From Washington, this is VOA news. I'm David DeForest reporting.

A U.S. appeals court has rejected the Trump administration's request to reinstatement a temporary travel ban from seven countries.

The early Sunday ruling by a court of appeals in San Francisco came after the U.S. Justice Department filed an appeal in response to a federal judge's decision Friday.

Here is Vice President Mike Pence speaking on Fox News Sunday. "We don't appoint judges to our district courts to conduct foreign policy or to make decisions about our national security. Under statutory law and under the Constitution, that authority belongs to the president of the United States.

In a series of tweets Sunday, the president said Americans should blame the judge and the court system if anything happens as a result of the ruling.

Officials in Afghanistan say an avalanche caused by heavy snowfall struck a remote village Sunday in the eastern province of Nuristan. They say at least 50 people were killed, putting the nationwide death toll in the past three days to nearly 100 in such incidents.

French judicial sources say Abdullah al-Hamahmy, the man suspected of attacking French soldiers outside the Louvre Museum in Paris, is refusing to speak with investigators.

The suspect's father tells the Associated Press his son is not a terrorist. He said he trusted the French judiciary system to find the truth behind the charges against his 28-year-old son.

A top Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander says Iran conducted missile and radar exercises Saturday. The drills happened a day after the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Iran for a ballistic missile test it conducted last week.

Iran denies that those tests violate the landmark nuclear agreement reached with world powers.

This is VOA news.

President Donald Trump says he "respects" Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he is not sure the two of them will get along.

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly told the president Mr. Putin was a killer. The president responded by likening the United States to Russia and saying "We've got a lot of killers."

President Trump also said he would put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of a commission to investigate allegations of voter fraud during the November 8 election.

The Romanian government officially repealed a decree Sunday that had decriminalized some official misconduct. That action followed the largest protests in Romania since 1989.

Speaking to cheering supporters in the city of Lyon, French far-right leader Marine Le Pen called for putting "France First," the theme echoed a slogan used in America by Donald Trump during his election campaign.

Opinion polls show Le Pen in the lead for the first round of the presidential election.

In her speech Sunday at the National Front party congress, she also attacked mass immigration, globalization and Islamic fundamentalism.

Ukraine says two of its soldiers have been wounded while fighting separatist forces in the east and rebels are reporting mortar fire by government forces.

At least 33 people have been killed since an increase in violence in that area.

There are media reports that Syrian troops advanced Sunday, chipping away at territory held by the Islamic State group.

Forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are concentrating on the nation's north as well as the cities of Damascus and Palmyra.

Government-aligned forces were said to be closer to the town of al-Bab.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking the approval of a law that would legalize dozens of Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank.

Members of Mr. Netanyahu's coalition government are pressuring him to bring the bill to a vote despite domestic and internal opposition.

Israel's attorney general says he will not defend the measure if it's brought before the Supreme Court.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will be staying in London longer than he planned, waiting for the results of health tests.

Officials released no details on his health or a date for his return.

The New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons are taking to the field for Super Bowl 51, the championship game of the National Football League in the U.S.

The game will be played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, and by the way, the Patriots are favored to win the game we'll see.

From the VOA news center in Washington, I'm David DeForest.

That's the latest world news from VOA.