Political news

• Global stocks edge up on U.S. data, healthcare sector; oil flops

  29-11-2016 23:48
  By Richard Leong NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock prices around the world rose on Tuesday following upbeat U.S. growth data and strength in U.S. healthcare shares, while oil prices tumbled to the weakest level in over a week on doubts OPEC could reach an accord to reduce output. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies on profit-taking. The dollar index had hit a near 14-year peak last week on expectations a Trump administration would result in tax cuts and a surge in federal spending to bolster
  
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• Violent protests erupt outside Brazil Congress over austerity

  29-11-2016 23:43
  By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Youths protesting against austerity measures aimed at restoring fiscal discipline in Brazil burned cars and smashed windows of government buildings with rocks on Tuesday as lawmakers debated a 20-year cap on federal spending. The angry outburst pointed to growing social unrest with the government's austerity drive in the midst of Brazil's worst recession since the 1930s, which has left 12 million people out of work. Police used tear gas and pepper spray to
  
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• U.N. warns Myanmar government reputation at stake over Rohingya crisis

  29-11-2016 23:40
  The reputation of Aung San Suu Kyi's government in Myanmar is at stake amid international concerns over how it is dealing with violence in the country's divided northwest, a senior United Nations official warned on Tuesday. The conflict in Myanmar's Rakhine State has sent hundreds of Rohingya Muslims fleeing across the border to Bangladesh amid allegations of abuses by security forces. The crisis poses a serious challenge to Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, who swept to power last year on promi
  
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• EFL Cup: Record-breaker Woodburn volleys Liverpool into semis

  29-11-2016 23:34
  Liverpool reached the League Cup semi-finals as 17-year-old Ben Woodburn enjoyed a night to remember by becoming the club's youngest ever goalscorer when he wrapped up a 2-0 victory over Leeds United on Tuesday. The youngster volleyed powerfully into the net from close range in front of the Kop in the 81st minute to double Liverpool's lead and simultaneously erase former England striker Michael Owen from the club's record books. At 17 years and 45 days, Woodburn was 98 days younger than Owen, wh
  
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• Chilled by demonetisation, India to take cold comfort from strong GDP

  29-11-2016 23:13
  By Rajesh Kumar Singh NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India can ill-afford to take much pride in having the world's fastest growing large economy when it releases September quarter data on Wednesday, with businesses, farmers and families all suffering after the government's sudden demonetization drive. Having taken credit for putting life back in a moribund economy when he took power 2-1/2 years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's crackdown on tax dodgers and counterfeiters by removing 500 rupee and 1,000
  
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• Dems concerned about Sessions, but have little recourse

  29-11-2016 23:09
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans are hoping to move quickly to confirm President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, but Democrats say they have concerns about Sen. Jeff Sessions' views on civil liberties, voting rights and immigration and are asking for time to review his decades of work as a senator and federal prosecutor.
  
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• Christie announces $300M renovation of 'shameful' Statehouse

  29-11-2016 23:03
  
  TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Republican Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday announced a four-year $300 million renovation of New Jersey's deteriorating 18th-century Statehouse, casting the restoration as a top legacy item as he heads into his final year in office.
  
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• Trump nominates Pence ally to oversee Medicaid

  29-11-2016 22:56
  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The architect of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's expansion of Medicaid may now play a key role in implementing any plan that might replace President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
  
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• U.S. judge delays court hearing on Volkswagen 3.0 litre diesels

  29-11-2016 22:53
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Tuesday delayed a court hearing set for Wednesday on Volkswagen AG's plan to address 80,000 polluting Audi, Porsche and VW 3.0-liter vehicles. In a court filing ON Tuesday, Breyer said negotiations are continuing between the German automaker, regulators and lawyers representing owners and set a Dec. 16 hearing, saying he had been advised that a delay "may produce a resolution of the outstanding issues." (Reporting by David Shepardson;
  
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• The Latest: Pa. lawmaker discusses Labor job with Trump

  29-11-2016 22:51
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump and his administration (all times EST):
  
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• Basel Committee head says 'great progress' made in Chile meeting

  29-11-2016 22:50
  The Basel Committee, which sets the standard for global banking regulation, made "great progress" in meetings on Monday and Tuesday in Chile, said William Coen, the committee's secretary general. The financial watchdogs are gathered to try to finalise global rules on bank capital, the so-called Basel III. "We've made really great progress these last couple of days," Coen told Reuters on the sidelines of a meeting in Santiago.
  
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• ECB's Coeure - Greece can maintain 3.5 percent primary surplus a few years after 2018

  29-11-2016 22:48
  Greece could maintain a primary surplus equivalent to 3.5 percent of its economic output for a few years after its latest bailout programme ends in 2018, European Central Bank executive board member Benoit Coeure told Greek TV on Tuesday. The ECB believes that the 3.5 percent target for the budget surplus excluding debt-servicing costs is achievable within the bailout timeframe, Coeure said. "There is still a gap to be bridged, but that's not the main part of the discussion." Asked about taperin
  
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• 20,000 Syrians have fled east Aleppo this week - Red Cross

  29-11-2016 22:41
  Some 20,000 people have fled intensified attacks on rebel-held eastern Aleppo in Syria since Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Tuesday. The ICRC called again for access to east Aleppo, which it has not been able to reach with food, medicines and other relief supplies since April. Syria and its allies aim to drive rebels from Aleppo before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president, a senior official in the pro-Damascus military alliance said, as pro-government
  
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• Violent protests outside Brazil Congress over austerity measures

  29-11-2016 22:37
  Police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse thousands of demonstrators protesting against cutbacks to social programs outside Brazil's Congress on Tuesday as Senators prepared to vote for a 20-year cap on federal spending. Protestors burned three cars, smashed windows on government buildings and threw rocks at police on the ministry-lined central esplanade of Brasilia, according to a Reuters photographer at the scene. Around 10,000 protesters - ranging from students and landless peasants t
  
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• Stocks edge up on U.S. data, healthcare sector; oil flops

  29-11-2016 22:22
  By Richard Leong NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock prices around the world rose on Tuesday following upbeat U.S. growth data and strength in U.S. healthcare shares, while oil prices tumbled to the weakest level in over a week on doubts OPEC could reach an accord to reduce output. The dollar fell against a basket of currencies on profit-taking. The dollar index had hit a near 14-year peak last week on expectations a Trump administration would result in tax cuts and a surge in federal spending to bolster
  
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• Ohio State attacker may have self-radicalised, officials say

  29-11-2016 22:20
  By Mark Hosenball and Kim Palmer WASHINGTON/COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - A Somali immigrant who injured 11 people at Ohio State University in a vehicle and stabbing attack before he was shot dead may have followed the same path to self-radicalisation as militants in a number of "lone wolf" attacks, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the attack. Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 20, was shot dead by a police officer on Monday moments after he
  
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• Trump gets third intel briefing, far fewer than predecessors

  29-11-2016 22:16
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has received only his third top-secret intelligence briefing since his election four weeks ago.
  
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• England's Rokoduguni, Yarde retained for Australia clash

  29-11-2016 22:13
  England have retained Semesa Rokoduguni and Marland Yarde in a 25-man squad as they prepare for Saturday's final test of the autumn series against Australia at Twickenham. The duo are competing for the winger's spot vacated by Elliot Daly, who was banned for three weeks after being sent off for a dangerous tackle in Saturday's 27-14 win over Argentina. Rokoduguni scored two tries on his return to test rugby in a man-of-the-match performance against Fiji but was dropped from the squad to face the
  
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• Schools shut, shops shuttered as Brazil town mourns its team

  29-11-2016 22:07
  By Brad Haynes CHAPECO, Brazil (Reuters) - Businesses closed and schools cancelled classes in Chapeco as the small town in southern Brazil plunged into mourning on Tuesday over the loss of its soccer team, Chapecoense, in a plane crash in Colombia. Chapecoense's improbable rise to competing for the Sudamericana Cup title had been an inspiration to the agricultural town of some 200,000 people in the remote interior of Santa Catarina state. The dream ended suddenly when the team's plane crashed la
  
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• Pentagon chief: Don't extend stopgap funding through May

  29-11-2016 22:03
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Ash Carter Tuesday warned Republican leaders in Congress that plans to operate the Pentagon on autopilot through as late as May are "unprecedented and unacceptable."
  
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• Brexit tariffs would cost car industry 4.5 billion pounds a year - SMMT

  29-11-2016 22:03
  Brexit-related tariffs would add at least 4.5 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) a year to the cost of car imports and exports between Britain and the European Union, an industry body said, urging Britain to remain in the single market after it leaves the EU. Britain exported just under 80 percent of the 1.6 million cars it built last year and imported over 85 percent of the 2.6 million cars sold in the country. Without single market access, cars could face World Trade Organisation tariffs of 10 perc
  
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• Monte dei Paschi pins hopes on anchor investor deal this weekend

  29-11-2016 21:58
  By Stephen Jewkes MILAN (Reuters) - Monte dei Paschi is in a race against time to secure a commitment from a cornerstone investor by the weekend before tapping the market for much-needed funds, CFO Francesco Mele said on Tuesday. Its shares have been hammered by worries over its ability to execute a 5 billion euros (4.24 billion pounds) capital raising, with some fund managers saying sentiment could brighten if it finds an anchor investor. Sources said Qatar Investment Authority was in talks and
  
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• Health nominee Price may find that changing HHS isn't easy

  29-11-2016 21:57
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — As an orthopedic surgeon, Tom Price is used to calling the shots in the operating room. If confirmed to run the federal Department of Health and Human Services, the doctor-turned-congressman from Georgia may find it a lot harder to exercise authority.
  
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• Plane taking Brazilian soccer team to cup final crashes in Colombia, 72 dead

  29-11-2016 21:55
  Colombia's worst air disaster in two decades killed all but five people as the team flew to face Atletico Nacional of Medellin in the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final, South America's equivalent of the Europa League. Global soccer was stunned with tributes pouring in from major figures including Pele, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney. The BAe 146 charter plane, en route from Bolivia where the team had a stopover, went down about 10:15 p.m. on Monday night with 68 passengers and a crew of ni
  
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• Deutsche Telekom attack part of global campaign on routers

  29-11-2016 21:45
  By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A cyber attack on routers of nearly 1 million Deutsche Telekom customers is part of a bigger campaign targeting web-connected devices around the globe, the German government and security researchers said on Tuesday. The revelation from the German Office for Information Security, or BSI, stoked fears of an increase in cyber attacks that disrupt internet service by exploiting common vulnerabilities in widely used routers, webcams, digital video recorders and o
  
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• Hearing ordered in bid for Pennsylvania election recount

  29-11-2016 21:44
  HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A hearing has been scheduled on a Green Party-backed request for a court-ordered recount of Pennsylvania's Nov. 8 presidential election, won by Republican Donald Trump.
  
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• Fire in Turkish dormitory kills 12, including 11 teenage girls - officials

  29-11-2016 21:33
  ANKARA (Reuters) - Twelve people, including eleven teenagers, were killed when a fire swept through a girls dormitory in the southern Turkish province of Adana on Tuesday, officials said. The fire, which broke out in a dormitory housing middle and high school students, may have been caused by an electrical fault, Omer Celik, a senior government official who represents the province in parliament, told broadcaster CNN Turk. At least twenty-two other girls were injured, Celik said. Also among the d
  
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• Bale undergoes successful ankle surgery

  29-11-2016 21:32
  (Reuters) - Real Madrid's Gareth Bale has undergone successful surgery on his right ankle in London, the club said on Tuesday. The Wales international damaged tendons in his ankle during his team's 2-1 Champions League victory at Sporting Lisbon on Nov. 22. "Our player Gareth Bale has undergone today successful surgery to repair damaged tendons in his right ankle," Real said in a statement.
  
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• Kenyans sound alarm over election threat to public land

  29-11-2016 21:19
  By Katy Migiro NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As Kenya counts down to elections in 2017, public schools and hospitals should map their boundaries, fence them and get title deeds to protect them from irregular acquisition by politicians seeking re-election, experts and campaigners said on Tuesday. Vast tracts of public land, such as forests, playgrounds and prisons, were given to politically powerful individuals during the 1990s, government reports show, so as to raise campaign finance an
  
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• Trump taps 'Obamacare' foe, champion of privatizing Medicare

  29-11-2016 21:16
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Reaching deep into conservative territory, President-elect Donald Trump chose Georgia Rep. Tom Price to oversee the nation's health care system on Tuesday, picking a fierce "Obamacare" critic who also has championed efforts to privatize Medicare. Trump selected another veteran Republican, Elaine Chao, to lead the Department of Transportation.
  
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• Oil tumbles near 4 percent on doubts over OPEC production cut

  29-11-2016 21:15
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil slumped 4 percent on Tuesday as OPEC's leading oil exporters struggled to agree on a deal to cut production to reduce global oversupply and boost prices, with Iran and Iraq at loggerheads with Saudi Arabia a day ahead of meeting. Documents prepared for the meeting propose OPEC cut production by 1.2 million barrels per day from October levels, an OPEC source familiar with the papers said, slightly more than the 1 million bpd the group discussed at a meet
  
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• Ennis-Hill set to receive 2011 gold after Chernova stripped of world title

  29-11-2016 21:08
  Russian heptathlete Tatyana Chernova was stripped of her 2011 world title on Tuesday for a doping violation, with Britain's Jessica Ennis-Hill set to be awarded the gold medal. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said in a statement that analysis of Chernova's Biological Passport showed evidence of blood doping. Sport's highest tribunal annulled the Russian's results achieved between Aug. 15, 2011 and July 22, 2013, stripping her of the world title she won five years ago as well as her bron
  
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• US says mistaken coalition airstrikes in Syria were legal

  29-11-2016 21:03
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Tuesday blamed human error for what it called a mistaken coalition air assault Sept. 17 that reportedly killed dozens of Syrian soldiers. Targeters believed they were directing attacks on Islamic State fighters, and because this was an honest mistake the strikes did not violate the international law of armed conflict, U.S. military investigators concluded.
  
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• The Latest: Former VP Dan Quayle visits Trump Tower

  29-11-2016 21:01
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump and his administration (all times EST):
  
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• Egypt warns citizens from participating in foreign polls

  29-11-2016 20:59
  The Egyptian government warned citizens on Tuesday against taking part in surveys conducted by foreign media organisations, saying it was a threat to national security. The interior ministry said on Facebook that it had received complaints indicating that Egyptians had been getting telephone calls from media companies abroad asking their opinions on the country's political, economic and security situation. "In this regard, the ministry calls on citizens to be cautious around those twisted method
  
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• Turkish military says contact lost with two soldiers in northern Syria

  29-11-2016 20:58
  ANKARA/CAIRO (Reuters) - The Turkish military said it lost contact on Tuesday with two of its soldiers deployed in northern Syria, although it stopped short of confirming an Islamic State claim that the militant group had kidnapped a pair of Turkish soldiers. Islamic State's Amaq news agency earlier said that Islamic State fighters had captured two Turkish soldiers near a village west of al-Bab in the Aleppo countryside. Turkey launched an incursion into northern Syria in August, sending tanks,
  
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• Germany presses Russia to allow aid to reach eastern Aleppo

  29-11-2016 20:58
  German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday pressed his Russian counterpart to allow humanitarian relief supplies to reach people in rebel-held eastern Aleppo in Syria, members of Steinmeier's delegation said. Steinmeier spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the two participated in four-way talks in Minsk about the crisis in eastern Ukraine. "There was a clear call to the Russians to allow humanitarian supplies to reach the people in the eastern part of Aleppo who
  
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• Trump taps Obamacare critic to overhaul health system

  29-11-2016 20:56
  By Steve Holland NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump named a vociferous critic of Obamacare and a health policy expert to key appointments on Tuesday to help him repeal and replace President Barack Obama's signature healthcare program. Republican Representative Tom Price, an orthopaedic surgeon from Georgia, will be Trump's Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, and Seema Verma, the founder of a health policy consulting company, will lead the Centres for Medicare and Medic
  
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• Albright, Hadley urge U.S. to weigh using more force in Syria

  29-11-2016 20:54
  By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States should prepare to use greater military power and covert action in Syria to help forge a political settlement to end the country's civil war, according to a bipartisan report to be released on Wednesday. Produced by a task force led by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, a Democrat, and former U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, a Republican, the report amounts to a bipartisan rejection of President Barack Obama
  
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• Kellogg pulls ads from Breitbart over company 'values'

  29-11-2016 20:50
  Kellogg says it will no longer advertise on Breitbart.com, the website formerly run by one of President-elect Donald Trump's top aides, Steve Bannon. Kellogg Co. spokeswoman Kris Charles says the food ...
  
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• Formation of new Houthi government does not help Yemen - U.N. envoy

  29-11-2016 20:49
  The formation of a new government by Yemen's armed Houthi movement and its political allies will hinder peace efforts in the country, the U.N. special envoy to Yemen said on Tuesday. The move, reported by the Houthi-run state news agency on Monday, has been seen as a blow to U.N.-backed efforts to end 20 months of war in Yemen. "The announcement by (the Houthi) Ansar Allah and the General People’s Congress on the formation of a new government in Sana’a represents a new and concerning
  
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• Co-operative Energy chosen to supply GB Energy's customers

  29-11-2016 20:49
  (Reuters) - Co-operative Energy has been chosen to supply customers of bankrupt GB Energy, British energy regulator Ofgem said. Ofgem said the company will honour all outstanding credit balances for present and past customers. Britain's Big Six energy suppliers, EDF Energy , Innogy's Npower , E.ON , Scottish Power , SSE and Centrica's British Gas , had earlier bid in an Ofgem tender to supply the 160,000 customers after GB Energy went bankrupt last week, sources told Reuters.
  
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• ECB's Villeroy say Basel bank capital proposals must be modified to reach a deal

  29-11-2016 20:47
  PARIS (Reuters) - New bank capital rules under negotiation in Chile by the Basel Committee of international bank regulators must be modified, ECB policy maker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said in an excerpt of a newspaper published on Tuesday. In their present form, the new US-inspired rules would weigh on investment and credit growth in Europe, said Villeroy, who is also governor of the Bank of France. "They have to be modified if we are to reach an agreement," Villeroy told regional French
  
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• Islamic State claims responsibility for Ohio University attack

  29-11-2016 20:44
  The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Tuesday for an attack at Ohio State University in which a man ran down pedestrians in a car and stabbed others with a butcher's knife. The Islamic State news agency AMAQ posted a photo of Abdul Razak Ali Artan wearing a blue shirt and sitting with greenery in the background. "Brother Abdul Razak Ali Artan, God accept him, implementer of the Ohio attack, a student in his third year in university," the caption read.
  
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• Spanish court to grill billionaire Villar Mir over contract rigging allegations

  29-11-2016 20:43
  Spanish billionaire and former finance minister Juan Miguel Villar Mir will face questioning by a judge over alleged irregularities in the award of a hospital construction contract to his real estate conglomerate, a court said on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege that Grupo Villar Mir (GVM), the private holding that the 85-year-old industrialist has spent the past 30 years building up, won the contract in 2006 by rigging the auction. Villar Mir has always denied any wrongdoing.
  
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• Groups document more than 860 hate incidents since elections

  29-11-2016 20:37
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Civil rights groups called for President-elect Donald Trump to forcefully and publicly denounce racism and bigotry, pointing to more than 860 bias-related incidents recorded in the 10 days following his Nov. 8 victory.
  
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• US students lag peers in East Asia in math, science

  29-11-2016 20:26
  WASHINGTON (AP) — American students have strides to make when it comes to math and science, where they lag behind a solid block of East Asian countries, according to results released Tuesday from an international exam.
  
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• GOP prepares for House vote on medical research bill

  29-11-2016 20:26
  
  Democrats pressed for changes Tuesday to a $6.3 billion medical research bill as Republican leaders prepared to try pushing the measure through the lame-duck Congress by next week. With the House planning ...
  
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• Suspected Islamist who worked for German domestic spy agency arrested

  29-11-2016 20:25
  A German citizen employed by Germany's domestic intelligence agency has been arrested on accusations he made Islamist declarations on the internet and revealed internal agency material, the agency said on Tuesday. A spokesman for the Bundesverfassungsschutz (BfV) declined to provide details on the man's position at the agency or say when he joined. "There is no evidence to date that there is a concrete danger to the security of the BfV or its employees." "The man is accused of making Islamist st
  
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• Donald Tusk Says MPs' Claim About EU And UK Citizens 'Has Nothing To Do With Reality'

  29-11-2016 20:19
  
  MPs’ claim that the EU is frustrating negotiations over the rights of Brits living abroad “has nothing to do with reality”, the European Council president has said in a stinging letter.
  MPs and MEPs alleged the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier was preventing the UK’s efforts to speak to other EU countries about giving Britons in those countries the right to continue to live and work there, in exchange for the same for EU citizens in Britain.
  In a letter to Europ
  
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