<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/facebook-users-need-1000-to-deactivate-account-for-one-year-report-185683">Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg</a> said Friday the world's biggest social network has "fundamentally" changed to focus on securing its systems against manipulation and misinformation.

Capping a <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/washington-sues-facebook-over-cambridge-analytica-row-185389">tumultuous year</a> marked by data protection scandals and government probes, Zuckerberg said he was "proud of the progress we've made" in addressing Facebook's problems.

"For 2018, my personal challenge has been to focus on addressing some of the most important issues facing our community — whether that's preventing election interference, stopping the spread of hate speech and misinformation, making sure people have control of their information, and ensuring our services improve people's well-being," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"We're a very different company today than we were in 2016, or even a year ago. We've fundamentally altered our DNA to focus more on preventing harm in all our services, and we've systematically shifted a large portion of our company to work on preventing harm."

He said Facebook now has more than 30,000 people "working on safety" and invests billions of dollars in security.

Zuckerberg's comments come at the close of a year when Facebook was roiled by revelations about the misuse of personal data by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 US election and on data sharing with business partners.

But he said the questions around Facebook are "more than a one-year challenge" and that the California giant was in the process of "multi-year plans to overhaul our systems."

"In the past, we didn't focus as much on these issues as we needed to, but we're now much more proactive," he said.

The comments follow a message from Zuckerberg in January, before many of Facebook's troubles emerged when he outlined his goals of stemming abuse and hate and foreign interference, among other things, on the network used by more than two billion people.

"My personal challenge for 2018 is to focus on fixing these important issues," Zuckerberg said in January.

In Friday's message, Zuckerberg enumerated a series of steps taken over the past year, including fact-checking partnerships, advertising transparency and artificial intelligence to remove harmful content.

He added that Facebook's systems were also being retooled with the aim of helping "improve people's well-being," based on research conducted.

The research, he said, "found that when people use the internet to interact with others, that's associated with all the positive aspects of well-being... But when you just use the internet to consume content passively, that's not associated with those same positive effects."

One of the changes aims to reduce "viral videos" that are shared across the Facebook platform.

"These changes intentionally reduced engagement and revenue in the near term, although we believe they'll help us build a stronger community and business over the long term," Zuckerberg said.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Friday the world's biggest social network has "fundamentally" changed to focus on securing its systems against manipulation and misinformation.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg said Friday the world's biggest social network has "fundamentally" changed to focus on securing its systems against manipulation and misinformation. Capping a tumultuous year marked by data protection scandals and government probes, Zuckerberg said he was "proud of the progress we've made" in addressing Facebook's problems. "For 2018, my personal challenge has been to focus on addressing some of the most important issues facing our community — whether that's preventing election interference, stopping the spread of hate speech and misinformation, making sure people have control of their information, and ensuring our services improve people's well-being," he wrote on his Facebook page. "We're a very different company today than we were in 2016, or even a year ago. We've fundamentally altered our DNA to focus more on preventing harm in all our services, and we've systematically shifted a large portion of our company to work on preventing harm." He said Facebook now has more than 30,000 people "working on safety" and invests billions of dollars in security. Zuckerberg's comments come at the close of a year when Facebook was roiled by revelations about the misuse of personal data by the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica in the 2016 US election and on data sharing with business partners. But he said the questions around Facebook are "more than a one-year challenge" and that the California giant was in the process of "multi-year plans to overhaul our systems." "In the past, we didn't focus as much on these issues as we needed to, but we're now much more proactive," he said. The comments follow a message from Zuckerberg in January, before many of Facebook's troubles emerged when he outlined his goals of stemming abuse and hate and foreign interference, among other things, on the network used by more than two billion people. "My personal challenge for 2018 is to focus on fixing these important issues," Zuckerberg said in January. In Friday's message, Zuckerberg enumerated a series of steps taken over the past year, including fact-checking partnerships, advertising transparency and artificial intelligence to remove harmful content. He added that Facebook's systems were also being retooled with the aim of helping "improve people's well-being," based on research conducted. The research, he said, "found that when people use the internet to interact with others, that's associated with all the positive aspects of well-being... But when you just use the internet to consume content passively, that's not associated with those same positive effects." One of the changes aims to reduce "viral videos" that are shared across the Facebook platform. "These changes intentionally reduced engagement and revenue in the near term, although we believe they'll help us build a stronger community and business over the long term," Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg sees 'progress' for Facebook after tumultuous year

US midterm elections 2018: Key faces of the campaign

As the US midterm election enters the final stretch, many races are too close to call but most polls have Democrats seizing control of the House of Representatives and Republicans clinging on to the Senate.

President Donald Trump is ratcheting up the rhetoric and campaigning furiously as he seeks to hold on to the Republican majorities in the two chambers of Congress.

All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs on Tuesday while 35 seats in the 100-member Senate are at stake. Americans will vote for governor in 36 states.

Republicans have a slim 51-49 hold on the Senate, where Democrats have a tough hill to climb with 26 Democratic seats on the ballot and only nine Republican seats.

Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to take control of the House they lost in 2010 and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi boldly predicted this week they would do so.

"Democrats will carry the House," Pelosi said on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," while also forecasting victory in the Senate.

Political forecasting outlet FiveThirtyEight.com gives Democrats a 6 in 7, or 85 per cent, chance of gaining control of the House but only a 1 in 7, or 15 per cent, chance of winning the Senate.

As election day approaches and with turnout a major factor, Trump has sought to drive Republicans to the polls and rekindle the enthusiasm of his 2016 upset presidential bid.

"I'm not on the ticket, but I am on the ticket because this is also a referendum about me," he said at a rally last month in Mississippi. "Pretend I'm on the ballot."

Anti-immigration rhetoric

Trump has scheduled 10 campaign rallies over the next five days in eight states -- Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

Trump has dialed up the rhetoric on immigration, issuing dire warnings about caravans of Central American migrants heading to the US southern border.

Claiming the caravans include "very bad thugs and gang members," Trump has ordered 5,000 active-duty troops to the border and said he is considering sending up to 15,000.

Trump also posted a political ad on his Twitter account on Wednesday which shows a Mexican man boasting about killing police officers and includes the caption "Democrats let him into the country."

Democrats accused the president of seeking to inflame his supporters with racist anti-immigration appeals.

"This is fear mongering," Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told CNN. "This has been Donald Trump's playbook for so long."

Control of the Senate will come down to a handful of races, in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, according to political analysts.

Tight Senate races

In Arizona, two women -- Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Representative Martha McSally, a former air force fighter pilot -- are battling to replace Senator Jeff Flake, a Trump critic who is not running for reelection. 538.com currently gives Sinema a slight edge.

In Florida, incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson is involved in a tough reelection battle with Republican governor Rick Scott. 538.com has Nelson with a small lead.

In Missouri, 538.com gives incumbent Democratic Senator Clare McCaskill a 3-in-5 chance of holding off a stiff challenge from 38-year-old state attorney general Josh Hawley.

In other closely watched races, Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota is trailing in most polls and incumbent Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada is locked in a dead heat with Democratic challenger Jacky Rosen.

In reliably Republican Texas, Senator Ted Cruz is facing a surprisingly competitive challenge from rising Democratic star Beto O'Rourke but most polls give the edge to the Republican incumbent.

Two races for governor have drawn widespread attention.

In Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams, former minority leader in the state House of Representatives, is seeking to become the first black woman to become governor of a US state.

And in Florida, the African-American mayor of Tallahassee, Andrew Gillum, is in a bitter battle with a Trump acolyte, Republican Representative Ron DeSantis.

As the US midterm election enters the final stretch, many races are too close to call but most polls have Democrats seizing control of the House of Representatives and Republicans clinging on to the Senate.

As the US midterm election enters the final stretch, many races are too close to call but most polls have Democrats seizing control of the House of Representatives and Republicans clinging on to the Senate. President Donald Trump is ratcheting up the rhetoric and campaigning furiously as he seeks to hold on to the Republican majorities in the two chambers of Congress. All 435 seats in the House are up for grabs on Tuesday while 35 seats in the 100-member Senate are at stake. Americans will vote for governor in 36 states. Republicans have a slim 51-49 hold on the Senate, where Democrats have a tough hill to climb with 26 Democratic seats on the ballot and only nine Republican seats. Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to take control of the House they lost in 2010 and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi boldly predicted this week they would do so. "Democrats will carry the House," Pelosi said on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert," while also forecasting victory in the Senate. Political forecasting outlet FiveThirtyEight.com gives Democrats a 6 in 7, or 85 per cent, chance of gaining control of the House but only a 1 in 7, or 15 per cent, chance of winning the Senate. As election day approaches and with turnout a major factor, Trump has sought to drive Republicans to the polls and rekindle the enthusiasm of his 2016 upset presidential bid. "I'm not on the ticket, but I am on the ticket because this is also a referendum about me," he said at a rally last month in Mississippi. "Pretend I'm on the ballot." Anti-immigration rhetoric Trump has scheduled 10 campaign rallies over the next five days in eight states -- Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia. Trump has dialed up the rhetoric on immigration, issuing dire warnings about caravans of Central American migrants heading to the US southern border. Claiming the caravans include "very bad thugs and gang members," Trump has ordered 5,000 active-duty troops to the border and said he is considering sending up to 15,000. Trump also posted a political ad on his Twitter account on Wednesday which shows a Mexican man boasting about killing police officers and includes the caption "Democrats let him into the country." Democrats accused the president of seeking to inflame his supporters with racist anti-immigration appeals. "This is fear mongering," Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told CNN. "This has been Donald Trump's playbook for so long." Control of the Senate will come down to a handful of races, in Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia, according to political analysts. Tight Senate races In Arizona, two women -- Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Representative Martha McSally, a former air force fighter pilot -- are battling to replace Senator Jeff Flake, a Trump critic who is not running for reelection. 538.com currently gives Sinema a slight edge. In Florida, incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson is involved in a tough reelection battle with Republican governor Rick Scott. 538.com has Nelson with a small lead. In Missouri, 538.com gives incumbent Democratic Senator Clare McCaskill a 3-in-5 chance of holding off a stiff challenge from 38-year-old state attorney general Josh Hawley. In other closely watched races, Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota is trailing in most polls and incumbent Republican Senator Dean Heller of Nevada is locked in a dead heat with Democratic challenger Jacky Rosen. In reliably Republican Texas, Senator Ted Cruz is facing a surprisingly competitive challenge from rising Democratic star Beto O'Rourke but most polls give the edge to the Republican incumbent. Two races for governor have drawn widespread attention. In Georgia, Democrat Stacey Abrams, former minority leader in the state House of Representatives, is seeking to become the first black woman to become governor of a US state. And in Florida, the African-American mayor of Tallahassee, Andrew Gillum, is in a bitter battle with a Trump acolyte, Republican Representative Ron DeSantis.

US midterm polls 2018: Democrats favoured to take House, Republicans to hold Senate

When Donald Trump met with advisers about his plans for campaign appearances in the final weeks for the battle for control of the US Congress, the president surprised them by insisting they add more events to an already-crowded schedule.

His strategy for the final stretch has been simple: Drive Republican turnout by focusing on an issue that appeals to his core supporters - illegal immigration - using as a foil a large group of Central American migrants making their way slowly through Mexico towards the US border.

And he aimed to keep talking about how Democrats tried to block Brett Kavanaugh from ascending to the US Supreme Court, plus economic gains in the country under his watch.

"This will be the election of the Kavanaughs and the caravans and law and order and tax cuts," Trump told a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 26.

Trump's desire to focus on red-meat issues was rattled by two shocking cases of political violence as he ploughed into an eight-state blitz ahead of Tuesday's congressional elections.

Non-stop cable TV coverage of pipe bombs mailed to prominent political opponents of Trump and of a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue upended his goal of dominating the news. And the freewheeling format of his rallies can complicate the White House`s efforts at delivering a carefully crafted closing message to voters ahead of the elections.&nbsp;

Trump has had to divert from his usual stump speeches and make a rare appeal for political unity, even as he is accused of stoking divisions with his scathing attacks on key Democratic figures and figures in the US news media.

Given the media's focus on the twin calamities, Trump and his aides are struggling to keep up the momentum ahead of the November 6 vote, which will determine whether Trump`s fellow Republicans retain majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Trump upped the ante on Tuesday, saying he would issue an executive order curtailing so-called "birthright citizenship" to try to prevent babies born to undocumented immigrants from being automatically American citizens.

Such an order would immediately be challenged in federal court as unconstitutional, and some of Trump's network of outside advisers worried the president was creating an unnecessary distraction.

"The president is making a mistake when he’s trying to roll out a new immigration policy that is undeniably going to be stopped in the federal courts," said one Trump confidant, who asked not to be identified.

The White House countered criticism of Trump`s proposal by saying there is a wider need for reforms. "We have massive loopholes in our immigration system that we have to close," spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Fox News.

'Huge crowd'

Opinion polls indicate that Democrats have a good chance of making the net gain of 23 seats they need to win control of the House, but are less likely to capture a majority in the Senate.

Trump's final blitz of campaigning includes 11 rallies in eight states, mostly focused on US Senate races. They include two stops in Florida, two in Missouri and visits to West Virginia, Indiana, Montana, Georgia, Tennessee and Ohio - all states Trump won in the 2016 presidential election.

"These are places where data and polling information tells us that the president is of best use. He doesn’t go to places that are sure-fire wins nor does he go to places that are sure fire-losses," said a Trump adviser.

Trump and his aides believe putting him in front of crowds will help convince voters who provided him with his upset victory in 2016 to turn out in a midterm election, when turnout is typically lower than in presidential years.

"These huge crowds - Donald Trump is still the only person who comes without a band, an instrument, a singing voice or a sermon to pack these houses," said senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who is retiring and who has been a steady critic of the president, said Trump should be using his microphone to unite, not divide Americans after the mailed pipe bombs and the killing of 11 people at the synagogue.

“These events are horrific enough, so we ought to try to make something good come from the tragedy. Something good would be to unify the country and moving away from this kind of rhetoric. That’s what he hasn’t done," the Arizona senator told Reuters in a telephone interview.

The White House said Trump will continue to draw a contrast with his Democratic opponents.

'Massive hole'

Trump aides acknowledge that holding onto the House is a challenging prospect, and say Republicans` goal this year is to minimise losses.&nbsp;

"The party in power usually loses many seats and there are 43 Republican retirements and I think that this a massive hole to dig out of," said Conway.

If Democrats take over the House, Trump`s administration will suddenly be exposed to congressional investigations that would weigh heavily on him for the next two years.

Major legislation would also likely fall to the wayside, such as his signature bid to build a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico to thwart illegal immigration.

But for Trump personally, there could be benefits.

A Democratic House would give him a target ahead of his 2020 re-election campaign and would probably prompt what some consider house-cleaning in the Republican hierarchy in Washington - changes that could usher in more Trump allies.

Perhaps preemptively seeking a silver lining, the Trump confidant struck a contrarian tone and said Republicans winning both chambers of Congress would be a negative for Trump "because there&nbsp;

When Donald Trump met with advisers about his plans for campaign appearances in the final weeks for the battle for control of the US Congress, the president surprised them by insisting they add more events to an already-crowded schedule.

When Donald Trump met with advisers about his plans for campaign appearances in the final weeks for the battle for control of the US Congress, the president surprised them by insisting they add more events to an already-crowded schedule. His strategy for the final stretch has been simple: Drive Republican turnout by focusing on an issue that appeals to his core supporters - illegal immigration - using as a foil a large group of Central American migrants making their way slowly through Mexico towards the US border. And he aimed to keep talking about how Democrats tried to block Brett Kavanaugh from ascending to the US Supreme Court, plus economic gains in the country under his watch. "This will be the election of the Kavanaughs and the caravans and law and order and tax cuts," Trump told a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 26. Trump's desire to focus on red-meat issues was rattled by two shocking cases of political violence as he ploughed into an eight-state blitz ahead of Tuesday's congressional elections. Non-stop cable TV coverage of pipe bombs mailed to prominent political opponents of Trump and of a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue upended his goal of dominating the news. And the freewheeling format of his rallies can complicate the White House`s efforts at delivering a carefully crafted closing message to voters ahead of the elections. Trump has had to divert from his usual stump speeches and make a rare appeal for political unity, even as he is accused of stoking divisions with his scathing attacks on key Democratic figures and figures in the US news media. Given the media's focus on the twin calamities, Trump and his aides are struggling to keep up the momentum ahead of the November 6 vote, which will determine whether Trump`s fellow Republicans retain majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives. Trump upped the ante on Tuesday, saying he would issue an executive order curtailing so-called "birthright citizenship" to try to prevent babies born to undocumented immigrants from being automatically American citizens. Such an order would immediately be challenged in federal court as unconstitutional, and some of Trump's network of outside advisers worried the president was creating an unnecessary distraction. "The president is making a mistake when he’s trying to roll out a new immigration policy that is undeniably going to be stopped in the federal courts," said one Trump confidant, who asked not to be identified. The White House countered criticism of Trump`s proposal by saying there is a wider need for reforms. "We have massive loopholes in our immigration system that we have to close," spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Fox News. 'Huge crowd' Opinion polls indicate that Democrats have a good chance of making the net gain of 23 seats they need to win control of the House, but are less likely to capture a majority in the Senate. Trump's final blitz of campaigning includes 11 rallies in eight states, mostly focused on US Senate races. They include two stops in Florida, two in Missouri and visits to West Virginia, Indiana, Montana, Georgia, Tennessee and Ohio - all states Trump won in the 2016 presidential election. "These are places where data and polling information tells us that the president is of best use. He doesn’t go to places that are sure-fire wins nor does he go to places that are sure fire-losses," said a Trump adviser. Trump and his aides believe putting him in front of crowds will help convince voters who provided him with his upset victory in 2016 to turn out in a midterm election, when turnout is typically lower than in presidential years. "These huge crowds - Donald Trump is still the only person who comes without a band, an instrument, a singing voice or a sermon to pack these houses," said senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, who is retiring and who has been a steady critic of the president, said Trump should be using his microphone to unite, not divide Americans after the mailed pipe bombs and the killing of 11 people at the synagogue. “These events are horrific enough, so we ought to try to make something good come from the tragedy. Something good would be to unify the country and moving away from this kind of rhetoric. That’s what he hasn’t done," the Arizona senator told Reuters in a telephone interview. The White House said Trump will continue to draw a contrast with his Democratic opponents. 'Massive hole' Trump aides acknowledge that holding onto the House is a challenging prospect, and say Republicans` goal this year is to minimise losses. "The party in power usually loses many seats and there are 43 Republican retirements and I think that this a massive hole to dig out of," said Conway. If Democrats take over the House, Trump`s administration will suddenly be exposed to congressional investigations that would weigh heavily on him for the next two years. Major legislation would also likely fall to the wayside, such as his signature bid to build a wall along the U.S. southern border with Mexico to thwart illegal immigration. But for Trump personally, there could be benefits. A Democratic House would give him a target ahead of his 2020 re-election campaign and would probably prompt what some consider house-cleaning in the Republican hierarchy in Washington - changes that could usher in more Trump allies. Perhaps preemptively seeking a silver lining, the Trump confidant struck a contrarian tone and said Republicans winning both chambers of Congress would be a negative for Trump "because there

US midterms: Trump's final campaign stretch rattled by twin calamities

Twitter Inc, which is reviewing Russian interference during the 2016 US&nbsp;elections, said on Friday it would notify some of its users if they come across content generated by a suspected Russian propaganda service.

The company said it would email 677,775 people in the United States who followed, retweeted or liked content from accounts linked with the Internet Research Agency (IRA) during the election.

The IRA is a Russian organization that according to lawmakers and researchers, employs hundreds of people to push pro-Kremlin content under anonymous social media accounts.

Twitter added that because it has already suspended these accounts, the relevant content is no longer publicly available on its platform.

The company in September said it had suspended about 200 Russian-linked accounts, and followed it by suspending adverts from media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik in October.

The top Democrat on the US&nbsp;House of Representatives intelligence committee on Friday praised Twitter&#39;s move and urged technology companies to keep looking into abuse of their platforms by Russia during the 2016 elections.

&quot;The Committee&rsquo;s open hearing last November with Twitter, Facebook and Google revealed the extent to which the Russians exploited vulnerabilities inherent in the openness of our society and social media platforms, and it is vital these companies are transparent with users who were likely exposed to Kremlin propaganda and disinformation,&quot; Representative Adam Schiff said in a statement.

Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel, echoed this view, tweeting: &quot;I&#39;ve been tough with Twitter on this, but I&#39;m encouraged to see the company beginning to take responsibility and notify its users of Russia&#39;s influence on its platform.&quot;

The company said it would email 677,775 people in the United States who followed, retweeted or liked content from accounts associated with the Internet Research Agency (IRA) during the election

Twitter Inc, which is reviewing Russian interference during the 2016 US elections, said on Friday it would notify some of its users if they come across content generated by a suspected Russian propaganda service. The company said it would email 677,775 people in the United States who followed, retweeted or liked content from accounts linked with the Internet Research Agency (IRA) during the election. The IRA is a Russian organization that according to lawmakers and researchers, employs hundreds of people to push pro-Kremlin content under anonymous social media accounts. Twitter added that because it has already suspended these accounts, the relevant content is no longer publicly available on its platform. The company in September said it had suspended about 200 Russian-linked accounts, and followed it by suspending adverts from media outlets Russia Today and Sputnik in October. The top Democrat on the US House of Representatives intelligence committee on Friday praised Twitter's move and urged technology companies to keep looking into abuse of their platforms by Russia during the 2016 elections. "The Committee’s open hearing last November with Twitter, Facebook and Google revealed the extent to which the Russians exploited vulnerabilities inherent in the openness of our society and social media platforms, and it is vital these companies are transparent with users who were likely exposed to Kremlin propaganda and disinformation," Representative Adam Schiff said in a statement. Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate intelligence panel, echoed this view, tweeting: "I've been tough with Twitter on this, but I'm encouraged to see the company beginning to take responsibility and notify its users of Russia's influence on its platform."

Twitter to notify users exposed to Russian propaganda during US elections

US President Donald Trump has said he believes the probe into Russian meddling in the US election &quot;makes the country look very bad,&quot; according to The New York Times.

Speaking to the newspaper yesterday, Trump said he believes special counsel Robert Mueller will treat him fairly -- a view in contrast with recent attacks on Mueller&#39;s credibility from Republicans, who have pressed for a new independent prosecutor to investigate anti-Trump bias.

&quot;It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position,&quot; Trump told the Times. &quot;So the sooner it&#39;s worked out, the better it is for the country.&quot;

The president added that he was not concerned about the ongoing investigation -- which his lawyers insisted would be finished by Thanksgiving -- as &quot;everybody knows&quot; there was no Russian collusion.

&quot;There&#39;s been no collusion. But I think he&#39;s going to be fair,&quot; Trump said of Mueller.

He repeated the allegations were invented by Democrats &quot;as a hoax, as a ruse, as an excuse for losing an election,&quot; the Times reported.

Trump also distanced himself from ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was indicted in October in the first legal action stemming from the investigation.

&quot;He worked for me for -- what was it, three and a half months&quot; he told the Times, mentioning Manafort&#39;s connections to other Republicans including John McCain and Ronald Reagan.

According to the newspaper, Trump added it was &quot;too bad&quot; that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from overseeing the probe -- pointing out that although he did not want to &quot;get into loyalty,&quot; Barack Obama&#39;s first attorney general, Eric Holder Jr, &quot;totally protected him.&quot;

Meanwhile, questioned on the re-opening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton&#39;s emails, Trump maintained focus on the collusion probe.

He told the Times that &quot;for purposes of hopefully thinking I&#39;m going to be treated fairly, I&#39;ve stayed uninvolved with this particular matter.&quot;&nbsp;

'It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position,' Trump said

US President Donald Trump has said he believes the probe into Russian meddling in the US election "makes the country look very bad," according to The New York Times. Speaking to the newspaper yesterday, Trump said he believes special counsel Robert Mueller will treat him fairly -- a view in contrast with recent attacks on Mueller's credibility from Republicans, who have pressed for a new independent prosecutor to investigate anti-Trump bias. "It makes the country look very bad, and it puts the country in a very bad position," Trump told the Times. "So the sooner it's worked out, the better it is for the country." The president added that he was not concerned about the ongoing investigation -- which his lawyers insisted would be finished by Thanksgiving -- as "everybody knows" there was no Russian collusion. "There's been no collusion. But I think he's going to be fair," Trump said of Mueller. He repeated the allegations were invented by Democrats "as a hoax, as a ruse, as an excuse for losing an election," the Times reported. Trump also distanced himself from ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was indicted in October in the first legal action stemming from the investigation. "He worked for me for -- what was it, three and a half months" he told the Times, mentioning Manafort's connections to other Republicans including John McCain and Ronald Reagan. According to the newspaper, Trump added it was "too bad" that Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from overseeing the probe -- pointing out that although he did not want to "get into loyalty," Barack Obama's first attorney general, Eric Holder Jr, "totally protected him." Meanwhile, questioned on the re-opening of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails, Trump maintained focus on the collusion probe. He told the Times that "for purposes of hopefully thinking I'm going to be treated fairly, I've stayed uninvolved with this particular matter."

Russia probe makes US 'look very bad': Trump

President Donald Trump insisted today he has no plans to fire special counsel Mueller, despite his team&#39;s recent attacks on the credibility of the probe into Russian meddling in the US election.

With the ex-FBI director&#39;s investigation making inroads into the president&#39;s inner circle in recent weeks, Republicans have sought to cast doubt on its impartiality and pressed for a new independent prosecutor to investigate anti-Trump bias.

This, in turn, has led to speculation that the administration could be laying the groundwork for firing Mueller.

But Trump shot down those rumors. Asked whether he was going to fire Mueller, the president told reporters: &quot;No, I&#39;m not.&quot;

In a letter to congressional committees, Trump campaign lawyer Kory Langhofer alleged the General Services Administration (GSA) &quot;unlawfully produced&quot; private materials, including privileged communications that Mueller then used as part of his Russia probe.

The GSA is the government agency that supports presidential transitions -- the interim period after a new president is elected but before he takes office.

Langhofer wrote that Mueller&#39;s office &quot;received from the GSA tens of thousands of emails, including a very significant volume of privileged material,&quot; according to a copy of the letter published by Politico. 
The letter added that a warrant should have been obtained for such materials, and said it violated the Presidential Transition Act.

Trump said &quot;my people are very upset about it,&quot; calling the development &quot;quite sad.&quot;

&quot;I can&#39;t imagine there&#39;s anything on them, frankly, because as we said, there&#39;s no collusion. There&#39;s no collusion whatsoever.&quot;

But Mueller&#39;s spokesman Peter Carr told CNN that emails were obtained for the probe after &quot;we have secured either the account owner&#39;s consent or appropriate criminal process.&quot;

Mueller was appointed after Trump abruptly fired then-FBI director James Comey, who was leading an agency probe into the Russia affair.

The president&#39;s Democratic foes have sought to characterize the allegations of illegality as an attempt to stymie the probe, which has already led to charges against Trump&#39;s former national security advisor Michael Flynn and three other people linked to the presidential campaign.

&quot;ABSOLUTE RED LINE: the firing of Bob Mueller or crippling the special counsel&#39;s office,&quot; tweeted Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under Trump&#39;s predecessor Barack Obama.

&quot;If removed or meaningfully tampered with, there must be mass, popular, peaceful support of both. The American people must be seen and heard - they will ultimately be determinative.&quot;

Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell said: &quot;This is another attempt to discredit Mueller as his #TrumpRussia probe tightens.&quot;

Republicans asked the US Justice Department on Wednesday to name a new independent prosecutor to probe alleged bias in the FBI.

The special counsel&#39;s critics have seized upon the case of Peter Strzok, a senior FBI agent whom Mueller removed from his team for sending text messages critical of Trump.

In addition to whether Trump&#39;s campaign team colluded with Russia to help him win last year&#39;s election, the special counsel is also looking at possible obstruction of justice linked to Trump&#39;s firing of Comey.

Trump did so in May and later acknowledged he had the Russia probe in mind when he sacked him.

Comey, for his part, wrote a memo alleging Trump had asked him to drop his investigation into Flynn, an act which some say could constitute obstruction of justice and thus grounds for seeking Trump&#39;s impeachment.

But the Justice Department&#39;s number two, Rod Rosenstein, insisted this week that the investigation was impartial and free from any political influence.

Trump has repeatedly denied claims of &quot;collusion&quot; with Russia, and denounced the &quot;witch hunt&quot; against him.&nbsp;

With the ex-FBI director's investigation making inroads into the president's inner circle in recent weeks, Republicans have sought to cast doubt on its impartiality and pressed for a new independent prosecutor to investigate anti-Trump bias.

President Donald Trump insisted today he has no plans to fire special counsel Mueller, despite his team's recent attacks on the credibility of the probe into Russian meddling in the US election. With the ex-FBI director's investigation making inroads into the president's inner circle in recent weeks, Republicans have sought to cast doubt on its impartiality and pressed for a new independent prosecutor to investigate anti-Trump bias. This, in turn, has led to speculation that the administration could be laying the groundwork for firing Mueller. But Trump shot down those rumors. Asked whether he was going to fire Mueller, the president told reporters: "No, I'm not." In a letter to congressional committees, Trump campaign lawyer Kory Langhofer alleged the General Services Administration (GSA) "unlawfully produced" private materials, including privileged communications that Mueller then used as part of his Russia probe. The GSA is the government agency that supports presidential transitions -- the interim period after a new president is elected but before he takes office. Langhofer wrote that Mueller's office "received from the GSA tens of thousands of emails, including a very significant volume of privileged material," according to a copy of the letter published by Politico. The letter added that a warrant should have been obtained for such materials, and said it violated the Presidential Transition Act. Trump said "my people are very upset about it," calling the development "quite sad." "I can't imagine there's anything on them, frankly, because as we said, there's no collusion. There's no collusion whatsoever." But Mueller's spokesman Peter Carr told CNN that emails were obtained for the probe after "we have secured either the account owner's consent or appropriate criminal process." Mueller was appointed after Trump abruptly fired then-FBI director James Comey, who was leading an agency probe into the Russia affair. The president's Democratic foes have sought to characterize the allegations of illegality as an attempt to stymie the probe, which has already led to charges against Trump's former national security advisor Michael Flynn and three other people linked to the presidential campaign. "ABSOLUTE RED LINE: the firing of Bob Mueller or crippling the special counsel's office," tweeted Eric Holder, who served as attorney general under Trump's predecessor Barack Obama. "If removed or meaningfully tampered with, there must be mass, popular, peaceful support of both. The American people must be seen and heard - they will ultimately be determinative." Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell said: "This is another attempt to discredit Mueller as his #TrumpRussia probe tightens." Republicans asked the US Justice Department on Wednesday to name a new independent prosecutor to probe alleged bias in the FBI. The special counsel's critics have seized upon the case of Peter Strzok, a senior FBI agent whom Mueller removed from his team for sending text messages critical of Trump. In addition to whether Trump's campaign team colluded with Russia to help him win last year's election, the special counsel is also looking at possible obstruction of justice linked to Trump's firing of Comey. Trump did so in May and later acknowledged he had the Russia probe in mind when he sacked him. Comey, for his part, wrote a memo alleging Trump had asked him to drop his investigation into Flynn, an act which some say could constitute obstruction of justice and thus grounds for seeking Trump's impeachment. But the Justice Department's number two, Rod Rosenstein, insisted this week that the investigation was impartial and free from any political influence. Trump has repeatedly denied claims of "collusion" with Russia, and denounced the "witch hunt" against him.

Trump says he won't fire Russia meddling probe chief

US President Donald Trump, known for his prolific and sometimes incendiary tweeting, defended his use of the social media platform in an interview aired Sunday, saying without it he might not be president.

&quot;I have friends that say &#39;Oh, don&rsquo;t use social media,&quot; the Republican leader - who boasts 40.9 million Twitter followers and tweets everything from policy announcements to personal attacks to threats against foreign nations - told the Fox News program Sunday Morning Futures.

&quot;But I doubt I would be here if it weren&#39;t for social media, to be honest with you.&quot;

&quot;Tweeting is like a typewriter,&quot; he said. &quot;When I put it out, you put it immediately on your show.&quot;

&quot;I mean, the other day I put something out. Two seconds later I`m watching your show - it is up.&quot;

Leaders from across the political spectrum have repeatedly urged Trump to rein in his frequent and controversial tweeting, which sometimes contains factual inaccuracies and has provoked ire among adversaries and allies on both the domestic and international levels.

On Thursday, former secretary of state John Kerry slammed the president&#39;s Twitter use for creating a destructive atmosphere of &quot;chaos politics.&quot;

But Trump emphasised that by using Twitter, as well as the platforms Facebook and Instagram, he can bypass media outlets that he says treat him &quot;unfairly.&quot;

&quot;When somebody says something about me, I&rsquo;m able to take care of it,&quot; he said. &quot;The other way I wouldn`t be able to get the word out.&quot;

The president also gave himself a pat on the back for the art of his posts, which often contain grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and misused punctuation.

&quot;They&rsquo;re well-crafted,&quot; he said of his tweets. &quot;I was always a good student.&quot;

"Tweeting is like a typewriter," he said. "When I put it out, you put it immediately on your show."

US President Donald Trump, known for his prolific and sometimes incendiary tweeting, defended his use of the social media platform in an interview aired Sunday, saying without it he might not be president. "I have friends that say 'Oh, don’t use social media," the Republican leader - who boasts 40.9 million Twitter followers and tweets everything from policy announcements to personal attacks to threats against foreign nations - told the Fox News program Sunday Morning Futures. "But I doubt I would be here if it weren't for social media, to be honest with you." "Tweeting is like a typewriter," he said. "When I put it out, you put it immediately on your show." "I mean, the other day I put something out. Two seconds later I`m watching your show - it is up." Leaders from across the political spectrum have repeatedly urged Trump to rein in his frequent and controversial tweeting, which sometimes contains factual inaccuracies and has provoked ire among adversaries and allies on both the domestic and international levels. On Thursday, former secretary of state John Kerry slammed the president's Twitter use for creating a destructive atmosphere of "chaos politics." But Trump emphasised that by using Twitter, as well as the platforms Facebook and Instagram, he can bypass media outlets that he says treat him "unfairly." "When somebody says something about me, I’m able to take care of it," he said. "The other way I wouldn`t be able to get the word out." The president also gave himself a pat on the back for the art of his posts, which often contain grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and misused punctuation. "They’re well-crafted," he said of his tweets. "I was always a good student."

Donald Trump touts Twitter use as key to White House win

Google has discovered Russian operatives spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads on its YouTube, Gmail and Google Search products in an effort to meddle in the 2016 US&nbsp;presidential election, a person briefed on the company&#39;s probe told Reuters on Monday.

The ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated entity that bought ads on Facebook Inc, but may indicate a broader Russian online disinformation effort, according to the source, who was not authorized to discuss details of Google&#39;s confidential investigation.

The revelation is likely to fuel further scrutiny of the role that Silicon Valley technology giants may have unwittingly played during last year&#39;s election. US&nbsp;intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow&#39;s goal was to help elect Donald Trump.

Google has uncovered less than $100,000 in ad spending potentially linked to Russian actors, the source said.

Both Twitter Inc and Facebook recently detected and disclosed that suspected Russian operatives, working for a content farm known as the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, Russia, used their platforms to purchase ads and post content that was politically divisive in a bid to influence Americans before and after the November 2016 presidential election.

The Internet Research Agency employ hundreds of so-called &quot;trolls&quot; who post pro-Kremlin content, much of it fake or discredited, under the guise of phony social media accounts that posed as American or European, according to lawmakers and researchers.

Facebook announced last month it had unearthed $100,000 in spending by the Internet Research Agency and, under pressure from lawmakers, has pledged to be more transparent about how its ads are purchased and targeted.

Google&#39;s review had been more robust than ones undertaken so far by Facebook or Twitter, the source said.

Russia&#39;s ad purchases were first reported by the Washington Post.

Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, did not deny the story, and in a statement pointed to its existing ad policies that limit political ad targeting and prohibit targeting based on race or religion.

&quot;We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems, working with researchers and other companies, and will provide assistance to ongoing inquiries,&quot; a Google spokeswoman said on Monday.

Google runs the world&#39;s largest online advertising business and YouTube is the world&#39;s largest online video site.

Congressional committees have launched multiple investigations into the Russian interference. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have said Russia intended to sow discord in the United States, spread propaganda and sway the election.

Google officials have been invited to testify publicly about Russian attempts to use their platforms to influence the election before both the House and Senate intelligence committees on Nov. 1 alongside Facebook and Twitter. While Facebook and Twitter have confirmed plans to attend, Google has not.

The revelation is likely to fuel further scrutiny of the role that Silicon Valley technology giants may have unwittingly played during last year's US election.

Google has discovered Russian operatives spent tens of thousands of dollars on ads on its YouTube, Gmail and Google Search products in an effort to meddle in the 2016 US presidential election, a person briefed on the company's probe told Reuters on Monday. The ads do not appear to be from the same Kremlin-affiliated entity that bought ads on Facebook Inc, but may indicate a broader Russian online disinformation effort, according to the source, who was not authorized to discuss details of Google's confidential investigation. The revelation is likely to fuel further scrutiny of the role that Silicon Valley technology giants may have unwittingly played during last year's election. US intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow's goal was to help elect Donald Trump. Google has uncovered less than $100,000 in ad spending potentially linked to Russian actors, the source said. Both Twitter Inc and Facebook recently detected and disclosed that suspected Russian operatives, working for a content farm known as the Internet Research Agency in St. Petersburg, Russia, used their platforms to purchase ads and post content that was politically divisive in a bid to influence Americans before and after the November 2016 presidential election. The Internet Research Agency employ hundreds of so-called "trolls" who post pro-Kremlin content, much of it fake or discredited, under the guise of phony social media accounts that posed as American or European, according to lawmakers and researchers. Facebook announced last month it had unearthed $100,000 in spending by the Internet Research Agency and, under pressure from lawmakers, has pledged to be more transparent about how its ads are purchased and targeted. Google's review had been more robust than ones undertaken so far by Facebook or Twitter, the source said. Russia's ad purchases were first reported by the Washington Post. Google, owned by Alphabet Inc, did not deny the story, and in a statement pointed to its existing ad policies that limit political ad targeting and prohibit targeting based on race or religion. "We are taking a deeper look to investigate attempts to abuse our systems, working with researchers and other companies, and will provide assistance to ongoing inquiries," a Google spokeswoman said on Monday. Google runs the world's largest online advertising business and YouTube is the world's largest online video site. Congressional committees have launched multiple investigations into the Russian interference. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have said Russia intended to sow discord in the United States, spread propaganda and sway the election. Google officials have been invited to testify publicly about Russian attempts to use their platforms to influence the election before both the House and Senate intelligence committees on Nov. 1 alongside Facebook and Twitter. While Facebook and Twitter have confirmed plans to attend, Google has not.

Google uncovered Russia-backed ads on YouTube, Gmail: Report

President Donald Trump called his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., a &quot;high-quality person&quot; on Tuesday after disclosures about the latter&#39;s meeting last year with a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have information incriminating Trump&#39;s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

&quot;My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency,&quot; Trump said in a brief statement read to reporters by White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.

Sanders told reporters that all other questions on the matter should be referred to either his son&#39;s lawyer or the president&#39;s outside counsel.

Earlier on Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. posted on Twitter a chain of emails between himself and Rob Goldstone, a publicist who helped to arrange the June 9, 2016, meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, who says she is a private lawyer and denies having Kremlin ties.

&quot;If it&#39;s what you say I love it especially later in the summer,&quot; Trump Jr. replied in the email exchange after Goldstone said the information offered was &quot;part of Russia and its government&#39;s support for Mr. Trump.&quot;

The disclosures could provide ammunition for U.S. investigators probing whether there was collusion between the Kremlin and Trump&rsquo;s Republican presidential campaign. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow sought to hurt Clinton and help Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Sanders said Trump was &quot;frustrated&quot; by the focus on Russia.

&quot;The president is, I would say, frustrated with the process of the fact that this continues to be an issue, and he would love for us to be focused on things like ... the economy, on healthcare, on tax reform, on infrastructure,&quot; Sanders said.

Asked about the fact that the words &quot;perjury&quot; and &quot;treason&quot; were now being used in the public conversation about the Trump campaign&#39;s contacts with Russians, Sanders said, &quot;I think those new words are ridiculous.&quot;

Donald Trump Jr. posted on Twitter a chain of emails between himself and Rob Goldstone, a publicist who helped to arrange the June 9, 2016, meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya

President Donald Trump called his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., a "high-quality person" on Tuesday after disclosures about the latter's meeting last year with a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have information incriminating Trump's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. "My son is a high-quality person and I applaud his transparency," Trump said in a brief statement read to reporters by White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. Sanders told reporters that all other questions on the matter should be referred to either his son's lawyer or the president's outside counsel. Earlier on Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. posted on Twitter a chain of emails between himself and Rob Goldstone, a publicist who helped to arrange the June 9, 2016, meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya, who says she is a private lawyer and denies having Kremlin ties. "If it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer," Trump Jr. replied in the email exchange after Goldstone said the information offered was "part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump." The disclosures could provide ammunition for U.S. investigators probing whether there was collusion between the Kremlin and Trump’s Republican presidential campaign. U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that Moscow sought to hurt Clinton and help Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Sanders said Trump was "frustrated" by the focus on Russia. "The president is, I would say, frustrated with the process of the fact that this continues to be an issue, and he would love for us to be focused on things like ... the economy, on healthcare, on tax reform, on infrastructure," Sanders said. Asked about the fact that the words "perjury" and "treason" were now being used in the public conversation about the Trump campaign's contacts with Russians, Sanders said, "I think those new words are ridiculous."

Trump calls son 'high-quality person', 'applauds' his 'transparency'

Russian hackers targeted 21 US states&#39; election systems in last year&#39;s presidential race, a Department of Homeland Security official told Congress on Wednesday.

Jeanette Manfra, the department&#39;s acting deputy undersecretary of cyber security, would not identify which states had been targeted, citing confidentiality agreements. She reiterated that there was no evidence that any actual votes were manipulated.

&quot;As of right now, we have evidence that election-related systems in 21 states were targeted,&quot; Manfra told the Senate Intelligence Committee, which investigating Russia&#39;s meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Systems were breached in a smaller number of states, she said, but did not give a specific figure.

Department officials had said about 20 states had been probed by hackers working on behalf of the Russian government, but recent news media reports had suggested the number could have been far higher.

Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate panel, expressed frustration at Manfra&#39;s refusal to identify which states had been targeted.

&quot;I just fundamentally disagree,&quot; he said.

Warner on Tuesday sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly asking the agency to disclose more information about hacking attempts on state and local election systems.

Arizona and Illinois last year confirmed that hackers had targeted their voter registration systems.

US&nbsp;intelligence agencies concluded that the Kremlin orchestrated a wide-ranging influence operation that included email hacking and online propaganda in order to discredit Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump, a Republican, win the White House.

Manfra and other officials testifying on Wednesday reiterated that US&nbsp;elections are resilient to hacking in part because they are decentralized and largely operated on the state and local level. 
Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats, expressed skepticism at that assertion, saying only a small amount of votes in key battleground states would need to be altered to tip the scales of an election.

&quot;A sophisticated actor could hack an election simply by focusing on certain counties,&quot; King said. &quot;I don&#39;t think it works just to say it&rsquo;s a big system and diversity will protect us.&quot;

Russia has repeatedly denied responsibility for any cyber attacks during the US presidential election. Trump has inconsistently said Russia may or may not have been responsible for the hacking but has dismissed allegations that his associates colluded with Moscow as &quot;fake news.&quot; 
&nbsp;

The official did not identify the states but said there was no evidence that any actual votes were manipulated

Russian hackers targeted 21 US states' election systems in last year's presidential race, a Department of Homeland Security official told Congress on Wednesday. Jeanette Manfra, the department's acting deputy undersecretary of cyber security, would not identify which states had been targeted, citing confidentiality agreements. She reiterated that there was no evidence that any actual votes were manipulated. "As of right now, we have evidence that election-related systems in 21 states were targeted," Manfra told the Senate Intelligence Committee, which investigating Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Systems were breached in a smaller number of states, she said, but did not give a specific figure. Department officials had said about 20 states had been probed by hackers working on behalf of the Russian government, but recent news media reports had suggested the number could have been far higher. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate panel, expressed frustration at Manfra's refusal to identify which states had been targeted. "I just fundamentally disagree," he said. Warner on Tuesday sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly asking the agency to disclose more information about hacking attempts on state and local election systems. Arizona and Illinois last year confirmed that hackers had targeted their voter registration systems. US intelligence agencies concluded that the Kremlin orchestrated a wide-ranging influence operation that included email hacking and online propaganda in order to discredit Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump, a Republican, win the White House. Manfra and other officials testifying on Wednesday reiterated that US elections are resilient to hacking in part because they are decentralized and largely operated on the state and local level. Senator Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats, expressed skepticism at that assertion, saying only a small amount of votes in key battleground states would need to be altered to tip the scales of an election. "A sophisticated actor could hack an election simply by focusing on certain counties," King said. "I don't think it works just to say it’s a big system and diversity will protect us." Russia has repeatedly denied responsibility for any cyber attacks during the US presidential election. Trump has inconsistently said Russia may or may not have been responsible for the hacking but has dismissed allegations that his associates colluded with Moscow as "fake news."

Russian hackers targeted 21 US states during election: US official

President Donald Trump&#39;s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has discussed with congressional committees giving testimony in their investigations of potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, his lawyer said on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal, citing officials with knowledge of the matter, reported on Thursday that Flynn had sought immunity from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the House and Senate intelligence panels in exchange for his testimony. The newspaper said he had so far found no takers.

The House of Representatives panel denied the Journal report. &quot;Michael Flynn has not offered to testify to HPSCI in exchange for immunity,&quot; committee spokesman Jack Langer said in a statement.

The FBI declined to comment. The Senate committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Flynn was fired in February as national security adviser for failing to disclose talks with Russia&#39;s ambassador about US&nbsp;sanctions on Moscow. The talks occurred before Trump took office in January.

Flynn&#39;s lawyer, Robert Kelner, confirmed in a statement that his client had held discussions with the House and Senate intelligence committees. His statement did not mention the FBI.

He said Flynn &quot;is now the target of unsubstantiated public demands by Members of Congress and other political critics that he be criminally investigated.&quot;

Kelner said Flynn would not &quot;submit to questioning in such a highly politicised, witch hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution.&quot;The FBI and the House and Senate intelligence committees are investigating allegations that Russians hacked Democratic Party computers and publicly disclosed the information in a bid to tip the November presidential election in favour of Trump, whose views were seen as more in line with the Moscow&#39;s.

They are also looking into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russians.

Read Kelner&#39;s full statement below:

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Gen. Mike Flynn want to testify and &quot;has a story to tell&quot; per his attorney&#39;s statement, but he wants immunity now to do it. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FlynnFlipped?src=hash">#FlynnFlipped</a> <a href="https://t.co/29FuW6fI3y">pic.twitter.com/29FuW6fI3y</a>
&mdash; Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) <a href="https://twitter.com/girlsreallyrule/status/847617322114195458">March 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Independent Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN he could not confirm the Journal report, but &quot;if that turns out to be the case, that&#39;s a significant development I believe because it indicates that he has something important to say&rdquo;.

In September, Flynn commented on immunity on NBC&#39;s &quot;Meet the Press&quot; regarding Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her team under FBI investigation into her use of a private email server.

&quot;When you are given immunity, that means you have probably committed a crime,&quot; Flynn had said. Before the 2016 US election, at Trump rallies Flynn repeatedly led &quot;lock&nbsp;her up&quot; chants&nbsp;about Hillary Clinton.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WeBdI0ciLQk" width="560"></iframe>

In the above clip Flynn says, &quot;If I had done a tenth of what she [Clinton] did, I would be in jail today&quot;.

In October 2016, Flynn continued to characterise the Clinton email scandal, which cleared her of any wrongdoing, as &quot;high crime&quot; and &quot;far bigger than Watergate&quot;.

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThrowbackThursday?src=hash">#ThrowbackThursday</a>: Gen. Mike Flynn in October... <a href="https://t.co/CvytW5BiiR">pic.twitter.com/CvytW5BiiR</a>
&mdash; Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) <a href="https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/847654926356430849">March 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The Associated Press reports that in the weeks after his&nbsp;resignation, Flynn and his business registered with the Justice Department as foreign agents for $530,000 worth of lobbying work that could have benefited the Turkish government.

The lobbying had occurred while Flynn was a top Trump campaign adviser. The Turkish businessman who hired Flynn, Ekim Alptekin, has told the Associated Press&nbsp;that Flynn&#39;s firm registered under pressure from the Justice Department.

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

Flynn resigned after he got caught lying, even to the vice president, about discussing anti-Kremlin sanctions with Russia's ambassador

President Donald Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, has discussed with congressional committees giving testimony in their investigations of potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, his lawyer said on Thursday. The Wall Street Journal, citing officials with knowledge of the matter, reported on Thursday that Flynn had sought immunity from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the House and Senate intelligence panels in exchange for his testimony. The newspaper said he had so far found no takers. The House of Representatives panel denied the Journal report. "Michael Flynn has not offered to testify to HPSCI in exchange for immunity," committee spokesman Jack Langer said in a statement. The FBI declined to comment. The Senate committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Flynn was fired in February as national security adviser for failing to disclose talks with Russia's ambassador about US sanctions on Moscow. The talks occurred before Trump took office in January. Flynn's lawyer, Robert Kelner, confirmed in a statement that his client had held discussions with the House and Senate intelligence committees. His statement did not mention the FBI. He said Flynn "is now the target of unsubstantiated public demands by Members of Congress and other political critics that he be criminally investigated." Kelner said Flynn would not "submit to questioning in such a highly politicised, witch hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution."The FBI and the House and Senate intelligence committees are investigating allegations that Russians hacked Democratic Party computers and publicly disclosed the information in a bid to tip the November presidential election in favour of Trump, whose views were seen as more in line with the Moscow's. They are also looking into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russians. Read Kelner's full statement below: Gen. Mike Flynn want to testify and "has a story to tell" per his attorney's statement, but he wants immunity now to do it. #FlynnFlipped pic.twitter.com/29FuW6fI3y — Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) March 31, 2017 × Independent Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN he could not confirm the Journal report, but "if that turns out to be the case, that's a significant development I believe because it indicates that he has something important to say”. In September, Flynn commented on immunity on NBC's "Meet the Press" regarding Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her team under FBI investigation into her use of a private email server. "When you are given immunity, that means you have probably committed a crime," Flynn had said. Before the 2016 US election, at Trump rallies Flynn repeatedly led "lock her up" chants about Hillary Clinton. In the above clip Flynn says, "If I had done a tenth of what she [Clinton] did, I would be in jail today". In October 2016, Flynn continued to characterise the Clinton email scandal, which cleared her of any wrongdoing, as "high crime" and "far bigger than Watergate". #ThrowbackThursday: Gen. Mike Flynn in October... pic.twitter.com/CvytW5BiiR — Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) March 31, 2017 × The Associated Press reports that in the weeks after his resignation, Flynn and his business registered with the Justice Department as foreign agents for $530,000 worth of lobbying work that could have benefited the Turkish government. The lobbying had occurred while Flynn was a top Trump campaign adviser. The Turkish businessman who hired Flynn, Ekim Alptekin, has told the Associated Press that Flynn's firm registered under pressure from the Justice Department. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Trump's ex-National Security Chief Flynn talking to Congress about testifying in Russia probe: Lawyer

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

*****WORK IN PROGRESS, for the love of god do not publish yet***********************

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

There is much&nbsp;confusion, even in newsrooms, about just what constitutes Fake News. WION is not the&nbsp;first outlet to write about it, but I experienced the phenomenon first-hand.&nbsp;My story is illustrative of the&nbsp;real&nbsp;fake news.

Unsurprisingly,&nbsp;Twitter was unusually electric in the days leading up to the November 8, 2016 US election. That&#39;s to be expected. But with hindsight we know something was indeed very very wrong.

I had a small taste of what&nbsp;US intelligence agencies say was Russia advancing&nbsp;Trump&#39;s&nbsp;election campaign&nbsp;by&nbsp;putting&nbsp;forth a &quot;co-ordinated multifaceted cyber campaign&quot;.

An anonymous account supporting--the avatar wore a MAGA (Make America Great Again) hate, atop a Pepe frog--began harassing me, making Nazi jokes and asking &quot;triggered, liberal?&quot;&nbsp;

To this question I said, &quot;No not really&quot;, or something to that effect.

While I myself wasn&#39;t profoundly bothered by this stuff, I sent a complaint to Twitter, thinking comments about gas chamber jokes had no place on Twitter.

Twitter did nothing. But that isn&#39;t even what&#39;s noteworthy. After the election, the account disappeared!

I wouldn&#39;t have thought too much of it: It was only one account, perhaps the account had just been deleted

Only when a fellow journalist described blocking hundreds, if not thousands of such accounts, and having them all disappear immediately after the election did it occur to me that this is what happened to me.

It wasn&#39;t unreasonable to assume that Trump, who did indeed win millions of votes, had a lage presence on social media. Believing Trump supporters would make Nazi jokes was also, let&#39;s say, not difficult to believe.&nbsp;This was the point.

Countless fake accounts were designed to appear like&nbsp;real people. These accounts&nbsp;intimidated journalists and shared news stories favourable to Donald Trump. They had names like &quot;Moms for Trump&quot;, &quot;Vets for Trump&quot;, &quot;Deplorable for...&quot; and the like.

This is being investigated right now by the FBI in the investigation of President Trump himself. What effect this had on the US election this had is hard to say, but there were six Trump bots for every Clinton one (and none of Clintons had geolocations from Russia or any other hostile country).

&nbsp;

Breitbart, Infowars

Some of the stories these bots linked to were preposterous&nbsp;lies, like the Democrats rape and kill children in the basement of a Washington pizza parlour. This is the most flagrant kind of Fake News--a fake person spreading outrageous lies.&nbsp;

Stories from Breitbart and Infowars, while false, do not meet this criteria of Fake News. They twisted facts to reach a distorted narrative. But it must be said, these bots spread many stories from these sites, and the FBI is investigating both sites for their involvement&nbsp;

It may very well be that these sites produce stories that are simply untrue, or grossly so. It&#39;s possible that&nbsp;they were connected to the Trump-Russia world of Fake News, but that remains to be seen.

But it&#39;s important that Fake News as a concept does not conflated with other forms of dishonest journalism.

&nbsp;

Disingenuous news, while fake, is not the same as Fake News

If a reporter makes up a quote, or even a story, that is fraud, but there is an important distinction between this and the wider phenomeonon of Fake News.&nbsp;

One disingenous reporter making up stories&nbsp;inside an otherwise real news outlet is pernicious, but poses a different&nbsp;threat. In some ways the threat is greater and smaller. On the one hand, they benefit from operating within a respectable establishment, and for being taken more seriously for it. Once they are exposed, the normal newsroom will fire them immediately. The fraud is a&nbsp;threat&nbsp;to the real newsroom.

In the case of Fake News, the newsroom&nbsp;is&nbsp;the fraud. Remember, it&#39;s a metaphorical newsroom. The stories about Clinton and Podesta being killers and rapists were pumped out from Macedonia by frauds who deliberatey pumped out false stories to discredit people for money.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

because they are operating within a system that does have real fact-checking, that will&nbsp;

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Breitbart and Infowars under investigation for ties to Russia: report <a href="https://t.co/EVokfwL7RE">https://t.co/EVokfwL7RE</a> <a href="https://t.co/lmBBUBr6vl">pic.twitter.com/lmBBUBr6vl</a>
&mdash; Raw Story (@RawStory) <a href="https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/844013056837541888">March 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Bad journalism should not be conflated with Fake News, and the people confusing the issue are usually the source of the Fake News itself

*****WORK IN PROGRESS, for the love of god do not publish yet*********************** There is much confusion, even in newsrooms, about just what constitutes Fake News. WION is not the first outlet to write about it, but I experienced the phenomenon first-hand. My story is illustrative of the real fake news. Unsurprisingly, Twitter was unusually electric in the days leading up to the November 8, 2016 US election. That's to be expected. But with hindsight we know something was indeed very very wrong. I had a small taste of what US intelligence agencies say was Russia advancing Trump's election campaign by putting forth a "co-ordinated multifaceted cyber campaign". An anonymous account supporting--the avatar wore a MAGA (Make America Great Again) hate, atop a Pepe frog--began harassing me, making Nazi jokes and asking "triggered, liberal?" To this question I said, "No not really", or something to that effect. While I myself wasn't profoundly bothered by this stuff, I sent a complaint to Twitter, thinking comments about gas chamber jokes had no place on Twitter. Twitter did nothing. But that isn't even what's noteworthy. After the election, the account disappeared! I wouldn't have thought too much of it: It was only one account, perhaps the account had just been deleted Only when a fellow journalist described blocking hundreds, if not thousands of such accounts, and having them all disappear immediately after the election did it occur to me that this is what happened to me. It wasn't unreasonable to assume that Trump, who did indeed win millions of votes, had a lage presence on social media. Believing Trump supporters would make Nazi jokes was also, let's say, not difficult to believe. This was the point. Countless fake accounts were designed to appear like real people. These accounts intimidated journalists and shared news stories favourable to Donald Trump. They had names like "Moms for Trump", "Vets for Trump", "Deplorable for..." and the like. This is being investigated right now by the FBI in the investigation of President Trump himself. What effect this had on the US election this had is hard to say, but there were six Trump bots for every Clinton one (and none of Clintons had geolocations from Russia or any other hostile country). Breitbart, Infowars Some of the stories these bots linked to were preposterous lies, like the Democrats rape and kill children in the basement of a Washington pizza parlour. This is the most flagrant kind of Fake News--a fake person spreading outrageous lies. Stories from Breitbart and Infowars, while false, do not meet this criteria of Fake News. They twisted facts to reach a distorted narrative. But it must be said, these bots spread many stories from these sites, and the FBI is investigating both sites for their involvement It may very well be that these sites produce stories that are simply untrue, or grossly so. It's possible that they were connected to the Trump-Russia world of Fake News, but that remains to be seen. But it's important that Fake News as a concept does not conflated with other forms of dishonest journalism. Disingenuous news, while fake, is not the same as Fake News If a reporter makes up a quote, or even a story, that is fraud, but there is an important distinction between this and the wider phenomeonon of Fake News. One disingenous reporter making up stories inside an otherwise real news outlet is pernicious, but poses a different threat. In some ways the threat is greater and smaller. On the one hand, they benefit from operating within a respectable establishment, and for being taken more seriously for it. Once they are exposed, the normal newsroom will fire them immediately. The fraud is a threat to the real newsroom. In the case of Fake News, the newsroom is the fraud. Remember, it's a metaphorical newsroom. The stories about Clinton and Podesta being killers and rapists were pumped out from Macedonia by frauds who deliberatey pumped out false stories to discredit people for money. because they are operating within a system that does have real fact-checking, that will Breitbart and Infowars under investigation for ties to Russia: report https://t.co/EVokfwL7RE pic.twitter.com/lmBBUBr6vl — Raw Story (@RawStory) March 21, 2017 ×

Fake News: What it's really about---work in progess, don't publish yet!!

A Russian bank regularly pinged a server registered to the Trump Organisation based in New York, a cybersecurity firm told Slate &mdash;&nbsp;an allegation that has been denied by&nbsp;presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The Slate report stated that there was &quot;a sustained relationship between a server registered to the Trump Organization and two servers registered to an entity called Alfa-Bank&quot;, a private bank based out of Russia.

Trump&nbsp;campaign press secretary Hope Hicks said it was not a secret server and had been set up for marketing purposes. He insisted that the server had not been used since 2010.&nbsp;

&ldquo;To be clear, The Trump Organization is not sending or receiving any communications from this email server,&rdquo; Hicks said.&nbsp;

&quot;The Trump Organization has no communication or relationship with this entity or any Russian entity,&quot; he maintained.

Slate published the report after speaking to several unnamed domain name system (DNS) specialists and a series of experts on the subject.

The report said that in late July, a DNS specialist going by the name of Tea Leaves found communication emanating from Russia.&nbsp;

Initially, Tea Leaves thought that it was Russian malware but later noticed that a bank from Russia &quot;kept irregularly pinging a server registered to the Trump Organization on Fifth Avenue&quot;.&nbsp;

When the cyber expert chose to dig further with some of his peers, they found that the server&nbsp;was &quot;first registered to Trump&rsquo;s business in 2009 and was set up to run consumer marketing campaigns&quot;.

However, the traffic on the server was so miniscule that it would be unfeasible for a company to keep the server active, Tea Leaves said.

These allegations are set to pour fuel to fire about Trump&#39;s closeness to Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.

The Slate report came hours before the FBI said they had found no link between Trump and the Russian government.

FBI sleuths also dismissed the Slate report, saying that the cyber experts were simply trying to &quot;disrupt&quot; the US election, New York Times quoted unnamed officials as saying.

(WION)&nbsp;

&nbsp;

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A Slate report had stated that there was 'a sustained relationship' between servers connecting Trump Organization and Alfa-Bank

A Russian bank regularly pinged a server registered to the Trump Organisation based in New York, a cybersecurity firm told Slate — an allegation that has been denied by presidential nominee Donald Trump. The Slate report stated that there was "a sustained relationship between a server registered to the Trump Organization and two servers registered to an entity called Alfa-Bank", a private bank based out of Russia. Trump campaign press secretary Hope Hicks said it was not a secret server and had been set up for marketing purposes. He insisted that the server had not been used since 2010. “To be clear, The Trump Organization is not sending or receiving any communications from this email server,” Hicks said. "The Trump Organization has no communication or relationship with this entity or any Russian entity," he maintained. Slate published the report after speaking to several unnamed domain name system (DNS) specialists and a series of experts on the subject. The report said that in late July, a DNS specialist going by the name of Tea Leaves found communication emanating from Russia. Initially, Tea Leaves thought that it was Russian malware but later noticed that a bank from Russia "kept irregularly pinging a server registered to the Trump Organization on Fifth Avenue". When the cyber expert chose to dig further with some of his peers, they found that the server was "first registered to Trump’s business in 2009 and was set up to run consumer marketing campaigns". However, the traffic on the server was so miniscule that it would be unfeasible for a company to keep the server active, Tea Leaves said. These allegations are set to pour fuel to fire about Trump's closeness to Russia and its president Vladimir Putin. The Slate report came hours before the FBI said they had found no link between Trump and the Russian government. FBI sleuths also dismissed the Slate report, saying that the cyber experts were simply trying to "disrupt" the US election, New York Times quoted unnamed officials as saying. (WION)

US election: Trump denies secret server linked to Russia

Throughout the 2016 US&nbsp;election, Donald Trump has fawned over Vladimir Putin, but has repeatedly denied knowing him personally. But in 2013, Trump was filmed admitting that he does &quot;have&nbsp;a relationship&quot; with Vladimir Putin&nbsp;

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Trump caught in a HUGE lie on his relationship with Putin. 
 
Watch &amp; share this before the Electoral College votes tomorrow (Monday). <a href="https://t.co/GVBnvSMVdO">pic.twitter.com/GVBnvSMVdO</a>
&mdash; Shaun King (@ShaunKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/810521154809106432">December 18, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Donald Trump has brazenly&nbsp;refused to&nbsp;release his tax returns, falsely saying that an&nbsp;audit he was under&nbsp;prevented him from doing so. Then his son Donald Trump Jr, an official Trump Team member, gave the real reason--that releasing his tax returns would subject <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/9/15/12928146/donald-trump-jr-tax-returns">them to public scrutiny. </a>
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Trump&nbsp;is the first&nbsp;presidential candidate in about 40 years to refuse this basic step&nbsp;towards transparency. Trump has also refused to divest himself from his private businesses before taking on the role of President, saying the business will be kept in the family--that is, it will be&nbsp;run by his&nbsp;children, who have already sat in on official meetings with <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/11/16/donald-trump-denies-seeking-security-clearance-for-children/9RuJmL53gRnTgvWwn92WFK/story.html">national</a><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/politics/ivanka-trump-shinzo-abe.html">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/11/16/donald-trump-denies-seeking-security-clearance-for-children/9RuJmL53gRnTgvWwn92WFK/story.html">leaders&nbsp;</a>and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.geektime.com/2016/12/14/guess-who-decided-to-join-trumps-tech-meeting-his-children/">global tech giants</a>.

The prospect of Trump&nbsp;being hopelessly enmeshed in a series of&nbsp;conflict of interests, and even the fear that his presidency will be unconstitutional from his first day in office, are all too real fears. But because of Trump&#39;s secrecy and because this is all so unprecedented, it&#39;s hard to sort it out precisely.

But the fears grow each time&nbsp;more public revelations link&nbsp;Trump, and the people in his administration,&nbsp;to Russia.

&nbsp;

A small sampling of Trump&#39;s Russian connections:

Today it was<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/trumps-state-secretary-pick-directed-us-russian-oil-company-leak-reveals-10303"> reported that</a> Trump&#39;s selection for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was once the director of a US-Russian oil company, and personally received rewards from Vladimir Putin. The Guardian reports that Tillerson is &quot;close&quot;&nbsp;to Igor Sechin, a hardliner ex-KGB member who heads Russia&#39;s state oil company, Rosneft. Tillerson also has no political experience whatsoever.

Two major US intelligence agencies and the White House have stated&nbsp;explicitly that they believe&nbsp;Russian hackers intervened in the US election in order to&nbsp;favour Trump, and that this was personally approved by Vladmir Putin.

Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager, quit&nbsp;during the election after evidence emerged that&nbsp;he lobbied for pro-Russian Ukrainian leader&nbsp;Viktor Yanukovych. Manafort initially denied the charge, which he called&nbsp;political propaganda.&nbsp;<a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/291680-report-manafort-helped-ukraine-party-pay-us-lobbyists">Other reports</a> claim Manafort funnelled money so pro-Russian interests could secret lobby Washington without making their influence known.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/fbi-making-inquiry-ex-trump-campaign-manager-s-foreign-ties-n675881">NBC reported</a> in August that Manafort was a key player in multi-million dollar business deals between Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs, one of them for a close Putin ally with alleged ties to organised crime.

Donald Trump&#39;s son Donald&nbsp;Jr--&nbsp;who has no experience in politics but was reportedly seeking White House security clearance--told a real estate conference in 2008, &quot;Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets...We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia&quot;. The Washington Post published this quote, attributing it to an account of the conference published on the website of&nbsp;a trade publication,&nbsp;eTurboNews.

While the FBI and CIA are investigating&nbsp;the links between Donald Trump and Russia, the <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/electoral-college-voters-wont-receive-intel-briefings-about-russian-election-interference-before-vote-10256">Electoral College will not be briefed </a>by these American intelligence agencies before voting on whether or not to make Trump the president Monday.

There will be information connecting&nbsp;Trump to&nbsp;Russia that they, and we, do not know.

(WION)
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A day before the Electoral College votes for US president, critics fear Trump's deep, numerous and secret connections to Russia

Throughout the 2016 US election, Donald Trump has fawned over Vladimir Putin, but has repeatedly denied knowing him personally. But in 2013, Trump was filmed admitting that he does "have a relationship" with Vladimir Putin Trump caught in a HUGE lie on his relationship with Putin. Watch & share this before the Electoral College votes tomorrow (Monday). pic.twitter.com/GVBnvSMVdO — Shaun King (@ShaunKing) December 18, 2016 × Donald Trump has brazenly refused to release his tax returns, falsely saying that an audit he was under prevented him from doing so. Then his son Donald Trump Jr, an official Trump Team member, gave the real reason--that releasing his tax returns would subject them to public scrutiny. Trump is the first presidential candidate in about 40 years to refuse this basic step towards transparency. Trump has also refused to divest himself from his private businesses before taking on the role of President, saying the business will be kept in the family--that is, it will be run by his children, who have already sat in on official meetings with national leaders and global tech giants. The prospect of Trump being hopelessly enmeshed in a series of conflict of interests, and even the fear that his presidency will be unconstitutional from his first day in office, are all too real fears. But because of Trump's secrecy and because this is all so unprecedented, it's hard to sort it out precisely. But the fears grow each time more public revelations link Trump, and the people in his administration, to Russia. A small sampling of Trump's Russian connections: Today it was reported that Trump's selection for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, was once the director of a US-Russian oil company, and personally received rewards from Vladimir Putin. The Guardian reports that Tillerson is "close" to Igor Sechin, a hardliner ex-KGB member who heads Russia's state oil company, Rosneft. Tillerson also has no political experience whatsoever. Two major US intelligence agencies and the White House have stated explicitly that they believe Russian hackers intervened in the US election in order to favour Trump, and that this was personally approved by Vladmir Putin. Paul Manafort, a former Trump campaign manager, quit during the election after evidence emerged that he lobbied for pro-Russian Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovych. Manafort initially denied the charge, which he called political propaganda. Other reports claim Manafort funnelled money so pro-Russian interests could secret lobby Washington without making their influence known. NBC reported in August that Manafort was a key player in multi-million dollar business deals between Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs, one of them for a close Putin ally with alleged ties to organised crime. Donald Trump's son Donald Jr-- who has no experience in politics but was reportedly seeking White House security clearance--told a real estate conference in 2008, "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets...We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia". The Washington Post published this quote, attributing it to an account of the conference published on the website of a trade publication, eTurboNews. While the FBI and CIA are investigating the links between Donald Trump and Russia, the Electoral College will not be briefed by these American intelligence agencies before voting on whether or not to make Trump the president Monday. There will be information connecting Trump to Russia that they, and we, do not know. (WION)

Watch: Video shows Trump lying, admits he has a 'relationship' with Vladimir Putin

Electoral College electors will not receive any intelligence briefing concerning Russian interference in the 2016 US election, says the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Friday, CNN reports.

The intelligence community said it will not discuss the Russian hacks until a review ordered by Obama is completed in January, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coming-soon-real-presidential-election-n696556">NBC </a>reports.&nbsp;

US intelligence agencies said as far back as October 7 they were &quot;confident&quot; Russia was involved in efforts to hack information related to the election, and Obama himself suggested&nbsp;Friday, in his last press conference of the year, that Putin&nbsp;was responsible for meddling in the US election. &quot;Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin...this happened at the highest levels of the Russian government,&quot; he said.

&nbsp;

In the US election, citizens actually vote for the Electoral College voters, who then usually select the presidential candidate their state favoured. But with Trump winning the election despite&nbsp;losing the popular vote by millions, this year presents controversy.

Earlier this month, a group of electors for Clinton called for a briefing ahead of the vote in an open letter to Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, CNN reports.

They sought information on &quot;whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of these investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations,&quot; CNN reports.

&nbsp;

On Monday, CNN reported&nbsp;that Clinton&#39;s campaign manager, John Podesta, backed the electors seeking to be briefed on the question of foreign interventions, the closst Podesta and anyone from the Clinton camp came to calling into question the legitimacy of Trump&#39;s presidency.

Podesta said in a statement: &quot;We believe that the administration owes it to the American people to explain what it knows regarding the extent and manner of Russia&#39;s interference and this be done as soon as possible.

&nbsp;

Will the Electoral College&nbsp;not&nbsp;vote Trump?

While a total of 29 US states have laws that require the electors to cast their votes for whichever candidate won that state&#39;s popular vote,&nbsp;the penalties for not doing so are weak.

Christopher Suprun, a paramedic from Texas, said he will vote against Trump despite the result of&nbsp;his&nbsp;state&#39;s election. &quot;Donald Trump lacks the foreign policy experience and demeanor needed to be a commander in chief,&quot; he wrote in a New York Times op-ed, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/coming-soon-real-presidential-election-n696556">NBC reports.</a>

Also from Texas is elector&nbsp;Art Sisneros, who resigned in November, saying a vote for Trump &quot;would bring dishonour to God,&#39;&quot; NBC quotes him as saying,

However, Republicans say that party lawyers have contacted 306 Republican electors, and they believe only a few may vote for someone other than Trump, NBC reports. An Associated Press survey, which interviewed 330 of the 538 electors, found &quot;widespread Democratic aggravation with the electoral process but little expectation that the hustle of anti-Trump maneuvering can derail him&quot;.

(WION)

On Monday the Electoral College will almost certainly vote to make Trump president, ignorant about his Russian connections

Electoral College electors will not receive any intelligence briefing concerning Russian interference in the 2016 US election, says the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on Friday, CNN reports. The intelligence community said it will not discuss the Russian hacks until a review ordered by Obama is completed in January, NBC reports. US intelligence agencies said as far back as October 7 they were "confident" Russia was involved in efforts to hack information related to the election, and Obama himself suggested Friday, in his last press conference of the year, that Putin was responsible for meddling in the US election. "Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin...this happened at the highest levels of the Russian government," he said. In the US election, citizens actually vote for the Electoral College voters, who then usually select the presidential candidate their state favoured. But with Trump winning the election despite losing the popular vote by millions, this year presents controversy. Earlier this month, a group of electors for Clinton called for a briefing ahead of the vote in an open letter to Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, CNN reports. They sought information on "whether there are ongoing investigations into ties between Donald Trump, his campaign or associates, and Russian government interference in the election, the scope of these investigations, how far those investigations may have reached, and who was involved in those investigations," CNN reports. On Monday, CNN reported that Clinton's campaign manager, John Podesta, backed the electors seeking to be briefed on the question of foreign interventions, the closst Podesta and anyone from the Clinton camp came to calling into question the legitimacy of Trump's presidency. Podesta said in a statement: "We believe that the administration owes it to the American people to explain what it knows regarding the extent and manner of Russia's interference and this be done as soon as possible. Will the Electoral College not vote Trump? While a total of 29 US states have laws that require the electors to cast their votes for whichever candidate won that state's popular vote, the penalties for not doing so are weak. Christopher Suprun, a paramedic from Texas, said he will vote against Trump despite the result of his state's election. "Donald Trump lacks the foreign policy experience and demeanor needed to be a commander in chief," he wrote in a New York Times op-ed, NBC reports. Also from Texas is elector Art Sisneros, who resigned in November, saying a vote for Trump "would bring dishonour to God,'" NBC quotes him as saying, However, Republicans say that party lawyers have contacted 306 Republican electors, and they believe only a few may vote for someone other than Trump, NBC reports. An Associated Press survey, which interviewed 330 of the 538 electors, found "widespread Democratic aggravation with the electoral process but little expectation that the hustle of anti-Trump maneuvering can derail him". (WION)

Electoral College voters won't receive intel briefings about Russian election interference before vote

President Barack Obama has alleged that Russia possibly under President Vladimir Putin&#39;s directions carried out cyberattacks during the US polls, as he urged his successor Donald Trump to ensure that the American election process is not under potential &quot;foreign influence&quot;. 
 
&quot;What I can tell you is that the intelligence that I&#39;ve seen gives me great confidence in their assessment that the Russians carried out this hack. Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin,&quot; Obama told reporters during a White House news conference, indicating Putin&#39;s involvement. 
 
&quot;They hacked into some Democratic Party e-mails that contained pretty routine stuff, some of it embarrassing or uncomfortable because I suspect that if any of us got our emails hacked into there might be some things that we would not want suddenly appearing on the front page of a newspaper or a telecast, even if there was not anything particularly illegal or controversial about it,&quot; he said yesterday. 
 
A worried Obama also lashed out at Russia for its alleged effort to influence the US election, saying the country does not produce anything and lacks innovation. 
 
&quot;We&#39;ve got to think what is happening to our political culture here. The Russians can&#39;t change us or significantly weaken us. They are a smaller country, they are a weaker country, their economy doesn&#39;t produce anything that anybody wants to buy except oil and gas and arms. They don&#39;t innovate,&quot; Obama said. 
 
Obama assured Americans that the ballot itself was not rigged and promised to &quot;send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us, because we can do stuff to you.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
&quot;But they can impact us if we lose track of who we are. 
 
They can impact us if we abandon our values. Putin can weaken us just like he&#39;s trying to weaken Europe if we start buying into notions that it&#39;s OK to intimidate the press, or lock up dissidents, or discriminate against people because of their faith or what they look like,&quot; he said. 
 
Terming it a &quot;pretty hierarchical operation&quot;, Obama said there was not a lot of debate and democratic deliberation, particularly when it comes to policies directed at the US. 
 
&quot;We have said and I will confirm that this happened at the highest levels of the Russian government and I will let you make that determination as to whether there are high-level Russian officials who go off rogue and decide to tamper with the US election process without Vladimir Putin knowing about it,&quot; he said. 
 
Obama said he had raised the issue when he met Putin recently in China. 
 
Obama also hopedhis successor Donald Trump will show equal concern to ensure that the American election process is not under a potential &quot;foreign influence&quot;. 
 
&quot;My hope is that the president-elect is going to similarly be concerned with making sure that we don&#39;t have a potential foreign influence in our election process. I don&#39;t think any American wants that. And that shouldn&#39;t be a source of an argument,&quot; Obama said. 
 
The US President also called for bipartisan unity on the issue.

(PTI)

Outgoing US President Barack Obama lashed out at Russia for its alleged effort to influence the US election

President Barack Obama has alleged that Russia possibly under President Vladimir Putin's directions carried out cyberattacks during the US polls, as he urged his successor Donald Trump to ensure that the American election process is not under potential "foreign influence". "What I can tell you is that the intelligence that I've seen gives me great confidence in their assessment that the Russians carried out this hack. Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin," Obama told reporters during a White House news conference, indicating Putin's involvement. "They hacked into some Democratic Party e-mails that contained pretty routine stuff, some of it embarrassing or uncomfortable because I suspect that if any of us got our emails hacked into there might be some things that we would not want suddenly appearing on the front page of a newspaper or a telecast, even if there was not anything particularly illegal or controversial about it," he said yesterday. A worried Obama also lashed out at Russia for its alleged effort to influence the US election, saying the country does not produce anything and lacks innovation. "We've got to think what is happening to our political culture here. The Russians can't change us or significantly weaken us. They are a smaller country, they are a weaker country, their economy doesn't produce anything that anybody wants to buy except oil and gas and arms. They don't innovate," Obama said. Obama assured Americans that the ballot itself was not rigged and promised to "send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us, because we can do stuff to you." "But they can impact us if we lose track of who we are. They can impact us if we abandon our values. Putin can weaken us just like he's trying to weaken Europe if we start buying into notions that it's OK to intimidate the press, or lock up dissidents, or discriminate against people because of their faith or what they look like," he said. Terming it a "pretty hierarchical operation", Obama said there was not a lot of debate and democratic deliberation, particularly when it comes to policies directed at the US. "We have said and I will confirm that this happened at the highest levels of the Russian government and I will let you make that determination as to whether there are high-level Russian officials who go off rogue and decide to tamper with the US election process without Vladimir Putin knowing about it," he said. Obama said he had raised the issue when he met Putin recently in China. Obama also hopedhis successor Donald Trump will show equal concern to ensure that the American election process is not under a potential "foreign influence". "My hope is that the president-elect is going to similarly be concerned with making sure that we don't have a potential foreign influence in our election process. I don't think any American wants that. And that shouldn't be a source of an argument," Obama said. The US President also called for bipartisan unity on the issue. (PTI)

US polls cyberattack orchestrated by Putin's Russia, Obama alleges

US President-elect Donald Trump has asked Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn to head his White House National Economic Council, a group that coordinates economic policy across agencies, NBC News reported on Friday.

Cohn, president and chief operating officer at the Wall Street firm, had been widely considered the heir apparent to Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein. If he goes, it may give rise to a new group of leaders at the bank, most of whom have spent more than 20 years of their careers there.

A Goldman Sachs spokesman was not immediately available for comment.

Cohn, 56, is a former Goldman commodities trader from Ohio who joined the firm in 1990. He served in a variety of leadership roles in bond trading, becoming co-head of Goldman&#39;s broader securities and eventually, co-president in 2006.

He makes frequent appearances at industry conferences and on television, speaking on the state of the financial markets.

If he takes the post, he will be following in the footsteps of Robert Rubin and Stephen Friedman, two other one-time Goldman Sachs executives who served in that role.

He would also be joining at least two other former Goldman executives who will also be serving in the Trump administration: Steven Mnuchin, nominated to head the Treasury Department, and Steve Bannon, picked to be chief strategist at the White House.

(Reuters)

Trump asked Gary Cohn to head his White House National Economic Council, a group that coordinates economic policy across agencies

US President-elect Donald Trump has asked Goldman Sachs executive Gary Cohn to head his White House National Economic Council, a group that coordinates economic policy across agencies, NBC News reported on Friday. Cohn, president and chief operating officer at the Wall Street firm, had been widely considered the heir apparent to Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein. If he goes, it may give rise to a new group of leaders at the bank, most of whom have spent more than 20 years of their careers there. A Goldman Sachs spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Cohn, 56, is a former Goldman commodities trader from Ohio who joined the firm in 1990. He served in a variety of leadership roles in bond trading, becoming co-head of Goldman's broader securities and eventually, co-president in 2006. He makes frequent appearances at industry conferences and on television, speaking on the state of the financial markets. If he takes the post, he will be following in the footsteps of Robert Rubin and Stephen Friedman, two other one-time Goldman Sachs executives who served in that role. He would also be joining at least two other former Goldman executives who will also be serving in the Trump administration: Steven Mnuchin, nominated to head the Treasury Department, and Steve Bannon, picked to be chief strategist at the White House. (Reuters)

Trump offers Goldman Sachs exec key economic post: NBC

A man&nbsp;was arrested&nbsp;Sunday after entering a pizzeria armed with an assault rifle, which he&nbsp;pointed&nbsp;at an employee and discharged&nbsp;inside the restaurant, DC police told&nbsp;the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2016/12/04/d-c-police-respond-to-report-of-a-man-with-a-gun-at-comet-ping-pong-restaurant/?postshare=3661480901316460&amp;tid=ss_tw&amp;utm_term=.068d9703213b">Washington Post</a>.

Police say&nbsp;28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, a local of&nbsp;Salisbury North Carolina,&nbsp;came&nbsp;to &quot;self-investigate&quot; the repeatedly debunked conspiracy theory&nbsp;known as &quot;pizzagate&quot;.

Nobody was injured in the incident, but in all the panic several businesses went into lockdown as police swarmed the neighbourhood at around 3 pm, the Washington Post reported.

The police say that Welch has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, the Washington Post reports.

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DC police: Comet Ping Pong suspect is Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, NC who said he came to investigate &quot;pizzagate.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/wbW9BMBBG3">pic.twitter.com/wbW9BMBBG3</a>
&mdash; Byron Tau (@ByronTau) <a href="https://twitter.com/ByronTau/status/805590075769815041">December 5, 2016</a></blockquote>
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&nbsp;

&quot;Pizzagate&quot;

The 2016 US election saw a burst of fake news stories. In one, high-ranking memebers of the Democratic Party&nbsp;were involved in a pedophilia ring that operated out of the basement of Comet Ping Pong, a family-friendly pizza restaurant in&nbsp;Washington DC.

One Comet Ping Pong&nbsp;employee speculated that Welch was looking for the so-called underground tunnels, where alt-right and pro-Trump conspiracy theorists on 4chan and Reddit expressed belief that the Democrats tortured children, the <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/04/fake-news-delivers-real-gunman-to-pizzeria-caught-up-in-alt-right-fake-news.html">Daily Beast </a>reports.

The conspiracy seized on John Podesta&#39;s leaked emails which apparently contained a &quot;pizza theme&quot;, which was taken to be a secret code with private meanings.&nbsp;

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The code names for pizzagate and the art of biljana Djiurdjevic. That&#39;s Tony podesta favorite artist <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pizzagate?src=hash">#pizzagate</a> <a href="https://t.co/pyesLdSfYq">pic.twitter.com/pyesLdSfYq</a>
&mdash; I pray for you (@bluemindsoul22) <a href="https://twitter.com/bluemindsoul22/status/800683347727024128">November 21, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Since the election, the restaurant&#39;s owner has received hate mail and death threats via text, social media and Facebook, reports the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/technology/fact-check-this-pizzeria-is-not-a-child-trafficking-site.html?_r=1">New York Times</a>. &nbsp;

Employees have had to quit the Comet Ping Pong in fear after their&nbsp;personal information was shared online, the Daily Beast reports. Reddit has since closed those groups, as per their policy of not sharing private information.

The fake news was sufficiently high-profile in early November that retired General Michael Flyyn, who Donald Trump has since selected to be his national security adviser,&nbsp;shared it on Twitter, asking readers to judge its veractiy for themselves.&nbsp;

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U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc...MUST READ! <a href="https://t.co/O0bVJT3QDr">https://t.co/O0bVJT3QDr</a>
&mdash; General Flynn (@GenFlynn) <a href="https://twitter.com/GenFlynn/status/794000841518776320">November 3, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Articles appeared on Facebook and on sites like The New Nationalist and The Vigilant Citizen, which ran headlines like, &quot;Pizzagate: How 4Chan Uncovered the Sick World of Washington&#39;s Occult Elite&quot;, the New York Times reported.

Various news outlets debunked the claim that an occult sex ring was operated by&nbsp;Clinton and other Democrats out of the&nbsp;pizzeria basement.&nbsp;

The owner, James Alefantis, told&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-38156985">BBC </a>Trending that the accusation is&nbsp;impossible&nbsp;for a very basic reason: &quot;We don&#39;t even have a basement.&quot;

(WION)

&nbsp;

Online conspiracies and fake news stories claimed Democrats ran a paedophilia ring and tortured children in the Comet Ping Pong basement

A man was arrested Sunday after entering a pizzeria armed with an assault rifle, which he pointed at an employee and discharged inside the restaurant, DC police told the Washington Post. Police say 28-year-old Edgar Maddison Welch, a local of Salisbury North Carolina, came to "self-investigate" the repeatedly debunked conspiracy theory known as "pizzagate". Nobody was injured in the incident, but in all the panic several businesses went into lockdown as police swarmed the neighbourhood at around 3 pm, the Washington Post reported. The police say that Welch has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, the Washington Post reports. DC police: Comet Ping Pong suspect is Edgar Maddison Welch of Salisbury, NC who said he came to investigate "pizzagate." pic.twitter.com/wbW9BMBBG3 — Byron Tau (@ByronTau) December 5, 2016 × "Pizzagate" The 2016 US election saw a burst of fake news stories. In one, high-ranking memebers of the Democratic Party were involved in a pedophilia ring that operated out of the basement of Comet Ping Pong, a family-friendly pizza restaurant in Washington DC. One Comet Ping Pong employee speculated that Welch was looking for the so-called underground tunnels, where alt-right and pro-Trump conspiracy theorists on 4chan and Reddit expressed belief that the Democrats tortured children, the Daily Beast reports. The conspiracy seized on John Podesta's leaked emails which apparently contained a "pizza theme", which was taken to be a secret code with private meanings. The code names for pizzagate and the art of biljana Djiurdjevic. That's Tony podesta favorite artist #pizzagate pic.twitter.com/pyesLdSfYq — I pray for you (@bluemindsoul22) November 21, 2016 × Since the election, the restaurant's owner has received hate mail and death threats via text, social media and Facebook, reports the New York Times. Employees have had to quit the Comet Ping Pong in fear after their personal information was shared online, the Daily Beast reports. Reddit has since closed those groups, as per their policy of not sharing private information. The fake news was sufficiently high-profile in early November that retired General Michael Flyyn, who Donald Trump has since selected to be his national security adviser, shared it on Twitter, asking readers to judge its veractiy for themselves. U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex Crimes w Children, etc...MUST READ! https://t.co/O0bVJT3QDr — General Flynn (@GenFlynn) November 3, 2016 × Articles appeared on Facebook and on sites like The New Nationalist and The Vigilant Citizen, which ran headlines like, "Pizzagate: How 4Chan Uncovered the Sick World of Washington's Occult Elite", the New York Times reported. Various news outlets debunked the claim that an occult sex ring was operated by Clinton and other Democrats out of the pizzeria basement. The owner, James Alefantis, told BBC Trending that the accusation is impossible for a very basic reason: "We don't even have a basement." (WION)

Man self-investigating fake news story about Democrat child sex ring fires shots inside US pizzeria

Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein dropped her efforts Saturday to request a vote recount in Pennsylvania, one of three battleground states won by Donald Trump where she is challenging the results.

&quot;Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means. They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the court,&quot; read a filing submitted in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

She later tweeted saying &quot;#Recount2016 is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system.&quot;

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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Recount2016?src=hash">#Recount2016</a> is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system.
&mdash; Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrJillStein/status/805215250266128384">December 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
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(AFP)

The counting was dropped because the petitioners cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the court

Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein dropped her efforts Saturday to request a vote recount in Pennsylvania, one of three battleground states won by Donald Trump where she is challenging the results. "Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means. They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the court," read a filing submitted in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. She later tweeted saying "#Recount2016 is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system." #Recount2016 is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system. — Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) December 4, 2016 × (AFP)

Jill Stein drops election recount bid in Pennsylvania

The 2016 US election shocked many, and its&nbsp;result will reverberate around the world for years. Whether the election result would be accepted was a topic in the weeks leading up to November 8, after Trump explicitly declared the election was rigged and, when pressed, he refused to say he would concede defeat if Clinton won. But now&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The 2016 American Presidential election was called close on November 8, but&nbsp;since then, Hillary Clinton&#39;s lead in the popular vote has grown everyday. Trump dominated&nbsp;the electoral college votes, surprassing the 270 needed to reach a total of 307. Trump&nbsp;won crucial swing states like Florida and North Carolina, and also surprised many by winning Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Trump, if he takes office on January 20th, will be only the fifth president in US history to enter office despite losing the popular vote. More, he last it by a large margin: As of December 2, Clinton earned the vote of 2.5&nbsp;million Americans than did Trump.

&nbsp;

Obama and Clinton didn't condemn the election result's integrity, but Trump has a weak mandate to lead and his win has murky elements

The 2016 US election shocked many, and its result will reverberate around the world for years. Whether the election result would be accepted was a topic in the weeks leading up to November 8, after Trump explicitly declared the election was rigged and, when pressed, he refused to say he would concede defeat if Clinton won. But now The 2016 American Presidential election was called close on November 8, but since then, Hillary Clinton's lead in the popular vote has grown everyday. Trump dominated the electoral college votes, surprassing the 270 needed to reach a total of 307. Trump won crucial swing states like Florida and North Carolina, and also surprised many by winning Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump, if he takes office on January 20th, will be only the fifth president in US history to enter office despite losing the popular vote. More, he last it by a large margin: As of December 2, Clinton earned the vote of 2.5 million Americans than did Trump.

2016 US Election: Trump won, but had less support than most recent presidential election losers

Facebook Inc, facing withering criticism for failing to stem a flood of phony news articles in the run-up to the US&nbsp;presidential election, is taking a series of steps to weed out hoaxes and other types of false information, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post Friday evening.

Facebook has long insisted that it is a technology company and not a publisher, and rejects the idea that it should be held responsible for the content that its users circulate on the platform. Just after the election, Zuckerberg said the notion that fake or misleading news on Facebook had helped swing the election to Donald Trump was a &quot;crazy idea.&quot;&nbsp;

Zuckerberg then said last Saturday that more than 99 per cent of what people see on Facebook is authentic, calling &quot;only a very small amount&quot; fake news and hoaxes.

But in his Friday posting Zuckerberg struck a decidedly different tone. He said Facebook has been working on the issue of misinformation for a long time, calling the problem complex both technically and philosophically.

&quot;While the percentage of misinformation is relatively small, we have much more work ahead on our roadmap,&quot; Zuckerberg said.

He outlined a series of steps that were already underway, including greater use of automation to &quot;detect what people will flag as false before they do it themselves.&quot;

He also said Facebook would make it easier to report false content, work with third-party verification organizations and journalists on fact-checking efforts, and explore posting warning labels on content that has been flagged as false. The company will also try to prevent fake-news providers from making money through its advertising system, as it had previously announced.&nbsp;

Zuckerberg said Facebook must be careful not to discourage sharing of opinions or mistakenly restricting accurate content. &quot;We do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves, but instead rely on our community and trusted third parties,&quot; he said.

Facebook historically has relied on users to report links as false and share links to myth-busting sites, including Snopes, to determine if it can confidently classify stories as misinformation, Zuckerberg said. The service has extensive &quot;community standards&quot; on what kinds of content are acceptable.

Facebook faced international outcry earlier this year after it removed an iconic Vietnam War photo due to nudity, a decision that was later reversed. The thorniest content issues are decided by a group of top executives at Facebook, and there have been extensive internal conversations at the company in recent months over content controversies, people familiar with the discussions say.

Among the fake news reports that circulated ahead of the U.S. election were reports erroneously alleging Pope Francis had endorsed Trump and that a federal agent who had been investigating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was found dead.

(Reuters)

The company has faced severe criticism from people who believe stories with false information on its website helped Trump win US election

Facebook Inc, facing withering criticism for failing to stem a flood of phony news articles in the run-up to the US presidential election, is taking a series of steps to weed out hoaxes and other types of false information, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post Friday evening. Facebook has long insisted that it is a technology company and not a publisher, and rejects the idea that it should be held responsible for the content that its users circulate on the platform. Just after the election, Zuckerberg said the notion that fake or misleading news on Facebook had helped swing the election to Donald Trump was a "crazy idea." Zuckerberg then said last Saturday that more than 99 per cent of what people see on Facebook is authentic, calling "only a very small amount" fake news and hoaxes. But in his Friday posting Zuckerberg struck a decidedly different tone. He said Facebook has been working on the issue of misinformation for a long time, calling the problem complex both technically and philosophically. "While the percentage of misinformation is relatively small, we have much more work ahead on our roadmap," Zuckerberg said. He outlined a series of steps that were already underway, including greater use of automation to "detect what people will flag as false before they do it themselves." He also said Facebook would make it easier to report false content, work with third-party verification organizations and journalists on fact-checking efforts, and explore posting warning labels on content that has been flagged as false. The company will also try to prevent fake-news providers from making money through its advertising system, as it had previously announced. Zuckerberg said Facebook must be careful not to discourage sharing of opinions or mistakenly restricting accurate content. "We do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves, but instead rely on our community and trusted third parties," he said. Facebook historically has relied on users to report links as false and share links to myth-busting sites, including Snopes, to determine if it can confidently classify stories as misinformation, Zuckerberg said. The service has extensive "community standards" on what kinds of content are acceptable. Facebook faced international outcry earlier this year after it removed an iconic Vietnam War photo due to nudity, a decision that was later reversed. The thorniest content issues are decided by a group of top executives at Facebook, and there have been extensive internal conversations at the company in recent months over content controversies, people familiar with the discussions say. Among the fake news reports that circulated ahead of the U.S. election were reports erroneously alleging Pope Francis had endorsed Trump and that a federal agent who had been investigating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton was found dead. (Reuters)

Facebook has work to do to weed out fake news: Zuckerberg

In an interview with CBS&#39;s 60 Minutes, US President-elect Donald Trump said he was &quot;saddened&quot; by reports of a surge in the the harassment of minorities since his election and told his supporters to &quot;stop it&quot;.&nbsp;

&quot;If it helps. I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it,&quot; he said.&nbsp;

But he did also criticise the protests, saying he had seen only &quot;a very small amount&quot; of racial slurs aimed at minorities.&nbsp;

&quot;I think it&#39;s built up by the press,&quot; he said.&nbsp;

&quot;I&#39;m going to bring this country together,&quot; he added.&nbsp;

The interview was his first since being elected President.

Fine with same-sex marriage

When asked if he would try and revoke same-sex marriage, Trump said, &quot;It&#39;s law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it&#39;s done.&quot;

&quot;And I&#39;m, I&#39;m fine with that,&quot; he added.

Trump told Americans protesting against him not to be afraid of his presidency.&nbsp;

&quot;Don&#39;t be afraid. We are going to bring our country back,&quot; he said.&nbsp;

At the same time he reassured loyalists with pro-gun and anti-abortion views, saying judges nominated to the Supreme Court under his watch would hold similar views.&nbsp;

And finally, he said he would adhere to his promise made during campaigning that he would not take the $400,000 the US President earns.&nbsp;

&quot;I&#39;m not going to take the salary. I&#39;m not taking it.&quot; He later added, &quot;I think I have to by law take $1, so I&#39;ll take $1 a year.&quot;

(WION with inputs from agencies)

He also criticised the protests against him, and said he had seen only 'a very small amount' of racial slurs aimed at minorities

In an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, US President-elect Donald Trump said he was "saddened" by reports of a surge in the the harassment of minorities since his election and told his supporters to "stop it". "If it helps. I will say this, and I will say right to the cameras: Stop it," he said. But he did also criticise the protests, saying he had seen only "a very small amount" of racial slurs aimed at minorities. "I think it's built up by the press," he said. "I'm going to bring this country together," he added. The interview was his first since being elected President. Fine with same-sex marriage When asked if he would try and revoke same-sex marriage, Trump said, "It's law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean it's done." "And I'm, I'm fine with that," he added. Trump told Americans protesting against him not to be afraid of his presidency. "Don't be afraid. We are going to bring our country back," he said. At the same time he reassured loyalists with pro-gun and anti-abortion views, saying judges nominated to the Supreme Court under his watch would hold similar views. And finally, he said he would adhere to his promise made during campaigning that he would not take the $400,000 the US President earns. "I'm not going to take the salary. I'm not taking it." He later added, "I think I have to by law take $1, so I'll take $1 a year." (WION with inputs from agencies)

Trump to supporters harassing minorities: 'Stop it'

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