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North Korea details Guam strike plan and calls Trump 'bereft of reason'
Hope, pride, fear: how North Koreans feel about their homeland
Yemen: dozens drown off coast as smugglers force refugees into water
First Venice and Barcelona: now anti-tourism marches spread across Europe
Bill Murray goes to see Groundhog Day – again
Fired Google memo writer gives first big interviews to rightwing YouTubers
Iranian children arrested for teaching Zumba and 'western' dance
Contaminated eggs: Netherlands failed to sound alarm, says Belgium
Hugo Chavéz's brother among eight Venezuelans placed under US sanctions
Fox & Friends & Trump: North Korea crisis puts cozy relationship in spotlight
Postmortems solve strange case of French pair who died at dinner
US expels two Cuba diplomats and looks into claims US officials were purposely deafened
UK defence contractor billed US more than $50m in expenses
European commission spending thousands on 'air taxis' for top officials
At least six injured after bus crashes into shop in south London
The men on Robben Island – archive, 10 Aug 1964
Alaskan towns at risk from rising seas sound alarm as Trump pulls federal help
'Totally divided': how Venezuela's crisis split the Latin American left
Shorten's impassioned 'yes' plea for marriage equality channels both empathy and outrage
New Zealand gripped by 'Jacindamania' as new Labour leader soars in polls
Thursday briefing: Trump 'extremely getting on North Korea's nerves'
South Korea talks tough after North Korean threat – video
Chinese media warn Trump's war of words with North Korea could spiral out of control
UK driving examiners may be given body cameras after rise in attacks
Cassie Sainsbury to stand trial on cocaine charges in Colombia after plea deal rejected
Canadian army builds 500-person border camp as asylum-seeker numbers rise
'They don't care': Indian government accused of prejudice by Chakma people
Migrant crisis triggers heightened risk of slavery in EU supply chains, say analysts
Yemen's health ministry says airport closure has cost nearly 10,000 lives
'A lot of people have a lot to lose': Nigeria launches website to combat corruption
North Korea-US tensions: seven potential scenarios
China has been given two headaches – Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un | Tom Phillips
'The perfect Alabama candidate': Republicans warm to Vladimir Putin – video
Man shot and arrested after car rams Paris soldiers – video report
Tillerson on North Korea threat: Americans can 'sleep well at night' – video report

North Korea details Guam strike plan and calls Trump 'bereft of reason'

Posted: 10 Aug 2017 01:42 AM PDT

Pyongyang says it will launch four missiles into waters '30-40km' off US territory in Pacific Ocean

North Korea has defied threats of "fire and fury" from Donald Trump, deriding his warning as a "load of nonsense" and announcing a detailed plan to launch missiles aimed at the waters off the coast of the US Pacific territory of Guam.

Hope, pride, fear: how North Koreans feel about their homeland

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 09:00 PM PDT

The little evidence seeping out of the repressed nation suggests its people are growing weary of their masters – but still harbour a burning hatred for the US

Though North Korea consumes an extraordinary amount of international attention for such a small and impoverished country, the "Hermit Kingdom" remains remarkably closed. We still know very little about what its people think. We know what they say when they meet visitors; but those who get to meet foreigners are at the top of society, and they speak under constant scrutiny and threat of punishment. We know what defectors say; but they are people who have chosen to and managed to leave, and thus are by their nature atypical.

Our best indication is what North Koreans say when they are working illicitly in China, though even then their views are skewed by their experience of living in border areas and venturing abroad. A few are able to share their views from inside the country, using illegally owned Chinese phones that can pick up mobile signals along the border, but can be used for only a few minutes lest they be traced.

Yemen: dozens drown off coast as smugglers force refugees into water

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 02:02 PM PDT

Women and children among the 29 dead and 22 missing from group of Somali and Ethiopian migrants

Smugglers forced more than 120 Somali and Ethiopian migrants into rough seas off Yemen on Wednesday, leaving 29 dead and 22 missing, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

First Venice and Barcelona: now anti-tourism marches spread across Europe

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 10:30 PM PDT

Demos in San Sebastián and crackdowns in Rome and Dubrovnik as locals vent frustration at city-breakers and cruise ships

With the continent sweltering under a heatwave nicknamed Lucifer, tempers have been boiling over, too, as a wave of anti-tourism protests take place in some of Europe's most popular destinations. Yet, as "tourism-phobia" becomes a feature of the summer, the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has defended the sector, calling on local authorities to do more to manage growth in a sustainable manner.

Ensuring tourism is an enriching experience for visitors and hosts alike demands strong, sustainable tourism policies

Bill Murray goes to see Groundhog Day – again

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 10:22 PM PDT

The star of the 1993 classic movie went to see the Broadway musical version on Tuesday and then returned Wednesday for another show

Tuesday: Bill Murray, star of Groundhog Day, a film famously about reliving the same day over and over, is spotted at the Broadway show based on that film.

Fired Google memo writer gives first big interviews to rightwing YouTubers

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 01:42 PM PDT

James Damore, the engineer fired this week for his criticism of diversity, spoke with two YouTube personalities who have espoused anti-feminist views

James Damore went from an unknown software engineer at Google to widespread internet notoriety when the technology company fired him for writing a memo criticizing diversity initiatives.

But as mainstream journalists across the globe reached out to him for interviews this week, Damore largely ignored the queries and instead selected two rightwing YouTube personalities to make his first, expansive comments on the international firestorm he has ignited.

Iranian children arrested for teaching Zumba and 'western' dance

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 09:48 AM PDT

Six charged with dancing and failing to wear proper hijab after posting clips on social media, say Revolutionary Guards

Four boys and two girls have been arrested in Iran for teaching "western" dance moves including Zumba, a Colombian fitness routine, a Revolutionary Guards commander has said.

"The members of a network teaching and filming western dances have been identified and arrested," Hamid Damghani, a commander in Shahroud, north-east Iran, was quoted by the news website Jamejam Online as saying.

Contaminated eggs: Netherlands failed to sound alarm, says Belgium

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 11:10 AM PDT

Food safety scandal deepens as Dutch authorities are accused of not passing on early discovery of fipronil in eggs

Europe's latest food scandal has deepened as Belgium accused the Dutch authorities of failing to sound the alarm after discovering eggs were being contaminated with a harmful insecticide as early as November last year.

The Belgian agriculture minister, Denis Ducarme, told a parliamentary hearing that his officials had obtained an internal Dutch document that reported "the observation of the presence of fipronil in Dutch eggs at the end of November 2016".

Hugo Chavéz's brother among eight Venezuelans placed under US sanctions

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 11:57 AM PDT

Fresh sanctions aim to punish individuals for their role in creating President Maduro's new constituent assembly, which has been widely condemned

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on eight more Venezuelan officials, including the brother of late socialist leader Hugo Chávez, to punish them for their role in President Nicolás Maduro's creation of a new legislative superbody, US officials said.

The US targeted individual politicians and security figures but stopped short of placing broader financial or "sectoral" sanctions on its vital oil industry though such actions, the officials told Reuters, are still under consideration.

Fox & Friends & Trump: North Korea crisis puts cozy relationship in spotlight

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 12:08 PM PDT

As rhetoric over nuclear war suddenly ramped up this week, Trump and the Fox News show set about amplifying each other to a worldwide audience

The crisis in relations between the US and North Korea has put Donald Trump's symbiotic relationship with his favorite morning TV show, Fox & Friends, firmly back in the spotlight.

As rhetoric over nuclear war suddenly ramped up between the US president and North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-un, on Tuesday night and the US media began intense coverage stretching into Wednesday, Trump and the Fox News show set about amplifying each other to a worldwide audience.

Postmortems solve strange case of French pair who died at dinner

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 06:03 AM PDT

Speculation about what caused two men to die suddenly in Authon-du-Perche had gripped France

When two men enjoying a summer dinner of roasted beef and canned beans dropped dead in Authon-du-Perche, the French village found itself at the centre of what seemed to be a sinister mystery that gripped the country.

Neither the body of Olivier Boudin, 38, found lying on his back on the ground, or that of Lucien Perot, 69, sitting at the terrace table before a half-finished plate, some camembert, a partly eaten baguette and a glass of wine, showed signs of an attack or a fight and there was no indication of a break-in or robbery.

US expels two Cuba diplomats and looks into claims US officials were purposely deafened

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 02:13 PM PDT

Source says investigators looking into whether Cuban government placed sonic devices around embassy staffers' houses, causing 'variety of physical symptoms'

The US state department has expelled two diplomats from the Cuban embassy in Washington following a series of unexplained incidents in Cuba that left US officials there with physical symptoms that one official said includes potentially permanent hearing loss.

Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that the Cubans were asked to leave the US on 23 May after Americans in Cuba "reported incidents which have caused a variety of physical symptoms", causing them to leave the island.

UK defence contractor billed US more than $50m in expenses

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 02:56 PM PDT

Expenses included luxury cars and salaries paid to 'significant others' of company's top executives, according to Pentagon

A British company hired to help train Afghan intelligence officers billed the US government for more than $50m (£38.4m) in expenses that included luxury cars and salaries paid to the "significant others" of the company's top executives, according to a Pentagon audit.

New Century Consulting (NCC) also spent $42,000 on automatic weapons, using cash to get around a prohibition in the contract on purchasing the firearms and showered other personnel with hefty pay and bonuses. Missouri senator Claire McCaskill summarised the audit's major findings in a letter to the US defence secretary, Jim Mattis, which she released on Wednesday.

European commission spending thousands on 'air taxis' for top officials

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 09:45 AM PDT

EU executive releases two months of travel costs for 2016, revealing use of chartered planes for Brussels' 28 commissioners

Jean-Claude Juncker and his top officials are spending tens of thousands of euros on chartering private planes, according to documents detailing the European commission's travel expenses.

After three years of battling with transparency campaigners fighting for full disclosure, the EU's executive has released two months of travel costs for 2016, revealing regular use of chartered planes to transport Brussels' 28 commissioners.

At least six injured after bus crashes into shop in south London

Posted: 10 Aug 2017 01:18 AM PDT

Firefighters working to free two passengers from top deck of bus which is wedged into side of a shop in Clapham

The men on Robben Island – archive, 10 Aug 1964

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 09:00 PM PDT

10 August 1964: The composition of the present prison colony reveals most clearly whom the Nationalist Government regards as most dangerous to the apartheid State

Seven miles off Cape Town, in the heart of Table Bay, lies Robben Island, the Alcatraz of South Africa, home of some 1,500 long-term prisoners. A waterless, arid patch of land, surrounded by shark-inhabited water, it has been used by South African Governments in the past alternately as a place of exile for defeated African chiefs, as a leper colony, as a defence establishment, and, in the last few years, as a "maximum security" prison for "dangerous criminals."

The composition of the present prison colony reveals most clearly whom the Nationalist Government of Dr Verwoerd regards as most dangerous to the apartheid State. Of a total prison population of about 1,500, about 500 have been convicted of crimes such as murder, robbery, rape, assault, fraud, housebreaking and theft. The remaining 1,000 are political prisoners. Three hundred have been convicted of sabotage, a political crime created by the so-called Sabotage Act of 1962, which imposes heavier penalties than the common law crime of treason and places the onus of proving innocence on the accused. The remainder have been convicted of offences in terms of the Suppression of Communism Act (1950), the Public Safety Act of 1953, the Criminal Law Amendment Act (1953) (outlawing passive resistance), the Riotous Assemblies Act (1956) and the Unlawful Organisations Act (1960) (outlawing the African National Congress, the Pan-Africanist Congress and later, the Congress of Democrats) – all laws created or amended since the Nationalist Government came to power with the intention of suppressing the people's resistance to apartheid.

Alaskan towns at risk from rising seas sound alarm as Trump pulls federal help

Posted: 10 Aug 2017 02:00 AM PDT

Communities at risk of falling into the sea say assistance from Washington has dried up: 'It feels like a complete abdication of responsibility on climate change'

The US government's withdrawal from dealing with, or even acknowledging, climate change may have provoked widespread opprobrium, but for Alaskan communities at risk of toppling into the sea, the risks are rather more personal.

The Trump administration has moved to dismantle climate adaptation programs including the Denali Commission, an Anchorage-based agency that is crafting a plan to safeguard or relocate dozens of towns at risk from rising sea levels, storms and the winnowing away of sea ice.

'Totally divided': how Venezuela's crisis split the Latin American left

Posted: 10 Aug 2017 02:00 AM PDT

After months of political turmoil in the country, Latin America's once broadly united leftist movement is in disarray

In her first international speech as the president of Brazil's powerful Workers' party, Gleisi Hoffmann waded immediately into controversy when she voiced uncompromising support for Venezuela's president Nicolás Maduro.

Addressing the São Paulo Forum – an annual gathering of leftwing parties in Managuá in July – Hoffmann said Venezuela faced a "violent offensive by the right" and endorsed a controversial new constituent assembly – which Maduro's critics have described as a bare-faced grab for power.

Shorten's impassioned 'yes' plea for marriage equality channels both empathy and outrage

Posted: 10 Aug 2017 02:22 AM PDT

Labor leader hangs shoddy same-sex process and its ugly consequences squarely around the neck of the prime minister: 'I hold you responsible'

Bill Shorten looked distant during question time – keyed up, like an athlete before an explosive sprint. Periodically he flicked through the text of a speech, a mental composition already running in his head, absent from the fray.

Little wonder he was distracted. When the Labor leader got to his feet for the matter of public importance speech after question time, it was for one of those rare moments that happen in politics, the moments that are genuinely electrifying.

New Zealand gripped by 'Jacindamania' as new Labour leader soars in polls

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 11:29 PM PDT

Charisma and a refreshing openness are helping Jacinda Ardern close the gap on Bill English

Jacindamania has gripped New Zealand, with the new Labour leader surging in the latest polls after only one week in the job.

Newshub/Reid Research polling showed support for the party had leapt nine points to 33.1 in the week since Jacinda Ardern took over from Andrew Little. Labour's internal polling company – UMR – reportedly has them on 36 points.

Thursday briefing: Trump 'extremely getting on North Korea's nerves'

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 10:34 PM PDT

Threat and counter-threat between Washington and Pyongyang … UK property slump to go on for at least a year … and the night death came to dinner

Hello – it's Warren Murray taking you through things this morning.

South Korea talks tough after North Korean threat – video

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 09:54 PM PDT

Seoul says its northern neighbour will face a 'stern and strong' response if it acts on threats to fire missiles near Guam. Joint chiefs of staff spokesman Roh Jae-cheon said the US and South Korean militaries are prepared to 'immediately and sternly punish' any kind of provocation by North Korea

Chinese media warn Trump's war of words with North Korea could spiral out of control

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 09:01 PM PDT

Communist party outlets cite a 'disaster' in the making though some claim America has far more to lose than Kim Jong-un in a conflict

An accidental spark could ignite a catastrophic conflagration in north-east Asia, Chinese state media has warned, after Donald Trump threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea.

In an English-language commentary, China's official news agency, Xinhua, said "tit-for-tat confrontations" between Washington and Pyongyang would lead nowhere and argued dialogue was the only way to defuse the North Korean nuclear crisis.

UK driving examiners may be given body cameras after rise in attacks

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 04:18 PM PDT

Move being considered by DVSA after 50% rise in assaults by disgruntled learner drivers in a year

Driving test examiners could be given body cameras following a spate of attacks by failed candidates.

More than 300 staff from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) suffered physical or verbal abuse in 2016, up from 198 the previous year, according to the government agency. Around two-thirds of attacks were carried out on examiners, the rest being aimed at vehicle testers and roadside enforcement staff.

Cassie Sainsbury to stand trial on cocaine charges in Colombia after plea deal rejected

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 03:13 PM PDT

Judge knocks back deal that 22-year-old Australian struck with prosecutors for reduced jail term in return for naming those behind drug-smuggling ring

Australian drug mule Cassie Sainsbury will stand trial for allegedly trying to smuggle nearly 6kg of cocaine out of Colombia after a judge rejected a plea deal.

Judge Sergio Leon rejected the deal the 22-year-old Adelaide woman struck with Colombian prosecutors in July for a reduced jail term of six years in return for naming people behind a drug-smuggling ring, Australian media outlets have reported.

Canadian army builds 500-person border camp as asylum-seeker numbers rise

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 02:57 PM PDT

Number of asylum seekers entering Canada from US has risen sharply this year
Delays at border means migrants have been forced to wait in area with no beds

The Canadian military has been deployed to build a 500-person camp at a remote location at the border as authorities grapple with a growing number of asylum seekers crossing into Canada by foot from the United States.

On Wednesday, nearly 100 soldiers were sent to Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle – just across the border from Champlain, New York – to erect heated tents to temporarily house as many as 500 people, the armed forces said in a statement. The site has become a popular crossing spot in recent months, with hundreds of people a day making the easy trip over a shallow ditch that connects both countries.

'They don't care': Indian government accused of prejudice by Chakma people

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 09:00 PM PDT

Families living on riverbanks of north-east India claim pleas for help following devastating floods have been ignored on religious and racial grounds

The Indian government has been accused of religious and racial discrimination after members of the Chakma ethnic group said their pleas for help following the devastating floods and landslides that swept the country's north-east have fallen on deaf ears.

Migrant crisis triggers heightened risk of slavery in EU supply chains, say analysts

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 04:01 PM PDT

Businesses, consumers and governments in EU urged to be vigilant as modern slavery index highlights increased possibility of labour exploitation

The migrant crisis has increased the risk of slavery and forced labour tainting supply chains in three-quarters of EU countries over the past year, researchers have found.

Romania, Italy, Cyprus and Bulgaria – all key entry points into Europe for migrants vulnerable to exploitation – were identified by risk analysts as particularly vulnerable to slavery and forced labour.

Yemen's health ministry says airport closure has cost nearly 10,000 lives

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 07:26 AM PDT

Aid groups claim year-long shutdown of Sana'a airport has blocked humanitarian deliveries and prevented the sick from seeking medical treatment abroad

Aid groups have issued a statement calling on Yemen's warring parties to reopen the country's main airport, saying the year-long closure has trapped thousands of sick patients and is stopping vital humanitarian supplies.

Yemen's health ministry estimates that more than 10,000 people seeking life-saving treatment abroad have died from critical health conditions since Sana'a airport was closed, said a group of NGOs including the International Rescue Committee and the Norwegian Refugee Council.

'A lot of people have a lot to lose': Nigeria launches website to combat corruption

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 05:42 AM PDT

A government move to open up public projects in Nigeria to greater scrutiny has been hailed by transparency groups – but not all will share their enthusiasm

When Onumonu Nonye visited the new laboratory at Ubahuekwuem technical school, she hoped to see busy students surrounded by books and science equipment. Instead, the building stood empty, bereft of desks, doors and even windows. The renovation of the college, in Ihiala, south-east Nigeria, had been abandoned.

Students were heartbroken that their new classrooms had been left unfinished. So too was the headteacher, who was shocked when Nonye told him the company responsible had been paid 25,000,000 naira (£52,601) to complete the work. "They weren't happy at all," says Nonye, who works as a procurement monitor for the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC), a civil society group that campaigns for greater transparency about public spending.

North Korea-US tensions: seven potential scenarios

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 10:18 AM PDT

Donald Trump has warned North Korea with 'fire and fury' and Kim Jong-un has threatened to attack Guam. How could this play out?

The "fire and fury" option. In recent days the US national security adviser, HR McMaster, raised the prospect of "preventative war" as a policy option. The idea would be to administer a sudden hammer blow to North Korean (DPRK) military infrastructure that would substantially set back its ability to attack the US and could trigger a coup or a revolt. The downsides to this option are foreboding. The regime has missiles hidden all over the country, as well as 8,000 big guns trained largely at Seoul, 40 miles across the demilitarised zone. No first strike would come close to disarming Kim Jong-un completely and his retaliation would almost certainly involve mass civilian deaths.

China has been given two headaches – Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un | Tom Phillips

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 08:06 AM PDT

Beijing unlikely to be happy with president's outburst over North Korea and some observers now feel China should push back against US

For months the US's Twitter-happy commander-in-chief has battled to convince Beijing to join his crusade against Kim Jong-un – and on Saturday he seemed to finally make headway.

After China backed a unanimous security council vote targeting Pyongyang, he bragged to his 35 million followers:

'The perfect Alabama candidate': Republicans warm to Vladimir Putin – video

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 02:58 PM PDT

Vladimir Putin's favorability ratings have tripled among Americans in recent years – and the polls say he's most popular among Republicans. To find out why, Paul Lewis travels to deeply conservative Alabama in the run-up to next week's Republican Senate primary to choose a replacement for Jeff Sessions. He finds Putin's rising popularity may actually be explained through the same Christian evangelical community backing Roy Moore, Alabama's famed 'Ten Commandments Judge' turned Senate frontrunner.

Man shot and arrested after car rams Paris soldiers – video report

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 01:32 PM PDT

French police officers searching for a driver who ploughed into soldiers patrolling an upmarket Paris suburb have shot and arrested a man on a motorway north of the city. Security sources told Agence France-Presse the arrest was linked to Wednesday morning's attack, which injured six members of the 35th infantry regiment, though there was no official confirmation

Paris attack: police make motorway arrest after car driven into soldiers

Tillerson on North Korea threat: Americans can 'sleep well at night' – video report

Posted: 09 Aug 2017 11:41 AM PDT

The US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, downplayed the threat from North Korea after Donald Trump's 'fire and fury' comments prompted Pyongyang to claim it was examining plans to attack Guam, a US-held Pacific island