Nation & World Watch
vNew York: Cities urge keeping travel ban on hold
Municipalities nationwide including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Skokie, Illinois, are urging a federal judge to continue blocking President Donald Trump’s travel ban.
New York City’s chief lawyer, Zachary Carter, filed papers Friday in federal court on behalf of nearly three dozen cities. The filing says the ban against seven Muslim-majority countries damages the economies and cultures of the cities. They say it harms efforts to keep cities safe, including against terrorists.
The White House has said the order is necessary to protect against terrorism. The papers were submitted in advance of a Tuesday hearing.
vWashington: Trump hires communications director
President Donald Trump plans to appoint the founder of a conservative media relations firm to be his White House communications director, an official confirmed Friday.
Mike Dubke, founder of Crossroads Media, follows Jason Miller, who accepted the communications director job but changed his mind in December, citing family reasons.
Dubke has essentially already started; he was spotted at Trump’s news conference Thursday.
vOcala, Fla.: Man accused of plot to bomb Targets
A Florida man is accused in a plot to bomb several Target stores along the East Coast in an attempt to acquire cheap stock if the company’s stock value plunged after the explosions.
Mark Charles Barnett, 48, was charged in a criminal complaint filed Thursday with possession of a firearm affecting commerce by a previously convicted felon, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Barnett, a registered sex offender in Florida, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
According to an affidavit, Barnett offered to pay another man $10,000 to place at least 10 “improvised explosive bombs” disguised in food packages on store shelves from New York to Florida.
vUnited Nations: Agency: 1M Ukrainian kids need aid
An estimated 1 million children need humanitarian aid as fighting persists in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russia rebels, the United Nations International Children’s Fund said Friday.
That is nearly double the number of children in need a year ago, according to UNICEF, which said 1 in 5 of the more than 740 schools in eastern Ukraine has been damaged or destroyed.
At least 33 people, including civilians, were killed and several dozen injured in fighting earlier this month in eastern Ukraine, the Associated Press reported. The death toll in the fighting that started in April 2014 has now reached more than 9,800, according to the U.N.
vSpain: Princess found not guilty in tax fraud case
In a wide-ranging tax fraud case that captivated Spain, Princess Cristina was found not guilty Friday of being an accessory to fraud, but her husband was convicted and sentenced to more than six years in prison.
A panel of judges ruled that Cristina, the 51-year-old sister of King Felipe VI, will be required to pay more than $280,000 in fines because the court considers that she indirectly benefited from the fraud.
Her husband, Inaki Urdangarin, was found guilty of evading taxes and fraud. He was sentenced to six years and three months in prison and fined $545,000.