Political news

• Obama political director to run foundation building library

  19-12-2016 23:53
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has tapped his White House political director to run the foundation that will build his presidential library and center.
  
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• House report urges clearer guidance on cellphone technology

  19-12-2016 23:52
  Clearer guidelines are needed for law enforcement's use of secretive and intrusive cellphone tracking technology, and police and federal agents should be upfront with a judge about their deployment, a ...
  
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• Liverpool had to thwart wild Everton football, says Klopp

  19-12-2016 23:49
  Liverpool had to combat "wild football" from Everton before a last-gasp winner from Sadio Mane earned the visitors a 1-0 derby win at Goodison Park on Monday, said manager Juergen Klopp. Klopp's men completely controlled the second half but had to wait until four minutes into stoppage time to break through, Mane sliding in to convert the rebound from close range after substitute Daniel Sturridge's 20-metre shot had struck the post. "The best thing you can do on a night like this is win and you s
  
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• France increases security at Christmas markets after Berlin truck incident

  19-12-2016 23:49
  PARIS (Reuters) - France will increase security at Christmas markets across the country after a truck ploughed into people at a seasonal market in Berlin on Monday, killing at least nine people, the Interior Ministry said. "Franco-German cooperation will continue with no respite so that democracies win the war against those who want to strike at our values and freedoms," the ministry said in a statement. "All security forces will keep to a maximum level of vigilance. Security at Christmas market
  
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• Canada's CCL to buy UK-based Innovia for C$1.13 billion

  19-12-2016 23:45
  (Reuters) - Canadian label and packaging maker CCL Industries Inc said it would buy Innovia Group, whose unit is the supplier of Bank of England's new plastic five pound note that has fallen foul with vegetarians, for about C$1.13 billion (£680.2 million). U.K.-based Innovia Group is a maker of specialty bi-axially oriented polypropylene films used for labels, packaging and security applications. The deal propels CCL to world leadership in the disruptive, fast-growing polymer banknote mark
  
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• Exclusive - U.S. proposed $5-7 billion penalty on Credit Suisse on toxic debt: source

  19-12-2016 23:41
  By Joshua Franklin, Oliver Hirt and Karen Freifeld ZURICH/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice has asked Credit Suisse to pay between $5 billion and $7 billion (£4 billion and £5.7 billion) to settle a probe over its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a source with knowledge of the matter said, but the bank has resisted settling for that amount. "Credit Suisse is confident of reaching a better solution," said the second p
  
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• IMF board reaffirms confidence in Lagarde after negligence verdict

  19-12-2016 23:37
  The International Monetary Fund said on Monday its executive board reaffirmed its full confidence in Managing Director Christine Lagarde despite her conviction by a French court on a negligence charge. "The Executive Board took all relevant factors into account in its discussions, including the Managing Director's outstanding leadership of the Fund and the wide respect and trust for her leadership globally," the executive board said in a statement.
  
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• White House condemns 'terrorist attack' on Berlin Christmas market

  19-12-2016 23:33
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Monday condemned what it called an apparent "terrorist attack" on a Christmas market in central Berlin. "We have been in touch with German officials, and we stand ready to provide assistance as they recover from and investigate this horrific incident," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. A truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin on Monday evening, killing nine people and injuring up to 50 others. (Reporting
  
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• Protests erupt in Congo capital, police fire tear gas

  19-12-2016 23:30
  KINSHASA (Reuters) - Protests erupted in several neighbourhoods of the Congolese capital Kinshasa late on Monday, and police fired tear gas to disperse them, witnesses said, just before President Joseph Kabila's mandate expires at midnight. Demonstrators blew whistles to signal to Kabila that it was to leave in the communes of Kalamu, Matete, Lingwala, and at Kinshasa University, multiple witnesses said. A spokesman for the police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Reporting
  
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• US, China talks continue on return of seized Navy drone

  19-12-2016 23:27
  WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. military conversations continue with China to gain the return of an unmanned underwater drone that was seized by the Chinese Navy last week, the Pentagon said Monday.
  
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• U.S. charges Platinum Partners executives with $1 billion fraud

  19-12-2016 23:27
  By Nate Raymond and Lawrence Delevingne NEW YORK (Reuters) - Top executives of New York-based hedge fund manager Platinum Partners were arrested on Monday and charged with running a $1 billion (806 million pounds) fraud that federal prosecutors said became "like a Ponzi scheme" as its largest investments lost much of their value. Led by Mark Nordlicht, Platinum was known for years for producing exceptionally high returns -- about 17 percent annually in its largest fund -- by taking an unusually
  
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• U.N. chief fears genocide about to start in South Sudan

  19-12-2016 23:22
  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday he feared genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action is taken, renewing his plea for the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on the country. "If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory towards mass atrocities," Ban told the Security Council. Ban, noting that the U.N.'s special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, has described genoci
  
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• Democrats turn 'faithless electors' in U.S. Electoral College surprise

  19-12-2016 23:22
  By Roberta Rampton and Eric M. Johnson WASHINGTON/SEATTLE (Reuters) - At least five Democrats who had been committed to back Hillary Clinton in the U.S. Electoral College cast ballots for other people on Monday, the largest number of "faithless electors" seen in well over a century. The 538 electors were voting across the country to confirm Republican Donald Trump as the next president. The event is normally a formality but took on extra prominence this year after some Democrats urged electors t
  
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• Last-gasp Mane goal gives Liverpool 1-0 derby win

  19-12-2016 23:21
  Dec 19 (Reuters) - - Liverpool climbed into second place in the Premier League by beating Everton 1-0 in the Merseyside derby after Sadio Mane scored four minutes into stoppage time at Goodison Park on Monday. The result pushed Juergen Klopp's side within six points of leaders Chelsea who won 1-0 at Crystal Palace on Saturday. In a match with few chances, Everton lost goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to injury after an hour and understudy Joel Robles made a fine, diving save from Roberto Firmino
  
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• Gunman wounds three in Zurich mosque rampage, motive unclear

  19-12-2016 23:21
  By Michael Shields and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi ZURICH (Reuters) - A man stormed into a Zurich mosque on Monday evening and opened fire on people praying, injuring three, Swiss police said. Two of the three men -- aged 30, 35 and 56 -- were seriously injured in the attack shortly after 5:30 p.m. local time (1630 GMT) near the main train station in Switzerland's financial capital, Zurich police said. People at the scene told Reuters the Islamic Centre on Zurich's Eisgasse was used as a mosque, ofte
  
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• Truck crash in Berlin could be accident or attack - official

  19-12-2016 23:20
  BERLIN (Reuters) - The circumstances of Monday's deadly truck crash at a Christmas market in Berlin is still unclear, a senior German official said, dismissing as speculation reports that the lorry could have been hijacked by militants. "The sequence of events point to either an accident or an attack," Berlin State Interior Minister Andreas Geisel said. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement it was still unclear exactly what had happened. Security officials are tryin
  
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• Ex-Benghazi panel staffer settles lawsuit against Rep. Gowdy

  19-12-2016 23:16
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for a former House Benghazi committee staffer says the ex-staffer has settled a lawsuit against the panel and its chairman, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy.
  
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• Obama pardons 78, shortens the sentence for 153

  19-12-2016 23:10
  HONOLULU (AP) — President Barack Obama has pardoned 78 people and shortened the sentence of 153 others convicted of federal crimes, the greatest number of individual clemencies in a single day by any president, the White House said Monday.
  
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• The Latest: Trump at 268 electoral votes, Clinton at 166

  19-12-2016 23:08
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Electoral College meeting Monday to formally elect Donald Trump the nation's 45th president (all times EST):
  
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• NSA watchdog on leave in whistleblower case

  19-12-2016 23:07
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Allegations of retaliation against a whistleblower at the National Security Agency have left its top watchdog fighting for his job, according to an intelligence official and another individual familiar with the case.
  
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• Russian ambassador shot dead in Ankara gallery

  19-12-2016 23:01
  By Umit Bektas, Orhan Coskun and Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA (Reuters) - The Russian ambassador to Turkey was shot in the back and killed as he gave a speech at an Ankara art gallery on Monday by an off-duty police officer who shouted "Don't forget Aleppo" and "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire. President Tayyip Erdogan, in a video message to the nation, cast the attack as an attempt to undermine NATO-member Turkey's relations with Russia - ties long tested by the war in Syria.
  
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• Global stocks, dollar edge higher but safe havens get bid after Turkey, Germany attacks

  19-12-2016 23:01
  By Dion Rabouin NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged higher worldwide on Monday as Wall Street extended a rally that has pushed U.S. stocks near all-time highs, while the dollar got a boost from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen who sounded optimistic about the U.S. labour market. Deadly attacks late in the trading day in Turkey and Germany made stocks pare their gains, while Treasuries prices rose and the safe-haven yen firmed. U.S. stock indexes hit record highs last week as investors piled on b
  
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• F-35 chief defends programme after Trump criticism

  19-12-2016 23:01
  Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter jet programme is essential for the security of the United States and its allies, a Pentagon official said on Monday, looking to defend the programme a week after President-elect Donald Trump criticized it for delays and cost overruns. "The F-35 programme and cost is out of control," Trump wrote on Twitter last week, echoing campaign promises to cut waste in federal spending. "Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after Jan
  
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• McCain blasts Navy warships in report on Pentagon waste

  19-12-2016 22:50
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is blasting the Navy's expensive new warships that have been plagued by engine problems and have yet to demonstrate key warfighting functions.
  
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• Turkish official links Russian envoy killer to exiled cleric

  19-12-2016 22:43
  By Orhan Coskun ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish security official said Ankara saw "very strong signs" the gunman who killed Russia's ambassador there on Monday was a follower of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric blamed for orchestrating a failed coup in July. A representative of cleric Fethullah Gulen, Alp Aslandogan, denied any link and said the exiled cleric condemned the murder as a "heinous act". The Turkish official, who declined to be identified, said the current investigation was focused on the gun
  
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• Truck ploughs into crowd at Berlin Christmas market, nine dead

  19-12-2016 22:42
  By Michael Nienaber BERLIN (Reuters) - A truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin on Monday evening, killing nine people and injuring up to 50 others, police said, in what appeared to be one of the deadliest attacks in Germany in decades. Police said on Twitter that they had taken one suspect into custody and that another passenger from the truck had died as it crashed into people gathered around the wooden huts serving mulled wine and sausages at the foot of the Kaiser W
  
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• Cities, counties plan immigrant legal aid after Trump's win

  19-12-2016 22:29
  
  Major U.S. cities and counties are beefing up legal services for immigrants to help them fight deportation and avoid fraudulent lawyers in the wake of Donald Trump's election and his hard-line immigration ...
  
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• Putin says Turkey ambassador murder is ploy to wreck Syrian peace process

  19-12-2016 22:26
  By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the killing of Russia's ambassador to Turkey was a despicable provocation aimed at spoiling Russia-Turkey ties and derailing Moscow's attempts to find, with Iran and Turkey, a solution for the Syria crisis. In televised comments, Putin, speaking at a special meeting in the Kremlin, ordered security at Russian embassies around the world to be stepped up and said he wanted to know who had "directed" the gunman's hand.
  
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• IMF's Lagarde guilty, but not punished, in French negligence trial

  19-12-2016 22:26
  By Chine Labbé PARIS (Reuters) - French judges convicted IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Monday of negligence for a state payout made while she served as France's finance minister in 2008, but imposed no punishment, likely improving chances that she would stay on at the Fund. The Washington-based International Monetary Fund said its executive board was meeting on Monday to consider the verdict's implications. Edwin Truman, a former U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve international official,
  
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• Killing of Russian envoy 'heinous act' - U.S.-based cleric

  19-12-2016 22:25
  U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen on Monday condemned the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey as a "heinous act of terror" and urged the Turkish government to identify anyone who aided the gunman. Gulen's written statement was issued after one of his advisers strongly denied allegations by an unnamed senior Turkish security official of "very strong signs" that the gunman who killed the ambassador belonged to Gulen's movement. Ankara has accused the cleric of instigating a failed coup
  
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• Italy seeks to borrow 20 billion euros to prop up banking sector

  19-12-2016 22:24
  By Valentina Za and Stephen Jewkes MILAN (Reuters) - The Italian government decided on Monday to seek parliamentary approval to borrow 20 billion euros (16.8 billion pounds) to underwrite the stability of its wobbly banking sector, starting with a likely bail-out of No. 3 lender, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, as early as this week. Monte dei Paschi, recently judged the weakest of the European Union's major banks, needs to dispose of a mountain of bad loans and raise 5 billion euros in capital by th
  
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• Italy government seeks approval to use up to 20 bln euros to save banks

  19-12-2016 22:24
  Italy's government will seek parliamentary approval to hike national debt by up to 20 billion euros (£16.7 billion) to cover any eventual operation to stabilise the banking system, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday. Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan told reporters that the requested funds could be used to "guarantee adequate liquidity" in the banking system and also to boost capital at struggling lenders. Two sources told Reuters last week that the government was ready to pump
  
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• Berlin police arrest suspected truck attacker - police

  19-12-2016 22:23
  German police have arrested a suspect near the scene of the Berlin Christmas market where a truck ploughed into a crowd, and are investigating whether he was the driver, the police said on Twitter. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was being briefed on the incident by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and the mayor of Berlin, a government spokesman said.
  
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• Syrian-Americans: model immigrants?

  19-12-2016 22:18
  In all, the country has admitted more than 15,000 Syrian refugees since January 2014. An indicator of how these new arrivals may do in the United States is found in data on the 90,000 Syrian immigrants who have been in America over a much longer period of time. “These findings are reassuring and should provide the basis for more informed and thoughtful consideration of how to think about current and future Syrian immigrants and refugees,” the analysis concludes.
  
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• U.N. council condemns 'terrorist attack' on Russia envoy in Turkey

  19-12-2016 22:17
  The United Nations Security Council condemned on Monday what it called a "terrorist attack" in Ankara that assassinated the Russian ambassador to Turkey. "The members of the Security Council reiterated the need to bring the perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of terrorist attacks to justice," the 15-member council said in a statement.
  
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• Yen rises on lower U.S. yields, attacks in Turkey, Germany

  19-12-2016 22:15
  By Richard Leong NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Japanese yen rose on Monday on safe-haven bids after separate deadly attacks in Turkey and Germany, adding to earlier buying of the currency to book profits on the dollar's recent gains. In Ankara, an off-duty police officer opened fire and killed Russia's ambassador to Turkey at an art gallery in the Turkish capital Ankara. Russia and Turkey have been on opposing sides of the conflict in Syria, straining relations.
  
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• Exclusive - U.S. proposed $5-7 billion penalty for Credit Suisse on toxic debt: source

  19-12-2016 21:58
  By Joshua Franklin, Oliver Hirt and Karen Freifeld ZURICH/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice has asked Credit Suisse to pay between $5 billion and $7 billion (£4 billion and £5.7 billion) to settle a probe over its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, a source with knowledge of the matter said, but the bank has resisted settling for that amount. "Credit Suisse is confident of reaching a better solution," said the person w
  
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• Wisconsin conservative talk show host ends 23-year run

  19-12-2016 21:54
  MILWAUKEE (AP) — A leading voice in conservative radio who helped promote the Republican political agenda in Wisconsin but was outspoken in opposing Donald Trump, retired from his popular radio show Monday.
  
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• U.S.-based cleric's movement not involved in Russia envoy killing - Gulen adviser

  19-12-2016 21:48
  U.S.-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen's movement had no connection to the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey on Monday, and he strongly condemns the killing, according to an official who advises Gulen on media issues. Allegations by an unnamed senior Turkish security official of "very strong signs" that the gunman who killed the ambassador belonged to Gulen's network are "laughable" and intended to cover up for lax security, the adviser, Alp Aslandogan told Reuters. "Mr. Gulen cat
  
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• NY businessman, veteran is Trump's pick for Army secretary

  19-12-2016 21:42
  
  PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday tapped another billionaire businessman for an administration job, naming Army veteran and fellow New Yorker Vincent Viola to be his secretary of the Army.
  
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• Turkey foreign minister says common sense prevailing in Turkey, Russia

  19-12-2016 21:34
  Turkey's foreign minister on Monday said common sense was prevailing in both Russia and Turkey following the assassination of Moscow's ambassador in Ankara, and the two countries would work together to investigate. Mevlut Cavusgolu was speaking in Moscow, where he was due to meet his Russian and Iranian counterparts to discuss the situation in Syria. In comments carried live on Turkish television, he praised the Russian ambassador as a "great man" and a "great diplomat".
  
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• US fails to renegotiate arms control rule for hacking tools

  19-12-2016 21:33
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration has failed to renegotiate portions of an international arms control arrangement to make it easier to export tools related to hacking and surveillance software — technologies that can be exploited by bad actors, but are also used to secure computer networks.
  
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• Erdogan says agrees with Putin on stronger fight against terrorism

  19-12-2016 21:25
  ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he had agreed in a telephone call with Russia's Vladimir Putin that their cooperation and solidarity in fighting terrorism should be even stronger after the killing of the Russian ambassador in Turkey. Erdogan called the killing a clear provocation aimed at damaging relations between Turkey and Russia at a time of normalisation. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by David Dolan)
  
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• Turkish police detain sister, mother of gunman who shot Russian ambassador - CNN Turk

  19-12-2016 21:24
  ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police detained on Monday the sister and mother of the gunman who shot dead the Russian ambassador at an art gallery in the Turkish capital, broadcaster CNN Turk reported. It said the two women were detained in the southwestern Turkish province of Aydin. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by David Dolan)
  
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• Oil near flat in quiet trade, supply outlook unclear

  19-12-2016 21:24
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Monday in quiet pre-Christmas trade as the market waited to see whether U.S. production from shale fields would grow enough to offset planned output cuts by OPEC, Russia and other producers next year. Speculators raised their holdings of Brent crude oil futures to a record high last week.
  
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• N Ireland leader apologises for botched energy scheme

  19-12-2016 21:24
  Taxpayers face £400m bill for renewables plan containing ‘fundamental flaws’
  
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• Turkey's Erdogan says Putin agrees shooting of ambassador was provocation

  19-12-2016 21:20
  Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday he spoke to Russia's Vladimir Putin and they both agreed the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Ankara by a gunman was an act of provocation by those looking to harm relations their countries. In a video message broadcast on Turkish television, Erdogan said Turkey-Russia relations were vital for the region and those who aimed to harm ties were not going to achieve their goals.
  
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• U.S. sees China returning drone as early as Tuesday in South China Sea

  19-12-2016 21:18
  By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Ben Blanchard WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States expects China to return soon an underwater U.S. drone seized by a Chinese naval vessel last week, with one U.S. official telling Reuters the exchange could happen as early as Tuesday at an agreed location in the South China Sea. China's seizure of the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) triggered a diplomatic protest and speculation about whether it will strengthen U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's han
  
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• Saudi foreign minister says Syria must be pressured into political solution

  19-12-2016 21:11
  Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told the Arab League on Monday that if world powers fail to pressure the Syrian regime there will be no political solution to the war. "If we cannot find an effective way to pressure the Syrian regime then we will not reach a political solution and the killing, displacement, and injustice in Syria will go on. United Nations Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura intends to convene peace talks in Geneva on Feb. 8, his office said on Monday.
  
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• Obama sets rule to protect streams near coal mines

  19-12-2016 21:11
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration on Monday set final rules designed to reduce the environmental impact of coal mining on the nation's streams, a long-anticipated move that met quick resistance from Republicans who vowed to overturn it under President Donald Trump.
  
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