Protests By Human Rights Activists And Journalists In France

Protests by human rights activists and journalists in France against the security bill.

In France, human rights activists and journalists are doing protests in other cities, including Paris, against the proposed security bill. The protesters called the bill a violation of freedom of information.

Through this bill, it has been made a crime to publish photographs of police officers with the intention of damaging them.

A provision of imprisonment for one year and a fine of 53 thousand dollars (about 40 lakh rupees) for its violation.

The French government says it wants to prevent online violence by police officers.

At the same time, the protesters say that this will pose a threat to journalists and those who make videos of police officers during the protest.

The United Nations Human Rights Commission has also expressed concern over this bill.

APEC leaders agree on free trade, trying to get economies back on track

Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), including US President Donald Trump, vowed to work towards free, open and non-discriminatory trade and investment.

Its purpose is to try its best to bring back the economies facing difficulties due to Corona virus.

APEC leaders, issuing the first joint statement after 2017, agreed to forget differences and strengthen large-scale free trade agreements and regional integration in 21 APEC economies.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, the host country of this year’s meeting, Muhyiddin Yasin said in a press conference that the talks were interrupted during the past years due to the trade war between the US and China.

But the Covid-19 crisis has left the situation of that trade war behind.

The Asia-Pacific region’s economic growth rate is projected to decline by 2.7 percent during the current calendar year ending in December, up from 3.6 percent in the previous year.

Yasin said that APEC’s emphasis is on accelerating reform and developing an affordable corona vaccine. Significantly, APEC countries account for 60 percent of the global GDP.

Yasin also hoped that APEC countries would not create barriers to each other in terms of trade and would contribute to economic progress, leaving behind protectionism.