5: Lawyers Urge Appeals Court Not to “Unleash Chaos Again” by Reinstating Trump’s Muslim Ban
Courts have temporarily blocked President Trump’s executive order banning people from seven majority-Muslim nations from entering the United States. Early this morning, lawyers for the states of Washington and Minnesota filed a brief with a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals arguing against restoring Trump’s executive order banning people from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen from entering the United States, saying that to reinstate the ban would “unleash chaos again.” On Sunday, a California appeals court sided with a lower court in Seattle and refused to reinstate the travel ban. The Seattle ruling, issued by U.S. District Court Judge James Robart on Friday, imposed a nationwide temporary restraining order on the ban. Over the weekend, the Department of Homeland Security began allowing visa holders affected by Trump’s order to board U.S.-bound flights. On Sunday, Roslyn Sinha, an Iraqi passport holder with a valid visa to live in the United States, was among those who was able to return.
Democracy Now
4: Israel’s settlement bill ‘big step towards annexation’
Occupied West Bank – The Israeli Knesset has advanced controversial legislation that, if approved, would lead to a host of illegal settlements built on privately owned Palestinian land being legalised retroactively.
The so-called “Regulation Bill”, scheduled for a vote on Monday, would apply to around 4,000 settlement homes in the West Bank for which settlers could prove ignorance that they had built on privately owned land and had received encouragement from the Israeli state to do so.
The bill has been criticised by human rights groups and legal experts who have warned that it would violate property rights. The government’s attorney general has said that the bill was unconstitutional and would contradict Israel’s legal obligations under international law, while Israeli MK Tzipi Livni warned that it would lead Israeli soldiers to the ICC.
“This law will make theft an official Israeli policy by retroactively legalising illegal construction on private lands,” said Anat Ben Nun, director of external relations at Peace Now.
Aljazeera
3: The Stories Behind New Zealand Places You Probably Never Learned in History Class
The Māori chief who inspired Gandhi, and what life was really like when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.
Vice News
2: Amid the Chaos in Berkeley, a Grinning Face, Covered in Blood
SEVERAL FANS OF the right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos were injured on Wednesday night in Berkeley, in scuffles with dozens of black-clad anti-fascist activists who managed to shut down a talk by Brietbart’s star writer on the University of California campus.
According to Julia Carrie Wong of The Guardian, about 150 anti-fascists — who call themselves Black Bloc or Antifas and justify the use of violence as pre-emptive self-defense — joined a larger group of perhaps a thousand peaceful protesters and quickly confronted fans of the writer who had arrived early for his talk.
Amid the ensuing mayhem, however — as mace was sprayed, punches were thrown, a generator was set on fire, and the talk was called off — one victim of the violence appeared to be enjoying himself, grinning broadly as he approached reporters for BuzzFeed and the Bay Area affiliate of CBS News to display his battered face.
The man, a 30-year-old podcaster who uses the comic book-inspired pseudonym Eddy Brock online, seemed oddly pleased as he introduced himself to Blake Montgomery, who was streaming live video of the protest for BuzzFeed.
The Intercept
1: Donald Trump should not be allowed to speak in UK parliament, says Speaker
Donald Trump would not be welcome to address parliament during his state visit, the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has said in an unprecedented intervention, which drew applause and cheering from MPs.
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May’s meeting with the Israeli PM, and the first chance for MPs to amend the article 50 bill.
Bercow, whose role is non-political, said he could not block a state visit by the US president but would use his role as one of the three “key-holders” of Westminster Hall to prevent the Republican from addressing MPs and peers.
He said he had been particularly persuaded by what he termed Trump’s “migrant ban”, the executive order signed during the president’s first fortnight that prevented any nationals from seven Muslim countries from entering the US, including refugees.
The Guardian
