Trump memo: Ryan plays down impact on Russia inquiry

Media captionAll you need to know about the Trump-Russia investigation
A top US Republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan, has played down the potential impact of publishing a memo about FBI surveillance of a former Trump aide.
President Donald Trump is expected to approve releasing the document, which suggests the FBI abused its powers to spy on Carter Page.
Mr Ryan denied the memo was aimed at undermining a federal inquiry into the Trump campaign’s links to Russia.
Congress had a duty to see surveillance powers were used correctly, he said.
He was speaking after Democrats portrayed the memo, commissioned by the Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee, Devin Nunes, as an attempt to derail Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.
James Comey, who led the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) at the time of the 2016 election and who was sacked by the new president, suggested the agency was being subjected to a witch hunt by “weasels and liars”.

What’s in the secret memo?

Approved by the House Intelligence Committee on Monday, the document reportedly accuses the FBI and justice department of misleading a judge in March of last year while seeking to extend a surveillance warrant against Mr Page.
The memo is said to argue the FBI and justice department did not tell the judge that some of their justification for the warrant relied on a much-disputed Trump dossier.
Compiled by a former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele, that dossier was financed in part through the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to dig up dirt on Mr Trump.
Unnamed sources told Reuters news agency the Republican memo was misleading because all the dossier excerpts used in the FBI warrant application were independently confirmed by US intelligence.
  • All you need to know about Trump Russia story

  • Who’s who?

    Carter Page addresses the audience during a presentation in Moscow, Russia, 12 December 2016Image copyrightREUTERS
    Republican Devin Nunes pictured in July 2017Image copyrightAFP
    US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in Washington, 29 JanuaryImage copyrightGETTY IMAGES
    • Rod Rosenstein, 53, was appointed deputy attorney general last April, He is said by the New York Times to have been involved at various points in authorising applications for the surveillance. President Trump questioned his loyalties in December, CNN reports.

    • How united are Republicans over the memo?

      “It is our job, as the legislative branch of the government, to conduct oversight over the executive branch if abuses were made,” Mr Ryan said.
      “What this is not, is an indictment on our institutions, of our justice system. This memo is not [an] indictment of the FBI, of the Department of Justice. It does not impugn the Mueller investigation, or the deputy attorney general.”
      However, another Republican member of the House who read the memo, Jeff Duncan, predicted in a tweet that the memo would shake the FBI “down to its core”.
      It would, he said, show “Americans just how the agency was weaponised” by officials from Barack Obama’s administration and the Democratic Party to “target political adversaries”.
      However, there has been a degree of unease among some other Republican representativesover the risk of compromising intelligence-gathering, NBC reports.
      “We run the risk of exposing some sensitive sources and methods,” said one, Charlie Dent.

      Why are Democrats calling for Mr Nunes to go?

    • Congressional Democratic leaders called on Thursday for Mr Nunes’ immediate removal as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
      Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff accused Republicans of having amended the memo after it was approved.
      However, an unnamed Republican aide said the amendments were grammatical changes and “minor edits”, including two tweaks requested by the FBI and by Democrats.

      How’s the FBI itself responding?

      FBI police vehicles sit parked outside of the J Edgar Hoover Federal Bureau of Investigation Building in Washington, 1 February 2018Image copyrightREUTERS
      It has voiced “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy”.
      The justice department, which oversees the FBI, has warned the memo’s release could jeopardise intelligence-gathering and damage trust between the agency and lawmakers.
      Pressure has mounted on the FBI, which is the subject of a forthcoming inspector general report.
      Its deputy director, Andrew McCabe, resigned on Tuesday. He had been repeatedly accused of political bias by President Trump.

      What happens next?

      While President Trump is expected to approve the memo’s release, the exact method for publishing it is “still being figured out”, the Associated Press news agency reports.
      As president, Mr Trump has the power to declassify the document himself and either release it or hand it to Congress to release.

Atlanta boy, three, ‘beaten to death over a cupcake’

Sisters Glenndria Morris (left) and Lashirley Morris (Fulton County Sheriff's Office)Image copyrightFULTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Image captionSisters Glenndria Morris (left) and Lashirley Morris have been charged with the little boy’s murder
Two sisters in the US city of Atlanta have been charged over the killing of a three-year-boy whose only crime, police say, was taking a cupcake.
Police say Kejuan Mason sneaked the cupcake from the kitchen while at home with Glenndria and Lashirley Morris.
According to the indictment, Lashirley beat the child with a baseball bat while her sister Glenndria, his legal guardian, spanked him with her hand.
He died from blunt force trauma to his head and his torso, say medics.
Kejuan MasonImage copyrightWGCL-TV
The two sisters gave conflicting accounts of what happened on 31 October, initially claiming he had choked on the cupcake, say media reports based on police sources.
They are charged with two counts of felony murder, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of cruelty in the first-degree.
They face life in prison without parole if found guilty.
According to reports, the child’s mother had lost custody of her son when she lost her home, but she was attempting to get him back.
She had asked a judge to remove Kejuan from Glenndria’s care when she noticed he had scratches and bruises, but her request was denied three days before he died, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a newspaper in the Georgia state capital.

Tillerson says Venezuelan military may turn on Maduro

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson steps off his plane as he arrives to the presidential hangar in Mexico City, Mexico February 1, 2018Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionMr Tillerson arrives in Mexico on the first stop of his Latin American tour
The US State Department Secretary, Rex Tillerson, has suggested Venezuela may face a military coup.
Mr Tillerson said the US was not advocating regime change and that he had no intelligence on any planned action.
But he said that historically the military in Latin America has often intervened in times of serious crises.
He was speaking at the University of Texas ahead of his Latin America tour.
The secretary of state will visit Mexico, Argentina, Peru and Colombia, as well as Jamaica.
Mr Tillerson joked that Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro should seek refuge in Cuba.
“If the kitchen gets a little too hot for him, I am sure that he’s got some friends over in Cuba that could give him a nice hacienda [villa] on the beach,” he said.
“In the history of Venezuela and South American countries, it is often times that the military is the agent of change when things are so bad and the leadership can no longer serve the people,” he said.
Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza criticised Mr Tillerson’s comments and urged Latin American countries to unite against a common enemy.
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro (C) speaks during a military parade in Maracay, Venezuela, November 27, 2017.Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionThe US says it has no intelligence suggesting action against Mr Maduro
“Imperialism is our enemy. Trump goes against Mexico in the same way he attacks Venezuela and Central American immigrants”, he said.
“Imperialism doesn’t respect anything,” added Mr Arreaza, as he arrived in Havana for an official visit to Cuba.
He has repeatedly accused the United States of leading an international plot to oust him and undermine the social programmes introduced by the socialist party since it came to power in 1999.
Grey line 2 pixels

Tough line on Caracas

By Barbara Plett-Usher, BBC State Department Correspondent
Rather intriguingly Secretary Tillerson speculated about a possible military coup in Venezuela before heading off to check in with regional powers, although he offered no evidence his musings were backed by intelligence.
His trip to Latin America is aimed at improving and strengthening relations south of the US-Mexico border, along which President Donald Trump wants to build a wall.
But a key part of his agenda will be trying to rally support for Washington’s tough line on Caracas.
So far in the Western Hemisphere only Canada has followed the US lead in sanctioning loyalists of President Nicolás Maduro.
But there is a coalition of about a dozen Latin America countries, known as the Lima Group, that agrees with US political messaging.
Along with Washington it has rejected as undemocratic the Venezuelan government’s decision to hold “snap” presidential elections.
Most of the countries Mr Tillerson will be visiting belong to this group, so he will try to reinforce and build on that support.
He will also discuss how to deal with the dire humanitarian situation. That will be a particular focus in Colombia, which is hosting hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan refugees.
Grey line 2 pixels
Mr Tillerson blames “the corrupt and hostile regime of Nicolás Maduro” for Venezuela’s economic crisis.
“It’s a man-made collapse. Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves. But Venezuelans are starving, dying of malnutrition and disease,” he said.
The US Secretary of State said he will keep putting pressure on Venezuela and its ally, Cuba, “to return to democracy”.
He praised sanctions Canada and the European Union recently imposed on senior Venezuelan officials over alleged human rights violations during anti-government protests.
Riot security forces take up positions while clashing with demonstrators rallying against Venezuela's President Nicolas Mauro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, July 28, 2017.Image copyrightREUTERS
Image captionMore than 120 people died in protest-related violence in Venezuela in 2017
The US Secretary of State also warned about the growing presence of China and Russia in Latin America. He said this posed serious risks for the region.
China’s “state-led model of development” drains resources from Latin American countries and benefits mainly the Chinese people, he said.
“Latin America does not need new imperial powers that seek only to benefit their own people,” he added.
He accused Russia of selling weapons to authoritarian regimes and described its increasing influence in the region was alarming.

Australia gambling: Landmark ‘pokies’ lawsuit dismissed

Image copyrightAFP/GETTY IMAGES
Image captionAustralian gambling losses hit a record high in 2015-16
A former gambling addict has lost a landmark court case in Australia, after a judge rejected that she had been misled over her chances of winning.
Shonica Guy had argued that a casino and a manufacturer of slot machines – known in Australia as poker machines or “pokies” – had given players unrealistic expectations.
Her claim, specifically about a machine called Dolphin Treasure, was strongly rejected by both companies.
A judge ruled no law had been breached.
In finding for casino giant Crown and manufacturer Aristocrat, the Federal Court of Australia said Dolphin Treasure did not have “misleading or deceptive” design features.
Betting is a national obsession in Australia which has the world’s highest gambling loss per head, according to recent research by UK consultancy H2 Gambling Capital.
Australian gambling losses hit a record high of A$24bn (£13bn; $19bn) in 2015-16, said government data released in October.
A logo for Crown Casino in MelbourneImage copyrightREUTERS
Image captionCrown is the operator of Melbourne’s only casino
Ms Guy had said she was hoping to prove that pokies were misleading and “designed to get us hooked”.
“For too long now, we have been told we are the only ones to blame for pokies addiction,” she said after filing her lawsuit in September.
Ms Guy said she lost 14 years of her life by playing pokies and wanted to help prevent others from having similar problems.
Dolphin Treasure offers cash prizes to players able to align matching symbols across a line of five revolving reels.
Ms Guy argued it was deceptive because the reels had varying amounts of symbols, as well as misleading sounds and imagery.
But Justice Mortimer disagreed, ruling it was not sufficiently confusing to breach consumer law.
She said the “randomness of the operation” became apparent as soon as someone began using the machine.
“It is not part of the court’s task to characterise gambling as a desirable or undesirable activity,” she said, the Australian Associated Press reported.

South Africa gold mine: All 955 trapped workers freed

A rescued South African miner gestures out a bus window, 2 February 2018Image copyrightAFP / GETTY IMAGES
Image captionA rescued miner gestures out a bus window
All 955 workers from a gold mine in South Africa have been safely brought back to the surface.
They had been trapped underground since a power cut struck on Wednesday night, and back-up generators failed to work.
“Everybody’s out,” said James Wellsted, a spokesman for the operating firm Sibanye-Stillwater.
He said there were “cases of dehydration and high blood pressure but nothing serious”, and the mine would re-open on Monday.
The BBC’s Pumza Fihlani in South Africa says there were scenes of jubilation as the miners were brought to the surface in the morning.
Through the night, members of the local community and other workers kept vigil outside the mine shaft, praying for the miners’ safe return.
South Africa is a leading gold producer, but safety in the industry is often questioned.
The Beatrix mine is in Welkom town, about 290km (180 miles) south-west of Johannesburg. It is owned by Sibanye-Stillwater mining firm.
It has 23 levels, going down to 1,000 metres (3,280 ft) below ground.
Nontuthu Zelo Ngcai, relative of one of the minersImage copyrightAFP
Image caption“My children couldn’t sleep,” says Nontuthu Zelo Ngcai, a relative of one of the miners. She says worried family members called her through the night.
The accident is thought to have occurred when a storm knocked over an electricity pylon close to the site, triggering a huge power cut.
But on Friday morning electricity was finally restored to a lift, enabling the workers’ release.
“It was stressful, there was not enough ventilation,” said mineworker Mike Khonto. “Thankfully our management managed to send us food and water.”
They are being taken for food and showers upon their release, before having medical health checks.
Photograph taken in the dark shows the mineshaft of the mine where men are trappedImage copyrightAFP/GETTY
Image captionPower has now been restored at the site
Anxious family members had gathered along the road to the mine but were kept back by security forces.
Mr Wellsted said there was “no indication so far that anyone has been in distress” but it had been a “traumatic experience”.
Trade union officials had previously said they feared that the lives of the miners were at risk.
They say this accident has highlighted the low safety standards in parts of the industry.
More than 80 fatalities were recorded in South African mines in 2017.
Map of South Africa with Welkom, where mine is, and Johannesburg marked

Shanghai van hits 18 pedestrians outside Starbucks

Map
A van has ploughed into pedestrians outside a Starbucks cafe in a busy public square in Shanghai, China, after catching fire.
At least eighteen people have been taken to hospital, three of them with serious injuries, authorities say.
The fire was caused by the driver, who was smoking a cigarette as he drove and lost control of the vehicle, Shanghai officials say.
The driver has no criminal record and is receiving treatment.
According to a statement posted on micro-blogging site Weibo by Shanghai’s public security bureau, he is suspected of illegally transporting dangerous substances.
Witnesses had earlier told local media that there were gas canisters inside the vehicle. The People’s Daily newspaper said the fire had now been put out.
The incident happened at about 09:00 (01:00 GMT), when the area would have been packed with shoppers and commuters.
Images circulating on social media, which could not immediately be confirmed, showed a minivan with flames inside on the pavement outside the cafe.
The cafe is on People’s Square at the far end of Shanghai’s busy Nanjing Street shopping district and above a major subway interchange.
Reporters at the scene said the site had been cleared up quickly, with a small police presence in place.
According to local news reports, there were six people in the vehicle.

Los Angeles school shooting by girl, 12, ‘was unintentional’

Police roadblock at Salvadore Castro Middle School in Los Angeles, CaliforniaImage copyrightAFP/GETTY
Image captionA 12-year-old girl was arrested after the shooting on Thursday
A shooting by a 12-year-old girl at a Californian school is thought to be unintentional, Los Angeles police say.
The girl has been charged with “negligent discharge of a firearm” after the incident left five injured.
A 15-year-old boy, who was shot in the head, and a 15-year-old girl, who was shot in the wrist, are both in a stable condition and are expected to make a full recovery.
A semi-automatic handgun was recovered at the scene.
It happened at 08:55 local time (16:55 GMT) on Thursday at Salvador Castro Middle School in the Westlake district.
An 11-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman sustained minor injuries but were not shot directly.
A student who was at the classroom at the time told ABC News that he believed the girl thought the weapon was a toy gun and “didn’t mean to” shoot anyone.
Police checked students as they were evacuated from classroomsImage copyrightCBS
Image captionPolice checked students as they were evacuated from classrooms
It is also the one of at least three shooting incidents at US schools in recent weeks.
On 23 January a student in Kentucky opened fire on fellow students, shooting 17 and killing two.
A day earlier, a 16-year-old student was apprehended after wounding a student at a Texas school.

France helicopter crash: Five killed as two army aircraft collide

French army Gazelle helicopter in Mali, 2013 picImage copyrightAFP
Image captionThe Gazelle helicopters that crashed are deployed in French military operations in Mali (file pic)
Two army helicopters have collided in southern France, killing at least five people, police and officials say.
The crash happened at Carcès lake, just north of St Tropez.
Rescuers are at the scene, in the Var region, searching for a sixth person who was aboard one of the helicopters.
It is not clear what caused the crash. Both Gazelle helicopters belonged to a military flying school called Ealat, officials said. It trains pilots for the army and other military services.
France map
The Ealat website says the flying school at Cannet des Maures has 82 aircraft and trains French, German and Spanish helicopter pilots.
The Gazelle has been in service with the French military since the 1970s and is used by the French forces in Mali, in their anti-terror mission.
A French army Gazelle crashed into a power line at Caylus in 2003, killing four people.
A similar crash near Draguignan in 1994 killed three people, broadcaster France Info says.

Jim Carrey won’t face a civil trial over Cathriona White’s death

Jim CarreyImage copyrightAFP/GETTY
Jim Carrey will no longer face a civil trial over the suicide of his former girlfriend, court officials have said.
The comic actor had faced a wrongful death legal case, filed by the estranged husband of Cathriona White and her mother. White died of an overdose in September 2015.
The case, due to take place this spring, has now been dismissed.
Carrey, 56, previously described the case as a “heartless attempt to exploit” both him and White.
Her mother Brigid Sweetman and estranged husband Mark Burton had accused Carrey of illegally obtaining prescription drugs for White, under a false name,
Her death was ruled as a suicide by coroner’s officials.
White, 30, who was from County Tipperary in Ireland, had been in an on-off relationship with Carrey since 2012.
He described her after her death as a “truly kind and delicate Irish flower, too sensitive for this soil” and attended her funeral in the village of Cappawhite, where he was a pallbearer.
Carrey’s publicist told the AFP agency: “All I can say is the case was dismissed and I have no further comment.”
The actor had previously said of the case: “I really hope that some day soon people will stop trying to profit from this and let her rest in peace.”

Calais migrants: Five shot in mass brawl

A migrant receives medical assistance by rescue workers following clashes near the ferry port in Calais, northern France, 01 February 2018.Image copyrightEPA
Image captionA man gets medical help from rescue workers after clashes in Calais, northern France
At least five migrants have been shot during a mass brawl between Afghans and Eritreans in the French port city of Calais, local officials say.
Four Eritreans aged between 16 and 18 are in a critical condition in hospital. It is not clear what sparked the fight at a queue for food handouts.
Hundreds of migrants have converged on the area in an attempt to cross the Channel to the UK.
A sprawling camp known as the “Jungle” was dismantled near Calais in 2016.
Interior Minister Gérard Collomb said the violence had reached a new level. In total, 22 people were injured in clashes in three separate places.
This is the worst outbreak between migrants in Calais for months, and the use of firearms is a worrying escalation, the BBC’s Hugh Schofield in Paris reports.

How did the violence unfold?

The cause is not yet clear but an initial fight on the city’s southern outskirts broke out on Thursday afternoon, where migrants had been queuing for food handouts.
Around 100 Eritreans and some 30 Afghans were caught up in the violence, which lasted almost two hours and started when an Afghan fired shots, AFP said.
Four people were taken to a local hospital in a critical condition while a fifth was taken to nearby Lille.
A group of migrants carry sticks during clashes in Calais on 1 February 2018.Image copyrightEPA
Image captionA group of migrants pictured with sticks during the clashes
A second melee erupted shortly afterwards at an industrial site around 5km (three miles) away, when between 150 and 200 Eritreans armed with iron rods and sticks clashed with about 20 Afghans, the local prefecture said.
Later in the afternoon further violence broke out at a food distribution point in an area of Calais not far from the site of the old “Jungle” camp.
Security forces were sent to the area and there were no reports of incidents during the night.
Map of Calais in France
Visiting Calais, Mr Collomb added: “There’s been an escalation of violence that has become unbearable for both the people of Calais and the migrants”.
The government would take control of food distribution, currently done by charities, with those groups working in association with authorities, he said.

Why are the migrants there?

Though the “Jungle” camp was demolished in 2016, hundreds of migrants are still living rough in the nearby woods, hoping to reach the UK. Many are young men.
Local charities put the number of such migrants living in Calais at around 800, while the authorities say there are between 550 and 600.

Media captionThe migrants living where the Calais Jungle once stood
The Calais “Jungle” became the French symbol of the European migrant crisis, and some 7,000 people – most from the Middle East and Africa – were living there before the area was cleared.
Earlier this month, President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Theresa May signed a treaty to speed up the processing of migrants in Calais.
Mr Macron has said that France will not allow a new migrant camp to be set up in Calais, and French police have been accused of brutality by some activists.
He is expected to unveil a new migrant policy next month, which will include speeding up the application process for asylum seekers and faster removal of those who fail to be accepted.
Charities and some of the president’s allies have accused the government of taking a hard line on immigration.
Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started