social workout

Tuesday, 31 January 2017

World 07:26

Facebook takes aim at fake news with new 'trending' formula

Facebook is updating its "trending" feature that highlights hot topics on its social networking site, part of its effort to root out the kind of fake news stories that critics contend helped Donald Trump become president.

With the changes announced Wednesday, Facebook's trending list will consist of topics being covered by several publishers. Before, it focused on subjects drawing the biggest crowds of people sharing or commenting on posts.

The switch is intended to make Facebook a more credible source of information by steering hordes of its 1.8 billion users toward topics that "reflect real world events being covered by multiple outlets," Will Cathcart, the company's vice president of product management, said in a blog post.

Facebook also will stop customising trending lists to cater to each user's personal interests. Instead, everyone located in the same region will see the same trending lists, which currently appear in the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia and India.

That change could widen the scope of information Facebook's users see, instead of just topics that reinforce what they may have already heard or read elsewhere. The broader perspective might reduce the chances of Facebook's users living in a "filter bubble" — only engaging with people and ideas with which they agree.

Facebook introduced its trending list in 2014 in response to the popularity of a similar feature on Twitter, the short-messaging service that competes for people's attention and advertising revenue.

Questions about Facebook's influence on what people are reading intensified last summer after a technology blog relying on an anonymous source reported that human editors routinely suppressed conservative viewpoints on the site.

Facebook fired the small group of journalists overseeing its trending items and replaced them with an algorithm that was supposed to be a more neutral judge about what to put on the list.

But the automated approach began to pick out posts that were getting the most attention, even if the information in them was bogus. Some of the fake news stories targeted Democratic presidential nominee Hill

ary Clinton, prompting critics to believe the falsehoods help Donald Trump overcome a large deficit in public opinion polls.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg initially brushed off that notion as "crazy ," but in December the company announced a slew of new measures to curb the spread of fake news.

To discourage the creation of fake news in the first place, Facebook also is banishing perpetual publishers of false information from its lucrative ad network.

Google, which operates an even larger digital ad network, has taken a similar stand against publishers of fake news. In a report released Wednesday, Google said it had exiled about 200 publishers from its AdSense network for various misrepresentations as part of a review conducted during the six weeks of last year.

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World 07:14

I am a Pakistani-American and Trump's rise threatens me

This article was originally published on October 10, 2016

When Donald Trump first made the statement about banning Muslims from entering the United States, I did not take it as an abstract concern.

I did not think he didn’t mean it or that he wouldn’t want to pursue it as a policy if he became President.

Instead, I thought about my Muslim parents who brought my brother and me to the United States from Pakistan in December of 2000, when I was eight years old.

I thought about immigrant parents making sacrifices for their children in a new country, faced with all sorts of new challenges.

And I also thought about what we had contributed to this country during our time here.

I thought about my Pakistani relatives who, after September 11, 2001, found it much more difficult to visit us and perhaps now would never be able to.

I thought about the trips we took to our family home in Lahore every few years and whether those trips could make us liabilities or contribute to us being seen as suspicious.

I also went back to my childhood when in the wake of September 11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it became much harder to be Pakistani and Muslim in America.

The more I felt that America was my home, the more reminders there were that my family and I would be perpetually foreign, suspect and untrustworthy.

What does Donald Trump’s rise mean to me as a Pakistani immigrant in the United States?

Donald Trump’s rise did not occur in a vacuum. He did not come up with his own bigoted rhetoric out of nowhere. Rather, he exploited fears and anxieties that already existed — the fears and anxieties of a country recovering from an economic crisis and in an age of international terrorism.

By repeating beliefs about Muslims being untrustworthy or unwilling to follow the laws of the United States, he provided a convenient scapegoat for the problems the country is facing.

His rhetoric has had tangible effects.

According to the New York Times, “Hate crimes against American Muslims have soared to their highest levels...an increase apparently fuelled by terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad and by divisive language on the campaign trail.”

Moreover, “hate crimes against American Muslims were up 78 per cent over the course of 2015.”

This is startling data.

It should be unacceptable that some people in the United States are choosing to scapegoat an entire religious group and enact violence on them.

But given the success of the Trump campaign so far, hate crimes seem to be becoming more and more common.

Donald Trump’s rise has made American Muslims feel less safe, and his rhetoric and policy proposals on other immigration-related issues would affect Pakistani immigrants as well.

In a statement on immigration on his website, Trump laid out his plan to limit the number of immigrants who can come to the United States and to subject potential immigrants to ideology-based tests to ensure that they can assimilate.

Specifically, Trump’s plan includes keeping “immigration levels, measured by population share, within historical norms” and to “select immigrants based on their likelihood of success in US society.”

He has also discussed asking applicants “for their views about honour killings, about respect for women and gays and minorities, attitudes on "radical Islam", and many other topics as part of the vetting procedure”.

While this seems like an innocuous enough test, Trump is seeking to target Muslim immigrants or immigrants from Muslim-majority countries — one that plausibly includes Pakistan — by including language on asking about honour killings, people’s attitudes on ‘radical Islam,’ and 'Shariah law.'

A less bigoted, more humanising view on immigration to the United States would take into account that most of the people seeking to immigrate likely do not intend to flout US laws, to enact violence or terrorism, or to spread bigotry.

For example, the Wall Street Journal has reported that, “numerous studies going back more than a century have shown that immigrants — regardless of nationality or legal status — are less likely than the native population to commit violent crimes or to be incarcerated.”

Specifically, a study from the Immigration Policy Center states that “for every ethnic group without exception, incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants.”

It is ironic that Donald Trump has proposed an ideological test that would ensure that immigrants to the United States would not spread bigotry or hatred, when his own supporters often do not subscribe to the values of diversity and tolerance.

A recent Daily Show clip brought this irony to the forefront when it showed people at a Trump rally being asked questions that would be similar to the questions on the proposed ideology test and providing answers that do not exhibit the standard of tolerance and respect for the US Constitution that Donald Trump would require from immigrants.

I am not just concerned about Trump's proposed immigration restrictions on Muslims, but also about his immigration policies that would affect other groups as well.

The Pew Research Center has suggested that Trump’s proposed immigration policies “would reduce legal immigration through 2065 by tens of millions”. Pew’s director of Hispanic research put the number of people who would not be able to immigrate to the United States to “at least 30 million.”

I am also concerned about other facets of the Trump campaign.

I am concerned about the way Trump has alienated Mexican Americans and Latino Americans throughout his campaign.

As a woman, I am concerned about the continuous lack of respect that he has shown to women and the misogyny he has perpetrated.

I am concerned as a student of international law about his and frankly, his lack of the appropriate temperament for diplomacy and for negotiating peaceful solutions to global problems.

foreign policy positions

I am concerned that in an era of increasing police violence against African Americans, a presidential candidate who has already shown so much bigotry will not be able to institute change and prove that Black lives do indeed matter.

Donald Trump’s campaign worries me as a Pakistani Muslim immigrant, but it also worries me as an American.

Ultimately, it is up to Americans like my family and me to make up the difference and prove that we are capable of being better than a man who has displayed so much bigotry and who has alienated so many of us.

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Sports 07:08

Afridi backs Sarfaraz for ODI captaincy

Pakistan's former ODI captain, Shahid Afridi, on Monday said that Pakistan needs a 'fighting captain' like Sarfraz Ahmed.

He was talking to media at Karachi University's Mass Communication department.

"If the board wants him [Sarfaraz] to lead the team in all three formats, it will be beneficial for Pakistan cricket," he added.

"Sarfraz has the ability to lead the team and I will support him," he said.

While replying to a question about his return to the Pakistan team if he performs well in the Pakistan Super League, Afridi said he wants to focus on international T20 leagues for now.

Afridi also said that Giles Clarke's visit to the country is a good step for Pakistan cricket and the credit for orchestrating the visit goes to PCB and Shehryar Khan.

"The visit will give a positive message about security in Pakistan, [that the] law and order situation [is] now better in Pakistan," he said.

The former captain also said that the PSL can only benefit Pakistan's cricket scene if it is hosted within the country.

"The plan for the PSL final in Lahore is a positive step, but other matches of the tournament should also be held in in Karachi, Multan Faisalabad, Peshawar and other large cities in the country," he said.

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News 07:03

PAKISTAN'S STEPCHILDREN

LOST HOPE

It has been 30 years since a young Afghan woman draped in a pomegranate red shawl stared back at the world from a glossy National Geographic cover.

Recently, as she languished in a Peshawar prison days before her unceremonious deportation, another photo emerged — this one starkly different. It was a hazy photograph before her court hearing in Peshawar. The sparkle of those beautiful eyes was gone and her jaundiced skin betrayed fatigue and pain — hallmarks of her years spent as an outsider in Pakistan.

Her crime: An illegal attempt to obtain an ID card that would allow her to be a citizen of Pakistan, the country that has been her home longer than Afghanistan.

Sharbat Gula was one of the nearly 2 million of Afghans still living in Pakistan, after escaping a homeland obliterated by violence. “Afghanistan is only my birthplace, but Pakistan was my homeland,” she said in one interview. Yet, Pakistan never accepted Gula as her own.

And so, dressed in a distinct cobalt blue burka, she left for Torkham border — for home — on Nov 8; her eyes hidden behind a lattice veil that made her indistinguishable from the thousands of Afghans being ‘repatriated’ from Pakistan.

Much like the life of this woman, arrests, forced payment of bribes, violence, harassment and intimidation are everyday features in the life of Afghans living in Pakistan.

Back in Afghanistan too things have changed over the years. Abdur Jabbar, another Afghan-origin man who until recently lived in Pakistan, is back living in Jalalabad. Aged 70, he had to leave Pakistan after spending 40 years in the country. Many like him came back to Afghanistan only to find that their houses were either destroyed by war or were occupied by someone else. Abdul is also concerned for his children. “They used to make a good living selling vegetables and fruits in Peshawar, but they are yet to find anything here,” he says.

Each day in the life of these Afghans is a struggle. These are their stories.

‘When I told the doctor that my son is dying, he advised me to go seek treatment for him in Pakistan’

By Nasir Khan

Pakistan’s image is more tainted than celebrated in most countries. Yet to Afghans, Pakistan is a place with an enviable healthcare system. Owing to the poor quality of healthcare in Afghanistan, Afghan patients often look towards India and Pakistan when in need of medical assistance.

Until recent clashes at the Torkham border, “Half of the patients [at our hospital] were Afghan,” Tariq Khan, director administration of the Rehman Medical Institute “But now we attend up to 400 patients, only 100 of whom are Afghans,” he said.

The very promise of better medical facilities drew Rabia, a young Afghan woman, to Quetta with a desperate hope to find care for her ailing two-year-old.

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Monday, 30 January 2017

Entertainment 07:58

Sanjay Leela Bhansali attacked by mob and Bollywood is furious

Friday afternoon Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali was attacked by an angry mob on the set of his film .

Padmavati

Bhansali was on shoot in Jaipur's Jaigarh Fort when activists of Karni Sena, a Rajput community group, assaulted the director for "presenting wrong facts about (Indian princess) Padmavati" and tarnishing the history of their ancestors. Times of India reported, "one protester pulled Bhansali by the hair and slapped him."

The activists interrupted the shoot and vandalised the set till the police came and took control of the situation.

When news of the incident broke, the Bollywood fraternity couldn't help but tweet in disgust. Many are beyond shocked and horrified by the event.

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HEALTH 07:55

Masarrat Misbah warns against the use of toxic whitening creams

While highlighting the many harmful effects of using skin whitening creams, health and beauty experts at a briefing held on Thursday at the Karachi Press Club called upon the government to take action against the manufacturers of such products, many of which contained potent steroids and high concentration of toxic metals.

They also underlined the need for changing societal mindset of giving preference to fair complexion that often forced young girls and even boys to use such substandard creams.

“This problem has reached alarming levels and taken the form of an epidemic. Now, we are seeing girls belonging to the northern areas, who naturally have a fairer complexion, using such products and ruining their facial skin,” said Masarrat Misbah, a seasoned beautician heading an organisation working for the treatment and rehabilitation of acid-attack survivors.

Sharing her experience, Ms Misbah said that she came to know about these harmful creams some years ago when she saw their side-effects on faces of some girls getting treatment for burn injuries.

“Their skin condition had worsened,” she said, adding that often it’s the pressure of getting married that forced girls to use such poisonous creams.

“This problem has reached alarming levels and taken the form of an epidemic. Now, we are seeing girls belonging to the northern areas, who naturally have a fairer complexion, using such products and ruining their facial skin,” says Masarrat Misbah

According to her, the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), the national body for setting standards to ensure public health safety and implementing them, was approached over the issue but action in the form of regulation was still needed.

Citing some studies, she said that toxic metals like mercury penetrated into the skin and over time its higher accumulation in the body could damage heart and health of the foetus in case the woman applying such creams was pregnant.

The public, she pointed out, must educate itself on these creams before using them.

“The recent international media reports, exposing a number of Pakistan-made substandard skin whitening creams have damaged our country’s reputation. It’s a heinous crime and should be dealt with accordingly,” she observed.

Ibrar Hussain, part of the PSQCA committees as a private member and expert on food technology and cosmetics, said skin whitening creams had been found to be containing high levels of mercury, lead, arsenic, and hydroquinone (substances which are either internationally banned in cosmetics or have a limit if added) in local studies.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, he said, had never taken notice of this issue and no law existed in the country to ban the sale of harmful cosmetics.

Dr Mahwish Noorani, a specialist at the Sindh Institute of Skin Diseases in Saddar, said that she examined 12 to 15 cases daily involving patients whose skin was ruined following prolonged use of substandard whitening creams.

“They do get desired results but they last for a short period. Gradually, their skin becomes very sensitive, thin and develops pigmentation or acne. In some cases there is facial hair growth,” she said, adding that regular treatment was often ineffective in such patients as their skin had been exposed to potent steroids.

Dr Uzma Tiwana spoke of the emotional trauma girls went through after using such creams and said that it was high time that the issue was raised in the media and action taken.

“Besides, the amount patients spend on treatment later is much higher than what they spend on buying such creams,” she said.

Dr Tahira representing the PSQCA said the authority had recently made standards on skin whitening creams, but awaited approval from the ministries concerned to include the products in the mandatory list for monitoring.

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Entertainment 07:53

Hollywood awards season kicks off with Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES: Hollywood's biggest stars will turn out on Sunday for the Golden Globes, which is set to kick off the industry's awards season this year with a show that promises suspense and cheeky humor.

While their record in predicting Oscars glory has been hit-and-miss, many see the Globes as a pretty strong indicator of films and actors destined for an Academy Award on February 28.

"It's an uncanny crystal ball," said Tom O'Neil, founder of awards tracker Gold

Derby.com. "The Globes historically has predicted 75 per cent of the Oscars.

"So it's considered your audition for the Oscar."

Returning to host what is described as Hollywood's biggest party of the year will be British comedian Ricky Gervais, who has used previous appearances on the show to dish out politically-incorrect and stinging jokes.

The field is wide open this year as to who will walk away with a Golden Globe, awarded by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills.

"Some years there are movies like 'Titanic' that just seem to have a momentum and everybody seems to like them," said Timothy Gray, awards editor for trade magazine Variety. "But this year there is genuine suspense."

Leading the pack of films vying for top honors is "Spotlight", which tells the story of Boston Globe journalists who uncovered sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Pundits see the movie as front-runner for best drama ─ but no shoo-in, as it faces competition from "Carol," a lesbian romance starring Cate Blanchett as a housewife who falls for a store clerk played by Rooney Mara.

Other top contending dramas are the epic survival thriller "The Revenant" starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the harrowing kidnap tale "Room" and "Mad Max: Fury Road".

In the race for best actor in a drama, DiCaprio appears well ahead for his strong performance as legendary fur trapper Hugh Glass in "The Revenant". ─ AFP/File

It's DiCaprio's year

The front-runner for best comedy is "The Big Short," based on a book about the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

Also running in that category are the dramedy "Joy", space blockbuster "The Martian", zany caper "Spy" and Amy Schumer's breakout film "Trainwreck".

In the race for best actor in a drama, DiCaprio appears well ahead for his strong performance as legendary fur trapper Hugh Glass in "The Revenant".

Critics are widely predicting the 41-year-old actor will take home his first Oscar for the role.

"There is a feeling that it's his year," said O'Neil. "All 17 GoldDerby experts have him unanimously out front to win."

'The Revenant' Trailer

Also nominated for best actor in a drama are Bryan Cranston who plays a blacklisted 1940s screenwriter in "Trumbo", Eddie Redmayne for the transgender tale "The Danish Girl" and Will Smith for the hard-hitting sports drama "Concussion".

For best actress in a drama the nominees are Blanchett and Mara for "Carol", Brie Larson for "Room", and Alicia Vikander who plays alongside Redmayne in "The Danish Girl".

The Danish Girl Trailer

On the television front, two series nominated for a Golden Globe are creating a buzz ─ "Mr Robot," about a computer programmer and vigilante hacker, and "Narcos", Netflix's take on the infamous Medellin drug cartel.

Gervais has made his apologies in advance for what he will say. ─Reuters/File

Movies aside, all eyes will be on Gervais, who raised eyebrows for his off-color jokes when he hosted the show for three years starting in 2010.

Take a look: Hollywood's 72nd Golden Globe Award winners

The caustic comedian, who takes over from co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, comes with a reputation of poking fun at everyone from Mel Gibson to Angelina Jolie, as well as the Hollywood Foreign Press, and this year he is not expected to hold back.

Gervais has made his apologies in advance for what he will say.

"Because I can see the future, I'd like to apologize now for the things I said at next week's Golden Globes," he tweeted on January 1.

But O'Neil said Gervais' edgy humor was more likely than not to go down well with an audience mellowed by flowing champagne.

"He's a brilliant host because he's an anarchist who loves to rock the house," O'Neil said. "This is Hollywood's biggest party of the year and Ricky is perfectly cast as a wild card upon the stage.

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Entertainment 07:51

Hollywood celebs blast Trump's travel ban at 2017 SAG Awards

There's a certain honesty that The Screen Actors Guild Awards epitomise.

These are accolades given to Hollywood actors by their peers; you can either look at them as self-appreciation or as artists recognising the best in their field and giving credit where credit is due.

This year, the awards were particularly a treat to watch. In speech after politically charged speech on Sunday night, the winners struck a defiant tone against Trump's sweeping travel ban.

Kerry Washington of Scandal fame kicked off the show with words of wisdom: “A lot of people are saying right now that actors shouldn’t express their opinions when it comes to politics but the truth is, actors are activists no matter what, because we embody the worth and humanity of all people.”

Ashton Kutcher, who opened the show added, “Good evening, fellow SAG-AFTRA members and everyone at home — and everyone in airports that belong in my America. You are a part of the fabric of who we are, and we love you and we welcome you.” The issue rings close to home for Kutcher, whose wife Mila Kunis came to the United States of America from Ukraine on a refugee visa when she was a child.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who bagged the award for best actress in a comedy series for Veep seconded the sentiment: "My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France. I’m an American patriot. And I love this country, and because I love this country, I am horrified by its blemishes, and this immigrant ban is a blemish, and it is un-American.”

The most blistering speech though was by David Harbour, who led the cast of Netflix's Stranger Things on stage to accept best ensemble in a TV drama series.

"We are united in that we are all human beings and we are all together on this horrible, painful, joyous, exciting and mysterious ride that is being alive. Now, as we act in the continuing narrative of Stranger Things, we 1983 Midwesterners will repel bullies, we will shelter freaks and outcasts, those who have no homes. We will get past the lies. We will hunt monsters."

"And when we are at a loss amidst the hypocrisy and the casual violence of certain individuals and institutions we will, as per Chief Jim Hopper, punch some people in the face when they seek to destroy the weak and the disenfranchised and the marginalized and we will do it with soul, with heart and with joy. We thank you for this responsibility. Thank you," he added.

The speech had his co-star Winona Ryder experiencing every human emotion in the span of 20 seconds.

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News 07:47

I hope Trump bans Pakistani visas: Imran Khan

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday, while condemning the plight of Muslims prevented from entering the United States (US) under US President Donald Trump's immigration ban, expressed hope that the ban is extended to Pakistanis.

"I want to tell all Pakistanis today, I pray that Trump bans Pakistani visas so that we can focus on fixing our country," Khan told a rally in Sahiwal.

Trump's sweeping executive order, signed Friday, suspends the arrival of refugees in the US for at least 120 days and bars visas for travellers from seven Muslim majority countries ─ including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen ─ for the next three months.

The PTI chief said most educated Pakistanis want to leave this country because they think they can only acquire gainful employment if they have a "powerful source", and said he believes that things in Pakistan can only improve if people work for progress.

"The day we bring back the merit system back to Pakistan, all our best citizens will return and work for the betterment of this country," Khan said.

"We will have to fix Pakistan and stand on our own two feet. And the day that we decide this is our home and we have to fix it, we won't beg for loans from the US and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)."

Khan said the day there is a government that decides it has to live and die in Pakistan, it will fix this country.

"The biggest issue here," he said, "is the corruption of bigwigs who... become ministers and loot this country, taking the money abroad."

"They may have elected Trump, but we have elected Nawaz Sharif."

Lambasting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Khan alleged, the PM had taken money from Pakistan and spent it abroad. "His businesses are abroad, his children are abroad, but he is the prime minister of Pakistan. He even goes abroad for checkups," he said.

Khan lauded Iran's tit-for-tat move in response to Trump's immigration ban, which restricted US nationals travelling to Iran until the ban was lifted.

"Iran is an independent nation and we need to become like them," Khan asserted.

The PTI chief, directly addressing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urged the premier not to tamper with Pakistan's water supplies.

Recounting Modi's speech in poll-bound Indian Punjab Friday in which he promised to abrogate the Indus Waters Treaty, Khan said, "If you shut our water, what will our people do?"

"I know that the people in India don't want war. They want peace," Khan said. "The people want both countries to cooperate and end poverty across the subcontinent."

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World 07:44

Trump immigration ban loses first legal battle

A federal judge on Saturday blocked part of President Donald Trump's temporary immigration ban, ordering authorities to stop deporting refugees and other travellers stuck at US airports.

The decision accompanied growing resistance to Trump's crackdown on Muslim immigration, with large protests spreading at major airports across the country.

“Victory!!!!!!” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), whose lawyers sued the government, tweeted after US District Judge Ann Donnelly issued her decision.

“Our courts today worked as they should as bulwarks against government abuse or unconstitutional policies and orders.

Trump's sweeping executive order, signed Friday, suspends the arrival of refugees for at least 120 days and bars visas for travellers from seven Muslim majority countries for the next three months.

The move, which was implemented immediately by US authorities, sparked large protests at major airports across the country.

At New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, some of the 2,000 demonstrators there chanted “Let them in, let them in!”

Large protests took place at the main airports for Washington, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas.

Donnelly's decision to issue a temporary stay ─ which stopped short of ruling on the constitutionality of Trump's order ─ came after dozens of people were detained at US airports following Trump's actions.

The exact number of those affected is unclear, but the judge ordered the government to provide lists of all those detained at US airports since the measure went into effect.

Sending those travellers back to their home countries following Trump's order exposes them to “substantial and irreparable injury,” wrote Donnelly, who was appointed by Trump's Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.

A second federal judge in Virginia also issued a temporary order restricting immigration authorities for seven days from deporting legal permanent residents detained at Dulles Airport just outside Washington, according to US media.

Trump originally asked for 'Muslim ban': Giuliani

Trump originally dubbed his executive order as a “Muslim ban,” according to the US president's aide Rudy Giuliani.

“When he first announced it he said, 'Muslim ban,'” the former New York mayor told Fox News late Saturday when asked whether the ban was connected to religion.

“Show me the right way to do it legally,” Giuliani ─ who Trump has tapped as his cyber security guru ─ said the US president told him.

The 72-year-old said he and a team of legal experts “focused on ─ instead of religion ─ danger!” when they drafted the immigration crackdown that has sparked a global outcry and mass protests.

Giuliani said those predominately Muslim countries were targeted because they are “the areas of the world that create danger for us.”

“Which is a factual basis, not a religious basis,” he said.

Explore: Muslim world's shock, outrage at Trump's visa ban

'We were prepared'

“We knew that was coming ─ we were prepared,” said Camille Mackler, a lawyer who heads legal initiatives at the New York Immigration Coalition, one of the groups that quickly mounted the demonstration there.

“But we didn't know when, and we couldn't believe it would be immediate, that there'd be people in an air plane the moment the order was taking effect.”

The List Project, which helps Iraqis whose personal safety is threatened because they have worked for the United States, expressed outraged over the move, warning it put American lives at risk too.

“I can't say this in blunt-enough terms: you can't s**** o*** the people that risked their lives and bled for this country without consequences,” wrote the project's founder and director Kirk Johnson.

The ACLU's legal challenge sought the release of two Iraqi men on grounds of unlawful detention. One of them ─ Hameed Khalid Darweesh, who has worked as interpreter and in other roles for the US in Iraq ─ was in fact released on Saturday after being detained the day before.

'We must fight'

Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler, who went to JFK to press for the release of those detained under Trump's measure, said “We must fight this executive order in the streets, in the courts, anywhere, anytime. We must resist. We must fight.”

Trump's pronouncement on Muslim immigration makes good on one of his most controversial campaign promises to subject travellers from Islamic countries to “extreme vetting” ─ which he declared would make America safe from “radical terrorists.” The targeted countries are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Donnelly's decision shows that “when President Trump enacts laws or executive orders that are unconstitutional, and illegal, the courts are there to defend everyone's rights,” ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said in leaving the emergency hearing.

The ban has triggered political backlash, including from Trump's fellow Republicans.

Orrin Hatch, the most senior Republican in the US Senate, spoke of America's “legal and moral obligations to help the innocent victims of these terrible conflicts.”

“I strongly urge the new administration to move quickly to tailor its policy on visa issuance as narrowly as possible, delivering on our security needs while reducing unnecessary burdens on the vast majority of visa-seekers that present a promise ─ not a threat ─ to our nation,” he said in a statement.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, wrote: “To my colleagues: don't ever again lecture me on American moral leadership if you chose to be silent today.”

His tweet was accompanied by the now iconic photograph of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on a beach in Turkey in 2015 after a failed attempt to flee Syria's brutal war to join relatives in Canada.

A long battle

The rapid mobilisation against the order suggests a protracted battle is shaping up between migrant advocates and Trump and his administration.

“This is the opening salvo of a long battle that will go on in the courts,” said Michael Kagan, a law professor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who specialises in immigration issues.

He said the outcome of the legal battle is unclear because “we are in unchartered territory in modern America.”

The battle could end up in the US Supreme Court, which has not ruled on this type of immigration issue since the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.

A White House official said that holders of a green card ─ which allows permanent residence in the US and often takes years to obtain ─ who are abroad should first go to the US consulate to obtain a document allowing return to the US.

And green card holders in the US who want to travel abroad must obtain approval from a consulate official.

The State Department has said that people from the seven countries under the 90-day travel ban will be prohibited entry no matter their visa status.

Only those holding a dual citizenship with the US will be allowed to enter.

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World 07:39

What does Trump's Executive Order mean for Pakistanis?

On Friday January 27, 2017, United States President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled“Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.”

The text of the order stops the admission of refugees from Syria indefinitely and further bans entry of all citizens from seven countries including Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. The refugee ban does not state a time limit.

The ban on visa issuance will be in effect for 90 days after which the list will be reconsidered (and possibly expanded) to include other countries, including Pakistan.

The text of the order refers to 9/11 and the threat of “radical Islamic terrorists” as the basis for instituting the ban.

In an interview following the signing, Trump stated that the ban on refugees would not extend to Syrian Christians who are fleeing persecution. And while the ban does not call itself a “Muslim ban” its effect will be to ban non-citizen Muslims from the listed countries from traveling to the United States.

The day after Trump signed the Executive Order, visa and green card holders from the countries listed were already being stopped at US airports and in several cases pulled out of planes at other airports around the world as they attempted to travel to the United States.

US politicians opposing the ban appeared on various cable news channels, denouncing the action, noting that it had been instituted on Holocaust Memorial Day in the United States.

Prior to intervening in World War II, the United States turned away large numbers of Jewish refugees, many of whom were later killed in Hitler’s concentration camps. Syrian Muslim refugees are likely to face the same fate as they are sent back into the hands of Daesh and the Assad regime.

As for Pakistanis, although they have not – yet – been included on Trump’s list of seven countries, he has proposed“extreme vetting” for Pakistani visa applicants.

Even though the exact procedures that come under the extreme vetting label have not been explained, it is very likely that visa processing for Pakistani citizens wishing to travel to the United States will take longer than usual.

The fact that Pakistan is not included in the list does not preclude directives to consular officials to drastically reduce the number of visas issued to Pakistani citizens.

Another notable facet of the current ban is that it applies to all non-citizens from the countries stated. This means that even green card holders, known as “legal permanent residents” or “resident aliens” are also barred from returning to the United States.

Based on the above, Pakistani citizens who are legal permanent residents of US (green card holders) or hold other US non-immigrant visas must take seriously the possibility of an imminent ban on Pakistani citizens as well.

Pakistani citizens who are currently in the United States on F student visas, H-1B visas, J visas (usually issued to resident physicians and exchange programs) should not travel out of the United States for the next several months if they wish to return there.

Those who hold these visas and are currently in Pakistan and wish to return to the United States should perhaps return immediately.

Those Pakistanis who are legal permanent residents/US green card holders and wish to return and live in the United States must also return as soon as possible.

If the ban is extended to Pakistan, none of these categories of people (save US citizens) will be able to return to the United States.

Several lawsuits have been filed in the United States challenging the ban. Not only will it take a long time for the challenges to these bans to be adjudicated, it is also unlikely that the ban will be deemed unconstitutional.

This is because while religious tests and discrimination are not permitted under the United States Constitution, those constitutional protections do not apply to non-citizens or beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.

Finally, US courts have already ruled that those denied visas do not have the right to appeal the denial in US courts.

For all of these reasons, all Pakistanis holding US green cards and non-immigrant visas should return to the United States without delay and if they are already there, refrain from traveling outside the country.

Update: The Department of Homeland Security has formally issued a notification that green card holders are exempt from the Executive Order.

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