Category Archives: Legal

Trump Administration Appeal Hearing on Halting Visa Restrictions

North America Editor Kate Burrows-Jones explains in detail the Administration (Department of Justice case ) and the counter argument put by the Washington State Attorney.

In an emergency motion, arguments were heard last night by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals whether to uphold or turn a lower court decision by Seattle Federal District Court Judge (Justice) James Robart which had previously placed a restraining order against President Donald J. Trump’s Executive order banning travel from seven countries. The court ruling is not expected today. Judges ( justices) Clifton, Canby and Friedland presided by telephone and were Live-streamed to the public in a conference call with the Government’s Special Counsel for the Department of Justice, August Flentje, and the plaintiff, Noah Purcell, Solicitor General for the State of Washington in the case of State of Washington and State of Minnesota v. Trump.

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Trump Overturned by ‘9th Circus’

Kate Burrows-Jones, North America Editor

The system works, but it doesn’t. We have seen how an executive order can be successfully challenged by the courts, which is a victory for democracy, except……Unfortunately, the San Francisco 9th Circuit, also know as the 9th Circus, is stacked with activist judges and has an extraordinary 67% rate of reversal. The president put in play an ill-conceived order, which he did not sell well to the public. The press didn’t read the order and jumped on the ‘Muslim ban’ bandwagon. The courts appear to have overturned it less on merit, than on politics. We the American people lose. What happens if we are faced with a real emergency? Has a precedent now been set that the Executive can’t impose a ban on certain immigrant and refugee groups. The most recent one is similar to a more isolated one President Barack Obama put in place to reaction to gaps in security screening brought to his attention by the FBI?

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NO TEA FOR TRUMP? MPS DEBATE BANNING THE PRESIDENT. AGAIN.

Kate Burrows-Jones , North America Editor

A petition signed by over one million, among whom 800,000 are British, will require MPs to discuss whether US President Donald Trump should be banned from a state visit.  Any petition presented to parliament with over 100,000 signatures is automatically debated by MPs. The anti-Trump petition will be debated on Thursday, February 20th at Westminster Hall not in  the main Commons Chamber. The MPs will also debate another petition, signed by half a million people and put up on Monday night, welcoming Mr Trump to the UK.  The outcome of the debate only carries moral weight but has no effect on Government policy. A Sky News poll said 49% of Britons believe Trump should stay home.

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The Hysteria on US “ Muslim Ban” What are the Facts?

By Kate Burrows-Jones, World Media North America Editor

President Trump Executive order is but sharpening existing laws set by his predecessor President Obama restricting entry to nationals of seven nations. ( below also include links to the full text of the order and related subjects)

Fake news indeed. There is no Executive order banning Muslims. President Donald Trump’s, perhaps ill-founded, ill-fated 90 day ban is based on President Barack Obama’s restrictions on Seven nations. Nobody cared when he did it, so was it a Muslim ban then? The law was written to address security concerns after the Paris Attacks, passing with overwhelming agreement. Voting was bipartisan, it passed the House 407-19.  What Trump did was apply a sharp force, a halt on movement, and cruelly with no notice to let people prepare. Let the people decide if it is wrong, but to call it “Muslim” in nature, is also wrong without reading the full executive order.

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Command Papers: What is a White paper?, MPs Demand One On Article 50

Although most Members of parliament MPs who ( I’d say 90%) asking for a government white paper are a die-hard remainers/remoaners who’s aim is to delay and frustrate plans to trigger Article 50  hoping for a second referendum a handful are genuine in holding gov to account. But parties are standing in different position on the issue, only one Tory MP  is with remain for example on triggering the article by end of March as the Prime Minister stated.

In reaction to the Supreme Court Ruling which went against the government, the latter is preparing a bill before parliament within days as secretary of State for Leaving the European Union David Dvis MP told the commons yesterday in a heated debate that helped flush out those who want reverse the result of the EU referendum.

During today’s Prime Minster’s questions the leaders of the opposition and one Tory backbenchers repeated the demand for a White paper. The white paper will be more or less the PM Lancaster House announced plan. This speech, unlike a ministerial statement, or a green/white paper, didn’t give MPs the chance to have a debate,  the kind of ” dancing on a pinhead” pedantically structured arguments, duel of wits on the floor of the house etc. A white-paper will give this self-indulging chance. For the benefit of those unfamiliar with the different types of command papers, read the details below on the difference between Green and White paper:
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BBC Professionalism? A Case in Point

Here is an example of either amateurish lazy below standard journalism, or a blatant bias by producers editors and a below standard under trained hacks who make up their minds before reporting a story.I am citing a radio report, broadcast on bbc radio four 13:00 (12:00 GMT) on Saturday 16 May 2015 reporting on sentencing former president Morsi of Egypt alongside other defendants. ..

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Egypt Airstrikes against Islamic State Bases in Libya Usher New Strategy to Fight Terrorism

With lack of a coherent strategy by western powers to contain the Islamic State Terror menace, Egypt and Jordan taking initiatives to take war into IS strongholds in Libya and Syria won populist approval as well as western leaders support, but this not enough; a wider world wide strategy and action is called for. It is now evident that the battle against the neo-Islamo-Fascism in the form of the self-proclaimed Islamic State took another twist in the early hours today when Egyptian air-force jets bombed weapons storage, training camps and sites occupied by IS terrorists in neighbouring Libya.

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A legal directive to force Google hand into correcting information? Why?©

Why I am writing about the rubbish on the internet and why I, a staunch supporter of free expression, fierce opponent to censorship and anti-regulations, can see the point of ( and empathise with) many of the  people who back a European court action to correct (good luck to them !!) information about them and their data  on the internet. What inspired me is personal experience. Only yesterday I discovered, that a young lady, close to my heart, had the WRONG information about my date of birth and my faith ( which caused some serious damage to our affectionate relationship- I hope we can repair), from some rubbish on the internet. The other reason, unfortunately, my fellow hacks and hacketts, seldom check information for accuracy. Equally in 2009 the Media Editor of the Independent newspaper, PUBLISHED a story about me when I resigned my post as Director of the Media monitoring organisation Just Journalism, and labelled me wrongly ( ethnically), he neither bothered to contact me, nor to check his own newspaper archives.. I worked for The Independent   since I joined when  it was founded  in 1986 and until 1998 ( and continued to write for the paper  until four years ago), and my personal information and files were  available in his newsdesk; instead of checking  facts he  ‘guessed’. This thought in my head also coincides with the row over google and correcting or deleting personal information. I sympathise with the people who scream for regulation,  although as an old fashioned hack and a staunch libertarian, I am the last person in the world who’d agree on censorship or some regulation blocking access to information. but my personal experience and what you can do when WRONG and confusing information is out there for the world to see and you are powerless to correct them? Continue reading

Details of Judicial Review of Muslim Brotherhood Status NOT BBC false Egypt Reporting

Once again fellow hacks in various sections of British media were quick to report rumours and gossip on streets of cairo and Egyptian social media as factual news, namely a false claim that the Egyptian government banned or outlawed the Muslim Brotherhood.  This led to Egyptian government quickly denying  media nonsense. Below are the full details of the judicial review, its recommendation and the background to who asked for the review, which was a group of Egyptian MPs, activists, women groups and others  who have nothing to do withe the government. Several court case to challenge the MB charitable status were filed some 14 months before June 30 movement that ousted them from power with help from the army and both Muslim Church ( Azhar) and Christian Church ( coptic) as well as all other political parties, trends, NGOs and trade unions  ina national council meetings 1-3 July 2013 . Below are the details.

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Misleading & Factually Inaccurate Egypt Story in the Guardian

Whether it was a deliberate fabrication (given the guardian ideological stance) or laziness by the Guardian  hackette, Lisa O’Carroll; the story on an Egyptian court ruling on some TV channels was factually inaccurate, contains errors and leaves out vital information which misleads readers and can cause violent reaction on the ground in Egypt.

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