America’s refugee policy was thrown into turmoil by Donald Trump’s executive order to halt all refugee admissions for four months and ban Syrian refugees indefinitely. In addition, all citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen were stopped from entering the United States for three months. The directive, issued without any input from the federal agencies that have to implement it, caused confusion in America and abroad, trapping people at airports. An almighty constitutional battle looms.

Jeff Sessions was approved as attorney-general by the relevant committee in the Senate. Mr Trump had earlier sacked the interim attorney-general, who was appointed as a stopgap until Mr Sessions could take office, after she told lawyers at the Justice Department not to defend the refugee ban.

In another controversial move Mr Trump gave Stephen Bannon, his senior political strategist, a seat on the National Security Council. The director of the CIA is also to join, but the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the director of national intelligence were demoted on the NSC. They will now attend only when “issues pertaining to their responsibilities” are discussed.

Neil Gorsuch was nominated by Mr Trump to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court left by the death of Antonin Scalia a year ago. Mr Gorsuch is a federal appeals court judge from Colorado with a solid conservative record. Democrats in the Senate are in no mood to smooth the path of his confirmation.

Murder at prayers

A gunman killed six people at a mosque in Quebec City, the capital of Canada’s French-speaking province. Police later arrested a man who reportedly has anti-immigrant and white-supremacist views. See article.

Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto, cancelled a planned meeting with Donald Trump. Mr Trump had earlier tweeted that Mr Peña should cancel the visit if Mexico was not prepared to pay for the border wall that America plans to build. In a telephone call the two leaders “acknowledged their clear and very public differences” on the wall.

In Chile, 11 people died in wildfires, which consumed over 350,000 hectares of forest and the town of Santa Olga in the central part of the country. The government declared a state of emergency and arrested 43 people on suspicion of starting some of the fires. Brazilian police arrested Eike Batista, who used to be the country’s richest man, on charges that he paid bribes to win contracts with the state of Rio de Janeiro. Mr Batista flew to Rio from New York to turn himself in.

Back in the club

Guinea’s president, Alpha Condé, was elected chairman of the African Union, a year-long ceremonial post, while Morocco was readmitted. It withdrew in a huff 33 years ago after the admission of Western Sahara, which it claims and occupies. That dispute is still unresolved.

Evan Mawarire, a pastor from Zimbabwe who sparked a protest movement last year and then fled the country, was arrested after flying home.

Israeli police began clearing Amona, a small unauthorised Jewish settlement built on private land in the Palestinians’ West Bank. Separately the Israeli government approved the construction of 3,000 more housing units in the West Bank.

Iran test-fired a ballistic missile. The UN sought to determine whether the launch violated the country’s counter-proliferation undertakings.

Rich pickings

A billionaire Chinese businessman, Xiao Jianhua, who was living in Hong Kong, disappeared. Press reports said Mr Xiao was taken to mainland China by Chinese security agents. The case has attracted considerable attention in Hong Kong, where many people are still angry about the abduction of a bookseller by mainland agents a year ago. See article.

An assassin shot and killed an adviser to the National League for Democracy, Myanmar’s ruling party. Ko Ni, the victim, was a prominent advocate for religious tolerance. See article.

Pakistan placed Hafiz Saeed, whom America and India maintain is the leader of a terrorist group called Lashkar-e-Taiba, under house arrest. He denies any terror links.

Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, ordered the dissolution of the police squads that had been spearheading his war on drugs. The order followed the revelation that some members had killed a South Korean businessman.

Backsliding

The Romanian government bypassed parliament to decriminalise some forms of corruption by officials, sparking large protests in Bucharest. It is a further sign that Romania’s anti-graft drive, a model for the region, is slowing down.

At least 12 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in an upsurge of fighting against Russian-backed separatists. The clashes followed a telephone conversation between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. See article.

People on the terror watch-list in Germany will now be electronically tagged, even if they have not committed a crime. Meanwhile, 1,000 police rounded up suspected jihadists. One of those arrested is wanted in connection with an attack in Tunisia in 2015.