of widespread human rights abuses. The move follows a landmark peace deal between Hekmatyar’s insurgent group Hezb-i-Islami (HIG) and the Afghan government in September last year, guaranteeing his amnesty and security despite protests by human rights groups. It was the first such agreement since the Taliban launched their insurgency in 2001, paving the way for the former prime minister’s political comeback after nearly two decades in hiding. The accord was praised by many foreign governments, including the United States, as a step towards peace in Afghanistan. A statement on the UNSC’s website said an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo targeting Hekmatyar no longer applied. Diplomatic sources said only Russia had opposed the move, though France was initially reluctant because of Hezbe-Islami’s involvement in an ambush northeast of Kabul that cost the lives of 10 French soldiers in August 2008. Hekmatyar was designated by the US as a “global terrorist” in 2003. AFP
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com
THE HAZARDOUS LIVES OF CHINA’S RICH B
EIJING, China—The mysterious case of a billionaire who went missing from Hong Kong last week, reportedly abducted by mainland security agents, has underscored the precarious lives of China’s ultra rich. Local media say financier Xiao Jianhua was last seen at his apartment in Hong Kong’s Four Seasons hotel and is under investigation in connection with China’s 2015 stocks crash. There is no shortage of examples of other tycoons who have met a similar fate in a country that has the largest number of billionaires in the world: 594, according to the latest ranking of the magazine Hurun. In China, company chiefs need the backing of the Communist Party to get rich, but they also need it to survive. It is a relationship that – when the
political winds change – can leave them out to dry, experts say. “Chinese businessmen know their country, and they all know that they must have the support of the authorities,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a professor at the Baptist University of Hong Kong. “Every day, local Communist Party officials receive gifts from company bosses... who need protection.” Without this support, a businessman might have to pay more taxes, for example, “because taxation is very arbitrary in China,” said Willy Lam, a political scientist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “If you don’t have official protec-
tion, it’s possible that your business might be wiped out, for whatever capricious reasons.” There has been widespread speculation that Xiao’s disappearance was part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ongoing anti-corruption drive, which some critics believe has been used to target his political opponents. The campaign was launched after Xi took power in 2012 and has brought down government officials and corporate executives. “There is always the risk of being dragged into the fall of a politician when he is prosecuted for corruption,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan. “If your protector is doing OK then you make a lot of money,” said Mr. Lam. But if he’s arrested “this may suddenly become a big disadvantage. So it’s a double-edged sword”. There has been no shortage of examples in recent years. In addition to Xiao Jianhua who
is believed to be close to Xi’s family, a real estate kingpin, Guo Wengui, who had strong political connections, has fled abroad. Several of his supporters who were at the top of the state hierarchy have since fallen in the anti-corruption purge. The billionaire Xu Ming, who is close to former top-ranking leader Bo Xilai (a political rival of Xi), died in prison at the end of 2015. Others, who had disappeared, resurfaced after claiming to have “cooperated with investigations.” “In China, a joke says that if your name appears in the list of the 100 richest people in the country, then you should be careful because many of these people have been arrested for tax evasion or economic crimes,” said Willy Lam. “Until what happened to Xiao Jianhua... many of these top business people thought that Hong Kong was safe, but no longer so,” added Lam. AFP
A fighter from the Syrian Democratic Forces gathers near a village north-east of Raqa on February 3, 2017, during their advance on the jihadists’ de facto capital in Syria. AFP
LOCKHEED TRIMS COSTS FOR F-35 WASHINGTON—Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon said the next batch of F-35 stealth fighters, the most expensive planes in history, will be produced at a reduced cost.
They announced $728 million in savings after President Donald Trump publically upbraided Lockheed over “out of control” costs, although most of the savings were already planned
A handout photo of the Lockheed F-35C used by the US Navy, which now costs $121.8 million.
ahead of his involvement, during a months-long contract negotiation. The next production run of 90 F35s will see the Air Force version of the plane, the F-35A, produced at a unit cost of $94.6 million, marking a 7.3 percent reduction from an earlier batch and pushing the price per plane below $100 million for the first time. “President Trump’s personal involvement in the F-35 program accelerated the negotiations and sharpened our focus on driving down the price,” Lockheed said in a statement. “The agreement was reached in a matter of weeks and represents significant savings over previous contracts.” With a current development and acquisition price tag already at $379 billion for a total of 2,443 F-35 aircraft – most destined for the Air Force – the F-35 is the most expensive plane in history, and costs are set to go higher still. Once servicing and maintenance costs for the F-35 are factored in over the aircraft’s lifespan through 2070,
overall program costs are expected to rise to $1.5 trillion. Pentagon F-35 program head Lieutenant General Chris Bogdan said the agreement was a “good and fair deal for the taxpayers, the US government, allies and industry.” The F-35 is also produced in versions for the Marine Corps and Navy. The Marine model, the F-35B, will now be produced at a unit cost of $122.8 million, a 6.7 percent reduction. The Navy’s F-35C will cost $121.8 million, down 7.9 percent. Lockheed also said the deal would create 1,800 new jobs at its factory in Fort Worth, Texas. Proponents tout the F-35’s radardodging stealth technology, supersonic speeds, close air-support capabilities, airborne agility and a massive array of sensors giving pilots unparalleled access to information. But the program has faced numerous setbacks, including a mysterious engine fire in 2014 that led commanders to ground planes until the problem could be resolved. AFP
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2017 Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor
World
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IRAN ‘BIGGEST STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM’ —MATTIS
GOOD LUCK. An Ethnic Malaysian-Chinese devotee burns joss-sticks at the Thean Hou temple decorated with red lanterns in Kuala Lumpur on the eve of the Lunar New Year, marking the start of the Year of the Rooster. AFP
Protestors march on the streets of Sydney’s central business district against US President Donald Trump’s travel ban policy on February 4 and demanded for the Australian government to settle all the refugees and asylum seekers in the county. AFP
TRUMP BAN SUFFERS SEVERE LEGAL BLOW
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os Angeles,United States – A US federal judge has ordered a temporary, nationwide halt to President Donald Trump’s ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries, in the most severe legal blow to the controversial measure. The restraining order issued by Seattle US District Judge James Robart is valid nationwide pending a full review of a complaint filed by Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson. “The constitution prevailed today,” Ferguson said, describing the judge’s decision as historic. “No one is above the law – not even the president.” “I said from the beginning it is not the loudest voice that prevails in a courtroom, it’s the constitution,” he added, pointing out that Robart was appointed by Republican president George W. Bush. But the White House quickly hit back, making it clear it was ready for a drawn-out battle on the issue. It initially denounced the decision as “outrageous” but later removed
the word from its statement. “At the earliest possible time, the Department of Justice intends to file (for) an emergency stay of this order and defend the executive order of the president, which we believe is lawful and appropriate,” a statement said. “The president’s order is intended to protect the homeland and he has the constitutional authority and responsibility to protect the American people.” Friday’s ruling was not the first to challenge the travel ban, but it was the most sweeping as it effectively vacated the main tenets of the order. Ferguson said the order technically means that anyone with a valid visa must be allowed entry into the country by Customs and
Border Protection (CBP). But it was unclear whether the Trump administration would succeed in challenging it, leaving travelers in limbo over their legal status. Robart’s decision came after Ferguson filed a suit to invalidate key provisions of Trump’s executive order which bars Syrian refugees indefinitely and blocks citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entry into the US for 90 days. Refugees from countries other than Syria are barred from entry for 120 days. The State Department said Friday that up to 60,000 foreigners from the seven countries concerned had their visas canceled as a result of the order. A Justice Department attorney, however, told a court hearing in Virginia that about 100,000 visas had been revoked. “We are working closely with the Department of Homeland Security and our legal teams to determine how this affects our operations. We will announce any changes affecting travelers to the
United States as soon as that information is available,” the department said in a statement. Trump’s executive order created chaos at airports across the United States and beyond as some travelers were detained or deported, prompting an uproar by rights groups and immigration attorneys. Washington Governor Jay Inslee welcomed the ruling as a “tremendous victory” but warned that the battle to overturn Trump’s controversial order was far from over. “There is still more to do,” he said in a statement. “The fight isn’t yet won. But we should feel heartened by today’s victory and more resolute than ever that we are fighting on the right side of history.” Senator Chuck Schumer, the leader of the minority Democrats in the upper house of Congress, urged Trump to repeal his order “once and for all.” “This ruling is a victory for the constitution and for all of us who believe this un-American executive order will not make us safer,” he said in a statement. AFP
LOUVRE REOPENS 24 HOURS AFTER MACHETE ATTACK PARIS—The Louvre has reopened in Paris Saturday, 24 hours after a soldier patrolling the museum shot a machete-wielding attacker, believed to be an Egyptian who entered the country on a tourist visa a week ago. The incident on Friday has thrust security and the terror threat back into the limelight three months before elections in France, with authorities saying it was a “terrorist” assault. The attacker, in a black t-shirt bearing a skull design and armed with two 40-centimeter (16-inch) machetes, lunged at four patrolling French soldiers while shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”), Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told a press conference.
One of the troops was struck on the head and another fell to the ground outside the famous Paris museum after the assailant attacked. The second soldier managed to open fire and hit the machete-wielder in the stomach. “The attacker fell to the ground, seriously wounded. He has been taken to hospital and is fighting for his life,” the prosecutor said. A source later said that the suspect’s condition had stabilized. Security forces said one soldier had suffered a minor head wound. Police held hundreds of tourists in secure areas of the world famous attraction after the assailant was shot five times in a public area near one of the museum’s entrances. AFP
Protestors march on the streets of Sydney’s central business district against US President Donald Trump’s travel ban policy on February 4 and demanded for the Australian government to settle all the refugees and asylum seekers in the county. AFP
TOKYO—US Defense Secretary James Mattis said Saturday that Iran was the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism, as President Donald Trump slapped fresh sanctions on the country’s weapons procurement network. “As far as Iran goes, this is the single biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world,” Mattis said at a press conference in Tokyo, but added that the US had no plans to increase troop numbers in the Middle East in response. “It does no good to ignore it. It does no good to dismiss it and at the same time I don’t see any need to increase the number of forces we have in the Middle East at this time,” he said. “We always have the capability to do so but right now I don’t think it’s necessary.” US officials said that the new sanctions were in response to Iran’s ballistic missile test this week and its support for Huthi rebels in Yemen, who recently targeted a Saudi warship. AFP
SIX KILLED IN INDONESIA BOAT ACCIDENT JAKARTA—At least six people have been killed and three are missing after a fishing boat capsized in eastern Indonesia, an official said Saturday. The wooden boat was carrying 29 people when it capsized Friday afternoon after departing from Takalar Lama river to Tanah Keke island in the province of South Sulawesi. Twenty people have been found alive but rescue teams are still searching for the missing passengers. The cause of the accident is still not known, transport ministry spokesman Lollan Panjaitan told AFP. “Since the wooden fishing boat departed from an unofficial location, not from an official harbour, we don’t have much control over it,” he said, adding that the boat didn’t have a legal permit to make the trip. The Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands is heavily dependent on boat transport but safety standards are poor and accidents occur regularly. AFP
2ND SUSPECT IN MURDER OF NLD LAWYER ARRESTED YANGON – A second suspect has been arrested over the brazen murder of a prominent Muslim lawyer in Myanmar, state media reported Saturday, as questions build over a killing that stunned the Buddhist-majority country. Ko Ni, a 63-year-old legal advisor to Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy, was shot in the head outside Yangon’s airport last Sunday while he was holding his grandson and waiting for a taxi. A cab driver who tried to intervene was also killed, and the gunman—identified as 53-yearold Kyi Lin—was arrested at the scene. Police have not offered a motive for the murder of Ko Ni, who spoke out against rising antiIslamic sentiment and also criticised the army’s lingering grip on power. But the NLD, whose electoral victory ended decades of military rule, has called the murder a political assassination and “terrorist act” against their policies. AFP