It is welcome news that President Trump has accepted British Prime Minister Theresa May's invitation, via Queen Elizabeth II, to host him for a state visit in early June. The spectacle and symbolism of the visit will reinforce the special relationship between the two nations.
Indeed, timed to include celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, the state visit will show what the U.S.-British alliance is ultimately all about: the causes of human freedom and a better future. These causes endure regardless of Brexit and its possible effects.
True, there will be complications. The self-absorbed Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow has expressed disdain for the idea that Trump address parliament. An increasingly organized protest culture will also cause security headaches, albeit not unbearable ones. And the president will need, if he cares about putting the relationship first, to avoid throwing theatrical Twitter insults at his hosts.
Still, there is little objective question that this visit is good news. The underpinnings of the special relationship are sustaining; involving intelligence cooperation, the military alliance, diplomatic coordination, and trade. Yet presidents and prime ministers must be seen to celebrate that partnership. They must do so proudly and overtly. If not, the alliance's moral importance might be lost on observers. If not, other actors will seek opportunity in the gaps.
There is one sad element here: If Theresa May's Conservative Party loses the 2022 election, the special relationship will go dormant under anti-American Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn.
The Easter Sunday attacks on churches, hotels and other sites across Sri Lanka that killed over 300 people have now spurred some lawmakers to call for a full burqa ban.
A bill was announced Tuesday on the Facebook page of UNP Parliamentarian Ashu Marasinghe to propose banning the burqa in Sri Lanka, citing national security.
The bill, which was posted on the MP's Facebook page, says that the burqa is not a traditional Muslim garment and claims it has been identified as previously being used by males to engage in terrorist activities by hiding their identities.
Marasinghe added that women have previously been informed to remove the burqa before entering certain parts of the country, Sri Lanka news outlet Ada Derana reported.
In his Facebook post announcing the proposal, Marasinghe claimed that the country's Muslim political leaders admitted it was not traditional attire.
Government officials told Sri Lanka's Daily Mirror that evidence from the deadly attacks is pointing to the possibility of a large involvement by women who escaped from the scene wearing burqas.
Several government ministers are in consultation with mosque authorities and President Maithripala Sirisena on the pathway to a possible ban, according to the Mirror.
The Muslim population sits at around 9.7 percent of the population, while 7.4 percent is Christian.
Several countries in the past year have chosen to ban face veils for public sector workers. In October, leaders of the Muslim country Alergia banned female public sector staff from wearing full-face veils at work.
Egypt also considered banning women from wearing the burqa after a period of instability fueled by violence from radical Islamic groups.
Denmark's facial covering law went into effect on last summer and brings the country in line with similar laws in France and Belgium that prohibit full-body burqas, as well the niqab — Muslim dress which only shows the eyes. Both are rare in Denmark.
A bill has come foward in Sri Lanka to ban the burqa after the deadly Easter Sunday attacks.
(AP)
The Danish government has contended the law is not aimed at any religion and does not ban headscarves, turbans or the traditional Jewish skull cap.
LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will make a state visit to the United Kingdom in June, Buckingham Palace announced on Tuesday, a trip Britain hopes will cement transatlantic relations but one that immediately prompted criticism and promises of protests.
Trump will be only the third U.S. president to have been accorded the honor of a state visit by Queen Elizabeth during her 67-year reign. But the trip, from June 3-5, is likely to be controversial given many Britons deeply dislike the man and reject his policies on issues such as immigration.
Almost 1.9 Britons signed a petition in 2017 saying he should not be given a state visit - a pomp-laden affair involving a carriage trip through London and a banquet at Buckingham Palace. Protests involving tens of thousands of demonstrators overshadowed his non-state trip to Britain last July.
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Queen Elizabeth II arrives at King's Lynn railway station in Norfolk to board a train to return to London, after spending the Christmas period at Sandringham House in north Norfolk. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
Queen Elizabeth II arrives at King's Lynn railway station in Norfolk to board a train to return to London, after spending the Christmas period at Sandringham House in north Norfolk. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
Queen Elizabeth II boards a train at King's Lynn railway station in Norfolk, as she returns to London after spending the Christmas period at Sandringham House in north Norfolk. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
Queen Elizabeth II arrives at King's Lynn railway station in Norfolk to board a train to return to London, after spending the Christmas period at Sandringham House in north Norfolk. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
Queen Elizabeth II boards a train at King's Lynn railway station in Norfolk, as she returns to London after spending the Christmas period at Sandringham House in north Norfolk. (Photo by Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images)
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The opposition Labour Party strongly criticized Prime Minister Theresa May for pressing ahead with the ceremonial stay, which she offered Trump when she became the first foreign leader to visit him after his inauguration in January 2017.
May, who is facing calls for her resignation from some lawmakers in her own Conservative Party over her handling of the country's exit from the European Union, which is still stalled, will be hoping for strong backing for a post-Brexit U.S.-UK trade deal.
"The UK and United States have a deep and enduring partnership that is rooted in our common history and shared interests," May said in a statement.
The state visit would be an opportunity to strengthen already close ties in areas such as trade, investment, security and defense, she said.
The White House said the trip would reaffirm "the steadfast and special relationship" between the allies.
During his trip last year, Trump shocked Britain's political establishment by giving a withering assessment of May's Brexit strategy. He said she had failed to follow his advice such as suing the EU but later said May was doing a fantastic job.
"This is a President who has systematically assaulted all the shared values that unite our two countries," Emily Thornberry, Labour's foreign affairs spokeswoman, said in a statement after the visit was announced.
"Unless Theresa May is finally going to stand up to him and object to that behavior, she has no business wasting taxpayers’ money on all the pomp, ceremony and policing costs that will come with this visit.”
Few details of the trip were given, but it will include a meeting with May in Downing Street and also a ceremony in Portsmouth on the south English coast to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, France during World War Two. Trump will be accompanied by his wife, Melania.
TEA AND PROTESTS
Last year, Trump was feted with a lavish dinner at Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of the British World War Two leader Winston Churchill, and he and Melania also had tea with the queen at Windsor Castle.
The president then breached royal protocol by publicly disclosing details of a conversation he had with the 93-year-old monarch about the complexities of Brexit.
Trump's state visit has been a divisive issue for Britons since May issued the invitation, with 1.86 million people signing a petition calling for him to be prevented from making such a trip, leading to a debate in parliament in 2017.
More than 100 protests were planned across the country during his visit last year and police had to deploy 10,000 officers, an operation that cost nearly 18 million pounds.
The largest protest in London attracted some 250,000 people, according to organizers, bringing much of the capital to a standstill.
They promised a "Together Against Trump" protest in June.
"He is a symbol of the new far right, a politics of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, of war and conflict, and walls and fences that are growing around the world," said Shaista Aziz, from the Stop Trump coalition.
The queen, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has met every U.S leader since Harry S. Truman except for Lyndon Johnson. Only two U.S. presidents - Barack Obama in 2011 and George W. Bush in 2003 - have previously been invited for full state visits.
After leaving Britain, Trump will travel to France to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, the White House said. (Additional reporting by Makini Brice in Washington Editing by William Schomberg and Frances Kerry)
US President Donald Trump will make a three-day state visit to the UK from 3 to 5 June, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The president and First Lady Melania Trump will be a guest of the Queen and attend a ceremony in Portsmouth to mark the 75th Anniversary of D-Day
He will also hold talks with the prime minister at Downing Street.
Mr Trump met the Queen at Windsor Castle when he came to the UK in July 2018 on a working visit.
He also held talks with Mrs May at Chequers before heading to Scotland, where he owns the Turnberry golf course.
The president was promised the visit by Prime Minister Theresa May after he was elected in 2016 - but no date was set.
Mrs May said that June's State Visit was an "opportunity to strengthen our already close relationship in areas such as trade, investment, security and defence, and to discuss how we can build on these ties in the years ahead".
The White House said the visit will reaffirm the "steadfast and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom".
The Queen has hosted two previous State Visits from US presidents - George W Bush in November 2003, and Barack Obama in May 2011.
Other countries invited to the Portsmouth event on 5 June include Canada, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Greece, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The gathering on Southsea Common will involve live performances, military displays and tributes to the Allied troops who fought in Normandy, including a flypast of 26 RAF aircraft and at least 11 Royal Navy vessels in the Solent.
After leaving the UK, Mr Trump and his wife will travel to France for a series of D-Day commemorative events on 6 June.
£18m policing costs
The president's last visit to the UK was marked by demonstrations.
The National Police Chiefs' Council estimated that the police operation for the president's 2018 visit cost nearly £18m.
It said 10,000 officers from across the country were needed to cover the occasion.
The campaigners behind the 2018 protests - the Stop Trump coalition and Stand Up To Trump - have vowed to mobilise "huge numbers" once again in response to the visit.
A spokeswoman for Commons Speaker John Bercow said a request for Mr Trump to address Parliament would be "considered in the usual way", but did not say whether a request had yet been received.
Mr Bercow previously said he would be "strongly opposed" to Mr Trump addressing the Houses of Parliament during a state visit.
What is a state visit?
A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state and is normally at the invitation of the Queen, who acts on advice from the government.
State visits are grand occasions, but they are not just ceremonial affairs. They have political purpose and are used by the government of the day to further what it sees as Britain's national interests.
Once the location and dates are confirmed, the government, the visiting government and the royal household will agree on a detailed schedule.
So what is involved?
The Queen acts as the official host for the duration of the trip, and visitors usually stay at either Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
There is usually a state banquet, and a visit to - and speeches at - the Houses of Parliament may be included. The Speaker of the House of Commons is one of three "key holders" to Westminster Hall, and as such, effectively holds a veto over who addresses Parliament.
The Queen usually receives one or two heads of state a year. She has hosted 109 state visits since becoming monarch in 1952.
The official website of the Queen and the Royal Family has a full list of all state visits since then, including details of how the ceremonies unfold.
Ruwan Wijewardene, a junior minister for defense, cited a preliminary investigation and said the deadly Easter Sunday bombings that resulted in 321 deaths and more than 500 injuries, was revenge for the "attack against Muslims in Christchurch," Reuters reported.
He made the comment without citing evidence or explaining where the information came from.
Last month, a heavily-armed shooter killed Muslim worshipers during Friday prayers, massacring 49 people in two New Zealand mosques on March 15 while broadcasting a horrific live stream of the terror attack.
Meanwhile, back in Sri Lanka, security was heightened Tuesday and the military was employing powers to make arrests it last used when the devastating civil war ended in 2009.
The country held its first mass funeral Tuesday for about 30 victims, as the country held a day of mourning. The funeral took palce at St Sebastian church in Negombo, north of Colombo, which was one of the places targeted on Sunday.
Faith leaders cited by AP said the suspected leader of the little-known militant group -- National Thowfeek Jamaath -- began posting videos online three years ago calling for non-Muslims to be "eliminated." The bombers were all Sri Lankan, but authorities said international ties were suspected. Police have now detained 40 suspects in connection with the attack, including a Syrian national, according to the BBC.
"We do not believe these attacks were carried out by a group of people who were confined to this country,” Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, according to Reuters. “There was an international network without which these attacks could not have succeeded."
Among the 40 people arrested on suspicion of links to the Easter bombings was the driver of a van allegedly used by the suicide bombers and the owner of a house where some of them lived.
The country is under a state of emergency and the military is operating under enhanced war-time powers following the attacks. Police on Tuesday said that anyone parking a car on the street and leaving unattended must put a note with their phone number on the windscreen. Meanwhile, postal officials said they would no longer accept pre-wrapped parcels for mailing.
