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Mark Abadi President Donald Trump.Drew Angerer/Getty Images A federal appeals court unanimously ruled against President Donald Trump on Thursday, refusing to reinstate his travel ban affecting people from seven Muslim-majority countries. The ruling, issued by a three-judge panel on the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, means that refugees and citizens of the countries in question can continue entering the US - striking a blow to Trump's ability to deliver on one of his key campaign promises. "We hold that the Government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay,"  the panel said  in its ruling. Shortly after the ruling was announced, Trump posted a defiant message to Twitter: "SEE YOU IN COURT," Trump tweeted, foreshadowing a legal challenge that could play out in the Supreme Court. Th

by  Matt Prior Shall we talk about The Donald? We should, given that one of the first things he did as president of the United States was to order the deletion of the ‘climate’ section from the White House website. His vision of the US’s energy future is, to put it mildly, rather different from that of Barack Obama and could have far-reaching implications for the car industry. Could, but won’t. The Obama administration said its Climate Action Plan would “help prepare for the impacts of climate change and lead international efforts to address climate change”. But on the web page where those statements were published now sits the equivalent of a TV test card. President Trump is, the White House says, “committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies like the Climate Action Plan”. He is “committed to clean coal technology” and will “refocus the Environmental Protection Agency” away from climate and toward “its mission of protecting our air and water”. Trump’s energy polic

US Republican Senator John McCain President Donald Trump has lashed out at Republican Senator John McCain for criticizing the recent US raid in Yemen in which an American special forces trooper died. The White House has characterized the January 28 strike on purported al-Qaeda targets in the central Yemeni province of Bayda as a “huge success," despite the death of multiple civilians and children in an hour-long gunfight in which Navy SEALs and troops from the United Arab Emirates clashed with well-entrenched al-Qaeda militants. McCain told NBC News on Wednesday that he cannot call it a success "when you lose a $75 million airplane and, more importantly, an American life is lost." McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who was briefed on the raid, called the mission a failure because one US soldier died and one military aircraft crashed, not because of the death of civilians. In a series of tweets on Thursday, Trump said that the Arizona senator’s ne

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi Tehran has once again slammed Washington’s recent belligerent rhetoric and measures against Iran, saying the world is currently witnessing age-old enmity of the United States towards the Islamic Republic under the administration of President Donald Trump. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi made the remarks on Thursday in response to the latest anti-Iran claims by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. The Iranian official said the news coming out every day on Trump’s decisions, false remarks by some new US officials, in addition to widespread anti-Trump protests both at home and abroad “clearly show a change of president in the US.” After taking office, the new US president ordered sweeping travel bans against a number of Muslim-majority countries, including the Islamic Republic. The order was followed by widespread domestic and international backlash. Qassemi further said, “There may have been changes inside the

By ADAM PEARCE FEB. 9, 2017 Historically, the Senate voted with little opposition to confirm a president’s first slate of cabinet nominees. As Congress has become more partisan and quicker to oppose incoming presidents, more nominees have faced contentious confirmation votes. With less than half of his cabinet in place, President Trump’s confirmed nominees have already faced an unprecedented level of opposition. Only five first-year nominees have ever received 40 or more “no” votes. Three of those nominees were under Mr. Trump. Number of “no” votes Cabinet nominees during a president’s first year in office After a 50-50 vote on Tuesday, Betsy DeVos was the first cabinet nominee ever to require a  tie-breaking confirmation vote  from a vice president. Jeff Sessions was confirmed as attorney general on Wednesday despite receiving 47 “no” votes, the third highest number among all first-year nominees. John G. Tower, President George Bush’s pick for defense secretary in 1989, is the

US president sends belated new year wishes, but failure to contact Beijing counterpart almost three weeks after inauguration is prompting questions  US president Donald Trump makes a call from the Oval Office of the White House – but not to China’s president Xi Jinping. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP View more sharing options Tom Phillips  in Beijing Thursday 9 February 2017 05.37 GMTLast modified on Thursday 9 February 2017 05.55 GMT Donald Trump has reportedly  yelled down the telephone  at Australia’s prime minister and  veered off into rants  about China and Nato with French leader François Hollande So the leader of the world’s second largest economy,  Xi Jinping , may feel he got off lightly with nothing more than a letter. Almost three weeks after Trump’s inauguration, that was how the US president decided to engage with his Chinese counterpart, in what observers described as a further indication of the dark clouds now gathering over US-China relations. In a statement, Whit

Sweden's Deputy Prime Minister for International Development Cooperation and Climate Isabella Lovin delivers remarks at the ''Our Ocean'' conference at Georgetown University in Washington, U.S., September 16, 2016. REUTERS/GARY CAMERON FILE PHOTO: Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin speaks to the media during a news conference in Stockholm, Sweden July 2, 2016. TT News Agency/Johan Jeppsson/via REUTERS/FILE PHOTO (Reuters) - Eight countries have joined an initiative to raise millions of dollars to replace shortfalls caused by President Donald Trump's ban on U.S.-funded groups around the world providing information on abortion, Sweden's deputy prime minister said. Isabella Lovin told Reuters a conference would be held on March 2 in Brussels to kick-start the funding initiative to help non-governmental organizations whose family planning projects could be affected. The Netherlands announce

Video President Trump stepped up his criticism of the United States judicial system a day after his travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries faced close scrutiny from an appeals court. WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at the judicial branch for considering challenges to his executive order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries, asserting that politically motivated judges had held a “disgraceful” federal appeals court hearing Tuesday on the matter. “I don’t ever want to call a court biased, so I won’t call it biased,” Mr. Trump told a gathering of sheriffs and police chiefs in Washington. “But courts seem to be so political, and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what’s right.” Mr. Trump, who opened his remarks reciting the passage of the United States code that gives the president the power to restrict immigration whenever he deems the influx of foreigners detrimental t

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin (Photo by AFP) A senior Russian diplomat has expressed surprise at an outcry provoked by the new US administration over Iranian missile work, saying Tehran’s missile tests are not violating any UN bans, legally speaking. “This outcry about Iran’s ballistic missile launches. I was surprised to hear even American experts speaking on CNN and calling it a violation of bans by the UN Security Council,” said Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin in an interview with RT published Tuesday. He was referring to Resolution 2231 adopted by the Security Council in July 2015 to underpin the landmark nuclear deal inked days earlier between Tehran and the P5+1 group of states, namely Russia, China, France, Britain, the US plus Germany. The document terminated the provisions of previous UN resolutions, calling on Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such

Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, at the White House on Tuesday. Mr. Spicer denied reports that the purpose of the attack in Yemen was to capture or kill any specific Qaeda leader. WASHINGTON — Angry at the civilian casualties incurred last month in the  first commando raid authorized by President Trump ,  Yemen  has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country, according to American officials. Grisly photographs of children apparently killed in the crossfire of a 50-minute firefight during the raid caused outrage in Yemen. A member of the Navy’s SEAL Team 6, Chief Petty Officer William Owens, was also killed in the operation. While the White House continues to insist that the attack was a “success” — a characterization it repeated on Tuesday — the suspension of commando operations is a setback for Mr. Trump, who has made it clear he plans to take a far more aggressive approach aga

Bill McKibben The White House in the Time of Trump has seen unprecedented attacks on pillars of society and civilization  ‘Bannon and Trump hate reason precisely because it places limits on their actions.’ Photograph: REX/Shutterstock We’re not in a normal historical moment. Congress is acting as expected under a Republican government. The assault on the environment and working people is wrong, but predictable. What’s coming from the Oval Office, though, is unprecedented. It’s less the White House than the Black Tower, sending out its Breitbartian orcs and alt-right winged harpies to poison the politics of a nation. Two types of assaults are underway. One, instigated mostly by Congress, is painful. Last week, for instance, they managed in one morning to both end rules which sought to  prevent  coal companies from polluting streams and regulations which made it  harder  for oil companies to bribe foreign governments. There are dozens of these changes, all of them with hideous cons

Vladimir Putin wants to extend his influence beyond the ballot box and into the very fabric of our public life. We must take action before it’s too late  Illustration by Sébastien Thibault The Russian  hacking of the Democratic National Committee  (DNC) and members of Hillary Clinton’s campaign is being treated too much like a novelty and not enough as a serious and persistent security threat. The problem becomes more urgent as we see it spread to other countries. WikiLeaks, which disseminated stolen DNC documents, announced last week that it would turn its attention to France, and has released material relating to presidential candidates  François Fillon  and Emmanuel Macron, opponents of Marine Le Pen. US intelligence agencies found  clear linkge between Wikileaks and the Russian state; we have to assume Russia will use these to undermine Vladimir Putin’s arch-nemesis, Angela Merkel, when she faces the far-right Alternative für Deutschland at the polls in September. But there’s

White House backs up president’s claim that media is deliberately ignoring terror attacks by releasing list riddled with errors   Trump claims media is deliberately ignoring terror attacks David Smith  in Washington The White House has distributed a list of 78 terrorist attacks to support Donald Trump’s claim that the media is failing to properly report them. But the list includes many atrocities that received blanket western media coverage including the  Paris Bataclan attacks , the Nice truck killings  and the  San Bernardino shootings . Many others including the  Sydney siege  and Germany’s  Christmas market attack received wide international coverage. The list also includes multiple errors and spelling mistakes, including ‘San Bernadino’, and for no apparent reason excludes terror attacks in Israel. Images of Trump in a bathrobe flood Twitter after Sean Spicer says he 'doesn't own one' The release comes after the US president told military leaders in Tampa, Flor

The speaker of the UK House of Commons says he is "opposed" to a speech by US President Donald Trump in Westminster Hall, particularly after his order for imposition of a travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries. John Bercow made the remarks during a speech to the House of Commons on Monday after a point of order by a fellow Labour MP, Stephen Doughty. Bercow noted that his opposition to a Trump speech intensified after the new president‘s executive order. “Before the imposition of the migrant ban I would myself have been strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall. After the imposition of the migrant ban by President Trump I am even more strongly opposed to an address by President Trump in Westminster Hall,” said the speaker. Bercow’s stance complicates the situation for the government of Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been promoting a boost in the UK-US “special relationship” after Trump’s grip on power. Britain's Prime Minister

Saudi Arabia has pounded the port of Hudaydah in Yemen to stop the shipping of humanitarian aids into the war-ravaged country. Saudi forces have also prevented ships from entering the Yemeni port for over 20 days. The United Nations has voiced concern about the severe consequences of a long-term Saudi-imposed blockade on Yemen, which is facing a humanitarian crisis. Senior editor of Veterans Today from Ohio, Gordon Duff, believes that Russia is the power that can stand against the US-Saudi agenda in Yemen and stop the crippling war against the impoverished Arab state. “This is the war that is never going to end” unless the United Nations Security Council and one of its five permanent members, especially Russia, steps in to open the ports in Yemen, control humanitarian aid and bring about a reasonable ceasefire, Duff told Press TV. “There is a huge amount of silent complicity in the war on Yemen, which has been fought as a war against the people,” but Moscow has the capability to interv

Prairieland immigration facility reserves 36 beds for transgender inmates who are more likely to face abuse, but advocates worry about isolation and quality of care  Inside the Prairieland detention center’s transgender unit in Alvarado, Texas. Photograph: Charles Reed/US Immigration and Customs Enforcement View more sharing options Tom Dart During the week of the inauguration of a president whose policies will lead to a sharp increase in migrant arrests, America’s newest immigrant detention centre opened in rural north  Texas . Known as Prairieland, it has an unusual feature designed to protect an especially vulnerable section of the population: a unit for transgender detainees. Some LGBT advocates, though, question whether holding transgender people in a detached pod in a remote location will do more harm than good. The privately run centre 40 miles from Dallas stands as a monument to the Obama administration’s commitment to migrant detention, a practice it reinforced from 201

US Senator Bernie Sanders (Photo by AFP) Donald Trump is a “fraud,” says Senator Bernie Sanders, blasting the US president for breaking his campaign pledges by installing billionaires in his cabinet. Sanders, whose presidential bid revolved around fighting Wall Street and corporate interests, told CNN on Sunday that Trump was effectively “working for Wall Street.” “It is hard not to laugh to see President Trump alongside these Wall Street guys,” the Vermont senator said. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful. This guy is a fraud. This guy ran for president of the United States saying ‘I, Donald Trump, I’m going to take on Wall Street. These guys are getting away with murder.’ Then suddenly he appoints all these billionaires,” he added. Many of Trump’s cabinet picks are self-declared millionaires with proven ties to Wall Street. His designated Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, for example, is a former partner at Goldman Sachs. Gary Cohn, the president of the notorious financial fir

People hold protest signs during Friday prayers to show solidarity with the Muslim community at the Islamic Center of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 3, 2017. REUTERS/KEVORK DJANSEZIAN (Reuters) - Several technology giants, including Apple, Google and Microsoft, banded together on Sunday to file a legal brief opposing President Donald Trump's temporary immigration ban, arguing that it "inflicts significant harm on American business." The brief, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, included other top tech firms including Facebook, Twitter and Intel, as well as non-tech companies such as Levi Strauss and Chobani. In all nearly 100 firms, including eBay, Netflix and Uber signed onto the brief. Trump's temporary immigration ban, the most contentious policy move of his first two weeks in offices, faces crucial legal hurdles. His administration has a deadline on Monday to justify the executive order temporarily barring