Trump restores police surplus military equipment scheme

US President Donald Trump has lifted restrictions imposed by Barack Obama on the transfer of surplus military-style equipment to the police.

An executive order provides police with items including bullet-proof helmets and armoured vehicles.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the aim was to enhance public safety.

Mr Obama barred the military from handing over some types of military equipment to police after unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.

• The story of Ferguson

The ban followed criticism that police were too heavy handed in dealing with the protests that followed the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in 2014.

The former US president was concerned about public reaction to images of heavily militarised police on the streets, saying it was important that police were perceived to be part of the community than being seen as an occupying force.

'We have your back'

But Mr Sessions argued that Mr Obama's restrictions went "too far".

"We will not put superficial concerns above public safety," he told a meeting of police officers.

"The executive order... will ensure that you can get the lifesaving gear that you need to do your job and send a strong message that we will not allow criminal activity, violence, and lawlessness to become the new normal.

"We have your back and you have our thanks," he told the police convention.

Under the terms of the executive order, government agencies are compelled to take prompt action to reverse President Obama's rules.

But the order has been criticised by civil rights groups and some Republicans in Congress.

"It is one thing for federal officials to work with local authorities to reduce or solve crime, but it is another for them to subsidise militarisation," Senator Rand Paul said in a statement.

Mr Paul said that he would work to introduce legislation to ensure there was transparency in relation to such transfers so that law enforcement agencies do not to gain possession of equipment which remains prohibited.

North Korea fires missile over Japan in 'unprecedented threat'

North Korea has fired a missile over northern Japan in a move Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called an "unprecedented" threat to his country.

The missile, launched early on Tuesday Korean time, flew over Hokkaido island before crashing into the sea.

The UN Security Council is expected to hold an emergency meeting in response.

North Korea has conducted a flurry of missile tests recently, but this is the first time it has fired what is thought to be a ballistic weapon over Japan.

On the two previous occasions its rockets crossed Japan - in 1998 and 2009 - North Korea said they were for satellite launch vehicles, not weapons.

The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo says this latest launch appears to be the first of a missile powerful enough to potentially carry a nuclear warhead.

Residents told to seek shelter

The South Korean military said the missile was fired eastward just before 06:00 local time (21:00 GMT) from near the North's capital, Pyongyang - which is rare.

Early analysis of the launch suggests the missile:

• flew a distance of more than 2,700km (1,678 miles)
• was likely a Hwasong-12, a newly developed intermediate range weapon
• reached a maximum altitude of about 550km (342 miles), lower than most previous North Korean tests
• fell into the North Pacific Ocean 1,180km off the Japanese coast after breaking into three pieces
• No effort was made by Japan to shoot down the missile but it issued a safety warning telling citizens in Hokkaido to take shelter in "a sturdy building or basement".
  US and Japanese forces have just finished a joint drill in Hokkaido while another annual military exercise involving tens of thousands of South Korean and US soldiers is still under way in South Korea.
  The North sees these regular military drills involving the US as highly provocative, perceiving them as a rehearsal for an invasion.
  South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered a show of "overwhelming" force in response to the launch. Four South Korean jets staged a live bombing drill on Tuesday.
  

Mr Abe said he had spoken to US President Donald Trump and that both agreed to increase pressure on North Korea. The Pentagon meanwhile said the launch did not represent a threat to the US itself but that the military was working to gather more intelligence about it.

Russia also weighed in on the debate, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov saying the country was "extremely worried" about the situation and warning of a "tendency towards an escalation".

Daily Stormer: Cloudflare drops neo-Nazi site

A neo-Nazi site that disparaged a woman who died during protests in Charlottesville has faced another wave of rejection by web companies.

The Daily Stormer's account with Cloudflare - which protects websites from distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks - has been terminated.

Cloudflare's chief executive Matthew Prince said he had "had enough", in a company email obtained by Gizmodo.

However, he added that he felt conflicted over the decision.

"Literally, I woke up in a bad mood and decided someone shouldn't be allowed on the internet," wrote Mr Prince.

"No-one should have that power."

On Sunday, the Daily Stormer published an article denigrating Heather Heyer, 32, who was killed after a car rammed into protesters against a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

This led to a backlash in which the site had to switch domain name registrars twice in 24 hours, after GoDaddy and Google both removed it from their services.

Cloudflare's service involves handling web users' requests to view a site and filtering out those that appear to be coming from systems set up to overload the site.

Without such protection, websites can sometimes be knocked offline.

• One killed in violence over US far-right rally
• GoDaddy and Google expel Daily Stormer over victim smear
• Trump and the rise of the alt-right
• WATCH: Is there a single step that can bring equality to the US?

Mr Prince said leaving the site open to DDoS attacks could lead to "vigilante justice", in a blog post published later on Wednesday.

However, he also said: "Our terms of service reserve the right for us to terminate users of our network at our sole discretion.

"The tipping point for us making this decision was that the team behind Daily Stormer made the claim that we were secretly supporters of their ideology."

Earlier in the week, the Daily Stormer was set up as a site on the dark web and later relocated its open web presence to a Russian domain name ending ".ru".

A spokesman for the Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor said it had asked web firm Ru-Center to shut this down.

A BBC check on Thursday morning found that the .ru address no longer appeared to be working.

The Daily Stormer has faced frustration elsewhere in recent days.

Three Twitter accounts associated with the site that had previously been active were suddenly listed as "suspended" on Wednesday.

And cyber-security researcher Joseph Evers announced that he had stopped hosting an internet chat channel he said was used by staff at the Daily Stormer.

Describing himself as having once been a "free speech absolutist", Mr Evers added: "I'm glad to do my small part in countering white supremacy."

Donations blocked

Besides the Daily Stormer's case, this week Paypal reiterated its stance on blocking donations to organisations that promote hate, violence or racial intolerance.

"This includes organizations that advocate racist views, such as the KKK, white supremacist groups or Nazi groups," the payment-processing firm said.

Internet companies were facing a "dilemma" over how to balance support for freedom of speech with a desire not to encourage hate groups, said Prof Eric Heinze, at Queen Mary, University of London.

"Had the Charlottesville events not occurred, the hate sites would still be operating from Cloudflare, GoDaddy, and other such venues," he told the BBC.

"Some might call it satisfactory to wait until actual harm occurs before closing such a site. But others will say that's too little and too late."

BBC NEWS

Trump defends ‘beautiful’ Civil War statues

US President Donald Trump has denounced the removal of "beautiful" Confederate statues amid a heated national debate about US race relations.

"Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments," he tweeted.

"You can't change history, but you can learn from it," he continued.

Mr Trump drew outrage by defending organisers of a white supremacist rally that left a woman dead and dozens hurt.

The rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, supported by neo-Nazis and white supremacists, was in protest of the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee, a general who had fought for the pro-slavery Confederacy during the US Civil War.

It turned deadly when a driver ploughed into a crowd of counter protesters, inflicting fatal injuries on Heather Heyer.

• America - diminished and dismissed
• A White House meltdown in the making

"Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish!" Mr Trump continued in a series of tweets on Thursday.

"The beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!"

The recent removal of controversial statues, including some to leaders of the pro-slavery rebellion defeated in the US Civil War, has been the latest flashpoint in racial tensions across the country.

Critics say monuments to the Confederacy are racially offensive, but supporters say they are important symbols preserving Southern heritage.

Maine's Governor Paul LePage, a Republican, said on Thursday taking down Confederate statues is "just like" removing a monument to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

But relatives of Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate leader Mr Trump mentioned in his Thursday tweets, wrote an open letter to the mayor of Richmond, Virginia, urging him to remove the statue of their great-great-grandfather and all other Confederate statues in town.

Jack and Warren Christian, Mr Jackson's great-great-sons, said removing the statues would "further difficult conversations about racial justice".

"While we are not ashamed of our great-great-grandfather, we are ashamed to benefit from white supremacy while our black family and friends suffer," the pair wrote. "We are ashamed of the monument."

Robert E Lee V, the great-great-grandson of the famous Confederate general, issued a statement condemning the violence in the wake of the statue removals.

• When is it right to remove a statue?
• Trump adviser Steve Bannon dubs white nationalists 'clowns'

"While the debate about how we memorialise figures from our past continues, we the descendants of Robert E Lee decry in the strongest terms the misuse of his memory by those advancing a message of intolerance and hate," he said in a statement to the BBC.

"He never would have tolerated the hateful words and violent actions of white supremacists, the KKK, or Neo Nazis."

The president's comments came after a week of turmoil over his response to the violent clashes in the small Virginia town.

Mr Trump was criticised for blaming both sides for the violence, but belatedly condemned the white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups on Monday.

During a heated news conference on Tuesday he backtracked and again blamed left-wing counter-protesters for the incident, too.

Amid the fallout over the president's response, corporate leaders and CEOs began resigning from two White House business councils.

On Wednesday, the Strategy and Policy Forum announced it would disband as Mr Trump said he would end the council as well as a manufacturing one.

BBC NEWS

Barcelona: Van hits crowds in Ramblas tourist area

A van has ploughed into crowds in Barcelona's Las Ramblas tourist area.

Spanish police say several people have been injured in a "massive crash", while emergency services are urging people to stay away from the area around Plaça de Catalunya.

Reports from the scene say people are taking cover in nearby shops and cafes.

Reuters news agency reports that emergency services have requested the closure of local metro and train stations.

El Pais newspaper said the driver of the vehicle had fled on foot after mowing down dozens of people.

Steven Turner, who works in the area, told the BBC: "People in my office saw a van ramming into people on Las Ramblas.

"I saw about three or four people lying on the ground."

"There are lots of ambulances and armed police with assault rifles around now."

Details of this incident are still unclear, but vehicles have been used to ram into crowds in a series of attacks across Europe since July last year.

Aamer Anwar said he was walking down Las Ramblas, which was "jam-packed" with tourists.

"All of a sudden, I just sort of heard a crashing noise and the whole street just started to run, screaming. I saw a woman right next to me screaming for her kids," he told Sky News.

"Police were very, very quickly there, police officers with guns, batons, everywhere. Then the whole street started getting pushed back.

"Police officers who got there just started screaming at people to move back, move back."

Las Ramblas

• Central boulevard that runs 1.2km (0.75 miles) through the centre of Barcelona

• Runs from the city's Plaça de Catalunya (Catalonia Square) to the Christopher Columbus monument at the seafront.

• Popular with tourists because of its market stalls, bars and restaurants

• Barcelona city council restricted traffic flow because of heavy pedestrian use of the street
• BBC NEWS

Soundcloud survives money scare

Dave LeeNorth America technology reporte

Music streaming service Soundcloud will live on after securing a reported $170m (£135m) in investment.The platform, popular with emerging artists, faced closure if the new funding was not approved by Friday."Soundcloud is here to stay,” wrote Alexander Ljung, the company’s chairman, who as part of the deal is stepping down as the firm's chief executive.Concerned users had been backing up their Soundcloud uploads, worried the site would go offline.Its highest profile user, Chance the Rapper, has been vocal in supporting the site.In July, the Berlin-based company laid off 40% of its workforce, a total of 173 people. In a note circulated to shareholders earlier this week (obtained by Axios) Mr Ljung said without the money Soundcloud would not be able “to continue as a going concern”.By Friday, things were looking up."This financing means Soundcloud remains strong and independent,” Mr Ljung wrote in a blog post."Over the last few weeks, I’ve been moved by the outpouring of commentary around Soundcloud’s unique and crucial role in driving what global culture is today (and what it will become tomorrow)."You’ve told me how, without Soundcloud, there would be a giant gaping void in today’s world of music. We can’t have that, and I’m happy to once again say that won’t be happening.”The company will see considerable changes in leadership. Mr Ljung will be replaced as chief executive by Kerry Trainor, the former boss of video-sharing site Vimeo. Mike Weissman, also formerly at Vimeo, will become Soundcloud’s chief operating officer.Soundcloud will now need to look at reducing costs and doing more to monetise the service which, according to the firms latest publicly available figures, has more than 40 million users.The firm’s money problems have been well-documented - with its valuation dropping considerable from a high of $700m in 2014. In September, acquisition talks with Spotify failed to materialise

Seventeen dead' in Burkina Faso attack

Seventeen people have been killed and eight wounded in a "terrorist attack" in the centre of the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, the government says.

Witnesses were quoted as saying that three gunmen opened fire on customers seated outside a hotel and restaurant.

The city centre has been sealed off by the army, and the US embassy in Ouagadougou has warned its citizens to avoid the area.

A jihadist attack on a cafe nearby left 30 people dead in January last year.

There are fears that the attack is the work of one of the affiliates of al-Qaeda that are active in the Sahel region, the BBC's Alex Duval Smith reports.

The shooting began shortly after 21:00 (21:00 GMT) on Sunday on Ouagadougou's busy Kwame Nkrumah Avenue.

Two locations, Hotel Bravia and the Aziz Istanbul Restaurant, appear to have been at the centre of the shooting.

"The attack claimed 17 victims, their nationalities are yet to be confirmed, and eight injured," said a government statement quoted by the AFP news agency.

A hospital in the city said that one of those killed was Turkish.

The attack is similar to one in January 2016, when the Splendid Hotel and the nearby Cappucino restaurant, also on Kwame Nkrumah Avenue, were targeted.

Over 170 people were taken hostage and 30 were killed. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for that attack.

Burkina Faso is part of the Sahel region, which includes Mali where Islamist groups have been active since 2012.