Political news

• Consumer watchdog agency asks court to reconsider ruling

  18-11-2016 23:56
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The government's consumer finance watchdog is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider its ruling that said the agency's structure is unconstitutional.
  
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• Spain's golden era is fading but Lopez stays positive

  18-11-2016 23:46
  By Martyn Herman LONDON (Reuters) - Spain must accept the fact that the sun is setting on its golden generation in men's tennis and the next one may take a while to arrive, Feliciano Lopez said at the ATP World Tour Finals this week. For the first time since 1999, no Spanish player was involved in the singles at the showpiece event featuring the world's top eight players, with only Lopez and his namesake Marc Lopez flying the flag for the powerhouse nation in the doubles. The pair bowed out on F
  
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• Donald Trump's Ford Focus

  18-11-2016 23:33
  On Thursday evening, President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to announce that he “Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico.” He followed up a few minutes later to assert his role in the decision: “I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!”
  
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• Pushing US policy rightward, Trump taps Sessions and Flynn

  18-11-2016 23:21
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump signaled a sharp rightward shift in U.S. national security policy Friday with his announcement that he will nominate Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general and Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA, turning to a pair of staunch conservatives as he begins to fill out his Cabinet.
  
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• AP FACT CHECK: Trump auto industry statements are misleading

  18-11-2016 23:21
  
  President-elect Donald Trump has a long list of deceptive statements about Ford Motor Co. and the auto industry, and he added to that list this week. Trump's tweet on Thursday asserting that he had dissuaded ...
  
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• BP Products wins $559 million U.S. defence contract - Pentagon

  18-11-2016 23:17
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - BP Products North America, a unit of BP Plc , has been awarded an estimated $559 million fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment U.S. defence contract for fuel, the Pentagon said on Friday. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh)
  
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• Flynn: Critic of Muslim militancy and culture

  18-11-2016 23:12
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Michael Flynn, the retired Army lieutenant general and intelligence officer who is Donald Trump's pick to serve as his national security adviser, is a harsh critic of Muslim extremism and the religion itself, calling "radical Islam" an existential threat to the United States.
  
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• Why Trump’s ‘forgotten’ must include the homeless

  18-11-2016 23:06
  One of the enduring and bipartisan ideas in Washington for more than 13 years, championed by both Barack Obama and George W. Bush, has been that homelessness can be licked. As Donald Trump prepares to occupy the White House, it is worth asking: Does this strategy still work? While the “housing first” idea has been essential, so too has been the federal push for local people and agencies to work personally with each homeless person to solve his or her complex problems, from addiction
  
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• A&E, cancer and maternity units to close in major NHS overhaul

  18-11-2016 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As detailed healthcare strategy plans emerge and opposition grows, local hospitals face the loss of thousands of beds Thousands of hospital beds are set to disappear, pregnant women will face long trips to give birth and a string of A&E units will be downgraded or even closed altogether as part of controversial NHS plans to reorganise healthcare in England. A Guardian analysis of the 24 NHS regional plans that have now been published – more than half the total of 44 – has found t
  
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• WHO declares end of Zika emergency, but still urges action

  18-11-2016 22:47
  By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Friday that the Zika virus no longer constitutes an international emergency, but it stressed a need for a long-term effort to address Zika, which has been linked to birth defects and neurological complications. The WHO's Emergency Committee, which declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) in February, said the virus is still a long-term problem. "The Zika virus and associated consequ
  
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• Sessions likely to bring conservative voice to Justice Dept.

  18-11-2016 22:45
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmation hearing of Sen. Jeff Sessions, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General, is likely to rehash racially charged allegations that derailed his efforts to become a federal judge and made him a symbol of black-voter intimidation under the Reagan Administration.
  
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• House chairman: Trump favors privatizing air traffic control

  18-11-2016 22:45
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee chairman says President-elect Donald Trump likes the idea of spinning off air traffic control operations from the government and placing them under the control of a private, non-profit corporation chartered by Congress.
  
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• Trump agrees to settle Trump University lawsuits

  18-11-2016 22:42
  By Karen Freifeld and Dan Levine NEW YORK/SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to settle fraud lawsuits relating to his Trump University series of real estate seminars for $25 million, New York's attorney general said on Friday. A settlement would end a dispute that dogged Trump throughout his presidential election campaign and led to one of the more controversial moments of his run when he claimed the judge overseeing two of the cases was biased because he was of M
  
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• May seeks to mend fences with corporate Britain

  18-11-2016 22:39
  PM to court business with pledge to invest in transport, science and research
  
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• Leaders mark Soviet dissolution, urge Ukraine dialogue

  18-11-2016 22:38
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Three former top Soviet officials are marking the signing of a treaty 25 years ago that formally dissolved the Soviet Union and are urging dialogue on the deadly separatist conflict in Ukraine.
  
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• Trump agrees to $25M settlement to resolve Trump U lawsuits

  18-11-2016 22:34
  
  President-elect Donald Trump has agreed to a $25 million settlement to resolve three lawsuits over Trump University, his former school for real estate investors. The deal announced Friday by New York state ...
  
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• Nigel Farage rules out peerage 'at the moment'

  18-11-2016 22:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  UKIP leader Nigel Farage says he does not want a peerage "at this moment" but jokes "he might think about it".
  
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• Trump considering Petraeus, others for Pentagon chief - WSJ

  18-11-2016 22:32
  (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering retired General David Petraeus, who resigned as CIA chief in 2012 after an extra-marital affair was revealed, is being considered for the post of defence secretary, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the transition process. Also under consideration as Pentagon chief are retired Marine General James Mattis, retired Army General Jack Keane, former national security adviser Stephen Hadley and forme
  
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• Dollar strongest in 13 years; bond yields rise

  18-11-2016 22:27
  A growing perception that the economic policies of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will lift consumer prices pushed the dollar higher. On Wall Street, the tech- and biotech-heavy Nasdaq Composite hit a record intraday high before slipping lower. "The economy does still have to catch up to valuation, considering yields are higher and they're continuing to rise." The Dow Jones industrial average fell 35.89 points, or 0.19 percent, to 18,867.93, the S&P 500 lost 5.22 points, or 0.24 percent,
  
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• Pacific rim leaders eye China lead on trade after Trump win

  18-11-2016 22:23
  By Rosalba O'Brien and Teresa Cespedes LIMA (Reuters) - Leaders of Pacific rim nations gathered in Peru on Friday, looking to China to salvage hopes for regional trade as prospects of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States sounded a possible death knell for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade pact. Discussions between the 21 members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit were dominated by fears of rising anti-globalisation sentiment in the West, with increasing
  
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• The Latest: Trump University lawsuits settled for $25M

  18-11-2016 22:21
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on litigation over Trump University (all times local):
  
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• Trump taps hard-liner, Iran nuke deal foe for CIA

  18-11-2016 22:15
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump's pick to be director of the CIA, is a hard-line Republican congressman who shares the president-elect's pugnacious worldview and, like Trump, spent years as a businessman before becoming a politician.
  
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• Donald Trump Is Still Lying As President Elect And The Press Just Printed His Latest Made Up Claim

  18-11-2016 22:02
  
  Donald Trump told an outright lie - taking credit for saving a car manufacturing plant that was not under threat - and it took the press completely by surprise.
  The President Elect tweeted car manufacturers Ford had rung him to say a manufacturing plant in Kentucky was no longer moving to Mexico.
  Trump, whose campaign message focussed heavily on protecting American manufacturing jobs, said he “worked hard” to keep the plant outside Louisville, Kentucky open, saying: “I owe
  
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• Mexico, five others to pursue TPP with or without U.S. - minister

  18-11-2016 21:55
  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday Mexico, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore aim to continue with the Trans-Pacific Partnership with or without the United States. "We determined that our countries will press ahead with this agreement independently of what Washington decides," Guajardo said of the trade deal on Mexican radio from Lima where he is taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. ...
  
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• Oil gains 5 percent on the week on OPEC hopes

  18-11-2016 21:53
  By Ethan Lou NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices settled higher on Friday, closing out a strong week that saw crude buoyed by growing expectations that OPEC will find a way to cap production at the end of the month. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is moving closer to finalising its first deal since 2008 to limit output, with most members prepared to offer Iran flexibility on production volumes, ministers and sources said. Iran has been the main stumbling block for cappin
  
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• Ex-JPMorgan executive who fled to Argentina pleads guilty in U.S.

  18-11-2016 21:53
  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former JPMorgan Chase & Co executive who spent eight years on the run in Argentina pleaded guilty on Friday to U.S. charges that he embezzled $5.4 million from clients at the bank and at a prior employer, UBS AG. Hernan Arbizu, who became involved in a tax-evasion probe involving JPMorgan, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to charges including wire fraud and embezzlement. "I'm very sorry and am ashamed by my actions." The 48-year-old citizen of
  
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• New Maryland senator to head Senate Democrats' campaign arm

  18-11-2016 21:52
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Maryland Senator-elect Chris Van Hollen will head the Democratic Senate campaign arm for the 2018 election cycle.
  
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• Mauritania court frees 10 anti-slavery activists - Amnesty

  18-11-2016 21:41
  An appeals court in Mauritania overturned the convictions of three anti-slavery activists on Friday and reduced the sentences of 10 others for their alleged role in a riot in June, Amnesty International said. A tribunal had sentenced the 13 members of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) in August to up to 15 years in prison after a protest against eviction by residents of a slum in the capital Nouakchott, many of whom are themselves former slaves. U.N. experts sa
  
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• Mourinho must create joy not fear - top psychologist

  18-11-2016 21:40
  By Claire Bloomfield MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Jose Mourinho's sombre countenance on the touchline and failure to win the "hearts and minds" of his players since arriving at Manchester United could prove his downfall, believes a leading British sports psychologist. The United manager has repeatedly criticised his team in public this season and the 53-year-old should think carefully about changing his approach, according to Steven Sylvester who works with Premier League players as well as world cham
  
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• Today's News: Nov. 18, 2016

  18-11-2016 21:37
  —WHO says Zika is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. More here —The Obama administration declares parts of the Arctic off-limits to offshore oil and gas drilling. More here
  
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• Mourinho doesn't know best team - Phil Neville

  18-11-2016 21:37
  By Claire Bloomfield MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is still unsure of his best team and of the right formula to get the most out of players like world record signing Paul Pogba, according to the club's former defender Phil Neville. As United prepared to host Arsenal at Old Trafford on Saturday, Neville said Mourinho, while not having given up hope of winning the title, seemed still in the dark about how to get the best from his under-performing squad. "Jose will sti
  
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• Thousands march in Argentina capital for more aid to the poor

  18-11-2016 21:32
  Tens of thousands of protesters, marching under the banners of unions and leftist groups, blocked traffic in Argentina's capital on Friday to pressure the government into increasing subsidies to the poor. The country continues to suffer through a prolonged economic recession nearly one year after President Mauricio Macri's centre-right administration took office and instituted market-friendly reforms aimed at boosting Argentina's competitiveness and taming rampant inflation. Macri has largely ma
  
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• Factbox - The nasty things Trump, Romney have said about each other

  18-11-2016 21:28
  (Reuters) - Even for a 2016 election campaign marked by rhetorical invective, the remarks President-elect Donald Trump and Mitt Romney made about each other in the run-up to the Nov. 8 vote were especially harsh. A source familiar with the meeting said they may discuss whether Romney should be considered for secretary of state in a Trump administration. Here are some of the things, kind and unkind, that Trump and Romney have said about each other.
  
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• Brazil judge to hear criminal charges for Samarco dam disaster

  18-11-2016 21:27
  A federal judge in Brazil has agreed to hear a criminal case against four companies and 22 employees for a burst tailings dam at the Samarco mine that killed 19 people last November, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Friday. Prosecutors last month accused Samarco, its joint-venture owners Vale SA and BHP Billiton , and consultant VogBR of environmental crimes, while employees were accused of homicide in the disaster, which also polluted a major river. Prosecutors said there were s
  
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• Most Americans back 'just the facts' news stories - Pew survey

  18-11-2016 21:22
  Most Americans want the media to present facts in news stories without adding interpretation, a Pew Research Center survey said on Friday amid a debate in the media about its role in covering Donald Trump's unconventional presidential campaign. The question is especially keen after the 2016 election when the media grappled with challenging false statements made by Republican Trump in his campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults reject the idea of adding interp
  
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• Thousands expected at Malaysian anti-government rally despite arrests

  18-11-2016 21:20
  By Rozanna Latiff and Praveen Menon KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Thousands of anti-government protesters are expected to gather in Malaysia's capital on Saturday to demand the resignation of scandal-tainted Prime Minister Najib Razak, despite the arrest of activists and opposition leaders just hours before the rally. The demonstration is unlikely to shake Najib, who has denied wrongdoing and weathered the crisis, consolidating power by cracking down on dissenters and curbing media groups and activis
  
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• Northern Ireland court refers Brexit challenge to UK Supreme Court

  18-11-2016 21:06
  An attempt by a Northern Ireland activist to block Britain's exit from the European Union was referred to the Supreme Court on Friday after the case was rejected by Belfast's High Court. Belfast's Court of Appeal on Friday ruled that the contention by rights activist Raymond McCord that the people of Northern Ireland should have sole sovereignty on deciding their future within the EU should be decided by the Supreme Court. The court heard that a parallel case against Brexit by several members of
  
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• Martin Rowson on the Brexit grand tour – cartoon

  18-11-2016 21:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• Trump's CIA pick supports domestic surveillance, opposes Iran deal

  18-11-2016 20:58
  By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Mike Pompeo, President-elect Donald Trump's surprise choice to head the CIA, supports the U.S. government's sweeping collection of Americans' communications data and wants to scrap the nuclear deal with Iran. The retired Army officer, West Point and Harvard Law School graduate also has defended the CIA's use of interrogation techniques that are widely condemned as torture. The Kansas Republican has criticized Democratic presidential candid
  
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• Conservatives have concerns about Sessions as Trump's attorney general

  18-11-2016 20:58
  By Julia Edwards Ainsley and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump on Friday named his earliest and staunchest supporter in the Senate, conservative Republican Jeff Sessions, to become the next U.S. attorney general, triggering an outcry from civil rights groups as well as some conservatives outside Congress who are uneasy about Sessions' positions. If approved for the job by a simple majority in the Republican-dominated Senate, Sessions, 69, would lead the Justic
  
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• Obama blocks new oil, gas drilling in Arctic Ocean

  18-11-2016 20:51
  
  The Obama administration is blocking new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean, handing a victory to environmentalists who say industrial activity in the icy waters will harm whales, walruses and other ...
  
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• NSA director Rogers is top candidate for DNI under Trump - WSJ

  18-11-2016 20:43
  (Reuters) - U.S. National Security Agency Director Admiral Mike Rogers is the leading candidate to become President-elect Donald Trump's next director of national intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter. Rogers met with Trump in New York on Thursday, members of Trump's transition team said on Friday. (Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Writing by Eric Walsh; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
  
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• Key lawmaker: Trump favors privatizing air traffic control

  18-11-2016 20:40
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has told the chairman of a key House committee that he likes the idea of spinning off air traffic control operations from the government and placing them under the control of a private, non-profit corporation chartered by Congress, the lawmaker, Rep. Bill Shuster, said Friday.
  
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• Alaska Air nearing settlement with U.S. on Virgin deal - source

  18-11-2016 20:34
  Alaska Air Group Inc is close to reaching a settlement with U.S. antitrust officials that will allow it to complete its proposed $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin America Inc , according to a person familiar with the matter. Virgin America's shares rose as much as 5.9 percent to a record high of $58.70, before giving up some of the gains to be up 2 percent in afternoon trading on Friday. Alaska Air's shares were little changed at $79.24.
  
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• The Guardian view on the autumn statement: a break with past thinking please | Editorial

  18-11-2016 20:26 via theguardian.com
  
  The prime minister promised the country’s working poor more than warm words and gesture politics. Next week offers her a chance to prove itEver since she moved into No 10, Theresa May has had one simple pitch: I am not a born-to-rule, out-of-touch Conservative. It was the theme of her first speech as prime minister and it will be one of the ways by which she is judged. Well, now she has an opportunity to prove it. Next week’s autumn statement is her first big chance. It cannot be the
  
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• The Latest: Head of NATO talks to Trump

  18-11-2016 20:21
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump's transition activities (all times EST):
  
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• Care providers ditching local authority contracts, says Tory council leader

  18-11-2016 20:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Chancellor told he must act to plug multibillion-pound black hole that threatens services for elderly and disabledA Conservative council leader says dozens of social care providers are cancelling contracts with local authorities and instead offering their services solely to wealthy private clients.Izzi Seccombe, who is the Local Government Association’s spokesperson for social care, said the chancellor needed to take urgent action in the autumn statement to tackle a growing crisis in the s
  
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• Trump picks conservative loyalists for top security, law enforcement jobs

  18-11-2016 20:13
  By Steve Holland and Andy Sullivan NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump picked three conservative loyalists to lead his national security and law enforcement teams on Friday, underscoring his campaign promise to take a hard line confronting Islamist militancy and curbing illegal immigration. Trump picked U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions for attorney general, rewarding a staunch supporter whose tough and sometimes inflammatory statements on immigration have reflected his own. The
  
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• Manchester United v Arsenal - the fans' view

  18-11-2016 20:11
  Although Arsene Wenger's side are unbeaten in all competitions since the opening day of the season and just two points off top spot, Arsenal have not beaten sixth-placed United for over a decade at Old Trafford. Here is what the fans have to say about their respective clubs: Paul Ansorge - Rant Cast By United Rant "I think Manchester United have been a little bit better this season than they are being given credit for.
  
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• Gridlocked Guinea Bissau names fifth PM in a year

  18-11-2016 20:05
  Guinea Bissau named its fifth prime minister in a year on Friday as the coup-ridden West African country struggled to end months of political gridlock. A presidential decree named Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco Embalo - a brigadier general as well as a presidential adviser and minister in previous administrations. President Jose Mario Vaz had to dissolve the previous government on Monday after the last prime minister, Baciro Dja, failed to win the full support of his ruling PAIGC party, an organisation h
  
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