North Korea conducts ballistic missile test

North Korea has fired a ballistic missile in the first such test since Donald Trump took office as US president.

Mr Trump assured Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that “America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100%”.

The missile flew east towards the Sea of Japan for about 500km (300 miles), South Korean officials say.

Mr Abe said the test was “absolutely intolerable”. Japanese officials say the missile did not reach its waters.

Speaking at a joint conference during a visit to the US, Mr Abe added that Mr Trump had also assured him that he was committed to “further enforcing our alliance”.

During his election campaign, Mr Trump said US defence commitments to Japan and South Korea were unfair and also called for Japan to pay the full cost of stationing US troops on its soil.

North Korea has conducted a number of nuclear tests in the past year that continue to alarm and anger the region.

Sunday’s launch took place at 07:55 local time (22:55 GMT Saturday) from the Banghyon air base in North Pyongan province on the west side of the Korean peninsula.

The missile reached an altitude of about 550km (350 miles), according to a South Korean official quoted by Reuters news agency, and appeared to be a Rodong medium-range missile.

In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned that his military was close to testing long-range missiles capable of reaching the United States and carrying nuclear warheads.

Mr Trump derided the claim in a tweet, saying: “It won’t happen.”

South Korea’s foreign ministry said that “North Korea’s repeated provocations show the Kim Jong-un regime’s nature of irrationality, maniacally obsessed in its nuclear and missile development”.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga confirmed the missile had not reached Japanese territorial waters, adding that Tokyo would make a “strong protest” to North Korea over the incident.

There has so far been no comment from North Korea.

On a visit to South Korea last week, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said that any use of nuclear weapons by North Korea would be met with an “effective and overwhelming” response.

He also reconfirmed plans to deploy a US missile defence system in South Korea later this year.

North Korea conducted its fifth test of a nuclear device last year, and claims it is capable of carrying out a nuclear attack on the US, though experts are still unconvinced that its technology has progressed that far.

Source: BBC

North Korea fires ballistic missile, drawing tough response from Donald Trump

A man watches the news showing file footage of North Korea's missile launch at a railway station in Seoul on February 12, 2017. North Korea fired a ballistic missile on February 12 in an apparent provocation to test the response from new US President Donald Trump, the South Korean defence ministry said.<br />JUNG Yeon-Je / AFP

North Korea fired a ballistic missile on Sunday, drawing a strong response from US President Donald Trump who vowed “100 percent” support for key ally Japan at a press conference with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The missile, the first test since Trump became president, was launched around 7:55 am (2255 GMT Saturday) from Banghyon air base in the western province of North Pyongan, and flew east towards the Sea of Japan (East Sea), the South Korean defence ministry said.

It flew about 500 kilometres (310 miles) before falling into the sea, a ministry spokesman said, adding the exact type of missile had yet to be identified.

“Today’s missile launch… is aimed at drawing global attention to the North by boasting its nuclear and missile capabilities”, the ministry said in a statement.

“It is also believed that it was an armed provocation to test the response from the new US administration under President Trump,” it added.

Trump responded with an assurance to the visiting Abe that Washington was committed to the security of its key Asian ally.

“I just want everybody to understand and fully know that the United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 percent,” Trump said, without elaborating.

Abe denounced the launch as “absolutely intolerable” while top government spokesman Yoshihide Suge told reporters in Tokyo it was “clearly a provocation to Japan and the region”.

North Korea is barred under UN resolutions from any use of ballistic missile technology but six sets of UN sanctions since Pyongyang’s first nuclear test in 2006 have failed to halt its drive for what it insists are defensive weapons.

– ‘Clear provocation’ –
Last year the country conducted numerous tests and launches in its quest to develop a nuclear weapons system capable of hitting the US mainland.

A South Korean army official quoted by Yonhap news agency ruled out the possibility of a long-range missile test, describing the device as an upgraded version of the North’s short-range Rodong missile.

Seoul-based academic Yang Moo-Jin said the latest test was “a celebratory launch” to mark the February 16 birthday of Kim Jong-Il, late ruler and father of current leader Kim Jong-Un.

Pyongyang often celebrates key anniversaries involving current and former leaders with missile launches, Yang, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP.

South Korea’s acting president Hwang Gyo-Ahn vowed a “corresponding punishment” in response to the launch, which came on the heels of a visit to Seoul by new US Defense Secretary James Mattis earlier this month.

Mattis had warned Pyongyang that any nuclear attack would be met with an “effective and overwhelming” response.

Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, spoke to his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-Jin on the phone and agreed to “seek all possible options” to curb future provocations by the North, Seoul’s presidential office said in a statement.

In January leader Kim Jong-Un boasted that Pyongyang was in the “final stages” of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in an apparent attempt to pressure the incoming US president. Trump shot back on Twitter, saying “It won’t happen.”

James Char, senior analyst at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies in Singapore, said the launch was Pyongyang’s “way of showing characteristic defiance against… Trump”.

– Test for Trump –
Washington has repeatedly vowed that it will never accept North Korea as a nuclear-armed nation and the latest launch poses a test for Trump, who will need the help of Beijing, Pyongyang’s closest ally, to deal with the reclusive state.

Relations between the two superpowers have thawed in recent days after Trump reaffirmed Washington’s “One China” policy in what he described as a “very warm” telephone conversation with President Xi Jinping.

“The recent Trump-Xi phone call would be considered an important platform from which the two powers will move forward,” Char said.

Analysts are divided over how close Pyongyang is to realising its full nuclear ambitions, especially as it has never successfully test-fired an ICBM.

But all agree it has made enormous strides in that direction since Kim took over after the death of his father in December 2011.

Daesh executes 40 civilians in northern Syrian town: Report

The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group has reportedly executed more than three dozen civilians in Syria’s strategic northern province of Aleppo as they continue to lose ground in battles against government forces.

The media bureau of Syria’s Joint Operations Command announced in a statement on Saturday that Daesh extremists had rounded up 40 civilians in the town of al-Bab, located some 40 kilometers northeast of Aleppo, and then killed them all.

The killings came as fierce clashes continue unabated between Turkish-backed militants and Daesh Takfiris on the fringes of al-Bab.

Turkish artillery units also lobbed a barrage of projectiles at Daesh outposts inside and outside of the border town.

On August 24, 2016, the Turkish Air Force and special ground forces kicked off Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to support the Free Syrian Army militants and rid the border area of Daesh terrorists and fighters from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The offensive was launched in coordination with the US-led military coalition, which has purportedly been fighting Daesh extremists since 2014.

The incursion was the first major Turkish military intervention in Syria, which drew strong condemnation from the Syrian government for violating the Arab country’s sovereignty.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on November 29, 2016 that the Turkish army had marched into Syria to end the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, whom he accused of terrorism and causing the deaths of thousands.

The remarks caused consternation in the Kremlin, with Russian presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, demanding that Erdogan clarify anti-Assad goals in Syria.

The Turkish leader backtracked on the comments two days later, asserting that the offensives there were aimed only at terrorists.

Late on Friday, Syrian army forces managed to retake Abu Taltal village near the town of al-Bab after heavy skirmishes with foreign-sponsored Takfiri militants there.

Syrian soldiers and allied forces launched an operation against Daesh positions near al-Tharda region of the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr on Saturday, killing scores of the terrorists in the process.

Syrian Air Force fighter jets also carried out a string of strikes against Daesh terrorists in the al-Makabbat area of the same Syrian province, killing six terrorists and injuring another seven. A motorcycle belonging to the terrorists was destroyed in the aerial attacks as well.

Additionally, Syrian aircraft targeted Daesh gatherings in the al- Hamidiyah district of Dayr al-Zawr city, situated about 420 kilometers northeast of the capital Damascus, and the outskirts of a military airport, killing and injuring many of the terrorists and destroying vehicles equipped with heavy machineguns.

Syrian troopers and fighters from pro-government popular defense groups also thwarted separate infiltration attempts by Daesh from al-Hweiqa and al-Husseiniya villages into Dayr al-Zawr city, killing most of the terrorists.

Source: Press TV

Boko Haram Kills 7 New Army Recruits, Abducts Female Soldier

Boko Haram insurgents ambushed a convoy of new recruits in northeast Nigeria, killing
seven troops and abducting a female soldier, the Nigerian military and a self-defense commander said Friday. Nineteen soldiers were wounded.

Thursday evening’s ambush occurred near the town of Mafa, 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Maiduguri. The city in northeastern Nigeria is the birthplace of Boko Haram and headquarters of the Nigerian military’s campaign to crush the seven-year Islamic insurgency that has killed more than 20,000 people.

A military spokesman, Lt. Col. Kingsley Samuel, said seven soldiers “paid the supreme price” and 19 were wounded in the “fierce encounter.” He said other troops were mobilized to pursue the attackers.

An army officer and a self-defense commander said a female soldier was abducted from the convoy of new recruits traveling to relieve troops who had long overstayed their rotation in the war zone.

The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters.

Nigeria’s military last year drove Boko Haram out of towns and forest strongholds, but isolated attacks and suicide bombings continue.

BREAKING NEWS: 6 Dead in Clash Between Marines and Gunmen in Mexico

Officials in the western Mexican state of Sinaloa say five suspects and one marine have died in an early morning clash.

The Sinaloa state prosecutor’s office said in a statement Tuesday that heavily armed men traveling in several vehicles attacked marines on patrol in Culiacan. The gunfight occurred around 3:40 a.m.

The statement says that the suspects who were killed were all carrying assault rifles.

Authorities recovered four AK-47 rifles and one AR-15.

Culiacan is currently hosting the Caribbean Series baseball championship. Mexico defeated Cuba 1-0 Monday night to secure a spot in the championship game.

Source: ABC News

In Syria: Syrian army besieges Daesh- held town of Bab

Syrian government troops and their allied forces have laid siege to the town of al-Bab, the largest stronghold of Daesh terrorists in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, according to a pro-opposition monitoring group.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Monday that Syrian forces had completely surrounded the town.

The Britain-based group added that the advance followed the army’s capture of Awishyah hill, which is several hundred meters away from a road that links al-Bab to Raqqah and Dayr al-Zawr provinces.

The capture of the hill came hours after Syrian troops took control of the village of Awishyah, it said.

The latest advance means government forces have now encircled the terrorists in the towns of al-Bab, Bizaah, Qabasin and Tedif.

In January, the monitoring group reported that Daesh terrorists had transferred their families out of al-Bab to other areas under their control ahead of the Syrian army’s imminent advance on the town.

As a landmark victory against the invading terrorist groups, the Syrian army liberated the strategic city of Aleppo in 2016.

Meanwhile, Turkish forces fighting as part of Operation Euphrates Shield have failed to keep their control over Bizaah. Daesh terrorists are said to have recaptured the town after multiple ambushes that left an unconfirmed number of Turkish soldiers dead.

In August last year, the Turkish air force and special ground forces launched Operation Euphrates Shield inside Syria in a declared bid to aid the Free Syrian Army militants against Daesh terrorists.

Turkey is also accused of using the fight against Daesh as a cover to repel Kurdish forces, who themselves have been battling against the terrorist group.

Ankara has already made it clear that it will not tolerate Kurdish territorial gains close to its frontiers.

Source: PressTV

38 Killed by Avalanches After Heavy Snow in Afghanistan – Afghan Official

At least 38 people have been killed over the course of three days in Afghanistan by avalanches caused by heavy snow, officials said on Sunday.

Omer Mohammadi, spokesman for the Afghan state minister for disaster management and humanitarian affairs, said that more than 20 others have been injured.

Mohammadi said that 22 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces have experienced heavy snow.

Approximately 20 homes have been destroyed by avalanches and nearly 50 others heavily damaged.

Mohammad Aseem, provincial governor in northern Parwan province, said that 16 people were killed and eight others injured in avalanches in two districts. He said a team had been dispatched to affected areas but that many roads had been blocked by snow.

Naweed Frotan, spokesman for the provincial governor in Badakhshan province, said initial reports showed at least 18 people killed, but added that the numbers were expected to rise.

Mohammadi added that so far more than 550 animals have been killed and more than 1000 hectares of agricultural lands destroyed in the affected provinces.

On Sunday, the government declared a public holiday due to the heavy snowfall.

Source: ABC NEWS

In Yemen: Saudi airstrikes, mercenaries kill seven across Yemen

Saudi Arabian warplanes and Riyadh-backed militias have slain seven civilians in indiscriminate offensives targeting various areas across Yemen. On Saturday, Saudi aircraft targeted fishing boats off the Tarfah Island of the western Yemeni province of al-Hudaydah, killing one civilian and injuring six others.

Two civilians were killed and a number of others injured after the fighter planes struck the al-Mokha District of Ta’izz Province in Yemen’s extreme southwest.

The United Nations has warned about the dire situation of civilians in Mokha and Ta’izz more generally, as Saudi Arabia and its mercenaries try to force out Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The movement has been defending Yemen against the Saudi war, which started in March 2015 to restore power to former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has resigned but seeks a forced return to office.

Saudi-backed militiamen, meanwhile, raided residential buildings in the Nihm District in Yemen’s western Sana’a Province, killing two women and one child.

Sana’a prison riot

Separately, Russia Today reported that five people had been killed and 35 others injured during a melee in the Central Prison in the capital, Sana’a.

It cited Abdul-Salam al-Dhale’ei, the head of the country’s Rehabilitation Organization, as saying that violence erupted following an argument between a prisoner and a guard.

Source: Press TV

UPDATES: Louvre knife attack sparks fresh warnings of French terror threat

A man who attempted a knife attack on soldiers guarding the Louvre Museum in Paris was shot and injured on Friday, highlighting France’s security and terror threat just three months before the French presidential election.

Hundreds of tourists were held in secure areas of the Louvre, one of the world’s most visited museums, after the man was shot five times by soldiers on patrol outside.

Believed to be in his 30s, he struck at around 10am on a stairway in the Carrousel du Louvre, an underground shopping centre near the entrance to the museum.

Wielding a knife, he ran at a group of soldiers on patrol shouting “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is greatest”.

The incident, in which one soldier was slightly injured, was described by the French prime minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, as “terrorist in nature”.

The suspect has not been formally identified but Reuters said Egypt’s interior ministry had received confirmation from the country’s embassy in Paris that he is Egyptian.

Two rucksacks carried by the suspected attacker were checked by bomb disposal specialists at the scene and were found not to contain explosives.

Michel Cadot, the Paris police prefect, said the man had headed towards soldiers “armed with a machete” and shouting threats and “Allahu Akbar”. Soldiers opened fire and he was injured by gunshots, including to the stomach, and was being treated in hospital.

Cadot told reporters: “We are dealing with an attack from an individual who was clearly aggressive and represented a direct threat and whose comments lead us to believe that he wished to carry out a terrorist incident.

“There was also a second individual who was behaving suspiciously, who has also been detained, but for now there does not appear to be a link between that individual and the attack.”

About 1,250 visitors in the Louvre were ushered to safe areas inside the museum for a time after the incident.

“There were announcements, then the security guards started running all over the place and, after a short period, they started gathering everybody up and getting them to one side of the building,” Lance Manus, 73, from Albany, New York, told Associated Press. “They pulled the shades. They didn’t want anybody to sit by the windows.”

Manus, in Paris with his wife Wendy to mark their 50th wedding anniversary, added: “I guess they were concerned that something would be coming from outside.”

He said people in the museum were calm, but some young children were crying.

A woman who worked in a restaurant nearby told AFP: “We saw death coming for us, with everything that’s happening at the moment. We were very, very scared.”

The incident sparked fresh warnings from politicians about the terrorist and security threat as France is still reeling from a string of terrorist attacks that have killed more than 200 people over the past two years.

France remains under a state of emergency following the Paris attacks of November 2015, which killed 130 people.

The French president, François Hollande, praised the soldiers, saying: “This operation undoubtedly prevented an attack whose terrorist nature leaves little doubt.”

Donald Trump responded to the incident in a tweet that described the suspected attacker as “a new radical Islamic terrorist”.

“Tourists were locked down. France on edge again. GET SMART US,” the US president wrote.

The economy, immigration and security are major issues for voters in the two-round French presidential election in April and May. The country has shifted politically to the right after five years of the Socialist Hollande.

Currently polls shows that Marine Le Pen of the anti-immigration, far-right Front National can reach the final round runoff.

The rightwing candidate François Fillon, who has run a hardline campaign on security, immigration and Islam’s place in France, was once a favourite but is struggling for his political survival amid a scandal over whether he paid his wife and children out of public funds for allegedly fake jobs as parliamentary assistants.

Source: The Guardian

Iran’s ballistic missile test successful: Defense minister revels

Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan says Iran’s recent ballistic missile test has been “successful.”

“This missile test was successful,” the Iranian minister said as quoted by Tasnim News Agency, emphasizing that “Iran’s missile tests are not, and have never been, in violation of the JCPOA (Iran’s nuclear deal with six world powers) or [UN Security Council] Resolution 2231.”

Dehqan confirmed on Wednesday that the country had conducted a missile test within the framework of its defense program, saying the Islamic Republic does not allow any foreign meddling in its domestic defensive affairs.

The comments come days after the United States called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to discuss the launch of what it described as a “medium-range” missile by Iran. The meeting ended without reaching any conclusive result.

Iranian defense minister’s remarks apparently came in reaction to media reports quoting some US officials as claiming that the test had failed as the missile flew some 600 miles before exploding.

Resolution 2231 was adopted by the UN Security Council in July 2015, days after Iran and the P5+1 group of countries, namely Russia, China, the US, the UK, and France plus Germany, signed the JCPOA, an acronym for the deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The resolution, which turned the JCPOA into an international document, calls on Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology.”

Iran’s defensive ballistic missile program has been a bone of contention with the West. Tehran says its missile tests do not breach UN resolutions because they are solely for defense purposes and not designed to carry nuclear warheads.

Arms control experts have also said that Iran’s missile tests are not banned under the nuclear agreement and the UNSC resolution, because Iran’s missiles are not meant to deliver nuclear warheads.

Iranian officials have in recent days joined voices to support the country’s defense program in the face of the latest provocative remarks by officials of the new US administration on Tehran’s domestic defense agenda.

In a Tuesday statement, 220 Iranian lawmakers expressed all-out support for Iran’s Armed Forces, saying “the reinforcement of the defense capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran in line with deterrence strategy” is an absolute necessity to ensure the country’s national security.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has also described missile tests as an “inalienable and absolute” right of the nation, emphasizing that no country or international body can have any say in this regard.

Source: Press TV

UPDATES: Heavy Fighting Continues in Eastern Ukraine

Ukraine reported Wednesday that at least one soldier was killed overnight and more injured in the country’s east as heavy fighting between government troops and Russia-backed rebels continued.

Heavy shelling was heard in the center of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk Wednesday morning. The flare-up in fighting in eastern Ukraine, which began over the weekend, killed eight people late on Monday and early Tuesday including civilians, and injuring dozens on both sides.

The Ukrainian government’s press office for the military operation in the east reported one soldier killed, and nine soldiers and one civilian injured late on Tuesday.

In Makiivka, the rebel-controlled northeastern suburb of Donetsk, two coal miners were injured Wednesday morning by shelling as they were walking to work, the rebels’ Donetsk News Agency reported.

Fighting is concentrated around the suburb of Avdiivka on the northern outskirts of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk where residents have been without electricity for days.

Fighting cut the power supply to Avdiivka which has been without heating and electricity for days, but water service was restored on Tuesday.

An Associated Press reporter outside Avdiivka saw a transporter carrying Grad multiple missile launcher with empty rounds drive away from the front line Wednesday.

Grad is among heavy weaponry that both warring parties committed to pull back when they signed a cease-fire agreement in Minsk in 2015.

In Donetsk, local residents reported incessant outgoing and incoming artillery salvos heard throughout the night and in the morning, an intensity that the city has not seen in months. On Wednesday morning, an Associated Press reporter saw rebel artillery positions in the center of the city.

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday condemned the use of weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements and called for “an immediate return to the cease-fire regime.”

Sources: ABC News, Dailymail Uk

Just In: Iranian student deported in chaos of Donald Trump’s Muslim ban

Demonstrators protest against President Trump's immigration ban at Chicago International Airport on January 28, 2017 (AFP Photo/Joshua LOTT)<br />

When Sara Yarjani handed her passport to an immigration officer at Los Angeles airport she was sure she’d be waved through customs, as had happened before. Instead, 23 hours later, she was deported.
The 35-year-old Iranian graduate student became one of the first victims of the chaos unleashed by President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, from entering the United States.
Yarjani, who spoke with AFP by telephone late Monday from Vienna, where she is a permanent resident, said her ordeal began shortly after her plane landed Friday evening and — unbeknownst to her — Trump’s travel ban had kicked in.

“I had been on holiday in Canada to see my sister and then went to Austria and was coming back to resume classes,” said Yarjani, a student of holistic health at the California Institute for Human Science, located north of San Diego.
“I was not expecting to be stopped,” she said. “I had previously entered the country and was treated very well … and gone through customs within minutes.”
This time she quickly realized that it would be different, as the immigration officer took her passport and ushered her to a waiting area.
Two female officers who barked orders patted Yarjani down as she stood against a wall with her arms raised. She was told to remove her shawl, her jewelry and shoe laces, and was asked to hand over any cash as well as her cell phone — all of which were later returned.
Yarjani said after nearly four hours of waiting and questioning, during which she was allowed no phone calls, an officer compelled her to sign a form agreeing to deportation on grounds, he claimed, that her student visa was no longer valid.
– ‘Leave voluntarily or forcibly’ –
“The officer told me ‘you have two option– either you comply and agree to leave voluntarily … or you will forcibly be deported and face a ban of one to five years or longer of reentry to the US’,” she said.
“The way he was saying it was very threatening and I felt I had no choice.”
Yarjani said she became aware of the mayhem caused by Trump’s order when she was allowed, shortly after midnight, a quick call to her sister to let her know she was being deported.
“I arrived in LA at 8:35 pm Friday and left at 7:30 pm the next day,” she said.
Yarjani said as she was being escorted by two armed officers for her flight back to Europe, she was able to briefly check her phone and learned that a federal judge had temporarily blocked part of Trump’s executive order.
“I told one of the officers that a judge had ruled against the ban … and that I should not be put on the plane but all she said was ‘wowza’ while ordering me to keep walking,” Yarjani said.
She said now that she was back in Austria with her parents, she was still trying to come to terms with what had happened and considering her next move.
“It’s a very confusing feeling right now because on the one hand I feel thankful I am out of their custody but on the other hand, it’s really sad and heartbreaking because I really love what I am studying,” she said, her voice breaking.
“I have worked so hard for the past year and a half and it’s been such a long journey to get there and to study something I am really passionate about.”
She said university officials have been very supportive and concerned about her fate while attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have also offered assistance.
“Being stopped from entering the country to continue my studies does not make any sense,” said Yarjani, who was due to graduate this summer.
“I was treated as if I had done something drastically wrong … and I don’t think studying something that is aimed at helping people is a crime you should be deported for.”

Breaking News! Donald Trump fired the Acting Attorney General for defying his executive order

President Donald Trump has fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates, for ordering the Justice Department not to defend Trump’s executive order on the refugee ban.

According to a tweet released by his press secretary, Sean Spicer 13 minutes ago, she has been fired from her position and replaced temporarily by Dana Boente, US Attorney for the Eastern District of VA.

Trump also made a statement to confirm the appointment of Dana Boente as Acting AG.

Confusion and Protest 2 Days After Donald Trump’s ‘Muslim Immigration’ Order

The atmosphere of chaos and criticism that followed President Donald Trump’s executive order restricting on entry into the U.S. of people from seven Muslim-dominated countries continued on Sunday, as a series of planned protests sought to build on what became a national phenomenon overnight.

Protesters at airports across the country reacted with jubilation last night at the news that in response to a legal challenge issued by the ACLU a federal court in Brooklyn had granted an emergency stay on the president’s executive order that bans immigration from Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Libya.

Following the court’s decision, the Department of Homeland Security said in a press release that it “will continue to enforce all of the president’s Executive Orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people.”

The statement noted that Trump’s executive orders remain “in place,” despite the emergency stay.

“The president’s Executive Orders remain in place — prohibited travel will remain prohibited, and the U.S. government retains its right to revoke visas at any time if required for national security or public safety,” the release said.

The ACLU contended that the stay applied nationally to all cases, but that was not necessarily clear from the ruling, and an atmosphere of confusion still surrounds the orders, and how they will be applied going forward.

Today, the spontaneous protests that were sparked by news of travelers being detained were expected to continue in a more planned fashion at airports across the country.

Protests are scheduled today in New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle, Chicago and other cities.

The protests started Saturday at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, where hundreds of people chanted “No hate, no fear, refugees are welcome here,” angered at the detention of a number of people arriving from the countries listed in Trump’s order, including the two Iraqi men whose cases were taken by the ACLU.

As the day went on, the protests spread to other major airports like Washington Dulles International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.

The two Iraqis who were detained at JFK were both released later in the day, drawing widespread media attention.

One of the men, Hameed Jhalid Darweesh, expressed his gratitude for those who supported him while he was detained.

“America is the land of freedom,” Darweesh said. “The land of freedom, the land of the rights. This is what brought me to come here, and I’m very thankful.”

Neither Darweesh nor the other Iraqi were technically refugees according to the definition in the president’s executive order at the time of their detention, but appear to have come to the U.S. on visas, a Trump administration official tells ABC News.

A senior Department of Homeland Security official said that 375 travelers were affected by the executive order Saturday at airports across the country.

Within that group, 109 people were in transit and then denied entry to the U.S., 173 were denied entry to the U.S. before boarding their flights in a foreign port, and 81 were granted waivers because of their legal permanent resident or special immigrant visa status.

The number of people being held at U.S. airports is expected to dwindle today, but passengers at airports across the world may be kept from boarding flights to the U.S.

Trump said the executive order was part of a vetting plan to prevent “radical Islamic terrorists” from reaching American soil.

The seven-page document calls for an immediate suspension of immigration from countries with ties to terror — Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Iran and Libya — for a time period of 90 days. But none of the countries on the list have had anything to do with terror incidents on U.S. soil since the 9/11 attacks, and Saudi Arabia — where 15 of the 9/11 hijackers were from — is not included.

It also calls for the complete suspension of Syrian refugees for an indefinite period. It also calls on the secretary of state to suspend the entire U.S program for admitting refugees for 120 days while authorities review the application and adjudication process.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said today on “This Week” that the seven countries had been identified by the Obama administration as needing further scrutiny, and said other countries could be added to the list at a later date.

Source: ABC NEWS

BREAKING NEWS: U.S federal judge blocks Donald Trump’s immigration order from deporting people detained at airports

A federal judge in New York has issued an emergency stay temporarily stopping the removal of individuals detained at the airports after President Trump’s order banned immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S.

The move marks the first successful legal challenge against the Trump administration and affects those who have arrived in the U.S. already or were in transit with valid visas.

The court ruled on a habeas corpus petition filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of two Iraqi men who were detained at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Friday after Trump’s ban. Since then both men, Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshaw, have been granted entry into the U.S. Cecillia Wang, deputy legal director at the ACLU, tweeted:

The ruling deals with a part of Trump’s order which bars Syrian refugees indefinitely and halts the resettlement of all refugees for four months as the administration reviews the vetting process.

Judge Ann Donnelly of the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn granted the request from ACLU to stay the deportations after determining that the risk of injury to those detained by being returned to their home countries necessitated the decision.

And only minutes after the judge’s ruling in New York, another came in Virginia when U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a temporary restraining order to block the removal of any green-card holders being detained at Dulles International Airport for seven days.

Brinkema’s action also ordered that lawyers have access to those held there because of the president’s ban.

There have been several protests at various airports since the ban was announced.

Source: CNN/The Hill