US judge temporarily blocks Trump's travel ban nationwide

February 4, 2017

Seattle, Feb 4: A U.S. judge on Friday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's ban on travelers and immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries, siding with two states that urged a nationwide hold on the executive order that has launched legal battles across the country.

judgeU.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle ruled that Washington state and Minnesota had standing to challenge Trump's order, which government lawyers disputed, and said they showed their case was likely to succeed.

“The state has met its burden in demonstrating immediate and irreparable injury,” Robart said.

Trump's order last week sparked protests nationwide and confusion at airports as some travelers were detained. The White House has argued that it will make the country safer.

It wasn't immediately clear what happens next for people who had waited years to receive visas to come to America. The Department of Homeland Security wouldn't comment, but the State Department had previously ordered visas from the seven countries revoked.

Washington became the first state to sue over the order that temporarily bans travel for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya and Yemen and suspends the U.S. refugee programme.

State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said the travel ban significantly harms residents and effectively mandates discrimination. Minnesota joined the lawsuit two days later.

After the ruling, Mr. Ferguson said people from the affected countries can now apply for entry to the U.S.

“Judge Robart's decision, effective immediately ... puts a halt to President Trump's unconstitutional and unlawful executive order,” Mr. Ferguson said. “The law is a powerful thing it has the ability to hold everybody accountable to it, and that includes the President of the United States.”

Gillian M. Christensen, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation. The judge's ruling could be appealed the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Federal attorneys had argued that Congress gave the President authority to make decisions on national security and immigrant entry.

The two states won a temporary restraining order while the court considers the lawsuit, which aims to permanently block Trump's order. Court challenges have been filed nationwide from states and advocacy groups.

In court, Washington Solicitor General Noah Purcell said the focus of the state's legal challenge was the way the President's order targeted Islam.

Mr. Trump has called for a ban on Muslims entering the country, and the travel ban was an effort to make good on that campaign promise, Ms. Purcell told the judge.

“Do you see a distinction between campaign statements and the executive order,” Judge Robart asked. “I think it's a bit of a reach to say the President is anti-Muslim based on what he said in New Hampshire in June.”

Ms. Purcell said there was an “overwhelming amount of evidence” to show that the order was directed at the Muslim religion, which is unconstitutional.

When the judge questioned the federal government's lawyer, Michelle Bennett, he repeatedly questioned the rationale behind the order.

Judge Robart, who was appointed the federal bench by President George W. Bush, asked if there had been any terrorist attacks by people from the seven counties listed in Mr. Trump's order since 9/11. Bennett said she didn't know.

“The answer is none,” Judge Robart said. “You're here arguing we have to protect from these individuals from these countries, and there's no support for that.”

Ms. Bennett argued that the states can't sue on behalf of citizens and the states have failed to show the order is causing irreparable harm.

Judge Robart disagreed.

“The state has met its burden of demonstrating immediate and irreparable injury,” he said. “I find the TRO is in the public interest.”

Up to 60,000 foreigners from the seven majority-Muslim countries had their visas canceled because of the executive order, the State Department said on Friday.

That figure contradicts a statement from a Justice Department lawyer on the same day during a court hearing in Virginia about the ban. The lawyer in that case said about 100,000 visas had been revoked.

The State Department clarified that the higher figure includes diplomatic and other visas that were actually exempted from the travel ban, as well as expired visas.

Mr. Ferguson, a Democrat, said the order is harming Washington residents, businesses and its education system.

Washington-based businesses Amazon, Expedia and Microsoft support the state's efforts to stop the order. They say it's hurting their operations, too.

Lawyers for Washington state said another hearing was expected in the next few weeks.

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Agencies
April 2,2020
Thailand's controversial king has created a category of his own with his idea of self-isolation.
 
According to reports, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, also known as Rama X, has hired out an entire luxury hotel in Germany, where he has been 'self-isolating' with 20 women.
 
The luxury hotel, the Grand Hotel Sonnenbichl, is in the Alpine resort town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
 
The 67-year-old king is self-isolating with his entourage that includes a 'harem' of 20 concubines and several servants, reported Bild.
 
However, it is unclear if his four wives are currently living in the same hotel.

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Agencies
May 6,2020

Italian researchers have claimed that they have successfully developed a vaccine to contain coronavirus (COVID-19) which is likely to work on humans, a report said.

Luigi Aurisicchio, CEO of Takis, the firm developing the medication, said that a coronavirus candidate vaccine has neutralised the virus in human cells for the first time, the Arab News reported.

"This is the most advanced stage of testing of a candidate vaccine created in Italy. Human tests are expected after this summer," Aurisicchio was quoted as saying to Italian news agency ANSA.

"According to the Spallanzani Hospital, as far as we know we are the first in the world so far to have demonstrated neutralisation of the coronavirus by a vaccine. We expect this to happen in humans too," he added.

The researchers experimented with the vaccine on mice that had successfully developed antibodies that blocked the virus from infecting the cells. They further observed that the five vaccine candidates generated a large number of antibodies, and selected two with the best results.

All of the vaccine candidates currently being developed are based on the genetic material of DNA protein "spike", the molecular tip used by the coronavirus to enter human cells.

They are injected with the so-called "electroporation" technique, which consists of an intramuscular injection followed by a brief electrical impulse, helping the vaccine break into the cells and activating the immune system, the report said.

Researchers believe that this makes their vaccine particularly effective for generating functional antibodies against the "spike" protein, in particular in the lung cells, which are the most vulnerable to coronavirus.

"We are working hard for a vaccine coming from Italian research, with an all-Italian and innovative technology, tested in Italy and made available to everyone," Aurisicchio was quoted by the Arab News report.

"In order to reach this goal, we need the support of national and international institutions and partners who may help us speed up the process," he noted.

The total number of COVID-19 infections, fatalities and recoveries since the pandemic began has risen to 213,013 in the country.

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News Network
June 4,2020

Beijing, Jun 4: Around 40 students and staff members of a primary school in China were stabbed by a security guard, official media reported today.

The incident happened at a school in China's Guangxi province, state-run China Daily said in a brief report.

Further details about the attack are awaited.

Knife attacks by disgruntled people have been taking place in different parts of China in the past few years, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

The attackers targeted mainly kindergarten and primary schools besides public transport, the news agency reported.

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