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

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam silent as trial opens in Belgium
ANC leaders meet to decide Jacob Zuma's fate
Trump’s rhetoric threatens peace-making in Korean peninsula
Witness to a massacre: the former Myanmar soldier who saw his village burn
Whale and shark species at increasing risk from microplastic pollution – study
'Nothing's impossible': Tonga’s lone skier strikes out for Olympic glory in South Korea
How Turin turned against its Five Star Movement mayor
Maldives in chaos as government accuses supreme court of trying to impeach president
Afrin offensive: seven Turkish soldiers die in Syria
Hundreds of thousands join Macedonia name protest in Athens
Cyprus president Anastasiades defeats leftist challenger
2018 Tough Guy challenge – in pictures
New UK data protection rules are a cynical attack on immigrants | Claude Moraes
Iran accuses US of 'shamelessly threatening' Russia with nuclear weapons
'Dangerous proposal': campaigners in Kenya condemn sex education plan
Philadelphia erupts in wild celebrations after ending 58-year Super Bowl jinx
'I don't live any more': Zika takes a heavy toll on families in Brazil | Dom Phillips
Coalition accuses Labor of Adani backflip to woo Batman voters – as it happened
The scene where two trains crashed in South Carolina – video

Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam silent as trial opens in Belgium

Posted: 05 Feb 2018 01:25 AM PST

Charges relate to shootout in Brussels suburb shortly before arrest in March 2016

The only surviving suspected member of the jihadi group that carried out the November 2015 Paris attacks has refused to answer questions at the start of his trial in Belgium on separate terrorism charges.

Salah Abdeslam stands accused of the attempted murder of police officers after a shootout in Brussels shortly before his arrest in March 2016.

ANC leaders meet to decide Jacob Zuma's fate

Posted: 05 Feb 2018 12:20 AM PST

Party's decision-makers to meet on Monday and could order South Africa's president to resign

Jacob Zuma is fighting for his political survival as pressure mounts on the South African president to resign before a key national address this week.

Senior leaders of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) met Zuma over the weekend to ask him to step down. Local media reported that the 75-year-old politician, who is battling corruption allegations, refused.

Trump’s rhetoric threatens peace-making in Korean peninsula

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 11:00 PM PST

Cautious overtures to Kim Jong-un from the South being undermined by the US

Despite the painstaking efforts of Moon Jae-in, South Korea's president, to use this week's opening of the Winter Olympics to build bridges with North Korea, Donald Trump remains locked on a dangerous collision course with what he calls Kim Jong-un's "depraved regime".

Kim's last-minute acceptance of Moon's invitation to send a North Korean delegation to the Games, which get under way in Pyeongchang on Friday, raised hopes that tensions with the US and its allies over the North's nuclear weapons build-up and missile tests may be defused, at least in part. North Korea agreed to send nearly two dozen athletes, cheerleaders and an orchestra in a delegation numbering more than 200 people.

Witness to a massacre: the former Myanmar soldier who saw his village burn

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 09:43 PM PST

Nazmul Islam watched as the army prepared to attack his home in Tula Toli, where its Rohingya residents were raped and murdered

After they finished burning the bodies, the soldiers ordered chicken curry.

Nazmul Islam watched as local Buddhists set about preparing food for the men he says raped and massacred scores of Rohingya Muslims from the village of Tula Toli in the north of Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Whale and shark species at increasing risk from microplastic pollution – study

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 10:01 PM PST

Large filter feeders, such as baleen whales and basking sharks, could be particularly at risk from ingesting the tiny plastic particles, say scientists

Whales, some sharks and other marine species such as rays are increasingly at risk from microplastics in the oceans, a new study suggests.

'Nothing's impossible': Tonga’s lone skier strikes out for Olympic glory in South Korea

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 09:38 PM PST

Pita Taufatofua hadn't seen snow until two years ago, but this week he will become the Pacific nation's first cross-country competitor

Pita Taufatofua was in his fourth decade when he first touched snow. By then, he had already decided that he wanted to be an Olympic cross-country skier and was well on his way to realising his dream.

This week, Taufatofua will become the first Tongan ever to compete in the cross-country event at a Winter Olympics when he straps on his skis in Pyeongchang. But his journey from the beaches of the South Pacific to the starting gate in South Korea has been far from textbook.

How Turin turned against its Five Star Movement mayor

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 02:35 PM PST

Chiara Appendino, elected in a 'protest vote' in 2016, has come under fire for failing to deliver on her promises

On the face of it, little has changed in the elegant northern Italian city of Turin since Chiara Appendino, of the Five Star Movement, became mayor in June 2016, ejecting a leftwing administration that had overseen the city's transformation over the previous two decades.

The wide, tree-lined streets are just as clean, the variety of cultural attractions just as enviable, and the transport network, for the most part, just as efficient. But beneath the calm veneer, its people, usually known for their reserve, are seething.

Maldives in chaos as government accuses supreme court of trying to impeach president

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 07:57 PM PST

Attorney general says any order by the court to unseat Yameen Abdul Gayoom would not be obeyed by the police

The Maldives' attorney general has warned the country's supreme court that a move to unseat the president would be unconstitutional, amid a political crisis that has left the government in chaos since late last week.

The attorney general, Mohamed Anil, said at a news conference that he had heard "rumours that the supreme court is going to order the impeachment" of president Yameen Abdul Gayoom.

Afrin offensive: seven Turkish soldiers die in Syria

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 02:14 AM PST

Losses mark the highest toll in one day for the Turkish military in Operation Olive Branch

Seven Turkish soldiers have been killed in an offensive against Kurdish militia in Syria, including five who died in a single attack on a tank, Turkey's army has said.

The losses marked the highest toll in one day for the Turkish military in Operation Olive Branch, launched on 20 January against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, seen by Ankara as a terrorist group.

Hundreds of thousands join Macedonia name protest in Athens

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 09:45 AM PST

Demonstrators oppose any compromise by Greece in long-running dispute over former Yugoslav republic's official name

More than 100,000 protesters from across Greece converged on Athens' main square on Sunday to protest a potential Greek compromise in a dispute with neighbouring Macedonia over the former Yugoslav republic's official name.

The dispute broke out after Macedonia gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. Greece argues use of the name implies territorial claims on its own province of Macedonia, once home of Alexander the Great.

Cyprus president Anastasiades defeats leftist challenger

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 11:08 AM PST

Second five-year term for conservative who has promised to reactivate reunification talks

Greek Cypriots have re-elected Nicos Anastasiades as their eighth president in what is seen as a ringing endorsement of his stable leadership over the past five years.

The 71-year-old conservative won a second five-year term on Sunday with 56% of the vote. His opponent, the leftist-backed independent Stavros Malas, took 44%.

2018 Tough Guy challenge – in pictures

Posted: 05 Feb 2018 01:00 AM PST

The endurance event near Wolverhampton, which started in 1986, raises money for charity and challenges thousands of international competitors with a 12km run combined with an assault course

New UK data protection rules are a cynical attack on immigrants | Claude Moraes

Posted: 05 Feb 2018 02:00 AM PST

Non-nationals subject to an immigration procedure are to lose the right to access data held about them, in a discriminatory move that worries the European parliament

In September, I warned in a Guardian opinion article that the Brexit process could have the effect of allowing the UK government to bring in more draconian and discriminatory immigration laws, harking back to the 70s and 80s.

Many people wondered how this would happen and the answer was that Brexit would allow the sweeping away of advances like the abolition of the hated primary purpose immigration rule made illegal by the European court of justice.

Iran accuses US of 'shamelessly threatening' Russia with nuclear weapons

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 08:46 AM PST

Rouhani's remarks follow Trump administration document outlining plans to expand its nuclear capabilities

Iran accused the US on Sunday of threatening Russia with new atomic weapons, after the Trump administration published a document outlining plans to expand its nuclear capabilities in order to deter others.

'Dangerous proposal': campaigners in Kenya condemn sex education plan

Posted: 05 Feb 2018 02:00 AM PST

Government under fire over incorporation of dedicated lessons about sexuality into national curriculum

Plans by the Kenyan government to expand coverage of sex education in primary schools have been criticised for encouraging promiscuity among young people.

The ministry of education wants guidance on sex, which is currently incorporated into subjects such as civil education, to become a distinct topic in the country's new curriculum.

Philadelphia erupts in wild celebrations after ending 58-year Super Bowl jinx

Posted: 05 Feb 2018 01:43 AM PST

The Eagles' triumph over New England Patriots sparks unruly street scenes on Broad Street

The rain and hail that pelted Philadelphia for much of the day dissipated just as people across the city spilled out of sports bars, apartments and houses.

Their destination: Broad Street. Their reason: a celebration 58 years in the making.

'I don't live any more': Zika takes a heavy toll on families in Brazil | Dom Phillips

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 11:00 PM PST

Since contracting Zika while pregnant, Inabela Tavares has struggled to raise a daughter facing severe challenges – an experience all too common among parents in Recife

In her home in the hillside favela in Recife, Inabela Tavares straps a support vest around the waist of her daughter, Gaziella, to help her sit up. Splints on the two-year-old's legs and plastic boots teach her to stand.

Gaziella has epilepsy, myopia and is visually impaired after her mother was infected by the Zika virus in 2015.

Coalition accuses Labor of Adani backflip to woo Batman voters – as it happened

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 10:08 PM PST

Sam Dastyari resigns and Jim Molan and John Alexander sworn in, as MPs return for the first sitting week of 2018, but 2017's dramas still loom large. Follow all the day's events and more …

6.08am GMT

It is 5pm on a Monday ... and we might shut up shop.

But don't despair, we will be back tomorrow.

5.37am GMT

The (party*) leaders are about to attend the traditional Last Post ceremony, so we will be wrapping up this first day very soon.

But I just wanted to take this opportunity to ask you what you would like to see on the blog this year. I can't promise I'll be able to get back to all of you, but drop me a line on Twitter @amyremeikis (my DMs are also open) and I promise to look them all over.

The scene where two trains crashed in South Carolina – video

Posted: 04 Feb 2018 07:53 AM PST

Footage of the wreckage after two trains collided in South Carolina, leaving two people dead and injuring 70