Political news

• With health law in jeopardy, more than 12M still sign up

  09-02-2017 23:58
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 12.2 million people have signed up for coverage nationwide this year under the Obama-era health care law even with the uncertainty created by President Donald Trump's vow to repeal and replace it.
  
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• US still processing refugee claims under Australia deal

  09-02-2017 23:56
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Homeland Security Department is continuing to review cases of would-be refugees held on a Pacific island by the Australian government, despite new confusion over the fate of an Obama-era agreement.
  
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• Twitter numbers paint grim profitability picture

  09-02-2017 23:52
  Twitter Inc's desultory earnings report on Thursday show a company with no evident path to profitability, as core costs climb more quickly than revenue while user growth stagnates. For all the buzz the San Francisco company has created as the preferred platform for U.S. President Donald Trump and other high-profile figures, Twitter has lost more than $1.5 billion cumulatively since it went public in late 2013. Fourth-quarter revenue of $717 million was well short of analysts' expectations.
  
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• Trump shows interest in privatizing air traffic control

  09-02-2017 23:49
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump told airline and airport executives Thursday that he is interested in privatizing America's air traffic control system and improving the nation's airports and roads, which he called obsolete.
  
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• White House: Trump 'absolutely' backs Conway amid criticism

  09-02-2017 23:32
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump "absolutely" continues to support White House counselor Kellyanne Conway after she promoted his daughter Ivanka Trump's fashion line during a cable interview.
  
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• Military aide demoted for misconduct at overseas clubs

  09-02-2017 23:29
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior military aide fired by then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter has been demoted and will retire as a one-star general as a result of a misconduct investigation.
  
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• U.S. senators denounce Trump plan to focus counter-extremism programme on Islam

  09-02-2017 23:26
  By Dustin Volz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A dozen Democratic U.S. senators on Thursday denounced a Trump administration plan to revamp a government programme on countering violent extremism, saying narrowing its focus solely to Islamic threats could jeopardise security and may be illegal. Restructuring the programme to omit white supremacists and other non-Islamist groups "would severely damage our credibility with foreign allies and partners as an honest broker in the fight against violent extremis
  
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• Trump adviser Conway draws ethics complaints for touting Ivanka Trump products

  09-02-2017 23:26
  By Susan Heavey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway drew sharp criticism and complaints on Thursday over the ethics of using her position to promote the clothing line of President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka, one day after Trump attacked a retailer for dropping it. "Go buy Ivanka's stuff ... I'm going to go get some myself today," Conway told Fox News in an interview from the White House.
  
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• Over 100 dead in Brazil as police strike spurs anarchy

  09-02-2017 23:23
  By Paulo Whitaker and Pablo Garcia VITORIA, Brazil (Reuters) - More than 100 people have been reported killed during a six-day strike by police in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo, as hundreds of troops patrolled streets attempting to keep order with schools and businesses closed and public transport frozen. The Army mobilized airborne troops and armoured vehicles on Thursday to reinforce roughly 1,200 soldiers and federal police trying to contain the chaos in Espirito Santo, a coastal stat
  
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• A simple truth about countering fake news

  09-02-2017 23:05
  After the US claimed Moscow meddled in the 2016 presidential election, Congress voted to spend $160 million to counter fake news from Russia and other countries. In Europe, too, democratic governments have started to monitor Russian propaganda in their elections.
  
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• Corbyn replaces Lewis in shadow cabinet reshuffle

  09-02-2017 22:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Rebecca Long-Bailey replaces Clive Lewis - who resigned yesterday - as shadow business secretary.
  
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• Wall Street, dollar, surge higher after Trump tax talk

  09-02-2017 22:49
  By Hilary Russ NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street stocks surged to record highs on Thursday and the U.S. dollar and bond yields rose after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would release a "phenomenal" tax plan in the next few weeks. Investors have been waiting for details on Trump's election campaign pledge to stimulate economic growth with large-scale fiscal stimulus through infrastructure spending and tax cuts. The three main U.S. stock indexes ended in record territory as most sectors gained
  
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• Alabama AG sworn in to replace Jeff Sessions

  09-02-2017 22:42
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Luther Strange, Alabama's attorney general, was sworn in on Thursday to fill the Senate seat left empty by Jeff Sessions, tapped by President Donald Trump to be the nation's top law enforcement officer.
  
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• Keynote Zuma speech disrupted as lawmakers brawl, walk out

  09-02-2017 22:41
  By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - A session of South Africa's parliament convened for a keynote address by the president descended into chaos on Thursday as far-left lawmakers brawled with orderlies after interrupting the speech and the main opposition party walked out. Deputies from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party fired questions at Jacob Zuma for more than an hour, forcing the president - whose authority has been tarnished by a series of scandals - to halt his state-of-the-natio
  
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• A divided, testy Senate nears OK of Trump health secretary

  09-02-2017 22:34
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans pushed President Donald Trump's choice for health secretary toward confirmation Thursday in the testy Senate's fourth consecutive brawl over Cabinet picks.
  
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• Trump disputes account of his Supreme Court nominee's comments

  09-02-2017 22:23
  By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump castigated a Democratic senator on Thursday for saying U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch had voiced dismay in a private meeting over Trump's attacks on the judiciary, while Republicans came forward to back up the lawmaker's portrayal. The Republican president has publicly vented his frustration with a court order last week that temporarily halted his travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries, criticizing the judg
  
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• AP FACT CHECK: Trump seems in denial about Gorsuch's jabs

  09-02-2017 22:14
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court nominees don't often bite the hand that picks them and President Donald Trump is having trouble accepting the fact that his hand was bitten.
  
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• Civil rights groups changing tactics following Sessions loss

  09-02-2017 22:12
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — After failing to prevent Attorney General Jeff Sessions' confirmation, civil rights groups are now shifting their attention to monitoring his actions at the Justice Department and challenging President Donald Trump's other actions in areas of concern.
  
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• Dutch police say seize materials to make one billion Ecstasy pills

  09-02-2017 22:11
  Dutch police said they seized enough materials to make a billion Ecstasy pills in a truck near the border with Belgium on Thursday. The haul, which included 100 canisters of hydrogen, 15 tons of caustic soda and 3,000 litres of other chemicals, was worth several hundred thousand euros on its own, the force said on Twitter.
  
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• May accused of lying about impact of EU migrants on UK by Czech Europe secretary - Politics live

  09-02-2017 20:20
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenRupert Murdoch was in room for Donald Trump interview
  Lunchtime summaryAfternoon summary 5.07pm GMTWe believe now that legislation is the only way in which [reform of the FA] can be delivered. That was the recommendation of the last three chairmen of the FA to the select committee - to say that the FA cannot reform itself, the turkeys won’t vote for Christmas, there has to be external pressure and external action thro
  
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• Corbyn should use his leadership or leave it

  09-02-2017 20:20
  On the great debate of our era, the UK’s opposition has gone missing
  
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• Cross-party call for ‘fit and proper’ test of James Murdoch

  09-02-2017 20:17
  Politicians urge review by media watchdog ahead of Sky takeover by Fox
  
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• The Latest: Conway has been 'counseled' for Ivanka pitch

  09-02-2017 20:16
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times EST):
  
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• Ireland asks EU for 'invisible' post-Brexit UK border

  09-02-2017 20:13
  Ireland asked EU negotiators on Thursday to help it keep the border across the island "invisible" after Brussels reaches a Brexit deal with London that will take the British province of Northern Ireland out of the European Union. Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said after a meeting which the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier described as "positive and constructive" that Dublin believed EU officials and leaders of other member states had a "clear understanding" of the "priorities and a
  
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• Brawl in South Africa's parliament as far-left lawmakers ejected

  09-02-2017 20:05
  Lawmakers of South Africa's far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party brawled with parliamentary orderlies as they were ejected from the chamber for interrupting President Jacob Zuma's state-of-the-nation speech on Thursday. Scuffling spilled over into the precincts of the building, Reuters reporters saw, as the lawmakers, clad in their trademark red overalls, continued to push the orderlies ejecting them on the Speaker's orders. Police fired stun grenades outside to disperse supporters of the EF
  
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• Dominican deal tests Trump's pledge of no new foreign deals

  09-02-2017 20:00
  WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump Organization is returning to a long-dormant real estate licensing deal in the Dominican Republic. The move tests the limits of President Donald Trump's pledge to halt new international Trump-branded projects during his presidency.
  
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• AGIC Capital on lookout for European investments

  09-02-2017 19:58
  AGIC Capital, a European-Asian private equity firm with a new $1 billion (799.74 million pounds) fund, is on the lookout for investments in small and mid-sized European industrial technology and healthcare companies, AGIC-Manager Wolfgang Seibold told Reuters. The fund is targeting intelligent manufacturing, advanced materials as well as medical and environmental protection companies seeking to expand into China, AGIC said. AGIC started building its portfolio and last year partnered with ChinaCh
  
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• Twitter advertising revenue falls, shares drop more than 10 percent

  09-02-2017 19:56
  Twitter Inc posted the slowest revenue growth since it went public four years ago, sending shares down more than 10 percent on Thursday on fears that rivals Snapchat and Facebook Inc were winning the war for advertising. Revenue from advertising fell from a year ago and a 4.0 percent year-on-year rise in users to 319 million fell short of Wall Street forecasts as well. The election of prolific tweeter Donald Trump as U.S. president failed to produce a "Trump Bump" in Twitter's results, and Twitt
  
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• Norwegian Air seeks to fly Siberian Corridor in eastward push

  09-02-2017 19:55
  By Joachim Dagenborg OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian Air is lobbying its government to scrap a deal which prevents it from flying the "Siberian Corridor" over Russia, the shortest route between Scandinavia and Asia. Russia only allows one airline per country to use its airspace and under the terms of a 1956 Soviet-era deal with Denmark, Norway and Sweden only Scandinavian Airlines and Aeroflot can fly the route. Since Scandinavia is three countries and SAS, which is partly owned by all three, only fl
  
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• Volkswagen labour bosses step up attack on brand chief

  09-02-2017 19:51
  Volkswagen's labour leaders sent an open letter to staff accusing brand chief Herbert Diess of disregarding an agreed turnaround plan, just as the carmaker is seeking to raise its profitability through cost cuts. Instead of seeking cost-cutting solutions with the works council, VW's brand management aims to lower headcount in ways which violate consensus-based decision making, the letter said. "The brand chief executive is acting in a deeply antisocial manner, he constantly fails to keep his wor
  
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• FA reform: MPs pass 'no confidence' motion after House of Commons debate

  09-02-2017 19:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A motion of "no confidence" in the Football Association is passed by MPs debating the organisation's ability to reform itself.
  
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• Egypt's AMOC to make secondary share offering in Cairo and offer GDRs in London

  09-02-2017 19:46
  By Ehab Farouk and Abdel Rahman Adel ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt's Alexandria Mineral Oils Co (AMOC) plans a secondary offering of 10-20 percent of its shares on the Cairo stock market and will also issue 10 percent as global depositary receipts in London, its chairman said. The oil company first floated on the Cairo exchange in 2005 and around 20 percent of its shares are currently listed there. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's office said in January that Egypt plans to list shares in s
  
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• Bank of England should embrace 'spirit of the millennial' - Carney

  09-02-2017 19:42
  The Bank of England needs to adopt the "spirit of the millennial" and embrace varied approaches to problem-solving, as well as boosting gender and ethnic diversity, central bank governor Mark Carney said on Thursday. Carney made his comments on the same day that Kristin Forbes, the BoE policymaker who has taken the most critical stance towards the bank's post-referendum stimulus, said she would not seek a second three-year term at the BoE. Carney said the BoE had targets to boost its proportion
  
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• Lobbyist: Trump supports privatizing air traffic control

  09-02-2017 19:38
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump told airline and airport executives Thursday that he supports privatizing America's air traffic control system, according to a top airline industry lobbyist who was in the meeting.
  
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• Head of new Syrian jihadist alliance vows to step up attacks against army

  09-02-2017 19:36
  The head of a new alliance of Syrian Islamist factions including al Qaeda's former branch promised to escalate attacks against the Syrian army and its Iranian-backed allies, with the goal of toppling President Bashar al-Assad. Hashem al-Sheikh, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that was formed last month, also said in his first video speech that the new grouping sought to "liberate" all of Syrian territory. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was created from a merger of Jabhat Fateh al Sham - formerly al Qaeda's
  
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• Would you play for the Nazis? 'Django' movie poses moral dilemma

  09-02-2017 19:35
  By Michelle Martin BERLIN (Reuters) - When the Nazis asked Django Reinhardt to play for troops heading to the Eastern Front, the musician faced a moral dilemma relevant to artists today, the director of a biopic on the jazz guitar pioneer said on Thursday. "Django", which opens the Berlin Film Festival, tells the story of the French guitarist who was courted by the Nazi occupiers to make a morale-boosting performance and counter "negro" jazz music at a time when people of his Romani ethnicity we
  
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• Soccer - Clock ticking for FA, says British Sports Minister

  09-02-2017 19:35
  By Martyn Herman LONDON (Reuters) - The English Football Association was warned "the clock is ticking" after a motion of no confidence was passed during a British Parliamentary debate into its governance on Thursday. Sports Minister Tracey Crouch said the world's oldest soccer federation was not only in danger of losing 30 million pounds ($37.54 million) of public money if it fails to modernise, but that legislation could be brought in to force change. Crouch said the current model of the 154-ye
  
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• Nine Republican senators urge Trump to pursue tough Russia policy

  09-02-2017 19:34
  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nine senators from his own Republican party urged President Donald Trump on Thursday to take a "tough-minded" approach to Russia, joining a growing chorus of lawmakers addressing concerns that he might be too conciliatory towards Moscow. The nine senators, including the Senate's number two Republican, John Cornyn, wrote in a letter to Trump that cooperation with Moscow is essential in many areas, but calling for tough action on Ukraine, Syria and cyber
  
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• FA loses Commons confidence motion putting funding at risk

  09-02-2017 19:30
  
  MPs have passed a vote of no confidence in the Football Association after a House of Commons debate. Sport minister Tracey Crouch opposed the motion but warned football's governing body that if they did not agree a series of reforms by April it would not receive government money. "It's up to the FA if they wish to play Russian roulette with public money," she said.
  
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• Ed Miliband Demands Ofcom Confirm 'Urgent' Inquiry Into Rupert Murdoch BSKYB Bid

  09-02-2017 19:30
  
  Ofcom has been warned the attempted takeover of BSKYB by Rupert Murdoch is a defining test of “its capacity and strength as a regulator”, amid the revelation that the media mogul was present for Michael Gove’s interview with Donald Trump.
  In a letter to the broadcast regulator, Ed Miliband said the “extraordinary pattern of criminality and wrongdoing” revealed to have taken place at News International meant an inquiry into the new bid was needed with ”urgency
  
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• Trump opposes undermining Japan's control of disputed islands -U.S. official

  09-02-2017 19:28
  President Donald Trump would oppose any unilateral declarations that would undermine Japan's administration of disputed islands in the East China Sea, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday ahead of Trump's meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The official said in a conference call with reporters that any discussion about sovereignty of the islands was not expected to be addressed in the talks on Friday at the White House. There have been long-standing tensions between China and Ja
  
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• Amber Rudd settles for outrage as MPs question her compassion | John Crace

  09-02-2017 19:28
  
  Most ministers take their hits in the Commons with good grace, but the home secretary was taking this personallyAmber Rudd blinked hard, hoping to squeeze out a tear. A bit of competitive compassion never goes amiss at times like these. None came, so the home secretary had to settle for outrage instead. How could the opposition even contemplate the possibility that the Home Office had tried to sneak out the news it was closing the Dubs scheme to take child refugees from Europe in a written state
  
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• Trump to reaffirm security commitment to Japan PM

  09-02-2017 19:27
  WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. official says President Donald Trump will reaffirm America's commitment to its security alliance with Japan when the nation's prime minister visits the White House Friday.
  
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• L'Oreal eyes Body Shop sale, posts higher revenue, profit

  09-02-2017 19:26
  By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Martinne Geller PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) - French cosmetics giant L'Oreal is weighing a possible sale of The Body Shop retail chain, it said on Thursday as it posted higher sales and profits. L'Oreal said in a statement that it had decided to "explore all strategic options regarding The Body Shop's ownership in order to give it the best opportunities and full ability to continue its development." It said no final decision had been taken on the British chain, which it bought
  
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• Trump nominee decried criticism of judges, senators agree

  09-02-2017 19:24
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that comments by his Supreme Court nominee criticizing his own attacks on the judiciary were "misrepresented," even as Republican and Democratic lawmakers vouched for the veracity of the remarks.
  
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• Lawmaker: UK Speaker should quit for criticizing Trump

  09-02-2017 19:24
  
  LONDON (AP) — A British lawmaker is trying to oust the House of Commons Speaker over comments criticizing U.S. President Donald Trump.
  
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• Eastern forces strike base in central Libya as rival groups clash in Tripoli

  09-02-2017 19:24
  Eastern Libyan forces attacked an air base in the central region of Jufra on Thursday, killing at least two people according to a force spokesman and a medical source, hours after factional fighting flared in the capital Tripoli. A U.N.-engineered Government of National Accord (GNA) that was installed in Tripoli last year has struggled to assert its authority over various armed groups in the capital alone, let alone elsewhere in sprawling, oil-producing Libya. The eastern-based Libyan National A
  
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• Romanian justice minister quits after graft decree debacle

  09-02-2017 19:17
  By Radu-Sorin Marinas BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian Justice Minister Florin Iordache resigned on Thursday after a decree on corruption that he drafted triggered a week of street protests, international criticism and finally an embarrassing climbdown by the month-old government. "Ever since I arrived at the justice ministry I have ...done all legal steps to fix a series of existing and fairly sensitive problems," Iordache told reporters. President Klaus Iohannis has the final say in approving mi
  
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• Co-owner of Russia's Rusal considers share sale -sources

  09-02-2017 19:16
  By Polina Devitt and Anastasia Lyrchikova MOSCOW (Reuters) - Onexim Group, which manages the assets of Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, is considering selling some of its 17 percent stake in Russian aluminium giant Rusal , two banking sources and two industry sources told Reuters on Thursday. Reports of a possible share sale came on the same day two sources close to Rusal and a banking source told Reuters the Hong Kong-listed company was also considering listing in London. Three Russian firms h
  
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• Italy opens probe into Telecom Italia-Fastweb broadband deal

  09-02-2017 19:15
  Italy's antitrust authority opened an investigation into a broadband joint venture between Telecom Italia and Swisscom unit Fastweb for possible violations of competition rules, it said in a statement on Thursday. The two companies agreed in July to invest 1.2 billion euros ($1.28 billion) in a joint venture to speed up the roll-out of an ultrafast broadband network in 29 cities across Italy. The joint venture "could reduce the intensity of competition" in the broadband and ultrafast broadband s
  
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