Political news

• Bitcoin exchange employee pleads guilty in U.S. case tied to hacking

  17-01-2017 23:53
  By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Florida man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges stemming from his employment with an unlicensed bitcoin exchange that prosecutors say was owned by an Israeli who oversaw a massive scheme to hack companies including JPMorgan Chase & Co . Ricardo Hill, 38, entered his plea in Manhattan federal court to seven counts, including conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, wire fraud and bank fraud. The Brandon, Florida-resident is one o
  
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• Brexit plan gets welcome from Tories, hostile response from others

  17-01-2017 23:47
  
  Theresa May's Brexit speech promising a clean break from the EU has been broadly welcomed by MPs but provoked a hostile reaction from some European politicians. Unveiling a 12-point plan for Brexit negotiations, the Prime Minister said the UK would quit the single market and the European Court of Justice and promised MPs a binding vote on the final deal. In the Commons, Tory Brexiteers and Remainers welcomed the speech and Labour's spokesman Keir Starmer praised the Prime Minister for ruling out
  
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• What Theresa May's 12-point Brexit plan really means

  17-01-2017 23:34
  Theresa May has set out her plan for leaving the European Union, or the Plan for Britain, as she has called it. Parliament will get a vote on the final deal with the EU so it will be all signed off… (includes veiled threat to MPs about not frustrating the will of the people by blocking any Brexit deal). What it means: I will listen to what Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland say but ultimately this Brexit deal is a matter for the UK Government.
  
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• Conservative Tajani is new EU parliament speaker as euroscepticism surges

  17-01-2017 23:31
  By Francesco Guarascio STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Antonio Tajani of Italy was elected president of the European Parliament on Tuesday, consolidating a conservative grip on key European Union institutions as the mainstream right and left struggle to unite against eurosceptics. The new speaker, a 63-year-old former EU commissioner and ally of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, relied for his victory on support from the ruling conservative parties of Britain and Poland, which are sharply
  
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• U.S. antitrust agency sues Qualcomm over patent licensing

  17-01-2017 23:29
  By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc on Tuesday, accusing the company of using "anticompetitive" tactics to maintain its monopoly on a key semiconductor used in mobile phones. The FTC, which works with the Justice Department to enforce antitrust law, said that San Diego-based Qualcomm used its dominant position as a supplier of certain phone chips to impose "onerous" supply and licensing terms on cellphone manufacturers and
  
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• Trump meets with Supreme Court candidate

  17-01-2017 23:19
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has met with one of the judges on his short list for potential Supreme Court nominees, less than two weeks before he is expected to announce his choice for the nation's highest court.
  
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• Facebook's Zuckerberg questioned at trial over virtual-reality technology

  17-01-2017 23:19
  By Lisa Maria Garza DALLAS (Reuters) - Facebook Inc chief executive Mark Zuckerberg took the witness stand in Dallas federal court on Tuesday and denied an allegation by a rival company that the virtual-reality technology of Facebook's Oculus unit was stolen. Zuckerberg, the founder of one of the world's largest companies, faced hours of tough, public questioning about where Oculus obtained its ideas and how much he knew about the startup when Facebook bought it for $2 billion. A jury is hearing
  
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• The Latest: Tillerson committee vote expected Monday

  17-01-2017 23:18
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress (all times EST):
  
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• McConnell introduces bill to fund coal miner health plans

  17-01-2017 23:18
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell on Tuesday introduced legislation to maintain health benefits for retired union coal miners whose companies have declared bankruptcy in recent years.
  
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• Other provocative remarks by Maine's governor over the years

  17-01-2017 23:17
  Republican Gov. Paul LePage drew criticism Tuesday when he told a black congressman who risked his life to fight for civil rights that he needed a history lesson. LePage also said Rep. John Lewis should be grateful for the work of white Republican presidents who abolished slavery and fought on behalf of blacks. But historians say LePage was incorrect when he credited Republicans Rutherford B. Hayes and Ulysses S. Grant with fighting Jim Crow laws.
  
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• Maine governor offers John Lewis an erroneous history lesson

  17-01-2017 23:15
  
  AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Republican Gov. Paul LePage on Tuesday offered an erroneous history lesson about racial segregation to a black Georgia congressman who risked his life to fight for civil rights, and he called on the NAACP to apologize to white people.
  
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• Obama commutes most of Chelsea Manning's sentence

  17-01-2017 23:06
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama commuted the prison sentence of Chelsea Manning on Tuesday, allowing the convicted Army leaker to go free nearly three decades early as part of a sweeping move to offer clemency in the final days of his administration.
  
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• David Cameron and George Osborne cash in with big-money Davos visit

  17-01-2017 22:58
  David Cameron and George Osborne are being paid tens of thousands of pounds each to make speeches for leading financial institutions at the World Economic Forum. The former Prime Minister and Chancellor, who this time last year were leading figures at the forum, will this year only attend the fringes of the event held in Davos, including a number of parties and private dinners. Mr Cameron is to give a speech at a dinner held by accounting firm PwC, while Mr Osborne will appear at an HSBC event f
  
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• The long war of mini-Holland in Enfield

  17-01-2017 22:55
  
  Disputes about the installation of cycle lanes on main roads through a north London suburb continue to rageThe best way to understand a vast metropolis is to explore it on foot, which is why I walked three southbound miles along the gently curving A105 from Enfield Town to Palmers Green during the morning travel peak. It is one of a matrix of main roads linking a constellation of small town centres in this part of suburban north London. Its route passes a weave of residential streets, the &ldquo
  
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• In Price's Ga. district, what happens after health repeal

  17-01-2017 22:49
  
  ROSWELL, Ga. (AP) — Carla Dent is a restaurant owner who steers her employees to federal health insurance exchanges. Eden Purdy helps poor and working-class Georgians navigate the health care marketplace. Bryson Boech is a grocery cashier recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, what the insurance industry calls a pre-existing condition.
  
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• Trump takes on House GOP tax, health care plans

  17-01-2017 22:45
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — It came as news to most congressional Republicans, but turns out President-elect Donald Trump isn't crazy about their tax plan and has a dramatically different goal for health coverage than they do.
  
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• 18 million more uninsured if Obamacare killed, not replaced

  17-01-2017 22:45
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Insurance premiums would soar for millions of Americans and 18 million more would be uninsured in just one year if Republicans scuttle much of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul without a replacement, Congress' budget analysts said Tuesday.
  
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• Chelsea Manning To Be Freed In May As Barack Obama Commutes 35 Year Jail Sentence

  17-01-2017 22:39
  
  President Barack Obama has commuted the jail sentence of Chelsea Manning, who is to be freed from jail in May.
  The soldier was branded a traitor for leaking classified government and military documents to WikiLeaks.
  Manning, who is serving a sentence at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, has served seven years of her 35-year sentence.
  The commuted sentence will allow Manning to be freed on May 17 of this year.
  The 29-year-old confessed to sending the secret military and diplomatic documents
  
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• Interior nominee Zinke disputes Trump on climate change

  17-01-2017 22:36
  
  Donald Trump's choice to head the Interior Department on Tuesday rejected the president-elect's claim that climate change is a hoax, saying it is indisputable that environmental changes are affecting the ...
  
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• Paralympic great Weir brands British Athletics 'a joke'

  17-01-2017 22:28
  Six-time Paralympics gold medallist David Weir labelled British Athletics "a joke" on Tuesday and said he would never represent his country again. Weir, who won four golds at the London 2012 Games and two in Beijing four years earlier, took to his Twitter account to vent his anger, without detailing exactly what he was referring to. In another message he added: "I have been let down again." Weir endured a disappointing Rio Olympics, failing to add to his 10 medals.
  
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• Samsung scion Lee faces court hearing on arrest warrant

  17-01-2017 22:21
  Jay Y. Lee, the 48-year-old leader of the Samsung Group, is due to appear at a court hearing on Wednesday when a judge will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant over his alleged role in a corruption scandal that has rocked South Korea. A special prosecutor on Monday said it would seek a warrant to arrest the third-generation leader of the country's largest conglomerate on suspicion of bribery, embezzlement and perjury. Lee, questioned last week for 22 straight hours at the prosecutor's offi
  
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• Obama gives $500 million to climate fund over GOP objections

  17-01-2017 22:20
  WASHINGTON (AP) — With just three days left in office, the Obama administration has doubled an initial $500 million commitment to a fund that helps developing nations fight climate change and adapt to its consequences.
  
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• Rolls-Royce to pay more than $800 million to settle bribery charges - U.S.

  17-01-2017 22:16
  By Joel Schectman WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rolls-Royce Plc agreed to pay authorities more than $800 million (646.26 million pounds) to resolve charges of bribing officials in six countries in schemes that lasted more than a decade, the U.S. Justice Department and UK Serious Fraud Office said in statements on Tuesday. The company admitted to paying officials at state-run energy companies in Kazakhstan, Thailand, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Angola and Iraq more than $35 million in order to win contracts, th
  
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• Oil majors, car makers to push hydrogen technology to help cut emissions

  17-01-2017 22:13
  The heads of some of the world's biggest oil firms and automakers agreed on Tuesday to push for broader global use and bigger investments in using hydrogen to help reduce emissions and arrest global warming. The oil firms' and car makers' chiefs said the plan was part of global efforts to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, an ambitious goal agreed by 195 countries in Paris in 2015. "In this context, we are convinced that the unique contribution that hydrogen solutions offer needs
  
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• The Latest: All 8 high court justices to attend inauguration

  17-01-2017 21:58
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):
  
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• Pence promises big investment in infrastructure

  17-01-2017 21:39
  
  NEW YORK (AP) — Vice President-elect Mike Pence is pledging to a group of mayors that the Trump administration will make a serious investment in infrastructure.
  
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• Prosecutor: Orlando gunman's widow knew about the attack

  17-01-2017 21:34
  
  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The widow of the Orlando nightclub gunman knew about the attack ahead of time, prosecutors said Tuesday as she appeared in court to face charges of aiding and abetting her husband in the months before the rampage last June that left 49 people dead.
  
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• The Latest: Senate takes step to protect retired coal miners

  17-01-2017 21:33
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress (all times EST):
  
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• Oil steady as weak dollar offsets U.S., Russia output forecasts

  17-01-2017 21:33
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices were little changed on Tuesday as a decline in the U.S. dollar and comments by Saudi Arabia that it would adhere to OPEC's commitment to cut output. The dollar fell to a near six-week low against a basket of currencies after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said that the strong greenback was hurting U.S. competitiveness. Brent futures lost 39 cents, or 0.7 percent to settle at $55.47 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gaine
  
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• Trump comments, sterling's record rise sting dollar

  17-01-2017 21:32
  By Dion Rabouin NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar fell to a four-week low on Tuesday, moving lower against all Group of 10 currencies with sterling leading the charge after a soothing speech on Brexit from British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered the pound's largest one-day percentage gain since at least 1998. A recent sell-off in the dollar deepened as U.S. traders returned from a long weekend to widespread weakness after President-elect Donald Trump said the greenback's strength against the
  
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• Rolls-Royce to pay more than $800 million to settle bribery charges - DoJ

  17-01-2017 21:31
  By Joel Schectman WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Rolls-Royce Plc agreed to pay authorities more than $800 million (646.26 million pounds) to resolve charges of bribing officials in six countries in schemes that lasted more than a decade, the U.S. Justice Department and U.K. Serious Fraud Office said in statements Tuesday. The company admitted to paying officials at state-run energy companies in Kazakhstan, Thailand, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Angola and Iraq more than $35 million in order to win contracts, the
  
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• U.S. antitrust agency poised to sue Qualcomm over patent licensing - sources

  17-01-2017 21:25
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is expected to sue Qualcomm Inc as early as Tuesday over alleged antitrust violations in its patent licensing business, according to people familiar with the matter. The FTC, which works with the Justice Department to enforce antitrust law, has been investigating San Diego-based Qualcomm for allegedly abusing its dominant market position by forcing mobile phone makers who need their chips to license an unnecessarily broad range of patents.
  
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• Nearly 50 House Democrats vow to boycott Trump inauguration

  17-01-2017 21:12
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The roster of House Democrats planning to boycott President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration grew to about 50 on Tuesday in a protest of the New York businessman's policies and his repeated criticism of legendary civil rights activist John Lewis.
  
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• The Latest: White House acknowledges Obama can't close Gitmo

  17-01-2017 21:10
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Barack Obama's final days in office (all times local):
  
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• Man City's Toure turned down huge offer from China - agent

  17-01-2017 21:04
  (Reuters) - Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has turned down a 520,000 pounds ($643,812) a week offer to play in China, his agent told Sky Sports on Tuesday. Dimitri Seluk said the 33-year-old was targeted by Chinese club Jiangsu Suning in the winter transfer window. Yaya likes football more than money,” Seluk was quoted as saying by Sky.
  
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• Italian conservative Tajani wins race to head European Parliament - lawmakers

  17-01-2017 21:04
  STRASBOURG (Reuters) - Italian conservative Antonio Tajani on Tuesday won the race to become the next head of the European Parliament. Lawmakers said Tajani secured 351 votes, compared to 282 ballots cast for his fellow Italian and socialist rival in the contest, Gianni Pittella. (Reporting by Francesco Guarascio, Writing by Gabriela Baczynska, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
  
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• Deutsche Bank signs $7.2 billion deal with U.S. over risky mortgages

  17-01-2017 21:01
  Deutsche Bank has signed a $7.2 billion (5.82 billion pounds) settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over its sale and pooling of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, the government agency said on Tuesday. The Frankfurt-based bank announced it had reached the agreement in principle with U.S. authorities on Dec. 23. The agreement offered some relief to the German lender, whose stock price was hit hard in September after it acknowledged the Justice Departme
  
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• Taxi drivers blockade City in cycle scheme protest

  17-01-2017 20:57
  Junction accident hotspot gridlocked for third time in a week
  
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• The Latest: Young Americans worried about media under Trump

  17-01-2017 20:56
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):
  
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• Ireland says has fielded over 100 inquiries from UK financial firms

  17-01-2017 20:55
  DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's central bank has had over 100 inquiries from UK financial firms considering moving operations as a result of Britain's vote to leave the European Union, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said on Tuesday. "The Central Bank has had in excess of 100 inquiries from the City of London from people who are anxious to find out what the regulatory regime would be here if they were to move activity," Noonan told parliament. ...
  
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• The Latest: US hopes Brexit talks can avoid economic turmoil

  17-01-2017 20:50
  
  The Latest on British Prime Minister Theresa May's speech on Brexit (all times local): 7:50 p.m. The Obama administration says it hopes leaders of the U.K. and European Union will engage in a process that ...
  
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• Iran's Rouhani says talk about renegotiating nuclear deal 'meaningless'

  17-01-2017 20:48
  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday U.S. President-elect Trump could not unilaterally cancel the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers including Washington and that talk of renegotiating it was "meaningless". Trump, who will take office on Friday, has called the July 2015 agreement "the worst deal ever negotiated". Under Iran's settlement with the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China, Tehran agreed to shrink its nuclear programme to satisfy the powers tha
  
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• Guy Verhofstadt, Brussels Negotiator, Warns Theresa May She Can't 'Cherry-Pick' Brexit

  17-01-2017 20:48
  
  The chief Brussels negotiator when the UK quits the EU has warned Britain will not be able to “cherry-pick” its relationship with Europe after Theresa May unveiled a “hard Brexit” strategy.
  Guy Verhofstadt, the former Prime Minister of Belgium, was reacting bullishly after the Prime Minister confirmed the UK will be leaving the single market to regain control of its immigration policies as she set out her long-awaited vision.
  May also said the UK would no longer be membe
  
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• Britain to leave EU market as May sets 'hard Brexit' course

  17-01-2017 20:46
  By Kylie MacLellan and William James LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will quit the EU single market when it leaves the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday in a decisive speech that set a course for a clean break with the world's largest trading bloc. Setting out a vision that could determine Britain's future for generations and the shape of the EU itself, May answered criticism that she has been coy about her strategy with a 12-point plan for what has been dubbed a "hard Brexit
  
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• France's Hollande told May expects quick start of Brexit negotiations - source

  17-01-2017 20:45
  French President Francois Hollande told British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday that negotiations over Britain's exit from the European Union should begin as soon as Britain invokes Article 50, a presidential sources said. Hollande and May held a telephone conversation after she set a course for a clean break with the EU trading bloc in a speech on Tuesday. May said Britain would quit the bloc's single market.
  
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• Brazil's Workers Party backs Lula for president despite corruption trial

  17-01-2017 20:41
  Brazil's Workers Party plans to field former two-term leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the 2018 elections despite his facing five separate corruption trials, the party's leader said on Tuesday. Lula, who led Brazil from 2003 to 2010, is still one of Brazil's most popular politicians, though his prestige has been tarnished by graft charges. "Lula does not need to be nominated.
  
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• Foxx: Private dollars alone can't solve transportation woes

  17-01-2017 20:39
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Stimulating private investment in infrastructure projects, as President-elect Donald Trump has proposed, can cover only a fraction of the costs of solving America's transportation problems, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx warned as he prepares to leave office.
  
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• The New Celebrity Apprentice and the Scourge of Faux Inclusivity

  17-01-2017 20:35
  
  The show, once hosted by Donald Trump and now hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger, manages to celebrate diversity and to mock it—both at the same time.
  
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• Sturgeon’s dilemma on second referendum

  17-01-2017 20:25
  First minister says taking UK out of single market makes new Scotland vote ‘more likely’
  
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• Matt Damon takes to Davos stage to put water on map

  17-01-2017 20:25
  By Martinne Geller DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - American actor Matt Damon used Davos to drum up support for his water charity, Water.org on Tuesday, after getting a new multi-million-dollar commitment from Belgian brewer Stella Artois. "The poorest of the poor pay more than the middle class in many countries as they were shut out of the infrastructure," Damon told Reuters at a panel discussion hosted by the Anheuser-Busch InBev beer brand at the World Economic Forum. Water.org is trying to rai
  
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