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Revealed: Kim Jong-nam was gripped by paranoia and fear, says friend
Uber hires Eric Holder to investigate sexual harassment allegations
Answering 'cultural genocide': Iraq's looted treasures to be displayed at Venice Biennale
Emmanuel Macron eyes French connection with voters in London
Cucumber seeds and beekeeping kits: the new ways of fighting famine
Tokyo Olympic golf course must give female members equal rights or lose event, says IOC
Milo Yiannopoulos book deal cancelled following outrage over child abuse comments
Melbourne plane crash that killed five blamed on 'catastrophic engine failure'
EDF faces £1m a day bill to keep French nuclear reactor offline
Marine Le Pen's Front National headquarters raided by police
Long-winded speech could be early sign of Alzheimer's, says study
MPs warn over child refugees sleeping rough after Dubs scheme closure
Russian envoy to UN dies in New York
Health apps could be doing more harm than good, warn scientists
'Spider-Man' art thief jailed over Paris heist
Swedish police comments 'taken out of context' in film cited by Trump
Greece standoff over €86bn bailout eases after Brussels deal
World's largest sailing yacht impounded in Gibraltar
'Lass War' protest at Northern Powerhouse event with no female speakers
'The exorcism was over in 15 minutes but nothing changed' - LGBT life in Nigeria
Mexican kidnappers pile misery on to Central Americans fleeing violence
Bodies of 74 migrants wash ashore in Libya
‘Insane’ camera trap video captures rare battle in the Amazon
IPCC says it must consider prosecutions over armed police shootings
'Not my President’s Day' protesters rally across US to oppose Trump – video
Karen Ristevski's body found in bushland eight months after she vanished
Eyewitness: Lake Puma Yumco, Tibet
Girl pulled alive from rubble in Damascus – video
Tuesday briefing: State of anger over Trump visit
Australia should not join US in South China Sea operations, says retired defence chief
Hitler's eyrie: a visit to Berchtesgaden - archive, 21 February 1970
China orders hundreds of thousands of private cars to have GPS trackers installed for monitoring
Dubs scheme and dubious claims | Letter
New weapon in the global fight against fake malaria drugs: a cheap scanner
From Eurovision to a randy elk: what really hit Swedish headlines last Friday
Star of postwar German cinema was Soviet spy, declassified files show
Police in Sri Lanka arrest intelligence officers over journalist killing
Roe v Wade: plaintiff's death highlights weakening of abortion rights in US
Ireland PM Enda Kenny expected to resign over police scandal
Ukraine ambassador attacks Trump allies' secret peace plan
Syrian refugees in Canada's north: 'It’s not warm in weather, but warm in emotions '
'Honour love whatever package it comes in': LGBT Christians on the synod vote
Rockets fired into southern Israel from Egypt's Sinai
Famine declared in South Sudan
HR McMaster announced as national security adviser – video

Revealed: Kim Jong-nam was gripped by paranoia and fear, says friend

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 12:44 AM PST

Exclusive: Kim Jong-un's half-brother felt powerless and conflicted over North Korea's fate and feared for his own safety in exile

Kim Jong-nam spent his last few years highly paranoid, hiding from the regime run by his dictator half-brother while struggling with a sense of powerlessness over the fate of his homeland, according to people who knew him.

Uber hires Eric Holder to investigate sexual harassment allegations

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 07:06 PM PST

Former US attorney general brought in after female engineer claimed company frequently dismissed complaints and protected a repeat offender

Uber has hired the former US attorney general Eric Holder to investigate allegations of sexual harassment after an engineer went public with claims that she repeatedly faced sexism and discrimination at the ride-sharing company.

In a staff email shared with the Guardian on Monday, Uber's CEO, Travis Kalanick, said Holder would conduct an "independent review" and also revealed that women made up only 15% of the company's workforce in engineering, product management and scientist roles.

Answering 'cultural genocide': Iraq's looted treasures to be displayed at Venice Biennale

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 10:00 PM PST

Iraq Museum takes unusual step of allowing objects to leave country to show their significance amid Isis's 'nihilistic' destruction

The Iraq Museum of Baghdad is to display 40 ancient artefacts at the Venice Biennale this year, including several that were recently returned after its looting in 2003. The exhibition will be the first time all the objects have been legally allowed out of the country.

Ancient clay pots, medical objects, musical instruments and figurines of deities and animals will be among the items on display, some of which date back to 6,100 BC.

Emmanuel Macron eyes French connection with voters in London

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 10:26 AM PST

Centrist candidate will address more than 3,000 French people in Central Hall hoping to persuade those registered to vote abroad

More than 3,000 French voters are set to pack out Central Hall in Westminster on Tuesday as Emmanuel Macron, the centrist outsider seen as a leading contender in France's presidential race, brings his campaign to London.

With nine weeks to go before the first round of a wide-open contest, the former investment banker and economy minister is seeking votes where he can find them and hoping his crusade to break the "complacency and vacuity" of a failing French political system will find favour with expatriates.

Cucumber seeds and beekeeping kits: the new ways of fighting famine

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 12:24 AM PST

A complex – and innovative – aid operation to save millions of lives in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria is under way, but success hinges on donors meeting the $5.6bn cost

Step out of Juba's makeshift tented terminal and you'll see them lined up along the tarmac as far as the eye can see: hulking white cargo planes stamped with the acronyms of UN aid agencies and NGOs.

But the fleets of aircraft that dominate the airport of South Sudan's capital are just one part of a complex and sophisticated humanitarian response to famine, which was declared in parts of the country's north on Monday and looms simultaneously in three other countries for the first time in modern history.

Tokyo Olympic golf course must give female members equal rights or lose event, says IOC

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 10:27 PM PST

Kasumigaseki Country Club is due to host the men's and women's tournaments in 2020 but the IOC has demanded it allows full access to both sexes

The venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic golf tournament could have the event taken away unless it grants equal playing rights to female members, the International Committee (IOC) has warned.

Kasumigaseki Country Club, a private golf course in Saitama prefecture, north-west of Tokyo, forbids women from becoming full members and from playing on Sundays.

Milo Yiannopoulos book deal cancelled following outrage over child abuse comments

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 11:25 PM PST

Simon & Schuster pulls forthcoming autobiography, titled Dangerous, for which it had reportedly paid a $250,000 advance

Simon & Schuster has cancelled the publication of Milo Yiannopoulos' book, and his fellow Breitbart employees have reportedly threatened to quit if he is not fired.

A statement from the publisher late on Monday said: "After careful consideration, Simon & Schuster and its Threshold Editions imprint have cancelled publication of Dangerous by Milo Yiannopoulos."

Melbourne plane crash that killed five blamed on 'catastrophic engine failure'

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 11:01 PM PST

Twin-engine aircraft had just taken off from Essendon airport when it ploughed into a shopping centre

A plane that crashed into a shopping centre near Essendon airport in Melbourne, killing four US tourists and their Australian pilot, had a "catastrophic engine failure" shortly after takeoff, police have said.

The twin-engine aircraft, which issued a mayday shortly after leaving the airport about 9am on Tuesday, was taking the tourists to King Island to play golf.

EDF faces £1m a day bill to keep French nuclear reactor offline

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 11:00 PM PST

Prolonged closure at Flamanville plant after fire damage piles further financial pressure on state-owned energy firm

The prolonged closure of a major French atomic reactor after an explosion this month probably costs EDF at least £1m a day, according to experts.

The nuclear plant operator, which will spend £18bn building the UK's first new nuclear power station in a generation, shut unit 1 at its Flamanville plant after a fire broke out in the turbine hall.

Marine Le Pen's Front National headquarters raided by police

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 10:08 AM PST

French far-right party dismisses police search as 'media operation whose goal is to disturb course of presidential campaign'

French police searched the headquarters of Marine Le Pen's far-right Front National on Monday evening as part of an official investigation into "fake" jobs involving the misuse of European Union funds to pay for a bodyguard and an assistant in Paris.

Brussels investigators claim Le Pen paid her bodyguard, Thierry Légier, more than €41,500 (£35,350) between October and December 2011, by falsely claiming he was an EU parliamentary assistant. She is also accused of paying nearly €298,000 between December 2010 and 2016 to her France-based assistant Catherine Griset.

Long-winded speech could be early sign of Alzheimer's, says study

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 04:01 PM PST

Research finds distinctive language deficits in people with mild cognitive impairment, a precursor to dementia

Rambling and long-winded anecdotes could be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease, according to research that suggests subtle changes in speech style occur years before the more serious mental decline takes hold.

The scientists behind the work said it may be possible to detect these changes and predict if someone is at risk more than a decade before meeting the threshold for an Alzheimer's diagnosis.

MPs warn over child refugees sleeping rough after Dubs scheme closure

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 10:58 AM PST

Volunteers say decision to stop taking lone child refugees to UK and destruction of Calais camp has been a fillip to traffickers

MPs have warned the Home Office that it cannot ignore the growing numbers of child refugees returning to sleep rough on the edges of Calais and Dunkirk after the closure of the so-called Dubs scheme, which gave lone children a safe route to asylum in the UK.

Volunteers said the UK government's decision to take no more lone child refugees from Europe had been a fillip to traffickers, who were emboldened by the desperation of teenagers rejected by official schemes.

Russian envoy to UN dies in New York

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 09:42 AM PST

Vitaly Churkin, a pugnacious defender of Russian policy, died day before 65th birthday, says foreign ministry in Moscow

Vitaly Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations for the past decade and leading international exponent of Vladimir Putin's increasingly self-confident foreign policy, has died suddenly aged 64, the foreign ministry in Moscow has said.

In a statement on Monday night, the ministry said Churkin died in New York, where the UN headquarters are located, a day before his 65th birthday. His death at NewYork-Presbyterian hospital followed what was described as a cardiac condition in his office at 9am local time, it said.

Health apps could be doing more harm than good, warn scientists

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 04:01 PM PST

App development likened to the 'wild west' as researchers raise concerns over one-size-fits-all targets and absence of sound science

Fitness trackers and mental health apps could be doing more harm than good because they are not based on sound science, researchers have warned, comparing some health app developers to "snake oil salesmen of the 1860s".

Greg Hager, professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University, said that in the absence of trials or scientific grounding it was impossible to say whether apps were having the intended effect.

'Spider-Man' art thief jailed over Paris heist

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 08:01 AM PST

Vjeran Tomic and two others sentenced and fined for stealing five 20th-century masterpieces from Musée d'Art Moderne

A burglar known as Spider-Man has been jailed in Paris for eight years after one of the most daring art heists in recent years.

Vjeran Tomic and two accomplices were also fined €104m (£88.6m) over the theft of a Matisse, a Picasso, a Braque, a Léger and a Modigliani from the Musée d'Art Moderne in 2010.

Swedish police comments 'taken out of context' in film cited by Trump

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 09:58 AM PST

Officers interviewed for documentary cited by US president as evidence of violence by refugees accuse film-maker of bad journalism

Two Swedish police officers interviewed for a documentary cited by Donald Trump as evidence of a link between crime levels and asylum policy in Sweden say their comments were taken out of context, accusing the interviewer of "bad journalism".

At a Florida rally on Sunday the US president sowed confusion by seemingly referencing a non-existent terrorist attack in Sweden, later explaining on Twitter that the comment had been a reference to a news segment on the Fox News TV channel, which described an "incredible surge of violence" in Sweden.

Greece standoff over €86bn bailout eases after Brussels deal

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 11:44 AM PST

Government agrees to talks on reforms with European creditors in return for progress on releasing next tranche of funds

Greece's bailout inspectors are returning to Athens to seek changes to the country's tax, pensions and labour market laws in a sign that the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, will give way to European pressure for deeper reforms.

His government agreed at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Monday to talks on big economic reforms in exchange for progress on releasing the next instalment of bailout funds. In return, Europe signalled a winding back of austerity measures for the struggling nation, in a move that could end a dispute between EU creditors and the International Monetary Fund over how to deal with Greece.

World's largest sailing yacht impounded in Gibraltar

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 09:29 AM PST

Taller than Big Ben and longer than 13 London buses, billionaire Russian's €400m luxury vessel kept in dock over unpaid bills to shipbuilder

The world's largest sailing yacht has been impounded in Gibraltar over claims that its billionaire Russian owner owes the shipbuilder €15.3m (£13.3m).

The Gibraltar Port Authority impounded the €400m "Sailing Yacht A" as it was on its way to be delivered to industrialist Andrey Melnichenko, following a legal filing from the German shipbuilder that constructed the futuristic-looking vessel.

'Lass War' protest at Northern Powerhouse event with no female speakers

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 02:32 AM PST

Organisers apologise and pledge future conferences will 'reflect north's gender balance' after outcry

Demonstrators wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets have picketed the opening of a "northern powerhouse" conference over the lack of female representation.

The protesters bore placards and handed out leaflets to delegates at the two-day summit in Manchester, which provoked controversy when it emerged that all 15 main speakers were men. Only 13 out of the 98 speakers over the two days are women.

'The exorcism was over in 15 minutes but nothing changed' - LGBT life in Nigeria

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 02:23 AM PST

After going through Christian rituals in an attempt to change her sexuality, Bree found a way to reconcile her faith and same-sex attraction

Who are 2017's LGBT heroes? Tell us about the activists creating change

A pastor spits out prayers as his subject falls to the ground, writhing and contorting after a 30-day fast. Ministers form a circle around the emaciated man and douse him in anointing oil and holy water. When the prayer tsunami ends, a hovering calm ensues. A hologram glides through the man's atrophied body as he springs to his feet, professing his salvation. So goes the standard script for a deliverance session or exorcism in Nigerian film.

Bree, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, said her first deliverance session in 2004 had none of this Nollywood drama.

Mexican kidnappers pile misery on to Central Americans fleeing violence

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 02:00 AM PST

Despite Trump's 'bad hombres' rhetoric, refugees are more likely to be victims of crime, with criminal gangs often working hand in glove with the authorities

Marco Martínez had just stepped off the bus with five other Honduran migrants when four police cars sped into the terminal in downtown Cárdenas. They ran, but were quickly captured.

Bodies of 74 migrants wash ashore in Libya

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 01:49 AM PST

Red Crescent says circumstances surrounding the drowning in western city of Zawiya are not yet clear

The bodies of 74 migrants and refugees have washed ashore in the western Libyan city of Zawiya, Libya's Red Crescent has said.

Mohammed al-Misrati, the aid organisation's spokesman, said the bodies were found on the Mediterranean coastline on Tuesday morning.

‘Insane’ camera trap video captures rare battle in the Amazon

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 12:54 AM PST

Without camera traps we would never be privy to two endangered species sparring in the remote Amazon rainforest.

As darkness descended over the Peruvian Amazon in 2006, my wife and I listened spellbound while our guide told us the grisly story of the jaguar and giant anteater.

Eyewitnesses, our guide insisted, had found the two foes dead together, embracing like lovers but in mutual destruction – the jaguar's jaw still drooped around the anteater's neck where it had pierced its prey's artery and the anteater's ten-centimeter-long claws still embedded in the big cat's flanks. Later, after the spell – and liquor – wore off, I thought it was probably a tall tale, something to tell tourists after the sun sets over the world's greatest jungle and you've all had a few too many. But an incredible new camera trap video proves I may have been wrong to doubt.

IPCC says it must consider prosecutions over armed police shootings

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 04:01 PM PST

Watchdog says failing to hold proper inquiries into serious incidents would be threat to democracy as it produces new guidance

Failing to hold a proper inquiry after armed police shoot a suspect would be a threat to democracy, said the police watchdog as it published new rules on how serious incidents should be investigated.

The IPCC said it had to keep open the possibility of bringing prosecutions against armed officers and produced guidance that said police should not be allowed to confer before, during or after making their statements about a shooting.

'Not my President’s Day' protesters rally across US to oppose Trump – video

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 02:27 PM PST

Thousands gather in cities across the US to attend 'not my President's Day' demonstrations on Monday. The nationwide anti-Donald Trump rallies were planned to mark the President's Day holiday

Cost of Trump family security vexes New York and Florida officials

Karen Ristevski's body found in bushland eight months after she vanished

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 01:01 AM PST

Remains of missing Melbourne woman found by a bushwalker at Mount Macedon, about 60km north of the city

The body of a missing Melbourne woman, Karen Ristevski, has been found in rugged bushland almost eight months after she vanished.

The remains were found by a bushwalker on Monday near a dirt road at Mount Macedon regional park, about 60km north of Melbourne, and were sent for forensic testing to determine the identity.

Eyewitness: Lake Puma Yumco, Tibet

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 02:22 AM PST

Photographs from the Eyewitness series

Girl pulled alive from rubble in Damascus – video

Posted: 21 Feb 2017 12:41 AM PST

Video from the Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, shows rescue workers pulling a girl alive from underneath the rubble of a building believed to be in Damascus's Tishreen neighbourhood on Sunday. The girl is buried under layers of rubble, which the responders clear as quickly as they can

Tuesday briefing: State of anger over Trump visit

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 10:55 PM PST

Theresa May censured for 'fawning' to president … Mary Berry on leaving Great British Bake Off … and exclusive interview with Kim Jong-nam confidant

Hello, this is Warren Murray with today's Guardian morning briefing.

Australia should not join US in South China Sea operations, says retired defence chief

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 09:43 PM PST

Angus Houston warns blockade of China's artificial islands would invite a 'sharp response' from Beijing

The retired defence chief Angus Houston has warned Australia should not participate in freedom of navigation operations within 12 nautical miles of China's artificial islands in the South China Sea.

He has also criticised the push to blockade China's artificial islands, saying that would invite a "sharp response" from Beijing.

Hitler's eyrie: a visit to Berchtesgaden - archive, 21 February 1970

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 09:00 PM PST

21 February 1970: A piece nominally about Hitler's leftovers at Berchtesgaden, but essentially about writer Geoffrey Moorhouse's personal hangup on Germany and the Germans. Pictures by Frank Martin

It is now a quarter of a century since we stopped fighting them and I cannot even claim that I suffered in the war. I can remember reading Tarka the Otter by the light of the Manchester blitz, miles away, and I can recall wetting my pants as I dived under the bed as a flying-bomb cut out above our house. Otherwise my war was completely secondhand.

The thing defies all reason. It stands to sense that no German under the age of 55 can even be accused of merely standing by and doing nothing to prevent the Nazis from happening; a German might just as well look sideways at me for what we did to Dresden. One knows in one's skull bones that Hitler had a degree of rectitude on his side in his haul to the top because the French (if only the French) were demonstrably bent on bleeding the Germans white after Versailles, and he promised salvation. I can't even plead that I know the people well enough to half-support my feelings; this is only my second brief visit to the blasted country. I have known only three Germans beyond nodding acquaintance. One was the only teacher for whom I had wholehearted admiration, the second was one of the most principled and engaging colleagues I have ever worked with, the third is the only great public figure in whom I have not yet found a blemish.

China orders hundreds of thousands of private cars to have GPS trackers installed for monitoring

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 08:40 PM PST

Hundreds of thousands of vehicles affected by edict covering part of Xinjiang following outbreaks of violence – and no petrol for owners who don't comply

Security officials in China's violence-stricken north-west have ordered residents to install GPS tracking devices in their vehicles so authorities are able to keep permanent tabs on their movements.

The compulsory measure, which came into force this week and could eventually affect hundreds of thousands of vehicles, is being rolled out in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang, a sprawling region that borders Central Asia and sees regular eruptions of deadly violence.

Dubs scheme and dubious claims | Letter

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 10:34 AM PST

There is no evidence for the home secretary's claim that the Dubs scheme to bring child refugees to the UK encourages other children to make unsafe journeys (Child refugees have hopes raised as Home Office reviews Calais cases, 20 February). Sadly, however, it's an argument the government often uses as cover for its failure to share responsibility for hosting refugees, including children, and providing legal routes for them to reach safety. For example, while adults entitled to asylum are allowed to bring their close family to join them here, children are not, and the government trots out the same evidence-free "encouragement" claim as justification. This latter policy cruelly denies vulnerable children who have already experienced the horrors of war, violence and exploitation the chance to grow up with the love and care of their parents and siblings. Ministers must urgently reverse their decision to end the Dubs scheme, and the close family of child refugees in the UK must be permitted to join them here if they can be located.
Steve Symonds
Amnesty UK's refugee and migrant rights programme director

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

New weapon in the global fight against fake malaria drugs: a cheap scanner

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 09:00 AM PST

Like a TV remote, a device known as Scio uses infrared light and connects to a smartphone to determine whether medications are genuine

A new device that uses similar infrared light to TV remotes can accurately detect fake antimalarial drugs, according to a scientific paper published Monday.

The researchers revealed how they were able to use an optical scanner purchased online for $250 to distinguish perfectly between life-saving malaria drugs and deadly counterfeits.

From Eurovision to a randy elk: what really hit Swedish headlines last Friday

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 06:43 AM PST

Donald Trump may think a terrorist attack struck, but the Nordic country had a relatively quiet day in the news – unless you were driving between Katterjåkk and Riksgränsen ...

During a Florida rally on Saturday 18 February, while defending his controversial travel ban, Donald Trump told supporters: "We've got to keep our country safe. You look at what's happening in Germany, you look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this? Sweden." The US president was right: who would believe this? Because the truth (as in the plain old, pre post-truth truth) is, no terrorist attack took place in Sweden on Friday night.

Star of postwar German cinema was Soviet spy, declassified files show

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 06:30 AM PST

Marika Rökk revealed as Soviet agent working from 1940s onwards for network passing Third Reich secrets to Moscow

One of Germany's best-loved postwar actors has been exposed as a Soviet agent following the declassification of top secret intelligence documents.

Marika Rökk, who was banned from acting for two years for her apparent closeness to the Nazi regime, had in fact been working from the 1940s onwards for a reconnaissance network passing Third Reich secrets to Moscow.

Police in Sri Lanka arrest intelligence officers over journalist killing

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 05:01 AM PST

Five arrested suspected of assassinating Lasantha Wickrematunge and of other attacks under former regime, source says

Police in Sri Lanka have arrested five military intelligence officers on suspicion of assassinating a prominent anti-establishment newspaper editor and orchestrating attacks on other journalists and dissidents under the former regime, a legal source has said.

Roe v Wade: plaintiff's death highlights weakening of abortion rights in US

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 05:00 AM PST

Norma McCorvey did not live to see the case overturned. But today's abortion access may more closely resemble the country of her youth than she imagined

In 1998, Norma McCorvey, the "Jane Roe" in the Roe v Wade supreme court decision, testified before a group of senators about the case fought in her name 25 years earlier. "I am dedicated," she said, "to spending the rest of my life undoing the law that bears my name."

Ireland PM Enda Kenny expected to resign over police scandal

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 04:59 AM PST

Fine Gael leader to outline plans at party meeting in Dublin next month after St Patrick's Day visit to White House

Enda Kenny is expected to step down as Ireland's taoiseach next month after severe criticism of his handling of a crisis in the Irish police force.

Kenny, who last year became the first Fine Gael leader to win a second consecutive term as prime minister, will outline his plans at a party meeting in Dublin on Wednesday.

Ukraine ambassador attacks Trump allies' secret peace plan

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 03:41 AM PST

Under deal reportedly discussed by allies of US president and Ukrainian politician Russian sanctions would be lifted

A secret attempt to persuade Donald Trump to strike a deal that would involve Moscow keeping Crimea in return for ensuring peace in eastern Ukraine must be seen off, the Ukrainian ambassador to London has said.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Trump's personal lawyer and a former business associate met privately in New York last month with a member of the Ukrainian parliament to discuss a peace plan that could give Russia long-term control over territory it seized in 2014 and lead to the lifting of sanctions against Moscow.

Syrian refugees in Canada's north: 'It’s not warm in weather, but warm in emotions '

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 03:00 AM PST

In communities such as Yellowknife, the temperature can sink to -40C, a dramatic change for refugees who had 'never experienced anything like it'

After a rocket hit his sister's house and killed his brother-in-law and nephew, Mustafa Alhajy knew he had to leave Syria.

He was not expecting to end up in the kind of place where snow blankets the ground for months at a time and temperatures drop to -40C (-40F).

'Honour love whatever package it comes in': LGBT Christians on the synod vote

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 02:52 AM PST

After the Church of England synod voted to reject a report on marriage and same-sex relationships, we asked churchgoers about the future of the church

Ongoing division within the Church of England became apparent after its synod decided "not to take note" of a report on marriage and same-sex relationships. Those who responded to a Guardian callout say not enough is being done for gay Christians and that a split in the wider Anglican communion may be on the horizon.

The published report, which upholds the traditional teaching on marriage, resulted in a mixed reaction among Anglicans. Some were pleased the church recognised the need for "a fresh tone and culture of welcome and support" for gay Christians. Others felt it did not go far enough in accepting same-sex unions, whereas some believed it put the church's biblical tradition at risk.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Rockets fired into southern Israel from Egypt's Sinai

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 02:35 AM PST

No casualties as two handmade rockets land in Eshkol region day after Isis claims four members were killed by Israeli drone

Two rockets, apparently fired by Islamic militants in Egypt's northern Sinai, have landed in southern Israel. The attack came a day after an Isis affiliate claimed that several of its members had been killed by an Israeli drone.

The incident is the second within the space of a month after four missiles were fired towards the Israeli Red Sea city of Eilat, suggesting an increase in tensions on Israel's southern border.

Famine declared in South Sudan

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 02:53 AM PST

'Man-made' food crisis threatens 100,000 people after war and a collapsing economy devastate agriculture in the country

Famine has been declared in parts of South Sudan, where UN agencies warned on Monday that war and a collapsing economy have left 100,000 people facing starvation.

A further 1 million people were classified as being on the brink of famine, according to the World Food Programme (WFP) and other UN bodies. Unimpeded humanitarian access was urgently needed to reverse "an escalating catastrophe", they added.

HR McMaster announced as national security adviser – video

Posted: 20 Feb 2017 01:44 PM PST

Donald Trump announces Lt Gen H R McMaster as his pick for National Security adviser, calling him 'a man of tremendous talent and tremendous experience'. The president made the announcement in the living room at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, where he has been spending the holiday weekend interviewing prospective candidates for the position

Trump appoints HR McMaster as national security adviser

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