♪ >> welcome to live from paris. these are the headlines. a dutch judge has ordered the government to drop the curfew. against the anti-covid measures that saw it witnesses -- saw businesses shuttered. a controversial law against separatists in france is before the senate. interior minister says it is a tough test but necessary for the republic. aung san suu kyi is now facing a

second charge brought by the general in myanmar. the de facto president is once again under house arrest. this is live from paris. ♪ thank you very much for being with us. a court in the netherlands has ordered the government to lift the curfew that it claimed was the cause of violent riots. the judge ruled the government wronully used its emergency powers to impose 9:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. lockdown is an anti-covid measure. >> a blow for the dutch government and its fight against coronavirus. after the district court ruled its nighttime curfew, the first six -- since the second world war, had no legal basis. >> [speaking dutch]

>> while adhered to, the government spark netherlands most serious rioting in four decades on its introduction in late january. the government last week extended it until march 3. with the group behind the appeal against the curfew -- accusing authorities of contempt. 'the government is urging people to stick to the times of the curfew saying the measure is still necessary.

it opens another front for the government, one facing an election in less than a month after it resigned over trial -- benefits. >> and there is an appeal pending by the government. so the curfew remains in place for now. the court nonetheless overruled the elected government of the netherlands. let's bring our correspondent. doesn't this send a dangerous message to those people who see violence as the solution? because, after all, this decision has been taken following the filing demonstratio against the curfew. >> it has, but it is not the violence -- immediately after the curfew was put in place at the end of january. and now for the past three weeks

it has been quiet again. there were three or four nights of heavy riots, and then it was quite. polls show that 75% of the dutch people are keeping the curfew. while there was a lot of resistance in the beginning, very visible resistance in the beginning, it has been quiet now for a long time. so i think this is not kind of seen as caving to violence, but it is definitely a big problem in the government's strategy for trying to lower the covid death s. and the things that it does, this kind of confusion about the curfew. is it going on? is it not going on? makes it harder for the management by the government. because of all of this uncertainty because the table oday the curfew was lifted for a couple of hours and then

the judge ruled it was not lifted after all. they will not hand out fines. there is a lot of confusion, and that he roads the basis for these measures. >> how unusual is it for a court in the netherlands to overrule the government like this? >> it's unusual, but maybe not as unusual as you would think. there were recent rulings as well where theovernment has some kind of environmental legislation and they were not doing enough and the courts told the government to do better. so this this is not a very rare occurrence. we have an independent what do you call it? rule of law. we have very independent courts. but it is rare. it came as a surprise to the government definitely. >> so, where does this leave the anti-covid plan? the government is appealing.

but i think there is confusion that you have alluded to already. >> one of the reason why this curfew wasn't allowed is that they had the wrong legal basis. they appeal to the wrong laws to put this in place. they said we can make another law and put that through parliament quickly where there is support for this curfew. and then we would have the proper legal basis. it might be a continues like that. the government also said today in court if we do not have to curfew maybe we have to close schools again. they are looking at which bit we open, what we close. maybe if they can have the curfew they will close school to flatten the curve. they are looking at all kinds of ideas for that. >> stephanie vanderburg in the hague. thank you very much for bringing the analysis of the decision by the court in the netherlands to reverse the government's decision to put the country under curfew. an appeal is pending. we will follow that story.

thank you very much, indeed. france's lower house of parliament has voted in favor of a law to battle islamist separatism, billed by the government -- as the religious groups seeking to undermine the secular state. it has been criticized for stigmatizing was -- stigmatizing muslims. our reporter from the story is sharon gaffney. >> as expected a vote was easily passed on the french national parliament with 347 votes in favor of the legislation, and just 151 against. in terms of the individual parties, the republican party on the right voted against the law, as did the far left party. the socialists also on the left, they abstained. and was no sign of marine le pen or her far-right colleagues.

despite the easy passage of this legislation, it has been hugely controversial. before it was even published, macron announced the bill in october and said his government would be creating legislation aimed at what he referred to as islamist separatism. but nowhere in the actual text of the legislation to either of those two words appear. in a bid to avoid criticism that this bill was aimed and targeted at the muslim population. this legislation has been condemned by those on the left and on the right. the muslim community saying it is unfairly stigmatizing them. while partisan commentators on the right say it is too vague and does not go far enough. the legislation has been passed in the lower house. it does have to go to the senate, the upper house. it is expected at this stage to

become law by the middle of the year. >> the law now before the french senate for the final approval. we will bring you the result of that as soon as we get it. next, a group of hong kong activists accused the authorities of political persecution. as they went on trial this tuesday for organizing the democracy protest that engulfed the city and 2019. the nine defendants include some of the most well-known pro-democracy campaigners, many of whom spent decades campaigning in vain for universal suffrage. for further analysis, let's bring in our china specialist at the university of london. thank you very much for joining us. in your view, what does this trial tell you about the state of the situation in hong kong right now? >> well, the situation in hong kong really is not looking very good. because, as your report suggests, we are talking about a

group of very responsible and respected citizens in hong kong who took part in fairly normal protests, and were in no way involved with any of those violent acts that happened in 2019. they are now facing a trial. >> and i think it is fair to say that the nine are likely to be convicted. if so, what happens next for the pro-democracy movement in hong kong? >> i don't think it is a foregone conclusion that they will be convicted. at the moment, they are appearing in a regular magistrate court in hong kong. and they are not being charged onto the new national security law. so, the old legal system remains in place for this particular trial. and, therefore, there is reason to believe that some of these

people may well be acquitted rather than convicted. and that is something we need to be watching, to see whether the judiciary remains independent. >> thank you for clarifying that very important point. what happens next for the pro-democracy movement, because this clearly is very much a warning to them not to push things too far. >> well, yes, you are absolutely right. it is a clear warning to them. the warning in this particular case is about any kind of protest. as to the democracy movement itself, it is really being contained if not desoyed by the national security law in hong kong. thnational security law that was introduced last year would in effect criminalize any of those acts that were normally

taken by the pro-democracy activists in hong kong. so they cannot, for example, talk to foreign journalists and on the record criticized the hong kong governmentor un democratic acts that could potentially put them in trouble. we are talking about a situation that way it's extremely difficult r any democracy movement to continue to develop. >> steve, this happens as it seems the world stands by and watches. and clearly that situation is frustrating for those campaigning for democracy in hong kong. >> well, it is more than just frustrating for the democracy advocates in hong kong. some of them have already left hong kong. we are talking about people like -- a former legislator as well as another former legislator.

they feel they can no longer be safe staying in hong kong. and that is how desperate the situation is becoming. >> steve from the university of london there, the specialist in china from the school of oriental and african studies. thank you very much for joining us on "france 24." we appreciate your time. of course, we will look for developments on that story. the trial starting this tuesday in hong kong of those pro-democracy advocates. next, aung san suu kyi in detention since february 1 while a military coup in myanmar, has been charged of reaching the country's national disasters law. the de facto president aung san suu kyi first charged of importing walkie-talkies used by her security team. the general seized power after losing the election in november to aung san suu kyi's party by a landslide. so, she is again under house

arrest having been held for 15 years at her own home while trying to bring democracy to myanmar, formerly of course called burma. >> myanmar 's deposed leader has not been seen in public since her arrest two weeks ago. aung san suu kyi is set to have appeared tin court hearing by video and a new charge was filed against her. >> the first one is as already mentioned, she was charged with import/export acts. in the second one is disastrous management acts. >> in the first case, aung san suu kyi is accused of owning walkie-talkies which had not been registered. the new charges which have yet could be. related to covid-19 restrictions, allowing authorities to keep her behind bars indefinitely as they change the penal code last week

allowing detentions without court permission. across the country, dozens of protest were held again on tuesday with people from all parts of society -- students, engineers, doctors, monks, and railway workers -- blocking trains and joining in a national strike demanding aung san suu kyi's release. >> i want more people to join the protests. we don't want to be seen as weak. we the students have our future. we have to resist so we do not live under a dictatorship. >> the judge arrested aung san suu kyi as the n 2 parliament session was supposed to begin with her party, the national league for democracy, holding the large majority. the military have said the november vote was fraudulent, and they now plan to organize new elections while keeping the country under a state of emergency. >> protests in india on the arrest of a 22 summit woman on

charges of sedition -- on a 22 y ear old woman. the climate for change campaigner created an action plan that was used to foment violence in new delhi last month during protest she denies the allegations be it supporters say -- the protest broke out late last year. it was not designed to incite violence. spanish police stormed university this tuesday and arrested a man who had been barricaded inside after being given a jail sentence after insulting world two. -- insulting royalty. he's a rapper. his songs -caused the reaction.

one, he is in custody tonight. >> dismantling barricades and forcing their way through, police sought the rapper as he sheltered and university of northeastern spain. were taking him into custody for libel and slander against state institutions including the monarchy. known for his radical left-wing views, he was convicted not just for lyrics and his songs but his tweets, too, that reference p ara military group ata and compared spanish judges to nazis and called the former king a mafia boss.

refusing to turn himself in, he barricaded himself in a university with supporters. as over 200 artists signed a petition against his sentence. >> i think it is our right to express your opinion, either rapping, singing, either dancing, doing whatever you want. so i think the most important thing of being here is just that -- defending that right we all have as a society. >> spain socialist led government said it would ease the law under which she was sentenced. the legislation was aimed at preventing the glorification of armed groups and insulting religion or the monarchy. he called the government's words and empty promise. >> time to turn to business. kate moody joins us. good evening. u.s. president joe biden has extended emergency measure to help homeowners during the pandemic. kate: the white house extended a more trauma on foreclosures in the united states for the second

ti. measures were renewed on the president's first day in office. they had been due to expire at the end of march. they will remain in effect for a further three months. data shows 12 million americans are worried about making their next mortgage payment. some 3 million have applied to pause or reduce their payments for a set time. that's another emergency program that was brought in during the pandemic. a moratorium on evictions is for now set to run out at the end of march. meanwhile, president biden is traveling to wisconsin, his first trip out of washington to presses case for a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill. republicans have balked at the price tag. a small group of moderates is negotiating a compromise. eurozone member states should maintain financial support for businesses and households at least until covid vaccination programs are well underway. that' the message from the finance and economy ministers who held virtual talks this

tuesday and said the economic recovery for the eurozone would be weaker than initially forecast for 2020 going. -- for 2021. governments prepare proposals for how they would like to spend the portions of the bloc's recovery fund. plans are to be submitted to the european commission from this friday. >> plans must address all or significant challenges in the country's foundations. they should set out how each country will contribute to the transitions. and they should strike a strip -- a proper balance between reforms -- >> let's check in on the day's trading action. muted close for the major european indices. stops in milan dropped 2/3 of a percentage point. they rushed to buy italian bonds since mario draghi was sworn in as prime minister. wall street hit new record highs earlier in the session but stocks pared back gains for a

mixed close. dow jones a very small gain. energy was the best-performing sector. it rose 23% as winter storms in the south sparked a rally in oil prices. on the cryptocurrency market, the value of bitcoin continues its volatile rise, topping $50,000 for the first time before dropping back slightly. the price of the most popular digital currency has gained 75% since the start of this year alone. there have been a rush of investors, as financial institutions begin to open up to the relatively new market. and company's like tesla and paypal have said they will begin accepting it as payment. regulators remain cautious, though. the heads of the central banks have said they should be viewed as a risky investment rather than a commodity or currency. the coronavirus pandemic has reignited a price war between supermarkets and producers in france. annual price negotiations

between retailers and suppliers are said to conclude at the end of this month as farmers are under increasing pressure to lower prices. this, despite a law passed in 2018 aimed at ensuring they are paid their fair share. >> behind the supermarket shelves, a battle over prices. suppliers are coming under increasing pressure, particularly smaller companies. in its annual negotiations with retailers, this fruit juice co. agreed to lower the prices of their products by 7% fearing repercussions. [speaking french] one large supermarket chain cut the product range from this

brand by half resulting in a 10% decline in revenue. despite the 2018 food and agriculture law aimed at ensuring fair prices, retail giants continue to put pressure on suppliers. ey say it is necessary because of reduced purchasing power of consumers due to the coronavirus crisis. more and more producers are calling for price negotiations for two years instead of one so they can have more stability and concentrate on their business. kate: french authorities are to begin organizing test concerts to find out whether it is safer larger venues to reopen despite the circulation of the covid-19. the live music industry has been battered. losing tens of billions of dollars, affecting everyone from artists to sound engineers.

♪ >> this french rap group hopes to be back on stage in front of a crowd next month. they have volunteered to be part of a live music spearman authorized by the culture ministry to measure the dangers of covid-19 contagion in large indoor facilities. >> every test or experiment that shows that concert halls aren't more dangerous than shopping nters and metros or tins could prompt decision-makers to reopen venues. >> in paris, arena 2 set to organize a similar experiment, hoping to help the industry get back on its feet. it is not just about big venues and big artists not being able to perform in front of their fans. trade publication -- estimates that the global concert industry

lost over $30 billion in 2020. behind this number, sound engineers, venue staff, technical operators and dozens of more professions and millions of livelihoods. in the u.k. alone 170,000 jobs were at risk in 2020 according to one group of industry representatives. it's not all bleak for the music sector. streaming platforms are more popular than ever lesser. spotify has seen a 24% increase in premium subscribers. to adapt to the situation many artists return to live online concerts. ao have distribution companies. last week ticketmaster launched a livestream service to cater to the growing demand. kate: those test concerts they are trying them out in germany and spain. >> as soon as we can get back to counter safely the better. kate with the business as ever,

thank you indeed. great to see you. we take a short break. after that. there is more news live from paris. stay with us. ♪

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02/16/21 02/16/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> trump stormed our house and we defended our house. he violated our constitution and we defended the constitution. they tried to trash our democracy and we revived it and we protected it. amy: democratic lawmakers have announced plans to set up a 9/11