Travellers from the seven predominantly Muslim countries targeted by President Donald Trump enjoyed tearful reunions with loved ones in the US Sunday after a federal judge swept the ban aside. Airlines around the world allowed people to board flights as usual to the United States. One lawyer waiting at New York’s Kennedy Airport said visa and green-card holders from Iraq and Iran were encountering no problems as they arrived. “It’s business as usual,” said Camille Mackler, of the New York Immigration Coalition. Fariba Tajrostami, a 32-year-old painter from Iran, came through the gate at Kennedy with a huge smile and tears in her eyes as her brothers greeted her with joyful hugs. “I’m very happy. I haven’t seen my brothers for nine years,” she said. Tajrostami had tried to fly to the US from Turkey over a week ago but was turned away. “I was crying and was so disappointed,” she said. “Everything I had in mind, what I was going to do, I was so disappointed about everything. I thought it was all over.” Tajrostami said she hopes to study art in the US and plans to join her husband in Dallas soon. He moved from Iran six months ago, has a green card and is working at a car dealership. Similar scenes played out across the US two days after a federal judge in Seattle suspended the president’s travel ban and just hours after a federal appeals court denied the Trump administration’s request to set aside the ruling.<br/>
general
A US appeals court declined to immediately reinstate President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions, leaving visa holders and refugees from seven predominantly Muslim nations free to travel to the US as arguments over the president’s authority wind toward a possible Supreme Court showdown. The action in San Francisco followed moves by the departments of Homeland Security and State on Saturday to revert to rules in place before the president acted, even as Trump’s administration expressed outrage over a Friday ruling in Seattle blocking the order. The appeals court ordered the states of Minnesota and Washington, which won their challenge at the lower court, to respond to the Trump administration’s arguments before midnight Sunday, with the Justice Department getting until Monday to submit final arguments for enforcing the ban while the court battle continues. Trump’s efforts to reinstate his order will hinge on whether the Justice Department can convince an appeals court of mostly Democratic appointees -- and possibly a divided Supreme Court -- that the executive branch alone has authority on matters of national security. “It’s quite clear that the president has the ability to determine who has access to this country when it comes to national security,” VP Mike Pence said. “We’re going to move very quickly into the merits of this argument, and we’re going to win this argument.” The Justice Department isn’t immediately asking the US Supreme Court to rule given the “fast briefing schedule” requested by the appeals court, said Peter Carr, a department spokesman. US District Judge James Robart ’s ruling in Seattle on Friday was the most comprehensive legal admonishment of Trump’s executive order prohibiting immigrants, students, temporary workers and others from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya from entering the US for 90 days. Judges in Brooklyn, New York; Alexandria, Virginia; and Los Angeles have issued orders that are less sweeping.<br/>
Rebuffed in its bid for a quick reversal, the White House said Sunday it expected the courts to reaffirm President Donald Trump's executive power and reinstate a ban on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the US. The case promised to extend into Monday at least, when fresh legal filings were due, and observers had no doubt the Supreme Court ultimately will have a say. The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in a brief order overnight, denied the administration's request to set aside a Seattle judge's ruling that put a temporary hold on the ban nationwide. The lawsuit by Washington state and Minnesota said Trump's order harmed residents and effectively mandated discrimination. Their lawyers had until 2:59 a.m. EST Monday to submit briefs opposing the government's request. The Justice Department then had a 6 p.m. EST deadline to respond.<br/>
South Korea's major airlines continued to do well in terms of sales last year, but their profitability fell far short of those of other global airlines, market data showed Monday. In a 12-month period starting from September 2015, sales of South Korea's largest full service carrier, Korean Air Lines, came to $10.1b, according to the data compiled by US-based Airline Weekly. The amount marks the 18th largest among 72 global airlines surveyed. Sales by Asiana Airlines, South Korea's second-largest FSC, came to $5.02b, the 28th largest. The two South Korean airlines trailed top airlines, such as American Airlines, whose sales came to $40.02b over the cited period, immediately followed by Delta with $39.68b. The South Korean FSCs, however, lagged behind their international competitors by a greater margin in terms of profits. In the one-year period, Korean Air posted an operating profit of $72m, while Asiana Airlines posted an operating profit of $66m, the 46th and 49th largest, respectively, out of the 72 airlines studied. Market observers here blamed the lack of lucrative domestic routes for the local airlines' low profitability.<br/>