Political news

• VW agrees to fix, buy back more polluting U.S. diesel vehicles

  20-12-2016 23:52
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG has agreed to a $1 billion (£808.5 million) settlement to fix or buy back another 80,000 polluting diesel vehicles sold in the United States as the German automaker on Tuesday took new steps to put its emissions cheating scandal behind it. The settlement deal covered luxury VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles with 3.0-liter engines, meaning Volkswagen has now agreed to spend as much as $17.5 billion in the United States to resolve claims f
  
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• U.S. tightens sanctions against North Korea's U.N. diplomats

  20-12-2016 23:46
  By Joel Schectman and John Walcott WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department tightened sanctions against North Korean diplomats to the United Nations, requiring banks to get special permission before granting them accounts, the agency said in a notice posted online Tuesday. The United States removed an exemption in the broad economic sanctions against Pyongyang that had allowed U.S. banks to service North Korean diplomats without getting specific permission from the Treasury Department
  
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• Trump, Bill Clinton trade insults in unusual exchange

  20-12-2016 23:39
  Clinton, whose wife, Hillary, lost last month's election after spending millions of dollars more than her Republican rival, was spotted at a bookstore near the couple's hometown a suburb of New York City earlier this month. One thing he does know is how to get angry, white men to vote for him,” Clinton replied, according to the Record-Review of Bedford and Pound Ridge. Clinton also said he had received a telephone call from Trump the day after the November election, the newspaper said.
  
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• UK airport staff call off 48-hour strike, union says

  20-12-2016 23:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A strike by airport baggage handlers and check-in staff planned for 23 and 24 December is called off.
  
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• Iranian Kurdish opposition offices in northern Iraq hit by explosion; six killed

  20-12-2016 23:34
  ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Six people were killed in a bomb attack on the offices of an Iranian Kurdish opposition group in northern Iraq late on Tuesday, Iraqi Kurdish security sources said. The explosion targeted the offices of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in Koy Sanjak, east of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region. Clashes opposed in June and July PDKI fighters and Iranian Revolutionary Guards in northwestern Iran, leaving several dead on both sides. (Rep
  
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• FBI search warrant stirs renewed focus on revived Clinton probe

  20-12-2016 23:33
  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Search warrant documents released on Tuesday related to the probe of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's private email setup stirred fresh controversy about the FBI's decision to revive the investigation days before the Nov. 8 election. The materials, which related to a search warrant issued after Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey on Oct. 28 informed Congress of the emails, were ordered released on Monday by U.S. District Judg
  
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• U.S. government loses to Russia's disinformation campaign - advisers

  20-12-2016 23:27
  The U.S. government spent more than a decade preparing responses to malicious hacking by a foreign power but had no clear strategy when Russia launched a disinformation campaign over the internet during the U.S. election campaign, current and former White House cyber security advisers said. Over the last several years, U.S. intelligence agencies tracked Russia's use of coordinated hacking and disinformation in Ukraine and elsewhere, the advisers and intelligence experts said, but there was littl
  
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• Rolls-Royce wins $408 million Pentagon contract - statement

  20-12-2016 23:27
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rolls-Royce Corp of Indianapolis, Indiana, a unit of Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC , has been awarded a $408 million (330 million pounds) modification to a contract to provide maintenance support for V-22 AE1107C engines for the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force, the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Andrew Hay)
  
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• Bottas closer to Mercedes move amid Williams shake-up

  20-12-2016 23:23
  By Alan Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) - Formula One's post-season shake-up took another spin on Tuesday with Williams announcing the departure of technical head Pat Symonds while Valtteri Bottas moved closer to Mercedes and Felipe Massa's retirement looked to be coming to an end. Williams said Symonds, 63, would be leaving them on Dec. 31, the news coming amid speculation that Paddy Lowe is set to join them from dominant world champions Mercedes to take up a similar role. Symonds, who worked with the
  
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• Berlin attack: first suspect released as driver thought to still be at large – as it happened

  20-12-2016 23:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Detained Pakistani asylum seeker denies chargesTwelve people killed and 48 injured at Berlin’s BreitscheidplatzFull report: perpetrator still at large
  Read the latest summary 10.23pm GMTMore details have emerged about the events leading up to the arrest of Naved B., a 23-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker suspected of being the driver behind the wheel of the truck which careered through the Christmas market.9.52pm GMTUS officials do not have enough information to confirm the claim by Isis th
  
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• AP FACT CHECK: No proof of mass vote fraud in Michigan

  20-12-2016 23:22
  DETROIT (AP) — A widely shared story that claimed in headlines that Michigan had mass Democratic voter fraud and that more than half of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's Detroit vote faces disqualification is false. State election officials say there is no proof to back up either claim.
  
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• Microsoft wins $927 million Pentagon contract - statement

  20-12-2016 23:16
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp has been awarded a $927 million contract to provide technical support to the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham)
  
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• Japan resisting frustrated U.S. lobbying for South Sudan arms embargo

  20-12-2016 23:13
  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - After threatening South Sudan with a U.N. arms embargo to encourage steps toward peace, the United States wants to impose the measure, but the 15-member Security Council is split and Washington cannot even convince ally Japan. U.S. frustration with Tokyo's resistance to an embargo and additional targeted sanctions spilled over on Monday when Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, publicly questioned the reluctance of Japan, which
  
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• FBI sought evidence of intrusions in Hillary Clinton emails

  20-12-2016 23:03
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — The FBI said it needed a search warrant for thousands of Hillary Clinton's emails discovered on a computer belonging to former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner in part because agents wanted to look for evidence of "intrusions" by people trying to steal classified information, according to court documents made public Tuesday.
  
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• The Curious Case of Nile Rodgers's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Award

  20-12-2016 22:53
  The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame perpetually starts fights about respectability and credibility, and the new class of inductees just shows how shifty and disputed those two words can be. The late rapper Tupac and the grunge band Pearl Jam are in, marking recognition for two ‘90s musical moments whose legacies are still in the making. The folk singer Joan Baez joins; she accepted by saying “I never considered myself to be a rock and roll artist,” a sentiment many rock fans no doub
  
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• Finding alternatives to solitary confinement

  20-12-2016 22:47
  The practice goes by many names: restrictive housing, administrative segregation, secure housing, lockdown, or, more informally, being put into “the hole.” Most people would recognize it as “solitary confinement” – placing prisoners alone in small cells with little or no human contact 22 or more hours every day. “Considering the severe mental pain or suffering solitary confinement may cause, it can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
  
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• Obama bans future oil leases in much of Arctic, Atlantic

  20-12-2016 22:43
  
  President Barack Obama on Tuesday designated the bulk of U.S.-owned waters in the Arctic Ocean and certain areas in the Atlantic Ocean as indefinitely off limits to future oil and gas leasing. The move ...
  
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• VW will fix, buy back more polluting U.S. diesel vehicles

  20-12-2016 22:41
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Volkswagen AG has agreed to a $1 billion (809 million pounds) settlement to fix or buy back another 80,000 polluting U.S. diesel vehicles as the German automaker on Tuesday took new steps to put its emissions cheating scandal behind it. The settlement deal covered luxury VW, Audi and Porsche vehicles with 3.0-liter engines, meaning Volkswagen has now agreed to spend as much as $17.5 billion in the United States to resolve claims over polluting diesels f
  
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• Wall Street hits record highs, dollar rises to 14-year peak

  20-12-2016 22:38
  By Dion Rabouin NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. equities touched record highs on Tuesday and the dollar rose to its highest level in 14 years as markets shrugged off risk aversion and continued the rally that has elevated Wall Street since Election Day. The Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq Composite both closed at record highs, with the blue-chip index just below the 20,000 level. European stocks steadied as reassurance over Italy's plan to spend up to 20 billion euros ($21 billion) to rescue i
  
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• US alarmed by spike in violence in eastern Ukraine

  20-12-2016 22:38
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration says it is alarmed by a spike in violence in eastern Ukraine.
  
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• Vatican asks Beijing for positive signs to help dialogue

  20-12-2016 22:12
  The Vatican said on Tuesday it hoped China's communist government would give Catholics there "positive signs" that would help them have faith in a push by Pope Francis to heal a decades-old rift with Beijing. Chinese Catholics are divided between those who are loyal to the pope and those who are members of a government-controlled official church. The Vatican has been seeking a compromise with Beijing on the appointment of bishops but some see that as selling out those who have remained loyal to
  
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• Greek PM sees 'prompt' bailout review deal without new austerity

  20-12-2016 22:10
  Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Tuesday he remained convinced that Greece's bailout review could be concluded "promptly" and he called on Athens's foreign creditors not to make excessive demands of the heavily indebted country. Greece wants a quick conclusion of its bailout review, which began in October, but it remains at odds with its European and International Monetary Fund lenders over fiscal targets and labour and energy reforms. It hopes for inclusion in the European Central Bank's q
  
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• Sturgeon presses May on further devolution

  20-12-2016 22:05
  First minister proposals include further transfer of power to stay in EU single market
  
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• Lloyds banks on credit card growth with £1.9 billion MBNA buy

  20-12-2016 22:02
  By Simon Jessop and Lawrence White LONDON (Reuters) - Lloyds Banking Group is buying the MBNA UK credit card business from Bank of America for 1.9 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) in an effort to increase profit and reduce its reliance on mortgage lending. The move represents the first major acquisition for Britain's biggest mortgage lender, which is part-owned by the government, since it was bailed out during the 2007-09 crisis. Lloyds said the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of
  
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• U.S. probes one million Fiat Chrysler vehicles for roll-away crashes

  20-12-2016 21:51
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. vehicle safety officials said on Tuesday they have launched an investigation into about a million Fiat Chrysler Ram pickup trucks and SUVs prompted by complaints by some owners that the vehicles rolled away and crashed after being parked. The issues being investigated by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are similar the one cited in the June death in Los Angeles of Russian-born actor Anton Yelchin of the recent "Star Trek" mov
  
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• Japan's top court deals blow to opponents of U.S. base on Okinawa

  20-12-2016 21:51
  Japan's top court on Tuesday ruled in favour of a government plan to relocate a U.S. military base on the island of Okinawa, dealing a blow to islanders' efforts to get rid of the base altogether. The government and Okinawa authorities have been at loggerheads for years over the U.S. Marines' Futenma air base as resentment has simmered among residents who bemoan what they see as an unfair burden in supporting the U.S. military presence in Japan. Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga has led the campaig
  
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• Trump hosts candidates for key Veterans Affairs post

  20-12-2016 21:48
  
  PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump met Tuesday met with candidates for his unfilled Cabinet positions, including prospective hires to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, a beleaguered agency that the Republican businessman has vowed to overhaul.
  
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• U.S. EPA estimates new VW diesel settlement worth about $1 billion

  20-12-2016 21:45
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday the cost of a settlement with Volkswagen AG covering 80,000 polluting 3.0-liter vehicles is about $1 billion, but does not include expected additional compensation for owners. Cynthia Giles, EPA assistant administrator, estimated that the costs of buybacks, fixes and diesel offsets were about $1 billion, including $225 million going into a trust fund to offset excess diesel emissions. ...
  
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• Pope orders Spanish priest in 'Vatileaks' case freed from jail

  20-12-2016 21:26
  Pope Francis has commuted the jail sentence of a Spanish priest who was convicted of leaking Vatican documents and ordered that he be released from jail, the Vatican said on Tuesday. Monsigor Angel Lucio Vallejo Balda was sentenced to 18 months in a Vatican jail last July at the end of a trial dubbed "Vatileaks II". A statement said the pontiff took the step because Vallejo Balda, 55, had already served more than half of his sentence.
  
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• Nigeria to close capital's airport for six weeks to fix runway

  20-12-2016 21:15
  By Felix Onuah and Ulf Laessing ABUJA/LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria will close the airport in the capital Abuja for six weeks from February to repair its badly damaged runway, the government said on Tuesday, after airlines threatened to stop flying there. Flights to Abuja will be diverted to Kaduna, an airport used primarily for domestic flights and where airlines give out handwritten boarding passes. "The impact (on the economy) will be catastrophic," said Bismarck Rewane, a leading economist.
  
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• Steve Bell on Nigel Farage's comments about the Berlin attack – cartoon

  20-12-2016 21:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• Embraer calls for industry limits on aircraft development funding

  20-12-2016 21:03
  By Brad Haynes SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian planemaker Embraer SA called on Tuesday for the aviation industry to set limits on state funding of aircraft development, a day after Brazil said it would challenge Canada over government support for rival Bombardier Inc . Embraer Chief Executive Paulo Cesar Silva said the aviation industry's standards for export financing by state banks had worked well to promote fair competition between Embraer, Bombardier and larger peers Boeing and Airbus .
  
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• Islamic state claims responsibility for Berlin truck attack

  20-12-2016 20:56
  Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack in which a truck ploughed into crowds in a Christmas market and killed 12 people. "The executor of the operation.. in Berlin is a soldier of the Islamic state and he executed the operation in response to calls to target nationals of the coalition countries," the militant group's AMAQ news agency said on Tuesday.
  
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• Investigators following several leads in Berlin attack - German minister

  20-12-2016 20:55
  German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday that investigators are following several leads on the Berlin Christmas market attack that killed 12 people. "We just heard about the supposed claim of responsibility by this so-called Islamic State that is in fact a gang of terrorists," de Maiziere told ARD broadcaster. "There are several leads that investigators are following now," the minister added.
  
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• Kuwait moves annual DC party to Trump's hotel

  20-12-2016 20:53
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — One of the Middle East's richest kingdoms said Tuesday it would host its annual Washington party at Donald Trump's new hotel, underscoring the president-elect's unusual status as the owner of a major venue for events in the U.S. capital.
  
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• The Latest: Trumps learn about cash, pet causes and access

  20-12-2016 20:44
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):
  
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• Theresa May stumbles on a question of thought

  20-12-2016 20:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Would the prime minister classify herself as a thoughtful politician? She had to think very hard about thisThere may have been things the prime minister wanted to do less on the last day of parliamentary business before the Christmas recess than appear before the liaison committee, but none immediately came to mind. Being interrogated on Brexit by the chairs of all the select committees is no one’s idea of fun. Especially when you don’t have any of the answers.Andrew Tyrie, the commi
  
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• Search warrant materials used in Clinton email probe unsealed

  20-12-2016 20:39
  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - Search warrant documents released on Tuesday related to the probe of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's private email setup provided new details about the FBI's decision to revive the investigation days before the Nov. 8 election. The materials, which related to a search warrant issued after Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey on Oct. 28 informed Congress of the emails, were ordered released on Monday by U.S. District Judge Kev
  
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• U.S. sanctions companies, people over Russia actions in Ukraine

  20-12-2016 20:37
  The United States on Tuesday blacklisted seven Russian businessmen and eight companies and government enterprises over Russia's annexation of Crimea and the conflict in Ukraine, the U.S. Treasury said in a statement. The sanctions come a month before U.S. President Barack Obama hands over power to President-elect Donald Trump, who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and said it would be good if the two countries could get along. Trump's nominee for U.S. Secretary of State, Exxon Mobil C
  
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• Russia says new U.S. sanctions are hostile acts, promises response

  20-12-2016 20:37
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - New U.S. sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict are hostile acts by the outgoing Obama administration and Russia will expand its sanctions lists against the United States in response, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS news agency. "We retain the right to choose the time, place and form pf our responsive actions in a way that suits us," Ryabkov told TASS. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
  
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• Traditional English pub becomes lavish Christmas spectacle

  20-12-2016 20:34
  A traditional English pub has been cloaked in more than 80 bright green Christmas trees while nearly 22,000 dazzling lights attract tourists and locals alike to the festive display in London. The lavish decorations adorning "The Churchill Arms" pub in the fashionable Notting Hill neighbourhood took a week and a half to set up and generate an electricity bill of around 55,000 pounds. There were queues of people here last weekend," said landlord Gerry O'Brien, 66.
  
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• In Trump cabinet, Commerce Secretary will run trade policy

  20-12-2016 20:32
  By Melissa Fares and David Lawder WEST PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump plans to put his pick for Commerce Secretary, billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, in charge of his get-tough trade policy, a transition team spokesman said on Tuesday. It is a signal of how Trump, who is also interviewing candidates to be the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), plans to elevate a crackdown on competitors in the world market and the overhaul of trade deals that he says hav
  
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• Europe's bank troubles limited to a few lenders - ECB's Praet

  20-12-2016 20:27
  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Europe's banking troubles are limited but the broader issue is weak profitability and an excessive number of banks, European Central Bank chief economist Peter Praet said in a newspaper interview. "There is hence a need for consolidation in the banking sector," Praet, who sits on the ECB's Executive Board told Dutch newspaper Telegraaf. "I definitely think that we must have pan-European banks. That means that, in the event of a national economic shock, banks are not overexp
  
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• Volkswagen reaches agreement to fix, buyback U.S. diesels

  20-12-2016 20:24
  A U.S. federal judge said on Tuesday Volkswagen AG has reached an agreement for a mix of buybacks and fixes for about 80,000 polluting 3.0-liter diesel VW, Porsche and Audi vehicles as the German automaker works to put a diesel emissions cheating scandal behind it. During a hearing in San Francisco, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer also said German company Robert Bosch has reached agreed in principle to settle civil allegations made by U.S. diesel vehicle owners. Breyer said owners of 3.0-litr
  
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• Sanofi's takeover talks with Actelion progressing - source

  20-12-2016 20:18
  By Pamela Barbaglia and Maiya Keidan LONDON (Reuters) - Talks between Actelion and Sanofi are making progress, despite investors' fears that the Swiss biotech firm's chief executive and founder might not want to sell, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday. The source said Actelion had now reached a point where the company needed to sign a deal and it could not call off negotiations with the French drugmaker without triggering an investor rebellion demanding the overthro
  
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• Baggage handlers’ Christmas strike called off

  20-12-2016 20:17
  Unite head rejects charge swath of industrial action co-ordinated
  
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• Nigel Farage faces threat of legal action over Hope Not Hate accusation

  20-12-2016 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Former Ukip leader claimed charity backed by Jo Cox’s widower pursues ‘violent means’, prompting group to appeal for donations for legal challengeNigel Farage faces the prospect of legal action after accusing the widower of Jo Cox of having links to extremism because of his support for the group Hope Not Hate during a radio discussion on the Berlin Christmas market attack.Speaking on LBC Radio on Tuesday, Farage suggested that Brendan Cox “would know more about extremists
  
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• Germany frees suspect in market attack, says perpetrator maybe still at large

  20-12-2016 20:15
  By Michelle Martin and Sabine Siebold BERLIN (Reuters) - German authorities on Tuesday released a Pakistani asylum-seeker suspected of driving a truck into a Berlin Christmas market and killing 12 people due to a lack of evidence and the interior minister said the real perpetrator may still be on the run. The Chief Federal Prosecutor's Office said in a statement it had been unable to prove that the suspect had been in the cabin of the truck at the time of the attack and said he had denied any in
  
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• Perpetrator of Berlin truck attack probably still at large - minister

  20-12-2016 20:12
  German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said on Tuesday the perpetrator of the truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market was probably still on the run and that a suspect arrested in connection with the crime was released due to lack of evidence. "That's why it is true that one cannot rule out that the perpetrator is still at large," De Maiziere told ZDF television.
  
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• Criticism prompts UK to investigate use of contractors in aid programmes

  20-12-2016 20:05
  By Emma Batha LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Britain launched an inquiry on Tuesday into the use of contractors in its overseas humanitarian programmes after facing criticism for paying rising amounts to for-profit private companies to deliver aid. The announcement comes a day after International Development Secretary Priti Patel reportedly said she wanted to see an end to "extensive profiteering" by contractors and suppliers of Britain's Department for International Development (DFID). D
  
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