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

Donald Trump inauguration: the world holds its breath – live coverage
Gambia: Jammeh given midday deadline to go as troops close in
Tech billionaire opens new Potsdam art gallery
Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, Mexican drug lord, has been extradited to the US
650-mile trench stakes out claim for bigger Kurdish territory in Iraq
Isis destroys Tetrapylon monument in Palmyra
Russia threatens retaliation over Facebook 'censorship' of RT
Bangladesh struggles to turn the tide on climate change as sea levels rise | Karen McVeigh
Stranger corrects errors on friendly postcard from Argentina: 'Learn English!'
Obama commutes a final 330 sentences, most in a single day by any US president
Nigel Farage plans inauguration party as Europe's far-right leaders visit US
Julian Assange confirms he is willing to travel to US after Manning decision
Brazil supreme court justice overseeing vast corruption case dies in plane crash
Kosovo asks EU and US for help after 'acts of aggression' from Serbia
Trump's treasury secretary pick failed to disclose nearly $100m in assets
Several Britons killed in Saudi bus crash
Davos 2017: Soros says UK in denial over Brexit, and May won't last – Day Three as it happened
German MPs vote to legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes
Inauguration day schedule: what is happening and when
Eyewitness: Honduras
Unexploded WWII bomb pulled from river Thames
Ebola, war … but just two psychiatrists to deal with a nation's trauma
The President Trump effect may be a whole new British focus on Europe | Martin Kettle
Chinese growth slips to 6.7% in 2016, the slowest for 26 years
Bourke Street attack: arrested man had history of family violence, police say
Too much love: Nigel Farage and friends have a bad boys' ball in DC
Death strikes First Nations community, once a leader in suicide prevention
'You're not forgotten anymore': Trump's speech from the Lincoln Memorial – video
DeploraBall: Trump lovers and haters clash at Washington DC event
Jon Voight, 3 Doors Down and Lee Greenwood star at inauguration concert – video
Gambling tax blow for Gibraltar as court rules it's 'one entity' with Britain
China eyes an opportunity to take ownership of climate change fight
China urges Trump: be our friend, not our enemy
On eve of inauguration, Trump addresses nation in shadow of Lincoln
Killing kakas with kindness: New Zealand bird lovers threaten future of parrot
Red, white and who? Trump inaugural concert features few A-listers
Donald Trump attends inauguration concert ahead of Friday ceremony – as it happened
Interview: glaciologist Jason Roberts in Antarctica – video
Troops enter the Gambia after Adama Barrow is inaugurated in Senegal
The Gambia’s new president Adama Barrow takes oath of office – video
Unconstitutional Texas abortion law caused 50% drop in hardest-hit counties
Trump to be sworn in on day that few expected and many feared
Democracy in Turkey is now under threat | Letters
Russian foreign policy and the Nato narrative | Letters
French elections: Macron vows to field candidates in all parliamentary seats
Without a path from protest to power, the Women's March will end up like Occupy
Turkey's parliament set to approve sweeping new powers for president
'I want to kill these dogs': question of whether to cull strays divides Yangon
Text alert scheme will ensure families in India get the message on organ donation
On the climate change frontline: the disappearing fishing villages of Bangladesh #GlobalWarning
Rising seas sweep away land and livelihoods in Bangladesh – in pictures
How liberal leaders in cities and states across US are planning to thwart Trump
Protesters clash with police outside pro–Trump 'DeploraBall' event – video
Valium and banking ethics: Steven Mnuchin's confirmation hearing – video
Hotel buried under snow by Italy avalanche – aerial video
Avalanche in Abruzzo – in pictures
Donald Trump's promises for day one of his presidency – video

Donald Trump inauguration: the world holds its breath – live coverage

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 02:10 AM PST

Try our new mobile features and notifications for the inauguration

10.10am GMT

New York's tabloids go with the same pun on their front pages.

The NYC tabloid stars aligned today pic.twitter.com/rQOVhogYYh

10.04am GMT

A banner reading "Build bridges not walls" has been draped across London's Tower Bridge as part of a series of events across the world aimed to protest against Trump's presidency.

Protesters were joined by Green Party joint leader Jonathan Bartley.

With Greens @carolinerussell & @jon_bartley at Tower Bridge saying #BridgesNOTWalls. Proud of London for twice rejecting divisive campaigns! pic.twitter.com/SJ0IZyFzAH

Gambia: Jammeh given midday deadline to go as troops close in

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 12:25 AM PST

West African leaders tell former president to leave or be ousted as regional troops enter country to support successor

West African leaders have given Yahya Jammeh until midday on Friday to cede power after regional troops crossed the border in support of his democratically elected successor.

Marcel Alain de Souza, chairman of the west African union Ecowas, said the troops will force Jammeh out if he refuses to leave the country.

Tech billionaire opens new Potsdam art gallery

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 09:00 PM PST

Software firm founder Hasso Plattner launches his Barberini Museum, west of Berlin, with Impressionism show

A German software billionaire is opening a new art museum in the former imperial city of Potsdam on Friday, having reconstructed an 18th-century palace, destroyed in the second world war, to house the works.

Hasso Plattner, a co-founder of the multinational software company SAP, described the Barberini Museum as his gift to the city and "one of the most important things" he had done in his life. The privately funded gallery occupies three floors of the building, which is in the heart of Potsdam, south-west of Berlin.

Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, Mexican drug lord, has been extradited to the US

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 08:12 PM PST

The convicted drug lord arrived in New York late on Thursday amid speculation that he was a peace offering from Mexico to Donald Trump

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the cartel kingpin who made two daring escapes from high-security prisons and lived on the run for years, has been extradited to the United States where he faces prosecution on narcotics and other charges.

The Mexican foreign ministry announced the extradition in a short statement on Thursday afternoon, saying Guzmán had exhausted his appeals against his extradition.

650-mile trench stakes out claim for bigger Kurdish territory in Iraq

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST

Line stretching along northern Iraq symbolises hopes for more land when fighting against Isis ends

On the plains north and east of Mosul, far from the battle in the city centre, a new frontline is taking shape. Mounds of earth have been heaped above a trench gouged out of the ground along about 650 miles (1,050km) of northern Iraq, which before the war with Islamic State was in Arab hands.

The berm runs from Sinjar, in the north-west, to Khanaqin, near the Iranian border, following the line of Kurdish military control. Woven into it are peshmerga positions, and on top flies the Kurdish flag, a clear statement of the Kurds' hope that their role in fighting the war has already secured them a bigger slice of Iraq.

Isis destroys Tetrapylon monument in Palmyra

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 01:17 AM PST

Syrian antiquities chief says militants have demolished structure and part of Roman theatre after seizing city for second time

Islamic State fighters have destroyed one of the most famous monuments in the ancient city of Palmyra.

Russia threatens retaliation over Facebook 'censorship' of RT

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 01:55 PM PST

Government-backed network was temporarily banned from posting images, videos or live streams for about 20 hours, possibly over a copyright issue

Hardly a day goes by without Facebook landing itself in a censorship row, but the social media giant's latest kerfuffle – a temporary ban of the Russian government-backed network RT – has drawn threats of retaliation from the Russian state censor.

RT was barred from posting images, videos or live streams on its Facebook page for about 20 hours, possibly over a copyright issue related to its stream of Barack Obama's final press conference on Wednesday, according to the network. The network said it streamed a subscription Associated Press feed, which should not have violated any rights.

Bangladesh struggles to turn the tide on climate change as sea levels rise | Karen McVeigh

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 01:49 AM PST

From incessant rains to flooded rice fields, the economic impact of global warming has been keenly felt in the coastal town of Cox's Bazar

Bangladesh is already one of the most climate vulnerable nations in the world, and global warming will bring more floods, stronger cyclones. At the dry fish yards, close to the airport at the coastal town of Cox's Bazar, women are busy sorting fish to dry in the sun. They say the process, which begins in October, can continue through to February or March if the weather is good.

But Aman Ullah Shawdagor, a dry fish businessman who employs 70 people, says high tides and seasonal changes have hit his business hard. Last year there were four cyclones, more than ever before. In 2015, there was only one.

Stranger corrects errors on friendly postcard from Argentina: 'Learn English!'

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 12:31 PM PST

A postcard sent to Canada from Buenos Aires arrived with the text – 'I west thinking in you, Have a nice day' corrected with a red pen and a 'mean' note

The postcard featuring an aerial view of the Plaza de la República in Buenos Aires was meant as a thoughtful gesture from a longtime friend.

But as it made its way from Argentina to Toronto, its error-laden English provoked someone to take to the text with a red pen, correcting errors and scrawling a note that read: "ps Learn English!!"

Obama commutes a final 330 sentences, most in a single day by any US president

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 01:10 PM PST

Two days after cutting short the prison term of Chelsea Manning, a new flood of commutations further cements the president's record-breaking numbers

In his last full day as president, Barack Obama commuted the sentences of 330 inmates, further cementing his legacy as having granted more commutations than any other president in US history.

Nigel Farage plans inauguration party as Europe's far-right leaders visit US

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 10:39 AM PST

Leading Brexit figure has reportedly invited hundreds of people to Washington event while Austrian politician says he is coming to city for meetings

Nigel Farage, the Brexit leader, will be hosting an inauguration party on Thursday night in Washington, just a few hundred yards from the White House.

It will be an extravagant event reportedly taking up the entire top floor of one of the city's most prestigious and expensive hotels. Organisers say at least 500 of the US political and media elite have been invited and predict that Donald Trump, on the eve of his presidency, will drop by.

Julian Assange confirms he is willing to travel to US after Manning decision

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:26 AM PST

WikiLeaks founder says Obama's decision to free whistleblower means he could submit to extradition request

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has said he stands by his offer to travel to the US following Barack Obama's decision to release whistleblower Chelsea Manning from prison.

Speaking from the Ecuadorian embassy in London during a web broadcast on Thursday, Assange said there were many discussions about his future that could happen before Manning left prison in May, adding: "I have always been willing to go to the United States provided my rights are respected."

Brazil supreme court justice overseeing vast corruption case dies in plane crash

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 12:46 PM PST

Teori Zavascki was on a small plane that crashed into the sea off the coast
Timing of plane crash is likely to raise questions of possible foul play

The supreme court justice presiding over Brazil's biggest corruption case has died after the small plane he was travelling in crashed into the sea off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, according to local authorities.

Kosovo asks EU and US for help after 'acts of aggression' from Serbia

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:47 AM PST

Kosovo's foreign minister calls on countries to urge Serbia to commit to good relations after 'numerous acts of provocation'

Kosovo's foreign minister has written to his counterparts in the European Union, the US and other countries denouncing what he said were "numerous acts of provocation and aggression" from Serbia.

Enver Hoxhaj called on the EU, which facilitates Pristina-Belgrade talks aimed at normalising ties, to urge Serbia to remain committed to good relations an official said.

Trump's treasury secretary pick failed to disclose nearly $100m in assets

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 10:05 AM PST

Steven Mnuchin didn't tell the Senate finance committee that he was a director of an investment fund incorporated in a tax haven and omitted other assets

Steven Mnuchin confirmation hearing for treasury secretary: the key points

Steven Mnuchin, the hedge fund millionaire Donald Trump has picked to run the US treasury, failed to disclose nearly $100m in assets to Congress, including his role as a director of offshore funds and close to $1m in art owned by his children.

Several Britons killed in Saudi bus crash

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 07:39 AM PST

At least six people from Manchester and Glasgow, including a baby aged about two months, killed on pilgrimage

At least six British citizens have been killed in a minibus crash in Saudi Arabia, the Foreign Office has said.

Reports that a seventh person was also killed have not been confirmed. It is understood the dead include four people from Manchester and a married couple from Glasgow. A baby aged about two months is thought to be one of the victims from Manchester.

Davos 2017: Soros says UK in denial over Brexit, and May won't last – Day Three as it happened

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 01:11 PM PST

Billionaire George Soros tells a dinner in Davos that inflation will drive down living standards in UK, that Trump will fail, and that Europe is too complicated

9.11pm GMT

Here are some of the key quotes from George Soros, for those who missed his interview here in Davos tonight (delegates are now polishing off the pudding and wine in the Seehof Hotel)

In my opinion is is unlikely that prime minister May is actually going to remain in power. Already she has a very divided cabinet, a very small majority in parliament.And I think she will not last.

At the moment the people in the UK are in denial. The current economic situation is not as bad as was predicted, and they live in hope.But as the currency depreciates, and inflation will be the driving force, this will lead to declining living standards.

"One has to recognize that the European Union has become too complicated and people are alienated. The anti-European parties are gathering force."

George Soros discusses the danger of the disintegration of the EU at #wef17 https://t.co/HZ1kwzXumZ pic.twitter.com/B3qiLYqS53

8.46pm GMT

Soros also took a swipe at Hungary's government, which is threatening to crack down on the non-government agencies he funds.

He reads out a statement, saying that these threats against civil society are an affront to European values.

German MPs vote to legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:31 AM PST

Lower house of parliament passes law that allows people with chronic and serious illnesses to get marijuana on prescription

Germany's lower house of parliament has passed a law legalising the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes.

People with serious illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis and chronic pain, or a lack of appetite or nausea, could be offered marijuana under the law.

Inauguration day schedule: what is happening and when

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 01:55 AM PST

Donald Trump will be sworn in as US president at a ceremony in Washington DC, and will attend a parade and inaugural balls

Donald Trump is due to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Thousands of people have travelled to Washington DC to watch the events in person – or to participate in protests against them.

6am EST/11am GMT Security screening gates open to the public. Ticket holders will enter one of six areas, depending on the colour of their ticket, according to the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies (JCCIC).

Eyewitness: Honduras

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 01:50 AM PST

Photographs from the Eyewitness series

Unexploded WWII bomb pulled from river Thames

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 01:35 AM PST

Royal Navy tows away device found near Houses of Parliament for safe disposal

A suspected second world war bomb found in the river Thames near the Houses of Parliament has been towed away for safe disposal.

Ebola, war … but just two psychiatrists to deal with a nation's trauma

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:00 PM PST

Overwhelmed counsellors and medical staff in Sierra Leone must contend with suspicion and a collapse in funding

The history of Africa's oldest psychiatric hospital is written on the walls of its isolation units, desperate messages chiselled into the woodwork like scars. "I came here for I don't have any money," reads one note in a corner of the room. "People want me to run from my father's house," reads another. "You go nowhere," announces a third. "Stay out."

Since the hospital opened in the early 19th century, most Sierra Leoneans have aspired to do exactly that, avoiding this imposing building perched high on a hill above the capital, Freetown.

The President Trump effect may be a whole new British focus on Europe | Martin Kettle

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 10:00 PM PST

His views have little support here or on the mainland. But then, he is a uniquely American phenomenon, and most politics is local

A cold January week has brought the west a chill new-year reality check. First Theresa May confirmed that Britain really is closing the door on the European Union not lingering by its fireside. Now, the stage is set in Washington for the words "I, Donald John Trump, do solemnly swear …" to usher America over the threshold and into the unknown.

Later this year similar thresholds may be crossed in other lands. A Dutch general election in March in which the nationalist anti-immigrant Freedom party (PVV) may outscore all rivals and double its representation. A French presidential election in April and May, which the Front National's Marine Le Pen may even win. A German election in the autumn where the anti-immigrant AfD, one of whose regional leaders condemned Berlin's holocaust memorial in a speech in a beer hall this week, is expected to make gains.

Chinese growth slips to 6.7% in 2016, the slowest for 26 years

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 09:33 PM PST

Amid fears about a Trump presidency and an unwinding property boom, the world's No 2 economy is set for an uncertain 2017

China's economy has grown at its slowest rate in more than a quarter-century as Beijing braces itself for an uncertain outlook that could see a trade stand-off with Donald Trump.

After a tumultuous start to 2016, the country's leaders used huge monetary stimulus to steer the world's number two economy to hit their annual target and also record the first quarterly pick-up in two years.

Bourke Street attack: arrested man had history of family violence, police say

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:51 PM PST

Police say man who allegedly killed pedestrians in Melbourne had background of mental health and drug-related issues

The 26-year-old man arrested after allegedly running over and killing three pedestrians in Melbourne's CBD and injuring more than 20 others has a history of family violence and may have stabbed his brother hours earlier, Victoria's police chief has said.

The man was arrested at about 2pm on Thursday after driving through the pedestrian-only Bourke Street mall and hitting several people.

Too much love: Nigel Farage and friends have a bad boys' ball in DC

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 02:00 AM PST

In a hotel overlooking the White House, revellers wondered if the other half of the 'beautiful friendship' would arrive

On the top floor of a very grand hotel overlooking the White House, the Mississippi governor, Phil Bryant, is introducing the guest of honour to an enraptured throng of party guests. He has fondest memories of August, when Nigel Farage told a crowd of 10,000 Mississippians all about Brexit. "They were fired up," Phil explained. "They were drinking the Kool-Aid, and they were licking the jar."

Not sure Phil fully gets the Kool-Aid thing. Still, please welcome Nigel Farage and his entourage (hereafter the enfarage). "We got the bad boys of Brexit here!" hollers Phil.

Death strikes First Nations community, once a leader in suicide prevention

Posted: 20 Jan 2017 01:00 AM PST

Wapekeka First Nation used to be a shining example amid Canada's suicide crisis, but residents link the dismantling of a key program to new deaths

For decades, Wapekeka First Nation was a shining example of a community that was managing to keep at bay the wave of suicides that has swept through so many of Canada's indigenous communities.

But two years after funding cuts forced them to dismantle a pioneering suicide-prevention program, the deadly epidemic has again struck the remote, northern Ontario community.

'You're not forgotten anymore': Trump's speech from the Lincoln Memorial – video

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 10:19 PM PST

On the eve of his inauguration, president-elect Donald Trump promised crowds of supporters that he would make America 'greater than ever before'. His speech concluded with an array of fireworks spelling U-S-A, accompanied by the Battle Hymn of the Republic

On eve of inauguration, Trump addresses nation in shadow of Lincoln

DeploraBall: Trump lovers and haters clash at Washington DC event

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 09:19 PM PST

Hundreds of demonstrators gather to wave placards and shout slogans at the National Press Club where pro-Trump event was held

Chaos erupted outside the DeploraBall on the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration as protesters clashed with supporters of the president-elect.

"Nazi scum!" a masked man yelled through a police barricade at a woman in a sequined gown as she defiantly waved her ticket for the event. A woman held a sign that read "Look, Ma. It's a racist misogynist" with an arrow pointed toward the guest line. In response a man flipped open his suit jacket to show her his shirt, which read: "Deplorable lives matter."

Jon Voight, 3 Doors Down and Lee Greenwood star at inauguration concert – video

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 08:43 PM PST

Despite struggling to find A-list celebrities to perform, the show went ahead on Thursday at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Performers also included former personal DJ to Hugh Heffner, DJ Ravidrums, and soul singer Sam Moore. Voight told the crowd Trump's only desire was to 'make America great again'

Gambling tax blow for Gibraltar as court rules it's 'one entity' with Britain

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 08:14 PM PST

Case could have wider implications for Mediterranean outcrop, which has been mulling ways of staying in crucial single market

Britain and Gibraltar count as one EU state in terms of a key aspect of the single market, a senior EU lawyer has said in an opinion that could affect the territory's life after Brexit.

The lawyer rebuffed a challenge by Gibraltar's huge electronic gambling industry, the mainstay of its flourishing economy, against new taxes imposed by Britain in 2014.

China eyes an opportunity to take ownership of climate change fight

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 06:57 PM PST

The economic and environmental cost of pollution will drive Beijing's policies regardless of what Donald Trump does

Twenty years ago, climate change was believed by many in Beijing to be a conspiracy cooked up by the western world to contain China's development.

Since then, China has performed an about-turn, not only recognising climate change as a major global challenge but also, ahead of Davos this week, vowing to lead the world's effort in combating it.

China urges Trump: be our friend, not our enemy

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 06:06 PM PST

Beijing and state media strike a conciliatory tone amid fears the new president could set the countries on a collision course

China has urged Donald Trump to be its friend not its enemy, amid fears the tycoon's inauguration could set the world's two largest economies on a calamitous collision course.

Since his shock election last November Trump has repeatedly put Beijing's nose out of joint, challenging it over the militarisation of the South China Sea, alleged currency manipulation and North Korea and threatening to up-end relations by offering greater political recognition to Taiwan.

On eve of inauguration, Trump addresses nation in shadow of Lincoln

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 05:26 PM PST

Trump spoke at the Lincoln Memorial, where Martin Luther King Jr declared 'I have a dream', and told the largely white crowd: 'You're not forgotten any more'

Donald Trump staked his claim to Washington on Thursday by promising to "make America great again" while at the feet of the US capital's giant marble statue of Abraham Lincoln in a celebration of patriotic music, military pageantry and fireworks.

Killing kakas with kindness: New Zealand bird lovers threaten future of parrot

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 05:01 PM PST

Nuts, seeds and bread left out for native birds are causing a bone disease which leaves chicks with fatal abnormalities

The threatened native kaka population of New Zealand's capital city is being killed by too much love.

Kaka is a native New Zealand parrot and there are roughly 500 of them in Wellington, living in parks and reserves close to suburban homes, as well as in the Zealandia sanctuary.

Red, white and who? Trump inaugural concert features few A-listers

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 04:31 PM PST

The free show managed to wrangle Toby Keith and 3 Doors Down along with several second-tier acts that made for a set list that was 'not particularly diverse'

Stalwart patriotism, showy entertainment and flagrant nostalgia ruled the day at the "Make American Great Again! Welcome Celebration" inaugural concert in Washington on Thursday. The show, presented in front of the Lincoln Memorial a day before Donald Trump's official swearing in as president, earned uncommon advance coverage for an embarrassing reason. So many major stars turned down the offer to perform at the event, it seemed like any critically respected, or commercially significant, artists would sooner be struck deaf than participate. One star who initially signed on – singer Jennifer Holliday – felt pressured by her fans to back out days before.

The two-hour free show managed to wrangle several star acts – including Toby Keith – though they were mainly ones who appeal to listeners who live far outside the country's largest cities, and whose music ranks low on the approval scale of the nation's tastemakers. In that sense, the performers aptly mirrored the sensibility Trump so deeply tapped into. CBS correspondent Chris Van Cleef described the audience in the ticketed seats for the event as "not particularly diverse".

Donald Trump attends inauguration concert ahead of Friday ceremony – as it happened

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 04:27 PM PST

12.27am GMT

Inauguration Eve, with the final day of the Obama presidency and the Make America Great Again Welcome Celebration, ended with fireworks of the American flag and spelling "USA" above the Lincoln Memorial.

Is it just us or does that "USA" firework look suspiciously like "USR?" #TrumpInauguration pic.twitter.com/4zktBfYArv

11.53pm GMT

Read the review for the first half of the inauguration concert here.

You'll be sorry that you messed with

The U S of A

Interview: glaciologist Jason Roberts in Antarctica – video

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 03:44 PM PST

Each day glaciologist Jason Roberts flies planes over Antarctica to map the terrain under the ice, trying to discover how climate change will affect sea level rise. Roberts, who works for the Australian Antarctic Division, says the point of his work is to look for the 'canary in the coalmine', identifying hotspots where warm water is interacting with the east Antarctic ice shelf, making it vulnerable to changing climate conditions that could have drastic implications

Troops enter the Gambia after Adama Barrow is inaugurated in Senegal

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 03:31 PM PST

Military action comes as west African states ramp up pressure on Yahya Jammeh to step down

West African troops have crossed the border into the Gambia as part of regional efforts to support the democratically elected president in a his lingering showdown with his predecessor, Yahya Jammeh.

"We have entered Gambia," Colonel Abdou Ndiaye, a spokesman for the Senegalese army, wrote in a text message to Reuters on Thursday night, hours after Adama Barrow was forced to hold his inauguration as president in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

The Gambia’s new president Adama Barrow takes oath of office – video

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 12:14 PM PST

Adama Barrow gives his inaugural speech after being sworn in as the Gambia's new president on Thursday, at a ceremony in the country's embassy in neighbouring Senegal. Barrow calls on the UN to enforce his electoral win, after his predecessor, Yahya Jammeh refused to step down after last month's presidential election

Troops enter the Gambia after Adama Barrow is inaugurated in Senegal

Unconstitutional Texas abortion law caused 50% drop in hardest-hit counties

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:54 AM PST

Study suggests HB2, which increased distance to nearest clinic in some areas to more than 100 miles, was in fact a powerful tool for preventing abortion access

The number of abortions plummeted by 50% in one out of every five counties in Texas, where an onerous abortion law caused the distance to the nearest clinic to increase by 100 miles or more, according to a new study.

The study, published online on Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, examined the impact of house bill 2, a 2013 Texas law that forced more than half of the state's clinics to close.

Trump to be sworn in on day that few expected and many feared

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:33 AM PST

The unpredictable 45th president's aides say his inauguration address will stress unity but an anxious world and an army of protesters may take some convincing

Donald Trump, the most disruptive political candidate in modern times, will on Friday be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, and face immediate pressure to deliver an inaugural address that can start to heal a divided nation and reassure an anxious world.

Nearly a million people are expected on the national mall in Washington for a ceremonial transfer of power that will observe time-honoured traditions and pageantry but usher in profound political uncertainties.

Democracy in Turkey is now under threat | Letters

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:23 AM PST

Owen Jones accurately describes the circumstances in Turkey (What I saw in Turkey is an assault on democracy itself, 18 January). However, the development of challenges to democratic principles in Turkey predates Trump. These have intensified since the AKP government lost its parliamentary majority in the June 2015 general election. The most valuable part of any democratic governance, namely public contestation of political authority through free speech, right to public demonstrations, freedom of expression and press, have gradually eroded under various government measures initiated under the claims to security. These have accelerated since the attempted coup in July 2016. A series of legal cases against public intellectuals, academics and journalists has severely curtailed practice of these freedoms. Continued charges against these people and their imprisonment are leading to self-censorship.

The other backbone of democratic life is the right to be represented and the right to represent. These are entirely disregarded by the imprisonment of elected members of parliament, cutting the voices of their voters out of the political debate. Considering that the proposed new constitutional changes are normalising these practices, talking about democracy in Turkey has become empty rhetoric.
Dr Hakan Seckinelgin
Associate professor (reader) in international social policy, LSE

Russian foreign policy and the Nato narrative | Letters

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:22 AM PST

I hold no brief for Putin or Trump, and, unlike many on the left, I never had any illusions about the Soviet Union. But the conventional narrative on Nato still needs to be challenged (Trump 'reckless' on Nato, says defence chair, 17 January). There is no evidence that Stalin or his successors ever had any plans to sweep across western Europe. Indeed, in 1949, when Nato was founded, it would have been quite incapable of doing so, after the devastation it had suffered in the war. Likewise, however deplorable Putin's actions in what he, like his predecessors, considers to be his backyard, his sphere of influence, this does not make him a threat to the west. What possible motive could he have for an unprovoked attack on any Nato state? But behind Putin's personal ambitions and great power aspirations, there remains the folk memory of three invasions by western powers, and accompanying paranoia. Whatever Nato may claim, this is not diminished by its expansion to the east. Rather than continuing to base "security" on Nato and military strength, greater support should be given to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which currently operates with a fraction of Nato's budget, yet, without any publicity, still manages to defuse some potential conflict situations.
Frank Jackson
(Former co-chair, World Disarmament Campaign), Harlow, Essex

• The comments by Julian Lewis, the chair of the Commons defence select committee, that "European countries, without the US, could deter nuclear blackmail from Russia, because of French and UK nuclear weapons, but not a conventional force attack" indicates that UK and French nuclear weapons would not be used in the event of a "conventional" attack by Russia, which Lewis describes as "our principal adversary". This is probably a calculation the Russians have already made and surely gives lie to the claim that nuclear weapons are our best form of defence "guarantee". By soaking up large amounts of defence spending and technical resources, to create the "big stick" which can't be used on our most likely threat, nuclear weapons leave us in a weaker not stronger position. Since forces are currently being built up on both sides of the "European-Russian" frontline, maybe it really is time to "think it out again".
David Mellor
Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire

French elections: Macron vows to field candidates in all parliamentary seats

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:22 AM PST

Independent presidential candidate is drawing huge crowds to rallies around the country and showing strongly in opinion polls

Independent presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron threw down a direct challenge to France's existing political parties by announcing he would field candidates in all constituencies in June's parliamentary elections.

On Thursday, Macron, a centrist whose rise in opinion polls is worrying both leftwing and rightwing candidates, launched a call for applications online for all those who would like to run as an MP under the colours of his young party.

Without a path from protest to power, the Women's March will end up like Occupy

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 11:17 AM PST

Social activists have succumbed to one of the most enduring myths of contemporary American protest. It's time to consider what happens the day after

Shortly after Donald Trump's shock election victory, I received an urgent call from one of the co-creators of the Women's March on Washington. She was concerned at a moment you might expect her to be ecstatic. Hundreds of thousands of women in 17 countries had already signed on in solidarity, and the numbers kept growing. Yet despite the tremendous momentum, she confessed a nagging skepticism about the effectiveness of the protest.

"I'm not that interested in the march itself but in what comes afterwards," Fontaine Pearson confided to me. I admire her candor because I know it takes courage to voice such a concern. It is her difficult question – what comes the day after? – that every supporter of the Women's March should be earnestly figuring out today.

Turkey's parliament set to approve sweeping new powers for president

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 10:18 AM PST

MPs pass elements of controversial bill that grants broad powers to country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

A sweeping bill that will alter the Turkish constitution and grant broad powers to the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is on track to pass in parliament, paving the way for a historic spring referendum that could transform the country's politics and strengthen the ruling party.

The parliament passed amendments to seven articles in the constitution in a second round of voting in the early hours of Thursday, and is expected to continue voting on the remaining articles on Friday.

'I want to kill these dogs': question of whether to cull strays divides Yangon

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 06:42 AM PST

Myanmar's commercial capital is overrun with an estimated 120,000 stray dogs, which attack children and carry the threat of rabies. Mass culling was recently stopped but spay, neuter and vaccinate programmes have yet to start

Zu May Naing was playing with her brother outside their house in Bago Region, close to Myanmar's commercial capital of Yangon, last month when a pack of stray dogs rounded on the 18-month-old.

Her mother, San Thar Myint, found her lying prone on the ground, bleeding and in shock. "Her temperature was over 100 [degrees fahrenheit] before they got to the operation room," she says.

Text alert scheme will ensure families in India get the message on organ donation

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 09:00 PM PST

Awareness campaign aims to stop trafficking and black market trade in body parts by reminding doctors to ask bereaved families about organ donation

Doctors in India are to get text alerts reminding them to ask families to donate the organs of deceased loved ones as part of a campaign to solve the country's organ shortage, which has fuelled a black market trade.

The drive, "Poochna mat bhoolo" – "Don't forget to ask" in Hindi – will target 300,000 doctors. It represents the latest in a string of awareness campaigns in India after a kidney racket involving a poor woman was uncovered at a top Mumbai hospital last year.

On the climate change frontline: the disappearing fishing villages of Bangladesh #GlobalWarning

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 04:00 PM PST

Kutubdia's islanders don't have much of a carbon footprint – most don't have regular electricity. But they are facing the reality of a changing climate, and soon tens of millions of their fellow Bangladeshis will be at risk

A row of mangrove trees sticking out of the sand, exposed by low tide off Kutubdia island in the Bay of Bengal, is all that remains of a coastal village that for generations was home to 250 families. The villagers were forced to flee as their land, which had been slowly eroding for decades, was finally engulfed by the ever-rising tide five years ago.

For the embattled people of Ali Akbar Dial, a collection of disappearing villages on the southern tip of the island in Bangladesh, the distant trees serve as a bittersweet reminder of what they have lost and a warning of what is come. The low-lying island of Kutubdia has one of the fastest-ever sea level rises recorded in the world, placing it bang on the front line of climate change, and the islanders are fighting a battle they fear is already lost.

Rising seas sweep away land and livelihoods in Bangladesh – in pictures

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 03:00 PM PST

Kutubdia, an island of fishing villages and salt farms, has halved in size in 20 years, with family homes destroyed by ever-encroaching tides. In nearby Cox's Bazar, more frequent storms have had a severe impact on fishermen's catches

All photographs by Noor Alam/Majority World

How liberal leaders in cities and states across US are planning to thwart Trump

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 07:38 AM PST

From defending Obamacare to protecting undocumented immigrants and Muslims, politicians are plotting ways to blunt the new administration's policies

Donald Trump has made a number of pledges about the drastic actions he might take as president. But even before he has been sworn in, many liberal city and state leaders have made moves to thwart some of those actions' effects.

Protesters clash with police outside pro–Trump 'DeploraBall' event – video

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 07:01 PM PST

Protesters gather outside the National Press Club in Washington, the venue for the pro-Trump 'DeploraBall' event. The name of the event on Thursday was inspired by a remark made by Hillary Clinton, who referred to some of Trump's supporters as a 'basket of deplorables'

DeploraBall: Trump lovers and haters clash at Washington DC event

Valium and banking ethics: Steven Mnuchin's confirmation hearing – video

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 12:45 PM PST

Donald Trump's choice for treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, defended his banking record in the aftermath of the financial crisis on Thursday during his confirmation hearing before the Senate. Mnuchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, hedge fund manager and Hollywood film financier, would be the first Wall Street veteran to head the treasury department in eight years

Hotel buried under snow by Italy avalanche – aerial video

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 05:26 AM PST

Aerial footage shows a ski resort hotel in the Abruzzo region of central Italy buried under snow. Up to 30 people are feared dead after an avalanche hit the building following a series of earthquakes

Avalanche in Abruzzo – in pictures

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 04:22 AM PST

A hotel has been hit by an avalanche in Farindola in the Abruzzo region of Italy, with dozens of people feared dead. Authorities believe the incident was triggered by a series of earthquakes in central Italy

Italy earthquakes: many feared dead after avalanche hits hotel

Donald Trump's promises for day one of his presidency – video

Posted: 19 Jan 2017 04:01 AM PST

In the months leading up to his presidency Donald Trump has made numerous pledges about what he will do on his first day in office. From repealing Obamacare to building a wall to withdrawing from TPP, here are some of the promises Trump has made

Aneka Info

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

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

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