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Banned From U.S.: ‘You Need to Go Back to Your Country’



Social media shook with emotion. Headlines shouted the news. Legal scholars debated the order’s scope. But the most immediate effect of President Trump’s executive order barring refugees from entering the United States and halting entry from seven predominantly Muslim countries could be quantified on a human scale: refugees and other immigrants from the seven countries, some on their way to the United States on Friday when Mr. Trump signed the order, who were no longer able to enter the United States.
Here are some of their stories.
Hameed Khalid Darweesh, Iraq
Mr. Darweesh, a husband and father of three who worked for the United States military in Iraq for about a decade, was detained after arriving at Kennedy Airport on Friday night. He was granted a special immigrant visa on Jan. 20. When he filed for it, he said he had been directly targeted because of his work for the U.S. as an interpreter, engineer and contractor.
Although Mr. Darweesh’s wife and children were allowed into the country, he was initially detained. Mr. Darweesh was released on Saturday after lawyers filed a writ of habeas corpus in federal court seeking freedom for him, as well as for another Iraqi who was detained at the airport.


Speaking to reporters and some protesters who gathered outside Kennedy Airport, Mr. Darweesh called America the greatest nation in the world and said he was thankful for the people who had worked on his behalf. “This is the humanity, this is the soul of America,” he said. “This is what pushed me to move, leave my country and come here.”
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‘Hamilton’ Is Coming to the Super Bowl

From left, Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Jasmine Cephas Jones in the musical “Hamilton.”Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
The Schuyler Sisters are singing at the Super Bowl.
The National Football League said Friday that Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Jasmine Cephas Jones, the actresses who originated the roles of Eliza, Angelica and Peggy Schuyler in “Hamilton,” would reunite to perform “America the Beautiful” during the televised pregame show.
The three women are popular among fans of the Broadway musical — at the annual BroadwayCon gathering of theater fans, now underway in New York, some people dress as the characters, and at a recent Sotheby’s auction of Hamilton family documents there was particular interest in correspondence involving the sisters. (Eliza, of course, married Alexander Hamilton, and, after his death in a duel, became a champion of his legacy; Angelica was a confidante of both Alexander and Eliza.)
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NETFLIX IS KILLING IT—BIG TIME—AFTER POURING CASH INTO ORIGINAL SHOWS

NETFLIX

ORIGINAL CONTENT IS paying off for Netflix in a big, big way.
The company just recorded the biggest quarter in its 19-year history, handily beating Wall Street’s expectations while adding a record 7.05 million subscribers. That’s almost two million more new viewers than even Netflix expected, with a fair number of them overseas. The earnings results capped a banner year that saw Netflix launch its streaming service in 190 countries one year ago. Already, 47 percent of its subscribers live somewhere other than the US.
Sales, too, rose—36 percent over the same period last year, to $2.48 billion. Shareholders loved all this good news and boosted Netflix stock 8 percent to an intraday high of $143.46 on Thursday, one day after Netflix’s report dropped. The company’s now worth about $60 billion.
All of which is to say, Netflix is killing it—thanks to its enormous investments in original content. And Netflix is finally getting to reap the rewards from those investments.
“There seemed to be an attitude around the industry that after House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, there was no way Netflix could catch lightning in a bottle again,” says Glenn Hower, a senior digital media analyst with research firm Parks Associates. “Well, after cranking out more hits like Luke Cage, Stranger Things and The OA, it looks like the streaming giant really knows what they are doing in the content creation space.”
That’s for sure. In 2016, Netflix spent $5 billion on original programming. Five of the 10 shows people searched for most often last year are Netflix originals, company officials said, citing Google data during an earnings call. Eager to build on that, Netflix plans to spend $6 billion creating 1000 hours of new content this year, more than doubling its 2016 lineup. At this point, it’s clear Netflix isn’t just a streaming service anymore. “For many millions of consumers around the world, Netflix has already become television,” says Tony Gunnarsson, a television analyst with Ovum.
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President Donald Trump signs first bill into law

Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump signed his first bill into law Friday, moments after being sworn in, clearing the way for his defense secretary to be confirmed.
The 45th President signed a bill passed by Congress earlier this month that would allow retired Gen. James Mattis to serve as defense secretary by waiving the legal requirement that he be out of the military for seven years before doing so, according to White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
Mattis will still need to be confirmed by the Senate, which is expected Friday afternoon.
    Cameras rolled as Trump signed his first orders as President in the Capitol, surrounded by congressional leaders.
    According to Spicer, the other papers Trump was signing included formal nominations for his Cabinet and a proclamation for a national day of patriotism.
    The ceremony took place moments after Trump left the podium outside the Capitol building where he was sworn in and delivered his inaugural address.
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    Small protests ahead of Trump's inauguration

    Washington (CNN)Several demonstrations broke out Friday morning hours before Donald Trump's swearing in after protesters and Washington police scuffled Thursday night outside a meeting of conservatives.
    At one check point, about 50 protesters sat down in the street Friday in an attempt to block Trump supporters from entering a secure area to watch the swearing in. Not far away, a group of immigration backers staged a "pop up" protest near another check point.
      On Thursday night, protesters gathered on 14th Street outside the National Press Club to demonstrate against "DeploraBall," an event organized by some of Trump's most fervent supporters. The name riffs off the campaign description of some Trump backers by his defeated opponent, Hillary Clinton, as a "basket of deplorables."


      As attendees -- some of whom were clad in suits and red hats, others dressed in gowns -- entered the event, demonstrators chanted "Shame" and "Nazis go home" behind a phalanx of police. Some held signs that read "No Alt Reich" and "No Nazi USA."
      Other protesters chanted against the "alt-right," "fascists" and "Nazi scum," though it could not be immediately determined who was attending the event.

      The chants were screamed when attendees entered or left the event, but died down when there was no one coming or going. Some demonstrators threw eggs at the National Press Club building and at revelers, though not at police.
      A protester has her eyes flushed with water.
      Elsewhere in the demonstration, some protesters could be seen setting small fires in the streets, though it was unclear what was set ablaze. A motorcycle was damaged on the street, and police could be seen pepper-spraying some protesters.
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      Eugene Cernan, last man on the moon, dies

      (CNN)Eugene A. Cernan, the last astronaut to leave his footprints on the surface of the moon, has died, NASA said Monday.
      He was 82.
      "We are saddened by the loss of retired NASA astronaut Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon," the US space agency said on Twitter.


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      These 8 men are richer than 3.6 billion people combined

      Eight men now control as much wealth as the world's poorest 3.6 billion people, according to a new report from Oxfam International.


      The men -- Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Amancio Ortega, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg -- are collectively worth $426 billion, the anti-poverty group said on Sunday.
      "Such dramatic inequality is trapping millions in poverty, fracturing our societies, and poisoning our politics," said Paul O'Brien, Oxfam America's Vice President for Policy and Campaigns.
      The release of the group's annual inequality report coincides with the World Economic Forum in Davos. The annual meeting in the Swiss mountain resort brings together political and financial leaders and some of the wealthiest people in the world.
      Eight men now control as much wealth as half of the world's population.
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      First Bumblebee Declared Endangered in U.S.

      The rusty patched bumblebee population has declined 87 percent over the past two decades.

      The rusty patched bumblebee is the first bumblebee to be designated as an endangered species in the United States. PHOTOGRAPH BY ALAMY

      For the first time in the United States, a species of bumblebee is endangered.
      The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday on its website that the rusty patched bumblebee (Bombus affinis), once a common sight, is “now balancing precariously on the brink of extinction.” Over the past two decades, the bumblebee’s population has declined 87 percent, according to the announcement.
      The news comes just a few months after the first ever bees were declared endangered in the U.S. In September, seven species of Hawaiian bees, including the yellow-faced bee (Hylaeus anthracinus), received protectionunder the Endangered Species Act. (Read “For the First Time, Bees Declared Endangered in the U.S.”)
       The threats facing those seven species are similar to the ones that have depleted rusty patched bumblebee populations: loss of habitat, diseases and parasites, pesticides, and climate change. This is a big deal not only for bees but for humans, too—after all, bees pollinate a lot of our food.
      “Bumblebees are among the most important pollinators of crops such as blueberries, cranberries, and clover and almost the only insect pollinators of tomatoes,” according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s rusty patched bumblebee profile. “The economic value of pollination services provided by native insects (mostly bees) is estimated at $3 billion per year in the United States.” (See seven intimate pictures that reveal the beauty of bees.)
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      Former Trump advisor reportedly sends letter to McCain threatening the U.S. and our military


      After spending the weekend trashing Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis, President-elect Donald Trump tweeted this morning: "Celebrate Martin Luther King Day and all of the many wonderful things that he stood for. Honor him for being the great man that he was!" Trump, who has routinely trafficked in and empowered white supremacy, either does not know the first thing about the Rev. King's advocacy and activism, or does not care.
      (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
      Donald Trump spent the weekend preceding Martin Luther King, Jr. Day attacking Rep. John Lewis, a lifetime Civil Rights activist, because Lewis criticized Trump and questioned the legitimacy of his presidency.
      This morning, without a shred of irony or self-awareness, Trump tweeted:




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      NPR just offered a shocking and disgusting example of ‘balanced reporting’

      Carl Paladino (Wikimedia Commons)

       Trump campaign official Carl Paladino recently made headlines for being a disgustingly racist pig of a human being. The former GOP gubernatorial candidate, who managed to get himself elected to the Buffalo, New York, school board, responded to a survey about his New Year’s wishes by attacking the Obamas in the most baldly ugly and racist way imaginable, including wishing for Michelle Obama to be “let loose” in Africa so she could live with apes. He also repeated the racist alt-right meme of her being a man, and said he hoped President Obama “catches mad cow disease” and then “dies before his trial and is buried in a cow pasture next to Valerie Jarret, who died weeks prior, after being convicted of sedition and treason, when a Jihady cell mate mistook her for being a nice person and decapitated her.”
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