Russia to move missiles closer to Europe amid 'NATO expansion'

Russia President Vladimir Putin has warned that his country will to move its missiles closer to Europe in response to NATO "expansion" plans.

In a television interview to be broadcast later on Monday, Mr Putin said he was "concerned" about what NATO is doing.

He said: "Why are we reacting to NATO expansion so emotionally? We are concerned by NATO's decision-making."

Russia is to deploy its S-400 air missile defence system and ballistic Iskander missile in the Russian region of Kaliningrad, according to the country's RIA news agency.

Video:Obama: Trump must 'stand up' to Russia

Kaliningrad is separated from mainland Russia by borders with Poland and Lithuania.

Vikto Ozerov, head of the defence committee in the upper house of parliament, was reported as saying Russia sees the deployment as a response to the US setting up a missile shield in Europe.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's Secretary General, said: "Everything NATO does is defensive, proportionate and fully in line with our international commitments.

Image Caption:The two leaders discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria at the summit

"Before Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine, NATO had no plans to send troops to the Eastern part of our alliance.

"NATO's aim is to prevent a conflict, not to provoke a conflict.

"Moreover, we firmly believe and we are firmly committed to a two-track approach to Russia; strong defence, coupled with meaningful dialogue."

Mr Putin shared an apparently frosty handshake with Barack Obama at the beginning of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit (APEC) in Lima at the weekend.

The White House said that the two discussed Ukraine and Syria during their four-minute conversation, with Mr Obama encouraging Mr Putin to stand by the agreement made in Minsk that was aimed at ending the Ukraine conflict.

He also called for US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to continue working with other countries to solve the war in Syria.

Mr Putin said after the summit that both leaders had acknowledged that dialogue between their countries "was hard" but said he would be happy to see the outgoing US President in Russia.

He also spoke of his Mr Obama's successor Donald Trump, saying that the two share an interest in "normalising relations", adding that there was a big difference between "(Mr Trump's) pre-election rhetoric and actual policy".

Police foil planned terror attack in France

Police have arrested seven people to foil a planned terror attack in France, the interior minister has said.

The suspects of French, Moroccan and Afghan origin, aged between 29 and 37 years old, were detained in the southern port city of Marseille and the eastern city of Strasbourg overnight on Saturday into Sunday.

Bernard Cazeneuve told a televised news conference on Monday the arrests prevented "a terrorist act that had been envisaged for a long time on our soil".

The interior minister said six of the suspects were not known to the intelligence services. One was a Moroccan flagged by a foreign government.

He did not reveal the intended targets of the plot, but did say "the foiled attack was a coordinated attack aiming to target several sites simultaneously".

The weekend raids followed an eight-month investigation by security services.

Image Caption:Strasbourg's Christmas market is due to open this week

"Credible information made these arrests necessary," an unnamed security source told the AFP news agency.

Mr Cazeneuve linked the raids to a series of arrests in June by French police shortly before the start of the Euro 2016 football championship hosted by France in the summer.

"The scale of the terrorist threat is enormous and it is not possible to ensure zero risk despite everything we are doing," he added.

The announcement comes five days before the opening of the famed Christmas market in Strasbourg - which was the target of a failed extremist plot in 2000.

The city has been on high alert ahead of the opening, with local officials warning it could be postponed or cancelled in the event of serious threats.

However, the mayor of Strasbourg said it appeared the plot had focused on "the Paris region".

A total of 418 people have been arrested in France for suspected links to terror networks since the start of the year, including 43 people this month so far, in anti-terror operations.

The country remains in a state of emergency a year after coordinated attacks by Islamic State jihadists in Paris killed 130 people.

The raids in Strasbourg reportedly took place in the Neuhof and Meinau neighbourhoods, where authorities dismantled a Jihadi network in 2014, which included the brother of an IS bomber who attacked the Bataclan concert hall in the French capital last November.

Social media giant Facebook to increase UK staff by 50% in 2017

Social media giant Facebook has announced it will increase its UK staff numbers by 50% over the coming year.

The move will see the company hire 500 new employees, ranging from engineers to developers, marking executives and sales staff.

The majority of the new roles will be based in London, where Facebook is currently redeveloping a site in Fitzrovia to serve as its new UK headquarters.

Facebook first opened an office in London in 2007 and now employs around 1,000 people in the UK - with the new hires expected to push that number to above 1,500 staff.

Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook's Europe, Middle East and Asia Vice President, is slated to announce the expansion during a speech at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference, which will begin later on Monday.

In a statement released by the company, Ms Mendelsohn said that many of the new jobs created would be highly skilled and would further the UK's position as Facebook's largest engineering base outside of the United States.

"The UK remains one of the best places to be a tech company and is an important part of Facebook's story," she said.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also welcomed the news, saying that the announcement is "further evidence that London's strength as a tech hub keeps on growing".

"It follows news that London remains the best city in Europe for digital startups," he said.

"The capital's vibrant tech scene is the envy of Europe and Facebook's continuing commitment is another sign that London is open to talent, innovation and entrepreneurship from all four corners of the world."

At least 115 killed as train derails in India

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the overnight express train travelling between the cities of Patna and Indore came off the tracks near Kanpur city.

Fourteen carriages left the tracks, railway officials said.

Two senior police officials in Kanpur said their teams have pulled out at least 100 bodies from the badly damaged carriages. 

"Still many more passengers are trapped," a senior railway official in New Delhi said.

Passenger Ramchandra Tewari said: "There was a loud sound like an earthquake. I fell from my berth and a lot of luggage fell over me.

"I thought I was dead, and then I passed out."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on Twitter.

"Anguished beyond words on the loss of lives due to the derailing of the Patna-Indore express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families," he wrote.

Image Caption:Rescue workers survey the wreckage of the train

Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said the government would immediately investigate the causes of the derailment and promised accountability with the "strictest possible action".

India's railway system is the world's fourth largest, ferrying more than 20 million people each day, but it has a poor safety record, with thousands of people dying in accidents every year.

The nation suffers frequent train derailments, sometimes with tragic consequences, including another train accident in Uttar Pradesh in March last year that killed 39 people.

Calls to legalise cannabis to boost tax income and save millions

A cross party group of MPs has renewed calls for cannabis to be legalised in Britain

Senior Liberal Democrats and other Labour and Tory figures backed a report that argues the UK should follow the lead of the US.

Eight states have legalised the drug so far, four in this month's elections, and several others allow its use for medical reasons.

The report, by the Adam Smith Institute and Volteface, claims legalisation could net the Treasury more than £1bn a year in tax revenue.

It also says the number of prisoners in jail for drugs offences would drop, saying the taxpayer millions.

Image Caption:Nick Clegg believes the UK should follow the lead of the US

The primary reason, the MPs say, is that the UK's drugs laws have failed.

Former deputy PM Nick Clegg said: "British politicians need to open their eyes to what is happening in the rest of the world.

"Cannabis prohibition is being swept away on a tide of popular opinion and replaced with responsible legal regulation.

"Now is the time for ministers to start writing the rules."

Former Conservative cabinet minister Peter Lilley said: "It is time we legalised cannabis. Currently cannabis can only be obtained from illegal gangs who also push hard drugs. So we are driving soft drugs users into the arms of
hard drugs pushers."

Labour MP Paul Flynn, meanwhile, added: "The UK's 45 years of harsh prohibition has multiplied use and harm.

"A legal market would destroy the drug's attraction as forbidden fruit and encourage users to ingest cannabis, of known strength and quality, in ways that will the avoid deadly dangers of smoking."

Germany is also getting ready to legalise cannabis for medical purposes and Canada is preparing for all-out decriminalisation.

The Netherlands effectively decriminalised cannabis decades ago while Portugal legalised it in 2001.

The report claims Britain's "dark ages" drugs policy is failing to stop drugs being manufactured and used, and failing to stop it being associated with crime, corruption and killing.

Campaigners said they want "root and branch" reform to legalise and regulate cannabis to ensure it meets acceptable standards.

At that point, they say, it will be taken out of the hands of the gangs.

Cannabis, a class B drug, is illegal in the United Kingdom but Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb put forward a bill that would legalise and regulate its use in March.

Earlier this year, an all-party parliamentary group on drug policy reform said Cannabis should be available on prescription.

But there is a vocal lobby against following the US's lead in the UK, with some doctors saying it has a number of side-effects including damage to mood, memory and motivation.

Ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy concedes defeat in French vote

Nicolas Sarkozy has conceded defeat following a vote to choose the centre-right candidate for French president.

The former president was lying third in the US-style primary after more than 80% of the votes had been counted.

Mr Sarkozy, 61, told his supporters: "I failed to convince a majority of voters."

:: Who is Francois Fillon and why does he matter?

It leaves two men who will go forward to a second round - one of whom is almost certain to be one of the two contenders for the next president.

They are Francois Fillon, who was leading the count with 44.1% of public votes, and Alain Juppe, who has so far secured 28.2% of the votes.

Image Caption:Mr Sarkozy has thrown his support behind Francois Fillon

Mr Fillon, 62, served as prime minister under then president Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012, while Mr Juppe, 72, was prime minister from 1995 to 1997 under president Jacques Chirac. 

Unless Mr Fillon ends up with more than 50%, it is expected that the pair will now face each other again on 27 November.

Whoever wins that vote is most likely to go head-to-head with far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who is predicted to be one of two in the final round of the French presidential election, next May.

The ruling Socialist party, under the current President Francois Hollande, is in disarray, with polls showing he is likely to be eliminated in early voting next year.

Image Caption:Alain Juppe will go head-to-head against Mr Fillon in their party contest

Ms Le Pen is campaigning on a pro-nationalist, anti-immigration ticket amid growing fear of Islamist terrorism.

Her rise has been attributed to the same sentiment that prompted Donald Trump's victory in the US and Brexit in the UK.

Last week she told Sky News that Brexit and Mr Trump's shock victory were signs of the "emergence of a new world" in which disillusionment with mainstream politics has led many in France to consider her their only hope.

For months, pollsters have been predicting Mr Juppe would win the primaries and subsequently defeat Ms Le Pen.

His second place will further cast doubt over whether the polls are able to predict the outcome - something they failed to do in the UK's EU referendum and in the US election.

Several analysts say that Mr Juppe is the most likely to be able to beat Ms Le Pen, if the pair were to face each other.

One analyst, Charles Lichfield of Eurasia Group, gives Ms Le Pen a 25% likelihood of beating Mr Juppe. But, he said, if she goes up against Mr Fillon, her chances of winning jump to 35%. 

Image Caption:Marine Le Pen is campaigning on a pro-nationalist, anti-immigration ticket

Marine Le Pen becoming President would badly damage Europe's economy, Austria's Social Democrat Chancellor Christian Kern said earlier on Sunday.

Others have suggested it could even lead to the break up of the eurozone.

Voter turnout in what was France's first ever conservative presidential primary, was high on Sunday, topping 2.5 million by 5pm.

Other candidates in the vote were Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet - the only woman on the conservative ballot; former government ministers Bruno Le Maire and Jean-Francois Cope, and Parliament member Jean-Frederic Poisson.

Mr Sarkozy and Mr Le Maire, after both conceding defeat, threw their weight behind Mr Fillon. Ms Kosciusko-Morizet, a former environment minister, endorsed Mr Juppe.

Facebook fake news: Zuckerberg details plans to combat problem

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has outlined plans for how he hopes to combat fake news on the site.

Facebook became mired in controversy after some users complained fake news changed the outcome of the US election. 

Mr Zuckerberg posted details of several projects to "take misinformation seriously", including methods for stronger detection and verification.

He previously responded to criticism of fake news on Facebook by saying over 99% of its content was "authentic". 

'I write fake news that gets shared on Facebook'

Can you spot the fake stories?

In his post, billionaire Mr Zuckerberg said: "We've been working on this problem for a long time and we take this responsibility seriously."

But he said the problems were "complex, both technically and philosophically." He noted Facebook did not want to discourage the sharing of opinions or become "arbiters of truth".

Analysis- Dave Lee, North America technology reporter

What Facebook's challenges over fake news reveal, I think, is that we're in completely uncharted territory.

Never has any private company had such immediate power over the way we act, feel, think, date, buy, fight - whatever.

There's an urgent accountability gap between what technology companies do and what the public is allowed to know.

It's simply no longer enough for Zuckerberg to deny an issue and expect people to blindly take his word for it. 

Zuckerberg's global ambitions will live or die on his ability to be an astute political operator. The fake news row was a big test, and he handled it poorly -  dragging out the issue in the news agenda for well over a week.

Read more: Zuckerberg is a politician now

Mr Zuckerberg said Facebook is currently working on seven proposals to combat misinformation more robustly including methods for stronger detection and verification, and providing warning labels on fake content.

In the wake of the US presidential election results last week, many criticised Mr Zuckerberg, saying fake news on Facebook aided the rise of Donald Trump.

He dismissed the idea as "crazy" but fake news sites are on the rise due to the profits which can be made from web advertising. 

Fake news purveyors can be enticed away from creating funny satirical content to more believable content because they think it is more likely to be shared.

One such story, which was widely shared on Facebook after the election, falsely claimed Hollywood actor Denzel Washington had praised Mr Trump.

On Monday, Google announced it would do more to prevent fake news sites from making money through advertising. 

Shortly after, Facebook made explicit a similar restriction on the use of its advertising network.