World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

Vast Antarctic ice shelf a few years from disintegration, says Nasa
China and India call on rich countries to step up climate change efforts
Without ensuring universal access to water, there can be no food security
BB King obituary
String of bomb attacks in Thailand's restive south injure 18 people
Asian migrant crisis grows as 700 asylum seekers rescued off Indonesia
BB King dies in Las Vegas aged 89
What's the most radioactive city?
Digital age poses a new challenge to Iran's relentless book censors
Trapped in Dubai airport: the father and son who had nowhere to go
Indian grape farmers take a byte out of the online market
Nepal earthquakes: shattered schools remain closed – in pictures
Burundi coup leaders arrested and president back in charge, say reports
US calls on Nauru to lift restrictions on Facebook and other social media sites
Chinese-language backpacker websites used to advertise $9-an-hour jobs
American and Briton missing after Mexico light plane crash
How a fatal car crash in Iran exposed growing anger towards super-rich
Kim Jong-un's vulnerability on display as North Korean rumours abound
Opah, the world's first warm-blooded fish species, flaps fins to generate heat
Guyana opposition wins election in first change of government for 23 years

Vast Antarctic ice shelf a few years from disintegration, says Nasa

Posted: 15 May 2015 01:28 AM PDT

Remnant of Larsen B Ice Shelf, about half the size of Rhode Island, is expected to break apart completely around the year 2020, adding to sea level rises

China and India call on rich countries to step up climate change efforts

Posted: 15 May 2015 01:13 AM PDT

Rare joint statement by world's first and third biggest carbon emitters calls on developed countries to honour pledge of $100bn annual climate aid by 2020

Without ensuring universal access to water, there can be no food security

Posted: 15 May 2015 01:00 AM PDT

A new report on water for food security and nutrition shows how land, food and water issues are inextricably linked. This must be reflected in policymaking

BB King obituary

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:41 PM PDT

Self-deprecating but with a magisterial stage presence, King developed a style that was both innovative and rooted in blues history

String of bomb attacks in Thailand's restive south injure 18 people

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:24 PM PDT

Muslim separatist insurgents, alienated by new government strategies to control them, are suspected to be behind the violence

Asian migrant crisis grows as 700 asylum seekers rescued off Indonesia

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:05 PM PDT

Calls for a summit to discuss the refugee crisis is undermined by Burma which may refuse to attend

Another 700 Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were rescued off Indonesia on Friday, police said, as Burma undermined calls for a coordinated response to the human-trafficking crisis by threatening to boycott a planned south-east Asia summit.

Indonesian police said passengers aboard the latest vessel seeking safe harbour in the region recounted how their boat sank off the country's coast after earlier being driven away by Malaysia.

INFOGRAPHIC Thousands of men, women, children stranded at sea in SEAsia. Support groups fear human catastrophe @AFP pic.twitter.com/EjNFj8rL9X

BB King dies in Las Vegas aged 89

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:01 PM PDT

King's lawyer says the blues legend died in his sleep at home on Thursday

What's the most radioactive city?

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:00 PM PDT

Ionised radiation is a fact of life for us all, but for some cities it's a daily source of worry – and not just the ones near Chernobyl

Digital age poses a new challenge to Iran's relentless book censors

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:00 PM PDT

Writers and translators turn to internet to publish their work – and to avoid the anonymous scrutineers who remove words such as 'kiss' and 'wine'

It is an unlikely setting for an international book fair. But around this time of year, the spacious prayer halls of Tehran's gigantic Mosalla Grand Mosque are transformed into a labyrinth of stalls occupied by publishers exhibiting their latest titles.

Offering generous discounts, some sell more books in 10 days than in the rest of the year. The fair attracts nearly 5 million visitors, dwarfing international counterparts such as Frankfurt.

The situation has got much better but I still have many books that are banned

Trapped in Dubai airport: the father and son who had nowhere to go

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:00 PM PDT

Wael al-Sahlee and nine-year-old Montasser found themselves in limbo in terminal two for a fortnight, as choices narrow for fleeing Palestinian-Syrians

His recent life evokes the plot of The Terminal, in which Tom Hanks plays a fictional refugee trapped in an American airport after being refused a visa. But the experiences of Wael al-Sahlee are all too real: until finally being deported on Thursday evening, the 41-year-old Palestinian-Syrian refugee and his nine-year-old son, Montasser, were stuck in Dubai airport for a fortnight.

While Hanks's character finds a room where he can sleep in privacy, the Sahlees had no such luck. Their home was on the floor behind a row of seats next to the Fly Dubai offices at gate 12 of terminal two. There were some nearby loungers to sleep on, but there was always competition for them, and Sahlee did not want the hassle.

Indian grape farmers take a byte out of the online market

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:00 PM PDT

Reaching out to customers online and cutting out middlemen is helping farmers in western India to connect with buyers across the country and maximise profits

Nepal earthquakes: shattered schools remain closed – in pictures

Posted: 14 May 2015 11:00 PM PDT

In the wake of two devastating disasters, urgent action is needed to assess damaged buildings and allow children to resume their education, says UN report

Burundi coup leaders arrested and president back in charge, say reports

Posted: 14 May 2015 10:42 PM PDT

Military rounding up group who made violent bid to seize power while President Pierre Nkurunziza was out of the country

Leaders of the attempted coup in Burundi were being arrested on Friday, reports said, after armed forces loyal to President Pierre Nkurunziza overpowered an attempt by generals to seize power while he was out of the country.

The rival groups had battled for control of the Burundi capital after a former intelligence chief launched a violent bid to take charge.

US calls on Nauru to lift restrictions on Facebook and other social media sites

Posted: 14 May 2015 10:25 PM PDT

Ban imposed weeks ago limits Nauruans' access to information and makes communication difficult for asylum seekers held in Australian detention centre

Chinese-language backpacker websites used to advertise $9-an-hour jobs

Posted: 14 May 2015 10:22 PM PDT

Taiwanese working holiday maker advocacy group investigates listings offering pay rates well below award wages and insisting on unpaid training periods

American and Briton missing after Mexico light plane crash

Posted: 14 May 2015 10:04 PM PDT

Pilot and two others survived when Cessna 180 went into the ocean off Las Glorias beach in Jalisco state

How a fatal car crash in Iran exposed growing anger towards super-rich

Posted: 14 May 2015 09:00 PM PDT

Ordinary Iranians feeling the pinch of sanctions lash out at occupants of luxury cars that have come to symbolise the opulence of Tehran's 'rich kids'

Kim Jong-un's vulnerability on display as North Korean rumours abound

Posted: 14 May 2015 09:00 PM PDT

Cancelling his first trip abroad and purging his once-powerful defence chief suggest the young leader is struggling for legitimacy, says Adam Cathcart