| Trump's travel ban in court (again), but with a difference Posted: 16 Oct 2017 02:31 PM PDT ![Trump's travel ban in court (again), but with a difference]( "Trump's travel ban in court (again), but with a difference") Will the third time be the charm for the Trump administration? An almost constant feature of Donald Trump's presidency has been litigation over his trio of travel-ban executive actions, which restrict entry into the US for certain classes of immigrants from six Muslim-majority countries. The travel ban has also become the primary battleground for larger debates over how the judicial system should respond to a presidency that has defied governmental orthodoxy in numerous ways.
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| In assault on Kirkuk, Iraqi Kurds see region's reply to independence vote Posted: 16 Oct 2017 01:53 PM PDT ![In assault on Kirkuk, Iraqi Kurds see region's reply to independence vote]( "In assault on Kirkuk, Iraqi Kurds see region's reply to independence vote") The euphoria last month of the Kurds who moved forward with a controversial referendum on independence in Iraqi Kurdistan is quickly giving way to alarm as the central government of Iraq and powerful regional neighbors make good on their pledges to push back. Predictably, conflict has flared in the oil-rich city and region of Kirkuk, long at the heart of tensions between the Erbil-based Kurdistan Regional Government and the central authorities in Baghdad. Of special concern to the Kurds, analysts noted, was Baghdad's growing coordination with both Turkey and Iran, all keen to make sure that any independent Kurdish state is thwarted.
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| NFL owners to meet, with racial divide on the agenda Posted: 16 Oct 2017 01:23 PM PDT ![NFL owners to meet, with racial divide on the agenda]( "NFL owners to meet, with racial divide on the agenda") Minutes before kickoff for the first round of Sunday's football games, the National Football League website carried two unusual features. Below the usual fare of game-day predictions and fantasy matchups were slideshows of Baltimore players visiting schools with Baltimore police and of Miami Dolphins and the league commissioner doing the same with police in their city. It was a jarring bit of social activism for a sports league site on game day.
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| The battle of Kirkuk as a lesson on ‘self determination’ Posted: 16 Oct 2017 12:34 PM PDT ![The battle of Kirkuk as a lesson on 'self determination']( "The battle of Kirkuk as a lesson on 'self determination'") When Woodrow Wilson declared nearly a century ago that any group of people are entitled to "self determination," he was not very clear on the meaning of "self," or what is the essential identity needed to bind a nation. After the two regions held contentious votes on independence in the past few weeks, the differences within each region remain almost as large as those with the mother country that opposes a breakup. The Kurds provide a good example of the need for a people to look beyond a physical or cultural identity in trying to form a new country.
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