| CEOs push back against Trump temporary immigration ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 05:31 PM PST  CEOs of some of the world's biggest companies are fighting back against President Donald Trump's temporary immigration ban, calling it un-American and bad for business. The heads of Apple, Ford and Goldman ...
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| Trump ban creates chaos for travelers in, out of the country Posted: 30 Jan 2017 05:23 PM PST  From Dubai to Los Angeles, President Donald Trump's order barring travelers from seven Muslim countries from entering the U.S. has thrown the lives of thousands into limbo. Middle Eastern scholars who ...
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| The Latest: Quebec mosque attack suspect appears in court Posted: 30 Jan 2017 05:15 PM PST  QUEBEC CITY (AP) — The latest on the deadly shooting at a Quebec City mosque (all times local):
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| Top government lawyer defies Trump on immigration order Posted: 30 Jan 2017 05:12 PM PST  The federal government's top lawyer made an extraordinarily rare move to defy U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday by saying the Justice Department would not defend new travel restrictions targeting seven Muslim-majority nations because she was not convinced they were lawful. Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates told Justice Department lawyers that she did not believe defending the order would be "consistent with this institution's solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right." Trump's directive on Friday put a 120-day hold on allowing refugees into the country, an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and a 90-day bar on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
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| Veterans protest travel ban, saying it hurts interpreters Posted: 30 Jan 2017 05:08 PM PST  SAN DIEGO (AP) — U.S. combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan say they are outraged at the temporary ban on immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries and the suspension of the U.S. refugee program that has blocked visas for interpreters who risked their lives to help American troops on the battlefield.
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| As opposition outcry grows, Trump defends immigration order Posted: 30 Jan 2017 05:02 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — Defiant in the face of an international backlash, President Donald Trump pressed into his second week in office defending his sweeping immigration ban. Protests persisted at major airports, and concern mounted from U.S. diplomats and members of his own party.
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| USOC say foreign athletes not affected by Trump travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 05:01 PM PST  (Reuters) - The U.S. Olympic Committee said on Monday they were told by the U.S. government that President Donald Trump's ban on visitors from some Muslim-majority countries should not impact athletes traveling to the United States for international events. USOC leaders have received a number of inquiries about the impact of Trump's travel ban and said the U.S. government told them it would work to ensure foreign athletes get expedited access to the United States for international competitions.
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| USOC say foreign athletes not affected by Trump travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:56 PM PST The U.S. Olympic Committee said on Monday they were told by the U.S. government that President Donald Trump's ban on visitors from some Muslim-majority countries should not impact athletes traveling to the United States for international events. USOC leaders have received a number of inquiries about the impact of Trump's travel ban and said the U.S. government told them it would work to ensure foreign athletes get expedited access to the United States for international competitions. "We have been specifically asked about the impact that the executive order could have on athletes and officials coming to the United States to compete," said USOC Chairman Larry Probst and chief executive Scott Blackmun. |
| The Latest: Somali refugee won't be reunited with girl, 4 Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:53 PM PST  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump, his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries and other immigration actions (all times local):
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| Pentagon to seek Iraqi reprieve from travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:53 PM PST  The Defense Department pledged Monday to lobby for US entry of Iraqis who supported the American military after President Donald Trump barred nationals from Iraq and six other countries with Muslim majorities. The Pentagon is working on a list of names of Iraqis who have worked for the US military, including fighters and translators, "often doing so at great peril for themselves," Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told a news conference. In an executive order Friday, Trump barred entry to the US for 90 days for citizens of Iraq, a key ally in the fight against violent extremist groups, and Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
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| Acting chief orders US Justice Dept not to defend Trump travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:49 PM PST  The acting US attorney general, a holdover from the Obama administration, ordered Justice Department lawyers Monday to not defend President Donald Trump's ban on refugees and other travelers from seven Muslim countries. In a memo, Acting Attorney General Sally Yates -- who served as the agency's number two official under Barack Obama and is serving as the top law enforcement official in the country until Trump's nominee is confirmed -- said she doubted the legality and morality of the president's executive order. "My responsibility is to ensure that the position of the Department of Justice is not only legally defensible, but is informed by our best view of what the law is after consideration of all the facts," Yates wrote in the memo widely distributed to US media.
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| Justice head tells staff not to defend Trump refugee order Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:36 PM PST  Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, a Democratic appointee, directed Justice Department attorneys not to defend President Donald Trump's controversial executive refugee and immigration ban, declaring ...
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| Trump's go-to man Bannon takes hardline view on immigration Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:26 PM PST  By John Walcott and Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Donald Trump's administration put together its controversial executive order on immigration, it was Steve Bannon – the populist firebrand fast emerging as the president's right-hand man – pushing a hard line. Senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) interpreted the order to mean that lawful permanent residents - green card holders – who hailed from the seven Muslim-majority countries targeted in the immigration order would not face additional screening when they entered the country.
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| Exclusive: Trump administration to allow 872 refugees into U.S. this week - document Posted: 30 Jan 2017 04:04 PM PST  By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has granted waivers to let 872 refugees into the country this week, despite President Donald Trump's executive order on Friday temporarily banning entry of refugees from any country, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document seen by Reuters. A Homeland Security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the waivers, noting that the refugees were considered "in transit" and had already been cleared for resettlement before the ban took effect. The waivers, granted by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), came amid international protests against Trump's rushed executive order.
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| Trump's immigration order faces mounting legal questions Posted: 30 Jan 2017 03:59 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — The legal fight over President Donald Trump's ban on refugees is likely to turn on questions of a president's authority to control America's borders and on whether the new immigration policy unconstitutionally discriminates against Muslims.
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| Spicer tells diplomats to get behind the immigration ban or just get out Posted: 30 Jan 2017 03:56 PM PST Spicer had been asked about news reports that scores of diplomats have signed drafts of a memo, distributed through a "dissent channel" set up for employees to criticize U.S. policy, that breaks with Trump's freeze of immigration from seven Muslim-majority nations. Trump "is going to implement things that are in the best interest of protecting this country prospectively, not reactively, and if somebody has a problem with that agenda, then that does call into question whether or not they should continue in that post or not," the press secretary said at his daily briefing. |
| Exclusive: Trump administration to allow 872 refugees into U.S. this week: document Posted: 30 Jan 2017 03:55 PM PST By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has granted waivers to let 872 refugees into the country this week, despite President Donald Trump's executive order on Friday temporarily banning entry of refugees from any country, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document seen by Reuters. A Homeland Security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the waivers, noting that the refugees were considered "in transit" and had already been cleared for resettlement before the ban took effect. The waivers, granted by the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), came amid international protests against Trump's rushed executive order. |
| Trump defiant, Obama weighs in as travel ban fury mounts Posted: 30 Jan 2017 03:41 PM PST  A defiant President Donald Trump lashed out at protesters, lawmakers and even Delta Airlines Monday as he struggled to defuse a mounting backlash over his ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations. After a weekend of chaos at airports, mass protests and diplomatic outcries, criticism of Trump's proposal even came from Barack Obama, who broke his silence for the first time since leaving office. "President Obama is heartened by the level of engagement taking place in communities around the country," Obama spokesman Kevin Lewis said.
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| Australia, U.S. agree to deal exempting Australian citizens from travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 03:40 PM PST  By Colin Packham and Tom Westbrook SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian dual-nationals will not be affected by U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order blocking visitors from seven Muslim-majority nations, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday. Trump's executive order placed a 90-day bar on citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States, igniting chaotic scenes over the weekend as border and customs officials struggled to put the order into practice. "Australian passport holders will be able to travel to the United States in the same way they were able to prior to the executive order," said Turnbull.
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| Trump's go-to man Bannon takes hardline view on immigration Posted: 30 Jan 2017 03:39 PM PST  By John Walcott and Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Donald Trump's administration put together its controversial executive order on immigration, it was Steve Bannon – the populist firebrand fast emerging as the president's right-hand man – pushing a hard line. Senior officials at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) interpreted the order to mean that lawful permanent residents - green card holders – who hailed from the seven Muslim-majority countries targeted in the immigration order would not face additional screening when they entered the country.
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| Australia says its citizens exempt from US travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 03:32 PM PST  The US travel ban will not apply to Australian passport holders, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Tuesday after Britain also won an exemption for its citizens. Canberra has refused to criticise US President Donald Trump's anti-immigration policies that have sparked international uproar since Friday's move to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on visitors from seven Muslim countries. Australian "passport holders regardless of their place of birth or whether they are dual nationals or whether they hold another passport will remain welcome to come and go to the United States in the usual way," Turnbull said.
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| Democrats set bills seeking to overturn Trump travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 03:21 PM PST  Democratic U.S. senators tried to force a vote on a bill to rescind President Donald Trump's order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations on Monday, but were blocked by a Republican lawmaker. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said she had 27 co-sponsors of a bill to rescind the order Trump signed on Friday, but under Senate rules it takes only one member to prevent a vote. Republican Senator Tom Cotton blocked consideration of the measure.
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| Trump courts Jordan's king amid embassy, refugee concerns Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:43 PM PST  WASHINGTON (AP) — King Abdullah II of Jordan's visit to Washington this week is testing President Donald Trump's ability to maintain key Arab alliances while cracking down on immigration from some Muslim countries and possibly moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The next few days could provide an indication if Trump is willing to compromise.
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| Protests as UK stands firm on Trump invite Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:42 PM PST  British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday refused to back down on inviting US President Donald Trump for a glitzy state visit, despite a petition gaining more than 1.5 million signatures and protesters rallying across the country. May is standing firm on the invitation, which would see Trump honoured by parliament and Queen Elizabeth II, despite the premier's office saying she does not agree with his controversial ban on refugees and citizens of seven mainly Muslim countries. "The United States is a close ally of the UK, we work together across many areas of mutual interest and we have that special relationship between us," May told a press conference in Dublin alongside her Irish counterpart Enda Kenny.
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| Six people who were trapped by Trump’s travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:41 PM PST  As the new ban on people entering from certain Muslim countries took effect at airports across the country, details replaced generalized accusations. Now they were doctors, industrial engineers, young adults orphaned by Taliban bombs, elderly parents of American citizens, widowed mothers of American soldiers, interpreters who had risked their lives for American troops. The risk of being killed by a foreign terrorist within the United States is one in 3.6 million, while the risk of dying because of a car accident is about one in 6,700, yet it is the terrorist that keeps more people up at night.
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| Raptors' Lowry joins condemnation of Trump travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:37 PM PST  (Reuters) - Toronto Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry is the latest member of the National Basketball Association community to blast U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, describing it as "absolute bullshit." Lowry, Raptors president Masai Ujiri and head coach Dwane Casey pulled no punches on Monday when asked about the executive order by Trump to halt the U.S. refugee program and temporarily bar citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. "Our country is a country that's the home of the free and for that to happen, I think it's bullshit," U.S.-born Lowry told reporters.
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| Washington state to sue over travel ban, pressures on Trump grow Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:35 PM PST Pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump grew on Monday over his order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, as the state of Washington announced a legal challenge and former President Barack Obama took a swipe at his successor. The leader of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he would bring legislation on Monday evening seeking to end the ban, although his effort stood little chance of being passed by the Republican-led Congress British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson joined a chorus of concern expressed by U.S. allies, ranging from Iraq to Germany, at Trump's executive order to forbid entry into America by refugees and people from some predominantly Muslim countries. Washington will be the first state to take on the executive order, announcing an effort to sue in federal court. |
| Look at terror attacks in US, Europe, and their perpetrators Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:35 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says a travel ban on citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries aims to prevent terror attacks. |
| NBA-Raptors' Lowry joins condemnation of Trump travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:27 PM PST (Note strong language in first and third paragraph) Jan 30 (Reuters) - Toronto Raptors All-Star guard Kyle Lowry is the latest member of the National Basketball Association community to blast U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration, describing it as "absolute bullshit." Lowry, Raptors president Masai Ujiri and head coach Dwane Casey pulled no punches on Monday when asked about the executive order by Trump to halt the U.S. refugee program and temporarily bar citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States. "Our country is a country that's the home of the free and for that to happen, I think it's bullshit," U.S.-born Lowry told reporters. |
| Delta operations recovering; Trump blames airline for delays Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:24 PM PST  DALLAS (AP) — Delta Air Lines, recovering from a weekend technology outage, canceled more flights Monday but said that the issue has been resolved.
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| Dissident US diplomats protest Trump travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:12 PM PST  US diplomats added their voices Monday to a chorus of protest against President Donald Trump's decision to suspend refugee arrivals and ban visitors from seven Muslim countries. Dissident officials are drafting a memo to submit through the US State Department's "dissent channel," in a dramatic first public sign of bureaucratic resistance to Trump's policy. "I think they should either get with the program or they can go," Trump's White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters, scathingly dismissing the rumblings of discontent.
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| Tens of thousands protest in British cities against Trump's travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 02:09 PM PST  Thousands of people, some holding placards reading "No to Racism, No to Trump", "Dump Trump" and "I stand with Muslims", joined a protest on Monday outside the Downing Street residence of Prime Minister Theresa May, the first leader to visit President Trump. Some chanted "Shame on May" for her offer to Trump of a visit to Britain while 1.5 million people signed a petition calling for Trump's planned trip - which will involve lavish displays of royal pageantry and a banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth - to be cancelled. "It's a lot worse under Trump than I was expecting, because it's only been 10 days but he's changed so much already," Rawnak Jassm, a 23-year-old British-Iraqi, who joined the protest, told Reuters.
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| Muslim civil rights group challenges Trump travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:54 PM PST  ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A Muslim civil rights group has joined the legal battle to overturn President Donald Trump's travel ban directed at seven Muslim-majority nations.
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| An Arab model for a US debate Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:48 PM PST As Islamic State loses ground in the Middle East, tens of thousands of its fighters are heading elsewhere or being sent back to their countries to plan terror attacks. It may help explain the fear behind President Trump's travel ban on migrants from Iraq, Syria, and five other Muslim. In fact, Tunisia, which was the region's only democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring, is holding a relatively calm and inclusive debate about it – a response that should be a model for the US. |
| Ban sparks panic among refugees awaiting urgent medical care in U.S. Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:42 PM PST  By Yasmeen Abutaleb, Kristina Cooke and Mica Rosenberg SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Al Ameen, a 33-year-old Iraqi refugee with hemophilia A, a genetic disorder that prevents proper blood clotting, has been living in Jordan awaiting medical care in the United States for two years. Already worried that his application would not be approved in time to get the treatment he needs, the United States' four-month halt of the resettlement of refugees has convinced him he will never be accepted. "I'm going to die here by myself," Al Ameen said in a phone interview on Sunday.
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| Trump immigration order causes rift with business Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:38 PM PST  Many American businesses are publicly breaking with President Donald Trump over his anti-immigration policies, saying they could damage competitiveness by limiting access to the best and brightest employees. Criticism of Trump's order has been most virulent in Silicon Valley, where chiefs of tech firms Apple, Microsoft, Airbnb and Google were among those to blast the policy, unveiled late Friday, which prohibits people from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States, and includes a temporary ban on refugees. Any criticism could trigger blowback from Trump, who has frequently lambasted individual companies, including Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Boeing and Lockheed.
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| 15 Questions About Trump's Safe Zones Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:38 PM PST  Yesterday, the White House released the readout of a call between President Donald Trump and the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud. The statement featured this remarkable statement: "The President requested and the King agreed to support safe zones in Syria and Yemen, as well as supporting other ideas to help the many refugees who are displaced by the ongoing conflicts."
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| UN says US visa ban does not affect its employees Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:33 PM PST  The United Nations has received assurances from Washington that its employees from Muslim countries hit by the US visa ban will be able to travel to New York to work at UN headquarters. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric initially told a briefing Monday that a handful of staff was unable to board US-bound flights over the weekend. On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the arrival of all refugees for a minimum of 120 days, Syrian refugees indefinitely and barring citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days.
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| AP FACT CHECK: Trump claims on travel ban misleading, wrong Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:32 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — In the face of widespread criticism, President Donald Trump has staunchly defended his order temporarily banning refugees and nearly all citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. But in a statement Sunday and tweets Monday, Trump misstated the facts multiple times. |
| UK says Trump visit still on amid outcry over travel ban Posted: 30 Jan 2017 01:28 PM PST  LONDON (AP) — President Donald Trump's order barring U.S. entry to people from seven majority Muslim nations is "divisive, discriminatory and wrong," British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Monday. But he rebuffed calls for the government to cancel Trump's planned state visit to the U.K. because of the temporary ban.
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