Cillian Murphy brandishes a gun on Peaky Blinders set

Turnbull Government’s plan to amend 18C race law defeated

The Turnbull government has suffered a defeat in the Senate of its plans to water down the Racial Discrimination Act. Labor and the Greens voted against plans to amend section 18C.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week announced plans to remove the words ‘offend’, ‘insult’ and ‘humiliate’ from the law so it would only be an offence to ‘harass or ‘intimidate’ people on the basis of their race.

However, his legislation was voted down in the Senate on Thursday night with Labor, the Greens, Nick Xenophon’s senators and independent Jacqui Lambie.

Source: Turnbull Government’s plan to amend 18C race law defeated | Daily Mail Online

Trump to leave Iraq off new travel ban order – White House source

President Donald Trump will remove Iraq from a list of countries targeted in a U.S. travel ban when he is expected to sign a new executive order on Monday after his controversial first attempt was blocked in the courts, a White House source said.

The senior White House official said the new executive order would keep a 90-day ban on travel to the United States by citizens of six Muslim-majority nations – Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Iraq was taken off the list of countries in the original order, issued on Jan. 27, because the Iraqi government had imposed new vetting procedures, such as heightened visa screening and data sharing, and because of its work with the United States in countering Islamic State militants, the official said.

Thousands of Iraqis have fought alongside U.S. troops for years or worked as translators since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Many have resettled in the United States following threats for working with U.S. troops.

The White House official said the new executive order, which the Republican president was expected to sign on Monday, also ensures that tens of thousands of legal permanent residents in the United States – or green card holders – from the listed countries would not now be affected by the travel ban…

READ MORE: Exclusive: Trump to leave Iraq off new travel ban order – White House source | Reuters