French parliament debates hotly contested labour reform

Text by FRANCE 24

Latest update : 2016-05-03

French lawmakers on Tuesday begin examining the government’s hugely divisive plans to reform France’s labour market, which have triggered two months of street protests and led to clashes with riot police.

With 12 months to go until the presidential election, the bill – dubbed “El Khomri Law” after Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri – is likely to be the last major legislation to be introduced by the unpopular administration of Socialist President François Hollande.

It also has the unenviable record of being the reform that has brought the most Socialist supporters onto the streets during Hollande's difficult time in office.

On Tuesday, unions and student organisations are expected to hold another demonstration at the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament that will be the first to examine the text.

The government has already watered down the bill in the face of the protests, but unions still consider it "unacceptable" and want it withdrawn.

Since March 9, hundreds of thousands of protesters in cities around France have denounced what they see as a pro-business reform that will erode the cherished rights of French workers on full-time contracts.

The government has billed the reform as an attempt to tackle the chronic unemployment that has plagued Hollande's time in office.

Opposition to the bill also inspired the "Nuit Debout", or "Up All Night" movement, which has grown to encompass a range of causes.

Police and the government believe troublemakers have mingled with the protesters to foment clashes with riot police. Demonstrators on the other hand accuse the police of heavy-handedness which they claim is fuelling the violence.

Participation reached its peak on March 31 with nearly 400,000 people on the streets. In demonstrations on Thursday, those numbers had fallen to 170,000.

The reform was also the central theme of the traditional May 1 workers' march in Paris, which descended into clashes between masked protesters and police.

Christophe Sirugue, the Socialist lawmaker who is presenting the bill to parliament after it was reviewed in committee, said last week that several points still needed "clarification" but that he expected the bill to pass.

Left up in arms

Among the key remaining points in the bill are measures to make it easier to lay off workers in lean times. Trade unions have slammed provisions that would allow employers to shed workers if their company is doing badly in France, even if its operations abroad are successful.

A group of Socialist lawmakers opposed to the bill complained Monday that the proposed reform fell short of their expectations.

"This bill is not useful for France or for the common good. It is not in line with the reforms that one expects from a government of the left," they said in a statement.

MPs from the right-wing opposition, who initially saluted the bill, say they may no longer support a watered-down version.

If it fails to secure a majority, the government could use a constitutional mechanism to force through the reform by decree without a vote, providing opponents do not force a no-confidence vote.

The government used the tactic last year to ram through another controversial economic reform governing trading hours and the deregulation of some sectors.

However, using such a mechanism carries the risk of further alienating left-wing voters. Opinion polls show a majority of this group have a negative opinion of Hollande's time in office, which does not bode well for the president as he considers whether to stand for re-election next year.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Shelling by rebels in Syria's Aleppo kills more than a dozen people

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2016-05-03

Syrian opposition fighters on Tuesday shelled government-held parts of Aleppo, killing at least 12 people, as the army claimed it was repelling a wide offensive by the rebels in the country's largest city.

Activists, meanwhile, said government forces were also shelling rebel-held parts of the city, killing two people and wounding several.

The escalation came as the diplomatic focus moved to Moscow where the U.N. envoy for Syria started talks in efforts to restore a piecemeal cease-fire that would also include the contested northern city.

Staffan de Mistura is expected to push that the truce also cover Aleppo, which has seen an escalation in violence in recent weeks. De Mistura's meeting with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came a day after he met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva.

In opening remarks in Moscow, de Mistura said "we need to make sure the cessation of hostilities is brought back on track."

Aleppo has been the center of violence over the past 12 days that left more than 250 civilians dead in the contested city. The city was excluded from a truce declared unilaterally by the Syrian military last week for the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs and the coastal province of Latakia.

Syrian state TV said shells hit a government-held area during morning rush hour, killing seven people and wounding at least 35, while activists reported two dead in a rebel neighborhood. Hours later, some rockets hit a hospital killing and wounding dozens of people, the TV said.

The TV said one of the rockets hit the Dubeet hospital in the central neighborhood of Muhafaza. The TV did not give a breakdown of the casualties.

"Shells and mortar rounds are raining down on every neighborhood [of] Aleppo," said Aleppo-based health official Mohammad Hazouri, speaking from Al-Razi hospital. He said four people were killed and more than 30 wounded in Dubeet hospital alone, adding that half the casualties at the hospital were women and children.

He said the rebel bombardment of government-held parts of Aleppo on Tuesday killed a total of 12 people and wounded more than 70.

The Lebanon-based Al Mayadeen TV that has reporters in the government-held parts of Aleppo showed damage on both sides of the street in front of the hospital, which also appeared heavily damaged.

Cars in the street were scorched and some were turned over. The shops on the other side of the street showed moderate damage as smoke still climbed out of the wreckage.

The Syrian military said in a statement it is repelling a wide scale attack on Aleppo launched by "terrorists" - a government term that includes all armed groups fighting President Bashar Assad's forces.

Tuesday's statement said the attack was preceded by heavy shelling of residential areas of the city, which caused civilian casualties, including at a hospital that was hit. The army said the multi-pronged attack on Aleppo was launched by armed terrorist groups, including al-Qaida's branch in Syria, the Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and the Army of Islam.

"Our armed forces are currently working on repelling the attack and appropriately returning fire," it said.

Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi warned militants they will face harsh retaliation for the shelling of civilian areas, saying the government's "patience is running out and if they don't stop targeting civilians in the coming hours ... they will pay a high price."

The activist Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the shelling of government-held parts of the city, and also said that seven were killed, including a child. The Observatory said more than 50 were wounded, including some who were in critical condition, which could raise the death toll.

The Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said government forces also shelled rebel-held parts of the city on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding several.

Also in northern Syria, warplanes carried out intense airstrikes on the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the extremist Islamic State group, in the early hours Tuesday. Activist groups said it was not clear if the warplanes were Russian or those of the U.S.-led coalition.

The Observatory, which has a network of activists around the country, said there were more than 35 air raids and that 18 people were killed, including five members of the Islamic State group. It said dozens were wounded.

The anti-IS group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently said the airstrikes killed 10 and wounded dozens - but different casualty figures are common in the chaos of Syria's civil war. The group said there were calls from mosque loudspeakers for the residents to donate blood.

IS suffered major setbacks over the past months in Syria against government forces and U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters including the loss of the central historic city of Palmyra.

(AP)

Multi-billion euro carbon-trading fraud trial opens in Paris

Text by Aude MAZOUE

Latest update : 2016-05-04

The trial of 12 people accused of involvement in a multi-billion euro carbon-trading fraud opened in Paris on Monday, a case that has been described by French authorities as “the heist of a century”.

Shady deals, offshore accounts, money laundering… The trial has all the hallmarks of a crime thriller and comes nearly seven years after French authorities cracked down on a carbon-trading scheme that cost the European Union €5 billion – including €1.6 billion in France – according to Europol.

The case dates back to October 2008, around the same time the European Commission introduced phase two of its EU emissions trading system (EU ETS), which was designed to combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gases.

The EU ETS was a simple “cap-and-trade” system. Under it, EU member states set a cap on the amount of carbon companies in specific sectors could produce. This could then be traded on the European market as emission allowances. Companies that did not use their entire allowance could sell the surplus, while those that had exceeded the limit could buy more. It was also possible to purchase international credits from emissions-saving projects abroad.

A ‘flawed’ system

Despite the good intentions behind the EU ETS, it was an imperfect system that was easily exploited.

“The structure was poorly conceived from the start and had some real flaws,” Katheline Schubert, an environmental economics professor at the Sorbonne university in Paris, told FRANCE 24.

Investigators believe that a group of three men – Mardoché Mouly, Arnaud Mimran and Samy Souied – realised this, and devised a scheme to defraud billions of euros by purchasing emission allowances on the European market from abroad, using a complex network of shell companies and offshore accounts in Latvia, Cyprus and Hong Kong.

Because the allowances were purchased outside of Europe, they were not subject to the European Union’s 19.6 percent value-added tax (VAT). Front men acting as brokers then resold the allowances in Europe, taxes included. But instead of handing the VAT over to the authorities, they pocketed the cash to use in future trades. But the money needed to be laundered before it could be reinvested. This involved placing it in a bank in China, where it was then handed over to businesses or transformed into playing chips at casinos, among numerous other ploys.

It wasn’t long, however, before the scheme caught the attention of French regulators, who reported their suspicions to the country’s anti-money laundering unit Tracfin as early as the fall of 2008. Although both the budget and finance ministries were promptly informed of the situation, nothing happened. It would take another six months and €1.6 billion in lost tax revenue for France before the authorities finally cracked down on the fraud in June 2009.

“Fortunately, [the system] has since been fixed and the same sort of fraud is no longer possible. But it is still vulnerable to other schemes. A swindler’s imagination has no limits,” Schubert said.

Of the 12 people on trial, only five appeared in court on Monday. Among them were two of the three suspected masterminds of the scheme, Mouly and Mimran. Their alleged partner, Souied, was gunned down by two men on a scooter on September 14, 2010, and will be tried posthumously. The other six defendants in the case are believed to have fled to Israel.

The trial, which will run until May 30, is not expected to recover any of the money lost in the scheme. “It’s extremely difficult to identify the assets of those behind the [fraud],” an investigator in the case was quoted by French daily L’Express as saying. “They’ve spread [it] out among incorporated companies and tax havens”.

After years of negotiations, is TTIP dying a slow death?

Text by Sam BALL

Latest update : 2016-05-03

The vast trade deal between the EU and the US known as TTIP has been through 13 rounds of negotiations spanning three years, but in the wake of Monday’s leaked documents by Greenpeace and grumblings from Europe, is the deal now dead in the water?

TTIP – or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – would create a vast free trade area that the European Commission claims could boost the EU’s economy by €119 billion a year, and the US’s by €95 billion.

But there has been stern opposition to the agreement from critics who argue that it would see consumer protection, environmental and health regulations severely eroded while handing unprecedented power to big businesses.

Those concerns were amplified Monday by a leak of a raft of classified documents by Greenpeace covering negotiating drafts and internal positions from the talks.

Greenpeace claimed the documents showed that TTIP “is threatening to have far reaching implications for the environment and the lives of more than 800 million citizens in the EU and US”.

Now, those fears seem to be filtering through to at least some of the EU’s leaders.

On Tuesday, French President François Hollande said his government would refuse to back the deal "at this stage" because his country opposes "unregulated free trade”.

"Never would we accept the undermining of the essential principles of our agriculture, our culture, of mutual access to public markets," he said.

‘The beginning of the end’

Anti-TTIP campaigners have already proclaimed the deal as good as dead.

"The TTIP negotiations will never survive [the Greenpeace leak],” wrote John Hilary, the executive director of global poverty campaign group War on Want, in an article for the UK’s Independent newspaper.

“Now we can see the details for ourselves, and they are truly shocking. This is surely the beginning of the end for this much-hated deal."

But others are not so sure. What looks like irreconcilable differences between the EU and US may just be part of the long and winding road of negotiating such a high-level deal, they argue.

“The deal will happen. But what it will look like and when it will happen are far from certain,” Xenia Wickett, head of the US and the Americas programme at UK international affairs think tank Chatham House, told FRANCE 24.

France and others may feel they cannot accept the deal in its current form, but that is far from unusual for an agreement that is still very much in the negotiating stage, she says.

“The French, the Germans, the British all have different opinions and the EU has opinions that are different from the US. That’s why there are negotiations.”

As for the Greenpeace leaks, they will “undoubtedly be used as ammunition by those that oppose the deal” but “didn’t really tell us anything we didn’t know” about its content, said Wickett.

Business groups also appear hopeful.

“We believe the deal is still going to happen, we have no doubt about that,” Emanuel Adam, head of policy and trade at BritishAmerican Business – a UK, US trade group – told FRANCE 24, even if “agreement in some areas can’t be reached”.

Slow progress

Nevertheless, the leaked documents revealed that, even after three years of talks, progress towards a deal remains painfully slow in several areas.

On cosmetics, for example, an internal note by EU trade negotiators states that the talks “remain very difficult and the scope of common objectives fairly limited” and that “the EU and US approaches remain irreconcilable”.

There is also a ‘”lack of agreement between EU and US industries on specific issues” relating to engineering, says the note while complaining that “the US argued that they were not in a position to exchange anything with the EU” in relation to energy and raw materials.

Sébastien Jean, director of the CEPII, a French think tank on international economics, told FRANCE 24 that the main revelation revealed by the documents “was without doubt the relatively un-advanced state of the discussions”.

“A lot of work has been done in clarifying positions, but very little has been achieved in terms of finding a middle ground,” he says.

The problem for both the EU and the US is that, if they are to reach a deal, they may need to do so quickly. US President Barack Obama backs the deal but, with his term in office coming to an end in early 2017, there’s no guarantee his successor will be equally as supportive.

Wickett said it was now “very unlikely” that a deal would be struck before the end of Obama’s presidency though there was a “small chance” of some sort of interim agreement being reached.

The EU has vowed it will not compromise on its principles to reach a deal before Obama leaves office.

"If it is not good enough we just have to say 'Sorry but we have to put this on ice' and wait for the next administration,” said European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom. “Obviously we lose time and momentum, but we cannot agree to TTIP-lite or something that's not good enough.”

Atletico Madrid reach Champions League final on away goals

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2016-05-03

Antoine Griezmann scored to send Atletico Madrid to the Champions League final for the second time in three years despite a 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

Atletico, which lost to city rival Real Madrid in the 2014 final, progressed on the away goals rule with an aggregate score of 2-2 after winning the semifinal first leg in Madrid 1-0.

Fernando Torres had the chance to settle it with a late penalty, only for Manuel Neuer to save.

Atletico counterpart Jan Oblak saved a penalty from Thomas Mueller in the first half, minutes after Xabi Alonso leveled the tie with a free kick in the 31st.

Griezmann scored in the 54th to put Atletico in the driving seat, before Robert Lewandowski scored in the 74th for a furious finale.

(AP)

Brazil prosecutor asks Supreme Court to investigate Lula

Text by NEWS WIRES

Latest update : 2016-05-04

Brazil’s prosecutor-general asked the Supreme Court to investigate former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the court said on Tuesday, as a senator’s testimony opened new fronts in a massive corruption case.

Rodrigo Janot also asked for several of President Dilma Rousseff’s ministers to be investigated, including Chief of Staff Jaques Wagner, the minister in charge of legislative affairs Ricardo Berzoini, and her spokesman Edinho Silva.

Janot on Monday requested an investigation of opposition Senator Aecio Neves, also based on testimony from Senator Delcidio do Amaral.

Amaral was the government’s former leader in the senate and decided to collaborate with the investigation after he was arrested last year.

Janot’s recent requests, which come on top of already existing investigations into Lula and other officials, have added to growing uproar over just how many senior politicians are implicated in a graft scheme involving kickbacks from state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA.

Coming as Brazil’s Senate weighs what is expected to be Rousseff’s suspension ahead of a trial on charges over budget irregularities, the charges also underscore the likelihood that senior politicians from the ruling Workers’ Party will continue to face legal problems, and possible jail terms, well past what is expected to be Rousseff’s eventual ouster.

The Supreme Court was already investigating some 50 politicians, including the leaders of both houses of Congress.

Prosecutors in the southern city of Curitiba have also sought to investigate Lula, Rousseff’s predecessor and mentor.

Their efforts have stalled as the Supreme Court weighs whether or not Rousseff can make him a minister, a move that would give him immunity from all but the high court.

Lula has repeatedly said he is not guilty of corruption and calls the efforts to investigate him a witch hunt.

Wagner said in a statement he did not know why he was included in the investigation and therefore could not comment. Berzoini also declined to comment.

In a statement, Silva, Rousseff’s spokesman and the treasurer of the 2014 re-election campaign whose finances have been called into question as part of the probe, said the campaign was clean.

Calls for Rousseff’s ouster have grown as the investigation expands, though she has not been accused of taking bribes.

The ongoing Senate deliberations follow impeachment proceedings in the lower house over the alleged manipulation of public accounts.

(REUTERS)

Cruz pullout makes Trump presumptive Republican nominee

Text by FRANCE 24

Latest update : 2016-05-04

Republican front-runner Donald Trump went from long-shot contender to become the party's presumptive nominee on Tuesday after his top rival Ted Cruz bowed out of the race on the heels of a resounding defeat in Indiana.

The New York billionaire, who has never held public office, had repeatedly defied pundits' predictions that his campaign would implode. He prevailed despite making outrageous statements along the way that drew biting criticism but still fed his anti-establishment appeal.

Addressing jubilant supporters at Trump Tower in New York after romping to his seventh straight state-wide victory in the Indiana primary, the real-estate mogul promised them: “We’re going to win in November, and we’re going to win big, and it’s going to be America first.”

Tuesday’s contest in the Midwestern state was seen as a final firewall by the “stop Trump” movement seeking to prevent him from locking in the party nomination.
But as the race was called overwhelmingly in Trump’s favour, Cruz conceded to supporters in Indianapolis that he no longer had a viable path to the nomination.

“We left it all on the field in Indiana,” Cruz said. “We gave it everything we’ve got, but the voters chose another path.”

“And so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign.”

Reporting from Washington DC, FRANCE 24’s Philip Crowther called Trump and Cruz “two competitors who do not like each other at all. In fact, they largely hate each other, at least that’s what we’ve heard over the past few weeks and months. Despite this, there was gratitude from Donald Trump for Ted Cruz having exited the race this quickly, that he succumbed to this very, very large defeat in Indiana and now the road for Donald Trump is wide open toward the Republican nomination.”

The former reality-TV star is now free to prepare for a matchup in the Nov. 8 election, with Hillary Clinton expected to be his Democratic opponent. Clinton's march to the Democratic nomination was slowed by rival Bernie Sanders's victory over her in Indiana.

‘We're going after Hillary Clinton’

Trump's immediate challenge is to unite deep fissures within the Republican Party, as many party loyalists are appalled at his bullying style, his treatment of women and his signature proposals to build a wall on the border with Mexico and deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

"We have to unite the party if we want to win in November," said Henry Barbour, a Republican National Committee leader from Mississippi. "Donald Trump is the guy with the keys to the car. He's the one who needs to unite us. Now is his opportunity. The voters have picked him."

Trump himself called for unity in a speech at a victory rally that was free of his usual bombast and flamboyance.

Trump's victory put to rest a belief that Republicans would choose their nominee at a contested convention when party leaders gather in Cleveland July 18-21.

Reacting to the Cruz pullout, conservative pundits and politicians took to Twitter Tuesday night calling unity within the GOP party ranks. Shortly after the Indiana results were declared, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus noted that, “@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton."

“Trump got that crucial phone call from the chairman of the Republican National Committee,” noted Crowther. “He’s called Donald Trump the presumptive nominee and if he says that, well so be it: he’s the nominee for the Republican party according to the establishment that had put so much in the way of his nomination. Now it’s time for the party to unite, said Reince Priebus, but that will be easier said than done because remember how many in the Republican Party establishment wanted to stop Donald Trump from this nomination that is now virtually his.”

At his victory rally at Trump Tower in New York, Trump walked on stage with wife Melania and other family members as the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up" blared over loudspeakers.

He is likely to formally wrap up the nomination on June 7 when California votes, although Ohio Governor John Kasich vowed to stay in the race as Trump's last challenger.

Trump called Indiana a "tremendous victory" and immediately directed fire at Clinton.

"We're going after Hillary Clinton," he said. "She will not be a great president, she will not be a good president, she will be a poor president. She doesn't understand trade."

Cruz sounds beaten, but defiant

As the vote returns flowed in, Cruz announced that he has ended his campaign in Indianapolis, with his wife, Heidi, at his side. Cruz, 45, sounding beaten but defiant, said he no longer sees a viable path to the nomination.

"We gave it everything we got. But the voters chose another path, and so with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign," said Cruz, a US senator from Texas.

Clinton's campaign signaled the former secretary of state's approach to dealing with Trump in a statement issued by senior Clinton adviser John Podesta, who said Trump seeks to "bully and divide Americans."

"Throughout this campaign, Donald Trump has demonstrated that he's too divisive and lacks the temperament to lead our nation and the free world. With so much at stake, Donald Trump is simply too big of a risk," he said.

Cruz had hoped to show he was still a factor in the race. Some at his event expressed shock at the decision by Cruz, who had been the last serious challenger to Trump out of an original field of 17 candidates.

Dan Follis, 62, was too rocked by Cruz's announcement to know for sure his next thought on the campaign. But he was sure of one thing: "I will not vote for Trump."

Trump won at least 51 of 57 possible delegates awarded in Indiana, according to the Associated Press delegate tracker. His victory in the state pushed him to 1,047 delegates of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination, compared with 153 for Kasich.

Cruz had 565 delegates before suspending his campaign.

On the Democratic side, Clinton now has 2,202 of the 2,383 needed, while Sanders has 1,400.

Trump declared Cruz a tough man to beat.

"Ted Cruz, I don't know if he likes me or doesn't like me. But he is one hell of a competitor. He is one smart guy. And he has got an amazing future," Trump said.

Trump also reached out to both Hispanics and African-Americans as he talked about ensuring jobs and saying he would "make America great again."

"This is going to be a beautiful and loving country," Trump said.

Still eyeing a third-party alternative

But anti-Trump groups said they would continue fighting, and Lanhee Chen, who had advised former Republican candidate Marco Rubio, broached the possibility of a third-party candidate.

"Tonight's outcome raises seriousness & urgency of discussions about third-party alternative; how real it is depends on who steps up to run," he tweeted.

Cruz had been counting on a win in Tuesday's primary to slow the New York businessman's progress toward the nomination. But Trump rode momentum from wins in five Northeastern states a week ago to wrest Indiana from Cruz, whose brand of Christian conservatism had been expected to have wide appeal in the state.

The only hope Kasich has for becoming the Republican nominee is to somehow deny Trump the 1,237 delegates he needs to win the nomination outright and force Republicans at the July convention to choose one of them.

Kasich vowed to stay in the race.

"As long as it remains possible Governor Kasich will fight for the higher path," said Kasich senior strategist John Weaver. "Governor Kasich will continue to campaign and offer the voters a clear choice for our country."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)