United States President Donald Trump reportedly told his Mexican counterpart to tackle the &quot;bad hombres&quot; or they would have to intervene during a telephonic conversation last week.

Although it remains unclear as to who he meant by &quot;bad hombres&quot;, Mexican journalist Dol&iacute;a Est&eacute;vez said he was referring to the drug cartels operating in Mexico.

The transcript, based on a leaked White House document, documents Trump telling Mexican President&nbsp;Enrique Pe&ntilde;a Nieto: &quot;You have a bunch of bad hombres down there. You aren&rsquo;t doing enough to stop them. I think your military is scared. Our military isn&rsquo;t, so I just might send them down to take care of it.&rdquo;

The tone of the conversation also remains unknown, but the hint of US military&#39;s intervention might further sour relations between the two countries.

Mexico have however rejected the content of the conversation, again reiterating that the January 27 conversation between the two leaders were &quot;constructive&quot;.

Dol&iacute;a Est&eacute;vez, in his <a href="http://proyectopuente.com.mx/2017/02/01/necesitamos-a-mexico-dijo-trump-a-pena-nieto/">report</a>, suggested that Trump had suggested in a &quot;threatening note&quot; that if Mexico was unable to put down the drug cartels, he would be forced to send US troops to Mexico.

Relations between the two countries has deteriorated ever since Donald Trump took charge of White House.

Trump for long has promised to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and recently signed executive order to green-light its construction.

The decision has been met with severe criticism from Mexico, who has also rejected Trump&#39;s claim about it paying the cost of its construction.

Pe&ntilde;a Nieto had cancelled his meeting with Trump last week following the US president&#39;s willingness to build the 3,200-km border wall and for challenging him to cancel his trip to Washington.

The Donald Trump administration&nbsp;thought about levying a 20 per cent tax on goods imported from Mexico to finance the wall that will be built along the border, before backtracking on the idea saying it is one of the many ideas being mulled.

(WION)

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The US president reportedly told his Mexican counterpart on Jan 27 that he'll send troops to Mexico to tackle the drug cartels if they can't

United States President Donald Trump reportedly told his Mexican counterpart to tackle the "bad hombres" or they would have to intervene during a telephonic conversation last week. Although it remains unclear as to who he meant by "bad hombres", Mexican journalist Dolía Estévez said he was referring to the drug cartels operating in Mexico. The transcript, based on a leaked White House document, documents Trump telling Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto: "You have a bunch of bad hombres down there. You aren’t doing enough to stop them. I think your military is scared. Our military isn’t, so I just might send them down to take care of it.” The tone of the conversation also remains unknown, but the hint of US military's intervention might further sour relations between the two countries. Mexico have however rejected the content of the conversation, again reiterating that the January 27 conversation between the two leaders were "constructive". Dolía Estévez, in his report, suggested that Trump had suggested in a "threatening note" that if Mexico was unable to put down the drug cartels, he would be forced to send US troops to Mexico. Relations between the two countries has deteriorated ever since Donald Trump took charge of White House. Trump for long has promised to build a wall along the US-Mexico border and recently signed executive order to green-light its construction. The decision has been met with severe criticism from Mexico, who has also rejected Trump's claim about it paying the cost of its construction. Peña Nieto had cancelled his meeting with Trump last week following the US president's willingness to build the 3,200-km border wall and for challenging him to cancel his trip to Washington. The Donald Trump administration thought about levying a 20 per cent tax on goods imported from Mexico to finance the wall that will be built along the border, before backtracking on the idea saying it is one of the many ideas being mulled. (WION)

Tackle 'bad hombres' or we will: Trump tells Mexico

The US Treasury tweaked its sweeping sanctions on Russia&#39;s FSB intelligence agency Thursday to make sure US traders in Russia can obtain FSB-required import permits for certain US technology goods.

The White House quickly denied reports that the move constituted an &quot;easing&quot; of pressure on Russia by the new administration of President Donald Trump.

&quot;I haven&#39;t eased anything,&quot; Trump said during a meeting with executives of motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson.

The previous Barack Obama administration slapped a total ban on Americans&#39; transactions with the FSB on December 29 in retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the US elections.

The Treasury ruled Thursday, however, that US importers in Russia who are required to obtain FSB permissions for certain imports for sale to Russian entities -- not to the FSB -- would be able to do so.&nbsp;

Specifically they are allowed to pay the FSB up to $5,000 a year in fees for the permissions.

The ruling does not in itself permit any specific sales of US goods to Russia; certain technology goods are already tightly restricted under US rules.

Doug Jacobson of Washington trade law office Jacobson Burton Kelly PLLC called the move &quot;a very minor issue&quot;.

It &quot;allows US companies to obtain licenses and approvals from FSB to import certain software and IT equipment containing encryption into Russia,&quot; he said on Twitter.

&quot;This does not permit sales to FSB. Only allows US persons to deal with FSB to obtain permits to import such items into Russia.&quot;

The Trump administration has been expected to attempt to reset relations with Russia after they sank to the lowest level in decades under Obama, in part due to Moscow&#39;s support for embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia&#39;s 2014 invasion and annexation of Ukraine&#39;s Crimea region.

In December, Obama expelled what the White House called 35 Russian &quot;intelligence operatives&quot; and placed the FSB and other Russian agencies and individuals on its sanctions blacklist after US intelligence agencies said that President Vladimir Putin personally directed an effort to interfere with the US presidential election via computer hacking and disinformation campaigns.

(AFP)

The White House quickly denied reports that the move constituted an 'easing' of pressure on Russia

The US Treasury tweaked its sweeping sanctions on Russia's FSB intelligence agency Thursday to make sure US traders in Russia can obtain FSB-required import permits for certain US technology goods. The White House quickly denied reports that the move constituted an "easing" of pressure on Russia by the new administration of President Donald Trump. "I haven't eased anything," Trump said during a meeting with executives of motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson. The previous Barack Obama administration slapped a total ban on Americans' transactions with the FSB on December 29 in retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the US elections. The Treasury ruled Thursday, however, that US importers in Russia who are required to obtain FSB permissions for certain imports for sale to Russian entities -- not to the FSB -- would be able to do so. Specifically they are allowed to pay the FSB up to $5,000 a year in fees for the permissions. The ruling does not in itself permit any specific sales of US goods to Russia; certain technology goods are already tightly restricted under US rules. Doug Jacobson of Washington trade law office Jacobson Burton Kelly PLLC called the move "a very minor issue". It "allows US companies to obtain licenses and approvals from FSB to import certain software and IT equipment containing encryption into Russia," he said on Twitter. "This does not permit sales to FSB. Only allows US persons to deal with FSB to obtain permits to import such items into Russia." The Trump administration has been expected to attempt to reset relations with Russia after they sank to the lowest level in decades under Obama, in part due to Moscow's support for embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia's 2014 invasion and annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region. In December, Obama expelled what the White House called 35 Russian "intelligence operatives" and placed the FSB and other Russian agencies and individuals on its sanctions blacklist after US intelligence agencies said that President Vladimir Putin personally directed an effort to interfere with the US presidential election via computer hacking and disinformation campaigns. (AFP)

US eases sanctions on Russian spy agency FSB

Hundreds of protesters turned violent on Wednesday at the University of California at Berkeley for inviting right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos, editor of conservative news website Breitbart.&nbsp;

Students smashed windows, hurled rocks, lit wooden pallets on fire and chanted &quot;shut him down&quot; as riot police fired tear gas at them.&nbsp;

Yiannopoulos, a stunch supporter of US President Donald Trump is the technology editior of Breitbart, created furor after abusing &quot;Ghostbusters&quot; actress Leslie Jones on Twitter.&nbsp;

He was banned by Twitter.&nbsp;

The university was put on a lockdown after his appearance was cancelled.&nbsp;

Yiannopoulos had been invited by the conservative student group. He has become the face of &quot;alt-right movement&quot; after being a vocal supporter for Donald Trump, going as far as calling &#39;Daddy&#39;.&nbsp;

Similar protests have taken place at the University of California last month and had to cancel speeches by Yiannopoulos.

&nbsp;Officials at the University of California stressed that they did not invite Yiannopoulos or endorse his ideas. But they are committed to free speech.

(WION with inputs AFP)

Students smashed windows, hurled rocks, lit wooden pallets on fire and chanted 'shut him down' over the appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos

Hundreds of protesters turned violent on Wednesday at the University of California at Berkeley for inviting right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos, editor of conservative news website Breitbart. Students smashed windows, hurled rocks, lit wooden pallets on fire and chanted "shut him down" as riot police fired tear gas at them. Yiannopoulos, a stunch supporter of US President Donald Trump is the technology editior of Breitbart, created furor after abusing "Ghostbusters" actress Leslie Jones on Twitter. He was banned by Twitter. The university was put on a lockdown after his appearance was cancelled. Yiannopoulos had been invited by the conservative student group. He has become the face of "alt-right movement" after being a vocal supporter for Donald Trump, going as far as calling 'Daddy'. Similar protests have taken place at the University of California last month and had to cancel speeches by Yiannopoulos. Officials at the University of California stressed that they did not invite Yiannopoulos or endorse his ideas. But they are committed to free speech. (WION with inputs AFP)

Violent protests erupt at Berkeley over Breitbart editor appearance

For a man who&nbsp;brags about his wealth&nbsp;Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to keep his financial&nbsp;status an absolute secret. Every presidential candidate for the last 40 years has published their tax returns. Trump has refused, over and over, and he and his team have repeatedly&nbsp;<a href="http://www.vox.com/2017/1/22/14351062/kellyanne-conway-trump-tax-returns">lied </a>about the reason for doing so (<a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/watch-eric-trump-flail-wildly-as-he-tries-to-explain-why-his-dad-wont-release-tax-returns/" target="_blank">his son Erik said, essentially, releasing his tax returns was inadvisable because it would&nbsp;subject them&nbsp;to public scrutiny</a>).

Donald Trump asked&nbsp;a foreign government to hack into an American politicians private emails&nbsp;on live TV&nbsp;before&nbsp;millions of people during the presidential debate, but publish one page of his&nbsp;tax return&nbsp;he threatens to sue.&nbsp;When nearly forced to prove his wealth, Trump has repeatedly declined.

While Trump did publish a&nbsp;financial disclosure form, required by law,<a href="http://thepoliticus.com/content/bombshell-trump-lied-his-financial-disclosures-has-massive-debt"> he made an immense lie</a>: The document reveals that companies he owns are $300&nbsp;million in debt, but actually a&nbsp;New York Times investigation&nbsp;determined that in reality this figure is more than twice as large, at $650 million. He is beholden&nbsp;to a wide range of financial backers, including ones he has criticised publicly.&nbsp;

Who funds Donald Trump, and what does this mean?

&nbsp;

A brief look at his Deutsche Bank history

To understand Trump, follow the money. This is inherently difficult, because Trump goes to enormous&nbsp;lengths to keep his money secret&nbsp;despite projecting&nbsp;the image of a&nbsp;self-made billionaire&nbsp;enriched&nbsp;by savvy&nbsp;deal-making.&nbsp;Really, his father was a New York real estate tycoon, handy when starting out, and for more than a&nbsp;decade Donald received money for&nbsp;putting his name on stuff <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2015/11/24/donald-trumps-real-secret-to-riches-create-a-brand-and-license-it/#3fef3d0e26e7">other people produce</a>.

But what we do know about&nbsp;his finance&nbsp;tells us important something, and puts into sharp relief the importance of what we do not know.

American banks stopped lending money to Donald Trump in the late 1980s and early &#39;90s, around the time he declared $900 million in losses as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/nyregion/donald-trump-atlantic-city.html" target="_blank">Trump casino-related businesses kept&nbsp;going bankrupt.</a> American banks considered him a major liability.

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<h5>On December 23, a few weeks before Trump was to enter the White House,&nbsp;Deutsche Bank settled,&nbsp;managing&nbsp;to cut&nbsp;the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to&nbsp;$7.2 billion. Just yesterday, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a &ldquo;mirror trade&quot;&nbsp;scam that laundered&nbsp;$10 billion, illegally moving the money outside of Russia.</h5>
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<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=On December 23, a few weeks before Trump was to enter the White House,?Deutsche Bank settled,?managing?to cut?the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to?$7.2 billion. 


Just yesterday, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a ?mirror trade?scam that laundered?$10 billion, illegally moving the money outside of Russia." target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></div>
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He was funded by Russian oligarchs, billionaires nearly overnight after seising for their own private wealth&nbsp;the state assets of the newly-collapsed former Soviet Union.&nbsp;The German Deutsche Bank also stepped in.

Last March,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-donald-trump-needs-a-loan-he-chooses-deutsche-bank-1458379806">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported that, just since 1998, Deutsche Bank has &ldquo;led or participated in loans of at least $2.5 billion to companies affiliated with Trump,&rdquo; not including one billion in loan commitments to Trump-related businesses.

Trump&nbsp;got into a large fight with Deutsche Bank when the US housing bubble burst in 2009.&nbsp;Trump tried to avoid paying back a&nbsp;$334&nbsp;million loan, saying the subprime mortgage crash constituted a &ldquo;force majeure&rdquo;, an unforeseeable catastrophe, like an act of god. He even attacked the bank,&nbsp;saying their lending practices played a role in the collapse--he sued them&nbsp;for $3 billion in damages. The bank sued him back, saying he issued&nbsp;a personal guarantee that he&#39;d pay $40 million in case his company couldn&#39;t pay them back. They were forced to negotiate.&nbsp;They settled, but the bank was soured on Donald Trump. &quot;He was a persona non grata after that,&quot; said a banker who worked on the deal, the Wall Street Journal reports.

This matters, because right now&nbsp;Donald Trump still owes the private arm of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-22/deutsche-bank-s-reworking-a-big-trump-loan-as-inauguration-nears" target="_blank">Deutsche Bank roughly $300 million.</a>&nbsp;And Deutsche Bank has had major problems lately.

From a November 9 Wall Street Journal post: &quot;Right now Deutsche Bank is facing a host of tricky issues in the US, including the threatened $14 billion penalty over mortgage-bond investigations that would seriously damage the bank&#39;s capital base. There is also a probe related to equity trades for wealthy clients in Russia, a country Mr Trump appears friendly towards. The bank [Deutsche Bank]&nbsp;declined to comment.&quot;

On December 23, a few weeks before Trump&nbsp;entered the White House,&nbsp;Deutsche Bank settled,&nbsp;managing&nbsp;to cut&nbsp;the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to&nbsp;$7.2 billion.

Just <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/deutsche-bank-fined-about-630-million-over-alleged-10-billion-russia-money-laundering-scam-11930">yesterday</a>, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a &ldquo;mirror trade&quot;&nbsp;scam that laundered&nbsp;$10 billion, illegally moving this&nbsp;money outside of Russia.

&nbsp;

Early, still releveant cause for&nbsp;fear

Regarding the settlement, perhaps the outgoing Obama administration wanted to get what they could while they could,&nbsp;fearing that a Trump administration would be more amenable to forgive Deutsche Bank, for something else in return.

Given that we know Trump was funded for years by<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/1/9/1618540/-Was-Donald-Trump-bailed-out-of-bankruptcy-by-Russia-crime-bosses">&nbsp;Putin-approved oligarchs</a>, that his bank of choice is also connected in a major way to Russian money laundering stands out.&nbsp;

It&#39;s speculation, but the lack of concrete facts here is&nbsp;Trump&#39;s fault: &nbsp;The onus is on him&nbsp;to clear this up, which he could overnight.&nbsp;But given both his&nbsp;scandalous refusal to publish finance&nbsp;records his predecessors&nbsp;considered par for the course,&nbsp;and&nbsp;his absolute refusal to divest from his private business empire while serving in public office, nobody should expect sudden&nbsp;transparency.

The former CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil&nbsp;Rex Tillerson, just confirmed as&nbsp;US Secretary of State, worried observers because he opposed sanctions against Russia after Russia annexed Crimea, sanctions that were stopping his company from making at least<a href="https://www.rt.com/business/363131-exxon-lost-billion-russia-sanctions/" target="_blank"> one billion dollars</a>.&nbsp;

Experts believed&nbsp;Trump remaining in charge of a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/01/kim-albrecht-trump-data-viz/?mbid=social_twitter#slide-3" target="_blank">vast international business empire </a>put him in&nbsp;gross violation of the &quot;emoluments clause&quot; in the US constitution the very second he took office, and Russia&#39;s&nbsp;actions since have only validated fears.

&nbsp;

Recent reasons&nbsp;to worry: Trump and Igor Sechin CEO of&nbsp;Rosneft, Russia&#39;s state oil company

The notorious unverified dossier (adjudged serious enough that US intelligence briefed both then-President Obama and Trump&nbsp;on it)&nbsp;alleging&nbsp;Russia had recorded enough material on Trump to &quot;compromise&quot;, or blackmail, him also contained perhaps <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-trump-russia-igor-sechin-dossier-2017-1">an even more important allegation</a>:&nbsp;Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, Russia&#39;s state oil company, offered Trump-ally Carter Page a 19 per cent stake in the $130-billion&nbsp;company in exchange for lifting US sanctions against Russia.

Page was an early Trump adviser, who &quot;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/carter-page-trump-russia-igor-sechin-dossier-2017-1">took a leave of absence</a>&quot; after his trip to Russia came to light. The Trump campaign denied it ever worked with him, Business Insider reports.

Regarding Russian sanctions, Trump said: If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody&#39;s doing some really great things?&quot;

Just l<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-rosneft-privatisation-insight-idUSKBN1582OH">ast week, in &quot;one of its largest privatisations since the 1990s&quot;,&nbsp;Russia sold a 19.5&nbsp;per cent&nbsp;stake in Rosneft, and&nbsp;because of the&nbsp;highly&nbsp;opaque structure of the deal&nbsp;nobody knows who bought it</a>. Some commentators have&nbsp;noticed that the&nbsp;19.5 per cent&nbsp;sale looks like the 19 per cent alluded to in the unverified dossier, plus a brokerage fee.&nbsp;

A&nbsp;few days ago, the Kremlin escalated its attack on Ukraine with apparent confidence&nbsp;that the US president would not object.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Independence?

When Trump-appointed regulators deal&nbsp;with Deutsche Bank, will they&nbsp;advance&nbsp;the interests of the United States or the Trump Organization? Ditto for Trump and Russia.&nbsp;

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Must-read <a href="https://twitter.com/washingtonpost">@washingtonpost</a>: &quot;Trump is sworn in, rockets fall on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ukraine?src=hash">#Ukraine</a>&quot; <a href="https://t.co/GT8UeDoey0">https://t.co/GT8UeDoey0</a>
&mdash; John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/826787097407344640">February 1, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Donald Trump&nbsp;campaigned on being an indepedently wealthy candidate unbeholden to&nbsp;interests. But he is keeping very large and important secrets. Just as he once was considered by&nbsp;Deutsche Bank, if he were to disclose what is really going on, many current&nbsp;supporters would likely change their mind&nbsp;and also consider Trump&nbsp;a&nbsp;&quot;persona non grata&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;

(WION)

Trump has received funding from Russia, which is now amping up war in Ukraine, and Deutsche Bank, guilty lately of major financial crimes

For a man who brags about his wealth Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to keep his financial status an absolute secret. Every presidential candidate for the last 40 years has published their tax returns. Trump has refused, over and over, and he and his team have repeatedly lied about the reason for doing so (his son Erik said, essentially, releasing his tax returns was inadvisable because it would subject them to public scrutiny). Donald Trump asked a foreign government to hack into an American politicians private emails on live TV before millions of people during the presidential debate, but publish one page of his tax return he threatens to sue. When nearly forced to prove his wealth, Trump has repeatedly declined. While Trump did publish a financial disclosure form, required by law, he made an immense lie: The document reveals that companies he owns are $300 million in debt, but actually a New York Times investigation determined that in reality this figure is more than twice as large, at $650 million. He is beholden to a wide range of financial backers, including ones he has criticised publicly. Who funds Donald Trump, and what does this mean? A brief look at his Deutsche Bank history To understand Trump, follow the money. This is inherently difficult, because Trump goes to enormous lengths to keep his money secret despite projecting the image of a self-made billionaire enriched by savvy deal-making. Really, his father was a New York real estate tycoon, handy when starting out, and for more than a decade Donald received money for putting his name on stuff other people produce. But what we do know about his finance tells us important something, and puts into sharp relief the importance of what we do not know. American banks stopped lending money to Donald Trump in the late 1980s and early '90s, around the time he declared $900 million in losses as Trump casino-related businesses kept going bankrupt. American banks considered him a major liability. On December 23, a few weeks before Trump was to enter the White House, Deutsche Bank settled, managing to cut the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to $7.2 billion. Just yesterday, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a “mirror trade" scam that laundered $10 billion, illegally moving the money outside of Russia. × He was funded by Russian oligarchs, billionaires nearly overnight after seising for their own private wealth the state assets of the newly-collapsed former Soviet Union. The German Deutsche Bank also stepped in. Last March, The Wall Street Journal reported that, just since 1998, Deutsche Bank has “led or participated in loans of at least $2.5 billion to companies affiliated with Trump,” not including one billion in loan commitments to Trump-related businesses. Trump got into a large fight with Deutsche Bank when the US housing bubble burst in 2009. Trump tried to avoid paying back a $334 million loan, saying the subprime mortgage crash constituted a “force majeure”, an unforeseeable catastrophe, like an act of god. He even attacked the bank, saying their lending practices played a role in the collapse--he sued them for $3 billion in damages. The bank sued him back, saying he issued a personal guarantee that he'd pay $40 million in case his company couldn't pay them back. They were forced to negotiate. They settled, but the bank was soured on Donald Trump. "He was a persona non grata after that," said a banker who worked on the deal, the Wall Street Journal reports. This matters, because right now Donald Trump still owes the private arm of Deutsche Bank roughly $300 million. And Deutsche Bank has had major problems lately. From a November 9 Wall Street Journal post: "Right now Deutsche Bank is facing a host of tricky issues in the US, including the threatened $14 billion penalty over mortgage-bond investigations that would seriously damage the bank's capital base. There is also a probe related to equity trades for wealthy clients in Russia, a country Mr Trump appears friendly towards. The bank [Deutsche Bank] declined to comment." On December 23, a few weeks before Trump entered the White House, Deutsche Bank settled, managing to cut the threatened $14 billion penalty roughly in half to $7.2 billion. Just yesterday, Deutsche Bank was fined another $690 million for its role in a “mirror trade" scam that laundered $10 billion, illegally moving this money outside of Russia. Early, still releveant cause for fear Regarding the settlement, perhaps the outgoing Obama administration wanted to get what they could while they could, fearing that a Trump administration would be more amenable to forgive Deutsche Bank, for something else in return. Given that we know Trump was funded for years by Putin-approved oligarchs, that his bank of choice is also connected in a major way to Russian money laundering stands out. It's speculation, but the lack of concrete facts here is Trump's fault: The onus is on him to clear this up, which he could overnight. But given both his scandalous refusal to publish finance records his predecessors considered par for the course, and his absolute refusal to divest from his private business empire while serving in public office, nobody should expect sudden transparency. The former CEO of oil giant ExxonMobil Rex Tillerson, just confirmed as US Secretary of State, worried observers because he opposed sanctions against Russia after Russia annexed Crimea, sanctions that were stopping his company from making at least one billion dollars. Experts believed Trump remaining in charge of a vast international business empire put him in gross violation of the "emoluments clause" in the US constitution the very second he took office, and Russia's actions since have only validated fears. Recent reasons to worry: Trump and Igor Sechin CEO of Rosneft, Russia's state oil company The notorious unverified dossier (adjudged serious enough that US intelligence briefed both then-President Obama and Trump on it) alleging Russia had recorded enough material on Trump to "compromise", or blackmail, him also contained perhaps an even more important allegation: Igor Sechin, CEO of Rosneft, Russia's state oil company, offered Trump-ally Carter Page a 19 per cent stake in the $130-billion company in exchange for lifting US sanctions against Russia. Page was an early Trump adviser, who "took a leave of absence" after his trip to Russia came to light. The Trump campaign denied it ever worked with him, Business Insider reports. Regarding Russian sanctions, Trump said: If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody's doing some really great things?" Just last week, in "one of its largest privatisations since the 1990s", Russia sold a 19.5 per cent stake in Rosneft, and because of the highly opaque structure of the deal nobody knows who bought it. Some commentators have noticed that the 19.5 per cent sale looks like the 19 per cent alluded to in the unverified dossier, plus a brokerage fee. A few days ago, the Kremlin escalated its attack on Ukraine with apparent confidence that the US president would not object. Independence? When Trump-appointed regulators deal with Deutsche Bank, will they advance the interests of the United States or the Trump Organization? Ditto for Trump and Russia. Must-read @washingtonpost: "Trump is sworn in, rockets fall on #Ukraine" https://t.co/GT8UeDoey0 — John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 1, 2017 × Donald Trump campaigned on being an indepedently wealthy candidate unbeholden to interests. But he is keeping very large and important secrets. Just as he once was considered by Deutsche Bank, if he were to disclose what is really going on, many current supporters would likely change their mind and also consider Trump a "persona non grata". (WION)

Analysis: Trump, Russia and Deutsche Bank?Links that raise many, many questions

The Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a US government programme designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The programme, &quot;Countering Violent Extremism,&quot; or CVE, would be changed to &quot;Countering Islamic Extremism&quot; or &quot;Countering Radical Islamic Extremism,&quot; the sources said, and would no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States.

Such a change would reflect Trump&#39;s election campaign rhetoric and criticism of former President Barack Obama for being weak in the fight against Islamic State and for refusing to use the phrase &quot;radical Islam&quot; in describing it. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for attacks on civilians in several countries.

The CVE program aims to deter groups or potential lone attackers through community partnerships and educational programmes or counter-messaging campaigns in cooperation with companies such as Google (GOOGL.O) and Facebook.

Some proponents of the programme fear that rebranding it could make it more difficult for the government to work with Muslims already hesitant to trust the new administration, particularly after Trump issued an executive order last Friday temporarily blocking travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Still, the CVE programme, which focuses on US residents and is separate from a military effort to fight extremism online, has been criticised even by some supporters as ineffective.

A source who has worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the programme said Trump transition team members first met with a CVE task force in December and floated the idea of changing the name and focus.&nbsp;

In a meeting last Thursday attended by senior staff for DHS Secretary John Kelly, government employees were asked to defend why they chose certain community organizations as recipients of CVE programme grants, said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Although CVE funding has been appropriated by Congress and the grant recipients were notified in the final days of the Obama administration, the money still may not go out the door, the source said, adding that Kelly is reviewing the matter.

The department declined comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Programme criticised

Some Republicans in Congress have long assailed the programme as politically correct and ineffective, asserting that singling out and using the term &quot;radical Islam&quot; as the trigger for many violent attacks would help focus deterrence efforts.

Others counter that branding the problem as &quot;radical Islam&quot; would only serve to alienate more than three million Americans who practice Islam peacefully.

Many community groups, meanwhile, had already been cautious about the programme, partly over concerns that it could double as a surveillance tool for law enforcement.

Hoda Hawa, director of policy for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said she was told last week by people within DHS that there was a push to refocus the CVE effort from tackling all violent ideology to only Islamist extremism.

&quot;That is concerning for us because they are targeting a faith group and casting it under a net of suspicion,&quot; she said.

Another source familiar with the matter was told last week by a DHS official that a name change would take place. Three other sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said such plans had been discussed but were unable to attest whether they had been finalized.

The Obama administration sought to foster relationships with community groups to engage them in the counterterrorism effort. In 2016, Congress appropriated $10 million in grants for CVE efforts and DHS awarded the first round of grants on Jan. 13, a week before Trump was inaugurated.

Among those approved were local governments, city police departments, universities and non-profit organizations. In addition to organizations dedicated to combating Islamic State&#39;s recruitment in the United States, grants also went to Life After Hate, which rehabilitates former neo-Nazis and other domestic extremists.

Just in the past two years, authorities blamed radical and violent ideologies as the motives for a white supremacist&#39;s shooting rampage inside a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina and Islamist militants for shootings and bombings in California, Florida and New York.

One grant recipient, Leaders Advancing &amp; Helping Communities, a Michigan-based group led by Lebanese-Americans, has declined a $500,000 DHS grant it had sought, according to an email the group sent that was seen by Reuters. A representative for the group confirmed the grant had been rejected but declined further comment.&nbsp;

&quot;Given the current political climate and cause for concern, LAHC has chosen to decline the award,&quot; said the email, which was sent last Thursday, a day before Trump issued his immigration order, which was condemned at home and abroad as discriminating against Muslims while the White House said it was to &quot;to protect the American people from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals.&quot; 
 
(Reuters) 
&nbsp;

The proposed programme would not target white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the US, Reuters reported

The Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a US government programme designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters. The programme, "Countering Violent Extremism," or CVE, would be changed to "Countering Islamic Extremism" or "Countering Radical Islamic Extremism," the sources said, and would no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the United States. Such a change would reflect Trump's election campaign rhetoric and criticism of former President Barack Obama for being weak in the fight against Islamic State and for refusing to use the phrase "radical Islam" in describing it. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for attacks on civilians in several countries. The CVE program aims to deter groups or potential lone attackers through community partnerships and educational programmes or counter-messaging campaigns in cooperation with companies such as Google (GOOGL.O) and Facebook. Some proponents of the programme fear that rebranding it could make it more difficult for the government to work with Muslims already hesitant to trust the new administration, particularly after Trump issued an executive order last Friday temporarily blocking travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries. Still, the CVE programme, which focuses on US residents and is separate from a military effort to fight extremism online, has been criticised even by some supporters as ineffective. A source who has worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the programme said Trump transition team members first met with a CVE task force in December and floated the idea of changing the name and focus. In a meeting last Thursday attended by senior staff for DHS Secretary John Kelly, government employees were asked to defend why they chose certain community organizations as recipients of CVE programme grants, said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions. Although CVE funding has been appropriated by Congress and the grant recipients were notified in the final days of the Obama administration, the money still may not go out the door, the source said, adding that Kelly is reviewing the matter. The department declined comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Programme criticised Some Republicans in Congress have long assailed the programme as politically correct and ineffective, asserting that singling out and using the term "radical Islam" as the trigger for many violent attacks would help focus deterrence efforts. Others counter that branding the problem as "radical Islam" would only serve to alienate more than three million Americans who practice Islam peacefully. Many community groups, meanwhile, had already been cautious about the programme, partly over concerns that it could double as a surveillance tool for law enforcement. Hoda Hawa, director of policy for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said she was told last week by people within DHS that there was a push to refocus the CVE effort from tackling all violent ideology to only Islamist extremism. "That is concerning for us because they are targeting a faith group and casting it under a net of suspicion," she said. Another source familiar with the matter was told last week by a DHS official that a name change would take place. Three other sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said such plans had been discussed but were unable to attest whether they had been finalized. The Obama administration sought to foster relationships with community groups to engage them in the counterterrorism effort. In 2016, Congress appropriated $10 million in grants for CVE efforts and DHS awarded the first round of grants on Jan. 13, a week before Trump was inaugurated. Among those approved were local governments, city police departments, universities and non-profit organizations. In addition to organizations dedicated to combating Islamic State's recruitment in the United States, grants also went to Life After Hate, which rehabilitates former neo-Nazis and other domestic extremists. Just in the past two years, authorities blamed radical and violent ideologies as the motives for a white supremacist's shooting rampage inside a historic African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina and Islamist militants for shootings and bombings in California, Florida and New York. One grant recipient, Leaders Advancing & Helping Communities, a Michigan-based group led by Lebanese-Americans, has declined a $500,000 DHS grant it had sought, according to an email the group sent that was seen by Reuters. A representative for the group confirmed the grant had been rejected but declined further comment. "Given the current political climate and cause for concern, LAHC has chosen to decline the award," said the email, which was sent last Thursday, a day before Trump issued his immigration order, which was condemned at home and abroad as discriminating against Muslims while the White House said it was to "to protect the American people from terrorist attacks by foreign nationals." (Reuters)

Trump may revamp anti-terror programme to focus on Islamist extremism: Report

<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/31/public-lands-sell-congress-bureau-management-chaffetz?CMP=share_btn_tw" target="_blank">Republicans in the US </a>are moving to sell off&nbsp;millions of acres of&nbsp;public land, the size of Connecticut.

US representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah has introduced a new piece of legislation that would direct the interior secretary to sell off the 3.3 million&nbsp;acres of public land, The Guardian reported.

The Tea Party Republican claimed in a press release that the land, maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), served &ldquo;no purpose for taxpayers&rdquo;, The Guardian said in its report.

Many in the 10 states that will lose federal land in the bill refute the claim, The Guardian added. The 10 states affected by the legislation are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.

Public land rallies, opposing the move, are bringing together environmentalists and sportsmen across the west, The Guardian reported.

According to The Guardian, the land is set aside for mixed-use. It is leased for oil, gas and timber, but is also open to outdoor enthusiasts. It also provides a passage for gray wolves and grizzly bear and serves as the winter pasture for big game species.

The bill was presented alongside another legislation that would strip the BLM and the US Forest Service of their law enforcement capabilities, The Guardian said.

The sale does not have to generate any money for the federal government because of a new and controversial change in the House of Representatives this month, while an interior department representative said selling these 3.3 million acres would anyway be &quot;unlikely to generate any revenue,&quot; The Guardian reported.

The report quotes a&nbsp;Republican conservation group in Utah who likened it at the time to<a data-link-name="in body link" href="http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/politics/52774161-90/lands-chaffetz-utah-bill.html.csp">&nbsp;&ldquo;selling the house to pay the light bill</a>&rdquo;.

 
(WION)

The Tea Party Republican who advanced the bill said it serves 'no purpose for taxpayers', but even Republican conservationists are outraged

Republicans in the US are moving to sell off millions of acres of public land, the size of Connecticut. US representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah has introduced a new piece of legislation that would direct the interior secretary to sell off the 3.3 million acres of public land, The Guardian reported. The Tea Party Republican claimed in a press release that the land, maintained by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), served “no purpose for taxpayers”, The Guardian said in its report. Many in the 10 states that will lose federal land in the bill refute the claim, The Guardian added. The 10 states affected by the legislation are Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. Public land rallies, opposing the move, are bringing together environmentalists and sportsmen across the west, The Guardian reported. According to The Guardian, the land is set aside for mixed-use. It is leased for oil, gas and timber, but is also open to outdoor enthusiasts. It also provides a passage for gray wolves and grizzly bear and serves as the winter pasture for big game species. The bill was presented alongside another legislation that would strip the BLM and the US Forest Service of their law enforcement capabilities, The Guardian said. The sale does not have to generate any money for the federal government because of a new and controversial change in the House of Representatives this month, while an interior department representative said selling these 3.3 million acres would anyway be "unlikely to generate any revenue," The Guardian reported. The report quotes a Republican conservation group in Utah who likened it at the time to “selling the house to pay the light bill”. (WION)

US Republicans move to sell millions of acres of public parkland

Thousands of Google employees on Monday rallied outside its Mountain View headquarters, and in at least eight different cities around the world, to stage a mass walkout in protest against Donald Trump&#39;s ban on immigrants from Muslim countries.

Reuters reported that the unofficial rally was initiated by a Google engineer. Several people including Google&#39;s co-founder Sergey Bin, who is an immigrant from Russia, spoke at the demonstration.

&quot;This is something, there are some values, which are really near and dear to your heart,&quot; Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the crowd. &quot;It&rsquo;s foundational and it&rsquo;s something you should never compromise on. The thing we&rsquo;ve been debating for the past three days is one of them.&quot;

The Wall Street Journal reported that an email sent by&nbsp;Pichai on Saturday said that the immigration status of 187 Google employees was&nbsp;affected by the order.

Trump signed an executive order last week banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, prompting widespread outrage&nbsp;and protests from across the world. The acting US&nbsp;attorney general said she wasn&#39;t convinced the order was &quot;lawful&quot;, and said Justice Department lawyers don&#39;t need to defend the ban. Trump&#39;s White House called this &quot;betrayal&quot;, called her&nbsp;&quot;weak&nbsp;on borders&quot; and fired her.

While Trump accused the media of&nbsp;misinforming the public by labelling the immigration ban against seven predominantly Muslim countries&nbsp;a &quot;Muslim ban&quot;, his adviser Rudy Giuliani appeared on Fox News after the order was given, and said that Trump himself approached him, and asked&nbsp;how to make a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/rudy-giuliani-told-trump-how-to-make-muslim-ban-legal-11841">&quot;Muslim ban</a>&quot; legal.

&nbsp;

Other tech companies&nbsp;challenge Trump&#39;s Muslim ban

A group of technology companies have planned to file an amicus brief to support the lawsuit challenging US President Donald Trump&#39;s immigration ban. Reuters reported that the meeting to discuss the brief was called by software development toolmaker GitHub.

Alphabet Inc&#39;s Google, Airbnb Inc and Netflix Inc are among the companies invited, Reuters reported a person familiar with the situation as saying.

The technology sector has condemned the move and announced financial support for organisations that back immigrants, such as the American Civil Liberties Union.

Amazon.com Inc and Expedia Inc on Monday filed declarations of their support of a lawsuit filed by the Washington state attorney general. They said Trump&#39;s order adversely impacts their business.

A separate lawsuit was filed against Trump&#39;s executive order by the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday.

Global crowdfunding company Kickstarter and cloud communications platform Twilio both confirmed their involvement in filing the brief. Etsy could not confirm if it would move forward with the group.

An amicus brief provides the court with new information or a different perspective by amicus curiae (friend of the court) who is not associated with any party but has a strong interest in the matter.

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(With inputs from Reuters)

Google employees from at least 8 cities around the US protested. Google and several other US tech companies plan to challenge the order in court

Thousands of Google employees on Monday rallied outside its Mountain View headquarters, and in at least eight different cities around the world, to stage a mass walkout in protest against Donald Trump's ban on immigrants from Muslim countries. Reuters reported that the unofficial rally was initiated by a Google engineer. Several people including Google's co-founder Sergey Bin, who is an immigrant from Russia, spoke at the demonstration. "This is something, there are some values, which are really near and dear to your heart," Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the crowd. "It’s foundational and it’s something you should never compromise on. The thing we’ve been debating for the past three days is one of them." The Wall Street Journal reported that an email sent by Pichai on Saturday said that the immigration status of 187 Google employees was affected by the order. Trump signed an executive order last week banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, prompting widespread outrage and protests from across the world. The acting US attorney general said she wasn't convinced the order was "lawful", and said Justice Department lawyers don't need to defend the ban. Trump's White House called this "betrayal", called her "weak on borders" and fired her. While Trump accused the media of misinforming the public by labelling the immigration ban against seven predominantly Muslim countries a "Muslim ban", his adviser Rudy Giuliani appeared on Fox News after the order was given, and said that Trump himself approached him, and asked how to make a "Muslim ban" legal. Other tech companies challenge Trump's Muslim ban A group of technology companies have planned to file an amicus brief to support the lawsuit challenging US President Donald Trump's immigration ban. Reuters reported that the meeting to discuss the brief was called by software development toolmaker GitHub. Alphabet Inc's Google, Airbnb Inc and Netflix Inc are among the companies invited, Reuters reported a person familiar with the situation as saying. The technology sector has condemned the move and announced financial support for organisations that back immigrants, such as the American Civil Liberties Union. Amazon.com Inc and Expedia Inc on Monday filed declarations of their support of a lawsuit filed by the Washington state attorney general. They said Trump's order adversely impacts their business. A separate lawsuit was filed against Trump's executive order by the Council on American-Islamic Relations on Monday. Global crowdfunding company Kickstarter and cloud communications platform Twilio both confirmed their involvement in filing the brief. Etsy could not confirm if it would move forward with the group. An amicus brief provides the court with new information or a different perspective by amicus curiae (friend of the court) who is not associated with any party but has a strong interest in the matter. Google employees stage anti-Trump protests × (With inputs from Reuters)

Google employees stage mass walkouts, protesting Trump's Muslim ban

President Donald Trump on Monday replaced the acting head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a holdover from Barack Obama&#39;s administration, as he battled mounting fallout over his controversial immigration orders.

No reason was given for the decision to replace Daniel Ragsdale, announced barely an hour after Trump fired another Obama appointee, acting attorney general Sally Yates, after she said she was not convinced the order was lawful.

Ragsdale&#39;s replacement, Thomas Homan, will help &quot;ensure that we enforce our immigration laws in the interior of the United States consistent with the national interest,&quot; Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said in a statement.

(AFP)

No reason was given. It was announced barely an hour after Trump fired the acting attorney general who defied him

President Donald Trump on Monday replaced the acting head of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a holdover from Barack Obama's administration, as he battled mounting fallout over his controversial immigration orders. No reason was given for the decision to replace Daniel Ragsdale, announced barely an hour after Trump fired another Obama appointee, acting attorney general Sally Yates, after she said she was not convinced the order was lawful. Ragsdale's replacement, Thomas Homan, will help "ensure that we enforce our immigration laws in the interior of the United States consistent with the national interest," Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said in a statement. (AFP)

Trump fires acting head of Immigration Enforcement

US President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order to restrict work visas, H1B and L1 issued to professionals working in the US for a short period of time, as part of a larger immigration reform.&nbsp;

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ skilled foreign workers and are mostly used by Indian Information-Technology (IT) professionals.&nbsp;

This comes in after Trump issued a sweeping&nbsp;executive order banning foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.&nbsp;

The new order will not just block the visas but end employment permit cards to spouses on work visas, which was introduced by the previous Obama administration.&nbsp;

The move will also increase what some Indians informally&nbsp;call&nbsp;&quot;inspector raj&quot;, where&nbsp;Homeland Security will have to carry out &quot;site visits&quot; where workers with L-1 visas are employed.&nbsp;

During the daily news briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters,&quot;I think with respect to H1Bs and other visa is part of a larger immigration reform effort that the President will continue to talk about through executive order and through working with Congress&quot;.&nbsp;

&quot;You&#39;ve already seen a lot of action on immigration and I think whether it&#39;s that or the spousal visas or other types of visas, I think there&#39;s an overall need to look at all of these programmes. You&#39;ll see both through executive action and through comprehensive measures a way to address immigration as a whole and the visa programme,&quot; Spicer added.

The proposed order was leaked and then published by a few news websites on Monday.&nbsp;

According to the leaked document, Trump would reverse former president Obama&#39;s order of extending foreign students stay in the US for a period of time after completing their course.&nbsp;

The draft order seeks the administration to &quot;consider ways to make the process of allocating visas more efficient and ensure that beneficiaries of the programmes are the best and the brightest&quot;.

The order also proposes to set up a commission to analyse US&#39;s current immigration policies and their impact on the American society, economy, workforce, and the foreign policy and national security interest of the United States.

(WION with inputs from PTI)

&nbsp;

Employment permit cards to spouses on work visas, introduced by the Obama government, are also expected to end

US President Donald Trump is expected to issue an executive order to restrict work visas, H1B and L1 issued to professionals working in the US for a short period of time, as part of a larger immigration reform. The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ skilled foreign workers and are mostly used by Indian Information-Technology (IT) professionals. This comes in after Trump issued a sweeping executive order banning foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. The new order will not just block the visas but end employment permit cards to spouses on work visas, which was introduced by the previous Obama administration. The move will also increase what some Indians informally call "inspector raj", where Homeland Security will have to carry out "site visits" where workers with L-1 visas are employed. During the daily news briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters,"I think with respect to H1Bs and other visa is part of a larger immigration reform effort that the President will continue to talk about through executive order and through working with Congress". "You've already seen a lot of action on immigration and I think whether it's that or the spousal visas or other types of visas, I think there's an overall need to look at all of these programmes. You'll see both through executive action and through comprehensive measures a way to address immigration as a whole and the visa programme," Spicer added. The proposed order was leaked and then published by a few news websites on Monday. According to the leaked document, Trump would reverse former president Obama's order of extending foreign students stay in the US for a period of time after completing their course. The draft order seeks the administration to "consider ways to make the process of allocating visas more efficient and ensure that beneficiaries of the programmes are the best and the brightest". The order also proposes to set up a commission to analyse US's current immigration policies and their impact on the American society, economy, workforce, and the foreign policy and national security interest of the United States. (WION with inputs from PTI)

Trump expected to order clamp down on H1B, L1 visas

The US acting attorney general, Sally Yates, said on Monday&nbsp;the Justice Department would not defend Trump&#39;s&nbsp;immigration&nbsp;ban&nbsp;targeting seven Muslim-majority nations because she was not convinced they were lawful.

&quot;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,&quot; she wrote in a letter to employees, according to CNN.

&quot;I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain consistent with this institution&#39;s solemn obligation to always seek justice and stand for what is right.&quot;

Trump&#39;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.

He has argued tougher vetting of immigrants is needed to protect America from terror attacks, but critics complain that his order unfairly singles out Muslims and defiles America&#39;s historic reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants.

&quot;At present, I am not convinced that the defence of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,&quot; she wrote.&nbsp;

The White House dismissed her comments as rhetoric and said Trump acted within his presidential powers.

&quot;I think that&#39;s a further demonstration of how politicised our legal system has become,&quot; said Stephen Miller, a policy adviser to Trump who has been <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/12/trumps-newest-senior-adviser-seen-ally-white-nationalists">praised by white nationalists</a> and is seen as an ally, in an interview on MSNBC.

Yates, who was appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, is days away from being replaced by Trump&#39;s pick for the top spot at the Justice Department, Jeff Sessions, who is awaiting Senate confirmation.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

Sally Yates wrote she was not 'convinced' the order was lawful. The administration dismissed the attorney general's stance as 'rhetoric'

The US acting attorney general, Sally Yates, said on Monday the Justice Department would not defend Trump's immigration ban targeting seven Muslim-majority nations because she was not convinced they were lawful. "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," she wrote in a letter to employees, according to CNN. "I am responsible for ensuring that the positions we take in court remain 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. He has argued tougher vetting of immigrants is needed to protect America from terror attacks, but critics complain that his order unfairly singles out Muslims and defiles America's historic reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants. "At present, I am not convinced that the defence of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful," she wrote. The White House dismissed her comments as rhetoric and said Trump acted within his presidential powers. "I think that's a further demonstration of how politicised our legal system has become," said Stephen Miller, a policy adviser to Trump who has been praised by white nationalists and is seen as an ally, in an interview on MSNBC. Yates, who was appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama, is days away from being replaced by Trump's pick for the top spot at the Justice Department, Jeff Sessions, who is awaiting Senate confirmation. (WION with inputs from agencies)

US acting attorney general defies Trump, tells Justice Department not to defend immigration ban

Former US president Barack Obama expressed his objections Monday to any faith-based discrimination, in an apparent dig at his successor Donald Trump&#39;s ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries entering the country.

&quot;With regard to comparisons to president Obama&#39;s foreign policy decisions, as we&#39;ve heard before, the president fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion,&quot; his spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement.

The statement -- Obama&#39;s first on politics since leaving the White House on January 20 -- came amid an uproar over Trump&#39;s order on Friday to tighten controls on immigrants from the seven countries and to temporarily halt all resettlement of refugees.

The former president is &quot;heartened&quot; by protests that have taken place across the country, Lewis said.

&quot;Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake,&quot; the statement added.

The statement came after the White House defended its policy, which saw more than 100 travelers detained at US airports and hundreds more blocked abroad, as essentially the same as previous rules implemented during Obama&#39;s presidency.

Former Obama national security spokesman Ben Rhodes said in a series of tweets that the tight vetting of Iraqi refugees in 2011 was not the same as an executive order (EO) like Trump&#39;s banning immigrants from Iraq.

&quot;There was no ban on Iraqis in 2011. Anyone pushing that line is hiding behind a lie because they can&#39;t defend the EO,&quot; Rhodes said.

&quot;More inter-agency vetting of Iraqi refugees in response to threat is standard process. EO banning people from several countries is not.&quot;

Former presidents traditionally do not weigh in publicly on a current president&#39;s statements or policies.&nbsp;

Before Obama left office, he said any effort to enforce systematic discrimination, erode voting rights, muzzle the press or round up young immigrants, would cause him to speak out.

&quot;There`s a difference between that normal functioning of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake,&quot; he said at his final press conference in mid-January.

(AFP)

The former president is 'heartened' by protests that have taken place across the country, his spokesman said

Former US president Barack Obama expressed his objections Monday to any faith-based discrimination, in an apparent dig at his successor Donald Trump's ban on nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries entering the country. "With regard to comparisons to president Obama's foreign policy decisions, as we've heard before, the president fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion," his spokesman Kevin Lewis said in a statement. The statement -- Obama's first on politics since leaving the White House on January 20 -- came amid an uproar over Trump's order on Friday to tighten controls on immigrants from the seven countries and to temporarily halt all resettlement of refugees. The former president is "heartened" by protests that have taken place across the country, Lewis said. "Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organize and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake," the statement added. The statement came after the White House defended its policy, which saw more than 100 travelers detained at US airports and hundreds more blocked abroad, as essentially the same as previous rules implemented during Obama's presidency. Former Obama national security spokesman Ben Rhodes said in a series of tweets that the tight vetting of Iraqi refugees in 2011 was not the same as an executive order (EO) like Trump's banning immigrants from Iraq. "There was no ban on Iraqis in 2011. Anyone pushing that line is hiding behind a lie because they can't defend the EO," Rhodes said. "More inter-agency vetting of Iraqi refugees in response to threat is standard process. EO banning people from several countries is not." Former presidents traditionally do not weigh in publicly on a current president's statements or policies. Before Obama left office, he said any effort to enforce systematic discrimination, erode voting rights, muzzle the press or round up young immigrants, would cause him to speak out. "There`s a difference between that normal functioning of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at stake," he said at his final press conference in mid-January. (AFP)

Obama on Trump's immigration order: Disagree with faith-based discrimination

&nbsp;

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Hundreds of thousands of Americans gathered at US airports on January 28th, holding banners protesting Trump&#39;s ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries (WION)
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&nbsp;

Facing backlash over his immigration order, President Donald Trump has said that the United States will resume giving visas to all countries once secure policies are put in place over the next 90 days, Reuters reported.

&quot;To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion - this is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order,&quot; Trump said.

&quot;We will again be issuing visas to all countries once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days,&quot; he said.

On Friday, Trump had signed an executive order barring immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.&nbsp;

Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani spoke to Fox news, explaining&nbsp;that Trump approached him, asking how to make a &quot;Muslim ban&quot; legal:

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This statement by Giuliani could become very problematic for the Trump administration in litigation over intent/pretext of executive order. <a href="https://t.co/MrRuDFJGwD">pic.twitter.com/MrRuDFJGwD</a>
&mdash; JP SchnapperCasteras (@jpscasteras) <a href="https://twitter.com/jpscasteras/status/825717327635349504">January 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The move generated large-scale protests across several airports in the United States where those affected by the ban were left stranded.&nbsp;

Attorney generals from 16 US states also issued a joint statement condemning the US President Donald Trump&#39;s executive order.

&quot;We are committed to working to ensure that as few people as possible suffer from the chaotic situation that it has created,&quot; the statement said.

Then governor of Indiana and current US Vice President&nbsp;Mike Pence made a statement in late December 2015, which critics&nbsp;say&nbsp;is at odds with Trump&#39;s decision to ban immigrants&nbsp;from&nbsp;Muslim-majority countries.

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Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional.
&mdash; Governor Mike Pence (@GovPenceIN) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovPenceIN/status/674249808610066433">December 8, 2015</a></blockquote>
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In another development, US judges in at least four states have blocked federal authorities from enforcing Presdient Donald Trump&#39;s executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, Reuters reported.

Following the order on Saturday night by US district judge Ann Donnelly in New York&#39;s Brooklyn borough temporarily blocking deportations nationwide, judges in Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington state have issued similar orders restraining&nbsp;federal authorities from implementing&nbsp;Trump&#39;s executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, Reuters reported.&nbsp;

However, lawyers representing people affected by the order said that some authorities have refused to comply with the judges&#39; rulings.

Trump&#39;s order halted immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days, and stopped the resettlement of refugees for 120 days.

Trump&#39;s immigration order also faced criticism from Republican senator John McCain, the chairman of Senate Armed Forces Committee, who termed the order &quot;confusing&quot;.

&quot;It&#39;s been a very confusing process,&quot; McCain told CBS&#39; &quot;Face the Nation&quot;.&nbsp;

McCain said that the order &quot;will probably, in some areas, give ISIS (Islamic State) some more propaganda&quot;, and asked why the countries targeted by the order included Iraq, where US forces are fighting alongside Iraqi forces against Islamic State, Reuters reported.

Earlier, the Arab League, whose members also include some of the countries which have been put on the immigration ban list, expressed deep concern over the restrictions imposed by Trump&#39;s order.&nbsp;

The mounting criticism of his immigration order, however, had little sway on the President as he stood defiant. In a tweet, Trump said that &quot;Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting&quot;.

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

The immigration order has come under heavy criticism from all quarters. Republican John McCain said it would give ISIS some more propaganda

Hundreds of thousands of Americans gathered at US airports on January 28th, holding banners protesting Trump's ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries (WION) × Facing backlash over his immigration order, President Donald Trump has said that the United States will resume giving visas to all countries once secure policies are put in place over the next 90 days, Reuters reported. "To be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting. This is not about religion - this is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order," Trump said. "We will again be issuing visas to all countries once we are sure we have reviewed and implemented the most secure policies over the next 90 days," he said. On Friday, Trump had signed an executive order barring immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries. Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani spoke to Fox news, explaining that Trump approached him, asking how to make a "Muslim ban" legal: This statement by Giuliani could become very problematic for the Trump administration in litigation over intent/pretext of executive order. pic.twitter.com/MrRuDFJGwD — JP SchnapperCasteras (@jpscasteras) January 29, 2017 × The move generated large-scale protests across several airports in the United States where those affected by the ban were left stranded. Attorney generals from 16 US states also issued a joint statement condemning the US President Donald Trump's executive order. "We are committed to working to ensure that as few people as possible suffer from the chaotic situation that it has created," the statement said. Then governor of Indiana and current US Vice President Mike Pence made a statement in late December 2015, which critics say is at odds with Trump's decision to ban immigrants from Muslim-majority countries. Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional. — Governor Mike Pence (@GovPenceIN) December 8, 2015 × In another development, US judges in at least four states have blocked federal authorities from enforcing Presdient Donald Trump's executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, Reuters reported. Following the order on Saturday night by US district judge Ann Donnelly in New York's Brooklyn borough temporarily blocking deportations nationwide, judges in Massachusetts, Virginia and Washington state have issued similar orders restraining federal authorities from implementing Trump's executive order restricting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries, Reuters reported. However, lawyers representing people affected by the order said that some authorities have refused to comply with the judges' rulings. Trump's order halted immigration from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days, and stopped the resettlement of refugees for 120 days. Trump's immigration order also faced criticism from Republican senator John McCain, the chairman of Senate Armed Forces Committee, who termed the order "confusing". "It's been a very confusing process," McCain told CBS' "Face the Nation". McCain said that the order "will probably, in some areas, give ISIS (Islamic State) some more propaganda", and asked why the countries targeted by the order included Iraq, where US forces are fighting alongside Iraqi forces against Islamic State, Reuters reported. Earlier, the Arab League, whose members also include some of the countries which have been put on the immigration ban list, expressed deep concern over the restrictions imposed by Trump's order. The mounting criticism of his immigration order, however, had little sway on the President as he stood defiant. In a tweet, Trump said that "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting". (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Rudy Giuliani told Trump how to make 'Muslim ban' legal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran on Monday of launching a ballistic missile in what he said constitutes a &quot;flagrant violation&quot; of a UN Security Council resolution.

In a statement on his Facebook page, Netanyahu said he intended to &quot;raise the renewal of sanctions against Iran in this context and in other contexts&quot; in his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump.

The White House said on Monday that Trump will host Netanyahu on February 15.

Israel`s archfoe Iran has carried out a number of missile tests in recent months, which the United States and European governments have said are a breach of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.

Western powers say the missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads and therefore go against the deal, while Iran says its missile programme is &quot;non-negotiable&quot;.

Israel had opposed the deal between Iran and major powers, which lifted a wide range of international sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran`s nuclear programme.

&quot;Iranian aggression must not go unanswered,&quot; Netanyahu wrote on Monday.

(AFP)

Netanyahu, in a social media post, said he intended to bring up the issue of renewal of sanctions against Iran in his meeting with Trump

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran on Monday of launching a ballistic missile in what he said constitutes a "flagrant violation" of a UN Security Council resolution. In a statement on his Facebook page, Netanyahu said he intended to "raise the renewal of sanctions against Iran in this context and in other contexts" in his upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump. The White House said on Monday that Trump will host Netanyahu on February 15. Israel`s archfoe Iran has carried out a number of missile tests in recent months, which the United States and European governments have said are a breach of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal. Western powers say the missiles are capable of carrying nuclear warheads and therefore go against the deal, while Iran says its missile programme is "non-negotiable". Israel had opposed the deal between Iran and major powers, which lifted a wide range of international sanctions in exchange for limits on Iran`s nuclear programme. "Iranian aggression must not go unanswered," Netanyahu wrote on Monday. (AFP)

Israel's Netanyahu slams Iran for missile test, says will raise 'renewal of sanctions' in meeting with Trump

Condemning the plight of Muslims being prevented from entering the United States under President Donald Trump&#39;s immigration ban, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that he wants the former to ban Pakistani visas also so that the administration can focus on fixing the country.

&quot;I want to tell all Pakistanis today, I pray that Trump bans Pakistani visas so that we can focus on fixing our country,&quot; the Dawn quoted Khan as saying while addressing a rally in Sahiwal on Sunday.

Khan said he believes that things in Pakistan can only get better if the people work for progress. He said most educated Pakistanis want to leave this country as they consider they can only acquire gainful employment if they have a powerful source. Khan said all the best citizens of Pakistan will return and work for the betterment of this country the day merit system is brought back.

&quot;We will have to fix Pakistan and stand on our own two feet. And the day that we decide this is our home and we have to fix it, we won&#39;t beg for loans from the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF),&quot; he said.

Trump&#39;s executive order, signed on Friday, temporarily banned refugees from around the world, blocked Syrian refugees indefinitely and halted entry for 90 days for the people from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia. According to a state department spokesman, the travellers who have dual nationality between a country on the list and another non-US country have also been barred from entering the US for 90 days.

The PTI chief said the government will fix this country the day it decides that it has to live and die in Pakistan.

&quot;The biggest issue here is the corruption of bigwigs who... become ministers and loot this country, taking the money abroad,&quot; he said.

Khan lashed out at Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and alleged that he took money from Pakistan and spent it abroad.

The PTI chairman praised Iran&#39;s move to restrict the US nationals travelling to the country in response to Trump&#39;s immigration ban. He asserted that Pakistan needs to become an independent nation like Iran.

(ANI)

Khan said he believes that things in Pakistan can only get better if the people work for progress

Condemning the plight of Muslims being prevented from entering the United States under President Donald Trump's immigration ban, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that he wants the former to ban Pakistani visas also so that the administration can focus on fixing the country. "I want to tell all Pakistanis today, I pray that Trump bans Pakistani visas so that we can focus on fixing our country," the Dawn quoted Khan as saying while addressing a rally in Sahiwal on Sunday. Khan said he believes that things in Pakistan can only get better if the people work for progress. He said most educated Pakistanis want to leave this country as they consider they can only acquire gainful employment if they have a powerful source. Khan said all the best citizens of Pakistan will return and work for the betterment of this country the day merit system is brought back. "We will have to fix Pakistan and stand on our own two feet. And the day that we decide this is our home and we have to fix it, we won't beg for loans from the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)," he said. Trump's executive order, signed on Friday, temporarily banned refugees from around the world, blocked Syrian refugees indefinitely and halted entry for 90 days for the people from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia. According to a state department spokesman, the travellers who have dual nationality between a country on the list and another non-US country have also been barred from entering the US for 90 days. The PTI chief said the government will fix this country the day it decides that it has to live and die in Pakistan. "The biggest issue here is the corruption of bigwigs who... become ministers and loot this country, taking the money abroad," he said. Khan lashed out at Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and alleged that he took money from Pakistan and spent it abroad. The PTI chairman praised Iran's move to restrict the US nationals travelling to the country in response to Trump's immigration ban. He asserted that Pakistan needs to become an independent nation like Iran. (ANI)

Opposition leader Imran Khan 'prays' for US ban on visas for Pakistanis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for US President Donald Trump to make good on his campaign pledge to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Departing from a long-standing US position, Trump promised he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel&#39;s capital and relocate the American mission there, a pledge that drew a fierce rebuke from Palestinian officials and concern from the European Union.

&quot;The US embassy must move here to Jerusalem,&quot; Netanyahu said after his weekly cabinet meeting.

&quot;Jerusalem is Israel&#39;s capital and it would be good if the American embassy wasn&#39;t the only one to move here... I think that with time the majority of embassies will move to Jerusalem,&quot; he was quoted as saying by his office.

The Palestinians regard east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

The city&#39;s status is one of the thorniest issues of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community.

(AFP)

'The US embassy must move here to Jerusalem,' Netanyahu said after his weekly cabinet meeting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for US President Donald Trump to make good on his campaign pledge to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Departing from a long-standing US position, Trump promised he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the American mission there, a pledge that drew a fierce rebuke from Palestinian officials and concern from the European Union. "The US embassy must move here to Jerusalem," Netanyahu said after his weekly cabinet meeting. "Jerusalem is Israel's capital and it would be good if the American embassy wasn't the only one to move here... I think that with time the majority of embassies will move to Jerusalem," he was quoted as saying by his office. The Palestinians regard east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital. The city's status is one of the thorniest issues of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 1967. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move never recognised by the international community. (AFP)

Israeli PM Netanyahu presses Trump on US embassy move

A US federal judge blocked part of President Donald Trump&#39;s immigration ban,&nbsp;ordering authorities to stop deporting refugees and other travellers stuck at US airports.

Trump had signed an executive order restricting people from seven Muslim-majority countries for the next three months and&nbsp;the arrival of refugees for at least 120 days.&nbsp;

The American Civil Liberties Union, which sought the temporary stay, said it would help 100 to 200 people with valid visas or refugee status who found themselves detained in transit or at US&nbsp;airports after Trump signed the order late on Friday.

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Final word: Judge issued stay on Muslim ban, said no one could be removed/sent back. But unclear what will happen to those detained.
&mdash; Jackie Vimo (@JackieVimo) <a href="https://twitter.com/JackieVimo/status/825536554579980288">January 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The Union tweeted, &quot;Victory!!!!!!&quot; after district Judge Ann Donnelly gave the verdict.&nbsp;

The exact number of those affected is unclear, but Donnelly ordered the government to provide lists of all those detained at US airports since the measure went into effect.

Donnelly said sending travellers back to their home countries following Trump&#39;s order exposes them to &quot;substantial and irreparable injury.&quot;

&quot;Our courts today worked as they should as bulwarks against government abuse or unconstitutional policies and orders,&quot; the American Civil Liberties Union said.&nbsp;

The emergency court ruling was cheered at Boston&#39;s Logan International Airport, one of the several major US airports where protesters angry with Trump&#39;s order gathered.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday condemned the restrictions on immigration imposed by&nbsp;Trump, seeing them as unjustified, her spokesman said.

&quot;She is convinced that even in the necessarily resolute battle against terrorism it is not justified to place people from a certain origin or belief under general suspicion,&quot; Steffen Seibert was quoted as saying by national news agency DPA.

British Prime Minister Theresa May&nbsp;does &quot;not agree&quot; with the restrictions on immigration.&nbsp;

&quot;Immigration policy in the United States is a matter for the government of the United States, just the same as immigration policy for this country should be set by our government,&quot; a spokesman said.

&quot;But we do not agree with this kind of approach and it is not one we will be taking. If there is any impact on UK nationals then clearly we will make representations to the US government about that.&quot;

Silicon Valley heads have also slammed Trump&#39;s ban on immigration,&nbsp;&nbsp;fearing it could prevent them from accessing a global reservoir of talent.

&quot;Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do,&quot; said Tim Cook in a memo to staff obtained by AFP.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings called the president&#39;s first week in office &quot;very sad&quot;, saying in a Facebook post that &quot;Trump&#39;s actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all&quot;.

&quot;It is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity.&quot;

Nearly 200 Google employees are directly impacted by the measures, according to an internal memo from CEO Sundar Pichai.

&quot;We&#39;re concerned about the impact of this order and any proposals that could impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that could create barriers to bringing great talent to the US,&quot; said the head of the internet giant.

Meanwhile, Iran has said that Americans who already hold Iranian visas can enter the country,&nbsp;even though Tehran has vowed to respond in kind to a US&nbsp;ban on visitors from Iran and six other Muslim countries.&nbsp;

&quot;Unlike the US, our decision is not retroactive. All with valid Iranian visa will be gladly welcomed,&quot; Iran&#39;s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter.

(Agencies)

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

District judge Ann Donnelly ordered authorities to stop deporting refugees and other travellers stranded at US airports

A US federal judge blocked part of President Donald Trump's immigration ban, ordering authorities to stop deporting refugees and other travellers stuck at US airports. Trump had signed an executive order restricting people from seven Muslim-majority countries for the next three months and the arrival of refugees for at least 120 days. The American Civil Liberties Union, which sought the temporary stay, said it would help 100 to 200 people with valid visas or refugee status who found themselves detained in transit or at US airports after Trump signed the order late on Friday. Final word: Judge issued stay on Muslim ban, said no one could be removed/sent back. But unclear what will happen to those detained. — Jackie Vimo (@JackieVimo) January 29, 2017 × The Union tweeted, "Victory!!!!!!" after district Judge Ann Donnelly gave the verdict. The exact number of those affected is unclear, but Donnelly ordered the government to provide lists of all those detained at US airports since the measure went into effect. Donnelly said sending travellers back to their home countries following Trump's order exposes them to "substantial and irreparable injury." "Our courts today worked as they should as bulwarks against government abuse or unconstitutional policies and orders," the American Civil Liberties Union said. The emergency court ruling was cheered at Boston's Logan International Airport, one of the several major US airports where protesters angry with Trump's order gathered. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday condemned the restrictions on immigration imposed by Trump, seeing them as unjustified, her spokesman said. "She is convinced that even in the necessarily resolute battle against terrorism it is not justified to place people from a certain origin or belief under general suspicion," Steffen Seibert was quoted as saying by national news agency DPA. British Prime Minister Theresa May does "not agree" with the restrictions on immigration. "Immigration policy in the United States is a matter for the government of the United States, just the same as immigration policy for this country should be set by our government," a spokesman said. "But we do not agree with this kind of approach and it is not one we will be taking. If there is any impact on UK nationals then clearly we will make representations to the US government about that." Silicon Valley heads have also slammed Trump's ban on immigration, fearing it could prevent them from accessing a global reservoir of talent. "Apple would not exist without immigration, let alone thrive and innovate the way we do," said Tim Cook in a memo to staff obtained by AFP. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings called the president's first week in office "very sad", saying in a Facebook post that "Trump's actions are hurting Netflix employees around the world, and are so un-American it pains us all". "It is time to link arms together to protect American values of freedom and opportunity." Nearly 200 Google employees are directly impacted by the measures, according to an internal memo from CEO Sundar Pichai. "We're concerned about the impact of this order and any proposals that could impose restrictions on Googlers and their families, or that could create barriers to bringing great talent to the US," said the head of the internet giant. Meanwhile, Iran has said that Americans who already hold Iranian visas can enter the country, even though Tehran has vowed to respond in kind to a US ban on visitors from Iran and six other Muslim countries. "Unlike the US, our decision is not retroactive. All with valid Iranian visa will be gladly welcomed," Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter. (Agencies)

US Federal Court halts part of Trump's immigration ban, world leaders condemn restrictions

A US raid in Yemen at dawn on Sunday killed 41 Al-Qaeda suspects, including three prominent figures, 16 civilians, a provincial official said.

The military operation was the first attributed to the United States against jihadists in Yemen since President Donald Trump took office on January 20.

Seven women and three children were among those killed in the raid on Yakla district in the central province of Baida, said the official, who did not want to be named, and tribal sources.

Earlier, tribal and sources in the region said the raid targeted the houses of three tribal chiefs linked to Al-Qaeda, adding that a number of civilians were also killed.

But the provincial official said Apache helicopters targeted also a school, mosque and a medical facility used by Al-Qaeda militants.

Under Trump&#39;s predecessor Barack Obama, the United States stepped up its use of drone strikes against suspected jihadists in Yemen, as well as other countries including Afghanistan.

The United States considers the extremist group&#39;s Yemen-based franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to be its most dangerous.

But although it only sporadically reports on a long-running bombing campaign against AQAP, it is the only force known to be operating drones over Yemen.

On January 14, the Pentagon announced the killing a senior Al-Qaeda operative in Baida the week before in an air strike.

Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State jihadist group have exploited a power vacuum created by the two-year-old conflict in Yemen between the government and Shiite Huthi rebels, especially in the country&#39;s south and southeast.

(AFP)

The military operation was the first attributed to the United States against jihadists in Yemen since Trump took office on January 20

A US raid in Yemen at dawn on Sunday killed 41 Al-Qaeda suspects, including three prominent figures, 16 civilians, a provincial official said. The military operation was the first attributed to the United States against jihadists in Yemen since President Donald Trump took office on January 20. Seven women and three children were among those killed in the raid on Yakla district in the central province of Baida, said the official, who did not want to be named, and tribal sources. Earlier, tribal and sources in the region said the raid targeted the houses of three tribal chiefs linked to Al-Qaeda, adding that a number of civilians were also killed. But the provincial official said Apache helicopters targeted also a school, mosque and a medical facility used by Al-Qaeda militants. Under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, the United States stepped up its use of drone strikes against suspected jihadists in Yemen, as well as other countries including Afghanistan. The United States considers the extremist group's Yemen-based franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to be its most dangerous. But although it only sporadically reports on a long-running bombing campaign against AQAP, it is the only force known to be operating drones over Yemen. On January 14, the Pentagon announced the killing a senior Al-Qaeda operative in Baida the week before in an air strike. Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State jihadist group have exploited a power vacuum created by the two-year-old conflict in Yemen between the government and Shiite Huthi rebels, especially in the country's south and southeast. (AFP)

US raid on Yemen kills 41 Al-Qaeda suspects, 16 civilians: Official

There is a possibility in the future of including Pakistan in the list of countries from where immigration has been banned, a top White House official has indicated, acknowledging for the first time that Pakistan was under consideration to be put in that category of nations.

&quot;The reason we chose those seven countries was, those were the seven countries that both the Congress and the Obama administration identified as being the seven countries that were most identifiable with dangerous terrorism taking place in their country,&quot; White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, told CBS News.

Trump has issued a controversial executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia.

&quot;Now, you can point to other countries that have similar problems, like Pakistan and others. Perhaps we need to take it further. But for now, immediate steps, pulling the Band-Aid off, is to do further vetting for people traveling in and out of those countries,&quot; Priebus said.

This is for the first time that the Trump Administration has publicly acknowledged about considering putting Pakistan into that list.

Currently as per the executive order, visitors from countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are subject to extreme vetting. 
Priebus said the executive orders were signed after a lot of planning.

&quot;We&#39;re not going to advertise to the world that we&#39;re going to put a stop or at least a further vetting on travel in and out of our country from these seven places,&quot; he said.

&quot;Some people have suggested, that, well, maybe we should have given everyone a three-day warning. But that would just mean that a terrorist would just move up their travel plans by three days.?Identifying too many people in these countries and giving them a heads-up in these countries would only potentially flag the executive order for bad order,&quot; Priebus said.

&quot;The President has a call with leadership in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and other countries around world. And I&#39;m sure this topic may come up,&quot; he said.

Priebus asserted that Americans have to be protected first.

&quot;These are countries that harbour and train terrorists. These are countries that we want to know who is coming and going in and out of to prevent calamities from happening in this country,&quot; he said.

&quot;We&#39;re not willing to be wrong on this subject. President Trump is not willing to take chances on this subject. He was elected president in many respects because people knew that he was going to be tough on immigration from countries that harbour terrorists,&quot; Priebus said.

&quot;I can&#39;t imagine too many people out there watching this right now think it&#39;s unreasonable to ask a few more questions from someone traveling in and out of Libya and Yemen before being let loose in the United States. And that&#39;s all this is,&quot; he said.

(PTI)&nbsp;

Trump has issued a controversial executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries

There is a possibility in the future of including Pakistan in the list of countries from where immigration has been banned, a top White House official has indicated, acknowledging for the first time that Pakistan was under consideration to be put in that category of nations. "The reason we chose those seven countries was, those were the seven countries that both the Congress and the Obama administration identified as being the seven countries that were most identifiable with dangerous terrorism taking place in their country," White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, told CBS News. Trump has issued a controversial executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Somalia. "Now, you can point to other countries that have similar problems, like Pakistan and others. Perhaps we need to take it further. But for now, immediate steps, pulling the Band-Aid off, is to do further vetting for people traveling in and out of those countries," Priebus said. This is for the first time that the Trump Administration has publicly acknowledged about considering putting Pakistan into that list. Currently as per the executive order, visitors from countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are subject to extreme vetting. Priebus said the executive orders were signed after a lot of planning. "We're not going to advertise to the world that we're going to put a stop or at least a further vetting on travel in and out of our country from these seven places," he said. "Some people have suggested, that, well, maybe we should have given everyone a three-day warning. But that would just mean that a terrorist would just move up their travel plans by three days.?Identifying too many people in these countries and giving them a heads-up in these countries would only potentially flag the executive order for bad order," Priebus said. "The President has a call with leadership in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and other countries around world. And I'm sure this topic may come up," he said. Priebus asserted that Americans have to be protected first. "These are countries that harbour and train terrorists. These are countries that we want to know who is coming and going in and out of to prevent calamities from happening in this country," he said. "We're not willing to be wrong on this subject. President Trump is not willing to take chances on this subject. He was elected president in many respects because people knew that he was going to be tough on immigration from countries that harbour terrorists," Priebus said. "I can't imagine too many people out there watching this right now think it's unreasonable to ask a few more questions from someone traveling in and out of Libya and Yemen before being let loose in the United States. And that's all this is," he said. (PTI)

Pakistan could be next on the immigration ban list, hints White House Chief of Staff

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed those fleeing war and persecution on Saturday even as Canadian airlines said they would turn back US-bound passengers to comply with an immigration ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries.

In pointed tweets a day after US&nbsp;President Donald Trump put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travellers from the seven countries, Trudeau said refugees were welcome in Canada.

&quot;To those fleeing persecution, terror &amp; war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,&quot; Trudeau said on Twitter.

A second tweet, also timed to coincide with outrage over Trump&#39;s immigration policy, included a 2015 photo of Trudeau welcoming a Syrian refugee at a Canadian airport.

Confusion abounded at airports around the world on Saturday as officials tried to interpret the new US&nbsp;rules.

Trudeau&#39;s office said US&nbsp;authorities had confirmed Canadian passport holders, including dual citizens from the seven countries, would not be affected.

Trudeau has walked a fine line with the Trump administration, avoiding direct criticism while promoting the progressive policies of his one-year-old Liberal government.

The prime minister would discuss Canada&#39;s immigration and refugee policies with Trump, Trudeau&#39;s press secretary, Cameron Ahmad, said. He did not say when that would be.

WestJet Airlines said it turned back a passenger bound for the United States on Saturday to comply with Trump&#39;s executive order but did not say which country the passenger had come from. Spokeswoman Lauren Stewart said the airline would give full refunds to anyone affected.

In the western province of Saskatchewan, Iranian doctoral student Mohammadreza Tayfeh found himself comforting the Delta Air Lines employee he called about a refund.

&quot;I said, &#39;It&#39;s all right. It&#39;s going to be fine. Don&#39;t worry about it.&#39; She was so upset,&quot; he said in an interview from Saskatoon.

Tayfeh, an engineering student living in Canada for seven years, had been invited to San Diego to meet with investors for his telecom business. While he had a visitor&#39;s visa, he missed the cutoff to travel by hours.

He decided not to risk flying from Saskatchewan in case he was detained on arrival in the United States. He said an Iranian friend who has been living in the US&nbsp;and working at NASA for years was detained at the Doha airport in Qatar late Friday.

&quot;You don&#39;t want to put yourself in that situation, to go there and they ask you questions and just deport you,&quot; he said.

In Vancouver, an employee at the American Airlines counter said one person travelling on an Iranian passport had been turned away Saturday morning.

Air Canada said it was complying with the order but did not comment on whether it had denied anyone travel.

A Porter Airlines spokesman said the Toronto-based carrier will be restricting passengers from travelling to the United States from the listed countries until further notice.

(Reuters)

'Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada,' Trudeau said on Twitter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed those fleeing war and persecution on Saturday even as Canadian airlines said they would turn back US-bound passengers to comply with an immigration ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries. In pointed tweets a day after US President Donald Trump put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travellers from the seven countries, Trudeau said refugees were welcome in Canada. "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada," Trudeau said on Twitter. A second tweet, also timed to coincide with outrage over Trump's immigration policy, included a 2015 photo of Trudeau welcoming a Syrian refugee at a Canadian airport. Confusion abounded at airports around the world on Saturday as officials tried to interpret the new US rules. Trudeau's office said US authorities had confirmed Canadian passport holders, including dual citizens from the seven countries, would not be affected. Trudeau has walked a fine line with the Trump administration, avoiding direct criticism while promoting the progressive policies of his one-year-old Liberal government. The prime minister would discuss Canada's immigration and refugee policies with Trump, Trudeau's press secretary, Cameron Ahmad, said. He did not say when that would be. WestJet Airlines said it turned back a passenger bound for the United States on Saturday to comply with Trump's executive order but did not say which country the passenger had come from. Spokeswoman Lauren Stewart said the airline would give full refunds to anyone affected. In the western province of Saskatchewan, Iranian doctoral student Mohammadreza Tayfeh found himself comforting the Delta Air Lines employee he called about a refund. "I said, 'It's all right. It's going to be fine. Don't worry about it.' She was so upset," he said in an interview from Saskatoon. Tayfeh, an engineering student living in Canada for seven years, had been invited to San Diego to meet with investors for his telecom business. While he had a visitor's visa, he missed the cutoff to travel by hours. He decided not to risk flying from Saskatchewan in case he was detained on arrival in the United States. He said an Iranian friend who has been living in the US and working at NASA for years was detained at the Doha airport in Qatar late Friday. "You don't want to put yourself in that situation, to go there and they ask you questions and just deport you," he said. In Vancouver, an employee at the American Airlines counter said one person travelling on an Iranian passport had been turned away Saturday morning. Air Canada said it was complying with the order but did not comment on whether it had denied anyone travel. A Porter Airlines spokesman said the Toronto-based carrier will be restricting passengers from travelling to the United States from the listed countries until further notice. (Reuters)

Canada's Trudeau welcomes 'those fleeing persecution, terror & war'

Even as leaders across the world expressed their concern over his immigration ban and more than hundred thousand people protested at airports across the US, Donald Trump remained unfazed, tweeting &quot;Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting.&quot;

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Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/825692045532618753">January 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Christians in the Middle-East have been executed in large numbers. We cannot allow this horror to continue!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/825721153142521858">January 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

Federal courts began stepping in as requests for stays of Trump&#39;s actions were sought.

A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked deportations nationwide.&nbsp;

Sending those travellers back to their home countries following Trump&#39;s order exposes them to &quot;substantial and irreparable injury,&quot; she wrote in her decision.

Her ruling was followed by similar decisions by federal judges in Virginia, Seattle and Boston.

More than hundred thousand people protest at airports

Partial relief to those detained at airports or in transit came as US judge Ann Donnelly in an order temporarily halted removal of individuals detained in the country.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at US airports holding banners protesting Trump&#39;s ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. Chaos and fear gripped individuals trying to enter US, PTI reported.

Immigrants, even those holding green cards, were held and banned from flying into the US. Several individuals, who had valid US visas and green cards and who had travelled abroad for work or on personal visits were also impacted.

Crowds stood outside the arrival terminal of New York&#39;s bustling John F Kennedy international airport, raising slogans against Trump&#39;s order suspending entry of all refugees to the US for 120 days, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely and blocking entry into the country for 90 days for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Similar scenes of chaos and protests were witnessed at other key ports of entry in Boston, Los Angeles and in Houston.

Helpless individuals, whose family members were not allowed to board flights to the US expressed their anger on social media.

&quot;Three weeks ago my wife and my newborn daughter went to Iran so that she can visit her grandparents for the first time. It is not clear they can come back to the US. And this feeling eats me alive,&quot; an individual Amin Karbasi, who one person pointed out was a professor at Yale University, wrote on Twitter.

Mo Farah condemns ban

British Olympic champion Mohamed Farah condemned the curbs on immigrants and visitors as coming &quot;from a place of ignorance and prejudice&quot; which seemed to make him an &quot;alien&quot; in the United States, where he trains and lives with his family.

&quot;On 1st January this year, Her Majesty the Queen made me a Knight of the Realm,&quot; Farah said in a statement on his Facebook account. &quot;On 27th January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien.&quot; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

The ban impacted several individuals, who had valid US visas and green cards and who had travelled abroad for work or on personal visits

Even as leaders across the world expressed their concern over his immigration ban and more than hundred thousand people protested at airports across the US, Donald Trump remained unfazed, tweeting "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting." Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world - a horrible mess! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017 × Christians in the Middle-East have been executed in large numbers. We cannot allow this horror to continue! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2017 × Federal courts began stepping in as requests for stays of Trump's actions were sought. A federal judge in New York temporarily blocked deportations nationwide. Sending those travellers back to their home countries following Trump's order exposes them to "substantial and irreparable injury," she wrote in her decision. Her ruling was followed by similar decisions by federal judges in Virginia, Seattle and Boston. More than hundred thousand people protest at airports Partial relief to those detained at airports or in transit came as US judge Ann Donnelly in an order temporarily halted removal of individuals detained in the country. Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at US airports holding banners protesting Trump's ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries. Chaos and fear gripped individuals trying to enter US, PTI reported. Immigrants, even those holding green cards, were held and banned from flying into the US. Several individuals, who had valid US visas and green cards and who had travelled abroad for work or on personal visits were also impacted. Crowds stood outside the arrival terminal of New York's bustling John F Kennedy international airport, raising slogans against Trump's order suspending entry of all refugees to the US for 120 days, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely and blocking entry into the country for 90 days for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Similar scenes of chaos and protests were witnessed at other key ports of entry in Boston, Los Angeles and in Houston. Helpless individuals, whose family members were not allowed to board flights to the US expressed their anger on social media. "Three weeks ago my wife and my newborn daughter went to Iran so that she can visit her grandparents for the first time. It is not clear they can come back to the US. And this feeling eats me alive," an individual Amin Karbasi, who one person pointed out was a professor at Yale University, wrote on Twitter. Mo Farah condemns ban British Olympic champion Mohamed Farah condemned the curbs on immigrants and visitors as coming "from a place of ignorance and prejudice" which seemed to make him an "alien" in the United States, where he trains and lives with his family. "On 1st January this year, Her Majesty the Queen made me a Knight of the Realm," Farah said in a statement on his Facebook account. "On 27th January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien." (WION with inputs from agencies)

US immigration ban: Trump unfazed as protests increase across US

An initial volley in a potential barrage of legal challenges to President Donald Trump&#39;s new restrictions on immigration came on Saturday on behalf of two Iraqis with ties to US&nbsp;security forces who were detained at New York&#39;s JFK Airport.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, the men are challenging the directive on constitutional grounds. The suit says their connections to the American forces made them targets in their home country and the pair had valid visas to enter the United States.

The lawsuit, which seeks to block Trump&#39;s order on behalf of a class of visa-holders and asylum-seekers, highlights some of the legal obstacles facing the new administration as it tries to carry out the directive.

The plight of one of the men, a former US&nbsp;Army interpreter, is especially compelling, said David Leopold, a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who is not involved in the suit.

&quot;Here is a guy who was a translator who worked for the US&nbsp;military for years, who himself was targeted by terrorists,&quot; he said. &quot;It is clear that if he is sent back, he facing a direct threat to his life.&quot;

That man, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, was released later on Saturday and told a crowd of reporters outside John F. Kennedy International Airport that he did not have ill feelings about his detention.

&quot;America is the greatest nation, the greatest people in the world,&quot; he said.

Darweesh, 53, worked for the US&nbsp;Army and for a US&nbsp;contractor in Iraq from 2003 to 2013 as an interpreter and engineer, the lawsuit said.

The second plaintiff, Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, 33, was still being held. He is the husband of an Iraqi woman who worked for a US&nbsp;contractor in Iraq, and she already lives in Houston, the suit said.

Ten other travelers not named in the suit were being detained at JFK Airport on Saturday afternoon, US Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, told reporters.

Trump, a Republican, on Friday signed a sweeping executive order that put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travellers from Iraq and six other Muslim-majority countries. The order would help protect Americans from terrorist attacks, the president said.

Representatives for the White House could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday.

Supporters of the order say the president has wide authority to limit the entry of foreign nationals from specific countries when it is in the national interest.

&quot;If we decided to give green cards only to redheads who can play the spoons, we can do that,&quot; said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies.

The lawsuit on behalf of the Iraqis challenges Trump&#39;s order on several grounds. It says the order violates the US&nbsp;Constitution&#39;s guarantee of due process by taking away their ability to apply for asylum, and violates the guarantee of equal protection by discriminating against them on the basis of their country of origin without sufficient justification.

It also says the order violates procedural requirements of federal rulemaking.

In a separate lawsuit, a California-based private attorney on Saturday filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the order, bringing the legal action against Trump on behalf of the &quot;people of the United States&quot; and California, according to a copy of the action posted to news website Politico.com.

The lawsuit accused Trump of violating the US&nbsp;Constitution by infringing on the power of lawmakers in Congress to enact laws on immigration.

Andrew Shalaby, the attorney who brought the lawsuit, acknowledged to Politico he may need to find individual plaintiffs for the suit if a judge rules that is necessary. Shalaby could not be reached for further comment.

Another legal challenge is expected on Monday, when the Council on American-Islamic Relations has said it plans to announce a lawsuit arguing that the order targets Muslims and violates the U.S. guarantee of religious freedom.

Trump&#39;s order does not mention specific religions, but in an interview on Friday with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Trump said he was acting to help Christians in Syria who were &quot;horribly treated.&quot;

Comments like that could come back to haunt the president in litigation over his order, said Hiroshi Motomura, an immigration expert at UCLA School of Law.

&quot;There were comments during the campaign that focused very much on religion as the target,&quot; Motomura said. &quot;If the record showed that the origins of a particular measure were based on targeting a particular group, that could be challenged in court.&quot;

Eric Rothschild, senior litigation counsel at religious liberties group Americans United For Separation of Church and State, said Trump has created a perverse situation for asylum-seekers.

&quot;People will be quizzed on their faith in order to gain access to the country, maybe motivating them to deny their faith,&quot; he said.

(Reuters)

The lawsuit seeks to block Trump's order on behalf of a class of visa-holders and asylum-seekers

An initial volley in a potential barrage of legal challenges to President Donald Trump's new restrictions on immigration came on Saturday on behalf of two Iraqis with ties to US security forces who were detained at New York's JFK Airport. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, the men are challenging the directive on constitutional grounds. The suit says their connections to the American forces made them targets in their home country and the pair had valid visas to enter the United States. The lawsuit, which seeks to block Trump's order on behalf of a class of visa-holders and asylum-seekers, highlights some of the legal obstacles facing the new administration as it tries to carry out the directive. The plight of one of the men, a former US Army interpreter, is especially compelling, said David Leopold, a former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who is not involved in the suit. "Here is a guy who was a translator who worked for the US military for years, who himself was targeted by terrorists," he said. "It is clear that if he is sent back, he facing a direct threat to his life." That man, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, was released later on Saturday and told a crowd of reporters outside John F. Kennedy International Airport that he did not have ill feelings about his detention. "America is the greatest nation, the greatest people in the world," he said. Darweesh, 53, worked for the US Army and for a US contractor in Iraq from 2003 to 2013 as an interpreter and engineer, the lawsuit said. The second plaintiff, Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, 33, was still being held. He is the husband of an Iraqi woman who worked for a US contractor in Iraq, and she already lives in Houston, the suit said. Ten other travelers not named in the suit were being detained at JFK Airport on Saturday afternoon, US Representative Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, told reporters. Trump, a Republican, on Friday signed a sweeping executive order that put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travellers from Iraq and six other Muslim-majority countries. The order would help protect Americans from terrorist attacks, the president said. Representatives for the White House could not immediately be reached for comment on Saturday. Supporters of the order say the president has wide authority to limit the entry of foreign nationals from specific countries when it is in the national interest. "If we decided to give green cards only to redheads who can play the spoons, we can do that," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies. The lawsuit on behalf of the Iraqis challenges Trump's order on several grounds. It says the order violates the US Constitution's guarantee of due process by taking away their ability to apply for asylum, and violates the guarantee of equal protection by discriminating against them on the basis of their country of origin without sufficient justification. It also says the order violates procedural requirements of federal rulemaking. In a separate lawsuit, a California-based private attorney on Saturday filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the order, bringing the legal action against Trump on behalf of the "people of the United States" and California, according to a copy of the action posted to news website Politico.com. The lawsuit accused Trump of violating the US Constitution by infringing on the power of lawmakers in Congress to enact laws on immigration. Andrew Shalaby, the attorney who brought the lawsuit, acknowledged to Politico he may need to find individual plaintiffs for the suit if a judge rules that is necessary. Shalaby could not be reached for further comment. Another legal challenge is expected on Monday, when the Council on American-Islamic Relations has said it plans to announce a lawsuit arguing that the order targets Muslims and violates the U.S. guarantee of religious freedom. Trump's order does not mention specific religions, but in an interview on Friday with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Trump said he was acting to help Christians in Syria who were "horribly treated." Comments like that could come back to haunt the president in litigation over his order, said Hiroshi Motomura, an immigration expert at UCLA School of Law. "There were comments during the campaign that focused very much on religion as the target," Motomura said. "If the record showed that the origins of a particular measure were based on targeting a particular group, that could be challenged in court." Eric Rothschild, senior litigation counsel at religious liberties group Americans United For Separation of Church and State, said Trump has created a perverse situation for asylum-seekers. "People will be quizzed on their faith in order to gain access to the country, maybe motivating them to deny their faith," he said. (Reuters)

Trump immigration order: Iraqis with US ties first to sue over new restrictions

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday giving the US military 30 days to devise a plan to &quot;defeat&quot; the Islamic State group.

The plan makes good on a key campaign pledge of Trump, who mocked and criticised the slow pace of his predecessor Barack Obama&#39;s progress in the fight against the extremist fighters.

The text, which calls for a &quot;comprehensive strategy and plans for the defeat of ISIS,&quot; is seen as meaning more US forces and military hardware moving into Iraq and Syria.

Pentagon chief James Mattis is also tasked with recommending changes to US rules of engagement and policy restrictions to eliminate those that &quot;exceed the requirements of international law regarding the use of force against ISIS&quot; under the order, which also seeks to cut the group&#39;s financial support.

Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone call to establish &quot;real coordination&quot; against the Islamic State group in Syria, according to the Kremlin.

Yet many in the US military are suspicious of Russia&#39;s role in Syria, with Moscow seen as seeking first and foremost to support and defend President Bashar al-Assad&#39;s regime.

&quot;We have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice,&quot; Trump told Fox News in an interview broadcast Thursday, using another acronym for the jihadist group.&nbsp;

&quot;This is evil. This is a level of evil that we haven&#39;t seen.&quot;

Seeking &#39;quicker results&#39;&nbsp; 
Barack Obama took a longer-term view of the anti-IS fight, with a more cautious commitment of US forces and instead of ramping up an air war against the violent extremists.

&quot;President Trump might be looking for something with quicker results, that could put some more options on the table,&quot; retired lieutenant general David Barno, who led coalition forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005, told National Public Radio on Friday.

The United States currently has 5,000 troops in Iraq and 500 in Syria as &quot;advisers&quot; -- but also US artillery and aircraft to help in the fight.

They have provided substantial support to the assault led by Iraqi forces on Islamic State&#39;s hold on the key city of Mosul.

The slow, steady assault has driven IS fighters out of part of the city on the east bank of the Tigris River, and forces are now preparing an assault on IS-held Mosul neighbourhoods on the river&#39;s west bank.&nbsp;

According to reports, an escalation of the US role could involve more US armour and helicopters engaging in the assaults on IS positions together with Iraqi, Turkish and Kurdish forces.

Trump &quot;could elect to put American boots on the ground in larger numbers,&quot; Barno said.&nbsp;

&quot;That all entails new uses of military power... and that opens the prospect of a deeper involvement with more casualties.&quot;

(AFP)

While former US president Barack Obama took a long-term view of the fight against IS, Donald Trump wants quicker results

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Saturday giving the US military 30 days to devise a plan to "defeat" the Islamic State group. The plan makes good on a key campaign pledge of Trump, who mocked and criticised the slow pace of his predecessor Barack Obama's progress in the fight against the extremist fighters. The text, which calls for a "comprehensive strategy and plans for the defeat of ISIS," is seen as meaning more US forces and military hardware moving into Iraq and Syria. Pentagon chief James Mattis is also tasked with recommending changes to US rules of engagement and policy restrictions to eliminate those that "exceed the requirements of international law regarding the use of force against ISIS" under the order, which also seeks to cut the group's financial support. Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed in a telephone call to establish "real coordination" against the Islamic State group in Syria, according to the Kremlin. Yet many in the US military are suspicious of Russia's role in Syria, with Moscow seen as seeking first and foremost to support and defend President Bashar al-Assad's regime. "We have to get rid of ISIS. We have no choice," Trump told Fox News in an interview broadcast Thursday, using another acronym for the jihadist group. "This is evil. This is a level of evil that we haven't seen." Seeking 'quicker results' Barack Obama took a longer-term view of the anti-IS fight, with a more cautious commitment of US forces and instead of ramping up an air war against the violent extremists. "President Trump might be looking for something with quicker results, that could put some more options on the table," retired lieutenant general David Barno, who led coalition forces in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005, told National Public Radio on Friday. The United States currently has 5,000 troops in Iraq and 500 in Syria as "advisers" -- but also US artillery and aircraft to help in the fight. They have provided substantial support to the assault led by Iraqi forces on Islamic State's hold on the key city of Mosul. The slow, steady assault has driven IS fighters out of part of the city on the east bank of the Tigris River, and forces are now preparing an assault on IS-held Mosul neighbourhoods on the river's west bank. According to reports, an escalation of the US role could involve more US armour and helicopters engaging in the assaults on IS positions together with Iraqi, Turkish and Kurdish forces. Trump "could elect to put American boots on the ground in larger numbers," Barno said. "That all entails new uses of military power... and that opens the prospect of a deeper involvement with more casualties." (AFP)

Trump gives generals 30 days for new anti-Islamic State strategy

US President Donald Trump signed a sweeping new executive order Friday to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travelers from seven Muslim countries.

Making good on one of his most controversial campaign promises, and to the horror of human rights groups, Trump said he was making America safe from &quot;radical Islamic terrorists.&quot;

&quot;This is big stuff,&quot; he declared at the Pentagon, after signing an order entitled: &quot;Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.&quot;

Trump&#39;s decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement program for at least 120 days while tough new vetting rules are established.

These new protocols will &quot;ensure that those approved for refugee admission do not pose a threat to the security and welfare of the United States.&quot;

In addition, it specifically bars Syrian refugees from the United States indefinitely, or until the president himself decides that they no longer pose a threat.

Meanwhile, no visas will be issued for 90 days to migrants or visitors from seven mainly-Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. During the suspensions of the refugee and visa programs, new rules will be devised for what Trump has called &quot;extreme vetting&quot; of applicants&#39; backgrounds.

Some exceptions will be made for members of &quot;religious minorities,&quot; which -- in the countries targeted by the decree -- would imply favorable treatment for Christians.&nbsp;

Trump&#39;s order also cut the number of refugees the United States plans to resettle in fiscal year 2017 -- which is calculated from last October -- from 110,000 to 50,000.

Civil liberties groups and many counterterrorism experts condemned the measures, declaring it inhumane to lump the victims of conflict in with the extremists who threaten them.

&quot;&#39;Extreme vetting&#39; is just a euphemism for discriminating against Muslims,&quot; said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

By choosing countries with Muslim majorities for tougher treatment, Romero argued, Trump&#39;s order breaches the US Constitution&#39;s ban on religious discrimination.

Ahmed Rehab, director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group would mount legal challenges to fight the order &quot;tooth and nail.&quot;

&quot;It is targeting people based on their faith and national origin, and not on their character or their criminality,&quot; he told AFP.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and Nobel peace laureate who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, said she was &quot;heartbroken&quot; and urged Trump not to abandon the world&#39;s &quot;most defenseless children and families.&quot;

Not the time to build walls between nations: Iran president to Trump

Speaking at a tourism convention in Tehran Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did not comment directly on the visa ban but said Iran had &quot;opened its doors&quot; to foreign tourists since the signing of a nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015.

He also said now was &quot;not the time to build walls between nations,&quot; a remark that followed Trump&#39;s order to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border.&nbsp;

The tough travel controls will be popular with Trump&#39;s nationalist base, and stop short of a threat made during last year&#39;s campaign to halt all Muslim travel to the United States.

Trump&#39;s supporters defend the measures as necessary to prevent supporters of Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group from infiltrating the US homeland disguised as refugees.

And the State Department, which with the Department of Homeland Security will have to implement the measures, said it was ready to put them into immediate effect.

&quot;We will announce any changes affecting travelers to the United States as soon as that information is available,&quot; spokesman Mark Toner said.

&quot;We take seriously our responsibility to safeguard the American public while remaining committed to assisting the world&#39;s most vulnerable people.&quot;

During the Pentagon ceremony, he also signed an order to &quot;rebuild&quot; the US military and watched Vice President Mike Pence swear-in former Marine general James Mattis as his new secretary of defense.

Trump showered Mattis with praise. Earlier he had admitted he would allow the general&#39;s opposition to the use of torture to override his own enthusiasm for harsh measures. In what was a busy day from Trump, one week after his inauguration, he also met with Britain&#39;s Prime Minister Theresa May, the first foreign leader to visit his White House.

He hailed the &quot;most special relationship&quot; between the twin Atlantic powers and praised Britain&#39;s decision to leave the European Union as a &quot;wonderful thing.&quot;

&quot;When it irons out, you&#39;re going to have your own identity, and you are going to have the people that you want in your country,&quot; Trump said, in a nod to his own immigration stance.&nbsp;

&quot;You&#39;re going to be able to make free trade deals without having somebody watching you and what you are doing.&quot;

May conveyed an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II for Trump to come to Britain for a state visit this year, and thanked him for his &quot;100 per cent&quot; support of NATO.

Over the weekend, Trump is due to make calls to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Germany&#39;s Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia&#39;s President Vladimir Putin, France&#39;s President Francois Hollande and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

He is keen to develop friendly ties with Moscow, but played down reports that he might quickly end US economic sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine.

(AFP)

 
&nbsp;

Trump's decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement program for at least 120 days while tough new rules are established

US President Donald Trump signed a sweeping new executive order Friday to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travelers from seven Muslim countries. Making good on one of his most controversial campaign promises, and to the horror of human rights groups, Trump said he was making America safe from "radical Islamic terrorists." "This is big stuff," he declared at the Pentagon, after signing an order entitled: "Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States." Trump's decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement program for at least 120 days while tough new vetting rules are established. These new protocols will "ensure that those approved for refugee admission do not pose a threat to the security and welfare of the United States." In addition, it specifically bars Syrian refugees from the United States indefinitely, or until the president himself decides that they no longer pose a threat. Meanwhile, no visas will be issued for 90 days to migrants or visitors from seven mainly-Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. During the suspensions of the refugee and visa programs, new rules will be devised for what Trump has called "extreme vetting" of applicants' backgrounds. Some exceptions will be made for members of "religious minorities," which -- in the countries targeted by the decree -- would imply favorable treatment for Christians. Trump's order also cut the number of refugees the United States plans to resettle in fiscal year 2017 -- which is calculated from last October -- from 110,000 to 50,000. Civil liberties groups and many counterterrorism experts condemned the measures, declaring it inhumane to lump the victims of conflict in with the extremists who threaten them. "'Extreme vetting' is just a euphemism for discriminating against Muslims," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. By choosing countries with Muslim majorities for tougher treatment, Romero argued, Trump's order breaches the US Constitution's ban on religious discrimination. Ahmed Rehab, director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group would mount legal challenges to fight the order "tooth and nail." "It is targeting people based on their faith and national origin, and not on their character or their criminality," he told AFP. Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and Nobel peace laureate who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, said she was "heartbroken" and urged Trump not to abandon the world's "most defenseless children and families." Not the time to build walls between nations: Iran president to Trump Speaking at a tourism convention in Tehran Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani did not comment directly on the visa ban but said Iran had "opened its doors" to foreign tourists since the signing of a nuclear agreement with world powers in 2015. He also said now was "not the time to build walls between nations," a remark that followed Trump's order to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border. The tough travel controls will be popular with Trump's nationalist base, and stop short of a threat made during last year's campaign to halt all Muslim travel to the United States. Trump's supporters defend the measures as necessary to prevent supporters of Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group from infiltrating the US homeland disguised as refugees. And the State Department, which with the Department of Homeland Security will have to implement the measures, said it was ready to put them into immediate effect. "We will announce any changes affecting travelers to the United States as soon as that information is available," spokesman Mark Toner said. "We take seriously our responsibility to safeguard the American public while remaining committed to assisting the world's most vulnerable people." During the Pentagon ceremony, he also signed an order to "rebuild" the US military and watched Vice President Mike Pence swear-in former Marine general James Mattis as his new secretary of defense. Trump showered Mattis with praise. Earlier he had admitted he would allow the general's opposition to the use of torture to override his own enthusiasm for harsh measures. In what was a busy day from Trump, one week after his inauguration, he also met with Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May, the first foreign leader to visit his White House. He hailed the "most special relationship" between the twin Atlantic powers and praised Britain's decision to leave the European Union as a "wonderful thing." "When it irons out, you're going to have your own identity, and you are going to have the people that you want in your country," Trump said, in a nod to his own immigration stance. "You're going to be able to make free trade deals without having somebody watching you and what you are doing." May conveyed an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II for Trump to come to Britain for a state visit this year, and thanked him for his "100 per cent" support of NATO. Over the weekend, Trump is due to make calls to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, France's President Francois Hollande and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. He is keen to develop friendly ties with Moscow, but played down reports that he might quickly end US economic sanctions imposed on Russia for its intervention in Ukraine. (AFP)

Trump suspends refugee arrivals to US

United States President Donald Trump has pledged to impose stricter vetting rules&nbsp;to weed out or keep radical Islamists away from the country.

The 70-year-old billionaire signed an executive order on Friday that suspends arrival of refugess and put down stringent controls on people coming from Muslim-dominated countries.

No visas will be issued to travellers or migrants from seven mainly-Muslim countries --&nbsp;Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The White House did not immediately make the wording of the decree public, but a draft text had been leaked to US media earlier in the week and was widely reported on.

According to this unconfirmed version, Trump&#39;s decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement program for at least 120 days while tough new vetting rules are established.

In addition, it specifically bars Syrian refugees from the United States indefinitely, or until the president himself decides that they no longer pose a threat.

But the decree will make exceptions for &quot;religious minorities&quot;, which implies that Christians from Syria would be given a preference to enter the country.

&quot;This is big stuff,&quot; Trump declared at the Pentagon, after signing an order entitled: &quot;Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.&quot;

The new order has been condemned by human rights groups and many counter-terror experts.

&quot;&#39;Extreme vetting&#39; is just a euphemism for discriminating against Muslims,&quot; said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Romero argued that, by choosing countries with Muslim majorities for tougher treatment, Trump&#39;s order breaches the US Constitution&#39;s ban on religious discrimination.

Ahmed Rehab, director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group would mount legal challenges to fight the order &quot;tooth and nail&quot;.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and Nobel peace laureate who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, said she was &quot;heartbroken&quot; at Trump&#39;s Muslim migrants ban.

She urged Trump not to abandon the world&#39;s &quot;most defenseless children and families&quot;.

But the measure will be popular with Trump&#39;s nationalist base, and stops short of a threat made during last year&#39;s campaign to halt all Muslim travel to the United States.

&nbsp;

Mattis swears in

Earlier, former Marine general James Mattis was sworn in as the new secretary of defense.

Trump showered Mattis with praise and had earlier admitted he would allow the general&#39;s opposition to the use of torture to override his own enthusiasm for harsh measures.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

The specifics of the new executive order remain unclear, but people from Muslim-dominated countries will find it harder to enter US

United States President Donald Trump has pledged to impose stricter vetting rules to weed out or keep radical Islamists away from the country. The 70-year-old billionaire signed an executive order on Friday that suspends arrival of refugess and put down stringent controls on people coming from Muslim-dominated countries. No visas will be issued to travellers or migrants from seven mainly-Muslim countries -- Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. The White House did not immediately make the wording of the decree public, but a draft text had been leaked to US media earlier in the week and was widely reported on. According to this unconfirmed version, Trump's decree suspends the entire US refugee resettlement program for at least 120 days while tough new vetting rules are established. In addition, it specifically bars Syrian refugees from the United States indefinitely, or until the president himself decides that they no longer pose a threat. But the decree will make exceptions for "religious minorities", which implies that Christians from Syria would be given a preference to enter the country. "This is big stuff," Trump declared at the Pentagon, after signing an order entitled: "Protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States." The new order has been condemned by human rights groups and many counter-terror experts. "'Extreme vetting' is just a euphemism for discriminating against Muslims," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Romero argued that, by choosing countries with Muslim majorities for tougher treatment, Trump's order breaches the US Constitution's ban on religious discrimination. Ahmed Rehab, director of the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said his group would mount legal challenges to fight the order "tooth and nail". Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist and Nobel peace laureate who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, said she was "heartbroken" at Trump's Muslim migrants ban. She urged Trump not to abandon the world's "most defenseless children and families". But the measure will be popular with Trump's nationalist base, and stops short of a threat made during last year's campaign to halt all Muslim travel to the United States. Mattis swears in Earlier, former Marine general James Mattis was sworn in as the new secretary of defense. Trump showered Mattis with praise and had earlier admitted he would allow the general's opposition to the use of torture to override his own enthusiasm for harsh measures. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Trump vows new vetting rules to keep 'radical Islamic terrorists' out of US

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday promised steps to ramp up trade between Turkey and Britain ahead of Brexit but also urged Ankara to uphold human rights following a failed coup.

On her first visit to Turkey as premier and fresh from meeting new US President Donald Trump at the White House, May held three hours of talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.&nbsp;

May sought to strike a delicate balance between showing Britain&#39;s keen interest in expanding trade with Turkey following the June vote to leave the European Union while echoing European alarm over the scale of the crackdown after the July 15 attempted coup.

May announced the creation of a joint group to boost trade ahead of Britain&#39;s departure from the EU and also oversaw the signing of a deal for Britain&#39;s BAE Systems to develop a new Turkish fighter jet.&nbsp;

May said after meeting Erdogan at his palace she was &quot;proud&quot; Britain had stood with Turkey&#39;s democratically-elected government when the coup struck.

But she added: &quot;Now it is important that Turkey sustains that democracy by maintaining the rule of law and upholding its international human rights obligations, as the government has undertaken to do.&quot;

May stressed that Turkey was one of Britain&#39;s &quot;oldest friends&quot; with relations going back over 400 years, referring to the establishment of relations between the Ottoman Empire and England under Elizabeth I.&nbsp;

Earlier, a spokeswoman countered criticism from some MPs that Britain was cosying up to Turkey while turning a blind eye to its human rights record.

The spokeswoman said: &quot;I don&#39;t think there are any issues that the prime minister is afraid to bring up.&quot;

Around 43,000 people are under arrest on charges of links to the coup bid, which Ankara blames on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen. He denies the charges.

May&#39;s visit is also seen as the first to Ankara by a major Western leader since the attempted putsch, although then US vice president Joe Biden held talks with Erdogan in August.

Her visit came hours after Erdogan had hosted the American actress Lindsay Lohan -- a keen supporter of Erdogan&#39;s vision of a multipolar world -- in his vast presidential palace in Ankara.

&#39;Post-Brexit trading relationship&#39;&nbsp;

Erdogan said the two sides were targeting increasing annual trade from over $15 billion to $20 billion.

Meanwhile, May said Britain and Turkey have agreed to set up a working group to &quot;prepare the ground for our post-Brexit trading relationship&quot; after Britain leaves the European Union.

&quot;We both want to build on our existing links and I believe that doing so will be to the benefit of both of our countries and for the prosperity of both our nations,&quot; she said.

Under a non-binding agreement, BAE Systems and state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will establish a partnership for the development of the TF-X fighter jet.

May said it indicated that &quot;Britain is a great, global, trading nation and that we are open for business&quot;, after the Brexit vote.

She added that &quot;it marks the start of a new and deeper trading relationship with Turkey.&quot;

The initial phase is worth over 100 million pounds (117 million euros), Downing Street said.

But the agreement can pave the way for further deals potentially worth billions of pounds over a 20-year lifespan, May&#39;s spokeswoman told reporters.

&nbsp;&#39;Unsavoury rulers&#39;&nbsp;

Back in the UK, some MPs have urged May not to let her focus on trade overshadow human rights concerns over the crackdown in Turkey.&nbsp;

&quot;The Conservative Brexit government is so desperate for trade deals with anyone but the mature democracies of the European Union that even the most unsavoury rulers are to be subjected to the prime ministerial charm,&quot; opposition Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney wrote in the Guardian newspaper.

Erdogan and May also discussed the battle against jihadists in Syria and efforts to reunify Cyprus, where both Ankara and London are guarantor powers, as well as aviation security.

&quot;I am pleased with the steps we have taken and I believe in the continuation of this success in the future,&quot; Erdogan said after the talks.

(AFP) 
&nbsp;

The British PM announced the creation of a joint group to boost trade ahead of Britain's departure from the EU

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Saturday promised steps to ramp up trade between Turkey and Britain ahead of Brexit but also urged Ankara to uphold human rights following a failed coup. On her first visit to Turkey as premier and fresh from meeting new US President Donald Trump at the White House, May held three hours of talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. May sought to strike a delicate balance between showing Britain's keen interest in expanding trade with Turkey following the June vote to leave the European Union while echoing European alarm over the scale of the crackdown after the July 15 attempted coup. May announced the creation of a joint group to boost trade ahead of Britain's departure from the EU and also oversaw the signing of a deal for Britain's BAE Systems to develop a new Turkish fighter jet. May said after meeting Erdogan at his palace she was "proud" Britain had stood with Turkey's democratically-elected government when the coup struck. But she added: "Now it is important that Turkey sustains that democracy by maintaining the rule of law and upholding its international human rights obligations, as the government has undertaken to do." May stressed that Turkey was one of Britain's "oldest friends" with relations going back over 400 years, referring to the establishment of relations between the Ottoman Empire and England under Elizabeth I. Earlier, a spokeswoman countered criticism from some MPs that Britain was cosying up to Turkey while turning a blind eye to its human rights record. The spokeswoman said: "I don't think there are any issues that the prime minister is afraid to bring up." Around 43,000 people are under arrest on charges of links to the coup bid, which Ankara blames on the US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen. He denies the charges. May's visit is also seen as the first to Ankara by a major Western leader since the attempted putsch, although then US vice president Joe Biden held talks with Erdogan in August. Her visit came hours after Erdogan had hosted the American actress Lindsay Lohan -- a keen supporter of Erdogan's vision of a multipolar world -- in his vast presidential palace in Ankara. 'Post-Brexit trading relationship' Erdogan said the two sides were targeting increasing annual trade from over $15 billion to $20 billion. Meanwhile, May said Britain and Turkey have agreed to set up a working group to "prepare the ground for our post-Brexit trading relationship" after Britain leaves the European Union. "We both want to build on our existing links and I believe that doing so will be to the benefit of both of our countries and for the prosperity of both our nations," she said. Under a non-binding agreement, BAE Systems and state-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) will establish a partnership for the development of the TF-X fighter jet. May said it indicated that "Britain is a great, global, trading nation and that we are open for business", after the Brexit vote. She added that "it marks the start of a new and deeper trading relationship with Turkey." The initial phase is worth over 100 million pounds (117 million euros), Downing Street said. But the agreement can pave the way for further deals potentially worth billions of pounds over a 20-year lifespan, May's spokeswoman told reporters. 'Unsavoury rulers' Back in the UK, some MPs have urged May not to let her focus on trade overshadow human rights concerns over the crackdown in Turkey. "The Conservative Brexit government is so desperate for trade deals with anyone but the mature democracies of the European Union that even the most unsavoury rulers are to be subjected to the prime ministerial charm," opposition Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney wrote in the Guardian newspaper. Erdogan and May also discussed the battle against jihadists in Syria and efforts to reunify Cyprus, where both Ankara and London are guarantor powers, as well as aviation security. "I am pleased with the steps we have taken and I believe in the continuation of this success in the future," Erdogan said after the talks. (AFP)

Theresa  May woos Turkey for trade, presses on human rights

Federal minister Ananth Kumar said on Saturday that India&#39;s IT, biotech and pharmaceutical industries would not be impacted by Donald Trump&#39;s protectionist policies, citing a phone call between PM Narendra Modi and the US president.

HN Ananth Kumar, minister for chemicals and fertilisers in the Modi government said the US was expected to continue &quot;the commerce-related attitude&quot; towards the country, PTI reported.

&quot;The prime minister has already had a telephonic conversation with the US president. With the kind of&nbsp;relationship we have with the US, I don&#39;t think there will be any change in the attitude of the US in terms of commerce-related issues. I also don&#39;t think, there will be any problem for the Indian IT, BT and pharmaceutical industries,&quot; Kumar told PTI.

He was replying to a query on Trump&#39;s policy of protectionism at a news conference to announce the &quot;Indian Pharma&quot; and &quot;India Medical Devices-2017&quot; international conference scheduled to be held&nbsp;from February 11 to 13 in India&#39;s IT hub Bengaluru.

Some of the key Indian companies, including the IT industry, have been apprehensive about Trump&#39;s stress on protectionism and his pre-election promise to order an investigation into all visa abuses.

Industry watchers say this could mean facing tough scrutiny of workers from foreign countries, including India, under his presidency.

(WION with inputs from PTI) 
&nbsp;

The Indian IT industry has been apprehensive about Trump's stress on protectionism and toughening visa laws

Federal minister Ananth Kumar said on Saturday that India's IT, biotech and pharmaceutical industries would not be impacted by Donald Trump's protectionist policies, citing a phone call between PM Narendra Modi and the US president. HN Ananth Kumar, minister for chemicals and fertilisers in the Modi government said the US was expected to continue "the commerce-related attitude" towards the country, PTI reported. "The prime minister has already had a telephonic conversation with the US president. With the kind of relationship we have with the US, I don't think there will be any change in the attitude of the US in terms of commerce-related issues. I also don't think, there will be any problem for the Indian IT, BT and pharmaceutical industries," Kumar told PTI. He was replying to a query on Trump's policy of protectionism at a news conference to announce the "Indian Pharma" and "India Medical Devices-2017" international conference scheduled to be held from February 11 to 13 in India's IT hub Bengaluru. Some of the key Indian companies, including the IT industry, have been apprehensive about Trump's stress on protectionism and his pre-election promise to order an investigation into all visa abuses. Industry watchers say this could mean facing tough scrutiny of workers from foreign countries, including India, under his presidency. (WION with inputs from PTI)

Trump's policies will not impact India's IT, pharma firms, assures Indian minister

Former US president Barack Obama&#39;s eldest daughter Malia Obama joined the protest against the&nbsp;Dakota Access Pipeline&nbsp;in Utah on Monday. &nbsp;

Police have used aggressive tactics against protesters including water cannons in sub-zero temperatures, rubber bullets and attack dogs. But Malia has a White House security detail.&nbsp;

Malia flew down from the family holiday at Palm Springs to attend screenings at the festival. It was not clear if she was there as part of her internship with Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.&nbsp;

&quot;Divergent&quot;&nbsp;actress Shailene Woodley told Democracy Now,&nbsp;&ldquo;It was amazing to see Malia. I saw her last night when we did the event with [Standing Rock] chairman Dave Archambault. And it was incredible to see her there.&rdquo;

&ldquo;To witness a human being and a woman coming into her own outside of her family and outside of the attachments that this country has on her, but someone who&rsquo;s willing to participate in democracy because she chooses to, because she recognises, regardless of her last name, that if she doesn&rsquo;t participate in democracy, there will be no world for her future children,&quot; she added.&nbsp;

After large-scale protests, Obama had decreed that the construction of the pipeline will be stopped. However, Trump reversed the order after taking office. According to his federal disclosures form, Trump holds stock in the company building the Dakota Access oil pipeline, CBS reports. While the amount of stock in Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners is modest compared to the rest of his portfolio, estimated at between $15,000 and $50,000, he also owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66, which has a one-quarter share of Dakota Access, CBS reports.

Protesters are planning to challenge the executive order and &quot;mobilise&quot; after the setback.&nbsp;

&ldquo;What we could do now as a population, as a society, is to hold our corporations accountable and hold our banks accountable, because there are a lot of banks that are invested in this pipeline,&rdquo; Woodley told MSNBC. &ldquo;Regardless of any executive order or what our politicians want to do, if there&rsquo;s no money invested in the pipelines, then they can&rsquo;t be built.&rdquo;

Woodley has been a staunch critic of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would transport crude oil through the sacred lands of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, polluting the tribe&#39;s water source. &nbsp;Woodley was arrested with 26 others&nbsp;for criminal trespassing in October while protesting.&nbsp;

(WION)

&nbsp;

After large-scale protests Obama decreed construction of the pipeline be halted, but Trump reversed the order soon after coming into office

Former US president Barack Obama's eldest daughter Malia Obama joined the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline in Utah on Monday. Police have used aggressive tactics against protesters including water cannons in sub-zero temperatures, rubber bullets and attack dogs. But Malia has a White House security detail. Malia flew down from the family holiday at Palm Springs to attend screenings at the festival. It was not clear if she was there as part of her internship with Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. "Divergent" actress Shailene Woodley told Democracy Now, “It was amazing to see Malia. I saw her last night when we did the event with [Standing Rock] chairman Dave Archambault. And it was incredible to see her there.” “To witness a human being and a woman coming into her own outside of her family and outside of the attachments that this country has on her, but someone who’s willing to participate in democracy because she chooses to, because she recognises, regardless of her last name, that if she doesn’t participate in democracy, there will be no world for her future children," she added. After large-scale protests, Obama had decreed that the construction of the pipeline will be stopped. However, Trump reversed the order after taking office. According to his federal disclosures form, Trump holds stock in the company building the Dakota Access oil pipeline, CBS reports. While the amount of stock in Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners is modest compared to the rest of his portfolio, estimated at between $15,000 and $50,000, he also owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66, which has a one-quarter share of Dakota Access, CBS reports. Protesters are planning to challenge the executive order and "mobilise" after the setback. “What we could do now as a population, as a society, is to hold our corporations accountable and hold our banks accountable, because there are a lot of banks that are invested in this pipeline,” Woodley told MSNBC. “Regardless of any executive order or what our politicians want to do, if there’s no money invested in the pipelines, then they can’t be built.” Woodley has been a staunch critic of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would transport crude oil through the sacred lands of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, polluting the tribe's water source. Woodley was arrested with 26 others for criminal trespassing in October while protesting. (WION)

Malia Obama seen protesting against Dakota Access Pipeline

The mayor of Berlin, Michael M&uuml;ller,&nbsp;has issued a statement&nbsp;to US President&nbsp;Donald Trump&nbsp;urging him&nbsp;not to build the proposed&nbsp;wall&nbsp;at the&nbsp;US-Mexico border.

Read the statement in full below:&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Berlin&#39;s mayor just issued this message for Donald Trump. It&#39;s quite something. <a href="https://t.co/gIIOei6ttT">https://t.co/gIIOei6ttT</a> <a href="https://t.co/B8SgYZhhJ0">pic.twitter.com/B8SgYZhhJ0</a>
&mdash; Jeremy Cliffe (@JeremyCliffe) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremyCliffe/status/825038118504058880">January 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

Berlin knows what walls are about.

After the Nazi&#39;s defeat in&nbsp;World War II, Germany&#39;s capital of Berlin&nbsp;was bissected by a 155-kilometre long wall&nbsp;known as the Berlin Wall. The western side, known as West Germany, was occupied by the Allied forces.&nbsp;The eastern section, or East&nbsp;Germany, was occupied by the former Soviet Union.

This separation lasted through, and came to symbolise, the&nbsp;Cold War, when the tension between the nuclear-armed Americans and the Soviets--ideological proxies of&nbsp;capitalism and communism--was running high.&nbsp;

The Cold War ended with the reunification of Berlin in 1989, which literally saw the wall torn down, as family and friends came together&nbsp;after decades.&nbsp;It became&nbsp;one of the 20th century&#39;s most iconic historical moments.

Trump originally&nbsp;promised&nbsp;that&nbsp;Mexico would&nbsp;pay for his proposed&nbsp;wall.&nbsp;Mexico steadfastly refused to <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/08/mexico-wont-pay-single-cent-for-trumps-stupid-wall.html">pay one cent of the costs</a>.&nbsp;Now, Republicans say that Congress<a href="http://www.journalnow.com/news/nation_world/congress-will-front-the-money-to-build-border-wall-house/article_837ba40a-e35e-11e6-b131-b7a99f475839.html">&nbsp;will front the money</a>.

The costs for Trump&#39;s&nbsp;proposed wall vary wildly, with House Speaker Paul Ryan saying&nbsp;between $4 billion to $8 billion is &quot;about right&quot;.&nbsp;

MIT Technology Review pegs&nbsp;the cost&nbsp;at somewhere&nbsp;between <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602494/bad-math-props-up-trumps-border-wall/">$27 billion to $40 billion</a>.

(WION)

'We Berliners know better than most the pain caused when a whole continent is split by barb wire and walls'

The mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, has issued a statement to US President Donald Trump urging him not to build the proposed wall at the US-Mexico border. Read the statement in full below: Berlin's mayor just issued this message for Donald Trump. It's quite something. https://t.co/gIIOei6ttT pic.twitter.com/B8SgYZhhJ0 — Jeremy Cliffe (@JeremyCliffe) January 27, 2017 × Berlin knows what walls are about. After the Nazi's defeat in World War II, Germany's capital of Berlin was bissected by a 155-kilometre long wall known as the Berlin Wall. The western side, known as West Germany, was occupied by the Allied forces. The eastern section, or East Germany, was occupied by the former Soviet Union. This separation lasted through, and came to symbolise, the Cold War, when the tension between the nuclear-armed Americans and the Soviets--ideological proxies of capitalism and communism--was running high. The Cold War ended with the reunification of Berlin in 1989, which literally saw the wall torn down, as family and friends came together after decades. It became one of the 20th century's most iconic historical moments. Trump originally promised that Mexico would pay for his proposed wall. Mexico steadfastly refused to pay one cent of the costs. Now, Republicans say that Congress will front the money. The costs for Trump's proposed wall vary wildly, with House Speaker Paul Ryan saying between $4 billion to $8 billion is "about right". MIT Technology Review pegs the cost at somewhere between $27 billion to $40 billion. (WION)

Berlin mayor implores Trump: 'Mr President, don't build this wall'

An Immigration Advisory Notice from US Customs and Border Protection clearly specifies that nationals from seven Muslim countries can travel to the country only for official purposes.

The notice, published on the website of <a href="http://www.qatarairways.com/us/en/travel-alerts.page">Qatar Airways</a>, states that nationals from Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen may travel to the US only if they are in possession of a permanent resident card (Green card) or any of the below visas.&nbsp;The airline, which flies to at least 15 American cities, also posted a &quot;travel alert&quot; online on Saturday, listing the paperwork required by citizens of the seven countries.

<ul>
	<li>&nbsp;A1 &amp; A2 (Government Officials and immediate family)</li>
	<li>&nbsp;C2 (Travel to U.N.)</li>
	<li>&nbsp;G1 &amp; G2 (Representative &amp; employees of international organisations)</li>
	<li>&nbsp;G3 &amp; G4 (Representatives to and employees of international organisations)</li>
	<li>&nbsp;NATO</li>
</ul>

&nbsp;

Qatar Airways said Saturday it would &quot;enforce&quot; the new rules governing entry to the United States following President Donald Trump&#39;s temporary order restricting arrivals from seven Muslim countries, AFP reported.

A spokesperson for the Gulf carrier said it would only carry passengers to the US who had the correct documentation. &quot;We are enforcing the new rules,&quot; said the official. &quot;If travellers to the US don&#39;t have the proper documentation, we are not going to take them to the US.&quot;

Qatar Airways destinations in the US include New York, Atlanta and Chicago.

The newly inaugurated US president signed a sweeping executive order on Friday to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travellers from the seven countries.

(WION with inputs from AFP)

The notice follows Trump's order restricting arrivals from seven Muslim countries

An Immigration Advisory Notice from US Customs and Border Protection clearly specifies that nationals from seven Muslim countries can travel to the country only for official purposes. The notice, published on the website of Qatar Airways, states that nationals from Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Yemen may travel to the US only if they are in possession of a permanent resident card (Green card) or any of the below visas. The airline, which flies to at least 15 American cities, also posted a "travel alert" online on Saturday, listing the paperwork required by citizens of the seven countries. A1 & A2 (Government Officials and immediate family) C2 (Travel to U.N.) G1 & G2 (Representative & employees of international organisations) G3 & G4 (Representatives to and employees of international organisations) NATO Qatar Airways said Saturday it would "enforce" the new rules governing entry to the United States following President Donald Trump's temporary order restricting arrivals from seven Muslim countries, AFP reported. A spokesperson for the Gulf carrier said it would only carry passengers to the US who had the correct documentation. "We are enforcing the new rules," said the official. "If travellers to the US don't have the proper documentation, we are not going to take them to the US." Qatar Airways destinations in the US include New York, Atlanta and Chicago. The newly inaugurated US president signed a sweeping executive order on Friday to suspend refugee arrivals and impose tough controls on travellers from the seven countries. (WION with inputs from AFP)

US immigration notice to 7 Muslim countries bans travel for unofficial purpose

Iranian actor&nbsp;Taraneh Alidoosti, whose movie &#39;The Salesman&#39; has received a nomination at this Oscars, has announced she will boycott the ceremony over US President Donald Trump&#39;s controversial proposed ban on immigrants from Muslim nations.

Trump is expected to sign an executive order, banning the entry of Muslims from seven nations --&nbsp;Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen -- into the US.

But the 33-year-old actor said the move was &#39;racist&#39; on Twitter.

&quot;Trump&#39;s visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural event or not, I won&#39;t attend the #AcademyAwards 2017 in protest,&quot; Alidoosti said on Twitter.

In &quot;The Salesman,&quot; Alidoosti plays one half of an Iranian couple whose life becomes strained as they take part in a production of the American stage classic &quot;Death of a Salesman.&quot;

The film, by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, was nominated on Tuesday for a foreign-language Oscar, and has won prizes at film festivals in Cannes, Chicago and Munich.

Alidoosti has also appeared in the popular Iranian TV soap opera &quot;Shahrzad.&quot;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Thirty three-year-old Taraneh Alidoosti, star of Oscar-nominated 'The Salesman', condemned the move as 'racist'

Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti, whose movie 'The Salesman' has received a nomination at this Oscars, has announced she will boycott the ceremony over US President Donald Trump's controversial proposed ban on immigrants from Muslim nations. Trump is expected to sign an executive order, banning the entry of Muslims from seven nations -- Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Yemen -- into the US. But the 33-year-old actor said the move was 'racist' on Twitter. "Trump's visa ban for Iranians is racist. Whether this will include a cultural event or not, I won't attend the #AcademyAwards 2017 in protest," Alidoosti said on Twitter. In "The Salesman," Alidoosti plays one half of an Iranian couple whose life becomes strained as they take part in a production of the American stage classic "Death of a Salesman." The film, by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, was nominated on Tuesday for a foreign-language Oscar, and has won prizes at film festivals in Cannes, Chicago and Munich. Alidoosti has also appeared in the popular Iranian TV soap opera "Shahrzad." (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Iranian actor will shun Oscars to protest Trump's Muslim immigrant ban

Atomic scientists reset their symbolic &quot;Doomsday Clock&quot; to its closest time to midnight in 64 years on Thursday, saying the world was closer to catastrophe due to threats such as nuclear weapons, climate change and Donald Trump&#39;s election as US president.

The timepiece, devised by the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and displayed on its website, is widely viewed as an indicator of the world&#39;s vulnerability to disaster.

Its hands were moved to two minutes and 30 seconds to midnight, from three minutes.

&quot;The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than it&#39;s ever been in the lifetime of almost everyone in this room,&quot; Lawrence Krauss, the bulletin&#39;s chair, told a news conference in Washington.

The clock was last set this close to midnight in 1953, marking the start of the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Thursday&#39;s reset was the first since 2015.

Krauss, a theoretical physicist, said Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin carried a large share of the blame for the heightened threat.

The bulletin cited nuclear volatility, especially as the United States and Russia seek to modernise their atomic arsenals and remain at odds in war-torn countries such as Syria and Ukraine.

Trump has suggested South Korea and Japan could acquire nuclear weapons to compete with North Korea, which has conducted nuclear tests. Trump has also raised doubts about the future of a multilateral nuclear pact with Iran.

Chinese aid to Pakistan in the nuclear weapons field, as well as the expansion of India and Pakistan&#39;s nuclear arsenals, were also worrisome, the bulletin said in a statement.

The climate change outlook was somewhat less dismal, &quot;but only somewhat.&quot;

While nations had taken actions to combat climate change, the bulletin noted, there appeared to be little appetite for additional cuts to carbon dioxide emissions.

It said the Trump administration nominees raise the possibility the government will be &quot;openly hostile to progress toward even the most modest efforts to avert catastrophic climate disruption.&quot;

The world also faces cyber threats, the bulletin said. US intelligence agencies&#39; conclusion that Russia intervened in the presidential election to help Trump raised the possibility of similar attacks on other democracies, it said.

The bulletin was founded by scientists who helped develop the United States&#39; first atomic weapons. Its Science and Security Board decides on the clock&#39;s hands in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes Nobel laureates. 
 
(Reuters)

The timepiece is widely viewed as an indicator of the world's vulnerability to disaster

Atomic scientists reset their symbolic "Doomsday Clock" to its closest time to midnight in 64 years on Thursday, saying the world was closer to catastrophe due to threats such as nuclear weapons, climate change and Donald Trump's election as US president. The timepiece, devised by the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and displayed on its website, is widely viewed as an indicator of the world's vulnerability to disaster. Its hands were moved to two minutes and 30 seconds to midnight, from three minutes. "The Doomsday Clock is closer to midnight than it's ever been in the lifetime of almost everyone in this room," Lawrence Krauss, the bulletin's chair, told a news conference in Washington. The clock was last set this close to midnight in 1953, marking the start of the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. Thursday's reset was the first since 2015. Krauss, a theoretical physicist, said Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin carried a large share of the blame for the heightened threat. The bulletin cited nuclear volatility, especially as the United States and Russia seek to modernise their atomic arsenals and remain at odds in war-torn countries such as Syria and Ukraine. Trump has suggested South Korea and Japan could acquire nuclear weapons to compete with North Korea, which has conducted nuclear tests. Trump has also raised doubts about the future of a multilateral nuclear pact with Iran. Chinese aid to Pakistan in the nuclear weapons field, as well as the expansion of India and Pakistan's nuclear arsenals, were also worrisome, the bulletin said in a statement. The climate change outlook was somewhat less dismal, "but only somewhat." While nations had taken actions to combat climate change, the bulletin noted, there appeared to be little appetite for additional cuts to carbon dioxide emissions. It said the Trump administration nominees raise the possibility the government will be "openly hostile to progress toward even the most modest efforts to avert catastrophic climate disruption." The world also faces cyber threats, the bulletin said. US intelligence agencies' conclusion that Russia intervened in the presidential election to help Trump raised the possibility of similar attacks on other democracies, it said. The bulletin was founded by scientists who helped develop the United States' first atomic weapons. Its Science and Security Board decides on the clock's hands in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes Nobel laureates. (Reuters)

'Doomsday Clock' ticks closest to midnight in 64 years,Trump, Putin blamed for increased nuclear threat

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