Judge extends block on Donald Trump's travel ban

An order blocking President Donald Trump's travel ban has been extended by a federal judge in Hawaii.

The ruling by US District Judge Derrick Watson means Mr Trump cannot enforce his ban, which blocks new visas for people from six predominantly Muslim countries and temporarily halts the US refugee programme.

Hawaii has argued that the policy discriminates against Muslims and hurts the state's tourist-dependent economy.

State attorney general Douglas Chin told the judge that the implied message in the revised ban is like a "neon sign flashing 'Muslim ban, Muslim ban'" that the government did not bother to turn off.

The government says the ban falls within the president's power to protect national security.

The Trump administration had asked Judge Watson to narrow his ruling to cover only the part of Mr Trump's executive order that suspends new visas for people from six Muslim-majority countries, but this was rejected.

Hawaii was the first state to sue over Mr Trump's revised ban. The imam of a Honolulu mosque joined the challenge, arguing that the ban would prevent his Syrian mother-in-law from visiting family in Hawaii.

Earlier this month, Judge Watson prevented the federal government from suspending new visas for people from Somalia, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen for 90 days and freezing the nation's refugee programme for 120 days. His ruling came hours before the federal government planned to start enforcing Mr Trump's executive order.

The president called Judge Watson's previous ruling "unprecedented judicial overreach".

An earlier version of the president's ban was blocked by the courts.