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Donald Trump attacks press as Russia scandal swirls around Jeff Sessions
German girl arrested in Mosul is missing Linda Wenzel, say authorities
Hanoi is choking on the fumes of 5m motorbikes, but can ban break its habit?
Greece and Turkey struggle in aftermath of quake that killed two
‘I’m no fascist’: film-maker hits back over opposition to Catalan independence
‘Imagine living with this crap’: tempers in Venice boil over in tourist high season
USS Fitzgerald collision: American sailors 'probably to blame' for fatal cargo ship crash
California firefighters rescue and revive dog in house fire: 'He was in bad shape'
Republicans face two unpalatable options on replacement healthcare bill
Hawaii prepares for potential missile strike from North Korea
The art of making a jihadist
City of Ghosts review – gruelling but essential
Yami Lester: tributes follow death of Aboriginal elder and Maralinga activist
Christopher Street Day parade, Berlin – in pictures
Kamala Harris: young, black, female – and the Democrats’ best bet for 2020?
‘Dirtbag left’ takes aim at Clinton supporters
The moped menace: how the scooter became muggers’ vehicle of choice
Can Ellen Johnson Sirleaf save Liberia?
'I will be back': Violin-playing face of Venezuela's protests injured in clashes
Fukushima: robot images show massive deposits thought to be melted nuclear fuel
Tony Abbott-backed motion for NSW Liberal preselections wins party support
More Jerusalem clashes feared as Israel searches for way to secure holy site
Indonesia police ordered to shoot drug dealers to tackle 'narcotics emergency'
Europe seeks a long-term answer to a refugee crisis that needs a solution now | Simon Tisdall
Italy feels the heat as EU shuts doors to migrants
EU will hit Poland with deadline to reverse curbs on judicial freedom
Gender reassignment could be streamlined under proposal
Bitter Palestinian rivalry adds to the agony of Gaza’s vulnerable
Prosecutor confirms German girl arrested in Iraq is Linda Wenzel – video
Putin yet to decide whether to run for president again – video
Pardon me? Legal experts doubt Trump could absolve himself in Russia inquiry
Exit Spicey, enter the Mooch: another day in Trump's tragicomic America | Richard Wolffe
Sean Spicer speaks on Hannity show following resignation – video

Donald Trump attacks press as Russia scandal swirls around Jeff Sessions

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 10:33 AM PDT

Trump follows communications director move by blasting Washington Post
Opinion: Just another day in Trump's tragicomic America

Donald Trump's haphazard attempt to relaunch his communications operation after six months as president will face its first test next week, when his son-in-law testifies about alleged links to Russia.

German girl arrested in Mosul is missing Linda Wenzel, say authorities

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 05:10 AM PDT

Wenzel disappeared from her home near Dresden last year and is believed to have been fighting for Islamic State in Iraq

A German girl who was believed to have been fighting for Islamic State in Mosul when she was arrested last week is the missing 16-year-old Linda Wenzel, German authorities have confirmed.

Wenzel's parents had been searching for their daughter since she disappeared from her home in the village of Pulsnitz, near Dresden, in July last year. She is thought to have converted to Islam after being groomed on social media.

Hanoi is choking on the fumes of 5m motorbikes, but can ban break its habit?

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:05 PM PDT

The roads of Vietnam's capital have been taken over by the two-wheeled horde, but bringing in a ban by 2030 will be a tough ask

It is easy to spot a foreigner in Hanoi. Cowering at intersections, staring in awe as the traffic hurtles past, tourists wait for a break in the flow of motorcycles, bicycles, carts, cars and buses – or for a kind driver to stop and bestow them the right of way – so that they may finally cross the road.

That break never comes, of course, which is why the Vietnamese capital's chaotic congestion is a phenomenon that hotel concierges often address with first-time visitors. The New York Times even published a how-to guide for tourists on safely crossing the road. With 5m motorbikes on the city's streets – many of them carrying entire families, or stacked up with boxes, window frames or flowers – Hanoi has long been either a thrilling, or terrifying, experience for the uninitiated.

Greece and Turkey struggle in aftermath of quake that killed two

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 05:53 AM PDT

Main harbour on holiday island Kos, where two died and hundreds were injured, remains closed with flights also affected

Kos is dealing with the aftermath of an earthquake that killed two people and injured hundreds on the Greek holiday island.

The 6.7-magnitude quake left hundreds more injured in the Turkish resort of Bodrum, about 12 miles (20km) across the sea from Kos. Tourists have faced flight delays and the damaged main harbour was closed for a second day.

‘I’m no fascist’: film-maker hits back over opposition to Catalan independence

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:05 PM PDT

Award-winning film-maker Isabel Coixet has caused a storm in her native Catalonia by speaking out against latest referendum

She is one of Spain's leading film-makers, revered in her native Catalonia and admired globally for award-winning films such as My Life Without Me and The Secret Life of Words.

‘Imagine living with this crap’: tempers in Venice boil over in tourist high season

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:04 PM PDT

As residents leave and visitor numbers soar, the city's quality of life is being eroded. This summer, irate locals have taken to the streets

Emotions run high in Venice, the Italian island city that fascinates visitors even as it exasperates the dwindling band of local inhabitants.

Venice is still known as La Serenissima, the most serene, and was once a place where the population rubbed gracefully along with visitors made up mostly of intellectuals, writers and artists. It is difficult now to imagine that happy coexistence, when you wander through the intricate maze of alleys and waterways and speak to local people. Depopulation and mass tourism have long been causes of local despair. But this summer it feels as if a tipping point may not be far away.

USS Fitzgerald collision: American sailors 'probably to blame' for fatal cargo ship crash

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 07:35 PM PDT

Unnamed defence official says the crew would be held accountable for the crash off Japan, which left seven US sailors dead

The crew of a Navy destroyer that collided with a Philippine-flagged cargo ship will "certainly" be held accountable for the crash that killed seven American sailors, a US defense official has said.

"The way it looks now, it seems that the crew on the (USS) Fitzgerald is going to be at fault," the official said on condition of anonymity.

California firefighters rescue and revive dog in house fire: 'He was in bad shape'

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 08:56 AM PDT

Firefighters rubbed a Shih Tzu named Jack's chest and used an oxygen mask specially designed for pets to revive him after finding him unconscious

Firefighters rescued a small white dog named Jack from a house fire in Bakersfield, California and revived the animal on camera, in a video that has been shared widely on social media.

Republicans face two unpalatable options on replacement healthcare bill

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 08:09 AM PDT

After a six-month debate and seven years of promising they would repeal the Affordable Care Act, Republicans don't have many good options left to pass a bill

Mitch McConnell likes to say that finding 50 Republican votes to pass healthcare reform is like solving a Rubik's cube. As he pushes his party toward a vote expected early next week, the Senate majority leader is still furiously twisting the puzzle.

Hawaii prepares for potential missile strike from North Korea

Posted: 21 Jul 2017 07:30 PM PDT

Starting in November, Hawaii will begin monthly tests of an 'attack-warning' siren the state hasn't heard since the end of the Cold War in the 1980s

Hawaii has become the first US state to prepare the public for the possibility of a ballistic missile strike from North Korea.

The state's Emergency Management Agency on Friday announced a public education campaign about what to do. Hawaii lawmakers have been urging emergency management officials to update Cold War-era plans for coping with a nuclear attack as North Korea develops nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that can reach the islands.

The art of making a jihadist

Posted: 23 Jul 2017 01:30 AM PDT

We know about jihadists' dedication to violence, but that's not the whole story, says expert Thomas Hegghammer. There's a hidden culture of poetry, music and storytelling that sustains their ideology

When Jihadi John, the Islamist terrorist who gloried in decapitating hostages, was exposed as Mohammed Emwazi, a spokesman from Cage recalled the west Londoner bringing "posh baklava" to the advocacy group's offices. He described the knife-wielding murderer and gloating torturer as "a beautiful young man… extremely kind, gentle and soft-spoken, the most humble young person I knew".

One of the people who inspired Emwazi was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, renowned for leading the group that beheaded and tortured many western hostages in Iraq, including the British engineer Kenneth Bigley. Zarqawi was known as the Sheikh of the Slaughterers, but he was also referred to as He Who Weeps A Lot, for his habit of crying during prayer.

City of Ghosts review – gruelling but essential

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 11:59 PM PDT

The citizen journalists of Syrian website Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently are the haunted heroes of this tough documentary

The 18 certificate awarded to Matthew Heineman's documentary about the citizen journalists behind the website Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently gives some indication of the horrors that these brave men and women witness on a daily basis. Political activism was not even on the radar of the inhabitants of the isolated Syrian city of Raqqa until the Arab spring ousted the government forces and the resultant power vacuum was filled by Islamic State. Watching with mounting dread the atrocities meted out by the men who claimed to be the city's liberators, a loose group of activists vowed to bring the truth about life under Isis to the rest of the world. This documentary doesn't spare the audience from the obscenity of the violence – this is a gruelling but essential watch. We see executions; we see bodies decapitated and displayed as a stark warning to the people of Raqqa and the world beyond.

Yami Lester: tributes follow death of Aboriginal elder and Maralinga activist

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 06:00 PM PDT

Lester, who was blinded by British atomic tests in South Australia in the 1950s, campaigned to get recognition for the 1,800 Indigenous Australians affected

Tributes have poured in for Aboriginal elder and activist Yami Lester, who died at the age of 75.

Lester, who died in Alice Springs on Friday night, lived a life of "great hardship and challenge" after being blinded as a young adolescent by the Maralinga atomic tests in the 1950s, which he called the "black mist".

Christopher Street Day parade, Berlin – in pictures

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:59 PM PDT

The 39th annual Christopher Street Day parade sees thousands of people demonstrate for the rights of LGBT people with a parade of colourful floats and music

Kamala Harris: young, black, female – and the Democrats’ best bet for 2020?

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:05 PM PDT

She has only been a senator since last January, but the presidential buzz is growing as the party debates the need for a radical edge

Kamala Harris, California's new senator, earlier this month made a visit to Chowchilla state prison, often described as the largest women's prison in the world. Harris, only the second black woman to have been elected to the senate, toured the facility and sat down to talk with inmates. She later called them "extraordinary", and praised their optimism about finding a new life after prison.

But the moment she dwelled on most was a visit to the silk-screening room, where the women were manufacturing American flags.

‘Dirtbag left’ takes aim at Clinton supporters

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:05 PM PDT

The Chapo Trap House podcast has hit the US mainstream advocating a new form of social democracy

It could be the leftwing alternative to the alt-right's Breitbart News – a subversive, humorous, politics-focused podcast that has attracted a devoted following on both sides of the Atlantic.

Last week, Chapo Trap House burst into mainstream US media after a dispute erupted between the podcast's provocative, hard-left commentators and a stately institution of polite neo-liberalism. In a take-down of Chapo and what is called the "dirtbag left", the century-old New Republic magazine took issue with a phrase used by the podcast's hosts as suggestive of a demand for an act of sexual submission by Hillary Clinton supporters.

The moped menace: how the scooter became muggers’ vehicle of choice

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:05 PM PDT

They're used in phone robberies, bag snatches – and now even in acid attacks. They're easy to steal and hard for the police to pursue. Is there a way to cut this crimewave?

From her office window, Elizabeth O'Neill could see young men on scooters prowling for victims almost every day. "You'd see people waiting at bus stops staring at their phones as these lads were about to snatch them," she said. "You'd think 'don't do it, put your phone away'. And then it happened to me."

O'Neill, a charity worker, was waiting for a bus "looking at my phone, figuring out where I was going". It was all over very quickly. "Two lads on a moped snatched it out of my hand and rode off. I felt really stupid.

Can Ellen Johnson Sirleaf save Liberia?

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:05 PM PDT

Africa's first elected female president has made giant steps in ridding her country of warlords, rape and child soldiers, but much remains to be done

It's not every day a president invites you into their bedroom. But then Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the president of Liberia, is not your typical president. A woman for one thing, the first ever elected to lead an African nation, she's also had several previous lives: freedom fighter, banker, UN bureaucrat, rebel, farmer, grandmother-in-chief. Would I like to go inside her room? Hell, yes!

We went to school in the city, and spent the vacations here in my father's village. We crossed two different worlds

'I will be back': Violin-playing face of Venezuela's protests injured in clashes

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 07:30 PM PDT

Wuilly Arteaga posts defiant video message from hospital bed as opposition announces fresh national strikes

Venezuela's opposition announced a two-day national strike against President Nicolas Maduro after a day of violent clashes in Caracas on Saturday where the injured included a violinist who has become the face of the protests.

"Neither rubber bullets nor pellets will stop our fight for Venezuela's independence," said musician Wuilly Arteaga. The 23-year-old has become famous in Venezuela for playing the national anthem and other tunes on his violin in front of security lines as battles rage around him. "Tomorrow I will be back in the streets."

Fukushima: robot images show massive deposits thought to be melted nuclear fuel

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 06:02 PM PDT

Robot spots suspected debris of melted fuel for first time since 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant

Images captured by an underwater robot on Saturday showed massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan's destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.

The robot found large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps in layers as thick as 1m on the bottom inside a main structure called the pedestal that sits underneath the core inside the primary containment vessel of Fukushima's Unit 3 reactor, said the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Tony Abbott-backed motion for NSW Liberal preselections wins party support

Posted: 23 Jul 2017 01:28 AM PDT

Votes on other reform models yet to be held but Waringah proposal wins 61% majority of party's members in NSW

A motion championed by Tony Abbott to introduce one member one preselection voting has passed at the Liberal party's New South Wales convention.

NSW Liberals voted for the Warringah motion with a 61% majority on Sunday afternoon, following brief delays after the electronic voting system went down.

More Jerusalem clashes feared as Israel searches for way to secure holy site

Posted: 23 Jul 2017 12:24 AM PDT

Death toll of violence over access to compound housing al-Aqsa mosque reaches seven, bringing global calls for restraint

Israel's security forces and Palestinian leaders are bracing for weeks of violence as the death toll in a bloody weekend of confrontations over Israel's placement of metal detectors at the entrance to the compound housing the al-Aqsa mosque reached seven.

The fears were voiced as Israel deployed thousands of extra troops to the West Bank, amid a stark call from the Middle East quartet – representing the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations – urging all sides to "demonstrate maximum restraint".

Indonesia police ordered to shoot drug dealers to tackle 'narcotics emergency'

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 05:21 PM PDT

President Joko Widodo's comments echo those of Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte, whose drug war has killed thousands

Indonesia's president, Joko Widodo, has told law enforcement officers to shoot drug traffickers to deal with what he called a "narcotics emergency" facing the country.

"Be firm, especially to foreign drug dealers who enter the country and resist arrest. Shoot them because we indeed are in a narcotics emergency position now," Widodo said in a speech delivered at a political event late on Friday.

Europe seeks a long-term answer to a refugee crisis that needs a solution now | Simon Tisdall

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:05 PM PDT

With thousands of people marooned in Greece, Serbia and Italy, Europe is split down the middle about how to deal with the influx of migrants

British holidaymakers heading for Italy's beaches and other popular Mediterranean destinations this weekend, as the summer school break begins, may get more than they bargained for.

Europe's sun-kissed southern shores are more sought-after than ever. But many of this year's visitors belong to new waves of refugees fleeing persecution and poverty in Africa, south Asia and the Middle East.

Italy feels the heat as EU shuts doors to migrants

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:05 PM PDT

Ventimiglia is the new frontier of a humanitarian crisis

On a hot afternoon in the northern Italian border town of Ventimiglia, a group of well-dressed French tourists is making its way towards air-conditioned buses that will take them back to their homes along the Côte d'Azur.

They're returning from a day of shopping at Ventimiglia's lively Friday market, a mecca on the town's seafront for visitors flocking across the frontier to rummage through an irresistibly cheap selection of clothes, food and trinkets.

EU will hit Poland with deadline to reverse curbs on judicial freedom

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:04 PM PDT

Protests continue after senate approves laws seen as serious threat to democracy

The EU is expected to give Poland's rightwing government until September to reverse a controversial set of laws that give the country's politicians control over its supreme court.

Gender reassignment could be streamlined under proposal

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:01 PM PDT

The equalities minister, Justine Greening, proposes removing need for medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria

Proposals to streamline the process of changing gender have been unveiled by the government, as part of an attempt to boost equality for the LGBT community.

Bitter Palestinian rivalry adds to the agony of Gaza’s vulnerable

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 01:17 PM PDT

Cancer patients desperate for drugs: a stricken territory suffers fresh misery

In Shifa hospital, Gaza, tiny premature babies, some with multiple infections, others with congenital diseases, lie packed together in incubators, struggling for life amid a tangle of tubes as lights flicker. With electricity virtually cut off, their life support is powered by a generator with a variable current.

The health of several of the babies is so poor they should have been transferred out of Gaza to modern intensive care units elsewhere, but permission to leave has been refused.

Prosecutor confirms German girl arrested in Iraq is Linda Wenzel – video

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 07:15 AM PDT

Lorenz Haase from the eastern German city of Dresden says the girl arrested in Iraq last week is 16-year-old Linda Wenzel, previously reported as missing. Haase doesn't confirm media reports that Wenzel had been fighting for Islamic State in Mosul, but says she is getting consular assistance from the German embassy in Iraq

German girl arrested in Mosul is missing Linda Wenzel, say authorities

Putin yet to decide whether to run for president again – video

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 02:55 AM PDT

Russian president says he has not yet decided whether to run for re-election in 2018, but says he will not change the constitution to allow him to keep on running for Russia's top political post indefinitely. Putin was speaking at a question-and-answer session with children at a Sochi school, which analysts said was designed to widen his support base among young people

Vladimir Putin: 'I may not leave Russian presidency'

Pardon me? Legal experts doubt Trump could absolve himself in Russia inquiry

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 08:26 AM PDT

The president, under pressure over a deepening scandal, says 'all agree' that he has 'the complete power to pardon', but analysts suggest this is not the case

An apropos-of-nothing assertion by Donald Trump on Twitter on Saturday morning, that "all agree the US president has the complete power to pardon", raised interesting questions: How broad is the president's pardoning power, and does it extend to self-pardons?

As the Russia scandal deepens, with Congress preparing to interview Donald Trump Jr and special counsel Robert Mueller accessing the president's tax returns, Trump has been seeking legal advice on the question of self-pardons, the Washington Post reported on Friday morning.

Exit Spicey, enter the Mooch: another day in Trump's tragicomic America | Richard Wolffe

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 04:39 AM PDT

As the laughable 'Made in America' week closed, the White House staged a farce to rival any of Sean Spicer's press briefings. This was nightmare political theater

Anthony Scaramucci: who is new White House communications director?

Sean "Spicey" Spicer, we knew ye all too well. Six months of shambolic press briefings, incoherent communications strategy and endless rumors of your demise. It was all too much for us, and ultimately for you too.

Sean Spicer speaks on Hannity show following resignation – video

Posted: 22 Jul 2017 03:15 AM PDT

Spicer says 'it's been an honour and a privilege to serve this president in this country' hours after resigning his post as press secretary. Speaking in an interview on Fox News's Hannity show on Friday, he also says Melissa McCarthy's SNL impression was 'over the line'