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Donald Trump’s campaign team has called for an investigation into what it claimed was “blatant foreign interference” in the election by the Labour Party.

The complaint to the US federal electoral commission claimed there had been “interference” in the “form of apparent illegal foreign national contributions made by the Labour Party of the UK” which had been “accepted” by Kamala Harris’s campaign.

It references a Washington Post report that suggested “strategists linked to Britain’s Labour Party have been offering advice to Kamala Harris about how to earn back disaffected voters and run a winning campaign from the centre left”.

It also mentions a Telegraph report that suggested Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, and Matthew Doyle, his director of communications, “attended a convention in Chicago and met with Ms Harris’s campaign team”.

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There is no evidence that the Labour Party had made any financial contributions to the Democrat campaign, something that is prohibited under US law.

But some of Mr Trump’s allies have nevertheless taken issue with Labour Party staff volunteering on Ms Harris’s campaign even though this is permitted under US law as long as the said volunteers are not compensated for their work.

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In a now-deleted post on networking site LinkedIn, the Labour Party’s head of operations said last week: “I have nearly 100 Labour party staff, current and former, going to the US in the next few weeks, heading to North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

“I have 10 spots available for anyone available to head to the battleground state of [North] Carolina – we will sort your housing.”

The complaint, filed on behalf of Donald J Trump for President 2024, said that foreign nationals are prohibited from “directly or indirectly” making “a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation,” in support of an American candidate

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US law forbids any financial contributions, donations and expenditure from foreign nationals in any elections.

They are also prohibited from participating in decisions involving election-related activities.

However, they are allowed to volunteer in campaigns “as long as the individual is not compensated by anyone for the services”.

Last week a government minister told Sky News it was “normal” for Labour staff to campaign for a Democrat candidate.

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Asked whether Labour staff helping with the Democrat campaign could damage the UK’s relationship with the US in the event of a Donald Trump victory, Ms McGovern told Sky News: “As far as I know, this is a voluntary thing and it’s about volunteers going and sharing their time.

“This is a normal thing that happens in elections.”

This election is not the first time that both Labour and Tory staff have campaigned for the Democrats and Republicans, to whom the are closely linked.

David Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama, helped Ed Miliband’s campaign to be prime minister in 2015, while Jim Messina, another former Obama campaign aide, assisted David Cameron’s campaign that same year.

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Senior Conservatives in the UK, notably former prime minister Liz Truss, have also attended high-profile Republican events, including the National Convention in July.

And as recently as last month, Sir Keir’s former pollster, Deborah Mattinson, reportedly met Ms Harris’s campaign team in Washington to share advice on the election following Labour’s landslide victory in July.

The prime minister also held his first face-to-face meeting with Mr Trump in New York last month.

Sir Keir said ahead of the meeting that he was a “great believer in personal relations on the international stage”.

“I think it really matters that you know who your counterpart is in any given country, and know them personally, get to know them face to face.”

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Trump pick Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be US attorney general

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Trump pick Matt Gaetz withdraws from consideration to be US attorney general

Donald Trump ally Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general.

Mr Gaetz, a controversial pick to be the country’s top legal official, said his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of Mr Trump’s administration into the White House.

The Florida Republican had faced significant scrutiny over a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.

He said in a post on the X social media platform: “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ (Department of Justice) must be in place and ready on Day 1.

“I remain fully committed to seeing that Donald Trump is the most successful president in history. I will forever be honoured that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”

Mr Trump said in a post on his own social media site, Truth Social, that Mr Gaetz had a “wonderful future”.

“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,” he wrote.

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“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the administration, for which he has much respect.”

Mr Gaetz previously faced a nearly three-year Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl, which ended in February 2023 without him facing any criminal charges.

He has always denied the allegations.

He has also been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over wider allegations including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts.

The inquiry was dropped on Wednesday 13 November when Mr Gaetz left Congress – the only forum where the committee has jurisdiction.

The Senate ethics committee is deadlocked on whether their report can be released.

Mr Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Mr Trump’s push to install steadfast loyalists in his incoming administration and the first sign that he could face resistance from members of his own party.

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Dad who called 911 for help during break-in killed by Las Vegas police officer

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Dad who called 911 for help during break-in killed by Las Vegas police officer

A 43-year-old man was shot dead by police after calling 911 to report intruders had entered his home in Las Vegas.

Brandon Durham was at home with his 15-year-old daughter when he called the emergency line to report armed intruders were trying to break into his property on 12 November.

Bodycam footage shows Mr Durham struggling with a person over a knife in the moments before he was shot and killed at the scene.

“The loss of life in any type of incident like this is always tragic, and it’s something we take very seriously,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said on Thursday.

The force is investigating the incident.

Mr Durham called 911 to report multiple people were outside shooting at his residence in Las Vegas’ Sunset Park neighbourhood, where he had been staying with his 15-year-old daughter, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reports.

It was one of multiple emergency calls reporting a shooting in the area.

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Mr Durham then said someone had managed to get into his home through the front and back doors of the property and he was locking himself in the bathroom, according to a police statement from 14 November, two days after the incident.

Officers reported to the scene at approximately 12:40am and could hear screaming from inside the residence.

One of the officers, Alexander Bookman, kicked open the front door and once inside, saw Mr Durham and another individual, later identified as 31-year-old Alejandra Boudreaux, struggling over a knife in a doorway.

Mr Bookman ordered them to drop the knife and about two seconds later, the officer fired the gun and Mr Durham appeared to be struck, the bodycam footage shows.

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Both Mr Durham and Mr Boudreaux fell to the ground and the officer fired another five shots. Roughly three seconds are believed to have gone by between the first and last shot, NBC reports.

Attempts were made to save the 43-year-old but he died at the scene.

Ms Boudreaux was taken into custody and is facing charges of home invasion with a deadly weapon; assault with a deadly weapon domestic violence; willful or wanton disregard of safety of persons resulting in death; and child abuse, neglect or endangerment.

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Homeless man charged in plot to bomb New York Stock Exchange

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Homeless man charged in plot to bomb New York Stock Exchange

A homeless man has been arrested and charged over a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.

The 30-year-old man from Florida, Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attempting to use an explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce, having unveiled some of his plans to undercover agents, according to the FBI.

They began investigating Yener in February based on a tip that he was holding “bomb-making schematics” in a storage unit.

Bomb-making sketches, many watches with timers, electronic circuit boards and other electronics that could be used for building explosive devices were found, the FBI said.

It also said he told undercover FBI agents that he wanted to detonate the bomb the week before Thanksgiving and that the stock exchange in lower Manhattan would be a popular site to target, and that doing so “will wake people up”.

An agent also allegedly recorded him saying: “I feel like Bin Laden.”

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He described how he hoped the bomb would “reboot” the US government, explaining that it would be “like a small nuke went off,” killing everyone inside the building, according to court documents.

The documents also claim he had rewired two-way radios so that they could work as remote triggers for an explosive device and planned to wear a disguise when planting the explosives.

Yener, who had also searched online for things related to bomb-making since 2017, was sacked from his job at a restaurant in Florida last year after his former supervisor said he threatened to “go Parkland shooter in this place”, the FBI added.

He had his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon and will be detained while he awaits a trial.

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