US delays returning asylum seekers to Mexico
AFP, Tijuana, Mexico
The United States has delayed its plan to send asylum seekers back to Mexico while their claims are processed, as the Mexican government said Friday it “disagrees” with the policy.
US and Mexican officials had said President Donald Trump’s controversial “Remain in Mexico” policy would be put into effect Friday at noon with the return of 20 Central Americans at the San Ysidro border crossing between San Diego, California and the Mexican city of Tijuana.
Thousands protest Australia Day legacy
Reuters, Melbourne
Tens of thousands of people rallied across Australia on Saturday calling for the abolition of the Jan. 26 national holiday in protests showing a deep division over a festivity intended to celebrate the birth of modern Australia.
While Australia Day marks the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the “First Fleet” of British ships at Sydney Cove, many indigenous Australians, who trace their lineage on the continent back 50,000 years, regard it as “Invasion Day”.
Yellow vest protests keep pressure on Macron
AP, Paris
France’s yellow vest protesters are hitting the streets again, keeping up pressure on President Emmanuel Macron even as internal divisions and frustration over protest violence cloud the movement’s future.
Multiple protests are planned Saturday around Paris and other cities, the 11th straight weekend of action prompted by Macron policies seen as favoring the rich.
Macron has sapped some support for the movement through a national debate in towns across France.
Death toll from Italy copter-plane crash rises to 7
AFP, Rome
Mountain rescuer workers on Saturday recovered the bodies of two people, raising the death toll from a deadly collision between a helicopter and light aircraft in the Alps to seven.
Two people were hospitalised after the crash in the Aosta Valley near France, which appeared to have happened just after the helicopter took off, unaware that the aircraft was landing, Italian media reported.
Missile pact in
danger after Russia talks: NATO
AP, Brussels
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday that Russia shows no sign of respecting a major Cold War-era missile treaty and that the future of the pact is in danger as the United States readies to start pulling out of it next week.
“The treaty is now in jeopardy and unfortunately we have not seen any signs of (a) breakthrough,” Stoltenberg told reporters after chairing NATO-Russia talks in Brussels.
The 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union bans production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers (310-3,400 miles).
