News! by Cory https://padlet.com/cvogan72462/rm8pzeqqnnqz Made with charisma en-us 2017-09-01 19:33:09 UTC 2017-09-01 19:56:24 UTC hello@padlet.com Lavrov says Russia will 'respond harshly' to 'damaging' sanctions cvogan72462 https://padlet.com/cvogan72462/rm8pzeqqnnqz/wish/184308643
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said his country will "respond harshly to things that will damage us" after the US ordered fresh sanctions.

Russia had been told they must close their San Francisco consulate, and annexes in New York and Washington.

The move followed Moscow's reduction of US diplomatic staff in Russia by 755 people in July.

But Mr Lavrov blamed the Obama administration for starting the diplomatic row last December.

The former US president expelled 35 Russian diplomats, and closed two compounds over Russian action in Crimea and alleged interference in the US election.

"It was started precisely with the purpose of undermining Russian-American relations and preventing Trump from making constructive proposals during his presidency," said Mr Lavrov, "to make it as difficult as possible for him to implement his election promises to normalise relations with Russia."

He said Russia was still weighing up its response to the latest measure.

"We'll react as soon as we finish our analysis," he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not initially respond to then-President Barack Obama's sanctions, but announced the sharp reduction of US staff in July.

The expelled US diplomats have until Friday to leave Russia - a day before the US closures of the Russian consulate and two annexes, which are trade missions, must be completed.

]]> 2017-09-01 19:49:25 UTC https://padlet.com/cvogan72462/rm8pzeqqnnqz/wish/184308643 Trump travel ban: People denied entry to US can reapply cvogan72462 https://padlet.com/cvogan72462/rm8pzeqqnnqz/wish/184308992
People denied entry to the US under Donald Trump's first travel ban can now reapply for visas following a legal settlement reached in a federal court.

The US government will now contact individuals turned away at borders as a result of the executive order that came into force on 27 January.

The agreement does not guarantee that applicants will receive new visas.

Mr Trump signed the original order in January barring people from seven Muslim countries from entering the US.

The move sparked numerous protests and legal challenges.

Mr Trump later defended the executive order, saying it was "not a Muslim ban".

A week after it was implemented, a federal judge in Seattle suspended it nationwide, allowing banned visitors to travel to the US, pending an appeal by the administration.


The new legal agreement, which was announced on Thursday, obliges the US government to act in "good faith" when processing the paperwork of all applicants.

The seven countries affected by the initial 90-day travel ban were Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Iraq was later removed from the list.

Some visa categories, such as diplomats and UN workers, were not included in the suspension.

Among the individuals initially barred from entry to the US were two Iraqi nationals; Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Haider Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi.

They were stopped and detained on arrival at John F Kennedy airport in New York.

Human rights groups, including the National Immigration Law Centre (NILC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), filed a lawsuit in New York to demand the release of the two men, who were in the air bound for the US when the executive order was signed.

Mr Darweesh, who had worked as a US Army interpreter, was later released by border officials.


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