Two US congressional staffers who travelled to London in July and tried to contact former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele were sent by a longstanding aide to Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House intelligence committee and a close ally of the White House. The trip has brought back to the surface a continuing struggle for control of the committee’s investigation into Moscow’s role in the 2016 US election. The reliability of a dossier compiled by Steele, containing explosive allegations of extensive secret collusion between Trump and the Kremlin, is a key part of that investigation.

The two staffers turned up unannounced at Steele’s lawyers’ offices while the former MI6 officer was in the building, according to a report by Politico on Friday. But the committee’s leading Democrat, Adam Schiff, said on Sunday neither he nor his Republican counterpart had been informed about the staffers’ London trip.

A congressional official insisted, however, that the staffers were in London on official committee business. He said they had been told to make contact with Steele’s lawyers, rather than Steele himself.(theguardian)…[+]

The French president’s wife, Brigitte Macron, will not be given an official “first lady” title or her own budget, the French government has said following a petition against a proposed change to her status. A “transparency charter” will be published in the next few days to clarify the position of Emmanuel Macron’s wife, but presidential aides insist her role will be strictly public and not political.

The Élysée has made no official announcement, but officials were forced to react after the petition opposed to the president’s spouse having an official title, status and budget was signed by more than 275,000 people in two weeks. During his election campaign, Macron promised to “clarify” his wife’s role to “end the hypocrisy” over the situation. One of Macron’s first actions after taking power was to set up a working party to examine the “first lady” position. A YouGov poll for the French edition of the Huffington Post in May suggested 68% of the French public was opposed to the head of state’s spouse being given an official role.(theguardian)…[+]

Millions of Kenyans stood for hours on Tuesday morning, waiting patiently to cast their votes in an election seen as a key test of the stability of one of Africa’s most important states. Long queues had formed in Nairobi, the capital, even before polling stations opened at 6am and the fiercely contested elections got under way.

The election pits the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta, in power since 2013, against the veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga. No clear leader emerged during campaigning. Officials and politicians issued last-minute calls for calm, with many fearing violence during voting or, more likely, when the results are announced in coming days. An estimated 180,000 police officers and members of other security forces have been deployed around Kenya to ensure order.

But most voters who spoke to the Guardian at a dozen polling stations in wealthy and poorer areas in Nairobi said they were hopeful the current calm would continue, whatever the result. “Kenyans have become more mature in the way they vote. Many would prefer peace to violence. Especially young people are against all kinds of electoral violence,” said Boniface Odhiambo, 26, as he cast his vote in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum and an opposition stronghold.(Theguardian)…[+]