Political news

• Trump revives voter fraud claims in lunch with senators

  10-02-2017 23:53
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has revived groundless claims of voter fraud, arguing in a lunch meeting with senators that he and former Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte would have won in New Hampshire if not for voters bused in from out of state.
  
  Read more

• U.S. strike in Iraq targets Islamic State militant from France

  10-02-2017 23:40
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Friday it targeted senior Islamic State militant Rachid Kassim, who Reuters has previously reported to be a French national, in a strike by the U.S.-led coalition near the city of Mosul in the past 72 hours. "We are currently assessing the results of that strike and will provide more information when it becomes available," said Marine Corps Major Adrian J.T. Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, without offering additional details, including whe
  
  Read more

• Rangers say manager Warburton has resigned

  10-02-2017 23:33
  (Reuters) - Mark Warburton has resigned as manager of Rangers, the Scottish Premiership club said on Friday. Warburton, however, told the BBC he had not stood down from his post and was unaware of the club's statement. The record 54-times Scottish champions are third in the standings, 27 points behind leaders and arch-rivals Celtic after returning to the top flight this season.
  
  Read more

• Amazon warns that trade protectionism could hurt business

  10-02-2017 23:33
  (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc warned on Friday that government actions to bolster domestic companies over foreign competition could hurt its business, in a potential reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• In Trump travel ban fight, Justice Kennedy's 2015 opinion looms large

  10-02-2017 23:28
  By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Justice Anthony Kennedy's legal reasoning in a 2015 immigration case suggests the U.S. Supreme Court's frequent swing vote would be sceptical of President Donald Trump's travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries. The little-noticed case involved an Afghan-born naturalised U.S. citizen named Fauzia Din who argued she had the right for a full explanation from the U.S. government as to why her Afghan husband was denied entry. Kennedy wrote i
  
  Read more

• Polish PM flown to Warsaw hospital after car crash

  10-02-2017 23:25
  By Marcin Goclowski WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo was hurt when her car struck a tree in a crash in southern Poland on Friday, and she was flown by helicopter to a Warsaw hospital as a row broke out over security surrounding top government figures. "The PM's condition is good, PM will undergo additional routine checks in hospital in Warsaw," her spokesman Rafal Bochenek tweeted. Szydlo, 53, was first taken to a hospital in her hometown of Oswiecim, where the incident happ
  
  Read more

• Fed issues revised scenarios for bank stress tests after error

  10-02-2017 23:17
  The Federal Reserve on Friday issued revised macroeconomic scenarios for its 2017 stress testing programs to correct an error having to do with corporate yields. The Fed said its previously released hypothetical scenarios contained incorrect historical values for yields on BBB-rated corporate debt in 2016. The correction also lowered yields in the baseline scenario, but the revision is more modest than for the other scenarios," the Fed said in a statement.
  
  Read more

• U.S. SEC charges Chinese exec with DreamWorks insider trading

  10-02-2017 23:16
  By Jonathan Stempel and Eric Walsh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chinese private equity executive has been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with reaping $29.05 million of illegal profit from insider trading ahead of Comcast Corp's purchase of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. The SEC said it also obtained a court order freezing five brokerage accounts controlled by Shaohua "Michael" Yin, 44, a partner at Hong Kong-based Summitview Capital Management Ltd and graduate of the Universit
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Brazil judge approves promotion of Temer ally with legal caveat

  10-02-2017 23:15
  A Brazilian judge on Friday reinstated the nomination of a top ally of President Michel Temer to a ministerial post, but ruled he could not receive the legal protections other high-ranking politicians enjoy. Rio de Janeiro Judge Alcides Ribeiro Filho's ruling that Wellington Moreira Franco could take a ministerial position in which he would oversee infrastructure and communications was the latest in a see-saw battle over the politician's promotion. Opposition parties still have pending appeals o
  
  Read more

• FCC spectrum auction bidding ends at $19.6 billion

  10-02-2017 23:12
  By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Friday that bidding in the wireless spectrum auction has ended at $19.6 billion, significantly less than many analysts had initially forecast. The so-called broadcast incentive spectrum auction is one of the commission's most complex and ambitious to date and should be complete by April. The FCC said last year that 62 bidders made upfront payments to take part, including AT&T Inc , Verizon Communicatio
  
  Read more

• Napoli seal 2-0 win over Genoa to climb to second

  10-02-2017 23:07
  Napoli secured a 2-0 win over Genoa thanks to second-half goals from Piotr Zielinski and Emanuele Giaccherini at the Stadio San Paolo to move up to second place in Serie A on Friday. Napoli, who face a Champions League last-16 first-leg clash at Real Madrid on Wednesday, have 51 points, six behind Juventus and one ahead of AS Roma before their weekend games. The Naples club, fresh from a 7-1 thrashing of Bologna away last weekend, took the game to Genoa in the first half with tricky forward Drie
  
  Read more

• Stampede at Angolan stadium kills 17, injures scores

  10-02-2017 22:59
  At least 17 people died and scores were injured in a stampede at an Angolan football match on Friday when hundreds of supporters stormed the stadium gates, a medical official said. The crowd in the northern city of Uige pushed against barriers after failing to gain entry before the start of the match, state news agency Angop said. Ernesto Luis, director general of the local hospital, told Reuters people had suffocated in the crush.
  
  Read more

• U.S. senators question Goldman Sachs on its role in Trump banking policy

  10-02-2017 22:52
  Two U.S. senators are seeking details from Goldman Sachs Group Inc's chief executive on the extent to which the bank's employees were involved in drafting of the recent executive orders on banking and fiduciary regulations. In a letter to CEO Lloyd Blankfein dated Feb. 9 and made public on Friday, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin asked for details on "lobbying" activities in the bank related to review of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Obama-era fiduciary rule on financial advic
  
  Read more

• Libya mayors say Europe's migration crisis should not be dumped on them

  10-02-2017 22:50
  By Ahmed Elumami TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Mayors from Libya's desert south to its northern shores fear a deal between Tripoli and Rome to fund migrant holding centres in this north African country will simply shift Europe's migration crisis onto Libyan soil. The Mediterranean Sea between Libya and Italy has become the main crossing point for asylum seekers and economic migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The deal foresees European Union money for holding centres in towns and cities along the ma
  
  Read more

• Amazon warns that trade protectionism could hurt business -filing

  10-02-2017 22:50
  Amazon.com Inc warned on Friday that government actions to bolster domestic companies over foreign competition could hurt its business, in a potential reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda. In a routine description of regulatory risks in its 2016 annual filing, the world's largest online retailer said "trade and protectionist measures" might hinder its ability to grow.
  
  Read more

• The next steps in the legal fight over Trump's travel ban

  10-02-2017 22:49
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has promised more legal action after a federal appeals court refused to reinstate his ban on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. Trump tweeted "SEE YOU IN COURT" after the decision came out Thursday, but what he has in mind remains to be seen.
  
  Read more

• Ex-AIG CEO Greenberg admits to accounting fraud, settles lawsuit

  10-02-2017 22:47
  (Reuters) - Former American International Group Inc Chief Executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg admitted to his involvement in two fraudulent reinsurance deals as part of a settlement of an accounting fraud lawsuit, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Friday. The lawsuit was brought in 2005 after AIG said it had engaged in certain improper reinsurance transactions, while Greenberg was CEO and Howard Smith was chief financial officer, that fundamentally misrepresented the insurer's f
  
  Read more

• Colleagues say judge in Dakota pipeline case is even-handed

  10-02-2017 22:47
  
  BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The federal judge who will decide whether oil flows through the disputed Dakota Access pipeline has shown sympathy for the historical plight of American Indians, but has also made clear that he doesn't think that should play a role in judicial decisions.
  
  Read more

• Trump tax cut talk, China data spur risk rally

  10-02-2017 22:45
  By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed NEW YORK (Reuters) - A key index of global equity markets rose to a 20-month high on Friday, with Wall Street shares hitting records for a second straight day, as investors continued to bask in the afterglow of U.S. President Donald Trump's promise of tax reform. The dollar hovered near an 11-day high against a basket of major rivals, as Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe opened two days of talks looking to cement a decades-old alliance. The MSCI's world index , wh
  
  Read more

• Obama hires agency for speaking gigs, lawyers for book deals

  10-02-2017 22:39
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama announced Friday they have picked the prestigious agency that represents Bill Clinton, Mia Farrow and others to handle their post-White House speaking gigs.
  
  Read more

• Developers set for Brexit triumph over great crested newt

  10-02-2017 22:38 via ft.com
  EU law on natural habitats faces axe after departure
  
  Read more

• Cameroon police kill two in protests in English-speaking northwest

  10-02-2017 22:25
  Cameroon police killed two protesters and wounded 10 others on Friday in the latest bout of violence in the English-speaking northwest of the mostly Francophone country, police and political sources told Reuters. Protests began in November in the northwestern town of Bamenda when lawyers and teachers claimed their rights were being neglected by Cameroon's French-speaking majority. Police opened fire when a crowd of about 100 people descended on the police station, demanding the release of people
  
  Read more

• GOP, allies launch defense of Puzder, Trump's Labor pick

  10-02-2017 22:24
  
  Rattled by bitter fights over President Donald Trump's Cabinet picks, Republicans and their allies have launched a fresh campaign to defend fast food executive Andrew Puzder's nomination to lead the Labor ...
  
  Read more

• Peru asks world to help find fugitive ex-president Toledo

  10-02-2017 22:22
  By Mitra Taj LIMA (Reuters) - Peru asked for international help in finding former president Alejandro Toledo, wanted in connection with a far-reaching bribery probe, saying on Friday that he was likely now in San Francisco and may try to flee to Israel. The government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who served as prime minister and finance minister during Toledo's 2001-06 term, said it was asking authorities in the United States and Israel to help find and return him to Peru. A judge on Thursday ruled
  
  Read more

• Polish PM flown to Warsaw for further checks after car crash

  10-02-2017 22:18
  By Marcin Goclowski WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo suffered bruising in a car crash on Friday and was being flown from southern Poland to a Warsaw hospital for what her spokesman described as routine checks. TV footage showed her car had hit a tree, and a police spokesman said her driver had broken a leg and his pelvis. The incident prompted security concerns after recent car crashes involving the president and defence minister, but a government source said nothing pointed
  
  Read more

• Trump's comments likely to cause heartburn for US lawyers

  10-02-2017 22:02
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump lobs verbal bombshells on Twitter and fiercely criticizes federal judges overseeing his court cases. He openly discusses pending legal matters on which lawyers usually advise their clients to stay mum.
  
  Read more

• The Latest: Trump revives claims of voter fraud

  10-02-2017 21:58
  
  The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): 3:55 p.m. President Donald Trump has revived claims of voter fraud, arguing in a lunch meeting with senators that he and former GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte ...
  
  Read more

• Grammy Awards shape up as clash of pop titans Beyonce and Adele

  10-02-2017 21:52
  By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Grammy awards are shaping up to be the ultimate showdown between pop's two biggest female stars as Beyonce and Adele go head-to-head for song, record and album of the year on Sunday. Despite 62 total Grammy nominations and 20 awards, Beyonce, 35, has never won the coveted album of the year, despite topping the charts with all six of her studio records. With nine nominations, many fans are hoping Beyonce will overcome her Grammy's curse with "Lemonade
  
  Read more

• Trump pledges new security steps after travel ban court setback

  10-02-2017 21:46
  By Julia Edwards Ainsley and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from a legal setback to his travel ban, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed confidence on Friday that his order would ultimately be upheld by the courts, and promised to introduce additional national security steps next week. Trump's executive order banning entry to the United States by refugees and by citizens of seven Muslim-majority was put on hold by a federal judge in Seattle last week, and that suspension was upheld
  
  Read more

• Trump hugs ally Japan after easing US-China tensions

  10-02-2017 21:35
  
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, fresh off patching up ties with China, reassured Japan's leader Friday that the U.S. will defend its close ally. Together, the pronouncements illustrated a shift toward a more mainstream Trump stance on U.S. policy toward Asia.
  
  Read more

• Trump says U.S. committed to Japan security, in change from campaign rhetoric

  10-02-2017 21:32
  By Steve Holland and Kiyoshi Takenaka WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday praised the alliance between the United States and Japan as a cornerstone of regional peace and stability, edging away from campaign pledges to force Tokyo to pay more for the U.S. security umbrella. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began two days of talks with a hug as Abe entered the White House and more handshakes and smiles in the Oval Office. At a joint news conference with Abe, Trump a
  
  Read more

• Greece, lenders move closer to deal on new bailout loans

  10-02-2017 21:29
  By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Greece and its international lenders made clear progress on Friday towards bridging differences over its fiscal path in coming years, moving closer to a deal that would secure new loan disbursements and save the country from default. Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos met with the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem and top officials from the European Central Bank, the euro zone bailout fund, the European Commission and the I
  
  Read more

• Brazil threatens striking police with prosecution as death toll tops 120

  10-02-2017 21:28
  By Paulo Whitaker and Pablo Garcia VITORIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Authorities in the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo threatened striking police officers with criminal charges on Friday as the federal government sent in more troops to try to end a week of violent anarchy that has left more than 120 people dead. Espirito Santo is one of several Brazilian states grappling with a budget crisis that is crippling essential public services for millions of citizens. Limited protests by police in nearby R
  
  Read more

• Top Federal Reserve official resigns as bank deregulation looms

  10-02-2017 21:24
  By Jason Lange and Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Federal Reserve official charged with bank regulation said on Friday that he would resign, giving President Donald Trump the ability to reshape the powerful board governing the U.S. financial system just as he begins revamping and undoing reforms put in place after the 2007-09 financial crisis. Daniel Tarullo, at the Fed since 2009, said in his brief resignation letter to Trump that he would leave the central bank "on or around April
  
  Read more

• Senators question Goldman on its role in Trump's banking policy

  10-02-2017 21:17
  (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators sought details from Goldman Sachs Group Inc's chief executive on the extent to which the bank's employees were involved in drafting of the recent executive orders on banking and fiduciary regulations. In a letter to CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin asked for details on "lobbying" activities in the bank related to review of the Dodd-Frank Act and the Obama-era fiduciary rule on financial advice. Blankfein was also asked to d
  
  Read more

• Angry voters flood town halls of GOP lawmakers

  10-02-2017 21:10
  
  GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The voter identified himself as a cancer survivor, and he had something to say to Republican Rep. Justin Amash: "I am scared to death that I will not have health insurance in the future."
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump Threatens 'Additional Security' As He Says He Won't Go To Supreme Court Over Muslim Ban

  10-02-2017 21:07
  
  Donald Trump has ominously pledged to announce “additional security for our country” next week, having said he won’t go to the Supreme Court to defend his Muslim ban.
  Speaking at the White house during a visit by Japanese prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump gave no detail about the measures but US media have reported he will sign a new order similar to the one that the courts have struck down, which banned travel to theUS from seven Muslim countries.
  During the Abe visit
  
  Read more

• Donald Trump Seems To Forget Translation Earpiece As Shinzo Abe Speaks At White House

  10-02-2017 21:07
  
  As the Japanese Prime Minister spoke at the White House, Donald Trump seemed to wear no translation earpiece and pretend to laugh at jokes he couldn’t understand.
  At a joint press conference on Friday, the president and Shinzo Abe gave opening statements before taking questions.
  But reporters noticed Trump had no earpiece in as Abe made his. Trump later placed the earpiece in as the pair took questions, after Abe had spoken for around 15 minutes. Developing: I have been studying
  
  Read more

• U.S. regulator charges China citizens over Comcast-Dreamworks trades

  10-02-2017 21:04
  The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Friday it had filed civil securities fraud charges against five Chinese citizens for alleged insider trading ahead of the April 2016 acquisition of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc by Comcast Corp . The SEC said in a statement it had also won a court order freezing brokerage accounts holding more than $29 million in illegal profits from the insider trading. The SEC complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, charge
  
  Read more

• Peru says wanted ex-president likely in U.S., may flee to Israel

  10-02-2017 21:03
  LIMA (Reuters) - Peru said on Friday that it believes the country's fugitive former president Alejandro Toledo, wanted in connection with a far-reaching bribery probe, is now in San Francisco, California and will try to flee to Israel. The government of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski added that it was asking authorities in the United States and Israel to help capture him. Peru put Toledo on its most wanted criminals list after a judge issued an international arrest warrant on Thursday. (Reporti
  
  Read more

• Yemen rebels call on U.N. to investigate bombings, dismiss peace envoy

  10-02-2017 21:00
  Rebels controlling Yemen's capital called on the United Nations on Friday to take action to end violence that has destroyed large parts of the country and to investigate bombings carried out by a Saudi-led coalition. In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Houthi movement urged the U.N. to investigate a Saudi-led airstrike on a funeral in Sanaa last year and not renew the term of U.N. peace envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. "The United Nations should take a serious stance again
  
  Read more

• Polish PM suffers bruising as car crash renews security concerns

  10-02-2017 20:57
  Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo suffered bruising and was taken to hospital for routine checks after a private car crashed into her limousine on Friday, a government spokesman said. While she appeared to have suffered no serious harm, the incident raised security concerns given that Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz and President Andrzej Duda have also been involved in recent car accidents, though without injury. "The Government Protection Bureau is expected to predict such situations," sai
  
  Read more

• Iraq war allegations probe to end

  10-02-2017 20:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A probe into claims against Iraq war veterans will close within months, says the government.
  
  Read more

• Official: Flynn not 'certain' on sanctions talk with Russia

  10-02-2017 20:39
  WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's national security adviser addressed U.S. sanctions against Russia in his conversations with the country's ambassador while President Barack Obama was still in office, a new report said, contradicting previous claims that the issue was not discussed.
  
  Read more

• Freeport says no deal with Indonesia, export ban remains

  10-02-2017 20:33
  By Wilda Asmarini and Susan Taylor JAKARTA/TORONTO (Reuters) - Freeport-McMoRan Inc said on Friday that an export ban remains in place at its copper mine in Indonesia, the world's second-biggest, because it has not yet reached agreement with the government on a new mining permit. Indonesian government officials had earlier told reporters they issued a new mining permit to Freeport and that it could apply for an export permit. The government banned copper concentrate exports Jan. 12 to try and bo
  
  Read more

• Boko Haram kills seven Nigerian soldiers in ambush

  10-02-2017 20:30
  Boko Haram fighters have killed seven Nigerian soldiers and wounded 19 more in an ambush on a road in the northeastern state of Borno, the military said on Friday. The attack and continued suicide bombings throughout the northeast raise doubts about how close the conflict with the Islamist group is to a conclusion, despite the military reclaiming most territory held by Boko Haram. The ambush on the Ajiri-Dikwa road hit the troops as they were on a routine rotation on Thursday night, the military
  
  Read more

• Brazil Supreme Court judge calls for drugs legalization to beat gangs

  10-02-2017 20:29
  By Alonso Soto BRASILIA (Reuters) - A Brazilian Supreme Court justice called on Friday for the legalisation of marijuana and even cocaine to undo the growing power of drug gangs behind a wave of violence that has shaken Latin America's largest country. Justice Roberto Barroso, a Yale graduate and constitutional law professor, said 50 years of war against drugs had failed miserably, clogging jails with small-time dealers and fuelling a violent gang battle for control of the lucrative trade. "Unli
  
  Read more

• Trump promises new security steps after travel ban court setback

  10-02-2017 20:28
  By Julia Edwards Ainsley and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump promised on Friday to introduce additional national security steps, a day after an appeals court refused to reinstate his travel ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries, and he expressed confidence his order would ultimately be upheld by the courts. The White House is not ruling out the possibility of rewriting Trump's Jan. 27 order in light of the actions by a federal judge in
  
  Read more

• Greece, lenders make "substantial progress" to sign off on bailout reforms-statement

  10-02-2017 20:16
  Greece and its international lenders made substantial progress in talks on Friday to bridge differences over reforms that would ensure Athens' agreed fiscal path, the chairman of euro zone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem said in a statement. Such a staff level agreement would then pave the way for a decision by euro zone finance ministers to disburse new loans to Greece, without which Athens would default on its debt in July.
  
  Read more

• Mexico's own populist politician softens tone in bid for presidency

  10-02-2017 20:13
  By Anahi Rama and Gabriel Stargardter MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) - Mexico's home-grown populist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tapped into wide discontent with the ruling party and resentment towards Donald Trump to make a bid for the centre ground, raising his chances of winning the presidency next year. The approval ratings of President Enrique Pena Nieto, from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), have been battered to as low as 12 percent by anaemic economic growth, rising fuel prices an
  
  Read more

Follow @political_UKnws on Twitter!