Travel Ban Update

On Friday, President Trump signed an executive order that brought the United States refugee program to a standstill. The ban lasts 120 days and refuses refugees from any one of seven listed Muslim-majority nations entry to the United States: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In addition to the ban on refugees, this order forbids any person from these countries, including those with dual nationality, from entering the U.S. for 90 days, even if they are green card or visa holders. Immigrant and non-immigrant visas will also not be issued during that time. Many people were already on their way to the U.S. when the order was signed. As a result, they were detained upon arrival. By the end of the weekend, at least 16 attorney generals deemed the order unconstitutional, since it violates the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 and the Refugee Act of 1980. Several federal judges forced a halt of the deportation of visa holders who had reached the states. Lawyers showed up in airports on Saturday night in an effort to assist those who had been detained. As a result of these efforts, some travelers have been able to leave airports’ international terminals and enter the U.S.

Two men in Lancashire, England are being held by local law enforcement as suspects in an attempt to tamper with warplanes being held at a BAE Systems site in the region. BAE Systems is a global aerospace defense company with locations all around the world, although primarily in the United States and Western Europe. The men in question are Reverend Dan Woodhouse and Sam Walton. Woodhouse and Walton allegedly entered the BAE site with a plan to disarm the warplanes, which are scheduled to be shipped to Saudi Arabia. “Stopping or even delaying Saudi Arabia having more planes with which to bomb Yemen would save innocent lives and prevent war crimes,” Woodhouse said. Saudi Arabia has been leading a military intervention in Yemen since 2015.

Zuckerburg Drops Case in Hawaii

Mark Zuckerberg has dropped his case to acquire land in Hawaii for his 700-acre estate in Kauai. He had hoped to buy several small pockets of land within the estate by filing a case that utilizes what’s known as the “quiet title” legal system. Such a case could have resulted in the forced sale of that land to Zuckerberg, which drew criticism from local residents who pointed to the historical significance of these land parcels. The land areas are called “kuleana” and were distributed to native Hawaiian tenant farmers in the nineteenth century. Many feared that Zuckerberg’s purchase of the kuleana would restrict the rights of natives to access the land. However, upon realizing their cultural importance, Mr. Zuckerberg dropped the case. “We understand that for native Hawaiians, kuleana are sacred and the quiet title process can be difficult… Now that I understand the issues better, it’s clear we made a mistake.”

Pakistan TV Host Banned From Appearing on TV

Aamir Liaquat Hussain is the host of a television show called Aisay Nahi Chalega, which translates into This is Not Acceptable. Over the weekend, Pakistan’s media regulator, Pakistan Electronic Media Authority, ended what had been weeks of monitoring Liaquat’s program with the decision to ban him from appearing on TV. The final decision followed hundred of filed complaints about a televised hate speech in which Liaquat insinuated that certain missing activists and their supporters were guilty of blasphemy. In Pakistan, such a claim is a criminal offense, and the Media Authority was extremely alarmed at the comments, which could be provocative of “violence against citizens.” The activists in question had spoken out on social media, questioning the actions of the country’s military. Many believe that the missing have been detained by secret government agencies, but Liaquat stated that they had “defected to India.”