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Pakistan’s top court grants extension to army chief’s tenure

Supreme Court rules in favour of six-month extension for General Qamar Javed Bajwa, passes issue back to parliament. \ During Bajwa’s tenure, the military has been accused by opposition politicians of electoral manipulation, meddling in politics, suspension of civil liberties and muzzling the media [File: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters] MORE ON PAKISTAN Davis Cup: Pakistan’s top tennis players boycott India tietoday Pakistan’s top court temporarily suspends army chief’s extension3 days ago Pakistan’s ailing ex-PM Sharif flown to London for treatmentlast week Indian soldiers killed after avalanche hits Siachen Glacierlast week Pakistan‘s top court…

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Trump’s unannounced maiden visit to Afghanistan as US president

Before taking the secret flight to Afghanistan, Trump had been expected to spend Thanksgiving in Florida.Dawn.com | AFP | ReutersPublished about 8 hours ago President Donald Trump on Thursday said the United States had resumed talks with Taliban insurgents as he made a surprise trip to Afghanistan to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with troops. On a brief visit to Bagram Airfield outside the capital Kabul, Trump served turkey dinner to soldiers, posed for photographs and delivered a speech after meeting Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. It was his first to Afghanistan since becoming president and came a week…

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Google hit with record EU fine over Shopping service

Google has been fined 2.42bn euros ($2.7bn; £2.1bn) by the European Commission after it ruled the company had abused its power by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of search results.

The amount is the regulator’s largest penalty to date against a company accused of distorting the market.

The ruling also orders Google to end its anti-competitive practices within 90 days or face a further penalty.

The US firm said it may appeal.

However, if it fails to change the way it operates the Shopping service within the three-month deadline, it could be forced to make payments of 5% of its parent company Alphabet’s average daily worldwide earnings.

Based on the company’s most recent financial report, that amounts to about $14m a day.

The commission said it was leaving it to Google to determine what alterations should be made to its Shopping service rather than specifying a remedy.

“What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” declared Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s Competition Commissioner.

“It has denied other companies the chance to compete on their merits and to innovate, and most importantly it has denied European consumers the benefits of competition, genuine choice and innovation.”

Media captionWATCH: Margrethe Vestager explains how consumers have been harmed by Google’s Shopping service

Ms Vestager added that the decision could now set a precedent that determines how she handles related complaints about the prominence Google gives to its own maps, flight price results and local business listings within its search tools.

Google had previously suggested that Amazon and eBay have more influence over the public’s spending habits and has again said it does not accept the claims made against it.

“When you shop online, you want to find the products you’re looking for quickly and easily,” a spokesman said in response to the ruling.

“And advertisers want to promote those same products. That’s why Google shows shopping ads, connecting our users with thousands of advertisers, large and small, in ways that are useful for both.

“We respectfully disagree with the conclusions announced today. We will review the Commission’s decision in detail as we consider an appeal, and we look forward to continuing to make our case.”

Fast growth

Google Shopping displays relevant products’ images and prices alongside the names of shops they are available from and review scores, if available.

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Trump-Putin: Your toolkit to help understand the story

Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin: it’s complicated. We know, we’ve been trying to follow it all as well.

All the investigations into allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election have put a focus on the relationship between the US and Russian leaders.

But there’s a lot to take in, so we’ve decided to pull together the key elements that help explain this story – or a good part of it, at least.

One video to watch

There are number of different investigations under way into how the Russians interfered, if at all, in the election that Mr Trump won, and whether the Trump campaign played any part in it. The most significant is the independent special counsel led by former FBI chief Robert Mueller.

Last year, the BBC’s Rajini Vaidyanathan took a look at what those investigations are about.

Media captionAll you need to know about the Trump-Russia investigation

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‘Somebody threatened to burn the school down’

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Searching for the forgotten heroes of World War Two

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The man who saved thousands of people from HIV

Greg Owen wanted a new drug, not available through the NHS, that would stop him becoming HIV-positive. But it was too late – he already had the virus. Despite this, he and a friend worked on an ambitious plan to help thousands of others get the new treatment.

“You know when you do one thing… when your whole life changes? Pressing that send on Facebook was actually the moment my whole life changed.”

Greg Owen grew up in Belfast, the eldest of six children. It was the 1980s, the height of the Troubles, and he was, as he puts it, “very gay”.

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All you need to know about penalty shootouts

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Searching for the ‘angel’ who held me on Westminster Bridge

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Why local US newspapers are sounding the alarm

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