Faced with fraud case, Trump brings up judge's 'Mexican' heritage...

..A spokeswoman for Donald Trump on Monday continued a line of criticism launched by Trump about a California judge who is overseeing a fraud case against him. She also suggested that the judge's Hispanic heritage and membership in a Latino lawyers association would affect his ability to judge the case.

The criticism comes days after Trump himself said at a rally that U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel "happens to be, we believe, Mexican," criticizing him for scheduling a trial for the suit against Trump University in November.

Appearing on CNN's "New Day," spokeswoman Katrina Pierson criticized Curiel for being a member of the La Raza Lawyer's Association, which is a leading Latino lawyers group in California. Curiel is a member of the organization's San Diego chapter.

"I think what's really interesting about this particular judge -- as Mr. Trump refers to him as a 'Trump hater' -- is he even mentions on his judicial questionnaire that he was a La Raza Lawyers Association member," Pierson said, apparently referring to the questionnaire Curiel filled out when his confirmation was being considered by the Senate. "This is an organization that has been out there organizing anti-Trump protesters with the Mexican flags -- they are pushing it. The signs have been very apparent. And so Mr. Trump is just stating the obvious."

CNN has reached out to the La Raza Lawyers Association's national office and the San Diego chapter, but calls were not immediately returned.

"New Day" host Alisyn Camerota replied that Curiel, contrary to Trump's assertion, is U.S.-born and pushed back on making an issue of his ethnicity. "Why's (Trump) saying he's Mexican? What's the point?"

After arguing that Trump had only said that "we believe" Curiel is Mexican, Pierson continued to try to link the judge to anti-Trump protesters.

"Well, it's because of what we see outside of these rallies, these anti-Trump rallies, these criminal rallies, these criminal protesters out there defacing property and attacking police officers. They're doing so under the guise of an anti-Trump protest, with their Mexican flags, and La Raza and this judge is connected to that," Pierson said.

Efforts to reach Curiel on Monday were not immediately successful.

Trump ripped Curiel on Friday after the judge ruled parts of internal documents, including "playbooks" regarding running the enterprise, should be released as part of a lawsuit against Trump University, which operated from 2005 to 2010.

The playbooks, which include ones from 2009 and 2010, detail how the venture worked, how Trump University events were run and how to sell programs to customers. Curiel wrote that there is public interest in the case as Trump has become "the front-runner in the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential race, and has placed the integrity of these court proceedings at issue."

Trump on Friday argued there was no need to schedule a trial for the Trump University fraud suit, while noting Curiel's heritage.

"The trial is going to take place sometime in November. There should be no trial. This should have been dismissed on summary judgment easily, everybody says it. But I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He's a hater," Trump said.

Trump added, "The judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine."

Belgium shows off Russian plane intercepts...

 

New photos released by Belgium give a close-up look at some interesting Russian aircraft that Belgian F-16 fighters encountered during a four-month stint as part of NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission.

The Russian planes intercepted by the Belgians included a Su-27 Flanker, a Tu-134AK, an Il-76, an An-72 and an An-12PPS, according to The Aviationist blog, which reported on the photos last week. The photos were also posted on the Facebook page of the Begium Air Component unit, the 1st Squadron Stingers.

Four Belgian F-16s were based out of Amari Air Base in Estonia, a NATO member country, from January to April. The Belgian jets paired with Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon jets based out of Siauliai, Lithuania, to keep watch over the airspace of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, all of which joined the alliance in 2004.

Baltic airspace has seen an increase in Russian air activity in recent years as tensions between Russia and NATO escalated after the Russian takeover of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In April, the U.S. accused a Russian Su-27 jet of doing a barrel roll over a U.S. Air Force RC-135 reconnaissance plane over the Baltic Sea. The Russian fighter came within 50 feet of the U.S. jet during the maneuver, a spokesman for the U.S. European Command said.

Russia denied its aircraft performed any dangerous maneuvers as it intercepted the U.S. plane.

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France labour dispute: Rail workers strike as protests continue....

French railway workers are to go on strike as unions continue to protest against planned labour reforms.

This is expected to further disrupt a transport network already suffering from a shortage of fuel.
French President Francois Hollande has insisted he will not back down over the reforms, which aim to make it easier to recruit and dismiss employees.
Public sector workers in neighbouring Belgium are also going on strike on Tuesday over budget cuts.
The national strike there will see police officers, teachers and some civil servants join train drivers and prison guards, who are already on strike.
As well as budget cutbacks, the unions are protesting against changes to working hours and a rise in the retirement age.

In France, further transport disruption is likely later in the week as Paris metro staff are due to begin indefinite action on Thursday and Air France pilots have voted to strike over pay.
On Monday, six of France's eight oil refineries were still halted or running at reduced capacity due to union action.
Workers at the oil terminal in the northern port of Le Havre, which supplies Paris's two main airports, have voted to extend their blockade until Wednesday.

French labour reform bill - main points

• The 35-hour week remains in place, but as an average. Firms can negotiate with local trade unions on more or fewer hours from week to week, up to a maximum of 46 hours.
• Firms are given greater freedom to reduce pay.
• The law eases conditions for laying off workers, which is strongly regulated in France. It is hoped companies will take on more people if they know they can shed jobs in case of a downturn.
• Employers to get more leeway to negotiate holidays and special leave, such as maternity or for getting married. These are currently also heavily regulated.

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The CGT union is leading the action, supported by other unions including Force Ouvriere and Unef, whereas the more moderate CFDT union backs the labour reforms.
The CGT says the reforms will erode job security without bringing down the country's 10% unemployment rate.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls - who has suggested the reforms could be "modified" - has cancelled a planned trip to Canada while Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has said he wants France to remain open for business.
Last week's rallies saw clashes between protesters and police and the Paris tourist board warned that the scenes of violence risked putting off visitors.
"The scenes of guerilla-type action in the middle of Paris, beamed around the world, reinforce the feeling of fear and misunderstanding" after last November's terror attacks which killed 130 people in Paris, it said.
However, 46% of French people remained supportive of the protests despite the disruption to their daily lives, according to a poll on Sunday in the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.