Political news

• Jailed Libor trader Hayes launches fresh appeal against conviction

  30-01-2017 23:57
  By Kirstin Ridley LONDON (Reuters) - Tom Hayes, the first person worldwide to be jailed for conspiring to manipulate Libor interest rates, on Monday night launched a last-ditch appeal against his conviction and 11-year sentence in Britain, alleging his trial was unfair. Hayes, a gifted mathematician with mild Asperger's syndrome, was initially sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2015 for conspiracy to rig the London interbank offered rate (Libor), a benchmark for rates on around $450 trillion (36
  
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• Donald Trump Must Scrap 'Divisive' Travel Ban MPs Demand, As Thousands March On Downing Street

  30-01-2017 23:50
  
  MPs have unanimously passed a Commons motion condemning Donald Trump’s “discriminatory, divisive and counterproductive” travel ban imposed on seven majority-Muslim countries.
  On Monday evening, former Labour leader Ed Miliband and Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi secured an emergency parliamentary debate on the president’s executive order.
  Zahawi, the MP for Stratford-on-Avon, was himself hit by the travel ban as he was born in Iraq. Both of his sons study at American unive
  
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• Donald Trump Must Scrap 'Divisive' Travel Ban, MPs Demand After Emergency Debate

  30-01-2017 23:50
  
  MPs have unanimously passed a Commons motion condemning Donald Trump’s “discriminatory, divisive and counterproductive” travel ban imposed on seven majority-Muslim countries.
  On Monday evening, former Labour leader Ed Miliband and Conservative MP Nadhim Zahawi secured an emergency parliamentary debate on the president’s executive order.
  Zahawi, the MP for Stratford-on-Avon, was himself hit by the travel ban as he was born in Iraq. Both of his sons study at American unive
  
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• Democrats win brief delay on treasury nominee

  30-01-2017 23:49
  Senate Democrats have succeeded in delaying for one day a scheduled committee vote on President Donald Trump's nomination of Steven Mnuchin to be treasury secretary. The Senate Finance Committee said Monday ...
  
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• Key U.S. Senator vows to 'hold Iran accountable' after missile test

  30-01-2017 23:48
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, condemned Iran on Monday after reports it conducted a ballistic missile test and said he would work with other lawmakers and President Donald Trump's administration to hold Iran accountable. Iran on Sunday carried out a test launch of a medium-range ballistic missile that exploded after 630 miles, a U.S. official said on Monday. It was not immediately clear whether the test launch violated a Unite
  
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• Democratic effort to overturn Trump travel ban blocked in Senate

  30-01-2017 23:44
  Democratic U.S. senators tried to force a vote on a bill to rescind President Donald Trump's order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations on Monday, but were blocked by a Republican lawmaker. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said she had 27 co-sponsors of a bill to rescind the order Trump signed on Friday, but under Senate rules it takes only one member to prevent a vote. Republican Senator Tom Cotton blocked consideration of the measure.
  
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• As Trump shifts immigration and foreign policies, State Department is silent

  30-01-2017 23:44
  By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department will not conduct its regular daily press briefing until a new secretary of state is confirmed, leaving the main U.S. agency responsible for dealing with the rest of the world silent amid the uproar over President Donald Trump's executive order on immigration. Typically, in the aftermath of a major foreign policy shift, a State Department spokesperson would appear on camera within days to take questions from reporters and defend
  
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• Trump courts Jordan's king amid embassy, refugee concerns

  30-01-2017 23:43
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — King Abdullah II of Jordan's visit to Washington this week is testing President Donald Trump's ability to maintain key Arab alliances while cracking down on immigration from some Muslim countries and possibly moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The next few days could provide an indication if Trump is willing to compromise.
  
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• US: Iran has tested a ballistic missile

  30-01-2017 23:42
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Monday it is studying details of an Iranian ballistic missile test.
  
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• Be fierce, furious, and fight! Join the Raccoons of the Resistance! | First Dog on the Moon

  30-01-2017 23:39
  
  The Raccoons of the Resistance will help you channel your anger against the actual literal coup in the USA with this handy coup-resisting guideSign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published
  Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and printsContinue reading...
  
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• As opposition outcry grows, Trump defends immigration order

  30-01-2017 23:38
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Defiant in the face of an international backlash, President Donald Trump pressed into his second week in office defending his sweeping immigration ban. Protests persisted at major airports, and concern mounted from U.S. diplomats and members of his own party.
  
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• Goldman CEO takes lead on Wall St. in slamming Trump travel ban

  30-01-2017 23:37
  Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein became the first major Wall Street leader to speak out against President Donald Trump's order to halt arrivals from several Muslim-majority countries. In a voicemail to employees on Sunday, Blankfein said diversity was a hallmark of Goldman's success, and if the temporary freeze became permanent, it could create "disruption" for the bank and its staff. "This is not a policy we support, and I would note that it has already been challenged in
  
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• Look at terror attacks in US, Europe, and their perpetrators

  30-01-2017 23:35
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says a travel ban on citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries aims to prevent terror attacks.
  
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• GOP moves to undo Obama coal rules protecting streams

  30-01-2017 23:32
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans are moving swiftly to repeal Obama administration regulations aimed at better protecting streams from coal mining debris.
  
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• Washington state to sue over travel ban, pressures on Trump grow

  30-01-2017 23:28
  Pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump grew on Monday over his order banning travel from seven Muslim-majority nations, as the state of Washington announced a legal challenge and former President Barack Obama took a swipe at his successor. The leader of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, said he would bring legislation on Monday evening seeking to end the ban, although his effort stood little chance of being passed by the Republican-led Congress British Foreign Secretary Boris Joh
  
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• The Latest: GOP senators block effort to reverse Trump order

  30-01-2017 23:27
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):
  
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• Ban sparks panic among refugees awaiting urgent medical care in U.S.

  30-01-2017 23:26
  By Yasmeen Abutaleb, Kristina Cooke and Mica Rosenberg SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Al Ameen, a 33-year-old Iraqi refugee with hemophilia A, a genetic disorder that prevents proper blood clotting, has been living in Jordan awaiting medical care in the United States for two years. Already worried that his application would not be approved in time to get the treatment he needs, the United States' four-month halt of the resettlement of refugees has convinced him he will never be accepted. "I
  
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• Hull's Mason leaves hospital after skull fracture

  30-01-2017 23:17
  (Reuters) - Hull City midfielder Ryan Mason has been discharged from hospital just over a week after fracturing his skull in a clash of heads during a Premier League game at Chelsea. Mason, 25, suffered the injury in a collision with Chelsea defender Gary Cahill on Jan. 22 and was taken to hospital for surgery after being treated for 10 minutes on the field. In a statement on Monday, Hull said: "Ryan will now continue his recovery and early stages of rehabilitation at home and the club would onc
  
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• European samples to be stored for a decade in bid to catch cheats

  30-01-2017 23:14
  By Ossian Shine LONDON (Reuters) - Blood and urine samples from athletes who set European records will be stored for a minimum of 10 years in the sport's latest attempt to stamp out drug cheats, the head of European athletics said on Monday. "We don't want cheats to ever feel that they got away with something and that they are safe because they were not caught immediately," Norwegian Svein Arne Hansen said. Hansen, who last week set up a task force to examine the credibility of records set in Eu
  
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• Boris Johnson says Donald Trump's 'bark is worse than his bite'

  30-01-2017 23:12
  
  Boris Johnson has said Donald Trump's "bark is considerably worse than his bite", as he criticised the US President's controversial travel ban. Answering questions in the Commons, the Foreign Secretary told MPs he shared their "disquiet" over the policy, and stressed it was "not an approach we would take". Mr Johnson acknowledged the measure, which temporarily bans refugees and citizens from seven mainly-Muslim countries coming to the US, was "divisive and wrong", but stressed the "vital importa
  
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• Tens of thousands protest in British cities against Trump's travel ban

  30-01-2017 23:09
  Thousands of people, some holding placards reading "No to Racism, No to Trump", "Dump Trump" and "I stand with Muslims", joined a protest on Monday outside the Downing Street residence of Prime Minister Theresa May, the first leader to visit President Trump. Some chanted "Shame on May" for her offer to Trump of a visit to Britain while 1.5 million people signed a petition calling for Trump's planned trip - which will involve lavish displays of royal pageantry and a banquet hosted by Queen Elizab
  
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• Family of US passengers on Germanwings plane file lawsuit

  30-01-2017 23:07
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The family of an American mother and daughter killed when a pilot deliberately flew an airliner into a mountainside are suing the German airline, its parent company and the U.S. airline that sold them their tickets.
  
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• Sparks fly as culprit sought for Chile blazes

  30-01-2017 23:01
  By Anthony Esposito SANTIAGO (Reuters) - As Chilean authorities battle the historic blazes that have taken 11 lives, burned over 1,000 homes and wiped an entire town off the map, the theories about who may be to blame have spread as quickly as the wildfires themselves. The fires have consumed over 379,000 hectares (937,000 acres) in recent days, and cost Chile's forestry industry $350 million (£280 million) in losses. Forest fires are a regular feature of Chile's hot, arid summers, but a n
  
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• Ex-tycoon Batista jailed in graft probe on return to Brazil

  30-01-2017 22:57
  By Pedro Fonseca and Rodrigo Viga Gaier RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Eike Batista, once the richest and most outspoken cheerleader for Brazil's ill-fated commodities bubble, flew back to Rio de Janeiro Monday and was arrested at the airport by federal police over corruption allegations after four days as a fugitive. Batista, a brash entrepreneur whose meteoric rise and fall made him the poster boy of a decade-long boom in Brazil that turned to bust three years ago, is accused of paying a former Ri
  
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• Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary, Says It Would Be 'Misguided And Wrong' To Assume 5-Year-Old Child Was Not A Threat To The USA

  30-01-2017 22:55
  
  The White House has said it would be “misguided and wrong” to assume a five-year-old child does not pose a threat to the United States.
  On Monday, Donald Trump’s press secretary Sean Spicer defended the president’s decision to impose a travel ban on people from seven majority-Muslim countries.
  As WJLA reported, one young boy who had arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport from Iran was detained for hours.
  Pressed on the incident during today’s White Hous
  
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• Two killed in attack on Saudi warship off Yemen

  30-01-2017 22:52
  Houthi militants attacked a Saudi warship with three boats off the western coast of Yemen on Monday, causing an explosion that killed two crew members and injured three others, Saudi state news agency SPA reported. "A Saudi frigate on patrol west of Hodeidah port came under attack from three suicide boats belonging to the Houthi militias," the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said in a statement on SPA. The Iran-allied Houthi group that controls Yemen's capital claimed responsibility for th
  
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• An Arab model for a US debate

  30-01-2017 22:48
  As Islamic State loses ground in the Middle East, tens of thousands of its fighters are heading elsewhere or being sent back to their countries to plan terror attacks. It may help explain the fear behind President Trump’s travel ban on migrants from Iraq, Syria, and five other Muslim. In fact, Tunisia, which was the region’s only democracy to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring, is holding a relatively calm and inclusive debate about it – a response that should be a model for the
  
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• Five top-flight clubs caught up in UK soccer abuse scandal - police

  30-01-2017 22:45
  Five English Premier League and three Championship (second tier) soccer clubs are being investigated in relation to allegations of widespread historical child sex abuse in the sport dating back to the 1970s, British police said on Monday. The Metropolitan Police Service, who confirmed last month that it had launched an investigation into allegations at soccer clubs in London, said on Monday it had received 255 separate allegations of sexual abuse at 77 named clubs or teams.
  
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• Washington is 1st state to sue Trump over immigration order

  30-01-2017 22:39
  
  SEATTLE (AP) — Washington state's attorney general declared Monday that he was suing President Donald Trump over his temporary ban on immigration from seven countries with majority-Muslim populations, making it the first state to announce a legal action against the Trump administration over one of its policies.
  
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• AP FACT CHECK: Trump claims on travel ban misleading, wrong

  30-01-2017 22:32
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — In the face of widespread criticism, President Donald Trump has staunchly defended his order temporarily banning refugees and nearly all citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries. But in a statement Sunday and tweets Monday, Trump misstated the facts multiple times.
  
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• EU's digital chief underlines public demand to end mobile roaming charges

  30-01-2017 22:29
  By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's digital chief has said that failure to solve the last remaining barrier to abolishing mobile roaming charges across the bloc in June would lead people to question its ability to deliver on promises. EU lawmakers and member states hold a third and probably final round of talks on Tuesday on where to set caps for the wholesale roaming charges telecom operators pay each other when their customers call, send texts or surf the web abroad. It
  
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• Ireland to review U.S. customs pre-clearance at Irish airports

  30-01-2017 22:26
  By Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland will conduct a complete review of U.S. customs pre-clearance arrangements at its airports following the concern caused by President Donald Trump's curbs on immigration, the government said on Monday. Ireland's Dublin and Shannon airports are among a handful of locations outside North America where passengers can clear customs and immigration before travelling to the United States under an international agreement between the two governments.
  
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• Loneliness Commission imagined by murdered MP Jo Cox is to be launched

  30-01-2017 22:22
  A new Commission on Loneliness - the brainchild of murdered MP Jo Cox - is being launched by a group of cross-party MPs. Family members and colleagues of the former MP for Batley and Spen are to work with 13 leading organisations and charities to help people suffering from loneliness, which is being described as "Britain's silent epidemic". The commission's recommendations will be published in December.
  
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• Microsoft working with Washington State on suit against Trump immigration order

  30-01-2017 22:16
  (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp said it has been cooperating with the Washington State Attorney General's Office, which is suing in federal court to stop President Donald Trump's order restricting immigration from several Muslim countries. Microsoft said it was providing information about the order's impact "in order to be supportive. And we'd be happy to testify further if needed," spokesman Pete Wootton said in a statement. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis, editing by Peter Henderson and Diane Craft)
  
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• Trump travel curbs slam stocks, hit dollar vs yen

  30-01-2017 22:15
  By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - Major world equity markets fell on Monday and the dollar slipped against the safe-haven yen after new U.S. immigration curbs stirred concerns about the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's policies on global trade and the economy. Stocks posted their worse day so far this year on Wall Street after Trump's executive order on Friday, to bar Syrian refugees and suspend travel to the United States from seven countries, put the spotlight back on his protectioni
  
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• Albanian prime minister sacks outspoken justice minister

  30-01-2017 22:14
  Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama fired outspoken Justice Minister Ylli Manjani on Monday, saying he wanted to cooperate better with parliament to push through judicial reforms. Manjani held a news conference and accused Rama of sacking him in revenge for speaking out about cannabis growing and alleged corruption, although his own party said it had not opposed the move. Manjani's dismissal caps a week of discord between Rama's Socialists and their junior coalition partners, the Socialist Integra
  
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• Toronto college on alert after shots fired nearby

  30-01-2017 22:11
  George Brown College in Toronto issued a "hold and secure" alert on Monday after shots were fired nearby and police in Canada's largest city said a man was found unconscious. The call came in at 2:47 p.m. ET, a police spokeswoman said. The college said campus buildings were locked and asked people to remain indoors, but said it was not on "lockdown".
  
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• Six Stories You May Have Missed Because Of Donald Trump's Travel Ban

  30-01-2017 21:54
  
  The political tornado caused by Donald Trump’s travel ban for Muslims created perfect conditions for slipping out tricky news.
  With all eyes on the US, here are are six stories you may have missed over the weekend.
  1.  NHS Spending Per Person Will Fall, Ministers Admit A sharp fall in the National Health Service’s budget per person next year was confirmed in Government figures on Saturday.
  The funding drop, of 0.6 percent per head in real terms, support
  
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• Boris Johnson says Trump ban won't affect UK nationals

  30-01-2017 21:35 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson defends the government's response to the US migration crackdown.
  
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• Tory MP Soames sorry for 'woofing' at Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh

  30-01-2017 21:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sir Nicholas Soames said he gave Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh a 'friendly canine salute'.
  
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• Landowners benefited from planning changes, study shows

  30-01-2017 20:39
  2012 reforms caused London land prices to rise and number of affordable homes to fall
  
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• The Latest: Some big Wall Street banks speak out against ban

  30-01-2017 20:30
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local):
  
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• Argentine prosecutor asks for local Uber execs to be jailed

  30-01-2017 20:23
  By Hugh Bronstein BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - An Argentine prosecutor asked a judge on Monday to jail local executives of ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc and a court ordered the company's mobile application to be shut down following protests from taxi drivers' unions. In April, a Buenos Aires court said the company was in violation of local transportation standards and ordered it to stop operating. In Buenos Aires, taxi drivers have blocked streets during protests against the company, sa
  
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• Angela Merkel's Response To Donald Trump's Muslim Ban Puts Theresa May To Shame

  30-01-2017 20:17
  
  Angela Merkel has condemned Donald Trump’s ban on people travelling to America from seven Muslim countries, after Theresa May has doggedly tried to avoid commenting in detail on it.
  The German Chancellor said his executive order went against her “interpretation of the basic tenants of international refugee support and cooperation”.
  She told a press conference on Monday: “The necessary and decisive fight against terrorism does not justify a general suspicion against people
  
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• Israel PM Netanyahu to meet with Trump on Feb 15 - White House

  30-01-2017 20:15
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Donald Trump on Feb. 15 for talks covering a range of security issues, the White House said on Monday. "Our relationship with the only democracy in the Middle East is crucial to the security of both our nations, and the president looks forward to discussing continued strategic, technological, military and intelligence cooperation with the prime minister," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters as
  
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• UK left flailing after mixed signals on travel ban

  30-01-2017 20:14
  Boris Johnson claims Britons now have special exemption from migration order
  
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• PM May says U.S. close ally, Trump invitation stands

  30-01-2017 20:09
  Britain takes a different approach to President Donald Trump on immigration restrictions but the United States is a close ally and an invitation for a state visit still stands, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday. Trump's executive order barring refugees and people from seven mainly Muslim countries has caused a global outcry, and in Britain over 1.3 million people have called for his state visit to be cancelled. "The United States is a close ally of the United Kingdom, we work together ac
  
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• Trump advisers start 'America First Policies' nonprofit

  30-01-2017 20:07
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Six of President Donald Trump's top campaign aides have banded together to start a nonprofit called "America First Policies" to back the White House agenda.
  
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• Quebec mosque shooting 'lone wolf' attack -Canadian authorities

  30-01-2017 20:01
  By Allison Lampert and Anna Mehler Paperny QUEBEC CITY/TORONTO (Reuters) - Police were investigating a single suspect in a shooting at a Quebec City mosque that killed six people, with a second person who was arrested now considered a witness, authorities said on Monday. The suspect in the attack on Sunday evening prayers was Alexandre Bissonnette, a French-Canadian university student, according to a source familiar with the matter. Police declined to give details of those arrested or possible m
  
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• Boris Johnson says Donald Trump's 'bark worse than his bite'

  30-01-2017 20:00
  
  Boris Johnson has said Donald Trump's "bark is considerably worse than his bite", as he criticised the US President's controversial travel ban. Answering questions in the Commons, the Foreign Secretary told MPs he shared their "disquiet" over the policy, and stressed it was "not an approach we would take". Mr Johnson acknowledged the measure, which temporarily bans refugees and citizens from seven mainly-Muslim countries coming to the US, was "divisive and wrong", but stressed the "vital importa
  
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