WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court rejected on Wednesday a bid by President Donald Trump to block a judge’s ruling that prevented his travel ban on people from six Muslim-majority countries from being applied to grandparents of US citizens.
But in a partial win for Trump, the court put on hold part of the judge’s ruling that would allow more people to enter the United States under a separate ban on refugees if it went into effect.
The brief order said the court’s decision is temporary while the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals considers a separate appeal on the same issue. Three of the conservatives on the court of nine justices noted that they would have granted Trump’s request in full.
The Trump administration last Friday asked the high court to overturn a decision on Thursday by a US district judge in Hawaii, which limited the scope of the administration’s temporary ban on refugees and travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
The latest round in the fight over Trump’s March 6 executive order, which he says is needed for national security reasons, began after the Supreme Court intervened last month to partially revive the two bans, which were blocked by lower courts.
The Supreme Court said then that the ban could take effect, but that people with a “bona fide relationship” to a US person or entity could not be barred.
The administration had narrowly interpreted that language, saying the ban would apply to grandparents and other family members, prompting the state of Hawaii to ask Hawaii-based US District Judge Derrick Watson to expand the definition of who could be admitted. He ruled for the state late on Thursday.
US Supreme Court partly rejects Trump on travel ban
US Supreme Court partly rejects Trump on travel ban
Ukraine’s Zelensky says allies to provide new energy and military aid within 10 days
- Kyiv is aiming to rally support among partners as it struggles to fend off Russian battlefield advances and air attacks
KYIV: Ukraine has agreed new energy and military support packages with European allies ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday.
Kyiv is aiming to rally support among partners as it struggles to fend off Russian battlefield advances and air attacks on its energy system while under US pressure to negotiate peace.
“In Munich, we agreed with the leaders of the Berlin Format on specific packages of energy and military aid for Ukraine by February 24,” Zelensky wrote on X.
Zelensky said on Friday after a meeting of the so-called Berlin Format of about a dozen European leaders in Munich that he had hoped for new support, including air-defense missiles.
“I am grateful to our partners for their readiness to help, and we count on all deliveries arriving promptly,” he added.
Russian attacks on major cities such as Kyiv have battered Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, plunging millions of residents into power outages of varying periods in freezing cold weather.
Zelensky added that Russia had launched around 1,300 attack drones, 1,200 guided aerial bombs and dozens of ballistic missiles at Ukraine over the past week alone.
