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

'It's not a war. It's a massacre': scores killed in Syrian enclave
The conductor smashing Iranian taboos over women, and music
Israeli police name Netanyahu associates in corruption inquiry
Japanese man given sole custody of 13 surrogate children by Thai court
Students stage White House protest as Trump gives nod to background bill
Oxfam apologises to Haiti over sex allegations
Turkey warns Assad not to intervene in Kurdish enclave
Homo erectus may have been a sailor – and able to speak
Extent of UK cooperation with Gaddafi revealed
Myanmar government 'bulldozing Rohingya mass grave to hide evidence'
'Mini-Merkel' given crucial CDU job as chancellor looks to future
Top Democrat suggests proof of Trump-Russia collusion still to come
Michigan prisoner turned celebrated author may face incarceration bill
Trump-Russia inquiry: Manafort under pressure after reports that Gates has flipped
Welcome to Comrat, Moldova's relic Soviet city – in pictures
Pristina in the spotlight: Rita Ora aside, can Kosovo's capital make it big?
'Equality won't happen by itself': how Iceland got tough on gender pay gap
Northern Ireland suicides outstrip Troubles death toll
Marion Maréchal Le Pen to share stage with US conservatives
Addis Ababa massacre – in pictures
Trees for Trump: one million plants pledged to offset U-turn on climate change
A less timid version of Justin Trudeau won’t cut it. The NDP must be bolder | Martin Lukacs
WA Nationals say Barnaby Joyce should not stay federal leader
Newborn survival rates in US only slightly better than in Sri Lanka
US role in Syria alarms Turkey and could dent prospect of peace deal
Protect kids, not guns: students stage gun reform protest in front of White House – video
‘This wasn’t the person we knew’, say couple who cared for Florida shooting suspect – video
New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern joins gay pride parade – video
Stop going on vacation and fix gun laws, angry Florida students tell Trump - video

'It's not a war. It's a massacre': scores killed in Syrian enclave

Posted: 20 Feb 2018 01:54 AM PST

Assad regime uses barrel bombs and attacks hospitals in rebel-held eastern Ghouta

More than 100 people have been killed and hundreds wounded on a day of "hysterical" violence in the opposition-controlled enclave of eastern Ghouta in Syria.

The conductor smashing Iranian taboos over women, and music

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 09:00 PM PST

Nezhat Amiri's recent high-profile performance caps a 38-year fight for recognition

In her 38-year career, which is as long as the history of the Islamic republic, Iran's first and only female conductor had led as many public performances as the number of fingers that hold her baton.

Last month, however, Nezhat Amiri conducted a 71-member orchestra performing at Tehran's most prestigious concert hall – a remarkable milestone in a country where it is considered taboo for state TV to show musical instruments, women are not allowed to sing solo and female musicians have been prevented from going on stage in provincial cities.

Israeli police name Netanyahu associates in corruption inquiry

Posted: 20 Feb 2018 12:59 AM PST

Pair suspected of helping telecoms company in return for favourable coverage of PM

Israeli police have named the two close associates of Benjamin Netanyahu who have been arrested for their suspected role in a wide-ranging corruption investigation that has added to the suspicions around the long-time Israeli leader, already accused of bribery in two separate cases.

With an initial gag order lifted, police identified the pair as Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyahu spokesman, and Shlomo Filber, the former director of the communications ministry.

Japanese man given sole custody of 13 surrogate children by Thai court

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 11:53 PM PST

Children, born to nine different women, taken into foster care in 2014 but will now move to Japan with father

A wealthy Japanese man has been granted sole parent rights to 13 children he fathered through Thai surrogate mothers, in a court ruling that paves the way for him to take them to Japan.

Mitsutoki Shigeta, 28, became the centre of a "baby factory" scandal in 2014 after Thai police linked him via DNA to nine infants found under the care of 24-hour nannies in a luxury Bangkok apartment.

Students stage White House protest as Trump gives nod to background bill

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 02:03 PM PST

Young people ask 'am I next?' at demonstration against Washington inaction in the wake of Florida attack

Dozens of teenage students lay down on the pavement in front of the White House on Monday to demand presidential action on gun control after 17 people were killed in a school shooting in Florida.

Parent and educators joined the gathering, where protesters held their arms crossed at their chests. Two activists covered themselves with an American flag while another held a sign asking: "Am I next?"

Oxfam apologises to Haiti over sex allegations

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 01:36 PM PST

Meeting with Haitian minister comes as charity publishes report into scandal

Oxfam has offered its "humblest apologies" to the Haitian government over allegations of sexual exploitation by its staff.

The chief executive of Oxfam GB, Mark Goldring, and the head of Oxfam International, Winnie Byanyima, have also requested an "official high-level meeting" with the government.

Turkey warns Assad not to intervene in Kurdish enclave

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 11:00 AM PST

Ankara says Syrian government will face military response if it comes to aid of Kurds in Afrin

Turkey warned the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad that it risked a military confrontation with Ankara if it intervened in an ongoing war in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin, in a further escalation of tensions that hint at the possible widening of an already complex conflict.

Reports emerged earlier on Monday that pro-Assad militiamen would enter Afrin to assist local Kurdish militias fighting against an incursion by the Turkish military and Syrian rebels affiliated with Ankara.

Homo erectus may have been a sailor – and able to speak

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 04:01 PM PST

A new theory suggests that Homo erectus was able to create seagoing vessels – and must have used language to sail successfully

They had bodies similar to modern humans, could make tools, and were possibly the first to cook. Now one expert is arguing that Homo erectus might have been a mariner – complete with sailing lingo.

Homo erectus first appeared in Africa more than 1.8m years ago and is thought to be the first archaic human to leave the continent.

Extent of UK cooperation with Gaddafi revealed

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 10:13 AM PST

Previously secret documents discovered in Tripoli shed fresh light on MI6's links with Tripoli and Tony Blair's role

The global extent of MI6's cooperation with Muammar Gaddafi and Tony Blair's personal role in negotiating the alliance have emerged in previously secret documents released in a high court case over rendition.

The Libyan files show that the then head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, flew to Tripoli in 2004 to discuss how to conduct a joint campaign against exiled Libyan jihadists, who were stigmatised as "heretics" by Gaddafi's officials.

Myanmar government 'bulldozing Rohingya mass grave to hide evidence'

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 06:10 AM PST

Rights group says site of massacre in Rakhine state is being flattened on government orders after exposés of two other mass graves

WARNING: this report includes a graphic image that readers may find disturbing

The government of Myanmar is bulldozing over the site of a Rohingya mass grave in an effort to destroy evidence of a massacre committed last year by the military, according to a rights monitoring group.

The claim follows investigations conducted by the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies, which revealed evidence of other mass graves.

'Mini-Merkel' given crucial CDU job as chancellor looks to future

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 09:31 AM PST

German chancellor appoints Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer secretary general of her Christian Democrats party

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, put forward close ally Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer on Monday to take over as secretary general of her Christian Democrats (CDU), heeding calls from within the party to inject new blood and groom a successor.

The decision to entrust Kramp-Karrenbauer, also known by her acronym AKK, with bolstering the CDU after it lost ground in an election last year, is significant as some party members are starting to look ahead to a post-Merkel era.

Top Democrat suggests proof of Trump-Russia collusion still to come

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 12:49 PM PST

While these latest indictments do not allege Trump's team knowingly colluded, says Adam Schiff, that doesn't mean later ones won't

Ten key takeaways from Robert Mueller's Russia indictment

The top Democrat on the House intelligence committee suggested on Monday that Robert Mueller may still present evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, despite last week's indictments stating that such connections relating to those cases were merely "unwitting".

Michigan prisoner turned celebrated author may face incarceration bill

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 10:58 AM PST

Curtis Dawkins wrote The Graybar Hotel while serving a life sentence. Now the state says proceeds from the work belong to them

The murderer who hopes writing fiction will set him free

Curtis Dawkins, a Michigan prisoner and publishing sensation, could be forced to repay the costs of his incarceration from the proceeds of his literary work.

The convicted murderer is serving a life sentence for a 2004 crime spree on Halloween night that left one man dead. His debut collection of short stories, The Graybar Hotel, was written in a Michigan penitentiary and published in July.

Trump-Russia inquiry: Manafort under pressure after reports that Gates has flipped

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 04:11 AM PST

Paul Manafort's longtime business associate Rick Gates has struck deal with special counsel, reports say

Donald Trump's former campaign manager is under increasing pressure to cooperate with criminal prosecutors investigating the campaign's alleged collusion with the Kremlin following reports that his chief lieutenant will testify against him.

Several US media outlets, including the Los Angeles Times and CNN, reported that Rick Gates, a former campaign aide and lobbyist, has struck a deal with Robert Mueller, the special counsel, and will testify against Paul Manafort, his longtime business associate, in exchange for leniency.

Welcome to Comrat, Moldova's relic Soviet city – in pictures

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 11:00 PM PST

In 1991, when Moldova broke free of the Soviet Union, the pro-Russian region of Gagauzia wanted to remain. Twenty-seven years later, its tiny capital looks like a monument to a vanished Europe

Pristina in the spotlight: Rita Ora aside, can Kosovo's capital make it big?

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 05:31 AM PST

Ten years since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, Pristina struggles with corruption and pollution – but the youngest capital in Europe is full of fresh energy

Pristina is a city of constant renewal. Not only is Kosovo's main city the youngest capital in Europe – 42% of the population is under 24 years old – but it has been completely rebuilt twice since the second world war. The first rebuild was as part of an exhortation to build a modern, socialist city as part of Yugoslavia; the second after the 1998-99 conflict with Serbia.

Although the war emptied the city of most of its ethnic Albanian inhabitants, the physical damage was confined to a few buildings. Following the war, most of the Serb residents left for nearby Gracanica or points further north, and the UN assumed control over government institutions. But crime and corruption reigned, including over the city's urban landscape. In 2000, architect and urban planning chief Rexhep Luci, who was trying to impose law and order in a city where wealthy individuals were developing property illegally, was gunned down. His murder has still not been solved, and in 2014, when mayor Shpend Ahmeti assumed power vowing to take on powerful interests, there were some 40,000 illegally built constructions.

'Equality won't happen by itself': how Iceland got tough on gender pay gap

Posted: 20 Feb 2018 12:22 AM PST

Despite its image as a paradise of fairness, women earn less than men. Now Iceland has become the first country in the world to enforce equal pay

On the face of it, Iceland is a good place to be a woman. For nearly a decade, it has been rated the world's most gender-equal country. It was the first to directly elect a female president, nearly half its MPs and company directors are women, and first-class daycare and parental leave help ensure almost four in five women have jobs.

So it came as a shock for Fríða Rós Valdimarsdóttir to learn, when she was managing a key team of 10 home carers at Reykjavik council a few years ago, that male colleagues in other departments, with far fewer responsibilities than her, were being paid a great deal more.

Northern Ireland suicides outstrip Troubles death toll

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 04:01 PM PST

4,500 people have taken their own lives since conflict ended, sparking calls to tackle crisis

More people have taken their own lives in Northern Ireland since the Good Friday agreement than were killed in political violence during the Troubles between 1969 and 1997, the latest regional figures on suicide reveal.

The statistics on the state of mental health in the region show that since the peace deal about 4,500 suicides were registered in the region.

Marion Maréchal Le Pen to share stage with US conservatives

Posted: 20 Feb 2018 02:04 AM PST

Former Front National rising star to address conference after vice-president Mike Pence

Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, the former young star of France's far-right Front National, is to speak at a high-profile US gathering of conservatives and Republicans outside Washington this week, addressing the event shortly after the US vice-president, Mike Pence.

Maréchal-Le Pen – who is more religious and socially conservative than her aunt, the far-right leader Marine Le Pen – has been invited to speak an hour after Pence at the event, the day before President Trump appears on the same stage.

Addis Ababa massacre – in pictures

Posted: 20 Feb 2018 01:00 AM PST

The Addis Ababa massacre or Graziani massacre, in which 20,000 to 30,000 Ethiopians were killed by Italian occupying forces on 19 February 1937, is commemorated at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the Ethiopian capital

Trees for Trump: one million plants pledged to offset U-turn on climate change

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 08:58 PM PST

Environmentalists say forest the size of Kentucky could compensate for 'monumental stupidity' of US withdrawal from Paris climate agreement

More than one million trees have been pledged for Trump Forest, a bid by environmentalists to offset the US president's curtailing of Obama-era clean energy initiatives by planting 10 billion trees around the globe.

"US president Donald Trump doesn't believe in the science of human-caused climate change," reads the website for the project, launched before Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate accord.

A less timid version of Justin Trudeau won’t cut it. The NDP must be bolder | Martin Lukacs

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 03:29 PM PST

To challenge the Liberals, Jagmeet Singh will have to overthrow Canada's neoliberal consensus

At the New Democratic Party's convention this weekend in Ottawa, their new leader Jagmeet Singh declared "the time to be timid was over." For a party whose shambling meekness in the last election let Justin Trudeau claim the mantle of progressive champion, such a shift could not come sooner.

That an opportunity exists to capitalize on enormous hunger for change is apparent. Trudeau harnessed it for his route to power, only to betray it in office. The environmental Adonis transformed into an oil barons' salesman. An electoral reform promise was broken with a shrug. Instead of a peace offensive, we've gotten a military spending spree; instead of novel social programs, novelty socks.

WA Nationals say Barnaby Joyce should not stay federal leader

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 10:05 PM PST

Mia Davies says Joyce has become 'a distraction at both federal and state level'

The Western Australian arm of the National party has announced it no longer has confidence in Barnaby Joyce, claiming he has become "a distraction at both federal and state level".

The largely symbolic gesture has been brushed off by Joyce, who responded to the Nationals WA leader, Mia Davies, with a statement pointing out her party had no MPs within the federal parliament, and sat separately from the Liberals in WA, with no coalition agreement in place.

Newborn survival rates in US only slightly better than in Sri Lanka

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 10:00 PM PST

Unicef report says five newborn babies die every minute across the world, an 'alarmingly high' figure as 80% of these are preventable

The risk of dying as a newborn in the US is only slightly lower than the risk for babies in Sri Lanka and Ukraine, according to Unicef.

A report by the UN children's agency found that five newborn babies die around the world every minute, or about 2.6 million every year. The figure is described as "alarmingly high", particularly as 80% of these deaths are from preventable causes.

US role in Syria alarms Turkey and could dent prospect of peace deal

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 08:17 AM PST

Build up of US presence and its support for Kurdish militia risks hardening divisions further

As the 1,500 delegates made their way to the Russian city of Sochi to attend a conference billed as a first step to peace talks in Syria, one major power broker was absent: the US.

Protect kids, not guns: students stage gun reform protest in front of White House – video

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 02:09 PM PST

Dozens of teenage students lie down in front of the White House to demand gun reform in the wake of the Florida school shooting. The children were joined by parents and educators, one of whom read aloud the names of the victims of the attack

Students stage White House protest as Trump explores gun reform

‘This wasn’t the person we knew’, say couple who cared for Florida shooting suspect – video

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 11:04 AM PST

The pair who took in the Florida shooting suspect Nikolas Cruz after his adoptive mother died in November 2017 tell ABC's Good Morning America that they cannot process what he has done

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern joins gay pride parade – video

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 08:32 AM PST

Jacinda Ardern becomes New Zealand's first prime minister to walk in the country's gay pride parade. Ardern walked with a crowd of 25,000 in Auckland and used the opportunity to call for more work to be done to support LGBT children with mental health issues

Jacinda Ardern becomes first New Zealand PM to march in gay pride parade

Stop going on vacation and fix gun laws, angry Florida students tell Trump - video

Posted: 19 Feb 2018 04:29 AM PST

Survivors of last week's Florida school shooting chastise the president and other politicians on NBC's Meet the Press for their failure to act to end gun violence in America. David Hogg, 17, ended the broadcast by calling for Trump to pass bills on gun control and 'save some lives'.