Trump: I would speak under oath on Comey

US President Donald Trump says he is "100%" willing to speak under oath about his conversations with ex-FBI chief James Comey.
Speaking at the White House, he denied having asked for Mr Comey's loyalty or for an inquiry into a former White House aide to be dropped.
"James Comey confirmed a lot of what I said, and some of the things he said just weren't true," Mr Trump said.
Meanwhile, a congressional panel asked for any tapes of their conversations.
Mr Comey says Mr Trump fired him because of his Russia inquiry.
The former FBI chief was investigating an alleged Kremlin plot to sway last year's US election in favour of Mr Trump, and whether there was any collusion with the president or his campaign staff.
On Thursday, Mr Comey testified to one of several congressional committees that is also looking into the Russia claims.
He said the president had pressured him to drop a probe into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, whom Mr Trump fired for misleading the White House over contacts with Moscow's ambassador.
Under oath, the former FBI director also told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the president had asked him during a one-to-one dinner at the White House to pledge loyalty.
Nearly 20 million US television viewers tuned in to the explosive testimony.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon in the Rose Garden with the visiting president of Romania, Mr Trump rejected Mr Comey's claims.
He said the former FBI director's testimony showed there was "no collusion, no obstruction". Mr Comey told senators he had assured the president he himself was not under scrutiny over Russia.
The US president was asked by a journalist if he would be willing to give his version of events under oath.
"One hundred per cent," Mr Trump said.
"I hardly know the man [Mr Comey]," he said. "I'm not going to say, 'I want you to pledge allegiance.'
"Who would do that? Who would ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath? I mean, think of it.
I hardly know the man. It doesn't make sense."
When asked about whether he had recordings of his conversations with Mr Comey, which he has previously hinted, the president said he would address it at a later date.
"I'll tell you something about that maybe sometime in the very near future," he said on Friday. "I'll tell you about it over a short period of time. I'm not hinting at anything."
Shortly after the press conference, leaders of the House Intelligence Committee said they had asked the White House whether there were any such tapes.
The House panel requested that if the recordings exist they be submitted by 23 June.
The Senate Judiciary Committee asked the White House last month about such audio.
Days after he fired Mr Comey on 9 May, Mr Trump tweeted: "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"
Mr Trump tweeted earlier on Friday he felt "complete vindication" after the hearing.
Mr Comey also told senators that he had leaked details of his memos about his conversations with Mr Trump to a friend, who passed them on to a reporter.
After the testimony, Mr Trump's lawyer accused the former FBI chief of having divulged "privileged communications".

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Iraq suicide bomb: IS kills at least 20

A suicide bomber has struck a market in Iraq in a town near the Shia holy city of Karbala, killing at least 20 people.
The so-called Islamic State (IS) group has said it carried out the attack in Musayyib.
IS has long mounted a violent campaign against Iraqi Shia, denouncing them as heretics.
The group has increased its attacks on civilians in big cities in Iraq as increasingly loses territory.
Its main stronghold of Mosul is expected to be recaptured soon. 

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May to form 'government of certainty' with DUP backing


 

Theresa May has said she will put together a government with the support of the Democratic Unionists that can provide "certainty" for the future.
Speaking after visiting Buckingham Palace, she said only her party had the "legitimacy" to govern, despite falling eight seats short of a majority.
Later, she said she "obviously wanted a different result" and was "sorry" for colleagues who lost their seats.
But Labour said they were the "real winners".
The Lib Dems said Mrs May should be "ashamed" of carrying on.
The Tories needed 326 seats to win another majority but, with 649 out of the 650 seats declared, they fell short and must rely on the DUP to continue to rule.
In an ongoing cabinet reshuffle, the BBC has learned that five cabinet ministers are certain to stay: Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon; Brexit Secretary David Davis; Home Secretary Amber Rudd; Chancellor Philip Hammond and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Mr Hammond said, in a tweet, that he was "pleased to be reappointed so we can now get on and negotiate a Brexit deal that supports British jobs, business and prosperity". Mr Johnson tweeted that he was "delighted", adding "lots of great work to do for greatest country on earth".
However, those rarely seen on the campaign trail, including Andrea Leadsom, Priti Patel and Liam Fox, could be out, says BBC political correspondent Eleanor Garnier.
Comebacks from Iain Duncan Smith, Michael Gove and prominent leave campaigner Dominic Raab were being floated, she adds.
In a short statement outside Downing Street, which followed a 25-minute audience with The Queen, Mrs May said she would join with her DUP "friends" to "get to work" on Brexit.
She said she intended to form a government which could "provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country".
Referring to the "strong relationship" she had with the DUP but giving little detail of how their arrangement might work, she said the government would "guide the country through the crucial Brexit talks" that begin in just 10 days' time.
"Our two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years," she said.
"And this gives me the confidence to believe that we will be able to work together in the interests of the whole United Kingdom."

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Later, she told reporters that she "wanted to achieve a larger majority but that was not the result".
"I'm sorry for all those candidates... who weren't successful, and also particularly sorry for MPs and ministers who'd contributed so much to our country, and who lost their seats and didn't deserve to lose their seats.
"As I reflect on the results, I will reflect on what I need to do in the future to take the party forward."
DUP leader Arlene Foster confirmed that she had spoken to Mrs May and that they would speak further to "explore how it may be possible to bring stability to this nation at this time of great challenge".
While always striving for the "best deal" for Northern Ireland and its people, she said her party would always have the best interests of the UK at heart.
It is thought Mrs May will seek some kind of informal arrangement with the DUP that could see it "lend" its support to the Tories on a vote-by-vote basis, known as "confidence and supply".
Conservative MP Dominic Raab said the country needed "certainty and direction", and an agreement between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party was the "only viable option".
The BBC's Laura Kuenssberg said the PM had returned to No 10 a "diminished figure", having ended up with 12 fewer seats than when she called the election in April.


She had called the election with the stated reason that it would strengthen her hand in negotiations for the UK to leave the EU - the talks are due to start on 19 June.
But with the London seat of Kensington yet to declare, the Tories are on 318 seats, ahead of Labour on 261, the SNP 35 and the Lib Dems on 12. The DUP won 10 seats.
As it stands, the Tories and the DUP would have 328 MPs in the Commons, giving it a wafer-thin majority although as Sinn Fein will not be taking its seven seats, the new administration will have slightly more room for manoeuvre.


The Conservatives have argued in the event of a hung Parliament, Mrs May gets the opportunity to form a government first, as her predecessor David Cameron did in 2010 when there was also no clear winner but the party had comfortably more seats than their nearest rival.
Labour has said it is also ready to form a minority government of its own, after far exceeding expectations by picking up 29 seats in England, Wales and Scotland.
But even if it joined together in a so-called progressive alliance with the SNP, Lib Dems, Green Party and Plaid Cymru, it would only reach 313 seats - well short of the 326 figure needed.
Mrs May has faced calls to quit from within her own party, with Anna Soubry saying she should consider her position after a "disastrous" campaign.
However, other MPs have urged her to stay on, with Iain Duncan Smith saying a leadership contest would be a "catastrophe".


The BBC's assistant political editor Norman Smith said the DUP did not regard Mrs May as a "permanent fixture" and this raised the possibility of a change in leader in the summer, given that he believed serious progress over Brexit was unlikely to be made before the German parliamentary elections in September.
Reacting to the result, European Council president Donald Tusk said there was now "no time to lose" over Brexit, while the European Parliament's chief negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said it was an "own goal" and made negotiations more "complicated".
Mr Corbyn, speaking after being re-elected in Islington North, said it was time for Mrs May to "make way" for a government that would be "truly representative of the people of this country". He later told the BBC it was "pretty clear who has won this election".
"We are ready to serve the people who have put their trust in us," he said - but he also stressed he would not enter into any "pacts or deals" with other parties.
Unite union leader Len McCluskey said Labour's result was "an incredible advance" and it would not be long before they were in government.
The Green Party, which held its one seat at the election but saw its total vote halve, said a Conservative government propped up by the DUP would be a "coalition of chaos".
In other major developments:
Gerry Adams, president of Sinn Fein, which gained three seats taking its total to seven, said it had been a "very good election for republicanism", and appealed for "calm reflection" on how to go forward.
Lord O'Donnell, formerly the UK's top civil servant, told the BBC that the prime minister had a duty to stay in post "for now" and had the right to seek the confidence of the House of Commons by asking it to approve a Queen's Speech on 19 June.
Meanwhile, UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has quit after his party failed to win any seats and saw its vote collapse across the country.
In a night of high drama, the SNP remained the largest party in Scotland but lost 21 seats to the Tories, Labour and the Lib Dems. Leading figures in the party such as Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson were defeated.
Former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg also lost his seat while Tim Farron clung on by less than 800 votes in his Cumbrian constituency.
But Vince Cable and Jo Swinson are among the Lib Dems returning to the Commons after winning their former seats back.
In more results from the night:
Speaking after a mixed night of results for his party, Mr Farron paid tribute to Mr Clegg and the other MPs who lost their seats.
Mrs May had "put the future of the country at risk with arrogance and vanity", he added, saying she should resign "if she has an ounce of self respect".

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UK election result: How the world reacted

The result of the UK election, with the ruling Conservatives unexpectedly losing their overall majority, has sent shockwaves across Europe and beyond.
Politicians across the Continent have been questioning the impact on the Brexit talks.
Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the European Commission, said he wanted discussions to proceed without delay.
"As far as the Commission is concerned we can open negotiations tomorrow morning at half past nine," he said.
"First we have to agree on the divorce and exit modalities, and then we have to envisage the architecture of our future relations. I do hope that the result of the elections will have no major impact on the negotiations we are desperately waiting for."
Sweden's former Prime Minister Carl Bildt, who now chairs the European Council on Foreign Relations think-tank, called the outcome "messy".
"One mess risks following another. Price to be paid for lack of true leadership," he tweeted.

'Another own goal'

Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who is president of the Alliance of Liberals & Democrats for Europe in the European Parliament, had caustic words for Mrs May.
"Yet another own goal, after Cameron now May, will make already complex negotiations even more complicated," he tweeted.
Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, had a more conciliatory message. "#Brexit negotiations should start when UK is ready; timetable and EU positions are clear. Let's put our minds together on striking a deal," he said.
European Council President Donald Tusk alluded to the March 2019 deadline for Brexit talks.
"We don't know when Brexit talks start. We know when they must end. Do your best to avoid a 'no deal' as result of 'no negotiations'," he wrote.


The EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said it was uncertain when Britain would have a clear Brexit strategy.
"One year after their referendum, we still don't know the British position in the negotiations on Brexit and it seems difficult to predict when we will, because democracy often requires time," she observed.
A spokeswoman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government would not comment on the election result out of "politeness and respect" while the process of forming a new government was ongoing.
Meanwhile Irish Prime Minister-elect Leo Varadkar was positive about the outcome.
"The results of the UK election indicate to me that there is no strong mandate to proceed with a hard Brexit, which represents an opportunity for Ireland," he said.
He also described the result as an opportunity to re-engage in talks to restore Northern Ireland's devolved power-sharing administration, which collapsed in January.
Mrs May is expected to form a government with the backing of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionists.

World media notes May setback

European newspapers have been focusing on the uncertainty about Mrs May's future and the anger among Britain's voters.
There has been no official reaction yet from the US, but the Washington Post newspaper noted the unpredictable nature of recent British politics.
"The results mark the second time in as many years that the British body politic has defied predictions, scrambled the country's direction and bucked the will of a prime minister who had gambled by calling a vote when none had been required," it said.
"But unlike last year's EU referendum - which delivered a clear if close verdict to get out of the bloc - the will of the voters who cast ballots Thursday was not nearly as easy to decipher."

Looking east from London, the Chinese press offered largely factual reports, with little comment except to say the result would have a "huge" impact on Brexit discussions.
In Hong Kong, independent outlets said the Tories had made a "grave miscalculation".
Shi Zhiqin, a professor from Tsinghua University in Beijing, said China might no longer see the need to keep Britain as a strong ally in the EU.
"But I think Britain's main concern is to keep China as a trade partner after it lost the EU market," he told the South China Morning Post.
In Russia, state-owned news agency RIA Novosti is claiming the Conservatives will not forgive Theresa May for the result, and predicts a new prime minister.
On the morning of 9 June, state-run rolling news channel Rossiya 24 called it "Theresa May's devastating defeat."
A correspondent for Qatar-funded Al Jazeera TV, which ran a special segment on the polls, said the opposition Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn had led a "fierce campaign that the Conservative Party did not expect".
The results were covered prominently on some Lebanese newspaper websites, with the front page of left-wing Al Akhbar newspaper reading: "Britain: Corbyn brings down the hopes of the Conservatives."
In India, newspapers are taking an interest in Preet Gill, who has become the UK's first Sikh woman MP, and Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, the first turban-wearing Sikh winner.
Indian headlines also concluded that the result was a setback for Theresa May, with the Hindustan Times calling it a "stunning blow" for the prime minister.

Congratulations to Corbyn

Labour boosted its number of seats by 29 overnight, exciting Corbyn supporters abroad.
US Senator Bernie Sanders, the former Democratic presidential candidate, told the Washington Post he was thrilled.
"I am delighted to see Labour do so well. All over the world people are rising up against austerity and massive levels of income and wealth inequality.
"People in the UK, the US and elsewhere want governments that represent all the people, not just the 1%. I congratulate Jeremy Corbyn for running a very positive and effective campaign."
Image copyright Le Monde
 
 

Bill Shorten, leader of the Australian Labor Party, made similar observations, telling reporters:
"One of the things which my counterpart, the Labour leader in the United Kingdom, did is he campaigned and his slogan was 'For the many, not the few.'
"I think Mr Turnbull [Australia's prime minister] would be well advised to look at the popularity of that message."

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Germany fears huge losses in massive tax scandal

It is reckoned to be the biggest tax scandal in German post-war history.
An international group of bankers, lawyers and stockbrokers - reportedly with links to the City of London - appears to have fiddled the tax system, employing practices which were at best unethical, at worst illegal.
Ultimately they may have deprived the state of nearly €32bn (£28bn; $36bn). As the German broadcaster ARD wryly noted, that would have paid for repairs to a lot of schools and bridges.
The newspaper Die Zeit adds that the sum would more than cover the cost of the refugee influx for a year.
Prosecutors have been investigating for some time. And gradually it is emerging that large-scale tax avoidance was taking place right under the noses of the authorities.
And that - in some cases - they turned a blind eye to practices employed, not just by individuals out to make a fortune, but by some of the country's biggest banks and respected businesses.

Creative accounting

We may never really know the full extent of those practices; largely because they involved fiendishly complex transactions, which German media broadly divide into two kinds.
In the first type, German banks and stockbrokers bought and sold shares for foreign investors in a way which allowed them to claim a tax refund for which they were not eligible. Many question the legality of the practice.


In the second (a more complicated variation), investors and banks bought and sold shares just before and just after dividends were paid. With a bit of imaginative paperwork, and by exploiting a procedure which allows more than one person or institution to simultaneously own a share, they were able to claim numerous tax refunds. The practice was outlawed in 2012.

Whistleblowers

German prosecutors are investigating a number of banks - among them institutions which were bailed out by the state - and individuals.
But in the meantime, a group of German journalists has been researching too, working alongside an expert from the University of Mannheim.
Their investigations, broadcast on Thursday night, reveal that, despite a warning from State Commissioner August Schäfer in 1992 and the testimony of five whistleblowers, the practices continued and were widespread.
They involved 40 German banks and scores of other financial institutions around the world.
And, as those German reporters reveal, in the end it wasn't a national authority, a finance minister or the justice system who finally exposed the practice.
It was a young administrative assistant in Germany's central tax office, who noticed that she was receiving claims for huge tax rebates from a single US pension fund.
Anna Schablonski (a pseudonym) dug further and, despite threats, began to uncover other cases. She is modest about her role - even though 30 colleagues are now dedicated to trying to recover some of the money, and prosecutors are building their cases against some of those involved.
She does not want to be cast as a hero, she says. She was just doing her job. 

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Islamic State claims it killed two Chinese in Pakistan

The so-called Islamic State says it has killed two Chinese nationals who were abducted from south-west Pakistan by armed men in late May.
The IS-linked Amaq news agency made the claim in an Arabic statement on the Telegram messaging app.
China's foreign ministry said it was "gravely concerned" and working to verify the information.
The pair are said to have been studying Urdu at a language centre in the city of Quetta when they were abducted.
According to local media reports at the time of the abduction, armed men took the couple as they left the centre. Another Chinese woman just managed to escape during the confrontation.
At the time, neither IS nor any other militant group said they had kidnapped the pair. Balochistan has seen kidnappings of foreign nationals in recent years by armed Islamist or separatist groups, sometimes for a ransom.
Islamic State controls some territory in Afghanistan and has been seeking to strengthen its hold in Pakistan since 2015 when it carried out its first attack in the country.
China is one of Pakistan's major allies, investing heavily in infrastructure projects including nuclear power plants, roads and dams.
Under China's One Belt One Road initiative which will see the construction of an economic corridor, Pakistanis likely to see massively increased investment as ever closer links are forged between the countries. Balochistan is the heart of the proposed infrastructure investment.
A recent report from the Pentagon also predicts that China will expand its military reach and suggests that it could construct military bases in Pakistan. 

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Election results 2017: Pictures of the election counts

















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Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...