Policy is

struck down

BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge has struck down a Trump administration policy enacted after the shooting of two National Guard members that made it harder for immigrants from dozens of countries to stay and enter the country.

In a ruling harshly criticizing the administration, U.S. District Chief Judge John McConnell Jr. said the policy “threw the lives of countless immigrants living in the United States into indeterminate legal limbo,” and he accused the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of ignoring the law.

The policies, enacted after the National Guard shooting last year, meant that immigrants from dozens of countries 39 have been “categorically barred” from receiving final decisions on, among other things, their asylum and work permits green card.

Putin rejects

Ukraine offer

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected a proposal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a face-to-face meeting, saying he sees “no point” in it. Speaking Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin described Zelenskyy’s open letter proposing the meeting as “boorish.”

It was the first public message Zelenskyy has sent directly to Putin since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and was a critique of the Russian leader’s 26 years in power as well as taunting him about his age. The 73-year-old Putin pointed at other global leaders who are older, adding that “the main thing is the ability to work.” I

In an earlier speech, Putin criticized the West’s unilateral sanctions.

Lebanese

leaders object

DIBBINE, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon’s president and prime minister are criticizing Iran for rejecting the latest ceasefire deal between the Lebanese government and Israel.

In separate remarks on Friday, they said their country should not be used by Tehran as a “bargaining chip” in its talks with Washington. The comments by the Lebanese leaders came as the Israeli military struck multiple parts of southern Lebanon and issued evacuation warnings for nine villages, including one that has sheltered thousands of people displaced by the three-month war.

The strikes killed nine people in six locations in southern Lebanon, the state news agency reported.

Virginia man

sentenced

FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) — A Virginia man who was having an affair with the family’s Brazilian au pair has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of his wife and a man who was lured to the couple’s home as a fall guy.

Brendan Banfield claimed he shot Joseph Ryan after he came across Ryan attacking his wife on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023. But prosecutors said Brendan Banfield and the au pair set Ryan up in a scheme to get rid of Christine Banfield.

During Friday’s sentencing hearing, the judge called Brendan Banfield’s actions evil and calculated. Some media have dubbed the case the “au pair affair.”