KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A curfew was imposed on a key border city in southern Nepal after Hindu and Muslim groups began protesting against each other following the vandalism of a mosque over the weekend, officials said Tuesday.
The curfew orders issued by the Parsa District Administration said that no one will be allowed in the streets and all gatherings and demonstrations are banned.
The notice also warned that violators could be shot by security forces.
Armed soldiers and police officers were patrolling the streets of Birgunj, located 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of the capital Kathmandu, which is the key border point for importing much of the oil, goods and supplies from neighboring India to Nepal.
Muslim groups began protesting in the streets of Birgunj on Sunday against the vandalism of a mosque in a nearby town, which was followed by a separate demonstration by Hindu followers on the same day. Protests have continued since.
There have been no major clashes between the two groups and no major injuries noted, with only scuffles with riot police reported.
Clashes between Hindus and Muslims are rare in the predominately Hindu nation of Nepal, where the Muslim population is found mostly in border regions in the southern part of the country.
Policemen in riot gear stand guard in Birgunj, 130 kilometers (81miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Jiyalal Sah)
Protesters shout slogans and burn tires as they block main Street in Birgunj, 130 kilometers (81miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jiyalal Sah)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A judge disqualified a Trump administration federal prosecutor from overseeing investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James, ruling Thursday that he is not lawfully serving as an acting U.S. attorney.
U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield blocked subpoenas requested by John Sarcone, the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York. The judge said the Department of Justice did not follow statutory procedure after judges declined to extend Sarcone’s tenure last year.
Schofield joined several other federal judges across the country who have ruled that actions taken by top federal prosecutors were invalid because of unusual methods that the Trump administration used to get them the jobs. People were given the power of a U.S. attorney outside of the normal Senate confirmation process or were allowed to serve until federal judges in their district could decide whether they could stay.
“When the Executive branch of government skirts restraints put in place by Congress and then uses that power to subject political adversaries to criminal investigations, it acts without lawful authority. Subpoenas issued under that authority are invalid. The subpoenas are quashed, and Mr. Sarcone is disqualified from further participation in the underlying investigations,” the judge said in her decision.
Schofield said Sarcone is not lawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney and that any “of his past or future acts taken in that capacity are void or voidable as they would rest on authority Mr. Sarcone does not lawfully have.”
James, a Democrat, challenged Sarcone’s authority after he issued subpoenas seeking information about lawsuits she filed against Republican President Donald Trump, claiming he had committed fraud in his business dealings, and separately against the National Rifle Association and some of its former leaders.
She claimed the inquiry into her lawsuits is part of a campaign of baseless investigations and prosecutions of Trump’s perceived enemies.
Justice Department lawyers argued Sarcone was appointed properly and that the subpoenas were valid.
The department said in a email Thursday it "will continue to fight and defend the President and the Attorney General’s authority to appoint their U.S. Attorneys.”
James’ office called Thursday's ruling “an important win for the rule of law.”
“We will continue to defend our office’s successful litigation from this administration’s political attacks,” the office's statement said.
Last month, a panel of judges from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting in Philadelphia sided with a lower-court judge’s ruling disqualifying Alina Habba from serving as New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor.
In November, a federal judge dismissed criminal cases against former FBI Director James Comey and James after concluding that the hastily installed prosecutor who filed the charges, Lindsey Halligan, was unlawfully appointed to the position of interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
A similar dynamic played out in Nevada, where a federal judge disqualified the Trump administration’s pick to be U.S. attorney there. And a federal judge in Los Angeles disqualified the acting U.S. attorney in Southern California from several cases after concluding he stayed in the job longer than allowed.
In New York, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone to serve as the interim U.S. attorney in March. When his 120-day term elapsed, judges in the district declined to keep him in the post.
Bondi then appointed Sarcone as a special attorney and designated him first assistant U.S. attorney for the district, moves that federal officials say allow him to serve as an acting U.S. attorney.
The judge, who sits in New York City, took issue with the Justice Department's actions.
“(O)n the same day that the judges declined to extend Mr. Sarcone’s appointment, the Department took coordinated steps — through personnel moves and shifting titles — to install Mr. Sarcone as Acting U.S. Attorney. Federal law does not permit such a workaround,” she wrote.
Sarcone was part of Trump’s legal team during the 2016 presidential campaign and worked for the U.S. General Services Administration during Trump’s first term.
“The people of the Northern District of New York deserve a qualified, independent prosecutor, not a political loyalist,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a prepared statement.
Schofield said the federal government could reissue the subpoenas at the direction of a lawfully authorized attorney.
Joshua Naftalis, a Manhattan federal prosecutor for 11 years before entering private practice in 2023, said it's "always a big deal when judges say that the U.S. attorney doesn’t have the authority.” He added that subpoenas aren’t typically issued by a single prosecutor so the ruling might not directly affect other investigations brought through the prosecutor’s office.
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Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister contributed from New York.
FILE - John Sarcone, acting U.S. Attorney for Northern New York, leaves Manhattan federal court, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Michael Sisak, File)
New York Attorney General Letitia James arrives at City Hall for the public inauguration swearing-in ceremony of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)
