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WORLD NEWS Thursday 4 april 2019

Australian senator censured for blaming Muslim victims

By ROD McGUIRK Hanson said while Anning’s announced. “It might have
Associated Press comments were “untimely only been an idiot with an
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) and therefore deemed egg this time, but there is a
— An Australian senator highly insensitive, he still continuum that begins with
was censured by his col- maintains a right to his this and ends with a fanatic
leagues on Wednesday for opinion.” with a gun or a bomb,” An-
seeking to blame the vic- “If One Nation endorses ning said.
tims of last month’s mosque your action to censure Sen. “But apparently, according
shootings and vilify Muslims. Anning, your freedom of to Prime Minister Morrison,
Sen. Fraser Anning was the speech as elected mem- that’s OK, as long as the
target of widespread con- bers of this chamber will victims are conservatives,”
demnation for blaming the be removed,” the speech he added.
attack in New Zealand on said. The minor Greens party
immigration policies. He A day after the Christchurch later failed to win majority
faced more criticism lat- attacks, Anning faced support for a motion for the
er for physically striking a Australian Senator Fraser Anning gives a speech in Parliament more criticism for physi- Senate to suspend Anning.
teenager who cracked a House in Canberra, Australia, Wednesday, April 3, 2019. cally striking the teenager Mehreen Faruqi, a Pakistan-
raw egg on his head in a Associated Press who cracked an egg on his born Greens senator, pro-
viral incident in Melbourne. Senate or the Australian tue signaling of the worst head at a Melbourne pub- duced an online petition to
On Parliament’s second sit- people.” kind,” he told the Senate lic appearance — 17-year- the Senate with more than
ting day since the March 15 “Sen. Anning’s comments before the vote. old Will Connolly, who be- 1.4 million signatures calling
attack in which 50 people were ugly and divisive. He sits as an independent came known around the for Anning to resign.
died, government and op- They were dangerous and lawmaker after defecting world as “Egg Boy.” She argued that he should
position lawmakers moved unacceptable from any- from the anti-Muslim One Anning on Wednesday crit- be suspended as well as
the censure motion against one, let alone a member Nation party, whose two icized Prime Minister Scott censured.
Anning for divisive com- of this place,” Government senators abstained from Morrison for saying at the An Irish-born lawmaker who
ments “seeking to attribute Senate Leader Mathias the censure vote. time that Anning should criticized British policy to-
blame to victims of a hor- Cormann told the Senate. One Nation Sen. Peter “be subject to the full force ward his homeland in 1920
rific crime and to vilify peo- Anning dismissed the cen- Georgiou read a speech of the law” for his retaliation became the only Australian
ple on the basis of religion, sure motion as an attack on behalf of party leader against Connolly. Police in- legislator to be expelled
which do not reflect the on free speech. “It is also Pauline Hanson, who was vestigated the altercation from Parliament by a vote
opinions of the Australian an exercise in left-wing vir- absent. but no charges have been of colleagues. q
Rome mayor promises race-hate probe after Roma protest

Associated Press families on the outskirts of the Torre Maura neighbor-
ROME (AP) — Rome’s may- Rome. She said the families, hood, a low-income area
or on Wednesday pledged including 33 children, were on the eastern edge of the
an investigation into pos- being placed elsewhere in Italian capital.
sible inciting racial hatred the meantime. One elderly resident who
against the organizers of a Sky TG24 video showed spoke on Sky TG24 with-
violent protest that reject- dozens of people setting out giving his name said it
ed housing Roma families up barricades to prevent would be better to spread
in a neighborhood govern- the families from reaching the Roma out not concen-
ment-run center. the housing Tuesday, and a trate them in one area.
Mayor Virginia Raggi de- woman stomping on a tray Another accused Roma of
scribed a “very heavy cli- of sandwiches set up for carrying out robberies.
mate of hatred” during the the new arrivals. As dark- Many in Italy’s sizeable
Tuesday evening protest al- ness fell, a car was set on Roma community, also
legedly incited by two far- Police officers stand group of people during a protest organized fire, doused by firefighters. known as Gypsies, are Ital-
right groups, Casa Pound by two far-right groups, Casa Pound and Forza Nuova, against Raggi blamed both Casa ian citizens but they still fre-
and Forza Nuova, against the arrival of Roma families, on the outskirts of Rome, Tuesday, Pound and Forza Nuova for quently face hostility if not
April 2, 2019.
the arrival of the Roma Associated Press creating a hostile climate in outright discrimination.q