Tesco freezes thousands of bank cards over fraud fears

Tesco Bank has frozen the bank cards of thousands of customers after a suspected attempted fraud.

Some customers tweeted that hundreds of pounds had disappeared from their accounts, with one saying the problems meant she would be "unable to feed my kids in school tomorrow".

Affected account holders will still be able pay for things via chip and pin and access services online, the bank said.

Customers who have lost money due to fraud will be refunded, it added.

"Yesterday our fraud prevention systems identified suspicious activity on a number of customer accounts," a Tesco Bank spokesman said. 

"As a precautionary measure these cards were immediately blocked to protect our customers and alerts sent to notify them.

"We are investigating this matter and if customers have any concerns we would encourage them to contact us directly."

However, many customers posting on the Tesco Bank website were angry with length of time they were kept waiting when they called.

"Now on my second attempt at contact by phone, 10 minutes was unacceptable but this time 54 minutes and counting is a serious failure and almost unbelievable," spidey500 wrote.

"Attempting to log any sort of complaint is virtually impossible despite the platitudes on the main website about making it easy to complain." 

Andyg wrote: "At least you now acknowledge there is a problem.

"I followed your instructions and after 3 hours was able to speak to someone ... who wasn't able to help and just took my name and phone number for someone to call back. No idea when that will be." 

Another customer, Inchindown, wrote: "Because of your failure to be open about this, I have moved all of the money in my tesco current account to another bank. It will remain there until you sort this out.

"If you still want me as a customer please sort this fast and start getting more information out so that customers can understand what's going on."

Tesco Bank has 7.8 million customer accounts.

Election could set America's moral tone for decades to come

The victor of one of the nastiest presidential campaigns in US history will set the moral tone of the country for decades to come.

Presidents like their values to live on well beyond their term in office, and one of the main ways they are able to do this is by ensuring those values are shared by those who interpret the law.  

Nowhere is this more evident than in who they choose to nominate to serve on the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court's decisions can - and do - have a profound impact on the direction of the nation, particularly on social matters.  

:: In the 1954 case of Brown v Board of Education it was the Supreme Court - not the president or Congress - which banned racially segregated schools and colleges.   

:: In the 1973 case of Roe v Wade it was the Supreme Court - not the president or Congress - which guarantee a woman's right to have an abortion.

Image Caption:The nine Supreme Court justices pictured before the death of Mr Scalia. 

:: In the 2015 case of Obergefell v Hodges it was the Supreme Court - not the president or Congress - which effectively legalised gay marriage across all 50 states.  

In the decades ahead it will be the Supreme Court - and not the president or Congress - which ultimately rules on the route America must take on other emotive issues like the death penalty and gun control.

Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will have more opportunity to influence the make up of the Supreme Court than any president in recent history.

Even the longest serving presidents usually only get to appoint one or two Supreme Court justices.  The next president may get to nominate three or four. 

There are usually nine Supreme Court justices - and there is already one vacancy which the next president will have to fill.  

In February 2016 Justice Antonin Scalia - one of the court's most conservative members - died in office. He was 79 - and had served on the court since his appointment by President Reagan in 1986.

Image Caption:Antonin Scalia died in February 2016 having served as a Supreme Court justice for 30 years

Although President Obama has nominated a moderate - Merrick Garland - as a potential replacement, the Republican controlled-Senate has so far refused to consider the nomination saying it should be left to the next president instead.  

In addition to the vacancy left by Justice Scalia's death, the next president may find themselves with additional vacancies to fill as a number of justices may soon have to consider retirement.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is 83. She is a liberal voice on the court - and was appointed in 1993 by President Bill Clinton during his first year in office.

Anthony Kennedy, who is 80, is currently the longest serving justice. He was appointed by President Reagan in 1988 - and is often the court's 'swing-vote'.

Stephen Breyer, another liberal voice who was also appointed by Bill Clinton, is 78. Clarence Thomas - a more conservative figure - was appointed by the first President Bush and turns 69 next year.

It is far from impossible, in fact it is quite likely, that some of them may choose to stand down within the next four years.

If their replacements are predominantly liberal that will lead to a very different America 50 years from now than it will if they are all conservatives.

What happens on 8 November won't just affect the country for the next four years. It's implications will be felt for decades to come.

Beyoncé and Jay Z Headline Rally for Hillary Clinton in Ohio

Beyoncé made a highly anticipated appearance with husband Jay Z at a concert in Cleveland for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on Friday—a rally aimed at encouraging millennials to vote in the final days of the presidential campaign.

The rally in the crucial swing state also included rappers Big Sean, J. Cole and Chance the Rapper, as Clinton’s campaign seeks more support from black voters, whose turnout is currently down in many states compared to 2008 and 2012.

Beyoncé—whose backup dancers wore blue pantsuits, a signature of Clinton’s, with shirts that read “I’m with her”—tied Clinton’s candidacy to the history of women’s suffrage.

“There was a time when a woman’s opinion did not matter. If you were black, white, Mexican, Asian, Muslim, educated, poor or rich — if you were a woman, it did not matter,” Beyoncé said.

“Less than 100 years ago, women did not have the right to vote. Look how far we’ve come from having no voice to being on the brink of making history, again, by electing the first woman president. But we have to vote.”

Both Jay Z and Beyoncé spoke about their daughter and her future as they urged the crowd to vote.

“This other guy—I don’t have any ill will toward him, but his conversation is divisive and that’s not an evolved soul to me, so he cannot be my president,” Jay Z said. “He cannot be our president.”

Clinton took the stage and praised Jay Z for addressing through music “some of our biggest challenges in the country: poverty, racism, the urgent need for criminal justice reform,” while she thanked Beyoncé for being “an inspiration to so many others.”

“This is what America is, my friends,” Clinton said.

Donald Trump preemptively criticized the show from his own rally in Pennsylvania on Friday night.

“I didn’t have to bring J-Lo or Jay Z,” he said, referring to a recent rally for Clinton in Florida at which Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony performed. “I am here all by myself. Just me. No guitar, no piano, no nothing, but you know what we do have—and it’s all of us, it’s all the same—we all have great ideas and great vision for our country. That’s what we have.”

Donald Trump bundled off stage over false gun scare

Donald Trump has been rushed off stage by his security team at a rally in Reno, Nevada, following a false gun scare.

The US secret service, which provides security for presidential candidates, later said someone in the crowd had shouted "gun" but no weapon was found.

Mr Trump returned to continue his speech a short time later, and the suspect wrestled to the ground during the incident and frogmarched from the venue was released.

Austyn Crites, who carried out the protest, said: "I am actually a Republican, I just don't support Donald Trump."

He added: "I am doing what I believe is my democratic duty to show that even though we are from the same party, even though a lot of the things that he says may resonate with a lot of people...I just believe he's very dangerous for the country.

"I just came with a sign, I literally had one sign that said 'Republicans against Trump'."

Image Caption:The secret service said someone in the crowd had shouted 'gun'

Mr Trump reappeared just minutes after being bundled from the hall mid-speech by secret service agents, shielding his body with their own.

:: Trump: Made In America - a Sky News special programme on the Republican Party candidate - at 4pm on Sunday 

Shortly before the incident, the 70-year-old Republican tycoon could be seen sheltering his eyes from the lights in order to peer into the crowd.

As he was led away there were signs of a scuffle in the audience before police intervened.

Mr Crites was held face down on the ground while officers searched him and there was booing as he was led from the venue.

Returning to cheers, Mr Trump said: "No one said it was going to be easy for us, but we will never be stopped, never ever be stopped."

Image Caption:A police officer stands guard backstage following the security scare

The candidate also thanked the secret service agents.

He said: "These guys are fantastic. They don't get enough credit. They don't get enough credit. They are amazing people."

The secret service said in a statement later: "Mr Trump was removed from the stage by his secret service protective detail after a commotion occurred in the crowd.

"Immediately in front of the stage, an unidentified individual shouted 'gun'. Secret service agents and Reno police officers immediately apprehended the subject.

"Upon a thorough search of the subject and the surrounding area, no weapon was found."

The false scare came Mr Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton stepped up their campaigns in the countdown to Tuesday's vote after one of the most bitterly fought and tumultuous presidential races of all time.

Mr Trump used his speech in Reno to argue Mrs Clinton should not be allowed to run for president while the FBI continued its investigation into her use of a private email server for work correspondence while she was US secretary of state.

He told supporters: "We need a government that can work, and work well from day one for the American people.

"That would be impossible with Hillary Clinton, the prime suspect in a massive far-reaching criminal investigation."

Meanwhile, Mrs Clinton continued her bid to make history by becoming America's first woman president.

She has secured the backing of A-list celebrities to her campaign including Katy Perry, Beyonce and Jay Z.

Perry, wearing a purple cape with the words "I'm with Madam President", told a rally: "In three days, let's make history."

South Africa's Jabob Zuma: 'I do not fear prison'

A defiant South African President Jacob Zuma says he doesn't fear prison days after an anti-graft watchdog released a report recommending a judicial probe into alleged corruption.

The "State of Capture" report, which stopped short of saying crimes had been committed, suggested a judge should take the investigation forward into whether Zuma, cabinet members, and some state companies acted improperly in their dealings with wealthy Indian businessmen.

Zuma on Saturday noted he had served time as a political prisoner during South Africa's apartheid era.

"I'm not afraid of jail. I've been to jail during the struggle," Zuma told a cheering crowd in Kwa-Zulu Natal, his home province and political stronghold.

Zuma spent 10 years as an anti-apartheid activist in prison on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela during the 1948-1994 rule by the country's white minority.

'Taliban Terry' killed in Mosul suicide mission

Authorities in Ireland are investigating reports that a former Catholic altar boy has been killed in an Islamic State suicide mission.

The group's Amaq news agency has reported that 49-year-old Terence Kelly died after driving an armoured truck packed with explosives into Shia militia southwest of the Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday.

The city is under siege from Iraq forces, Shia militias, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and other groups backed by US-led coalition airstrikes who launched a campaign to retake the city from Islamic State last month.

Image Caption:Another image purportedly shows the vehicle exploding outside Mosul

A statement released by the group said: "Brother martyr Abu Osama Irelandi, may Allah accept his soul, attacked a group of animals from the Shia militia in the village of Ghzayel al Kabir."

One picture released by the group shows Mr Kelly dressed in black, wearing a white beard and carrying a Kalashnikov rifle while standing in front of an armoured car, while another picture purports to show the vehicle exploding.

:: Ireland Introduces Tougher Anti-Terror Laws

Mr Kelly converted to Islam 16 years ago after he was jailed in Saudi Arabia for selling alcohol and he set up al Qaeda support group 'Islam for Ireland' upon his return.

Nicknamed Taliban Terry, or Khalid Kelly, and referred to by Islamic State as Abu Osama Irelandi, the former nurse from Dublin is a high profile jihadi who appeared on Ireland's Late Late Show in 2003 with Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary.

Referring to the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks Mr Kelly said: "It's easy to speak about these people in a bad way but you have to look at the oppression they suffered over years and years.

"These 19 Muslims answered a cry (for help) from the Palestinians, the Iraqis and the Afghanistanis."

He once said he hoped to see "the black flag of Islam" flying over the Irish Assembly and has declared Barack Obama an "enemy" of Islam. "Personally, I would feel happy if Obama was killed," he said.

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs said it was monitoring reports of Mr Kelly's death and a spokesman said: "The Department is aware of reports concerning an Irish citizen in Iraq and is seeking to clarify the situation."

ISIL claims responsibility for Diyarbakir car bomb

ISIL said on Friday that it was behind a car bombing that killed nine people in Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkey, according to US-based monitors.

"An insider source for Amaq Agency: Fighters from the Islamic State detonated an explosives-laden vehicle parked in front of a Turkish police headquarters in Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey," the SITE Intelligence Group said, citing Amaq, which is a name ISIL often uses when claiming responsibility for attacks.

In an audio message released earlier this week, reclusive ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi broke a nearly year-long silence to call for attacks against Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia, and for his fighters to hold their ground in their stronghold of Mosul, Iraq.

Ankara has troops stationed at a base just outside Mosul and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's escalating rhetoric has raised fears of an expanded Turkish military intervention in Iraq.

"[The attack] could be retaliation by [ISIL] for the fact that Turkey is now participating in the coalition against [ISIL]," Bulent Aliriza, the director of the Turkey Project and senior associate at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told Al Jazeera.

Aliriza said, though, that Turkish support of Syrian opposition fighters "effectively prevented the establishment of a Kurdish belt across northern Syria, and that was something that must have annoyed the YPG".