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

Trump disputes report he has 'very good relationship' with Kim Jong-un
Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer of the Cranberries, dies aged 46
Margaret Atwood faces feminist backlash on social media over #MeToo
Pastor denounces Donald Trump, with Mike Pence in the congregation
Philippines revokes licence of leading news website Rappler
Tyler Barriss, accused of making hoax call, regrets death of 'swatting' victim
Paradise Papers revealed 'commoditisation' of tax avoidance
End of the A380 superjumbo? Airbus warns future of plane at risk
Wayward wallaby stops the traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge
Eliza Dushku claims True Lies crew member sexually assaulted her aged 12
Creative thought has a pattern of its own, brain activity scans reveal
US actor Steven Seagal denies new sexual assault allegation
Pakistan celebrities break taboo to reveal child sexual abuse
Girl's claim that man cut hijab with scissors is disputed by Canadian police
Is this the beginning of the end of Trump's real estate empire?
Aden in the spotlight: war-torn port city tries to dust itself off
Immigration policy progress and setback have become pattern for Dreamers
Two men charged with London murder of model Harry Uzoka
Serb politician in Kosovo shot dead
'We will get him': the long hunt for Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
Doctors in Uganda warn 'crisis level' blood shortage is putting lives at risk
Thirteen shackled and malnourished siblings rescued from California house
Mexico: 500 years later, scientists discover what killed the Aztecs
Human rights undermined in Hong Kong, says Ashdown
Private health insurance sector calls for increase to Medicare levy surcharge
Poorer countries must 'put their hands in their pockets': UK warns of cuts to aid
'People were screaming': troops destroy $200,000 aid camps in Somalia
Firefighter catches child thrown from third-storey balcony – video
13 children and siblings discovered chained in California house – video
CCTV shows moment floor collapses at Indonesian stock exchange – video

Trump disputes report he has 'very good relationship' with Kim Jong-un

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 07:18 AM PST

White House and Wall Street Journal release audio in dispute over interview, which could indicate a shift in US-North Korea relations

Donald Trump has disputed a newspaper's account of an interview with him last week in which he was quoted as saying he probably had a "very good relationship" with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer of the Cranberries, dies aged 46

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 02:17 PM PST

Death of Irish singer, whose band sold more than 40m records, is being treated as 'unexplained'

Dolores O'Riordan, the lead singer with the multi-platinum band the Cranberries, has died aged 46.

The news was confirmed by her publicist in a statement, but no cause of death has yet been announced. O'Riordan, who had to cancel a tour with a reunited Cranberries in 2017 because of a back problem, had been in London for a recording session.

Margaret Atwood faces feminist backlash on social media over #MeToo

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 10:36 AM PST

The Canadian author's defence of due process for those accused of sexual misconduct sparked online ire

Canadian author Margaret Atwood is facing a social media backlash after voicing concerns about the #MeToo movement and calling for due process in the case of a former university professor accused of sexual misconduct.

Writing in the Globe and Mail, Atwood said the #MeToo movement, which emerged in the wake of sexual assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, was the symptom of a broken legal system and had been "seen as a massive wake up call".

Pastor denounces Donald Trump, with Mike Pence in the congregation

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 01:44 PM PST

The pastor at the church the vice-president attended in Maryland on Sunday said using the word 'shithole' was 'dehumanizing' and 'ugly'

A Maryland pastor denounced President Donald Trump's alleged vulgar description of African nations from the pulpit on Sunday – while Vice-President Mike Pence was sitting in the pews of his church.

Philippines revokes licence of leading news website Rappler

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 04:01 PM PST

Ruling denounced by critics as an 'alarming attempt to silence independent journalism' and latest blow to free press in country

The Philippine government has revoked the operating licence of leading news website Rappler, officials said on Monday in a ruling denounced by President Rodrigo Duterte's critics as the latest blow to press freedom.

Rappler, set up in 2012, is among a clutch of Philippine news organisations that have sparred with Duterte over their critical coverage of his brutal drugs war.

Tyler Barriss, accused of making hoax call, regrets death of 'swatting' victim

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 12:49 PM PST

Andrew Finch shot dead on his doorstep by armed police
Barriss: 'I feel a little remorse for what happened'

Tyler Barriss, the California man accused of making a hoax emergency call that resulted in a fatal police shooting in Kansas, has said he regrets the death of Andrew Finch.

Paradise Papers revealed 'commoditisation' of tax avoidance

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 09:00 AM PST

Australian Taxation Office says investigation of data leak has identified 731 individuals and 344 corporate entities so far

The Paradise Papers have helped to reveal a global industry of tax avoidance packages that are offered to wealthy individuals much like holiday packages, the Australian tax authorities say.

End of the A380 superjumbo? Airbus warns future of plane at risk

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 04:07 PM PST

Company says unless Emirates buys more of the jet then 'there is no choice but to shut down the programme'

Airbus said on Monday that it might have to end production of the double-decker A380 superjumbo jet, having booked no new orders for the plane in two years.

The European aerospace group had been banking on another big order from main client Emirates in November, but the Dubai-based airline decided instead to buy 40 of Boeing's Dreamliners.

Wayward wallaby stops the traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 01:56 PM PST

Police believe the marsupial may have made its way on to the bridge from a golf course

A wallaby has been apprehended after hopping along the Sydney Harbour Bridge just before the city's rush hour.

New South Wales police were called to the bridge shortly before 5am on Tuesday after motorists spotted the animal in lane eight at the northern end of the bridge.

Eliza Dushku claims True Lies crew member sexually assaulted her aged 12

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 04:43 AM PST

Stunt coordinator Joel Kramer denies allegations that he molested actor during production of the 1994 film

Eliza Dushku says she was sexually molested at age 12 by a stunt coordinator during production of the 1994 film True Lies.

In a post on her Facebook account on 13 January, the actor also alleged that Joel Kramer, then 36, caused her to be injured on the set as payback for disclosing the alleged misconduct to a friend. Kramer denied the accusations in trade publication interviews.

Creative thought has a pattern of its own, brain activity scans reveal

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 12:00 PM PST

People who are flexible, original thinkers show signature forms of connectivity in their brains, study shows

Donatella Versace finds it in the conflict of ideas, Jack White under pressure of deadlines. For William S Burroughs, an old Dadaist trick helped: cutting pages into pieces and rearranging the words.

Every artist has their own way of generating original ideas, but what is happening inside the brain might not be so individual. In new research, scientists report signature patterns of neural activity that mark out those who are most creative.

US actor Steven Seagal denies new sexual assault allegation

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 11:45 AM PST

British actor Rachel Grant says he pulled down her top and exposed himself at an audition

The actor and producer Steven Seagal has denied the latest in a series of sexual assault allegations made against him.

Rachel Grant, best known for starring as a Bond girl in Die Another Day, claims the Hollywood star pulled down her top and then exposed himself to her during an audition in Bulgaria, a claim his lawyers say he "unequivocally denies".

Pakistan celebrities break taboo to reveal child sexual abuse

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 08:52 AM PST

Three prominent women link up with #MeToo movement amid furore over rape and murder of seven-year-old girl

Three Pakistani celebrities have become the first women in the conservative nation's history to publicly reveal that they were sexually abused as children, amid a national furore over the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl.

The actor Nadia Jamil, designer Maheen Khan, and PR guru Frieha Altaf shared their stories on social media.

Girl's claim that man cut hijab with scissors is disputed by Canadian police

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 10:46 AM PST

Toronto police say assault on Khawlah Noman that hit headlines worldwide did not happen

Toronto police have disputed an 11-year-old girl's claim that her hijab was cut by a man wielding scissors as she walked to school last week.

A Toronto police spokesman, Mark Pugash, said on Monday that an extensive investigation had been conducted and police had concluded it did not happen.

Is this the beginning of the end of Trump's real estate empire?

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 11:15 PM PST

The Trump name is being scrubbed off skylines from New York to Toronto to Rio as the brand backfires

It takes all of 30 seconds for the doorman at Trump Place to kick me out of the building. "Ma'am, you need to leave," he says, when I tell him I am a journalist. Then he practically shoves me out the marble lobby, back through the revolving doors .

Tensions are high at Trump Place, 200 Riverside Boulevard. The luxury condominium complex on New York's Upper West Side is currently embroiled in an increasingly contentious legal battle with the Trump family. Like many of the towers bearing the Trump brand, 200 Riverside Boulevard isn't actually owned by the Trumps; it simply licenses the name, which is plastered on the building in big brass letters. And now many residents don't want it any more.

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

Aden in the spotlight: war-torn port city tries to dust itself off

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 04:00 AM PST

Amid the carnage of the civil war, Aden is the only major city in Yemen looking open for business – but it still has a long way to go

With Yemeni president Abd-rabbu Mansour Hadi still in Saudi Arabia, the return of prime minister Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr to the port of Aden at the end of December underlined the interim capital's importance. Amid the carnage of the Yemeni civil war and with the former capital, Sana'a, under Houthi control, Aden is the only major city looking remotely open for international business.

President Hadi's hometown was one of the few ports to be reopened at the end of last year after the Saudi-led coalition opted to starve out the northern rebels. Now Aden must work out how to recover from ruinous damage sustained during the 2015 offensive, in which the Houthis came within a whisker of seizing the city.

Immigration policy progress and setback have become pattern for Dreamers

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 05:17 AM PST

Negotiations over immigration in America have always been precarious, but Trump has complicated the picture even more

Greisa Martínez Rosas has seen it before: a rare bipartisan breakthrough on immigration policy, offering a glimmer of hope to advocates like herself. Then a swift unraveling.

Two men charged with London murder of model Harry Uzoka

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 12:19 AM PST

George Koh, 24, and 23-year-old Jonathan Okigbo will appear at Westminster magistrates court over 25-year-old's death

Two men have been charged with the murder of a 25-year-old man in west London on Thursday, Scotland Yard has said.

The victim has not been officially named but has been identified in reports as the model, Harry Uzoka. He has been described as a "wonderful model but, even more so, a good person and a pleasure to work with" by one of the companies he worked for.

Serb politician in Kosovo shot dead

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 01:52 AM PST

Assailants opened fire on Oliver Ivanović in front of the offices of his Citizens' Initiative party

Oliver Ivanović, a leading Serb politician in northern Kosovo, has been shot dead, his lawyer had said.

"Unfortunately, I wish it weren't true, but doctors declared Oliver dead at 9.30 this morning," Nebojsa Vlajic said.

'We will get him': the long hunt for Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 08:00 AM PST

The world's most wanted man remains at large, but as his 'caliphate' has crumbled so has the discipline of his leadership

Day and night for the past three years, an unprecedented number of the world's spies have zeroed in on a patch of Iraq and Syria to hunt for one man. Their target, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State terrorist group, has eluded them all. But only just.

The most wanted man on the planet has been traced to a specific place at least three times in the past 18 months alone. And despite the protection of a devoted network, there have been other sightings of the reclusive leader, reported by Isis members shortly afterwards and confirmed later by intelligence officers. Being a fugitive in the digital age, or in a losing cause, clearly has its shortfalls.

Doctors in Uganda warn 'crisis level' blood shortage is putting lives at risk

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 10:30 PM PST

Government urged to increase funding as hospitals are forced to cancel operations and health ministry launches push for donors

Uganda is grappling with a critical shortage of blood that is affecting services and putting patients' lives at risk.

The health ministry's blood bank facility in the capital, Kampala, which stores and distributes supplies to hospitals, is practically empty. It has just 150 units of blood remaining, not enough to meet requirements on an average day in the city.

Thirteen shackled and malnourished siblings rescued from California house

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 01:23 AM PST

Parents charged with torture and child endangerment after 17-year-old girl escapes and alerts authorities

A mother and father have been charged with torture after their 13 malnourished children were rescued from a California house, where some were found shackled to beds.

Officers made the shocking discovery after a 17-year-old girl escaped the house in Perris, about 70 miles east of Los Angeles, on Sunday and used a mobile phone she had found in the home to raise the alarm, the Riverside county sheriff's office said. She was so underfed that officers initially thought she was only 10 years old, and they mistook her seven adult siblings for children.

Mexico: 500 years later, scientists discover what killed the Aztecs

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 07:36 PM PST

Within five years, 15 million people – 80% of the population – were wiped out in an epidemic named 'cocoliztli', meaning pestilence

In 1545 disaster struck Mexico's Aztec nation when people started coming down with high fevers, headaches and bleeding from the eyes, mouth and nose. Death generally followed in three or four days.

Within five years as many as 15 million people – an estimated 80% of the population – were wiped out in an epidemic the locals named "cocoliztli". The word means pestilence in the Aztec Nahuatl language. Its cause, however, has been in questioned for nearly 500 years.

Human rights undermined in Hong Kong, says Ashdown

Posted: 16 Jan 2018 01:39 AM PST

In report for NGO, former Lib Dem leader says rule of law, democracy and interference by Beijing are areas of concern

Freedoms in Hong Kong have been increasingly eroded and human rights have been undermined, according to a report by Paddy Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader in the UK, that paints a bleak picture of the city's future.

Lord Ashdown, who travelled to Hong Kong in November on a fact-finding mission, said rule of law, democracy and interference by Beijing were areas of concern.

Private health insurance sector calls for increase to Medicare levy surcharge

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 07:36 PM PST

Private Healthcare Australia says surcharge not a strong enough incentive given rising premiums

High-income earners should be penalised at a higher rate through the Medicare levy surcharge for failing to take out private health insurance, the insurance sector says.

Single people who earn more than $90,000 and families earning more than $180,000 pay an extra 1%-1.5% levy if they do not have private health cover, with the levy tiered according to income.

Poorer countries must 'put their hands in their pockets': UK warns of cuts to aid

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 06:21 AM PST

Development secretary Penny Mordaunt says Britain will cut payments if nations do not invest in their own people

Britain will cut foreign aid to developing countries if they fail to invest in their own people, the international development secretary has said.

Penny Mordaunt said the British government, which gives out £13bn of foreign aid a year, "will not invest when others should be putting their hands in their pockets".

'People were screaming': troops destroy $200,000 aid camps in Somalia

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 05:11 AM PST

More than 4,000 people are homeless two weeks after security forces demolished camps sheltering internally displaced Somalis

Two weeks after being forcibly evicted from their shelters, thousands of vulnerable families are still living rough in the outskirts of Mogadishu.

Somali security forces went in and destroyed 23 camps for internally displaced people, housing more than 4,000 Somalis, on 29 and 30 December last year according to the UN.

Firefighter catches child thrown from third-storey balcony – video

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 10:23 PM PST

Video released by the DeKalb county fire rescue department in Georgia shows Captain Scott Stroup catching a child who was dropped from a third-floor balcony

13 children and siblings discovered chained in California house – video

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 09:14 PM PST

Thirteen malnourished siblings ranging in age from two to 29 have been rescued from a house in California where some of them were chained to beds. Their parents have been charged with torture, police have said. Officers made the discovery after a 17-year-old girl escaped the house in Perris, about 70 miles east of Los Angeles.

'Malnourished and dirty': police find 13 children and siblings chained in California house

CCTV shows moment floor collapses at Indonesian stock exchange – video

Posted: 15 Jan 2018 07:34 AM PST

Warning: Some people may find the following footage distressing.

Dozens of people have been injured after as section of a balcony gave way at the stock exchange in Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. A national police spokesman told Agence France-Presse that 75 people had been injured. There have been no reports of deaths thus far.