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WEST HAWAII TODAY | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2015
IN BRIEF
NATION &WORLD
Thailand’s legislature
rejects draft of
constitution
BANGKOK — Thailand’s
military-backed legislature
on Sunday rejected an
unpopular draft of a new
constitution, delaying a
return to democracy follow-
ing a coup last year.
The junta-picked drafters
had hoped the proposed
charter would move the
Southeast Asian country
past almost a decade of
political conflicts, but it was
met with strong opposition
on almost all sides of politi-
cal divide.
The legislature appoint-
ed by the junta, known
as the National Reform
Council, voted 135 against
vs. 105 in favor with seven
abstentions. The rejec-
tion, although welcomed
by many, still sets back a
tentative plan for Thailand’s
transition to electoral
democracy, with the mili-
tary retaining substantial
powers until a new consti-
tution is drafted.
A new 21-member draft-
ing committee will now be
appointed with a mandate
to write a new charter with-
in 180 days. It also needs
approval by the legislature
and will be put to a referen-
dum — meaning elections
aren’t likely until at least
2017, according to analysts,
if the new draft is approved.
The government had pre-
viously said elections could
take place late next year.
UK Labour
Party rocked by
‘Corbynmania’
LONDON — Britain’s sur-
prising new political star is
a rumpled 66-year-old with
a set of socialist ideas many
thought had faded with the
Cold War.
Jeremy Corbyn, the run-
away favorite in a contest to
lead the opposition Labour
Party, opposes NATO and
nuclear weapons, plans to
apologize for the invasion of
Iraq and wants to end aus-
terity, heavily tax the rich
and nationalize Britain’s
railways.
Opponents say the long-
time lawmaker is a relic
of the past who will drive
away moderate voters. But
to supporters — many of
them young, new to politics
and brimming with enthu-
siasm — his old-fashioned
ideas are the future.
“It’s a breath of fresh
air,” said 24-year-old Alex
Anthony, holding an “I’m
on team Jeremy Corbyn”
sign outside a candidates’
debate. “I’m sick and tired
of the other candidates
ignoring the fact that it
wasn’t ordinary people that
created the financial crisis.”
Clinton: Family paid
State Department
employee for email
work while she was
secretary of state
PORTSMOUTH,
N.H.
— Hillary Rodham Clinton
said Saturday that her fam-
ily paid a State Department
employee to maintain the
private email server she
used while secretary of
state and compensated
him “for a period of time”
for his technical skills.
After picking up the
endorsement
of
New
Hampshire’s senior senator,
Democrat Jeanne Shaheen,
Clinton was again pressed
to answer questions about
an issue from her time in
the Obama Cabinet that
has dogged her presidential
candidacy.
“We obviously paid for
those services and did so
because during a period of
time we continued to need
his technical assistance,”
the Democratic front-run-
ner told reporters after a
campaign event.
Last week, that employ-
ee, Bryan Pagliano, told a
House committee that he
would invoke his constitu-
tional right against self-in-
crimination if called to tes-
tify.
By wire sources
A Hungarian police officer looks through binoculars as he checks the border for refugees entering the country illegally next
to the town of Roszke, Hungary, Tuesday. In the 28-nation EU, some countries have sought to block the unprecedented flow
of migrants fleeing war or poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
SANTI PALACIOS/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
In EU and US, virulent immigration
debate strains solidarity
NEW YORK — The United
States and the European Union
project themselves as models
for the world when it comes to
democracy and human rights.
Yet a common issue — migra-
tion — is bitterly dividing each of
them, testing whether they can
maintain solidarity amid viru-
lent debate over border controls,
deportations and national values.
In the 28-nation EU, some
countries have sought to block
the unprecedented flow of
migrants fleeing war or poverty
in the Middle East and Africa,
while Germany — the EU’s pow-
erhouse — is bracing to handle
800,000 migrants this year and
wants other nations to step up
as well.
In the U.S., the influx of immi-
grants entering illegally has eased
recently, but the political rhetoric
is red-hot. Donald Trump, the
leading Republican presidential
candidate, is calling for mass
deportation of millions of immi-
grants living in the U.S. without
legal permission, and some of his
rivals have joined in proposing
to stop granting citizenship to
children born to such immigrants
and to wall off the U.S.-Mexico
border.
In Europe, the future of the
EU’s passport-free internal bor-
ders is now in question, and a
rising death toll adds to the sense
of urgency. More than 2,800
migrants have died this year try-
ing to reachEurope, mostly at sea,
according to the International
Organization for Migration;
the decomposing bodies of 71
migrants were found Aug. 27 in
an abandoned truck near Vienna,
apparently after suffocating.
On Hungary’s border with
Serbia, some 300 flag-waving
extremists marched to a crossing
point a few days ago and shouted
at frightened migrants — many
of whom had just completed a
daylong hike — to go back where
they came from.
It was reminiscent of the scene
in July 2014 in Murietta, Calif.,
where screaming anti-immi-
gration protesters, some waving
American flags, blocked buses of
women and children headed to a
Border Patrol processing center
after making their way to the U.S.
from troubled parts of Central
America. “Return to Sender” was
among the messages on the pro-
testers’ signs.
So volatile is the issue that
President Barack Obama has
drawn fire from both the left
and right for his moves on
immigration.
Supporters of a crackdown
were angered by Obama’s efforts
to ease up on deportation of
immigrants living illegally in
the U.S. over the long term. Led
by Texas, 26 states have sued to
block that change in deportation
policy.
In contrast, immigrant-rights
groups note that Obama has over-
seen a record number of deporta-
tions and allowed the detention
of many of the Central American
mothers who flooded across the
border with their children.
“Our historical narrative is that
the U.S. is welcoming, that we are
a nation based on immigrants,”
said Cecillia Wang, head of
American Civil Liberties Union’s
immigrants’ rights project. “It’s
incredibly sad and disappointing
that we have lost sight of those
values… and are detaining and
deporting asylum seekers as a
way of deterring other people.”
In Europe, where an estimated
364,000 migrants have arrived
so far this year, there’s been rel-
atively little use of deportations
and detentions during the cur-
rent crisis. New arrivals landing
in Greece, Italy and elsewhere
have not been turned back;
BY DAVID CRARY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
California’s climate fight comes down to late negotiations
SACRAMENTO, Calif.
— California Gov. Jerry
Brown has made climate
change the centerpiece
of his final tenure by lay-
ing out the most aggres-
sive benchmark in North
America, which would
reduce California’s carbon
footprint and boost the
state’s renewable energy
use to 50 percent in 15
years.
Securing legislation
requiring that standard in
the world’s eighth-largest
economy would be a time-
ly win for Brown before
international leaders meet
in Paris in November for
the United Nations cli-
mate change conference.
Brown is likely to attend
the conference, but he has
not said so officially.
But first, theDemocratic
governor has to break
through a logjam in his
own party in the final week
of the legislative session.
Many
Assembly
Democrats — includ-
ing moderates and
those
representing
less wealthy districts
— are concerned that
the ambitious propos-
al to cut petroleum use
by half, boost renew-
able electricity use to
50 percent and dou-
ble energy efficiency in
existing buildings will
hurt California’s econ-
omy and working-class
residents.
An oil industry-fund-
ed group, the California
Driver’s Alliance, is
running what climate
law proponents call
“fear-mongering” ads sug-
gesting the bill will raise
gas prices and even result
in rationing, harkening
back to gas lines during
the oil crisis of the 1970s.
Lobbying has inten-
sified on both fronts.
Billionaire environmental
activist Tom Steyer and
Oscar-winning actress
Halle Berry are making
personal appeals urging
undecided
lawmakers
to vote for the bill. They
are joined by President
Barack Obama, California
U.S.
Sens.
Dianne
Feinstein and Barbara
Boxer, and a long list of
fellow Democrats.
So far, the Brown
administration and legis-
lative leaders have shared
little publicly as backroom
negotiations come down
to Friday’s deadline to
consider bills.
Californians
share
Brown’s environmental
concerns and a major-
ity supports his call for
tougher standards. A July
poll by the Public Policy
Institute of California
found 79 percent of resi-
dents agree global warm-
ing is either a very seri-
ous or somewhat serious
threat to quality of life.
BY JUDY LIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los
Angeles, seated center, talks with reporters
about climate change during a news conference
with Bishop Jaime Soto of the Sacramento
Catholic Dioceses, seated left, and Bishop
Stephen Blaire of the Stockton Diocese,
seated right, Aug. 31 in Sacramento, Calif.
RICH
PEDRONCELLI/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Migrants rescued off the Libyan coast peer out a gate on the
Siem Pilot Norwegian ship to get the first sight of the island
of Sardinia as they sail in the Mediterranean sea toward the
Italian port of Cagliari Thursday. As of September, more than
2,800 migrants have died trying to reach Europe, mostly
at sea, according to the International Organization for
Migration.
GREGORIO BORGIA/
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEE
MIGRANTS
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