Refugees wish more focus on Syria, less on closing US doors

Trump orders strict new refugee screening, citing terrorists WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday barred all refugees from entering the United States for four months — and those from war-ravaged Syria indefinitely — declaring the ban necessary to prevent "radical Islamic terrorists" from entering the nation. The order immediately suspended a program that last year resettled to the U.S. roughly 85,000 people displaced by war, political oppression, hunger and religious prejudice. Trump indefinitely blocked all those fleeing Syria, where a civil war has displaced millions of people, and imposed a 90-day ban on entry to the U.S. from seven Muslim majority nations. "We want to ensure that we are not admitting into our country the very threats our soldiers are fighting overseas," Trump said as he signed the order at the Pentagon. "We only want to admit those into our country who will support our country and love deeply our people." Trump said the halt in the refugee program was necessary to give government agencies time to develop a stricter vetting system. But the order did spell out what additional steps he wants the Homeland Security and State departments to take. The U.S. may admit refugees on a case-by-case basis during the freeze, and the government will continue to process requests from people claiming religious persecution, "provided that the religion of the individual is a minority religion in the individual's country." ___ US-Mexico trade war could hit Mexico economy, spur migration MEXICO CITY (AP) — If President Donald Trump makes good on threats to gut NAFTA and impose stiff tariffs on Mexican goods, economists say he risks a trade war that could lead to the very thing he is hoping to avoid — a huge surge in Mexican migration to the United States. The result would be catastrophe for the Mexican economy. Recession. A dramatic weakening of the peso, even below the historic lows it has already set amid Trump's bellicose rhetoric. Soaring inflation, interest rates and unemployment. "Mexico is smaller than the U.S. and can be harmed by conflict more than the U.S. would be," said Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington think tank that supports free trade. A trade war with Mexico "drives down the peso and drives down opportunities for Mexicans to make a living in honest manufacturing jobs," he added. "There will be more desperate Mexicans crossing the border." And the U.S. would by no means be immune from the fallout. ___ Trump, May affirm special relationship between US, UK WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May appeared chummy as they faced a curious world together for the first time Friday, pledging allegiance to the special relationship between their countries while trying to mask stark differences on some major issues. It was Trump's first White House meeting with a foreign head of state, a hastily arranged confab held precisely one week after the businessman and reality TV star, who remains a largely unknown figure to European audiences, was sworn into office as president. Trump sought to charm May from the outset, showing her the bust of Prime Minister Winston Churchill that he's using to decorate the Oval Office. He then opened a joint news conference by noting that his late mother was born in "Stornoway, which is serious Scotland." Scotland is part of Great Britain. Trump and May were seen briefly holding hands as they walked along the White House colonnade after leaving the Oval Office. Their talks continued in the State Dining Room over lunch of iceberg wedge salad, braised beef short ribs with potato puree and salted caramel crème brulee. For her part, May congratulated Trump on his "stunning election victory," and announced that he had accepted the queen's invitation for a state visit with his wife, first lady Melania Trump, later this year. ___ Refugees wish more focus on Syria, less on closing US doors KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Syrian man whose family was the first to be resettled in the U.S. as part of the U.S. "surge" refugee program says President Donald Trump should help topple Syria's regime rather than press to close off U.S. borders to more refugees. Forty-eight-year-old Ahmad Alabood's assessment Friday through a translator came hours before Trump signed an executive action imposing "new vetting measures" that he says are aimed at keeping "radical Islamic terrorists" out of the U.S. Alabood says he's concerned that efforts to restrict the flow of refugees into the U.S. could wrongly cast those displaced in an unfavorable light among some Americans, fanning anti-Muslim sentiment. Alabood said his wife and five children have been treated warmly since they arrived in Missouri last year. ___ Anti-abortion groups hold triumphant rally after Obama years WASHINGTON (AP) — The politically ascendant anti-abortion movement gathered Friday for a triumphant rally on the National Mall, rejoicing at the end of an eight-year presidency that participants said was dismissive of their views. Vice President Mike Pence told the crowd at the March for Life that anti-abortion policies were a top priority of the new administration, and President Donald Trump tweeted that the rally had his "full support." The March for Life is held every year in Washington to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. While no official crowd estimates were available, the turnout was clearly larger than in recent years, when abortion opponents had less political clout. Many thousands huddled in the shadow of the Washington Monument and stood in long lines outside security checkpoints made necessary by Pence's appearance. "We've come to a historic moment in the cause for life," said Pence, the first vice president to address the rally. "Life is winning in America." Pence said ending taxpayer-funded abortion and choosing a Supreme Court justice in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia — a conservative Catholic who opposed abortion — are among the administration's most important goals. ___ Trump's immigration curbs no surprise, those affected say DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Many citizens of Muslim-majority countries affected by President Donald Trump's curbs on travel to the United States say they were hardly surprised the restrictions rank among his first orders of business. The new commander-in-chief had, after all, once called for a "complete and total shutdown" of Muslim arrivals, and in his inaugural speech vowed to eradicate "radical Islamic terrorism" from the face of the earth. But that doesn't make news of the clampdown sting any less for those on the receiving end. "No one is surprised but everyone is disappointed, especially with the height of hope with (Barack) Obama," said Khalid al-Baih, a 36-year-old political cartoonist from Sudan. He fears new American visa restrictions will now have a knock-on effect. "Whatever America does, the rest of the world follows." Shadi Sabbagh, a 40-year-old resident of Syria's capital, Damascus, who has a sister in the U.S., feels let down too by what he called "unnatural" proposals to restrict the flow of refugees into the U.S. ___ A look at Trump's executive order on refugees, immigration WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday making major changes to America's policies on refugees and immigration. A look at what Trump ordered: ___ SYRIA Trump's order directs the State Department to stop issuing visas to Syrian nationals and halts the processing of Syrian refugees. That will remain in effect until Trump determines that enough security changes have been made to ensure that would-be terrorists can't exploit weaknesses in the current vetting system. ___ Mexicans begin to unite in fight against Trump's plans MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexicans are beginning to debate how to fight back against U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive stance on trade and immigration. Prominent political figures have suggested the country expel U.S. law enforcement agents, stop detaining Central American migrants or no longer inspect northbound trucks for drug shipments. Some activist groups on Friday were calling for a boycott of American brands. Former President Felipe Calderon said Thursday that "we have to design a policy of retaliation" for Trump's proposed plans, which include making Mexico pay for the border wall he wants to build. "We have to put U.S. security issues under review ... including the presence of (U.S.) agents" on Mexican soil, Calderon told local news media. The comments came after current President Enrique Pena Nieto scrapped a planned Tuesday meeting with Trump after the American president tweeted that it would be better to cancel if Mexico wasn't willing to pay for his proposed wall. ___ Israelis seek to comfort Holocaust's loneliest survivors RAMAT HASHARON, Israel (AP) — Surrounded by more than 100 fellow Holocaust survivors and young volunteers, a blind Ernest Weiner sat in his wheelchair with a puffy crown on his head as the crowd sang happy birthday and showered him with hugs and greetings. The widowed and childless 92-year-old Weiner lives on his own and the cheerful gathering offered him one of life's most valuable commodities — company. As home to the world's largest survivor community, Israel is grappling to serve the needs of thousands of people like Weiner who are living out their final days alone. Various government bodies and private organizations chip in to offer material, psychological and medical support to the survivors, still scarred by the horrors they experienced 70 years ago. But all agree that the greatest burden late in their lives is loneliness. "It's not pleasant to be alone," Weiner said in his apartment just outside Tel Aviv. "It gives a good feeling" to have people visit, he said. Some 160,000 elderly survivors remain in Israel, with a similar number worldwide. In Israel, about half receive special government stipends, but a third still live under the poverty line, well above the national 20 percent poverty rate. ___ Chicago police chief discloses he needs kidney transplant CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson disclosed after a public dizzy spell on Friday that he has battled a kidney condition for more than three decades and is on a waiting list for a transplant. Johnson said his dizziness at a news conference announcing a crime initiative was due to taking blood pressure medication on an empty stomach. He was taken to a suburban Chicago hospital for several hours of evaluation and later released. "For 32 years I've been treating a kidney condition that hasn't interfered with my ability to lead a normal life or be your police superintendent," he said at a news conference later in the day. "I don't require dialysis nor do I have diabetes." Johnson said that once a donor is found and the operation takes place he should be back to work after three to five weeks. Johnson said that he informed Emanuel of his kidney condition before he was appointed superintendent in March. Mayor Rahm Emanuel expressed "absolute confidence" that Johnson can run the department and his deputies can run the department in the event Johnson had to take leave.

AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST