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

French election: Macron and Le Pen go to second round – live coverage
The Guardian view on France’s election: a win for Macron and hope | Editorial
Libya's warring sides reach diplomatic breakthrough in Rome
Afghanistan reels from Taliban's deadliest attack on army since 2001
Trump push for border wall threatens to cause government shutdown
Maldives blogger stabbed to death in capital
Suspected US drone strike kills three al-Qaida operatives in Yemen – report
UK freezes assets of North Korean company based in south London
Michael Bloomberg to world leaders: ignore Trump on climate change
US citizen detained by North Korea as Japanese ships join war games
'It’s going to hit the poorest people': Zika outbreak feared on the Texas border
Nazi-looted painting to be auctioned as owners' heirs fail to halt sale
Macron and Le Pen to face off for French presidency
Lyrid meteor shower illuminates sky over China – timelapse video
The Shortest History of Germany review – probing an enigma at the heart of Europe
Afghan defence officials quit over Taliban attack as Pentagon chief arrives in Kabul
French presidential election: Macron and Le Pen through to final round – video
Trump: 100 days that shook the world – and the activists fighting back
Arthur Collins charged over acid attack in London nightclub
Lawyers must be able to bring cases against government 'without fear of reprisals'
New York City house fire kills five, including three children
Mexico: surge in drug gang violence leaves 35 dead in one weekend
Boy, 12, trying to drive across Australia 'crashed' car before he was pulled over after 1,300km
'Great for Europe': reaction to Macron's first round success in French election
Marine Le Pen rails against rampant globalisation after election success
French presidential election 2017: what happens next?
It's Macron or Le Pen after first round of France's presidential election
Monday briefing: Macron and Le Pen make history
Mélenchon's 2017 race echoes previous failings: close but not close enough
French presidential favourite Macron may drive hard bargain in Brexit talks
Game of Thrones star speaks out against 'horrendous' treatment of refugees
Saudi Arabia restores perks to state employees to fend off unrest
Macron and Le Pen go to second round in French election – as it happened
French presidential election: first round results in charts and maps
Emmanuel Macron vows to be 'president for all of France' after first round win
Marine Le Pen heads to the rust belt to celebrate French election success
François Fillon: defeat from jaws of victory for candidate tainted by scandal | Jon Henley and Mark Rice-Oxley
Democracy and academic freedom in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary | Letters from Michael Ignatieff and others
Helping children in Belarusian institutions that aren’t orphanages | Letters
How events in China in the 1990s shaped the world we live in now | Letter from Jonathan Fenby
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's family to appeal Lockerbie conviction
France votes in presidential election – in pictures
Briton killed in New Zealand paraglider accident
'We don't need a third shock': French expats flock to vote in UK and US
US carrot and stick approach to North Korea is clumsy but significant
Radio Monsoon aims to ensure safety reigns among fishermen in south India | Nicola Slawson
France votes: ‘the determining factor is personality’ – video

French election: Macron and Le Pen go to second round – live coverage

Posted: 24 Apr 2017 01:50 AM PDT

Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen have progressed to the runoff on 7 May

9.50am BST

Gut, dass @EmmanuelMacron mit seinem Kurs für eine starke EU + soziale Marktwirtschaft Erfolg hatte. Alles Gute für die nächsten 2 Wochen.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman has welcomed Emmanuel Macron's success in the first round of France's presidential election and wished him "all the best for the next two weeks."

Das Ergebnis für @EmmanuelMacron zeigt: Frankreich UND Europa können gemeinsam gewinnen! Die Mitte ist stärker als die Populisten glauben!

9.47am BST

Marine Le Pen and her party have started the day early - trying to reach out to disgruntled supporters of far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

#RTLMatin spéciale #Presidentielle2017 avec @EliMartichoux et Yves Calvi 7h15 @louis_aliot - 7h40 @bayrou - 8h15 @jpraffarin - 8h40 @SLeFoll pic.twitter.com/TLZTIBA6GT

The Guardian view on France’s election: a win for Macron and hope | Editorial

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 12:49 PM PDT

In the first round in the race for the Élysée, the postwar parties have been humbled. France has voted for change

The storming of the Bastille in 1789 sets the bar high. As a result, few phrases should be used with more circumspection than "French revolution". But the result of the first round of France's 2017 presidential election is an epochal political upheaval for France all the same. For the first time in the nearly 60-year history of the Fifth Republic the second-round contest on 7 May will be between two outsider candidates, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. Neither of the candidates of the established parties of left and right will be in the runoff. Whichever of the second-round candidates emerges as the winner in two weeks' time, France is set upon a new political course, with major implications for itself and for the rest of Europe.

The defeat of the established parties is a humiliation for modern French party politics of left and right. The Socialist candidate Benoît Hamon, representing the party of the outgoing president François Hollande, received a mere 6.2% of the votes, according to early estimates. The conservative candidate François Fillon, carrier of the tarnished Gaullist baton, did better, with 19.7%. Yet this is the first time that an official centre-right candidate has failed to get into the second round since General de Gaulle created modern France in 1958. Given the scandals about his use of public funds, it was remarkable that Mr Fillon did so well. Even so, between them Mr Hamon and Mr Fillon took only a quarter of the votes. Instead three French voters out of four, in a turnout of 78%, voted for change.

Libya's warring sides reach diplomatic breakthrough in Rome

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:00 PM PDT

Compromise is brokered between presidents of house of representatives and state council after years of fighting

Rome has brokered a diplomatic breakthrough in Libya that has the potential to bring the two main warring sides together in a new political agreement after years of division, fighting and economic misery.

The scale of the breakthrough will be tested later this week, but Italy is hailing a compromise brokered between the presidents of the house of representatives, Ageela Saleh, and the state council, Abdulrahman Sewehli.

Afghanistan reels from Taliban's deadliest attack on army since 2001

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 09:23 AM PDT

Afghans call for government officials to resign after militants storm base at Mazar-i-Sharif and kill at least 140 soldiers

Afghans are still reeling from the Taliban's deadliest attack on the security forces since 2001, with the country's leadership accused of fumbling the response to the atrocity.

As many as a dozen militants stormed the largest army base in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing at least 140 soldiers, many of them unarmed.

Trump push for border wall threatens to cause government shutdown

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 09:55 AM PDT

Officials unsure if president will sign funding bill without money for wall
Congressional deal to fund government expires at midnight on Friday

Looming above Washington as Congress and the White House attempt to avert a funding shutdown in only five days' time, Donald Trump's central campaign promise to build a wall on the Mexican border threatens to bring the US government to a halt this week in a national display of dysfunction.

Maldives blogger stabbed to death in capital

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 03:38 AM PDT

Yameen Rasheed, who used his Daily Panic blog to poke fun at politicians, found with stab wounds at his flat in Malé

A blogger who frequently satirised the Maldives' political and religious establishment has been stabbed to death in the capital, the third media figure to be targeted in the Indian ocean archipelago in the past five years.

Yameen Rasheed, 29, was found early on Sunday in the stairwell of his apartment building in Malé with multiple stab wounds to his neck and chest. He died shortly after being taken to hospital, family members said.

Suspected US drone strike kills three al-Qaida operatives in Yemen – report

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 10:34 AM PDT

Tribal and security officials report attack on southern coast
AFP photographer seriously wounded in separate missile strike

Tribal and security officials said on Sunday a suspected US airstrike had killed three al-Qaida operatives on Yemen's southern coast.

UK freezes assets of North Korean company based in south London

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 05:08 AM PDT

Move follows similar action in Germany over claims insurance firm funnelled money to nuclear weapons programme

The UK has frozen the assets of a North Korean company based in south-east London after claims it funnelled cash to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme.

The Korea National Insurance Corporation (KNIC) is registered at a property in Blackheath. The EU has already imposed sanctions against the company, which it describes as "generating substantial foreign exchange revenue which is used to support the regime in North Korea". The move by Brussels followed an UN resolution.

Michael Bloomberg to world leaders: ignore Trump on climate change

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 12:02 PM PDT

Former New York mayor defends Paris climate deal in new book
Bloomberg argues states and markets will ensure US hits emissions goals

The former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has urged world leaders not to follow Donald Trump's lead on climate change, and declared his own intention to stave off the "tragedy" that would be the collapse of the Paris climate deal.

US citizen detained by North Korea as Japanese ships join war games

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 02:41 PM PDT

University teacher Tony Kim held at airport while trying to leave country
Trump calls Chinese and Japanese leaders, White House briefing planned

Amid rising tensions between North Korea and the US, Pyongyang has detained a US citizen, officials said on Sunday, bringing to three the number of Americans now being held in the country.

'It’s going to hit the poorest people': Zika outbreak feared on the Texas border

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 04:00 AM PDT

As mosquito season ramps up again, activists and health workers fear the worst for the the Rio Grande Valley, where conditions are ripe for mosquitoes to breed

When Patricia Pena hosted a Zika awareness class near the Texas border with Mexico on Tuesday, only four people showed up.

"Even though there's been a lot of announcements on TV about it and how to protect yourself, families are still very naive when it comes to the information on Zika," said Pena, who works with La Frontera Ministries, a community nonprofit.

Nazi-looted painting to be auctioned as owners' heirs fail to halt sale

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 04:34 AM PDT

Auction house Im Kinsky accused of moral bankruptcy for sale of Bartholomeus van der Helst work despite ownership dispute

A 17th-century Dutch old master painting stolen by the Nazis is to be auctioned in Vienna next week, provoking outrage from the heirs of the owners from whom it was looted who have accused the auction house of moral bankruptcy.

Auctioneers at Im Kinsky have not shied away from describing the painting, Bartholomeus van der Helst's Portrait of a Man, as disputed stolen art in the sales catalogue. They state that its current owner bought it in good faith from a German art dealer in 2004 and under Austrian law she has the right to sell it.

Macron and Le Pen to face off for French presidency

Posted: 24 Apr 2017 01:51 AM PDT

Pro-European centrist and anti-immigration far-right candidate to go head to head after coming top in first round of voting

French election – live coverage

The pro-European centrist, Emmanuel Macron, and the anti-immigration, far-right Marine Le Pen have begun a final duel for the French presidency after anti-establishment anger knocked France's traditional political parties out of the race.

Macron took 8.4m votes (23.75%) and Le Pen 7.6m (21.53%) – the highest ever score for the Front National.

Lyrid meteor shower illuminates sky over China – timelapse video

Posted: 24 Apr 2017 01:34 AM PDT

Stargazers were treated to a spectacle when the Lyrid meteor shower lit up the night sky over the north-eastern province of Jilin at the weekend. The annual event usually occurs between 19 and 23 April when the Earth passes through the dusty tail of comet Thatcher

Meteor brightens night sky in Siberia – video

The Shortest History of Germany review – probing an enigma at the heart of Europe

Posted: 24 Apr 2017 01:00 AM PDT

James Hawes's brief yet rewarding history of Germany examines its place in a continent in the throes of upheaval

In AD843, Charlemagne's grandsons divided his empire like mafia bosses parcelling out territory. Louis received the land we were to later call Germany. A large part of it had been in the Roman empire, lying behind the Limes Germanicus, the great wall the Romans built to keep out the barbarians to the east. Cologne, Stuttgart, Vienna, Bonn, Mainz and Frankfurt, all the greatest cities of the future West Germany and Austria, with the exception of Hamburg, grew up within or in the immediate shadow of Rome's western empire.

Louis knew where his kingdom began – Germany began at the Rhine, of course. He knew, too, that at its heart were territories that were now Catholic lands and had once been part of the Roman empire. But where did Germany end? He wasn't sure, nor was anyone else. The Treaty of Verdun, which managed the partition, simply assigned Louis "everything beyond the Rhine". It left open the question of where "everything" stopped. Did Germany end at the Elbe, where Charlemagne's rule had stopped, or could it go on into the Slav lands to the east, whose rulers had paid tribute to Charlemagne?

Afghan defence officials quit over Taliban attack as Pentagon chief arrives in Kabul

Posted: 24 Apr 2017 12:41 AM PDT

Army chief of staff and defence minister resign over deadly assault, as Jim Mattis prepares to meet Afghans amid review of US strategy

The Afghan defence minister and army chief of staff have resigned over the Taliban attack that killed more than 140 soldiers last week, as the US defence secretary arrived in the country to assess its needs.

"Defence minister Abdullah Habibi and army chief of staff Qadam Shah Shahim stepped down with immediate effect," the presidential palace in Kabul tweeted.

French presidential election: Macron and Le Pen through to final round – video

Posted: 24 Apr 2017 12:37 AM PDT

Independent centrist Emmanuel Macron is estimated to have taken 23.75% of the first round vote in the French presidential election on Sunday. His supporters chant 'Macron President'. National Front leader Marine Le Pen finished second with 21.53%

Macron to face Le Pen after first round of France's presidential election

Trump: 100 days that shook the world – and the activists fighting back

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 02:00 AM PDT

Three months in, the future is totally unpredictable. But a dramatic fightback is under way. Four activists tell us how they are adapting to the new normal

The first 100 days of President Donald Trump: how has my life changed? First of all, there was the mourning period. Not for me, but for my fellow citizens. I was just mad. And I wasn't even maddest at the Trump voters. I understood that the critical battle lines now are not left versus right, but the 1% neoliberal globalisers making off with all of the loot and disembowelling the middle class. So when I saw the campaign, I knew that in the US, just as in the UK, a candidate who said anything at all about people forgotten in the neoliberal race would have a solid chance.

Arthur Collins charged over acid attack in London nightclub

Posted: 24 Apr 2017 01:26 AM PDT

Collins, 25, is charged with 14 counts of wounding with intent to cause GBH, while another man faces seven counts of the same charge

Arthur Collins, the boyfriend of reality TV star Ferne McCann, has been charged in connection with an acid attack at an east London nightclub that left two revellers partially blinded and others disfigured.

The 25-year-old was arrested at an address in Rushden, Northamptonshire, on Saturday.

Lawyers must be able to bring cases against government 'without fear of reprisals'

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:01 PM PDT

Solicitors' firm Leigh Day defends its record ahead of trial for alleged professional misconduct after accusations of ambulance-chasing by Ministry of Defence

Lawyers must be able to bring cases against the government "without fear of recrimination or reprisals", the high-profile solicitors' firm Leigh Day has declared on the eve of its trial for alleged professional misconduct.

Ahead of an anticipated seven-week hearing at the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), the company has defended its record against accusations from the Ministry of Defence that it indulged in ambulance-chasing over false Iraqi claims that eventually resulted in an abandoned public inquiry costing £25m.

New York City house fire kills five, including three children

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:29 PM PDT

'This is the devastation of a family,' says New York mayor Bill de Blasio, as investigators scour for clues of the fire's cause

Investigators are scouring for clues over what sparked a deadly, fast-moving house fire that killed five people, including three children, in the middle class neighborhood of Queens Village.

Television news footage showed flames coming through the roof of the two-story home and roaring in upstairs rooms of the house as smoke poured from it. "It was a fire that moved very, very quickly, and the loss was horrendous," said New York mayor Bill de Blasio. "This is the devastation of a family," he said. "There's a lot we need to know about what happened here."

Mexico: surge in drug gang violence leaves 35 dead in one weekend

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 09:27 PM PDT

Fights between gangs have increased since the arrest last year of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman

At least 35 people were killed over the weekend in Mexico, according to local officials, amid a widespread surge in drug gang violence that has driven murders to a level not seen since 2011.

In Sinaloa state, 12 people were killed in different incidents since the early hours of Sunday, according to local officials.

Boy, 12, trying to drive across Australia 'crashed' car before he was pulled over after 1,300km

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 08:58 PM PDT

Boy apparently drove across New South Wales alone before police stopped his family's car, which they say was damaged

A 12-year-old boy who apparently drove 1,300 kilometres across New South Wales on his own in the family car was involved in a crash before he was eventually stopped by highway patrol officers.

The boy was en route to Perth when he was pulled over at Broken Hill in far west NSW on Saturday morning.

'Great for Europe': reaction to Macron's first round success in French election

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:28 PM PDT

European commission president breaks protocol to join chorus of congratulations as Macron leads Marine Le Pen after first French vote

• Live coverage: Macron and Le Pen progress to runoff on 7 May

European politicians reacted with tangible relief to the first round victory of Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential election, with European commission president Jean Claude Juncker breaking protocol to personally wish the independent candidate well in the next round.

Marine Le Pen rails against rampant globalisation after election success

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:00 PM PDT

Far-right leader takes highest score party has registered in presidential vote, but will be the underdog in 7 May run-off

The far-right leader Marine Le Pen's place in the second-round of the French presidential election cements her Front National party's steady rise and growing presence on the country's political landscape.

Le Pen took the highest score her party has ever registered in a French presidential election, but while her father Jean-Marie Le Pen sparked a political earthquake 15 years ago by reaching the final round, this time there was little surprise.

French presidential election 2017: what happens next?

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:00 PM PDT

Attention now turns to the second-round runoff that will decide the presidency

Macron and Le Pen through to second round - live coverage

The dust has barely settled on Sunday's first-round vote, but already attention is turning to what happens next.

It's Macron or Le Pen after first round of France's presidential election

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 10:59 PM PDT

Supporters chant 'Macron President' after self-styled liberal progressive outsider reaches 7 May runoff with 23.75% of votes, ahead of Le Pen on 21.53%

• Live coverage: Macron and Le Pen progress to runoff on 7 May

The independent centrist Emmanuel Macron has topped the first round of the French presidential election and will face the far-right Front National's Marine Le Pen in a standoff marked by anti-establishment anger that knocked France's traditional political parties out of the race.

Macron topped Sunday's first round with 23.75% of votes, slightly ahead of Le Pen with 21.53%, according to final results from the interior ministry. Macron, 39, a political novice, now becomes the favourite to be elected as France's next president. He is the youngest ever French presidential hopeful and has never run for election before.

Monday briefing: Macron and Le Pen make history

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 10:06 PM PDT

First round of the French election redraws the country's politics … Infighting has broken out in the Labour camp … and welcome back Bananarama

Good morning, this is Bonnie Malkin bringing you a first look at the news you need to start the week.

Mélenchon's 2017 race echoes previous failings: close but not close enough

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 10:00 PM PDT

The French election candidate softened his stance towards the end of the campaign, but in the end the skilled orator failed to muster enough votes

In the end, Jean-Luc Mélenchon's 2017 French presidential election campaign ended like his previous gambit in 2012: a decent showing, a surge of support as the race tightened, but not quite enough.

For the first weeks of the campaign, Mélenchon acted like he knew he would never win. It showed in the shrugs, the barbed quips and acerbic asides, the to-hell-with-it "bof", the Chairman Mao jackets and unabashed support for the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez.

French presidential favourite Macron may drive hard bargain in Brexit talks

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 10:00 PM PDT

Europhile centrist has described Britain's decision to leave EU as a 'crime', saying he is 'attached to a strict approach to Brexit'

The current favourite to become president in the French election could spell bad news for the UK government in talks on Brexit should he win.

If Emmanuel Macron succeeds in the second round on 7 May, which he is currently favourite to do, he is likely to drive a hard bargain in Brexit negotiations.

Game of Thrones star speaks out against 'horrendous' treatment of refugees

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 10:00 PM PDT

Lena Headey was talking about new film The Flood, which focuses on refugees coming to the UK

Game of Thrones actor Lena Headey, who is starring in one of the first British films to grapple with the refugee crisis, has spoken out against the "horrendous and dehumanising" way that people seeking safety in the UK are treated.

The Flood sees Headey play British immigration officer Wendy, who is presiding over the fate of Eritrean refugee Haile, whose journey escaping from the war-torn African country to the Calais camp and eventually to England is traced in the film.

Saudi Arabia restores perks to state employees to fend off unrest

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 09:27 PM PDT

Two-thirds of working Saudis are public servants and protests had been called for four cities

Saudi Arabia reinstated financial allowances for civil servants and military personnel on Saturday after better-than-expected budget figures, ending unpopular cuts to a key perk triggered by low oil prices and cheering the stock market.

King Salman issued a royal decree restoring "all allowances, financial benefits, and bonuses" following calls for protests in four Saudi cities over the weekend, adding a two-month salary bonus for forces fighting in the kingdom's intervention in Yemen.

Macron and Le Pen go to second round in French election – as it happened

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 08:04 PM PDT

Independent Macron takes around 23.7% of vote with Front National leader Le Pen on roughly 21.5%; conservative François Fillon concedes

Our live coverage continues here: Macron and Le Pen line up for round two – live

4.04am BST

We are going to close this live blog now. Our new one is here.

There remains just one department to be counted and its results won't change the overall picture. Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen won the first round of voting and will head into a run off second round on 7 May.

3.22am BST

French right flagship Le Figaro laments choice between 'the flu (Macron) and cholera (Le Pen). They vote 'flu' https://t.co/66WlkQWX7D

French presidential election: first round results in charts and maps

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 05:56 PM PDT

Voters in France went to the polls on Sunday in the first round of the presidential election. The top two candidates, independent Emmanuel Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen, go into a runoff in a fortnight. Find out where each drew most support and what happens next

Macron and Le Pen progress – live coverage

Emmanuel Macron vows to be 'president for all of France' after first round win

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 02:07 PM PDT

Supporters chant 'Macron Président' after the self-styled liberal progressive outsider reaches 7 May run-off

Macron and Le Pen reach second round – live

Emmanuel Macron has told ecstatic supporters in Paris that he intends to govern for all of France as he emerged from a first-round vote as the clear favourite to become the country's next president.

Appearing at a celebration rally in Porte de Versailles with his wife Brigitte after projections gave him a slender lead over Marine Le Pen on Sunday, Macron delivered a speech that, at times, sounded like he had won the vote outright.

Marine Le Pen heads to the rust belt to celebrate French election success

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 01:02 PM PDT

Front National leader tells supporters in party's stronghold of Hénin-Beaumont: I am the candidate of the people

Live: French election 2017 – reaction

Marine Le Pen told supporters the "survival of France" was at stake in the second round of the presidential election in a jubilant speech at her rally in Hénin-Beaumont in France's northern rust belt.

The Front National president said the first step towards the Elysée had been taken and that it was time to "free the French people from the arrogant elites".

François Fillon: defeat from jaws of victory for candidate tainted by scandal | Jon Henley and Mark Rice-Oxley

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 12:12 PM PDT

Former PM bows out after leading centre-right to rare defeat in first round of presidential election

François Fillon's disappointing ejection from the presidential race completes a humiliating journey from possible president to yesterday's man for a candidate fatally tarnished by a string of embezzlement allegations.

Fillon, the choice of the centre-right Les Républicains party, was languishing in third place according to most projections issued immediately after polls closed. Some even forecast that he might lose third spot to the leftist maverick Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Democracy and academic freedom in Viktor Orbán’s Hungary | Letters from Michael Ignatieff and others

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:47 AM PDT

Michael Ignatieff, president of the Central European University, Nigel Swain, Felix Jeschke and Brian Dooley respond to an article by Tibor Fischer

Tibor Fischer can describe the current state of democracy in Hungary any way he wishes, but he should not be allowed to get away with the assertion that the Central European University has failed to "comply with the law" (I just don't recognise Orbán as a tyrant, 21 April). For 25 years CEU has worked cooperatively with Hungarian authorities on every issue involving our work here. Our compliance with Hungarian accreditation procedures has been repeatedly confirmed by Hungarian officials and civil servants in the ministries concerned.

Helping children in Belarusian institutions that aren’t orphanages | Letters

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:47 AM PDT

Letters from Richard Carter, who says the reasons for institutional placement in former communist bloc countries are complex and varied, Norma Brier of Norwood, and Linda Walker of Chernobyl Children's Project UK

Your report on the condition of children in institutional care in Belarus (Dozens of children on the brink of starvation found in Belarusian orphanages, 21 April) should be more shocking than it is, largely because such conditions are still found all over the former communist bloc, nearly 30 years after the system collapsed; the story is all too wearily familiar. Nevertheless, it is important that it is aired again – but one point that needs to be made is that these institutions are not orphanages.

Studies indicate that the proportion of children living in institutional care in the region is 2%-5%, and (except in times of war or natural disasters) they will have at least one living parent. The reasons for institutional placement are complex and varied, but include: large families who are unable to care for their children, stigmatisation of and discrimination against children with disabilities, and parents who are (falsely) judged by professionals to be "incapable". In addition, poverty is an underlying factor, though not the primary one.

How events in China in the 1990s shaped the world we live in now | Letter from Jonathan Fenby

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:46 AM PDT

Jonathan Fenby on the roots of China's economic rise, the western credit bubble, Trump's fulminations and Beijing's Marxist-Maoist-market dynasty

Jonathan Freedland's account of the sleeping dangers bequeathed by the 1990s (The 'peaceful' decade that set up our current turmoil, 22 April) missed out one major development from that era with major consequences for our times. This was the decade when China's economic rise took shape after Deng Xiaoping pressed the pursuit of high growth through semi-market means, Zhou Rongji prepared for the entry into the World Trade Organization, Jiang Zemin adopted a policy of accommodation with the United States and the Communist leaders offered the country's citizens the post-Tiananmen bargain of greater material prosperity in return for accepting one-party rule. This combination changed the world as much as anything else that happened in that decade, leading to a global rebalancing complete with the fuelling of the western credit bubble, Donald Trump's fulminations and the strengthening of the Marxist-Maoist-market dynasty in Beijing.
Jonathan Fenby
London

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

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's family to appeal Lockerbie conviction

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 11:08 AM PDT

Lawyer for Libyan's widow and son says files will be handed to Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission within fortnight

The family of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing is to launch a fresh attempt to clear his name.

Aamer Anwar, a lawyer representing Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's family, confirmed files would be handed to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) within the next two weeks.

France votes in presidential election – in pictures

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 10:06 AM PDT

Emmanuel Macron will face Marine Le Pen in the presidential run off on 7 May after first round of French election in which tradtional left and right parties kicked out of race for first time since second world war

Briton killed in New Zealand paraglider accident

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 08:45 AM PDT

Ben Letham, originally from Scotland, came down in grounds of a primary school in South Island town of Queenstown

A British expat has died in a paraglider accident in New Zealand.

Ben Letham, 26, was on a solo flight when he came down in the grounds of Queenstown primary school after taking off from the South Island town's Skyline gondola.

'We don't need a third shock': French expats flock to vote in UK and US

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 08:02 AM PDT

Hundreds of thousands of French citizens abroad queue to cast ballot in unpredictable presidential election

French election first round – live updates

After more than two hours in a queue that snaked for more than a mile round the cosseted streets of South Kensington, Jérémy, 36, was finally nearing the voting booth – and still was not sure for which candidate he would cast his ballot.

US carrot and stick approach to North Korea is clumsy but significant

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 07:41 AM PDT

Behind the rhetoric and mind games, Donald Trump depends almost entirely on China not to have Pyongyang call his bluff

It used to be North Korea's intentions that baffled analysts. Now, amid wild talk of thermonuclear war between the US and Kim Jong-un's isolated regime, it is contradictory signals from Donald Trump's administration that present the bigger challenge.

Mike Pence, Trump's vice-president, deepened confusion over US policy at the weekend, insisting repeatedly in Australia that "all options are on the table" including military action.

Radio Monsoon aims to ensure safety reigns among fishermen in south India | Nicola Slawson

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 09:00 PM PDT

With the rainy season approaching in Kerala state, a radio station is providing a low-tech forecast service to encourage 30,000 families to fish more safely

For the fisherfolk of India's southern state of Kerala, risking life and limb is part of everyday life.

As fish stocks deplete in coastal waters because of overfishing and climate change, fishermen have no option but to venture ever further out to sea on small boats, flimsy canoes and catamarans. These modest craft are prone to accidents, especially during the monsoon season from June to August. The absence of navigational aids, radio communication or safety devices heightens the risks.

France votes: ‘the determining factor is personality’ – video

Posted: 23 Apr 2017 02:19 AM PDT

French voters in Paris cast their ballots for the presidential election on Sunday in a tense first-round poll that's seen as a test for the spread of populism around the world. Some 47 million eligible voters in the country will choose between 11 candidates. Voters in Paris said the choice was complex while others expressed doubts

French election 2017: voters go to the polls in wide-open contest

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

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

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