Political news

• Diplomat who served Democrats, Republicans stepping down

  25-01-2017 23:57
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A top U.S. diplomat who played a prominent role in the Benghazi investigations and the controversy over Hillary Clinton's emails is resigning, the State Department said Wednesday, creating yet another high-level opening that President Donald Trump must fill.
  
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• Trump moves ahead with wall, puts stamp on U.S. immigration, security policy

  25-01-2017 23:50
  By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday ordered construction of a U.S.-Mexican border wall and punishment for cities shielding illegal immigrants while mulling restoring a CIA secret detention programme as he launched broad but divisive plans to reshape U.S. immigration and national security policy. A draft executive order seen by Reuters that Trump is expected to sign in the coming days would block the entry of refugees from war-torn Syria and suspend
  
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• Global stocks up on reinvigorated Trump rally; Dow tops 20,000

  25-01-2017 23:43
  By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity prices rallied and the Dow Jones Industrial Average blew past the psychological 20,000 level on Wednesday, lifted by strong Japanese trade data, robust earnings and investor hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump will press ahead with a large fiscal spending package. The rally in stocks boosted U.S. Treasury debt yields, but lingering concerns about growing protectionism and the potential negative effects on global trade and growth pushed t
  
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• Theresa May to seek special deal with Trump in White House visit

  25-01-2017 23:30
  
  PM will shrug off concerns about new president as she pledges to rekindle special relationship and ‘lead, together, again’Theresa May will shrug off concerns about Donald Trump’s presidency and pledge to rekindle the special relationship as she begins a two-day charm offensive that will see her become the first world leader to meet the new US president.MPs, including some in May’s own party, have expressed anxiety about Trump’s stance on a range of issues, including
  
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• Theresa May To Praise Donald Trump As She Declares Britain And US Can "Lead Together Again"

  25-01-2017 23:30
  
  Theresa May is set to heap praise on Donald Trump by declaring a renewed America and a post-Brexit UK will “rediscover our confidence together” on the world stage.
  Set to become the first world leader to meet the new President since his inauguration, the Prime Minister will start her two-day trip to the US with a vow to reforge the “special relationship” between the two countries.
  Ahead of her visit to the White House on Friday, May will use a speech to the Republican pa
  
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• Preserving the special relationship: May to take jam as White House gift

  25-01-2017 23:30
  
  Prime minister to give Donald Trump’s wife Melania a hamper filled with sweet treats including damson jam on official visitTheresa May has made helping “Jams” – the just about managing families – a central tenet of her premiership. But she will use a jar of the real thing to bring a taste of Britain to the White House.Downing Street said the prime minister would present a hamper of sweet treats from Chequers, her official country retreat in Buckinghamshire, to the n
  
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• The Latest: Senators says Trump promoting 'culture of fear'

  25-01-2017 23:19
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Congress (all times EST):
  
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• Congressional Republicans sketch ambitious agenda

  25-01-2017 23:15
  
  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Congressional Republicans laid plans Wednesday to act on a health care repeal bill by the end of March and rewrite the tax code by August as they sketched out an ambitious agenda for their first 200 days under President Donald Trump.
  
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• The Latest: EPA data under scrutiny by Trump political staff

  25-01-2017 23:12
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):
  
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• Discovery in price dispute with Sky, signals full blackout

  25-01-2017 23:12
  (Reuters) - Discovery Communications Inc's UK unit said on Wednesday negotiations with Sky Plc for a new carriage deal reached an impasse over a price dispute, threatening a blackout of Discovery channels from Sky's platform. All 12 channels in the Discovery portfolio would disappear from Sky and NOW TV after Jan. 31 if the dispute is not resolved, affecting more than 5.5 million people, Discovery Networks UK and Ireland said in a statement. Sky finds the price expectations for the Discovery por
  
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• White House, Trump Organization name ethics advisers

  25-01-2017 23:11
  NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump and his hotel and real estate business on Wednesday separately named ethics counselors, the latest step in the president's plan to address conflicts-of-interest concerns that arise from his decision to maintain financial ties to his company.
  
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• Israeli troops shoot Palestinian driver who rammed West Bank bus stop

  25-01-2017 23:10
  Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian motorist who drove his car into a bus stop near a settlement in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, the Israeli army said. "A Palestinian rammed a vehicle into a bus stop at the entrance to Kokhav Ya'akov, south-east of Ramallah... In response to the immediate threat, forces fired at the attacker, resulting in his death," a military statement said. In a second incident in the West Bank, soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian who fired at them with machine
  
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• Trump to order plan for Syria 'safe zones' - document

  25-01-2017 23:08
  President Donald Trump is expected to order the Pentagon and State Department to produce a plan in coming days for setting up “safe zones” for refugees in Syria and neighbouring countries, according to a document seen by Reuters, a move that could risk escalation of U.S. military involvement in Syria’s civil war. The draft executive order awaiting Trump’s signature signalled the new administration was preparing a step that Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama long resis
  
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• Trump may reinstate secret CIA 'black site' prisons - U.S. officials

  25-01-2017 23:08
  By Jonathan Landay and Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to order a review that could lead to bringing back a CIA programme for holding terrorism suspects in secret overseas "black site" prisons where interrogation techniques often condemned as torture were used, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday. The black sites were used to detain suspects captured in President George W. Bush's "war on terrorism" after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and were formally
  
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• Wood grabs 20th goal as Leeds down Forest 2-0

  25-01-2017 23:07
  Chris Wood scored his 20th goal of the season as Leeds United went third in the English Championship on Wednesday with a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest whose relegation fears intensified. Wood, who had a goal disallowed in the first half for offside, opened the scoring in the 56th minute when he got away from Michael Mancienne to net his sixth goal in his last four league games. The hosts doubled the lead with 16 minutes remaining when Souleymane Doukara cracked a thunderous strike into the
  
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• Oil edges down as traders weigh U.S. stock build, OPEC cuts

  25-01-2017 23:06
  By Jessica Resnick-Ault NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices ended less than 1 percent lower on Wednesday after data showed a build in U.S. crude inventories, reinforcing the view that oil prices are range bound, buoyed by expected OPEC production cuts while pressured by U.S. output growth. "Crude oil is in the middle of a trading range that began to unfold in early December," said Walter Zimmerman, chief technical analyst at ICAP. "You have a market with a serious case of indigestion, it swallowed t
  
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• Hawaii Rep. Gabbard says she met with Syria's Assad

  25-01-2017 23:06
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Tulsi Gabbard says she met with Syrian President Bashar Assad during a recent trip to the war-torn country.
  
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• A look at President Donald Trump's immigration actions

  25-01-2017 23:05
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump began rolling out a series of measures on immigration on Wednesday, signing executive actions calling for construction of a border wall and stripping support for so-called sanctuary cities. More announcements are expected in the coming days.
  
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• Contractor says Trump refusing to pay for work at DC hotel

  25-01-2017 23:01
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — An electrical subcontractor who worked on the Trump International Hotel in Washington has sued a company owned by President Donald Trump for more than $2 million, alleging it was not fully paid.
  
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• EPA science under scrutiny by Trump political staff

  25-01-2017 22:57
  
  The Trump administration is mandating that any studies or data from scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency undergo review by political appointees before they can be released to the public. The ...
  
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• Chicago mayor welcomes help, warns against deploying troops

  25-01-2017 22:56
  
  A day after President Donald Trump declared he was ready to "send in the Feds" if Chicago can't reduce its homicides, Mayor Rahm Emanuel warned against deploying the National Guard, saying it ...
  
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• Stocks up on reinvigorated Trump rally; Dow tops 20,000

  25-01-2017 22:50
  By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity prices rallied and the Dow Jones Industrial Average blew past the psychological 20,000 level on Wednesday, lifted by strong Japanese trade data, robust earnings and investor hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump will press ahead with a large fiscal spending package. The rally in stocks boosted U.S. Treasury debt yields, but lingering concerns about growing protectionism and the potential negative effects on global trade and growth pushed t
  
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• Trump orders building of Mexico border wall, targets U.S. 'sanctuary' cities

  25-01-2017 22:44
  By Julia Edwards Ainsley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump signed directives on Wednesday to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and strip funding from cities that shield illegal immigrants as he charged ahead with sweeping and divisive plans to transform how the United States deals with immigration and national security. The Republican president is expected to take additional steps in the coming days to limit legal immigration, including executive orders restricting refugees
  
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• Evan McMullin starts group to serve as Trump watchdog

  25-01-2017 22:37
  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Conservative presidential candidate Evan McMullin has created a group that he says will expand his ability to serve as a watchdog over President Donald Trump.
  
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• National Park Service staff step up campaign against Trump

  25-01-2017 22:36
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Park Service employees' Twitter campaign against President Donald Trump spread to other parks on Wednesday, with tweets on climate change and a reminder that Japanese Americans were forcibly interned in camps and parks during World War II.
  
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• BT Group faces U.S. lawsuits as Italian accounting scandal deepens

  25-01-2017 22:33
  By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - BT Group Plc was hit on Wednesday with at least two shareholder lawsuits in the United States, after one-fifth of the telecommunications company's market value was wiped out in a single day amid a growing accounting scandal in Italy. The lawsuits accusing the British company and three top executives of securities fraud were filed in the U.S. District Courts in Manhattan and in nearby Newark, New Jersey, on behalf of BT investors over the last few years. B
  
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• RBS braced for multi-billion-pound settlement for loan-misselling scandal

  25-01-2017 22:20
  
  73%-taxpayer-owned bank subject of investigation by US justice department over way it sold mortgages ten years agoRoyal Bank of Scotland is preparing to take a multi-billion-pound hit related to a toxic bond misselling scandal that dates back to the 2008 crisis.The bank, 73% owned by the British taxpayer, is reported to be mulling whether to set aside funds in anticipation of a settlement with the US Department of Justice over the way it packaged up and sold mortgages almost a decade ago. Contin
  
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• RBS to take another multi-billion pound charge for mis-selling - Sky

  25-01-2017 22:19
  (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) will announce within days that it is taking another multi-billion pound charge for mis-selling mortgage-backed securities, Sky News reported on Wednesday. UKFI could not immediately be reached for comment.
  
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• Brazil yellow fever outbreak kills 40

  25-01-2017 22:17
  Public health officials in Brazil are working to stop an outbreak of yellow fever that has killed at least 40 people from becoming an epidemic and urged people in nine states on Thursday to seek vaccinations. The Health Ministry said 70 cases of the fever and 40 deaths have been confirmed in the outbreak, centred in rural areas of the state of Minas Gerais, and another 47 deaths and 368 suspect cases are under investigation.
  
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• France must develop killer instinct - Noves

  25-01-2017 22:15
  France must show a killer instinct if they are to beat a 'monumental' England side and shine in the Six Nations, manager Guy Noves said on Wednesday. Les Bleus, who start their campaign on Feb.4 at Twickenham, have improved under Noves since he took charge following the 2015 World Cup, but for all their flair, they have been lacking efficiency. "Given what they showed in the last two years, (England) are a monument," Noves told reporters at the Six Nations launch.
  
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• Portugal's Guedes joins Paris St Germain

  25-01-2017 22:13
  PARIS (Reuters) - Portugal midfielder Goncalo Guedes has joined Paris St Germain from Benfica on a four-and-a-half-year deal, the French champions said on Wednesday. The 20-year-old will face tough competition as he joins a long list of attacking midfielders at PSG including Angel Di Maria, Julian Draxler and Lucas. PSG are third in the Ligue 1 standings, three points behind leaders Monaco. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ed Osmond)
  
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• Path of patience toward North Korea

  25-01-2017 22:13
  For the past quarter century, as North Korea has steadily built up its nuclear arsenal, the United States has mainly exercised two options in response: More sanctions against the North’s economy. Now, as a fourth American president tries to deal with a nuclearized North Korea, will Donald Trump try anything different? During his campaign, Mr. Trump hinted at talking directly to the regime’s leader, Kim Jong-un, over a “hamburger meal.” Yet dealmaking, including offers and
  
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• Cuba's Castro warns Trump to respect country's sovereignty

  25-01-2017 22:05
  By Nelson Acosta HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban President Raul Castro on Wednesday said Cuba hoped to continue to normalise relations with the United States, but made clear the Trump administration should not expect concessions affecting the country’s sovereignty. President Donald Trump, before taking office, threatened to torpedo the still fragile detente between the former Cold War foes unless a “better deal” could be struck, without providing details. "Cuba and the United States c
  
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• Government bites back: Civil servants troll Trump, leak info

  25-01-2017 21:58
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Across the government, an unprecedented digital insurrection is taking shape.
  
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• Senior diplomat Kennedy, who served Dems, GOP, stepping down

  25-01-2017 21:47
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A top U.S. diplomat who played a prominent role in the Benghazi investigations and the controversy over Hillary Clinton's emails is resigning.
  
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• Trump says torture works as his government readies a review

  25-01-2017 21:43
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump declared Wednesday he believes torture works as his administration readied a sweeping review of how America conducts the war on terror. It includes possible resumption of banned interrogation methods and reopening CIA-run "black site" prisons outside the United States.
  
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• Trump says waterboarding 'works' but will defer to Cabinet - ABC interview

  25-01-2017 21:42
  U.S. President Donald Trump, asked about the practice of waterboarding as an intelligence-gathering tool, said: "Absolutely I feel it works,” but added he would defer to his Cabinet on whether to use it. Trump told ABC in an interview to be broadcast later on Wednesday he would rely on the advice of CIA Director Mike Pompeo and U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, among others, about using the illegal technique. Absolutely I feel it works.” Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama, signed a
  
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• Trump preparing executive orders to reduce U.S. role in U.N. - New York Times

  25-01-2017 21:40
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is preparing executive orders that would clear the way to drastically reduce the U.S. role in the United Nations and other international organizations, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. The executive orders would also begin a process to review and potentially abrogate certain forms of multilateral treaties, the Times reported, citing unnamed officials. (Writing by Eric Beech)
  
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• Steve Bell on Theresa May and the Brexit white paper – cartoon

  25-01-2017 21:35
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• Donald Trump Should Be Taken Seriously And Literally As He Orders Mexico Wall To Be Built

  25-01-2017 21:25
  
  Possibly the most over-used phrase in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election victory was that the media took him “literally, but not seriously”, whereas his supporters took him “seriously, but not literally”.
  Today, the new US President proved that wrong: he’s literally building a Mexican border wall. 
  Trump has signed immigration actions to construct the thing, saying: “We’ve been talking about this right from the beginning.” Si
  
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• Alarmed by Trump plans, some refugees see growing enmity in U.S.

  25-01-2017 21:25
  By Ellen Francis and Lisa Barrington BEIRUT (Reuters) - Nur Hasan al Faraj's already slim hopes of a new life in the United States have all but died since she heard that President Donald Trump would temporarily ban refugees coming from some Muslim states. Like other Syrians, Iraqis and Yemenis who spoke to Reuters on Wednesday, Faraj was alarmed by media reports that Trump will impose a temporary ban on most refugees and suspend visas for citizens of Syria and six other countries. "This reflects
  
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• Scottish opposition parties refuse to back budget motion

  25-01-2017 21:17
  
  Parties protest at spending cuts and tax policy, saying result should force finance secretary to compromise on plans before official vote next weekNicola Sturgeon has suffered a blow to her authority after opposition parties blocked a motion on her government’s budget in protest at spending cuts and her tax policy.Labour, the Tories, Scottish Greens and Liberal Democrats combined to vote against the amended motion supportive of the government’s plans. Continue reading...
  
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• EXCLUSIVE: Tories Choose Trudy Harrison and Jack Brereton As Copeland and Stoke-on-Trent Central By-Election Candidates, Party Sources Say

  25-01-2017 21:05
  
  The Tories have chosen Trudy Harrison as their candidate for the Copeland by-election in Cumbria and Jack Brereton as their candidate in Stoke-On-Trent Central, The Huffington Post UK understands.
  Harrison runs community projects in Cumbria, while Brereton is a 25-year-old Tory councillor in Stoke-on-Trent. He became one of the party’s youngest councillors when he was elected aged 19 in 2011. 
  The key by-elections are both set for February 23, after Copeland MP Jamie Reed and Stoke-o
  
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• Orwell's '1984' back as bestseller amid focus on 'alternative facts'

  25-01-2017 21:00
  By Laila Kearney NEW YORK (Reuters) - George Orwell's "1984" novel about a dystopian future under an authoritarian regime is back as a bestseller and being reprinted decades after it was written as readers grapple with Donald Trump administration's defence of "alternative facts." The book, first published in 1949, features a devious "Big Brother" government that spies on its citizens and forces them into "doublethink," or simultaneously accepting contradictory versions of the truth. Sales spiked
  
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• The Guardian view on parliament and Brexit: MPs must use their power | Editorial

  25-01-2017 20:47
  
  Theresa May has been forced to make concessions to MPs, but there is much more to be done to prevent a hard BrexitOn Tuesday the supreme court put the responsibility for Brexit back where it should always have been – in parliament. The consequences of that necessary ruling are already making themselves felt. The most important of them is the bill on triggering article 50 that the government will publish on Thursday, against its will. Yet the bill is not the very first fruit of the court&rs
  
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• Theresa May agrees to publish Brexit white paper

  25-01-2017 20:33
  
  Prime minister’s U-turn paves way for MPs to demand release of document before parliament votes on article 50Theresa May has caved to pressure to publish a formal policy paper setting out her plan for leaving the EU, prompting MPs to push for further measures to increase parliamentary scrutiny of the Brexit process.The prime minister revealed that the government would bring forward a white paper after a threatened rebellion by Conservative MPs joined opposition parties in calling for great
  
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• NASCAR's Carl Edwards does not rule out US Senate run in '18

  25-01-2017 20:16
  
  CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Two weeks after his abrupt retirement as a full-time driver in NASCAR, Carl Edwards on Wednesday would not rule out a potential U.S. Senate campaign in his home state of Missouri next year.
  
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• Ryanair in cooperation talks with AlItalia, to fight Lufthansa deal

  25-01-2017 20:13
  By Victoria Bryan and Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ryanair is in talks about providing connecting flights to AlItalia's long-haul services and has raised objections with German authorities about a Lufthansa-Air Berlin tie-up, as it tries to ease its expansion in continental Europe. The Irish airline, Europe's largest by passenger numbers, is looking to add 11 million passengers in the year to March 2018 and has frozen expansion in top market Britain in the wake of its decision to leave the
  
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• Trump's call for probe of voter fraud sparks backlash

  25-01-2017 20:12
  By Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would seek an investigation into what he believes was voter fraud in the November election, despite overwhelming consensus among state officials, election experts and politicians that it is rare in the United States. The announcement drew rebukes from both Republicans and Democrats who said the Republican president's unsubstantiated claims of large-scale fraud could undermine voting rights efforts
  
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• U.S. lawmakers want documents on Russia election probe

  25-01-2017 20:11
  The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee called on the Trump administration on Wednesday to provide them with what they expect will be thousands of documents related to the investigation of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 election. The request may be an effort to avoid a repeat of an unusual document access arrangement made between the Senate Intelligence Committee and CIA to review information related to enhanced interrogation techniques at secret overseas "black site" prisons
  
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