Political news

• Syrian rebels say Aleppo deal back on track, but Hezbollah unit cites 'big complications'

  14-12-2016 23:50
  AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two Syrian rebel officials and a representative of pro-government forces said on Wednesday night that a ceasefire deal for Aleppo was back on track, but a unit run by Damascus's Iranian-backed ally Hezbollah denied that a deal had been done. Abdul Salam Abdul Razak, a military spokesman for the Nour al-Din al Zinki rebel group, told Reuters: "An agreement has been reached and within the coming hours its implementation will begin." An official in the pro-Damascus military
  
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• Obama: My Brother's Keeper program is 'just the beginning'

  14-12-2016 23:50
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says his nearly three-year-old program to help boys and young men of color "is just the beginning."
  
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• Tillerson to hand over reins to Exxon's president Woods

  14-12-2016 23:49
  Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday its president, Darren Woods, will become chief executive and chairman in January following the retirement of Rex Tillerson, who is U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice for secretary of state. Tillerson, 64, will retire at the end of the year and Woods, 51, will take over effective Jan. 1, Exxon, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said. Woods, who was named president and elected to the board in January 2015, was widely expected to become the
  
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• Trump endorses Romney niece Ronna Romney McDaniel for RNC chair

  14-12-2016 23:48
  By Steve Holland NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday endorsed a niece of former critic Mitt Romney to be the next chair of the Republican National Committee as he moved to put his stamp on the party leadership. The RNC named Michigan Republican Party chair Ronna Romney McDaniel as its deputy chair, and Trump said he looked forward to her taking over the party leadership.
  
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• A lesson dawns in Philippine drug war

  14-12-2016 23:44
  Soon after taking office last June, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared war on the country’s drug pushers and users, hoping to reduce crime and corruption. From Mr. Duterte on down, more people are eager to expand treatment for drug addiction. President Duterte’s campaign has been widely criticized, such as by the United Nations and human rights defenders.
  
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• Trump picks Michigan's Ronna Romney McDaniel for RNC chair

  14-12-2016 23:42
  
  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Michigan's Republican Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to become the new Republican National Committee chair next year.
  
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• California adopts first U.S. energy-saving rules for computers

  14-12-2016 23:35
  By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California regulators on Wednesday adopted the nation's first mandatory energy efficiency rules for computers and monitors - devices that account for 3 percent of home electric bills and 7 percent of commercial power costs in the state. The state Energy Commission said that when fully implemented the industry-backed plan will save consumers $373 million a year and conserve at least as much electricity annually as it takes to power all of San Francisco's ho
  
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• Rondon nets treble as West Brom sink sorry Swansea

  14-12-2016 23:31
  Dec 14 (Reuters) - - West Bromwich Albion continued their surge in the top half of the Premier League with a Salomon Rondon hat-trick of headers earning them a 3-1 home win over struggling Swansea City at the Hawthorns on Wednesday. Venezuela striker Rondon became only the second player in Premier League history to score a hat-trick of headers, emulating Duncan Ferguson's achievement when the Scot propelled Everton to a 3-2 win over Bolton Wanderers in December 1997. After a drab opening period
  
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• Sparks fly on eve of EU summit seeking bloc unity on Brexit

  14-12-2016 23:19
  
  BRUSSELS (AP) — Discord has surfaced on the eve of a European Union summit where 27 of the bloc's leaders are seeking a united front in exit negotiations with Britain.
  
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• Eriksen shines as Spurs hammer hapless Hull 3-0

  14-12-2016 23:19
  LONDON, Dec 14 (Reuters) - - Tottenham Hotspur's Christian Eriksen scored twice in a 3-0 victory over Hull City on Wednesday, as Mike Phelan's struggling side fell to their 10th defeat in 16 Premier League games this season. Eriksen gave Spurs the lead in the 14th minute, rifling left back Danny Rose's pass into the top corner, and killed the game off with his second in the 63rd when he stabbed home Kyle Walker's pass from close range for his fifth goal of the season. ...
  
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• Zabaleta and Silva end Manchester City's home blues

  14-12-2016 23:16
  Dec 14 (Reuters) - - Pablo Zabaleta's first goal in two years and another from David Silva ensured Manchester City beat Watford 2-0 to keep up their pursuit of Chelsea at the top of the Premier League. Without a win at the Etihad in three games and with Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho suspended, City needed a reboot and Zabaleta provided it on 33 minutes, shooting from the six-yard box after a cross from Kevin De Bruyne. De Bruyne went close to a second soon after as City dominated but although Wa
  
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• David Davis says UK would accept Brexit transition deal 'if necessary'

  14-12-2016 23:09
  David Davis has said he would accept a transitional deal to implement the terms of Brexit "only if it's necessary". The Brexit Secretary said that while people in the UK want the withdrawal from the EU to be "done properly and soon", a transition phase could be a possibility. Speaking in front of the Commons Select Committee for Exiting the European Union, chaired by former shadow foreign secretary MP Hilary Benn, Mr Davis said the Government's plan for Brexit would not be published before Febru
  
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• Ten-man Stoke battle to earn draw with Southampton

  14-12-2016 23:07
  Dec 14 (Reuters) - - Mark Hughes endured a difficult night in his 400th match as a Premier League manager but ended up proud as his Stoke City side battled for over an hour against Southampton with 10 men to earn a 0-0 draw on Wednesday. Marko Arnautovic was shown a straight red card in the 23rd minute for a studs-up challenge on Sofiane Boufal, leaving the home side with an uphill task. Yet Southampton, who moved up to ninth a point ahead of 12th-placed Stoke, could not take advantage despite d
  
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• Trump tells anxious tech leaders: 'We're here to help'

  14-12-2016 23:05
  
  President-elect Donald Trump, who faced fierce opposition from some Silicon Valley leaders during the election campaign, strove to assure the titans of tech on Wednesday that his administration is "here ...
  
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• U.S. bond yields, dollar gain, stocks fall after Fed rate hike

  14-12-2016 23:04
  By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yields on shorter-dated Treasuries hit their highest levels in more than five years on Wednesday while the dollar rose to its highest against the yen in 10 months after the U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates and signalled a faster pace of hikes in 2017. Wall Street stocks ended a volatile session with their biggest percentage decline since before the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election, while gold prices hit a 10-month low. As expected, the Fed
  
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• Carroll makes mark as West Ham see off Burnley

  14-12-2016 23:02
  Dec 14 (Reuters) - - The powerful presence of Andy Carroll inspired West Ham United to beat Burnley 1-0 at the London Stadium on Wednesday and move away from the Premier League relegation zone. The Hammers took two minutes to announce their game plan, pumping a ball to the head of the fit-again striker who was starting in the Premier League for the first time since injuring his knee on the first day of the season. Caroll proved his usual handful and was instrumental in West Ham's opener when Win
  
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• Justices take up appeal of men convicted in 1984 gang murder

  14-12-2016 23:00
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court will consider whether to overturn the convictions of seven men found guilty of a notorious 1984 murder in the nation's capital.
  
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• Trump urged to tackle campaign finance in 'swamp draining'

  14-12-2016 22:57
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington lawmakers acknowledge they spend a "sickening" amount of time raising money — and a bipartisan advocacy group sees President-elect Donald Trump as part of the cure.
  
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• As good as it gets? Boutique banks look to grow beyond M&A

  14-12-2016 22:57
  Boutique investment banks have grabbed a record share of the global merger and acquisition fee pool off larger Wall Street rivals this year but their stock price performance is trailing bigger peers. To diversify their revenues, firms including Rothschild & Co SCA , Lazard Ltd and Evercore Partners Inc are looking for new ways to gin up additional business including advising on raising debt, corporate governance structures and offering research for their clients. M&A levels have slowed a
  
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• Peruvian president's ties with powerful opposition party sour

  14-12-2016 22:53
  For the first few months of Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's term, the right-wing populist party he narrowly beat in June's election helped his technocratic government push out an initial raft of reforms. Just five months into Kuczynski's five-year term, the battle over Education Minister Jaime Saavedra has exposed Kuczynski's vulnerability to his defeated rival Keiko Fujimori, daughter of jailed former authoritarian leader Alberto Fujimori. Fujimori has declined to meet with Kuczynski
  
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• New oversight for Voice of America, Radio Free Europe raises concerns

  14-12-2016 22:52
  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A defence policy bill that President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law this month will give President-elect Donald Trump greater influence over U.S. foreign broadcasting entities. The National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress last week includes a provision abolishing the Broadcasting Board of Governors, an independent body that oversees government-backed media outlets such as the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, and replaces
  
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• The Latest: Michigan GOP leader named to national role

  14-12-2016 22:51
  
  The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST): 4:50 p.m. President-elect Donald Trump is naming Michigan GOP leader Ronna Romney McDaniel deputy chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, ...
  
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• Ten in a row for Chelsea who surge six points clear

  14-12-2016 22:50
  Dec 14 (Reuters) - - Chelsea maintained their awesome progress, winning a 10th successive Premier League game with a 1-0 victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday that saw them forge six points clear at the top of the table. Cesc Fabregas scored the game's only goal after a fine counter-attack five minutes before halftime to provide an entirely predictable outcome to the tussle between the league's top and bottom clubs. There had not been much between the teams until Chelsea,
  
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• Aleppo evacuation plan back on track to end years of fighting

  14-12-2016 22:47
  By Laila Bassam, Suleiman Al-Khalidi and Tom Perry ALEPPO, Syria/BEIRUT (Reuters) - An evacuation of rebel-held districts of Aleppo is back on track and expected to begin within hours, officials on both sides of the war said late on Wednesday, a retreat that would mark a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and end years of fighting. Iran, one of Assad's main backers, had imposed new conditions, saying it wanted the simultaneous evacuation of wounded from two villages besieged by r
  
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• Lallana at the double as Liverpool down Boro

  14-12-2016 22:46
  Dec 14 (Reuters) - - Adam Lallana scored twice as Liverpool returned to second in the Premier League with a 3-0 victory over Middlesbrough on Wednesday that revived their title push. Liverpool, who lost to Bournemouth and drew with West Ham United in their last two games, took the lead when Nathaniel Clyne's superb curling cross was met by Lallana at the far post to head home in the 29th minute. The victory moved Liverpool up to second on 34 points, above Arsenal on goals scored, but still six p
  
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• Trump team says Twitter too small to be included in tech meeting

  14-12-2016 22:41
  By Ginger Gibson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump left Twitter off the invitation list for a meeting of technology company executives on Wednesday because it is too small, a spokesman for his transition team told Reuters. The omission of Twitter from the meeting surprised some in the industry given Trump's prolific use of the social media platform during his election campaign and the company's high profile in discussions over policy issues such as cyber security and the spread
  
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• EDF's board approves partial sale of its grid unit RTE

  14-12-2016 22:39
  French utility EDF's board has approved the partial sale of RTE, the company's high-voltage power grid unit, to state bank Caisse des Depots, the companies said in a statement. In July, EDF entered exclusive talks with Caisse des Depots and its unit CNP Assurances to sell them a 49.9 percent stake in RTE on the basis of an indicative value of 8.2 billion euros (6.9 billion pounds) for 100 percent of RTE's equity . "The selected scheme provides for Caisse des Depots and CNP Assurances to become c
  
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• Exclusive - China installs weapons systems on artificial islands: U.S. think tank

  14-12-2016 22:38
  By David Brunnstrom WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China appears to have installed weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, on all seven of the artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea, a U.S. think tank reported on Wednesday, citing new satellite imagery. The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said its findings come despite statements by the Chinese leadership that Beijing has no intention to militarize the
  
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• Factbox: The 13 Cosby accusers that prosecutors want to testify

  14-12-2016 22:35
  (Reuters) - Pennsylvania prosecutors are seeking to call 13 women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault at his criminal trial next year. While none is named in court papers, 11 have previously come forward publicly and can be identified based on the accounts, which date back to the 1960s, included in prosecutors' filings. Reuters does not typically identify alleged victims of sexual crimes unless they have chosen to release their names. Cosby, 79, has repeatedly denied the allegations. .
  
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• Three Gulf central banks hike rates to avert currency pressure after Fed move

  14-12-2016 22:34
  By Andrew Torchia DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain raised interest rates within minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to do so on Wednesday as they scrambled to avoid downward pressure on their currencies due to low oil prices. Early this year, speculators attacked the Saudi riyal and other Gulf currencies as cheap oil pushed the state finances of those countries into deficit. The riyal and most other Gulf Arab currencies are pegged to the U.S. dollar.
  
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• Democrats warn Trump hotel could turn into big headache

  14-12-2016 22:34
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats warned on Wednesday that they'll make Donald Trump's splashy new Washington hotel a big headache if he doesn't dump his ownership stake in it before taking office as the nation's 45th president.
  
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• U.S. oil industry cheers Trump energy pick, seeks gas export boost

  14-12-2016 22:24
  The U.S. oil and gas industry on Wednesday welcomed President-elect Donald Trump's choice of former Texas Governor Rick Perry to head the U.S. Department of Energy, and wasted no time making its first specific request of him: to support increased exports of America's natural gas overseas. Trump named Perry as his pick for the top U.S. energy job on Wednesday morning, handing the portfolio to a climate change sceptic with close ties to the oil and gas industry, and who previously proposed abolish
  
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• USDA rules would aim to protect livestock, poultry producers

  14-12-2016 22:22
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — With a little more than a month left in the Obama administration, the Agriculture Department on Wednesday announced new rules aimed at protecting the rights of livestock and poultry producers who do business with larger companies.
  
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• Obama says Hanukkah a reminder of the blessing of freedom

  14-12-2016 22:18
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says Hanukkah is a reminder that of all the blessings enjoyed in the U.S., the most meaningful is freedom.
  
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• Labor Secretary Perez to formally enter DNC race Thursday

  14-12-2016 22:14
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Labor Secretary Tom Perez plans to officially announce his candidacy for the leadership of the Democratic National Committee on Thursday, according to Democrats familiar with his effort.
  
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• US: Islamic State group may have air defenses in Syria town

  14-12-2016 21:59
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Militants from the Islamic State group got control of military equipment and weapons, possibly including air defense equipment, when they recaptured the Syrian town of Palmyra, the top U.S. general leading the fight against IS told reporters on Wednesday.
  
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• Syrian rebel officials say Aleppo truce deal back on track, to begin 'within hours'

  14-12-2016 21:52
  AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebel officials said on Wednesday that a ceasefire deal for Aleppo was back on track, and its implementation, including evacuations from the last rebel-held areas of the city would begin "within hours". "An agreement has been reached and within the coming hours its implementation will begin," Abdul Salam Abdul Razak, a military spokesman for the Nour al-Din al Zinki group, told Reuters. An official in the pro-Damascus military alliance confirmed the truce deal was
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn Hires Ex-Sinn Fein Staffer As His "Stakeholder Engagement Manager"

  14-12-2016 21:52
  
  A former aide to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been given a key post in Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership team, Labour sources have confirmed.
  Allies of the Labour leader defended the decision to hire Jayne Fisher as “Stakeholder Engagement Manager”, despite unease among the party’s backbench MPs.
  Fisher, who ran Sinn Fein’s Westminster office, will take up her new post in the New Year- with responsibility for overseeing Corbyn’s contacts with all ethnic and comm
  
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• Jeremy Corby Hires Ex-Sinn Fein Staffer As His "Stakeholder Engagement Manager"

  14-12-2016 21:52
  
  A former aide to Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has been given a key post in Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership team, Labour sources have confirmed.
  Allies of the Labour leader defended the decision to hire Jayne Fisher as “Stakeholder Engagement Manager”, despite unease among the party’s backbench MPs.
  Fisher, who ran Sinn Fein’s Westminster office, will take up her new post in the New Year- with responsibility for overseeing Corbyn’s contacts with all ethnic and comm
  
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• Justices to weigh limits on where patent lawsuits are filed

  14-12-2016 21:45
  The Supreme Court could make it easier for companies to defend themselves against patent infringement lawsuits. The justices said Wednesday they will decide whether such lawsuits can be filed in any court ...
  
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• Fed lifts rates, sees faster pace of hikes in Trump's first year

  14-12-2016 21:39
  By Howard Schneider and Lindsay Dunsmuir WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signalled a faster pace of increases in 2017 as the Trump administration takes over with promises to boost growth through tax cuts, spending and deregulation. U.S. bond yields moved higher and the dollar rose against a basket of currencies after the Fed's unanimous policy decision. U.S. stocks were trading marginally lower, but selling picked up speed
  
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• Exxon says CEO Tillerson to hand over reins to President Woods

  14-12-2016 21:39
  (Reuters) - Oil major Exxon Mobil Corp said on Wednesday that President Darren Woods would become chief executive and chairman in January after the retirement of Rex Tillerson, who is U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state. Exxon said Tillerson, 64, will retire at the end of the year and Woods, 51, would take over as chairman and CEO, effective Jan. 1. Woods joined Exxon in 1992, and in January he was elected to the company's board and appointed president.
  
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• Fed's Yellen says bank safety rules should be kept in place

  14-12-2016 21:37
  Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that tough banking rules are protecting financial markets and should largely be held in place. Many of those rules were conceived after the 2008 financial crisis and require the largest firms on Wall Street to hold more capital against future losses. "We have reduced the odds that (a) systemically important firm could fail," Yellen said at a press conference to discuss monetary policy.
  
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• Milan court opens market manipulation probe after Vivendi stake-building in Mediaset

  14-12-2016 21:36
  Milan prosecutors on Wednesday opened a preliminary investigation into alleged market manipulation after Mediaset's top shareholder filed a complaint over Vivendi's stake-building in the Italian broadcaster, a judicial source told Reuters. Silvio Berlusconi's investment vehicle Fininvest, which owns 39.8 percent of Mediaset's voting rights, on Tuesday filed a complaint with prosecutors in Milan after the group chaired by Vincent Bollore said it could buy up to a fifth of the Milan-based TV compa
  
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• 'Dunkirk' movie trailer shows desperate World War Two rescue

  14-12-2016 21:35
  (Reuters) - One Direction boy band member Harry Styles makes his feature film debut in "Dunkirk," an action movie about the World War Two battle in which British, French and Belgian soldiers were trapped on French beaches by German forces. The first trailer for the summer 2017 movie was released on Wednesday, featuring Styles, 22, as a soldier fighting for his life. The British cast also includes Tom Hardy ("The Revenant"), Mark Rylance ("Bridge of Spies") and Kenneth Branagh ("Wallander").
  
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• The Faliraki challenge and other Life in the EU tests for post-Brexit Britons | Marina Prentoulis

  14-12-2016 21:34
  
  European citizens in the UK face the notoriously tough Life in the United Kingdom test when Britain leaves the EU. But what if the roles were reversed?From time immemorial, any foreigner wishing to enter a city state had to prove they had earned the right to do so. Even Oedipus had to solve the riddle of the Sphinx before entering his – unbeknown to him – birthplace, Thebes. This has been a reality that most migrants have accepted too. Related: EU citizens should collect proof o
  
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• Prosecutors want jury to hear from slew of Cosby accusers

  14-12-2016 21:33
  By Joseph Ax NORRISTOWN, Pa. (Reuters) - A slew of women who say Bill Cosby lured them into sexual assaults with promises of friendship or career advice could show that the comedian was a serial predator who preyed on his victims for decades, Pennsylvania prosecutors argued on Wednesday. Judge Steven O'Neill of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas is weighing whether to allow prosecutors to call 13 accusers as witnesses at Cosby's trial next year, in addition to the woman whose allegation
  
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• Do Retail Workers Know It's Christmas? Labour MPs record protest charity single

  14-12-2016 21:33
  
  Cover of Band Aid hit accuses companies of cutting workers’ perks after introduction of ‘national living wage’ as Christmas chart gets politicalIt’s Christmas time, and there’s plenty of reasons to be afraid if you’re a retail worker, according to a musical protest by Labour MPs.MPs including Dan Jarvis, Angela Rayner and Mary Creagh have recorded a Christmas single to the tune of the 1980s Band Aid hit Do They Know It’s Christmas, accusing companies of
  
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• U.S. jury sides with Arista over Cisco in copyright battle

  14-12-2016 21:25
  By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. jury on Wednesday handed Arista Networks Inc a major win in a wide-ranging legal battle against Cisco Systems Inc, ruling that Arista owed no damages over Cisco's claims of copyright infringement. The jury in a San Jose, California federal court also found that Arista did not infringe a Cisco patent, a Cisco spokesperson said. The verdict is the latest in sprawling litigation between Cisco, a major networking equipment company, and Arista, a fast-gr
  
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• Trump meets Silicon Valley elite after mutual mistrust in campaign

  14-12-2016 21:25
  By Gina Cherelus NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Silicon Valley executives met at his Manhattan tower on Wednesday to smooth over frictions after both sides made no secret of their disdain for each other during the presidential campaign. The meeting may skirt the numerous disagreements the tech industry has with Trump -- including on immigration, the trade relationship with China and digital privacy -- in favour of a focus on shared priorities, sources said. "There's n
  
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