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The FBI has publicly challenged a push by Republican lawmakers to release a controversial memo which purports to show anti-Trump bias at the agency. "We have grave concerns about the material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy," the FBI said in a statement. A top Trump aide said on Wednesday they would release the top secret document "pretty quick", despite the objections. Democrats claim the memo is an attempt to discredit the FBI-led Russia probe. "It will be released here pretty quick, I think, and the whole world can see it," White House chief of staff John Kelly said during an interview with Fox News Radio on Wednesday morning. Hours later, the FBI issued a rare statement saying that it had had "limited opportunity" to review the document before the House Intelligence committee voted to release it on Monday. "We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) process," the FBI statement added. What is the memo? The four-page memo, which was compiled by staffers for the House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, claims that the Department of Justice abused the surveillance programme known as FISA to unfairly target a member of the Trump campaign. According to lawmakers who have reviewed it, the document purports to show that the agency obtained a warrant to spy on a Trump campaign aide after submitting as evidence the unproven "Russian dossier". That dossier was compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele with money financed in part from the Hillary Clinton campaign. The committee voted to release the memo earlier this week, and Mr Trump has until the weekend to decide whether to de-classify the information for public release. The 'secret memo' intriguing Washington Why attacks on Mueller are mounting Mr Trump was heard following his State of the Union speech on Tuesday night telling a Republican lawmaker that he is "100%" for releasing the document, but on Wednesday White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told CNN "there's always a chance" that it will not be released. But Mr Kelly was less equivocal, telling Fox News on Wednesday morning that Mr Trump "wants everything out so the American people can make up their own minds and if there's people to be held accountable, then so be it". Why is it controversial? Before the FBI statement on Wednesday, the Department of Justice had already said it would be "extraordinary reckless" to release the document. Democrats, whose efforts to release a competing memo were blocked by the committee, claim that Mr Nunes cherry-picked highly classified information that they say could jeopardise national security. They argue the memo is an effort to embarrass the FBI and discredit the investigation, led by special counsel Robert Mueller, into alleged Russian meddling and possible obstruction of justice by members of the Trump administration. But Trump officials say the memo proves his claim that he has been treated unfairly by the FBI. FBI deputy quits 'ahead of agency review' After firing FBI director James Comey, Mr Trump reportedly asked his temporary replacement Andrew McCabe how he had voted in the 2016 presidential election. Mr McCabe, who briefly served as acting agency director, resigned amid public accusations of Democratic bias from Mr Trump. He was planning to retire in March. What is the latest reaction? Chairman Nunes, who served on the Trump team during his White House transition, said on Wednesday it was "no surprise" that the FBI has objected to the memo's release. "Having stonewalled Congress' demands for information for nearly a year, it's no surprise to see the FBI and DoJ issue spurious objections to allowing the American people to see information related to surveillance abuses at these agencies," he said. A top Democrat on the House committee, Adam Schiff, said that releasing the memo "increases the risk of a constitutional crisis by setting the stage for subsequent actions by the White House to fire [Special Counsel Robert] Mueller or, as now seems more likely, Deputy Attorney General Rod J Rosenstein". Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who serves on the Senate Intelligence committee, said that the Republicans are clearly trying to "undermine the special counsel's investigation". "There's no excuse for playing politics with highly classified information," Mrs Feinstein added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says a list of officials and businessmen close to the Kremlin published by the US has in effect targeted all Russian people. The list names 210 top Russians as part of a sanctions law aimed at punishing Moscow for meddling in the US election. However, the US stressed those named were not subject to new sanctions. Mr Putin said the list was an unfriendly act that complicated US-Russia ties but he said he did not want to escalate the situation. Mr Putin said Russia should instead be thinking about "ourselves and the economy". The list was also derided by a number of senior Russian officials who said it bore a strong resemblance to the Forbes magazine ranking of Russian billionaires. A US Treasury Department later told Buzzfeed that an unclassified annex of the report had been derived from the magazine. Why did the US publish the list? The government was required to draw up the list after Congress passed the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (Caatsa) in August. The law aimed to punish Russia for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and its actions in Ukraine. The Trump-Russia saga in 200 words Congress wanted the list to name and shame those who had benefited from close association with President Putin and put them on notice that they could be targeted for sanctions, or more sanctions, in the future. President Donald Trump did not support Caatsa, even though he signed it into law, saying it was "unconstitutional". Under the law, the list had to be delivered by Monday. The fact it was released about 10 minutes before midnight may reflect Mr Trump's coolness towards it, and his opposition to punishing more Russians with sanctions. The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Eliot Engel, accused the Trump administration of letting "Russia off the hook again" by not taking substantial action. Who has been named? Informally known as the "Putin list", the unclassified section has 210 names, 114 of them in the government or linked to it, or key businessmen. The other 96 are oligarchs apparently determined more by the fact they are worth more than $1bn (£710m) than their close ties to the Kremlin. Most of Mr Putin's longstanding allies are named, many of them siloviki (security guys). They include the spy chiefs Alexander Bortnikov of the Federal Security Service (FSB) - which Mr Putin used to run - and Sergei Naryshkin of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). The men who control Russia's energy resources are listed: Gazprom chief Alexei Miller, Rosneft chief Igor Sechin and other oil and gas executives, along with top bankers like Bank Rossiya manager Yuri Kovalchuk. The oligarchs include Kirill Shamalov, who is reported to be Mr Putin's son-in-law, although the Kremlin has never confirmed his marriage to Katerina Tikhonova, nor even that she is the president's daughter. Internationally known oligarchs are there too, such as those with stakes in top English football clubs: Alisher Usmanov (Arsenal) and Roman Abramovich (Chelsea). Will they face new sanctions? Not at the moment. The US Treasury document itself stresses: "It is not a sanctions list, and the inclusion of individuals or entities... does not and in no way should be interpreted to impose sanctions on those individuals or entities." It adds: "Neither does inclusion on the unclassified list indicate that the US government has information about the individual's involvement in malign activities." However, there is a classified version said to include information detailing allegations of involvement in corrupt activities.

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The director of the CIA expects that Russia will target the US mid-term elections later this year. Mike Pompeo told the BBC there had been no significant diminishing of Russian attempts at subversion in Europe and the US. He also said North Korea may have the ability to strike the US with nuclear missiles "in a handful of months". The US intelligence community has said that it believes Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election. Mr Pompeo, who briefs the president most mornings, dismissed as "drivel" recent claims that US President Donald Trump was not up to the job. The director's conference room on the seventh floor of the CIA's headquarters in Langley, Virginia, is lined with pictures of former directors and the presidents they served. And Mr Pompeo is clear about his vision for the CIA under President Trump. All you need to know about Trump Russia story Mike Pompeo: America's spymaster "We are the world's finest espionage service," he told the BBC. "We are going to go out there and do our damnedest to steal secrets on behalf of the American people. And I wanted to get back on our front foot." A year into the job, Mr Pompeo says his mission has been to unleash and unburden the CIA. It is an agency operating in an unpredictable world - one in which intelligence assessments can be the basis not just for military action, but also political controversy. Even though there has been co-operation in counter-terrorism (the CIA helped stop a plot in St Petersburg last year), Mr Pompeo says he still sees Russia primarily as an adversary, sharing the concerns in many European countries about its subversion. "I haven't seen a significant decrease in their activity," he said. Asked if his concerns extended to the upcoming US mid-term elections in November, he replied: "Of course. I have every expectation that they will continue to try and do that, but I'm confident that America will be able to have a free and fair election [and] that we will push back in a way that is sufficiently robust that the impact they have on our election won't be great." Image captionMr Pompeo says his mission has been to unleash and unburden the CIA Mr Pompeo says the US is engaged in trying to counter Russian subversion. Some of this work was not the mission of the CIA such as helping people validate sources of information. But the intelligence community was involved in identifying who was behind subversive activity, using technical means to suppress it and trying to deter Russia. The Trump-Russia saga in 200 words Russia-Trump: Who's who in the drama to end all dramas? Mr Trump has been dismissive of claims of Russian interference in sharp contrast to the conclusions of the US intelligence community. So does the CIA director have to walk a fine line? "I don't do fine lines. I do the truth," he responds. "We deliver nearly every day personally to the president the most exquisite truth that we know from the CIA." Mr Pompeo briefs Mr Trump most days when they are both in Washington DC. The briefing covers current events and strategic issues. Ahead of visits abroad or meetings with foreign leaders, the briefings aim to provide the president with what is described as "informational advantage". "He is very focused in the sense that he is curious about the facts that we present. He is curious in the sense he wants to understand why we believe them." Fire and Fury 'drivel' Mr Pompeo is dismissive of the portrait painted in the recent book Fire and Fury which raised questions about Mr Trump's faculties. "It's absurd. I haven't read the book. I don't intend to," he says. "The claim that the president isn't engaged and doesn't have a grasp on these important issues is dangerous and false, and it saddens me that someone would have taken the time to write such drivel." Mr Trump's use of Twitter and frank language about foreign policy has been unprecedented, including calling Kim Jong-un "rocket man" and boasting about the relative size of his nuclear button.

Bruno Mars and Kendrick Lamar stole the show, and most of the awards, at the 2018 Grammys. Mars provided the night's big upset, taking the album of the year trophy that most critics assumed would go to Lamar's rap tour de force, Damn. In the end, voters found Mars's crowd-pleasing R&B more palatable, while Lamar dominated the rap categories. Alessia Cara won best new artist - making her the only female artist to win a major prize. Stars like Lady Gaga, Kesha, Lorde and SZA were overlooked, with only 17 awards (out of a total of 86) going to women or female-fronted bands. The imbalance was particularly incongruous on a night that highlighted the #TimesUp and #MeToo campaigns. Most performers arrived for the show wearing a white rose to symbolise their support for the movements, which tackle sexual harassment and inequality. Pop star Kesha also gave a powerful, stirring performance of her single Praying, which addresses her own experience of surviving abuse. Grammy Awards 2018: Live coverage White roses on the red carpet The main winners and nominees Fire and Fury over Clinton Grammy cameo She was backed by an all-star choir, including Cyndi Lauper and Camila Cabello, who were dressed in white to reflect the white rose campaign. "We come in peace but we mean business," said R&B star Janelle Monae, introducing the performance. "To those who would dare try to silence us, we offer two words: Time's Up. "We say Time's Up for pay inequality, discrimination or harassment of any kind, and the abuse of power." "Let's work together, women and men, as a united music industry committed to creating more safe work environments, equal pay, and access for all women." The night's other pivotal moment was a tribute to the music-loving victims of the tragedies in Manchester and Las Vegas. Handwritten notes bearing the names of the dead were projected on the stage as country music stars Maren Morris, Eric Church and Brothers Osborne performed Eric Clapton's Tears In Heaven. All three acts played at the Route 91 festival last October before a gunman opened fire on the audience, killing 58. "All of country music was reminded in the most tragic way the connection we share with fans and the loving power that music will always provide," said Eric Church, choking back tears. "We wanted to come together and honour the memory of the beautiful, music-loving souls so cruelly taken from us," added Morris.

The Swedish founder of the Ikea furniture chain, Ingvar Kamprad, has died at the age of 91, the company has announced. Mr Kamprad - who pioneered flat-pack furniture - died at his home in Småland, Ikea confirmed in a statement. The company said that Mr Kamprad was "one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century". The billionaire, who was born in 1926 in Småland, founded Ikea at the age of 17. He used some money his father had given him as a gift for performing well at school despite his dyslexia. Mr Kamprad "peacefully passed away at his home", Ikea's statement said. "He worked until the very end of his life, staying true to his own motto that most things remain to be done," it added. Mr Kamprad eventually stepped down from the company's board in 2013, at the age of 87. "Ingvar Kamprad was a great entrepreneur of the typical southern Swedish kind - hardworking and stubborn, with a lot of warmth and a playful twinkle in his eye," the company said. His company's designs became po[CENSORED]r in part because of their simplicity and value. Mr Kamprad is reported to have come up with the idea of flat-pack furniture after watching an employee remove the legs from a table in order to fit it into a customer's car. Is Ikea the Marmite of retailers? How Ikea's Billy took over the world Furniture designer Jeff Banks said that Mr Kamprad's creations radically changed how people made and designed products for the home. "People have tried to reproduce and copy that, but unsuccessfully," he said. Mr Banks added that the designs produced and sold through the retailer made good use of recyclable products, adding that Mr Kamprad was "head and shoulders above the rest". Mr Kamprad was renowned for his devotion to frugality, reportedly driving an old Volvo and travelling by economy class. In a 2016 interview with Swedish television channel TV4, Mr Kamprad said that it was "in the nature of Småland to be thrifty". "If you look at me now, I don't think I'm wearing anything that wasn't bought at a flea market," he said. He told the channel that he built his business on a "local ethos". "We have Småland in the blood, and we know what a krona is - even though it is not as much as it was when we bought candy and went to elementary school," he said, referring to the Swedish currency. People took to social media on Sunday to pay their respects to the "greatest Swedish entrepreneur to have ever lived". Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom tweeted her condolences, saying that Mr Kamprad had put Sweden on the map. Ikea has remained privately-owned under a Dutch trust operated by the Kamprad family. Its complex business structure has drawn controversy and the European Commission said last year that it had launched an investigation into Ikea's tax arrangements. The European Green Party said that the arrangement had allowed the company to avoid paying some €1bn in tax between 2009 and 2014. A spokesman for Dutch-based Inter Ikea, one of the company's two divisions, said that the company had been taxed "in accordance with EU rules". Ikea boss says it pays fair share of tax Ikea's fight against teen sleepovers In an interview in the 1980s, Mr Kamprad said that his vision for Ikea was that it would be a company that would make life easier for its customers. In the later years of his life, Mr Kamprad had faced questions over his past links to the Nazis. The tycoon revealed some elements of his past in a book in 1988, admitting that he was a close friend of the Swedish fascist activist Per Engdahl, and a member of his New Swedish Movement between 1942 and 1945. He said that his involvement was youthful "stupidity" and the "greatest mistake" of his life. But a 2011 book by Elisabeth Asbrink alleged details beyond what Mr Kamprad had previously admitted. She wrote that he was an active recruiter for a Swedish Nazi group, and stayed close to sympathisers well after World War Two. At the time a spokesman for Mr Kamprad said he had long admitted flirting with fascism, but that there were now "no Nazi-sympathising thoughts in Ingvar's head whatsoever".

US casino mogul Steve Wynn has resigned as finance chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) amid sexual harassment allegations. A Wall Street Journal report on Friday alleged that the 76-year-old billionaire harassed massage therapists and forced one staff member to have sex with him. Mr Wynn has denied wrongdoing, calling the stories "preposterous". RNC chair Ronna McDaniel told US media she had accepted his resignation. Mr Wynn has blamed his ex-wife, whom he is fighting in court, for the "slander". "The instigation of these accusations is the continued work of my ex-wife Elaine Wynn, with whom I am involved in a terrible and nasty lawsuit," the billionaire said in a statement that his public relations team sent to the BBC on Friday. What he is accused of According to the Wall Street Journal, which said it had interviewed dozens of people who worked with Mr Wynn, he is accused of engaging in a pattern of abuse in which he often harassed massage therapists while alone in his private office. The gambling industry giant paid $7.5m (£5.2m) to one manicurist who alleged she had been forced into sex by Mr Wynn, the paper claims citing court documents. Why the US has so many sexual harassment cases in the US? Female employees would fake appointments in order to avoid seeing him, or enlist others to pretend to be their assistants in order to avoid being alone with him. Some would even hide in bathrooms or closets if they heard he was coming to their salon, the paper claimed. Democrats attack Republican 'silence' Mr Wynn is also a Republican Party donor and fundraiser. After harassment allegations were made against Hollywood executive producer Harvey Weinstein last year, Ms McDaniel and other leading Republicans called for the Democratic Party to return his donations. Now some Democrats are asking if the same rules should apply regarding allegations against Mr Wynn. The Democratic National Committee has attacked the RNC for remaining silent. In an October statement, Ms McDaniel wrote: "If Democrats and the DNC truly stand up for women like they say they do, then returning this dirty money should be a no brainer."

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Riverside homes and businesses in Paris are on high alert as the swollen River Seine threatens to overflow its banks. Some basements in the city have already sprung leaks after the river surged following heavy rainfall, reports said. The Seine is forecast to swell even further this weekend, adding several metres of water above its normal level. Many roads in the region are already waterlogged. Boat traffic - including the capital's famous tourist cruises - has also been interrupted. The water level in the river is expected to peak at around 6m (19ft 6in), which is at least 4m above its normal level. The statue of a Crimean soldier - known as the Zouave - on the Pont de l'Alma has long been used as a marker for water levels in the city. On Friday, the water was at its mid-thigh - not as high as the 1910 floods, which reached his neck and submerged the city for two months. A busy commuter train service, the RER C, has been suspended until next week. Meanwhile, the Louvre museum has closed a lower level housing the Islamic Arts. In the suburb of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, flooding forced some residents into boats to move along the roads. The flooding is also forcing movement of another city resident - the rat po[CENSORED]tion. Rodents are being flushed out of the Parisian sewers, media outlet France 24 reports - making the city's rat infestation much more visible than usual. The recent December-January period is now the third-wettest on record, according to France's national weather service. Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo said the city was coping - but said that the flooding, coupled with recent summer heatwaves, was "clearly a question of the town adapting to climate change". She also warned that the high water levels would remain into next week, as water levels "subside slowly" due to waterlogged soil in the region.

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President Donald Trump made a case for his 'America First' vision at Davos on Friday President Donald Trump has told global finance leaders he will always put the US first when it comes to trade, but "that does not mean America alone". "The US is open for business," he said in his inaugural address to the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday. But he continued to attack "predatory" trade practices, warning partners that the US would not tolerate unfair trade. Mr Trump's election campaign centred on America First, aiming to protect local manufacturers from foreign competition. This policy appeared to contradict the Davos conference's goal of promoting globalisation and co-operation. Kamal Ahmed: Trump 2.0 on trade Davos divided over Trump Davos jargon: A crime against the English language? Mr Trump lauded the economic achievements of his first year in office, including cutting corporation tax and lowering the unemployment rate, and said the US was more attractive than ever to foreign investment. "I'm here to deliver a simple message - there has never been a better time to hire, to build, to invest and to grow in the United States. America is open for business and we are competitive once again," he said. Taking credit for the strong economy in the US, he urged foreign investors to "bring your money, your jobs, your businesses to America". As he was speaking, latest figures for US economic growth were released, showing a slowdown in growth from 3.2% to 2.6% in the final quarter of last year. This meant annual growth for 2017 was 2.3%, up from 1.5% in 2016 but below the president's 3% target. A more nuanced approach By Kamal Ahmed, BBC economics editor "America First, not America alone." It was the key line of the speech, and a message echoed by other leading members of the White House power pack here. This is all about trade and the US approach. The fear was that America under Mr Trump would throw up a series of trade barriers, increasing protectionism at a time when most government leaders at Davos - Narendra Modi of India, Justin Trudeau of Canada and Emmanuel Macron of France - were preaching the gospel of globalisation. But today we heard a more nuanced manifesto. America, Mr Trump said, did not want a trade war, it wanted fair trade. Which may come as a surprise to countries like South Korea, smarting this week following the imposition of tariffs on US imports of solar panels and washing machines. Read more from Kamal The US president demanded a reformed international trade system that was "fair and reciprocal" and accused unidentified countries of unfair practices, including "massive intellectual property theft" and providing state aid to industry. Mr Trump also said he preferred bilateral fair trade agreements with other countries, including those signed up to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) from which he has withdrawn. He said he would consider negotiating with TPP states collectively, if it was in America's interest.

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NEW DELHI: Smartphone sales in India fell by 3 per cent as low-priced 4G feature phonesmay have cannibalised smartphone sales, as per research firm GfK. This also pulled down the overall sales for Emerging Asia region that witnessed a slip of one per cent to 58.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017, GfK said in a report. The report, however, did not give sales numbers for individual countries. Emerging Asia region includes India, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Thailand. "Emerging Asia saw smartphone sales of 58.6 million units in 4Q17, down one per cent year-on-year. This was dragged by a three percent decline in India, where a proliferation of low- priced 4G feature phones likely cannibalised smartphone sales," it said The report also said the average sales price (ASP) of smartphones globally increased by 10 per cent year-on-year to USD 363, the fastest quarterly growth rate so far. GfK said 397 million units of smartphones were sold in the fourth quarter of 2017, up 1 per cent y-o-y. Revenue generated was to the tune of USD 144 billion, the data showed. Demand in the fourth quarter was primarily driven by Middle East and Africa, which experienced 8 per cent growth, and Central and Eastern Europe, where demand grew 7 per cent. For the entire 2017, smartphone sales totalled 1.46 billion units and generated revenue of USD 479 billion. "Smartphone y-o-y demand growth moderated for the fourth consecutive quarter, rising only 1 percent to 397 million units in Q4'17. However, sales value increased by 11 per cent y-o-y in the quarter, which is exceptional growth for such a mature technology category," Arndt Polifke, Global Director of PoS telecom research at GfK, said. This came as the proliferation of smartphones with larger and bezel-less (edge-to-edge) displays incentivised consumers to purchase more expensive devices, he added. Yotaro Noguchi, product lead in GfK's trends and forecasting division, said the outlook for 2018 is positive. "...GfK forecasts global smartphone demand to rise by 3 per cent compared to 2017, driven by Emerging Asia and Central and Eastern Europe," Noguchi added.

President Donald Trump has said he is "looking forward" to being interviewed in an investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the US election. He said he expected to be questioned by justice department special counsel Robert Mueller within two to three weeks, with approval from his lawyers. "I would love to do that as soon as possible," said Mr Trump. The president had previously said he thought it "unlikely" he would be interviewed by Mr Mueller. He has called the Russia investigation a "witch hunt" and a "hoax". Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Mr Trump maintained he was "absolutely" prepared to be questioned under oath by the top investigator. "There's been no collusion whatsoever, there's no obstruction whatsoever," he said. All you need to know about Trump Russia story The Trump-Russia saga in 200 words Russia-Trump: Who's who in the drama to end all dramas? The US intelligence community has already concluded that Moscow tried to sway the presidential election in favour of Mr Trump, though Russia denies that. How will Trump's questioning take place? The president's lawyers have been talking to Mr Mueller's team about an interview, and the form it might take. The questioning could happen face-to-face, in writing, or it could be a combination of both. As to when it might happen, Mr Trump said: "Yesterday they were talking about two to three weeks." Asked if he thought Mr Mueller would be fair, the president replied: "We are going to find out... I hope so." What else did Trump tell the press? Mr Trump told reporters that his former rival Hillary Clinton was not prepared to be interviewed under oath by the FBI about her use of a private email server. The Republican president also said he did not recall asking an acting FBI director about his voting record. "I don't think I did," he said. "I don't know what's the big deal with that." Andrew McCabe, who took over the FBI after the president fired its previous director, James Comey, last May, said he found Mr Trump's Oval Office question "disturbing". Mr McCabe said he told the president that he did not vote in the 2016 presidential election, according to the Washington Post. Mr Mueller is thought to be investigating whether Mr Comey's firing was an attempt to obstruct justice. What's happened in the inquiry lately? US Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed by the Mueller inquiry for several hours last week. The country's top prosecutor is thought to be the first member of the Trump cabinet to be questioned. Four people have already been criminally charged as part of Mr Mueller's investigation. Michael Flynn, the president's former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about a meeting with a Russian ambassador. Former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort has been charged on 12 counts, including conspiring to defraud the US in his dealings with Ukraine, and conspiracy to launder money. Mr Manafort's business associate Rick Gates was also charged with conspiracy to launder money. A third adviser to the campaign - George Papadopoulos - pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

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At least 11 people have been injured in an ongoing attack on the offices of international aid agency Save the Children in Afghanistan. An explosion took place outside the organisation's compound in Jalalabad, authorities said. Gunmen then entered the building. Local media have reported children at a nearby school were seen running from the area as gunfire was heard. No group has said they carried out the attack. But Jalalabad, near the border with Pakistan, is often targeted by Taliban militants and is a stronghold for Islamic State, with fighters active there since 2015. The latest attack comes days after Taliban gunmen stormed a luxury hotel in Kabul killing at least 22 people, mostly foreigners. Can Afghan military turn the tide in Taliban fight? World powers jostle in Afghanistan's new "Great Game" How successful has IS been in Afghanistan? At about 09:10 local time (04:40 GMT) on Wednesday, a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb at the entrance to the Save the Children compound, Ataullah Khogyani, a provincial government spokesperson. An eyewitness who was inside the compound at the time told AFP news agency that he saw a gunman hitting the main gate with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). Local TV footage showed a huge plume of thick black smoke rising from the compound and at least one vehicle on fire. A group of armed men then entered the compound, and clashes between the attackers and security forces are still ongoing, Mr Khogyani said. Save the Children carries out education, healthcare and protection work for Children in Afghanistan

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be unable to report for work on Monday, as the US Senate struggles to end a government shutdown. Some will not be paid until the stalemate is resolved. A rare Sunday session of the Senate yielded no agreement between Democrats and Republicans, with immigration one of the main sticking points. Essential services will still run but famous sites such as the Statue of Liberty have already been affected. The monument was closed on Sunday but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he would dip into state funds to pay the daily employment bill and reopen the po[CENSORED]r tourist site. It missed a deadline. At midnight on Friday, lawmakers failed to agree on a spending bill. The bill was not a plan for funding for the whole of 2018, but would have kept things running until the middle of next month. Democrats refused to back a temporary deal until their concerns on immigration reform were dealt with. Efforts to reach a compromise ahead of the working week failed late on Sunday. A vote to end the shutdown was postponed until midday (17:00 GMT) on Monday, meaning many federal government offices will not open and the shutdown enters its third day. Why the US government has shut down Under Senate rules, the bill needs 60 votes in the 100-member chamber. The Republicans currently have 51 senators, so they need some Democratic support to pass a budget. Democrats want President Trump to negotiate over immigration as part of a budget deal, but Republicans say no agreement is possible while federal government services are closed. Republicans want funding for border security - including a proposed border wall with Mexico - and immigration reforms, as well as increased military spending. On Saturday, Mr Trump said the "nuclear option" of a simple majority vote was necessary to end the impasse. It means no pay for those federal employees who are "furloughed" - on unpaid leave - even though their workplaces are not open. Most staff in the departments of housing, environment, education and commerce will be staying at home on Monday. Half of workers in the treasury, health, defence and transportation departments will also not be going to work. Visa and passport processing could be delayed. But essential services that protect "life or human property" will continue, including national security, postal services, air traffic control, some medical services, disaster assistance, prisons, taxation and electricity generation. And the Trump administration said it planned to keep national parks open - their closure in the 2013 shutdown provoked an angry public reaction. The shutdown began on the first anniversary of President Trump's inauguration. His trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has also been called into question. The last government shutdown was in 2013, and lasted for 16 days. It cost the government $2bn in lost productivity and led to "significant negative effects on the economy", the OMB said at the time. 10 unexpected consequences of the 2013 shutdown Why can the two sides not agree? This is the first time a government shutdown has happened while one party, the Republicans, controls both Congress and the White House. Friday's vote fell 50-49, far short of the 60 needed to advance the bill. This is due to a number of key disagreements. Democrats have demanded protection from deportation of more than 700,000 undocumented immigrants who entered the US as children. "I hope it is just a matter of hours or days. But we need to have a substantive answer, and the only person who can lead us to that is President Trump. This is his shutdown," Democratic Senator Dick Durbin told the CBS network on Saturday. Media captionThe missing - consequences of Trump's immigration crackdown But Vice-President Mike Pence reiterated his party's stance in a speech to US troops in the Middle East on Sunday. "We're not going to reopen negotiations on illegal immigration until they reopen the government and give you, our soldiers and your families, the benefits and wages you've earned," he said.

Turkish war planes have launched air strikes on Kurdish positions in northern Syria, in a move likely to cause tensions with the US. Turkey wants to oust these Kurdish fighters from Syria's Afrin region, which lies near its southern border. It considers them a terrorist group. But some were US allies in the battle against the Islamic State group. Turkey had been shelling the area for two days, ahead of its declaration of a military operation on Saturday. Russia - a key military figure in the region - says it is concerned by the development, and has relocated some of its troops based in the region. Officials earlier said Moscow would not interfere in the conflict. In a nutshell: The 100, 300 and 700-word story Syria has previously warned against any operation and said it would shoot down Turkish planes. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says Turkey has notified all actors involved - including the Syrian government - about the offensive. Why is Turkey's president threatening US-backed groups? The Kurdish YPG (Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units) has been a key part of the battle against the group calling itself the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, and has been backed by the United States. Turkey, however, believes the group has links to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and has for several months been threatening to clear Kurdish fighters from Afrin and another city, Manbij, which lies 100km away. The Kurds have held Afrin since 2012. Turkey's military plans seem to have been accelerated by an announcement from the US that it will help the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - an alliance against IS of which the YPG is a member - build a new "border security force" to prevent the return of IS. The YPG and SDF deny any terrorist links - a claim backed by the US government. But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the border force a "terror army". Disagreement over the Kurdish fighters has created a sharp division between the Nato allies. The US state department has appealed for calm, and attempted to downplay portrayals of a new "border force", instead characterising the new development as security training. "We do not believe that a military operation... serves the cause of regional stability, Syrian stability, or indeed Turkish concerns about the security of their border," it said. Why Turkey is targeting Kurdish enclave in Syria Who are the Kurds? What is happening in Afrin? On Saturday, the Turkish army announced that a new air and ground campaign, dubbed "Olive Branch", had launched at 14:00 GMT, targeting the YPG and IS jihadists. The operation would be carried out "with respect for Syria's territorial integrity", it added. Foreign Minister Cavusoglu later said the military was targeting "terrorists only". Pro-Turkey rebels, known as the Free Syrian Army, also began moving into the area, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. A spokesperson for the YPG told Reuters a number of people had been injured in the strikes so far, but it is not yet clear how many. Turkey's military has been shelling the area since Thursday, a move which it said was in response to fire coming from the area. On Saturday, the SDF accused Turkey of using the bombardment as a smokescreen ahead of launching an offensive. A spokesperson for the group told Reuters news agency that it would have no choice but to defend itself if attacked. Rizan Habou, of the Syrian Democratic Council in Afrin, told BBC Arabic that residents were seeking shelter. "When the villages in Afrin are shelled, the civilians [including] women and children are forced to leave their houses and go to the relatively safer surrounding open space and farmland till the shelling stops," he said. "The YPG and the civilians will defend Afrin to the last moment." Afrin is isolated from two other self-declared Kurdish autonomous cantons - Kobani and Jazira. Turkish-backed rebel forces took over a 100km (60-mile) area separating the territories after driving out IS in 2016 - so driving out Kurdish fighters would significantly expand Turkey's area of control in the region. How are Russia and the US reacting? Russia's foreign ministry says it is concerned by news of the offensive, and is urging restraint. Russian senator Frants Klintsevich - who is the deputy chairman of the defence and security committee - earlier told Interfax news agency that Moscow will only respond if Russian bases in Syria are threatened. He said that Russia has been placed in a difficult situation, as it has "good relations with both Damascus and Ankara". Turkey's military and intelligence chiefs had been trying to get Russia's agreement to allow Turkish planes to use the Russian-controlled airspace above Afrin. Such consent is seen as essential for any Turkish operation. Moscow is a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has a contingent of soldiers at the airport in the centre of Afrin. It is not yet clear if Russia's claim that it will not interfere precludes allowing use of its airspace. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has reportedly discussed the military offensive with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, as did Turkey's chief of military staff with his US and Russian counterparts. However, no details of the conversations have been provided.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said competition between great powers, not terrorism, is now the main focus of America's national security. The US faced "growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia", he said, unveiling the national defence strategy. In an apparent reference to Russia, he warned against "threaten[ing] America's experiment in democracy". "If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day," he warned. America has been gripped by ongoing investigations into alleged collusion between the Trump 2016 election campaign and Russia. Speaking in Washington, Mr Mattis also appealed to Congress to fund the military adequately and refrain from "indiscriminate and automatic cuts" to the US federal budget. Trump’s pragmatic view of troubled world The time when America stopped being great Russia and China are rivals to US - Trump President Donald Trump is seeking to boost defence spending by 10%, or $54bn (£43bn), in his proposed budget plan for this year, and hopes to recoup that sum through deep cuts elsewhere, including to foreign aid. America's competitive edge 'fast eroding' By Jonathan Marcus, BBC defence and diplomatic correspondent The publication of the Trump administration's new National Defense Strategy signals an important shift in Washington's priorities. For almost two decades - ever since the attacks of 9/11 - America's military focus has been on fighting terrorism, with counter-insurgency campaigns in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria. But now there is to be a renewed emphasis on inter-state strategic competition - matching so-called peer competitors like Russia and China. US Defence Secretary James Mattis is right when he says that Washington's competitive military edge is fast eroding. There needs to be investment in a range of new technologies that might provide the edge on a future battlefield. But it is not simply a matter of spending more money. He pointed to the difficulty of passing budgets on Capitol Hill over successive years which, he said, had done more damage to US military readiness than any enemy in the field This is the first time the defence policies of the Trump administration have been spelled out in one place. The threats listed are the same as under the Obama administration but the order of priority is different. Formerly, jihadist militant groups like Islamic State or al-Qaeda were the focus but latterly America's former Cold War opponents, Russia and China, have reasserted themselves strategically. "We face growing threats from revisionist powers as different as China and Russia, nations that seek to create a world consistent with their authoritarian models," Mr Mattis said. A summary of the new strategy was publishedon the defence department's website. How big a threat to America are Russia and China? The three great nuclear powers have posed a permanent existential threat to each other since Cold War days. The new strategy recognises that "China and Russia in particular have been assiduously working over a number of years to develop their military capabilities to challenge our military advantages", said Elbridge Colby, US deputy assistant secretary of defence for strategy and force development. "This strategy really represents a fundamental shift to say, look, we have to get back, in a sense, to the basics of the potential for war and this strategy says the focus will be on prioritising preparedness for war, in particular major power war," he added. What pitch for funding did Mr Mattis make? The national defence strategy provides guidance for the 2019 defence budget. While the US was "still strong", the defence secretary said, its competitive edge had "eroded in every domain of warfare - air, land, sea, space and cyberspace - and is continually eroding".