Political news

• Reality TV's Omarosa hired for Trump's White House outreach

  03-01-2017 23:54
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Omarosa Manigault is getting hired.
  
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• The Latest: House adopts new rules package along party lines

  03-01-2017 23:48
  
  The Latest on Congress convening for a new session (all times EST): 5:45 p.m. The Republican-led House has adopted, largely along party lines, its rules package for the 115th Congress, with Democrats protesting ...
  
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• Trump recognises 'urgency' of North Korea nuclear threat -South Korea

  03-01-2017 23:44
  SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's "clear warning" to North Korea shows he is aware of the urgency of the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program and will not waver from a policy of sanctions against the isolated country, South Korea said on Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said on Sunday his nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), raising the prospect of putting parts of the United States in ra
  
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• Jovenel Moise clinches Haiti presidency, poll fraud ruled out

  03-01-2017 23:37
  By Joseph Guyler Delva PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian businessman Jovenel Moise was declared the official winner of November presidential elections in the impoverished Caribbean nation on Tuesday, after an electoral tribunal ruled out allegations of massive fraud at the polls. Moise, who ran for former President Michel Martelly's Bald Heads Party (PHTK), won with 55.6 percent of votes cast in the Nov. 20 election, with closest rival Jude Celestin second at 19.5 percent, said electoral tribun
  
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• Fearing protectionism, Canada's Trudeau reaches out to U.S. Congress

  03-01-2017 23:35
  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reached out in a video address to the new U.S. Congress on Tuesday to stress how tightly linked the economies of Canada and the United States are, amid fears of a protectionist Trump administration. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to either renegotiate or scrap the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has said overhauling trade policy will be a top priority after he takes office on Jan. 20. Canada sends 75 percent of its exports to the Un
  
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• Swansea coach Clement off to a winning start

  03-01-2017 23:23
  Swansea head coach Paul Clement made an instant impact as his new side beat Crystal Palace 2-1 at Selhurst Park on Tuesday to register their first away win in nine games and move off the bottom of the Premier League. The 44-year-old former Bayern Munich assistant, whose appointment was confirmed hours before kickoff, began the game in the stands but ended it on the touchline as Angel Rangel fired an 88th-minute winner past Wayne Hennessey. Swansea were the better side overall and took the lead t
  
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• France's Valls, seeking presidential ticket, courts traditional socialists

  03-01-2017 23:22
  By Brian Love and Jean-Baptiste Vey PARIS (Reuters) - Former prime minister Manuel Valls promised to avoid draconian public spending cuts in a pitch for traditional leftwing voters as he laid out his bid on Tuesday to become the ruling Socialist Party's candidate in France's presidential election. Valls, who resigned last month as head of the government to free his hands to run for the Socialist nomination, also proposed an overhaul of the welfare system that would provide substantial handouts t
  
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• Stoke ease up to mid-table with win over Watford

  03-01-2017 23:10
  Goals from Ryan Shawcross and Peter Crouch either side of halftime gave Stoke City a 2-0 victory over Watford that moved Mark Hughes's side nine points clear of the relegation zone and above their opponents in the table. Stoke, who were without a victory in their last five league matches, took the lead when Charlie Adam's corner fell at the near post and Shawcross swept home left-footed deep into first-half stoppage time. ...
  
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• Eastern Libyan jet makes deadly strike on rival military's plane

  03-01-2017 23:08
  By Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Forces allied to Libya's eastern government carried out an air strike against a military transport aircraft in the central district of Jufra on Tuesday, wounding the head of the military council from the rival city of Misrata, officials said. The strike, and clashes that preceded it on Monday, raised fears of an escalation in Libya's central desert region between the country's two main military power bases. Tension has be
  
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• Giroud earns Arsenal a point at Bournemouth after thrilling comeback

  03-01-2017 23:04
  Olivier Giroud's stoppage-time header earned Arsenal an unlikely 3-3 draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday after they had trailed 3-0 with 70 minutes on the clock. The visitors were outplayed in the first half, going behind to a superb goal by Charlie Daniels after 16 minutes before Callum Wilson made it 2-0 from the penalty spot shortly after. There was more urgency about Arsenal in the second half but they found themselves 3-0 down when Ryan Fraser got away with a shove on Hector Bellerin before cutt
  
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• Strong data lifts dollar to 14-year high; oil falls

  03-01-2017 22:58
  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar touched a 14-year high and major stock markets got off to a solid start in the new year, boosted by strong data, while debt yields edged up after upbeat economic figures out of China and Europe. Crude oil gave up a 2 percent advance and fell more than 2 percent, restrained by the strong dollar, as U.S. factory activity accelerated to a two-year high in December amid a surge in measures of new orders and employment.
  
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• Hull City sack manager Mike Phelan - club

  03-01-2017 22:56
  LONDON (Reuters) - Premier League relegation strugglers Hull City sacked manager Mike Phelan on Tuesday, the club said on Twitter. "The club can announce this evening that it has parted company with Head Coach Mike Phelan," Hull said. "The search for a replacement has begun and an announcement will be made in due course." (Reporting by Toby Davis; editing by Martyn Herman)
  
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• Turkey again extends emergency rule by further three months

  03-01-2017 22:44
  Turkey's parliament voted on Tuesday in favour of extending emergency rule by a further three months, effective from January 19, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Emergency rule, first imposed in Turkey after an abortive military coup on July 15 and then extended in October, enables the government to bypass parliament in enacting new laws and to limit or suspend rights and freedoms when deemed necessary. Turkey has formally arrested more than 40,000 people during the investigation of t
  
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• The Latest: Dick Cheney attends daughter's swearing-in

  03-01-2017 22:41
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress convening for a new session (all times EST):
  
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• Political donations: Belfast City councillors back call to name donors

  03-01-2017 22:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Belfast City councillors vote in support of a call to reveal the names of those who make large donations to Northern Ireland politicians.
  
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• Air strikes on ex-Nusra Front building kill at least 30 - monitor

  03-01-2017 22:25
  Air strikes on a building in northern Syria used by an insurgent group formerly known as the Nusra Front killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens more on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Britain-based Observatory said it was unclear whether the strikes near Sarmada in the countryside of the northwestern province of Idlib had been carried out by aircraft belonging to Russia or to the U.S.-led coalition. Tuesday is the fifth day of a ceasefire in Syria but its sponsor
  
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• Bill and Hillary Clinton to attend Trump inauguration

  03-01-2017 22:22
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Falling in line with tradition, Bill and Hillary Clinton plan to attend Donald Trump's inauguration. It's a decision that will put Hillary Clinton on the inaugural platform as her bitter rival from the 2016 campaign assumes the office she long sought.
  
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• Two clergymen who helped free humanity

  03-01-2017 22:21
  Whether rebellious Roman Catholic monk Martin Luther actually nailed 95 “theses,” or questions, to the door of a church in Wittenberg, now part of Germany, in October of 1517 is lost to history. “I don’t think the average person [today] knows how big of a deal Luther was,” Nancy Monke, pastor at a Lutheran Church in Underwood, Minn., told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
  
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• The Latest: Omarosa getting hired by Trump White House

  03-01-2017 22:20
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):
  
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• Retreating after Trump tweet, GOP won't gut ethics office

  03-01-2017 22:04
  
  The new GOP era in Washington got off to a messy start Tuesday as House Republicans, under pressure from President-elect Donald Trump, abruptly dropped plans to gut an independent congressional ethics ...
  
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• Chided by Trump, Ford scraps Mexico factory, adds Michigan jobs

  03-01-2017 22:00
  By Bernie Woodall and David Shepardson FLAT ROCK, Mich./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co on Tuesday scrapped a planned Mexican car factory and added 700 jobs in Michigan following criticism by Donald Trump, as the U.S. president-elect turned his attention toward rival General Motors Co with the threat of a "big border tax" over compact cars made in Mexico. Ford CEO Mark Fields called the move "a vote of confidence" in Trump, but primarily a response to a decline in the North American demand
  
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• Murder police search for car after 'despicable' Milngavie house fire attack

  03-01-2017 21:56
  Police investigating a house fire which killed a man and left his girlfriend seriously injured are trying to trace the occupants of a car spotted nearby. The dark-coloured vehicle was seen parked with its engine running and passenger door open at the time of the blaze in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire. Cameron Logan, 23, was killed at his family home in Achray Place in the early hours of New Year's Day.
  
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• The Free-College Dream Didn't End With Trump's Election

  03-01-2017 21:55
  When Hillary Clinton lost the presidential election to Donald Trump, hope that the federal government might make the nation’s public colleges and universities free dwindled. The Democratic Party faithful, among others, were dejected.
  
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• Trump's slim NKorea options: Diplomacy, sanctions, force

  03-01-2017 21:46
  
  Donald Trump says he is confident North Korea won't develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the United States. But his options for stopping the reclusive communist country are slim: diplomacy ...
  
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• Rough start for U.S. Republicans on first day of Trump-era Congress

  03-01-2017 21:46
  By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. Congress had a rough start to its first session of the Donald Trump era on Tuesday when a public outcry that included a dressing-down from the president-elect prompted the House of Representatives to backtrack on its plans to defang an ethics watchdog. It was supposed to have been a ceremonious beginning in which lawmakers set plans to enact Trump's agenda of cutting taxes, repealing Obamacare and rolling back fin
  
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• German police raid Berlin homes connected to market attacker

  03-01-2017 21:44
  German investigators searched a refugee centre and a flat in Berlin on Tuesday which they believe were homes to associates of the Tunisian man who killed 12 people in an attack in the capital before Christmas, the federal prosecutor's office said. Anis Amri, 24, ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market on Dec. 19. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, calling the assailant a "soldier" of the militant group.
  
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• Oil dives 2 percent, strong dollar knocks crude off 18-month high

  03-01-2017 21:42
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices slid more than 2 percent on the first trading day of 2017, knocked off 18-month highs hit in early trade as the U.S. dollar rallied to its highest level since 2002 and traders took profits. Brent futures fell $1.35, or 2.4 percent, to settle at $55.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost $1.39, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $52.33, its lowest close in two weeks. Before the slide began, both contracts hit their highest leve
  
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• Megyn Kelly leaving Fox News, will host 2 shows on NBC

  03-01-2017 21:41
  
  Megyn Kelly, the Fox News star who's had a contentious relationship with President-elect Donald Trump, said Tuesday that she's leaving the network for NBC News, where she will host a daytime talk show ...
  
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• Grim vigil for families after Brazil prison massacre

  03-01-2017 21:40
  By Ueslei Marcelino MANAUS, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil's justice minister on Tuesday proposed an overhaul of the penal system a day after 56 inmates were massacred in the deadliest riot in two decades. The minister, Alexandre de Moraes, said Brazil needed to improve conditions in its jails, which are home to an estimated 600,000 inmates, after visiting the prison in the jungle city of Manaus where violence erupted between rival drug gangs on Monday. Meanwhile, hundreds of anguished relatives, hug
  
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• North Korea cannot 'tip' missile with nuclear warhead - U.S. State Department

  03-01-2017 21:32
  North Korea continues to pursue nuclear and ballistic missile technologies but the United States does not believe it is in a position to "tip" one of them with a nuclear warhead, State Department spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday. North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, said on Sunday his nuclear-capable country was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), raising the prospect of putting parts of the United States within range.
  
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• Nigel Farage Accuses Foreign Office Of Being Anti-Brexit Amid Row Over Sir Ivan Rogers' Departure

  03-01-2017 21:17
  
  Nigel Farage has called for a “clear-out” of the Foreign Office because it is too committed to the EU, as Britain’s EU ambassador stood down triggering a row over how committed British diplomats are to Brexit.
  Sir Ivan Rogers stood down on Tuesday, just before weeks of the Government’s deadline for invoking Article 50 and starting negotiations to leave the EU.
  The Government said only that Rogers had “taken this decision now to enable a successor to be appointe
  
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• The Latest: Ryan's message to America is 'we hear you'

  03-01-2017 21:14
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress convening for a new session. (All times EST):
  
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• Brian Adcock on a new nuclear arms race – cartoon

  03-01-2017 21:09
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• Next could give formal profit alert - Sky News

  03-01-2017 21:05
  (Reuters) - British clothing retailer Next Inc could give a formal profit warming for its 2017 financial year in its fourth-quarter trading update, Sky News reported, citing a source. http://bit.ly/2iM9FsD A spokeswoman for the company said Next would report its quarterly trading update on Wednesday as scheduled without providing further details. The retailer was downbeat about prospects for 2017 when it reported its quarterly results in November. In November, the company projected full-price sa
  
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• White House says expects Guantanamo transfers announced before January 20

  03-01-2017 20:59
  The White House said on Tuesday it expects additional transfers of prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to be announced before President Barack Obama leaves office on Jan. 20. "I would expect at this point additional transfers to be announced before January 20," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters when asked about a message on Twitter by President-elect Donald Trump earlier on Tuesday saying "There should be no more releases" from the prison at the U.S. naval base in C
  
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• Ford scraps plan for $1.6 billion plant in Mexico after Trump criticism

  03-01-2017 20:41
  By Bernie Woodall and David Shepardson FLAT ROCK, Mich./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co said Tuesday it will cancel a planned $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and invest $700 million at a Michigan factory, after President-elect Donald Trump had harshly criticized the Mexico investment plan. The second largest U.S. automaker said it would build new electric, hybrid and autonomous vehicles at the Flat Rock, Michigan plant and add 700 jobs. Ford Chief Executive Mark Fields said the decision to c
  
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• Ryan wins re-election as speaker of U.S. House of Representatives

  03-01-2017 20:39
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Paul Ryan was re-elected speaker of the House of Representatives on Tuesday as a Republican-led Congress began a new session. The Wisconsin congressman was elected on a vote of 239-189. Ryan was first elected speaker in October 2015, after his predecessor John Boehner retired following repeated revolts by House conservatives. (Reporting by Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell; Writing by Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chris Reese)
  
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• Rough start for U.S. Republicans in first day of Trump-era Congress

  03-01-2017 20:39
  By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. Congress had a rough start to its first session of the Donald Trump era on Tuesday after the House of Representatives had to backtrack on a decision to defang an ethics watchdog following a public outcry that included a dressing-down from the president-elect. It was supposed to have been a ceremonious beginning in which lawmakers set plans to enact Trump's agenda of cutting taxes, repealing Obamacare and rolling b
  
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• The Latest: Bob Woodward visits Trump Tower

  03-01-2017 20:38
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):
  
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• Iranian activist ends hunger strike, wife released temporarily, Tasnim says

  03-01-2017 20:37
  Iran's judiciary said on Tuesday an imprisoned human rights activist ended his hunger strike and his wife was granted a temporary release from jail, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported. Activist Arash Sadeghi, 36, was sentenced to a 19-year prison term in 2015 for "acting against national security, spreading lies in cyberspace, and insulting the founder of the Islamic Republic". At least eight political prisoners in Iran were on "life-threatening hunger strikes ... to demand better con
  
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• Turkish fashion designer arrested - reports

  03-01-2017 20:36
  Turkey arrested fashion designer Barbaros Sansal on charges of inciting hatred on social media, a day after he was attacked by baggage handlers at Istanbul's main airport, state-run media reports said on Tuesday. Social media showed footage of the Turkish designer being beaten up by airport workers late on Monday as he was being escorted from a plane to a car by police after being expelled from northern Cyprus. Sansal was expelled after posting a satirical video on social media calling on people
  
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• Four British authors, one Irish to compete for 2016 Costa prize

  03-01-2017 20:31
  LONDON (Reuters) - Novels by four British authors and one Irish writer will compete for the 2016 Costa Book Awards after winnings their individual categories, the prize committee said on Tuesday. Francis Spufford took the debut novel category for "Golden Hill", Keggie Carew won in biographies for "Dadland", Brian Conaghan in children's books for "The Bombs That Brought Us Together", and Alice Oswald in poetry for "Falling Awake". Irish novelist and twice Man-Booker Prize shortlisted Sebastian Ba
  
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• Germany identified Berlin truck attacker as a threat last February - paper

  03-01-2017 20:20
  German investigators identified the Tunisian man who killed 12 people in Berlin before Christmas as a threat in February last year but decided it was unlikely he would carry out an attack, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. Anis Amri, 24, ploughed a truck through a Berlin Christmas market on Dec. 19. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, calling the assailant a "soldier" of the militant group.
  
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• Israeli PM concerned about U.N. moves after planned Paris conference

  03-01-2017 20:18
  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he hoped to stave off any possible moves at the U.N. Security Council against his government's policies following a Paris conference scheduled for later this month on Middle East peace. The Security Council on Dec. 23 adopted a resolution that demands an end to Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, despite heavy Israeli pressure against it. France plans to convene some 70 countries on Jan. 15 to discuss
  
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• Gambia's electoral commissioner flees country after threats

  03-01-2017 20:14
  The head of Gambia's electoral commission has fled to Senegal due to threats to his safety after declaring that President Yahya Jammeh lost last month's election, a defeat the ruler has refused to accept. Alieu Momarr Njai left the country on Friday, family members said on Tuesday. Jammeh initially accepted defeat but a week later reversed that decision and said he would not relinquish power.
  
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• Trump eyes Cabinet vacancies, policy questions

  03-01-2017 20:09
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump pressed to fill senior posts in his administration on Tuesday even as new questions emerged about his priorities at home and abroad.
  
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• U.S. not aware North Korea nuclear capabilities have changed - White House

  03-01-2017 20:01
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has no indication that North Korea's nuclear capabilities have changed, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Tuesday, two days after North Korea said it was close to test-launching an intercontinental ballistic missile. "I'm not aware that that assessment has changed," Earnest told reporters when asked about comments made by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday. "If it has changed it's something that will come from the intelligence community."
  
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• Dismay and delight as Britain’s EU ambassador quits

  03-01-2017 19:57
  Sir Ivan Rogers’ departure may hasten change of era as UK enters most important postwar test
  
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• The Latest: GOP unveils initial 'Obamacare' repeal measure

  03-01-2017 19:56
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress convening for a new session. (All times EST):
  
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• Murder police search for car after 'despicable' Milngavie house fire

  03-01-2017 19:55
  Police investigating a house fire which killed a man and left his girlfriend seriously injured are trying to trace the occupants of a car spotted nearby. The dark-coloured vehicle was seen parked with its engine running and passenger door open at the time of the blaze in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire. Cameron Logan, 23, was killed at his family home in Achray Place in the early hours of New Year's Day.
  
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