NYT: Travel Bans for Certain Russians and Ukrainians

As the Parliament in Crimea is set to vote on regional secession, the Obama administration has issued sanctions including travel bans and visa revocations:

The sanctions Mr. Obama approved Thursday imposed visa bans on officials and other individuals deemed responsible for undermining Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. The administration would not disclose the names or number of people penalized, but a senior official said privately that it would affect just under a dozen people, mostly Russians but some Ukrainians.

Among those targeted were political figures, policy advisers, security officials and military officers who played a direct role in the Crimean crisis, the official said. Any of them seeking to travel to the United States would be barred, and a few who currently hold American visas will have them revoked.

Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said that while these sanctions were a step in the right direction "we must name and shame these persons[.]" This comes after a report in February that the State Department had imposed a visa ban on twenty senior Ukrainian officials, whom had allegedly played a role in the violent crackdown of protestors by the government of ousted President Yanukovych. UK Prime Minister David Cameron has also backed travel bans for senior Russian politicians, and European Union member states in coordination with the US, Switzerland, Turkey, Japan, and Canada have reportedly agreed on travel restrictions as well.

F/W 2014 London, Milan, and Paris

British Vogue captures London Fashion Week's "excitement, colour and fabulous style" in a six minute film featuring Tom Ford, Erdem, and Alice Temperley, among many others. Fashionista looks at the ten top trends from London, including a "new crop of London collections that were so unapologetically good at being bad, we couldn’t help but take notice. Oil-slick finishes, cobwebby crochets, and hardcore studs were totally unstoppable." Plus "the season’s breakout must-have, the slip dress[.]"

In Milan "Roberto Cavalli transformed the Cavalli woman into a scorching goddess of strength and fantasy" which means of course that the models walked around a ring of fire. Dazed has the other highlights: drones over the Fendi catwalk, Miuccia Prada's sensual layers, and a magical forest created by Dolce & Gabbana. 

Valentino in Paris was "calf-length skirts, handkerchief hems, knee-length boots, Little Red Riding Hood capes, crazy coats, skirts’n’sweaters, polo-necks, blanket coats, sensible handbags." Also Rihanna. Lots of Rihanna.

London Eye

Can it be that spring is around the corner? It certainly looked like it in London today.

CSM: "No Supreme Court review for local laws against harboring illegal immigrants"

The Supreme Court has decided not to hear two cases regarding local laws aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from obtaining housing and jobs, instead letting stand the appeals court decisions blocking such laws. The two cases originated from local ordinances passed in Hazelton, PA and Farmers Branch, Texas. In striking down the Hazelton ordinances, which would have penalized anyone who rented or employed undocumented immigrants, the appeals court stated "both measures impermissibly intrude on the efforts of the federal government to decide how best to regulate immigration and illegal immigrants," which the Supreme Court is apparently agreeing with, though they did not comment.

Lehigh Valley's newspaper The Morning Call noted:

Both cases centered on the contentious question of how much authority local governments have to police immigration matters that have traditionally been handled by the federal government. The court's actions don't resolve the national uncertainty about local regulation of enforcement matters.

Still pending before the Supreme Court is a request for an appeal by property owners and immigrant rights groups in Nebraska, where the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the city of Freemont's law penalizing landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants.

Congressman Lou Barletta, Hazelton's mayor when the ordinances were passed, said there needs to be national legislation specifying how local governments can enforce immigration law:

"Simply put, if Hazleton were in Nebraska instead of Pennsylvania, the city would be able to enforce its law...But for the unfortunate fact of geography, the law of the land in the Midwest is deemed unconstitutional in Pennsylvania."

Meanwhile the city of Freemont, Nebraska was reportedly set to enact their law this month.

SWI: "Crowd shows solidarity ‘for an open Switzerland’"

More than 10,000 Swiss held a rally for immigrant rights outside the parliament in Bern, nearly a month after Swiss voters passed a measure to limit immigrants to the country. With banners such as "Switzerland without foreigners is like Swiss chocolate without cacao," the rally was supported by Greens, the Social Democrats, and union and foreigner associations, among others.

The repercussions of the Swiss vote has already been felt by the Croatians, as Switzerland will not be able to sign a labor pact with the European Union's newest member, and the vote could have potentially serious business ramifications in Switzerland if companies are limited in hiring foreign employees. The vote moreover could affect Swiss participation in the popular Erasmus program. NPR also has an informative roundup of articles.