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Erdoğan clinches victory in Turkish constitutional referendum
US officials warn tensions with North Korea are 'coming to a head'
22,000 years of history evaporates after freezer failure melts Arctic ice cores
'Sixty-eight children among dead' of suicide bombing attack in Syria
Hassan Rouhani faces tough re-election race as candidate list closes
United Airlines changes crew flight policy after forcible removal fiasco
Trump wonders why protesters want to see his tax returns after day of marches
American detained in Egypt for 1,079 days on child sex trafficking charges acquitted
Five-year-old boy crushed to death at US revolving restaurant
Damascus: thin sheen of normality coats menace in once-friendly city
Turkey referendum: Erdoğan wins vote amid dispute over ballots – as it happened
Erdoğan gets backing to strengthen his autocratic grip on Turkey
'Terrorist' baby faces US embassy interview after error on visa form
UK attorney general in bid to block case against Tony Blair over Iraq war
At least 12 people suffer burns in London club from suspected noxious chemical
Mother and daughter die after becoming locked in Czech sauna
How east Africa's first state pension is changing lives – in pictures
Facebook video killing: shooting footage sparks US hunt for suspect
Can Trump defuse North Korea by acting like Ike? | Matthew d’Ancona
Colleagues contradict Tony Abbott's claim he was unaware of Safe Schools' rollout
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel go on hunger strike
Mike Pence warns North Korea: 'Do not test Trump's resolve'
Millicent Fawcett is the right feminist, by the wrong sculptor | Letters
Tackling racism and working-class insults | Letters
A rocky approach to Gibraltar’s sovereignty | Letters
Violence in Darfur today is much reduced | Letters
Home secretary urged to revoke Asma al-Assad's British citizenship
Aftermath of Syrian bus bombing which killed 126 people – video
May gives Easter address as pope condemns global violence
US national security adviser visits Afghanistan after Moab strike
Easter Sunday around the world – in pictures
Erdoğan casts ballot as Turkey goes to the polls
As Trump plays the global strongman, what happened to 'America first'?
Two questions Trump must answer if he wants to drain the tax swamp

Erdoğan clinches victory in Turkish constitutional referendum

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 02:50 PM PDT

Electoral board says Turkey has backed constitutional amendments but opposition parties say they will contest some of the results

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has achieved victory in a historic referendum on a package of constitutional amendments that will grant him sweeping new powers.

Sadi Güven, the head of Turkey's high electoral board (YSK), confirmed the passage of the referendum on Sunday night, based on unofficial results.

US officials warn tensions with North Korea are 'coming to a head'

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:30 AM PDT

US national security adviser pushes for peaceful resolution after country's failed missile test, as Donald Trump hopes for Chinese intervention

Donald Trump and senior officials said on Sunday the US would consider any lever – diplomatic, economic or military – to forestall North Korea's nuclear ambitions, a day after the vice-president arrived in the area and the isolated nation launched a missile test that failed.

The president and his national security adviser, HR McMaster, said they first hoped that China would act on its neighbor, which depends on Beijing to prop up its trade and finances. Trump said he had backtracked on a campaign promise to immediately denounce China, in order to push the country on North Korea.

22,000 years of history evaporates after freezer failure melts Arctic ice cores

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 08:03 AM PDT

Around 13% of cache of ice cylinders extracted from glaciers in Canadian Arctic exposed to high heat in new storage facility at University of Alberta

Within them sits some 80,000 years of history, offering researchers tantalising clues about climate change and the Earth's past. At least that was the case – until the precious cache of Arctic ice cores was hit by warming temperatures.

A freezer malfunction at the University of Alberta in Edmonton has melted part of the world's largest collection of ice cores from the Canadian Arctic, reducing some of the ancient ice into puddles.

'Sixty-eight children among dead' of suicide bombing attack in Syria

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 07:40 AM PDT

Blast targeted convoy transporting evacuees from Fua and Kefraya under deal between Assad regime and rebels

Nearly 70 children were among those killed when a suicide car bombing tore through buses carrying evacuees from besieged government-held towns in Syria, a monitoring group has said.

Saturday's blast hit a convoy carrying residents from the northern towns of Fua and Kefraya as they waited at a transit point in rebel-held Rashidin, west of Aleppo.

Hassan Rouhani faces tough re-election race as candidate list closes

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:06 AM PDT

Iran's moderate president will have to see off various heavyweight conservative critics of his nuclear deal with the west

Hassan Rouhani, Iran's moderate president who is seeking re-election, faces a boisterous race after heavyweight conservative figures critical of his landmark nuclear agreement with the west put themselves up to challenge him.

Registration for candidates in Iran's presidential elections next month ended on Saturday, with a record number of 1,636 people putting their names on the list, including 137 women. On Friday, Rouhani took his ID card, a few passport-sized photos and other paperwork to the interior ministry in Tehran's Fatemi Street to register to run for a second term. His four predecessors have all served two conservative terms.

United Airlines changes crew flight policy after forcible removal fiasco

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 06:27 AM PDT

Airline says it will ensure off-duty crew are allocated seats an hour in advance to avoid customers being turfed off flights

United Airlines is changing its policy on booking crew on flights in the wake of a passenger being dragged off an overbooked plane.

David Dao, who suffered a concussion and broken nose and lost two front teeth in the incident last Sunday, was forcibly removed from a flight to make way for a United crew member.

Trump wonders why protesters want to see his tax returns after day of marches

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 08:35 AM PDT

President responds to nationwide rallies by claiming they were 'paid for' and tweeting about his election win again

A day after thousands marched in cities across the US to demand the president release his tax returns, Donald Trump used Twitter to say "someone should look into who paid" for the rallies.

American detained in Egypt for 1,079 days on child sex trafficking charges acquitted

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 07:20 AM PDT

Aya Hijazi and her six codefendants had faced life in prison for their work at the Belady Foundation, a charity aiding Cairo street children

Almost three years of pre-trial detention and uncertainty came to an abrupt end for Aya Hijazi and her codefendants on Sunday morning, with one word: "acquittal".

Five-year-old boy crushed to death at US revolving restaurant

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 02:51 AM PDT

Charles Holt died after his head became trapped between a table and a wall at restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia

A five-year-old boy has died after his head became trapped between a table and a wall at a revolving restaurant.

Charles Holt suffered serious injuries at the rotating Sun Dial restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, after wandering off and becoming lodged between furniture fixed to the moving floor and a static wall, police said.

Damascus: thin sheen of normality coats menace in once-friendly city

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 01:00 AM PDT

Shops open but there are hardly any customers, jets roar overhead and there are armed men everywhere in Syria's capital

Waiters dressed for the 1930s, with pencil moustaches and slicked-back hair, spoon tabbouleh on to the plates of women who take drags on shisha pipes at the grand Selena restaurant in Damascus's old city.

Two wedding celebrations are also under way. A singer croons in Arabic: "I love you, but that doesn't mean I'll stay with you." One of the brides gets up and sways, her blue dress decorated with thousands of crystals shaped into glittering claws clinching her bare back.

Turkey referendum: Erdoğan wins vote amid dispute over ballots – as it happened

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 02:38 PM PDT

Turks narrowly vote in favour of president's plan for sweeping constitutional changes, but opposition parties cry foul

Full report: Erdoğan clinches victory in constitutional referendum

10.37pm BST

We're wrapping up our live coverage of the Turkish referendum - for more read Kareem Shaheen's full wrap here.

10.15pm BST

President Erdoğan will chair a cabinet meeting at the presidential palace in Ankara on Monday, CNN Turk reports.

Erdoğan gets backing to strengthen his autocratic grip on Turkey

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 02:04 PM PDT

The Turkish president has been handed the chance to declare himself as the only fit protector of a besieged state and its vulnerable people

Over two decades of public life, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had hinted that his vision for Turkey was at odds with the course the country was on. Sunday's vote appears to have brought both into alignment.

'Terrorist' baby faces US embassy interview after error on visa form

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 11:14 AM PDT

Wrong tick in box about three-month-old's terror activities leads to 10-hour detour, missed flights and £3,000 bill

A three-month old baby was summoned to the US embassy in London for an interview after his grandfather mistakenly identified him as a terrorist.

Harvey Kenyon-Cairns had been due to fly to Orlando in Florida for his first overseas holiday, until his grandfather Paul Kenyon made the error on a visa waiver form.

UK attorney general in bid to block case against Tony Blair over Iraq war

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:57 AM PDT

Jeremy Wright QC argues crime of aggression does not exist in English law, even though his predecessor reportedly claimed otherwise

The government's top law officer is going to court to demand the rejection of an attempt to prosecute Tony Blair over the Iraq war, the Guardian has learned.

The planned intervention by the attorney general comes after a judge ruled the former Labour prime minister had immunity from the attempt to bring a criminal charge against him and that pursuing a prosecution could "involve details being disclosed under the Official Secrets Act".

At least 12 people suffer burns in London club from suspected noxious chemical

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:39 PM PDT

Hazardous area response team seals off roads in Dalston and hundreds evacuated after incident early on Monday

At least 12 people at a London club have suffered burns as a result of a suspected noxious substance.

It is understood that the incident in Dalston, east London, early on Monday sparked the evacuation of the venue where about 600 revellers had been at an event. About 200 had left the premises before emergency services arrived, with a further 400 evacuated from the building, believed to be a club.

Mother and daughter die after becoming locked in Czech sauna

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 06:07 PM PDT

Door handle came off, trapping the women, aged 65 and 45, in sauna at their friends' house

Two women died in a sauna in the Czech Republic after the door handle came off, trapping them inside, police said on Sunday.

"The mother and daughter aged 65 and 45 were taking a sauna at their friends' place in a garden colony," police spokeswoman Iva Kormosova said in a statement.

How east Africa's first state pension is changing lives – in pictures

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 01:00 AM PDT

A year after the lives of Zanzibar's elderly were transformed by the introduction of pensions for people aged 70 or over – a first for east Africa – the benefits for the semi-autonomous region of Tanzania are plain to see

All photographs by Kate Holt/Age International

Facebook video killing: shooting footage sparks US hunt for suspect

Posted: 17 Apr 2017 01:35 AM PDT

Cleveland police search for Steve Stephens who they say posted videos on Sunday which include claims of other killings

Police in the US are searching for a suspect who they said posted footage on Facebook of himself killing a man. In a separate video he claimed to have killed more than a dozen others.

The Cleveland division of police said on Sunday it was looking for Steve Stephens in connection with the shooting of 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr in the city's Glenville neighbourhood. Police said Stephens was armed and dangerous.

Can Trump defuse North Korea by acting like Ike? | Matthew d’Ancona

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 11:00 PM PDT

After decades of US dithering over the regime, it's time for Eisenhower-style deterrence to will the peace

In December 1952, having visited the Korean front, mingled with US troops and eaten outdoor from a mess kit, President-elect Eisenhower made a statement on the Korean war. "We face an enemy," he said, "whom we cannot hope to impress by words, however eloquent, but only by deeds – executed under circumstances of our own choosing".

Colleagues contradict Tony Abbott's claim he was unaware of Safe Schools' rollout

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:51 PM PDT

Abbott says he spoke out against 'terrible program' when he became aware of it, but colleagues say the then prime minister defended it in party room

Colleagues of Tony Abbott have cast doubt on his claim that the Safe Schools anti-bullying program was only rolled out under his government because he was unaware of it.

Guardian Australia understands that Abbott defended the program in a party room meeting in 2014 and several attempts to have its funding axed by then parliamentary secretary for education, Scott Ryan, were rebuffed.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel go on hunger strike

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:39 PM PDT

Thousands of prisoners expected to join rights protest led by Marwan Barghouti that has significant political backing

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails have gone on hunger strike over conditions of captivity, with more expected to join on Monday, in one of the biggest protests in recent years.

Led by the high-profile Fatah prisoner and leader Marwan Barghouti, seen by some as a potential successor to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, 700 prisoners initially joined the strike, announced on Sunday evening.

Mike Pence warns North Korea: 'Do not test Trump's resolve'

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 08:58 PM PDT

US vice-president cites the missile strike against Syria during a visit to South Korea and says 'all options are on the table'

The US vice-president, Mike Pence, has warned North Korea not to test Donald Trump's resolve over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, adding that the US and its allies were running out of patience with the regime.

Noting that Trump had recently ordered a missile strike against Syria, the vice-president, who is in Seoul at the start of a tour of Asia, said: "North Korea would do well not to test his resolve."

Millicent Fawcett is the right feminist, by the wrong sculptor | Letters

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:32 AM PDT

Rachel Holmes (A feminist statue is welcome. Shame it's the wrong feminist, 15 April) is disappointed that Millicent Fawcett has been chosen as "the first woman to warrant a likeness" in Parliament Square. Holmes writes that this is part of the "airbrushing of history that makes the fight for women's suffrage palatable in a contemporary context". She also implies that the contribution of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, of which Millicent Fawcett was president, was less significant in the struggle for the vote than the Women's Social and Political Union led by Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst.

I would argue that there has been a stronger focus on the Pankhursts because of their very dramatic and militant approach to the struggle, and that it is the "constitutionalists" led by Fawcett who have not had the attention they deserve. I would guess that many more people have heard of the Pankhursts than of Millicent Fawcett. Which wing of the suffrage movement contributed most to the eventual achievement of the vote is debated by historians: the combination of the two approaches seems to me to be the answer.

Tackling racism and working-class insults | Letters

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:32 AM PDT

As a season ticket-holding Evertonian, born and bred in Liverpool, I read with particular interest the article about the Sun's latest outrage (Kelvin MacKenzie suspended by Sun over racism row, 15 April). It is shocking to me that ignorance of Ross Barkley's racial heritage is presented as some sort of extenuation. Are we to assume that likening a supremely gifted working-class man to a gorilla would be acceptable in the absence of a Nigerian grandfather? I deplore racism, but I equally deplore the pillorying of the working class which Evertonians endure at so many matches, where we are invited by opposing supporters to "eat rats in [our] council flats" among other class-based insults, reflecting the ugly anti-working-class rhetoric of the likes of MacKenzie.
Maggie Patel
Warley, West Midlands

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A rocky approach to Gibraltar’s sovereignty | Letters

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:31 AM PDT

Peter Hain's 2002 co-sovereignty negotiations with Spain were conducted over the heads of the Gibraltarians, against their wishes, and in the knowledge that any co-sovereignty proposal would be rejected if put to the people in a referendum (Joint sovereignty of Gibraltar is win-win, says former minister, 6 April). The timing of the negotiations may explain why they went ahead anyway. The Blair government was working hard to convince the Spanish government to back the invasion of Iraq, in the face of overwhelming opposition among the Spanish public. Eventually, as Hain notes, it was Prime Minister Aznar who pulled the plug on the co-sovereignty proposal. The Spanish government could be persuaded to support an illegal war, but it was never going to accept a deal over Gibraltar that did not lead, in due course, to full Spanish sovereignty.

Gibraltar's 98% vote against co-sovereignty (in a referendum initially dismissed as "eccentric" by the then foreign secretary, Jack Straw) was a resounding rejection of Hain's scheme. It helped to secure the British government's commitment never to enter into sovereignty negotiations without the consent of the Gibraltarians, but it seems to have done nothing to diminish Hain's confidence that he knows what's best for Gibraltar and its people.
Jamie Trinidad
Wolfson College, Cambridge

Violence in Darfur today is much reduced | Letters

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:31 AM PDT

The only positive thing Phil Cox writes about Sudan (Kidnapped, chained and tortured in Sudan, 5 April) is that "unlike their western counterparts, the Sudanese authorities tend to avoid searching body cavities". Like the sensational title, the Long read article is short of in-depth analysis. What it avoids to say was said on 4 April by ambassador Matthew Rycroft (UK permanent representative to the UN): "In recent months we have seen a welcome absence of violence between the government and opposition groups. We've seen Unamid granted access to areas previously cut off."

What Mr Cox leaves out was also said on 4 April by the head of Unamid, Jeremia Mamabolo: "The Darfur of today is a very different place from what this region was in 2003 when the armed conflict began and from that of a year ago." Indeed, the security council is deliberating on an exit strategy for Unamid. As for the remnants of Darfur groups, the UN has documented their active participation as mercenaries in South Sudan and Libya.

Home secretary urged to revoke Asma al-Assad's British citizenship

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 10:18 AM PDT

Liberal Democrats write to Amber Rudd after British-born wife of Syrian president uses social media to support his regime

The home secretary has been urged to consider revoking the British passport of Asma al-Assad, the UK-born wife of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, after her social media posts in support of his regime.

Led by their foreign affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrats have written to Amber Rudd calling on her to use her powers to withdraw Asma Assad's citizenship.

Aftermath of Syrian bus bombing which killed 126 people – video

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 09:31 AM PDT

WARNING: some people may find the following footage distressing

Vehicles burn in the aftermath of a suicide car bombing which left 126 people dead in Syria on Saturday. Nearly 70 children are said to have been killed in the blast, which targeted a convoy transporting evacuees from two besieged government-held towns in the north of the country

'Sixty-eight children among dead' of suicide bombing attack in Syria

May gives Easter address as pope condemns global violence

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 08:57 AM PDT

PM urges unity, Jeremy Corbyn calls for social justice and the archbishop of Canterbury speaks of 'restoration and hope'

Political and religious leaders used their Easter messages to encourage unity and peace in a divided world.

Theresa May insisted Britons were uniting after the divisions of Brexit and faced a "bright future" outside the European Union.

US national security adviser visits Afghanistan after Moab strike

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 08:46 AM PDT

HR McMaster will hold 'very important talks on mutual cooperation' with President Ashraf Ghani, but administration's course of action remains unclear

National security adviser HR McMaster arrived in Kabul on Sunday, days after the American military dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on Islamic State group hideouts in eastern Afghanistan, killing nearly 100 militants.

Easter Sunday around the world – in pictures

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 04:52 AM PDT

From the Vatican to Aleppo, Christians of all denominations congregate to celebrate Easter Sunday

Erdoğan casts ballot as Turkey goes to the polls

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 04:44 AM PDT

The Turkish president urges a decision 'beyond the ordinary' in the country's controversial constitutional referendum

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has cast his ballot in Istanbul as tens of millons of Turks go to the polls in a controversial referendum the Turkish president said could transform the country.

Bodyguards with automatic weapons stood guard outside the polling station as Erdoğan and his wife Emine cast their ballots accompanied by two of their grandchildren.

As Trump plays the global strongman, what happened to 'America first'?

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 04:00 AM PDT

The president may have swapped isolationism for interventionism, but it is still unclear whether he's acting on instinct or shaping a cohesive policy

"I don't want to be the president of the world," Donald Trump declared in Washington on 4 April. "I'm the president of the United States. And from now on, it's going to be America first."

A week later, he stood alongside the secretary-general of Nato and told reporters at the White House: "Right now, the world is a mess. But I think by the time we finish, I think it's going to be a lot better place to live ... because right now it's nasty."

Two questions Trump must answer if he wants to drain the tax swamp

Posted: 16 Apr 2017 03:00 AM PDT

Trump has promised a 'phenomenal' plan to reform America's labyrinthine tax system, but it's a feat no president has achieved since Reagan

Marchers across US to demand Trump's tax returns

"Historic", "massive", "phenomenal". Donald Trump has pulled out all his increasingly tired superlatives to describe his plans for reforming the byzantine and bonkers US tax system. Well, good luck with that.

Aneka Info

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

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