Trump administration’s unlawful policy turns ‘refugees’ American Dream into a dystopian nightmare’, judge says

A federal judge has blocked a Trump administration policy that allowed immigration authorities to arrest and detain certain refugees in Minnesota, ruling that the government relied on an incorrect interpretation of federal law and unlawfully targeted people who had already been admitted to the US.

In an order on Friday, the court said the administration’s approach had effectively been “terrorizing” refugees by subjecting them to arrest and potentially indefinite detention despite their lawful status. The judge concluded that federal immigration law does not give the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) authority to detain refugees simply because more than one year has passed since their arrival in the country.

By mid-afternoon, it was 91F (33C) in downtown LA, according to the National Weather Service

After a week of heavy downpours that left parts of Los Angeles flooded, the city is now facing unusually high temperatures for late February.

By mid-afternoon Friday, it was 91F (33C) in downtown Los Angeles, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). That breaks the daily record for 27 February, which was 88F (31C), set last year.

Sherry Xue Li ripped off millions from foreign investors and funnelled some stolen money into US political campaigns

A New York businesswoman was sentenced Friday to nine years in federal prison over a financial scheme that ripped off more than $30m from foreign investors and funnelled some of the stolen money into US political campaigns, including a Donald Trump fundraiser during his first presidency.

Sherry Xue Li was also ordered to forfeit $31.5m, as well as property at three locations, and to make restitution to her victims.

Musician died after being taken to hospital in Los Angeles, with his family remembering him as a ‘true rock and roll legend’ and ‘inspiration to millions’

Neil Sedaka, the singer-songwriter behind Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, Oh! Carol, Calendar Girl and Bad Blood as well as many hits performed by other artists including Stupid Cupid and Love Will Keep Us Together, has died aged 86.

A representative confirmed his death to Variety on Friday, hours after he was reportedly taken to hospital in Los Angeles. No cause of death was given.

Law demanding IDs must match ‘sex at birth’ invalidated the driver’s licenses of about 1,700 trans people in the state

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Two transgender men are suing Kansas over a new law that invalidated their driver’s licenses and about 1,700 others for reflecting people’s gender identities and not their sex assigned at birth, arguing that the measure is “dehumanizing”.

The men filed their case Thursday, the same day the law took effect, and argue that it violates rights to privacy, personal autonomy and due legal process guaranteed by the Kansas state constitution. The men also are challenging the law’s tough, new enforcement provisions for the state’s three-year-old policy of barring transgender people from using public restrooms or other single-sex facilities associated with their gender identities.

Brown, 62, third member of hit HBO series to die since December, was trying to jumpstart car at home at time of blaze

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The Wire actor Bobby J Brown died recently in a barn fire at his Maryland home, making him the third cast member of the acclaimed HBO show to pass away since December.

According to authorities and a statement on social media from his daughter, Reina, the 62-year-old Brown had gone into a barn at his residence in the St Mary’s county community of Chaptico at about 10pm on 24 February to try to jumpstart a car. It evidently ignited during the attempt, and Brown asked his wife for a fire extinguisher.

As Wolves applied the seal to only their second Premier League victory of the season, Rodrigo Gomes doubling their lead over Aston Villa deep into second-half stoppage time, Rob Edwards hared down the touchline, yelling into the stands as his players started a celebratory pile-on a few yards behind him. It was a moment of catharsis for Edwards, who beat his chest and wellied an advertising hoarding, but for Unai Emery it was a different kind of cue.

As those in old gold savoured a win over near neighbours that takes them to 13 points, ending any fears that they may not eclipse Derby’s record-low tally of 11 in 2007-08, Emery marched straight down the tunnel before the post-match handshakes.

Tehran’s ICBMs cannot currently reach the US, experts say, and White House has claimed its nuclear programme has been destroyed

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Donald Trump’s likely casus belli for an attack on Iran – which would be the largest US intervention since the Iraq war – is fraught with contradictions, and his top advisers have been left to cover for him as the White House makes the case for intervention.

In his State of the Union address this week, Trump alleged that Iran posed a direct threat to the US and that the country was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America”. But that claim has not been backed up with evidence by the White House or the Pentagon, and US intelligence reports from just last year say that it would take Iran 10 years to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the US.

Arsenal and Liverpool will fancy their chance of making the quarter-finals, while Manchester City and Newcastle face tougher routes

The Club World Cup final victory over Paris Saint-Germain last summer was probably Enzo Maresca’s finest hour as Chelsea manager. He devised a gameplan, pinging balls over Nuno Mendes for Cole Palmer to chase, backed up by Malo Gusto, that tore the European champions apart in the first half. Liam Rosenior may try to exploit the same vulnerability, but this is a Chelsea that look weary, their exertions in the US perhaps having left them fatigued.