Political news

• Britons could pay for EU citizenship after Brexit, says top negotiator

  25-11-2016 23:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Brexit negotiator said he ‘supported the principle’ behind UK citizens keeping their EU rights by paying an annual feeBritons could pay to retain the benefits of European Union citizenship after Brexit under plans being considered by MEPs.The European parliament’s lead Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said he supported the principle of the idea, which would see UK citizens sending an annual fee to Brussels.Continue reading...
  
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• Blast noise in southeast Turkey possibly caused by jets - governor's office

  25-11-2016 23:19
  A blast was heard in the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep late on Friday but police were unable to find any signs of damage, the governor's office said, adding the noise could have been caused by warplanes breaking the sound barrier. A statement from the provincial governor's office, shared by Gaziantep Mayor Fatma Sahin on her Twitter account, said the security forces had investigated reports of the blast noise but found no signs of damage or casualties. "It was assessed that the noise co
  
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• Rebels targeted ethnic Fulanis in Central African Republic town

  25-11-2016 23:18
  By Joe Bavier ABIDJAN (Reuters) - The United Nations' top genocide official said on Friday he had reports that militia fighters in Central African Republic hunted down and massacred members of the Fulani ethnic group during violence that killed 85 civilians this week. Clashes erupted on Monday in Bria, a town about 600 km (370 miles) northeast of the capital Bangui, between rival rebel groups the Popular Front for the Renaissance of Central African Republic (FPRC) and the Union for Peace in Cent
  
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• Hoeness reclaims Bayern presidency after prison term

  25-11-2016 23:18
  MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Uli Hoeness, who was released from prison in February after serving a sentence for tax evasion, made a triumphant return to Bayern Munich as club president on Friday after being re-elected unopposed. Cheered on by the vast majority of the 7,000 club members at the annual general meeting and booed by a handful, Hoeness was hugged by fellow club bosses when the election result was announced. "I want to thank you and I promise that I will not disappoint you," he told the
  
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• British photographer David Hamilton dies in Paris - police source

  25-11-2016 23:02
  PARIS (Reuters) - British photographer David Hamilton died in Paris on Friday at the age of 83 after committing suicide, a police source told Reuters. Hamilton, who had lived much of his life in France and whose works had appeared in high-end fashion magazines, was found unresponsive in his home by a neighbour who alerted emergency services, French radio station Europe 1 reported without giving a source. (Reporting by Emmanuel Jarry; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
  
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• The Latest: Green Party's Stein files for Wisconsin recount

  25-11-2016 22:59
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump's transition (all times EST):
  
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• With recounts looming, Trump adds new administration picks

  25-11-2016 22:55
  
  MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump pressed forward Friday with two more administration picks, as failed Green Party candidate Jill Stein took new steps to force recounts across key Midwestern battlegrounds that could complicate Trump's push for national unity.
  
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• Trump turns to Washington lawyer to navigate legal, ethics issues

  25-11-2016 22:50
  By Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump on Friday chose Washington insider Donald McGahn to be his White House counsel, giving him the job of untangling potential conflicts of interest that the New York businessman's presidency may present. McGahn, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, had been the chief counsel of the Trump campaign and was one of the few members of the Republican establishment to embrace the
  
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• Lufthansa pilots' union rejects latest offer, suspends strikes

  25-11-2016 22:41
  By Peter Maushagen and Caroline Copley BERLIN (Reuters) - Lufthansa's pilots' union rejected the German airline's latest pay offer on Friday, but lifted the immediate threat of extending their strike beyond Saturday. Lufthansa said earlier it had made a new offer to try to break the deadlock in a long-running pay dispute with its pilots who have been on strike since Wednesday. Lufthansa has said the disruption has started to hit medium-term bookings.
  
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• Mexicans very negative on Trump, but back talks with him - poll

  25-11-2016 22:28
  An overwhelming majority of Mexicans hold a negative view of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, but most believe their own president should meet with him to defend the country's interests, an opinion poll showed on Friday. The survey by polling firm Buendia & Laredo for newspaper El Universal showed that 74 percent of respondents had a negative opinion of Trump, a Republican. Trump, who launched a string of verbal attacks on Mexico during the campaign, has vowed to build a wall along the U.S
  
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• Renewables levy cap on consumer energy bills 'exceeded by £1bn'

  25-11-2016 22:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Official review finds failures in Levy Control Framework and says overshoot will have to be paid for by householdsFormer energy ministers have contributed to an overspend of more than £1bn on renewable power subsidies that consumers will be forced to pay for, a government report has said.The review by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, published on Friday, says “political unwillingness” to curb support for solar and wind power projects has contributed
  
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• City financier touts £3.5bn Icelandic power cable

  25-11-2016 22:03
  Plan is to send geothermal electricity 1,000 miles under the sea to north-east England
  
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• Irish PM says Brexit ‘impossible’ within two years

  25-11-2016 22:02
  Enda Kenny calls for extended transition period
  
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• Nigel Farage Attacks Sir Kim Darroch, UK Ambassador To The US Despite Insisting He Doesn't Want The Job

  25-11-2016 21:58
  
  Nigel Farage has attacked Britain’s ambassador to America, prolonging the bizarre row triggered by Donald Trump’s suggestion Farage should be given the job.
  Insisting he was “not pitching” for one of the country’s most senior diplomats, the still acting Ukip leader said he had had “one of the most unpleasant conversations I’ve ever had” with Sir Kim Darroch, the current ambassador to Washington.
  While Downing Street is perplexed as to why
  
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• Oil falls $2 a barrel on OPEC cut uncertainty ahead of meeting

  25-11-2016 21:48
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. crude fell nearly 4 percent on Friday, dragged down by uncertainty over whether the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will reach an output deal, after Saudi Arabia said it will not attend talks on Monday with non-OPEC producers to discuss supply cuts. U.S. crude futures settled down $1.90 a barrel at $46.06, a 3.96 percent decline. Prices continued to decline in post-settlement trading, dropping as low as $45.88 a barrel.
  
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• Johnson & Johnson approaches Actelion about takeover deal

  25-11-2016 21:45
  By Paul Arnold and Ludwig Burger ZURICH/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. healthcare company Johnson & Johnson said on Friday it was in preliminary talks with Actelion about a potential takeover of Europe's largest biotech firm, currently valued at about $20 billion. Lung disease specialist Actelion confirmed it had been approached and said there was no certainty a deal would occur. An acquisition of the Swiss company would boosts J&J's drug pipeline and diversify its prospects.
  
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• France's Fillon seen as favourite to beat Juppe for conservative nomination

  25-11-2016 21:40
  By Brian Love and Richard Balmforth PARIS (Reuters) - Former prime minister Francois Fillon looked on Friday to be in a strong position to claim his centre-right party's nomination to contest next year's French presidential election as he and rival Alain Juppe held final rallies of the primary campaign. In an impassioned speech to supporters in Paris, Fillon, 62, struck a strong patriotic note, vowing to halt "the decline of France" under the ruling Socialists by sticking to what he said was a r
  
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• Merkel says EU and Turkey must stick to migration deal

  25-11-2016 21:35
  The European Union and Turkey must honour their commitments to each other, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday, in a bid to cool a row threatening a key migration deal. Turkish President Tayyip threatened to unleash a new wave of migrants on Europe in response - suggesting he might scrap a deal to keep hundreds of thousands of migrants inside his borders in return for the promise of accelerated EU membership talks, visa-free travel for Turks in Europe and financial aid. "The refugee d
  
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• Trump names Washington lawyer McGahn White House Counsel

  25-11-2016 21:23
  By Roberta Rampton and Steve Holland WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump has named Washington attorney Donald McGahn as his White House Counsel, a senior transition official told Reuters on Friday. A former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and considered a top elections lawyer, McGahn may be charged with untangling the thicket of potential conflicts of interest that Trump, a real estate mogul with holdings all over the world, presents. Trump has s
  
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• Martin Rowson on Brexit and Black Friday – cartoon

  25-11-2016 21:13 via theguardian.com
  
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• France's Fillon seen as clear favourite in Sunday's conservatives primary - poll

  25-11-2016 20:54
  Former French prime minister Francois Fillon is seen winning the conservative presidential primary nomination for next year's election with 61 percent of the vote against 39 percent for rival Alain Juppe, according to a poll by Opinionway on Friday. The online poll of 550 registered voters who intend to cast their ballot in Sunday's primary vote was carried out on Nov. 24 and 25, the pollster said in a statement. Fillon and Juppe, who is also a former prime minister, were both wrapping up their
  
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• Scotland sets out legal case to have a say on Brexit trigger

  25-11-2016 20:49
  The Scottish government on Friday published legal arguments it will use to try to persuade Britain's highest court that the devolved Scottish parliament must give its approval before Prime Minister Theresa May can trigger the Brexit process. A High Court ruled earlier this month that the government must seek the approval of the British parliament before starting the legal process of leaving the European Union. The nationalist Scottish government is joining the legal case, due to be heard in earl
  
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• Tory backbenchers unite behind ‘grown-up’ chancellor

  25-11-2016 20:38
  Fractious MPs find little to quibble with in Hammond’s Autumn Statement
  
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• London Blackout Switches Off Piccadilly Circus' Famous Advertising Boards And Leaves City In Darkness

  25-11-2016 20:29
  
  A power cut in the heart of  London on Friday night put parts of Soho and Piccadilly Circus in darkness, including the world-famous advertising boards.
  Tweeter Dan Banks joked: “Black Friday has an all new meaning.”#BlackFriday has an all new meaning….Piccadilly Circus in complete darkness due to power cut!! pic.twitter.com/nzrtolPImF— ⭐Dan Banks (@cfcdbanks) November 25, 2016
  A spokesman for UK Power Networks said the power could be restored between 8.30pm a
  
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• First lady kicks off Obamas' final White House Christmas

  25-11-2016 20:24
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama kicked off her family's final Christmas season at the White House on Friday by receiving a 19-foot Balsam-Veitch fir from Wisconsin as the official White House Christmas tree.
  
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• Minister at centre of Brazil's latest scandal quits

  25-11-2016 20:10
  By Lisandra Paraguassu and Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - One of Brazilian President Michel Temer's closest allies resigned as minister in charge of relations with Congress on Friday, following accusations he pressured the culture minister to approve a property investment. The resignation of Geddel Vieira Lima - along with accusations that Temer himself also raised the investment with then Culture Minister Marcelo Calero - rattled investors. Brazil's currency and stock prices sank as trader
  
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• Destination Moon? Belgium joins the space race

  25-11-2016 20:05
  The Interfederal Space Agency of Belgium (ISAB) will be set up next year, science minister Elke Sleurs said, arguing that it would help a local industry hang on to what is now a 5-percent share of the EU's 7 billion-euro a year space industry. Challenges from the likes of rising powers India and China and changing rules for EU-wide tenders meant Belgium should pool resources to help its companies compete, she said: "If we just keep the status quo, we risk losing out on space contracts." About 60
  
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• Commons leader David Lidington to take on PMQs for the first time

  25-11-2016 20:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Choosing Lidington to stand in for Theresa May is being seen by some as a snub to chancellor Philip HammondThe traditional heavyweight political clash of prime minister’s questions is set to be replaced with an undercard bout later this month when David Lidington, the relatively little-known leader of the House of Commons, will stand in for Theresa May for the first time.With the prime minister away on an official trip, Lidington will, by convention, face up to an equivalent more junior La
  
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• The Guardian view on leaving the EU: not easy for us, not easy for them | Editorial

  25-11-2016 20:02 via theguardian.com
  
  British voters are yet to confront the real cost of what is in store. We must pay heed to perspectives from across the ChannelSince 23 June, the choice to leave the European Union has been debated in Britain largely as if it were a reflexive action – something the nation does to itself. But Brexit must also be understood transitively – something this country does to other countries. Naturally, domestic considerations dominate the discussion, especially since separation talks have not
  
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• Air strikes batter women's hospital in Syria's Idlib - monitor, aid group

  25-11-2016 19:57
  Russian or Syrian government warplanes pounded a women's hospital in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province on Friday, killing three people nearby, a monitoring group and an aid organisation said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said air strikes battered the hospital in Termanin village on the border between Idlib and Aleppo provinces, knocking it out of service. Damascus and Moscow both deny targeting hospitals.
  
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• What Is The Alt-Right And Who Is In It? The Frightening Rise And Rise Of The White Nationalist Movement

  25-11-2016 19:56
  
  Back in August, Hillary Clinton warned of a “radical fringe” taking over Republican Party politics in the United States.
  Just a few months later, and fresh from his incredible election victory, Donald Trump was being forced to distance himself from a video showing a white nationalist with a neatly cropped “high and tight” haircut addressing a packed Washington conference hall who chillingly proclaimed:Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!If that wasn&rsquo
  
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• The Latest: Trump reveals 2 more staff appointments

  25-11-2016 19:56
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump's transition (all times EST):
  
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• Colombia FARC leader says will support 2018 president who backs peace

  25-11-2016 19:52
  By Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's Marxist FARC will support a presidential candidate in 2018 to prevent a peace accord being modified or scrapped, rebel leader Rodrigo Londono said on Friday, an apparent bid to block former President Alvaro Uribe's right-wing party taking office. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia signed a peace agreement with the government on Thursday, converting it into a political party that will have some weight when President Juan
  
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• The future of the monarchy may be our next crisis

  25-11-2016 19:43
  In our year of anxiety the Queen has failed to offer leadership. But how could she?
  
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• Kazakhstan's leader declines to rename capital after himself

  25-11-2016 19:43
  The president of Kazakhstan on Friday declined a proposal by his parliament to rename the capital city after him, crimping the growing personality cult around the man who has run the Central Asian nation since 1989. In an interview with Russia-24 TV, a clip of which was posted online by the president's office, Nursultan Nazarbayev said there was no need to change the name of Astana. The decision means the veteran leader has stopped just short of matching a personality cult benchmark set by the l
  
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• Wall Street ends at record highs; dollar loses steam

  25-11-2016 19:41
  By Sam Forgione NEW YORK (Reuters) - Key stock indexes on Wall Street swept to record intraday and closing highs on Black Friday thanks to gains in consumer staple and technology stocks, while European shares climbed, and a stabilization in U.S. Treasury yields led investors to sell the dollar. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes, as well as the small cap Russell 2000 , hit record closing and intraday highs in thin trading, with the U.S. stock market closing at 1:00 p.m. ET (1700 GMT). For t
  
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• Uber in landmark court battle on Tuesday to escape strict rules

  25-11-2016 19:26
  By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Uber [UBER.UL] will seek to convince Europe's top court next week that it is a digital service, not a transport company, in a case that could determine whether app-based startups should be exempt from strict laws meant for regular companies. The European Commission is trying to boost e-commerce, a sector where the EU lags behind Asia and the United States, to drive economic growth and create jobs. The U.S. taxi app, which launched in Europe five years ago, ha
  
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• Red Bull and Tag Heuer extend engine agreement

  25-11-2016 19:25
  The power units are supplied by Renault, which has its own works team and will also provide engines to Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso next year. Red Bull's relationship with Renault hit the rocks after the French manufacturer started the new V6 turbo hybrid era in 2014 with an uncompetitive and unreliable unit. Luxury watch brand Tag Heuer, who had been long-term partners to McLaren, switched to Red Bull this year with their name on the engine instead of Renault.
  
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• Police detain suspect after woman murdered in French retirement home

  25-11-2016 19:16
  A 47-year-old former soldier was arrested on Friday on suspicion of killing a woman in a retirement home in southern France where about 60 Roman Catholic missionaries live, a source close to the investigation said. The man, who was arrested near his house, is a former employee of the retirement home, the source said. French police launched a manhunt on Thursday after finding the woman dead in the home near the town of Montpellier.
  
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• French voters choose conservative candidate for president, security threats lurk

  25-11-2016 19:16
  By Brian Love PARIS (Reuters) - Former prime minister Francois Fillon looked to be in a strong position to claim his centre-right party's nomination to contest next year's French presidential election as he and his rival, Alain Juppe, headed into the final rallies of the primary campaign on Friday. The ballot on Sunday will send one of the two veteran conservatives into an electoral battle that opinion polls say will boil down to a duel against far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Fillon, who defied
  
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• BP buys stake in Eni's giant Zohr gas field offshore Egypt

  25-11-2016 19:13
  By Agnieszka Flak and Karolin Schaps MILAN/LONDON (Reuters) - BP has agreed to buy 10 percent of Eni's Shorouk concession offshore Egypt, which includes the giant Zohr gas field, for $375 million, joining other oil majors in increasing bets on the growing gas market. The deal gives Eni much-needed cash as part of its 5 billion euro divestment plan to continue investing and paying dividends despite weak oil prices. The companies also agreed BP could purchase another 5 percent of the field before
  
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• Islamic State claims deadly attack on Egyptian soldiers in Sinai

  25-11-2016 18:59
  Islamic State claimed responsibility on Friday for an attack on an Egyptian military checkpoint in northern Sinai Peninsula that killed at least 12 soldiers. An Islamist insurgency in the rugged, thinly populated Sinai has gained pace since the military toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule. The militant group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 and adopted t
  
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• Jamaican women harassed as they 'wait in vain' for justice on police shootings - report

  25-11-2016 18:58
  By Rebekah Kebede KINGSTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Jamaican women bear the brunt of a "culture of fear" intended to intimidate families and stop them seeking justice for thousands of extrajudicial police killings on the Caribbean island, according to a report from a human rights group. Women who are already grieving for lost sons, brothers and partners are further traumatized by police who intimidate, harass, and threaten witnesses and relatives of victims of police killings, said Amnesty
  
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• Lord Advocate calls for Holyrood consent over Brexit

  25-11-2016 18:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scotland's Lord Advocate will argue in the Supreme Court that Holyrood's consent should be sought over triggering Brexit.
  
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• George Osborne defends his £320,000 in speeches fees

  25-11-2016 18:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Ex-chancellor George Osborne has defended making more than £320,000 over 31 days for giving speeches.
  
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• New McLaren boss Brown says Dennis recruited him

  25-11-2016 18:47
  By Alan Baldwin ABU DHABI (Reuters) - New McLaren executive director Zak Brown has credited the Formula One team's ousted veteran boss Ron Dennis for his appointment. Ron at the end of the day is the one who recruited me," the Californian told reporters at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, his first race in McLaren uniform. "The last couple of years he's left the door open...he turned up the volume in the pursuit of me and I wouldn't be talking to you right now if it wasn't for Ron Dennis.
  
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• What were all those MPs doing on their phones?

  25-11-2016 18:43 via theguardian.com
  
  When Labour’s John McDonnell stood up to respond to the autumn statement on Wednesday, half his party’s MPs started noodling on their phones behind him. Was it the height of rudeness – or all part of a modern-day MP’s duties? They filed into the House of Commons chamber to learn what Brexit means for the economy, and filed out to be shamed the next morning by newspaper picture editors armed with yellow pens. In one photograph, half of the 42 Labour MPs sitting behind John
  
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• Ilyin stripped of Beijing, London weightlifting golds

  25-11-2016 18:40
  Kazak weightlifter Ilya Ilyin has been stripped of the gold medals he won at the Beijing and London Olympic Games after failing doping tests in re-analysis of samples, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday. Ilyin, who won the 94 kilo category at both Games, tested positive for the banned substance stanozolol in 2008 and turinabol and stanozolol in 2012, the IOC said. Aksana Miankova of Belarus was stripped of the gold medal she won at in the women's hammer throw in Beijing aft
  
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• Passenger trains collide in Iran, 44 killed - official

  25-11-2016 18:39
  By Parisa Hafezi ANKARA (Reuters) - Forty-four people were killed and 103 injured when one Iranian passenger train collided with another at a station about 150 miles (250 km) east of the capital Tehran, state media reported. State television footage showed four derailed carriages, two of them on fire and a spokesman for Iran's Red Crescent, Mostafa Mortazavi, told the semi-official Fars news agency that firefighters were trying to control the blaze. Semnan provincial governor Mohammad Reza Khabb
  
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• Danish right-wing party hurt by EU fraud investigation

  25-11-2016 18:29
  By Nikolaj Skydsgaard COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's main eurosceptic party, which built a huge voter base in the last decade, has been hit by an investigation into possible misuse of EU funds, an opinion poll showed on Friday. The right-wing Danish People's Party (DF) is the second largest party in parliament and the biggest ally of the Liberal government but its popularity has fallen from an all-time high of 21 percent at national elections in June last year to 16.6 percent, according to the
  
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