Members of the British parliament have rejected a key move by the opposition Labour Party meant to block a potential disorderly withdrawal from the European Union. 

In a Wednesday session of the House of Commons, lawmakers voted 309 to 298 against Labour’s measure which sought to seize control of the parliamentary agenda from the government if it wants to go ahead with plans for a no-deal Brexit on October 31 this year.

Three years after Britons voted to leave the EU in a tight referendum, the government and the parliament in the country are still at odds on how to deliver on the results of the historic vote.

The Commons have rejected a Brexit deal by outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May on three occasions.

Conservative Party candidates seeking to replace May have declared their intention to implement a no-deal Brexit if the parliament fails to endorse the divorce agreement with the EU.

The Labour, however, has repeatedly vowed to block a no-deal Brexit, saying it will not allow the ruling Tories to take advantage of the political deadlock on Brexit to extend their grip on power.

Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said after the Wednesday vote that the party would continue with its efforts to prevent the next Tory prime minister to bring Britain out of the EU without a deal.

“Labour stands ready to use whatever mechanism it can to protect jobs, the economy and communities from the disastrous consequences of a no-deal Brexit,” said Starmer, adding, “This is just the start, not the end of our efforts to block no-deal.”

Boris Johnson, the top candidate to win the Conservative Party leadership vote in late July and replace May, repeated his promise for a no-deal Brexit as he launched his official campaign earlier on Wednesday.

Johnson said the Tories could not withstand another delay to Brexit as it would inflict a huge loss on the reputation of the ruling party.

“Delay means defeat, delay means ruin,” said Johnson, adding, “We will simply not get a result if we give the impression that we want to go on kicking the can down the road and yet more delay.”

Source: Presstv

The Austrian parliament has removed Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and his caretaker government from office in a no-confidence vote over a corruption scandal.

The motion was passed on Monday in the aftermath of the release of a controversial video of the vice chancellor and far-right freedom party (FPO) leader Heinz-Christian Strache, who was seen to be allegedly offering public contracts to a Russian agent in return for political support.

Social Democrats (SPO), the main proponents of the 32-year-old leader’s ouster, blamed him for forming a coalition with Strache’s party and accused the chancellor of an “uncurbed and shameless power grab.”

The two parties have a majority of 103 seats combined in the Austria’s 183-seat lower house.

“Kurz gambled away his chances and, Mr. Chancellor, you bear full responsibility,” the SPO deputy parliamentary faction head Joerg Leichtfried said in a speech before submitting the motion.

The vote, backed by more than half of MPs, came despite a surprise victory of Kruz’s conservative People’s Party (OVP) in Sunday’s European elections, which is projected to gain 34.9 percent of the vote and two extra European parliament seats.

Strache, denying all allegations, resigned from his political posts after the video release.

Austrian prosecutors said they were investigating Strache’s video “in multiple directions”, but declined to provide further details.

The Central European country will now be led by a transitional body until general elections are held in September.

Source: Presstv

A bomb attack has wounded at least 13 people in France’s southeastern city of Lyon.

The attack took place on a pedestrian street in the heart of Lyon around 5:30 pm local time on Friday, French officials said.

French Interior Ministry officials initially said eight people had been wounded, but police sources later put the number of the casualties at 13. None of the injured people were in a life-threatening condition.

French President Emmanuel Macron was starting a live address as news of the blast broke. “My thoughts are with the injured,” he said.

Police sources and local Mayor Denis Broliquier said police forces were looking for a suspected suitcase bomber.

The partially masked suspect was captured on security video arriving at the scene by bicycle before leaving a case in front of a bakery shortly before the blast took place.

The Paris anti-terrorism prosecutor launched an investigation into the incident, with police treating the blast as attempted homicide, according to law-enforcement officials.

France experienced its worst terrorist attack on November 13, 2015, when seven sites in and around the French capital of Paris were targeted. A total of 130 people were killed and hundreds more were injured in shootings and bombings.

Also in July 2016, a man deliberately plowed his truck through a Bastille Day crowd in the French city of Nice, killing 84 people and wounding 200 others. An 85th victim died later in hospital.

Source: Presstv

Britain’s defense secretary Gavin Williamson has been sacked from the cabinet over a controversial leak of government discussions suggesting that Chinese telecommunication company Huawei will be a partner in UK’s future internet projects.

A government spokesperson said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Theresa May had lost confidence in Williamson after it emerged as part of an investigation that the former defense minister was the source of the Huawei leak.

“The prime minister’s decision has been informed by his conduct surrounding an investigation into the circumstances of the unauthorized disclosure of information from a meeting of the National Security Council,” said the spokesperson, making a reference to discussions in NSC last week in which May had granted a partial role to Huawei to build Britain’s 5G network.

Firing Williamson came after the United States, which has banned Huawei from a similar 5G project in the country, became angry at UK’s decision to cooperate with the Chinese company.

US officials warned earlier this week that they would withhold sensitive intelligence from the UK if London goes ahead with its partnership with Huawei.

China, however, have been urging the British government to think of its own interests and ignore Washington’s claims that Huawei could become a spying tool at the hands of the Chinese government.

Williamson is quite known for his pro-US stances and has consistently campaigned for close defense and intelligence cooperation with the US.

He was one of five cabinet ministers suspected of leaking NSC discussions to the Daily Telegraph. The government had announced as part of its inquiry that the perpetrators could even face criminal investigation. That could force Williamson to resign his parliamentary seat and prompt a by-election in his constituency.

Williamson had denied any role in the leak while insisting that no one from his department had been involved.

Source: Presstv

Twenty-nine German tourists were killed when their bus spun off the road and tumbled down a slope before crashing into a house on the Portuguese island of Madeira.

Drone footage of the aftermath of the accident showed the badly mangled wreckage of the bus resting precariously on its side against a building on a hillside, the vehicle’s roof partially crushed and front window smashed.

Rescue workers attended to injured passengers among the undergrowth where the bus came to rest, some of them bearing bloodied head bandages and bloodstained clothes, others appearing to be more seriously hurt.

Local authorities said most of the dead were in their 40s and 50s.

They were among the more than one million tourists who visit the Atlantic islands off the coast of Morocco each year, attracted by its subtropical climate and rugged volcanic terrain.

“Horrible news comes to us from Madeira,” a German government spokesman tweeted after the crash.

“Our deep sorrow goes to all those who lost their lives in the bus accident, our thoughts are with the injured,” he added.

German holidaymakers were the second largest group after British tourists to visit the islands — known as the Pearl of the Atlantic and the Floating Garden in the Atlantic — in 2017, according to Madeira’s tourism office.

The islands are home to just 270,000 inhabitants.

Filipe Sousa, mayor of Santa Cruz where the accident happened, said 17 women and 11 men were killed in the crash, with another 21 injured.

A doctor told reporters another woman died of her injuries in hospital.

“I express the sorrow and solidarity of all the Portuguese people in this tragic moment, and especially for the families of the victims who I have been told were all German,” President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told Portuguese television.

He said he would travel to Madeira overnight.

‘Profound sadness’

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa added on Twitter that he had contacted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to convey his condolences

“It is with profound sadness that I heard of the accident on Madeira,” he wrote on the government’s Twitter page.

“I took the occasion to convey my sadness to Chancellor Angela Merkel at this difficult time,” he added.

The regional protection service in Madeira confirmed 28 deaths in the accident that happened at 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) Wednesday, while hospital authorities said another woman later died of her injuries.

The bus had been carrying around 50 passengers.

Regional government Vice President Pedro Calado said it was “premature” to speculate on the cause of the crash, adding that the vehicle was five years old and that “everything had apparently been going well”.

Judicial authorities had opened an investigation into the circumstances of the accident, the Madeira public prosecutor’s office told the Lusa news agency.

Medical teams were being sent from Lisbon to help local staff carry out post-mortems on the dead.

(AFP)

A new report shows genuine couples in the UK have been subjected to numerous cases of insult and harassment by police and other authorities, who suspect such marriages provide a cover for immigration fraud.

The Guardian newspaper said on Sunday that more and more registered couples across the UK had been subject to “insulting” searches by Home Office officials investigating whether their relationship was real and not one that allows the parties to remain in the country as a migrant.

The newspaper cited shocking cases of ministry officials raiding houses of couples or gatecrashing their wedding ceremonies only because they suspected they were involved in a sham marriage.

The couples are often forced to detail their sexual relationship, something many of them find deeply troublesome and insulting.

In one case, ministry officials had told a couple inside their house that their marriage could be declared sham because they were wearing pajamas in bed.

In another case, four ministry officials raided the home of a Pakistani man, identified only as Qasim, and his Portuguese wife three years ago. They interrogated the couple about their sexual behavior and then arrested the man for four months until authorities were convinced that the relationship was genuine.

“I was in a state of shock and trauma all the time I was in detention. It was very insulting that the Home Office came inside our home to check that everything was joined,” said Qasim.

Lawyers and rights activists have protested against the Home Office practice, saying it is part of the UK government’s hostile policy toward the refugees.

“You may be detained after your marriage ceremony is gatecrashed by Home Office officials. It’s very degrading,” said Poppy Firmin, an employee of a UK law agency.

“Home Office officials may come to your home early in the morning and check up on the number of toothbrushes,” said Elizabeth Ruddick, a solicitor working for major law agency.  

The UK government has repeatedly been accused of violating the rights of refugees as authorities eye a drastic reduction in the number of arrivals in the country. That comes as many migrants from the European Union countries have already left the UK fearing that the country’s withdrawal from the EU could make their lives more difficult.

Presstv

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned that the European Union (EU) is “running out” of patience with the United Kingdom over Brexit, days after a withdrawal deal put forward by embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a third defeat in the country’s parliament.

“With our British friends we have a lot of patience, but even patience is running out,” Juncker said in an interview with Italian public broadcaster RAI on Sunday. “So far, we know what the British parliament says no to, but we don’t know what it might say yes to.”

Juncker added that he would like the British parliament to reach an agreement on a Brexit plan “in the coming hours and days.”

Asked whether a second referendum on the matter within the UK might be possible, the European Commission president said it was an issue “that concerns the British only.”

People in Britain voted in a referendum in 2016 to leave the EU. But the British government remains divided on the manner of a withdrawal. Some have even questioned whether sentiments for a pullout remain as strong, suggesting that a second referendum be held.

On Friday, British lawmakers voted 344-286 against May’s 585-page EU Withdrawal Agreement for a third time.

The British premier had told parliament that the vote would be the last opportunity to ensure Brexit would take place, also warning that if the deal failed, any further delay to Brexit would probably be a long one beyond April 12.

The British parliament also rejected as many as eight Brexit options, including a no-deal Brexit and the revocation of Article 50, which would mean not leaving the EU at all.

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the deadlock, about a million people from both “Leave” and “Remain” campaigns took to the streets of London last weekend to push for a second Brexit referendum. European Council President Donald Tusk also called an emergency meeting for April 10.

The British parliament is scheduled to hold on Monday another round of “indicative votes” on potential Brexit options, one of which includes a customs union with the EU, an option May has always ruled out.

Britain is expected to ratify the Brexit deal until April 12 to secure a short extension from the EU to implement the withdrawal process. Otherwise, London will have to either leave the EU without a deal on that date or seek a long extension to come up with a new solution.

Source: Presstv

Police in the British capital London are searching for a potential serial attacker who randomly approached people from behind and knifed them.

Media reports on Sunday said a total of four people had been injured in random attacks in the northern London borough of Edmonton.

The Metropolitan Police said the “cowardly and senseless” attacks were potentially linked as all the victims had been “selected at random” for being “alone and vulnerable”.

The Met said the suspect, believed to be a slim black man who acted alone, had only aimed to inflict hurt on people as none of the victims had been robbed. They added that the attacker could have suffered from “mental health issues”.

“We are doing everything we can to apprehend the suspect behind these cowardly and senseless attacks,” said a spokesman without elaborating whether the attacks could have been terrorism.

The BBC said the attacks began with the stabbing of a 45-year-old woman in Aberdeen Road at 19:02 GMT on Saturday.

A 52-year-old man was stabbed half a mile away in Park Avenue about four hours later while a third victim, a 23-year-old man, suffered injuries less than a mile away in Silver Street after he was knifed overnight at Seven Sisters Tube station.

UK police

A final stabbing targeting a 29-year-old man came in early morning hours in Brettenham Road.

All the victims except one are now in critical condition and their injuries have been described as life-threatening.

The gruesome stabbing attacks come as the British government and security forces are grappling with a historic surge in knife crime and other types of violence on the streets.

Britain’s interior ministry announced a series of drastic changes to the rules governing stop and search operations by the police. The new measures are meant to enable officers with lower seniority to detect knives and other sharp instruments from people on the streets.

Source: Presstv

Five people were injured and seven arrested on Saturday as members of Spain’s far-right Vox party demonstrating in Barcelona against Catalan independence clashed with separatist activists there, police said.

The violence came amid rising tension in the run-up to parliamentary elections next month and the continuing trial of 12 Catalan leaders for their part in the failed 2017 independence bid.

Police estimated that around 5,000 members of Vox demonstrated in the Catalan capital, in the words of their leader Santiago Abascal to “defend to the very end a united Spain”.

“Spain will not resign itself to being destroyed,” Abascal told the crowd.

Several groups of radical Catalan separatists, many of them masked, had organised counter-demonstrations around the Vox rally, which took place in the Plaza de Espana.

Carrying banners denouncing fascism about 300 of them set up barricades, burning rubbish bins, and throwing bottles and stones at officers, said police.

Vox made its electoral breakthrough when it won seats in the Andalusia regional assembly last December. It is expected to pick up more nationally in the April 28 parliamentary elections.

In the trial of the Catalan nationalists, it has taken the position of a “popular prosecutor”, a role particular to the Spanish justice system, which allows it to be an accuser alongside state prosecutors.

Spain’s socialist government has rejected suggestions that prosecution of the Catalan separatists has been unfair.

(AFP)