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

Kim Jong-un to meet Trump by May after North Korea invitation
Donald Trump signs order for metals tariff plan, prompting fears of trade war
Sweden criticises China's 'unacceptable' behaviour in detaining bookseller
German bank raid and hostage-grab of 80s plays out in TV drama
Ireland's government approves abortion referendum bill
28-hour week gains momentum in German unions' push for flexible rights
'We are soldiers! We will save you': how Boko Haram tricked Dapchi schoolgirls
Widow of jailed wildlife expert prevented from leaving Iran
Paul Manafort pleads not guilty to Mueller's fraud charges
Yulia Skripal: from suburban Moscow life to nerve agent mystery
Danish inventor denies murder of Kim Wall as trial opens
Can Trump block Twitter users? Judge considers constitutional question
'Urban dirt bikes saved my life' – a photo essay
Where is the world’s noisiest city?
International Women’s Day marked by protests and celebrations
Russian spy poisoning inquiry widens after medics treat 21 people
Calais after Brexit 'could be 10 times worse than Irish border'
Saudi Arabia wants more UK trade deals, say crown prince's team
Barack and Michelle Obama 'in talks with Netflix over TV series'
'There are a lot of unknowns': British scientists set to work on Zika vaccine
Markets cautious ahead of US jobs report - business live
Former Liberal party federal director Tony Nutt gets two new roles
What about the men? Frankly, it depends why you're asking | Anne Marie Goetz and Rachel Dore-Weeks
'Believe in yourself, the rest will follow': five trailblazing women you've never heard of
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un believe they are winning – and the risks of that are epic
Trans-Pacific Partnership explainer: what the deal is and what it means for Australia
'Shocking, incredible': what the experts say about a Trump meeting with Kim
Why is Saudi Arabia in Yemen and what does it mean for Britain?
How children are hit with tobacco advertising - video explainer
Bird's-eye view: penguins take a selfie – video
North Korea must 'match words with concrete actions', says South – video
Trump kills off steelworker's father during chaotic tariffs announcement – video
How International Women's Day was celebrated around the world - video
A female doctor in east Ghouta challenging patriarchy - video
International Women's Day around the world – in pictures

Kim Jong-un to meet Trump by May after North Korea invitation

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 01:14 AM PST

South Korea's national security adviser confirms historic talks after relaying offer from Pyongyang to White House

Analysis: Both Trump and Kim believe they are winning – and the risks of that are epic

Donald Trump has accepted an invitation from the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, to hold an unprecedented summit meeting to discuss the future of the embattled regime's nuclear and missile programme.

Donald Trump signs order for metals tariff plan, prompting fears of trade war

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 02:23 PM PST

Trump pushes forward with plan for 25% tariff on imports of steel and a 10% tariff on aluminum, but says exceptions will be made

Trump signs proclamation on metal tariffs - live

Donald Trump pushed forward with plans to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports on Thursday, arguing the levies were necessary for national security and to stop the "assault on our country".

Flanked by steel and aluminium workers and key staff, Trump said he had to act to stop the "decimation of entire communities" and insisted there would be a very fair process as the administration used the next 15 days to negotiate exemptions with allies. Canada and Mexico will be exempted.

Sweden criticises China's 'unacceptable' behaviour in detaining bookseller

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 10:20 PM PST

Foreign minister Margot Wallström demands that Beijing give Gui Minhai access to medical and diplomatic staff

Sweden has accused Beijing of refusing to give a Swedish doctor access to Gui Minhai, the jailed Hong Kong bookseller who was snatched from a Beijing-bound bullet train in January.

"China's action is unacceptable and breaks previous assurances that our citizen would be given the opportunity to see a Swedish doctor," the Swedish foreign minister, Margot Wallström, said in a statement.

German bank raid and hostage-grab of 80s plays out in TV drama

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 09:00 PM PST

Thriller recounts Gladbeck crisis of 30 years ago, renowned for three deaths, bungled police tactics and huge media circus

A hostage crisis which gripped the German nation 30 years ago is being recounted in a TV thriller, sparking debate about the roles the police, media and a voyeuristic public had to play in the disastrous outcome of the event.

The Gladbeck hostage situation unfolded over 54 hours in the summer of 1988, after Dieter Degowski and Hans-Jürgen Rösner, both already convicts and armed, robbed a branch of Deutsche Bank in the Ruhr valley town and took hostages away in cars and a hijacked bus. Three people, including two teenage hostages, and a policeman whose vehicle crashed, were killed.

Ireland's government approves abortion referendum bill

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 07:06 AM PST

Ministers agree wording for vote on repeal of 'eighth amendment' which enshrines abortion ban

The Irish government has agreed the wording of a national referendum on abortion to be held by the end of May which could radically transform the lives of thousands of women and signal a further loosening of the grip of the Catholic church.

The cabinet, meeting on International Women's Day, approved a bill on Thursday allowing the long-anticipated referendum to go ahead.

28-hour week gains momentum in German unions' push for flexible rights

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 09:00 PM PST

Key union's achievement of new work-time model spearheads shift in how to face challenges of 21st century workplace

'We are soldiers! We will save you': how Boko Haram tricked Dapchi schoolgirls

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 06:33 AM PST

School staff and locals describe events leading to kidnapping of boarding school girls in north-east Nigeria

Evening was falling and hundreds of students were preparing to break the fast observed every Monday at the girls' boarding school in the small Nigerian town of Dapchi.

Watching them get ready to eat reminded Usman Mohammed, a school security guard, that it was time for his evening prayers. It was a school night like any other. Until suddenly it wasn't.

Widow of jailed wildlife expert prevented from leaving Iran

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 10:14 AM PST

Seyed-Emami family were boarding plane to Canada when security forces stopped widow

The widow of an Iranian-Canadian environmentalist who died in a Tehran prison under disputed circumstances has been barred from leaving the country, according to one of her sons.

The family – all of whom are dual citizens of Iran and Canada – were boarding a Lufthansa flight for Canada on Wednesday when Maryam Mombeini, 55, was stopped by security forces and told she was forbidden from leaving the country.

Paul Manafort pleads not guilty to Mueller's fraud charges

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:30 AM PST

Former Trump campaign chair appears in court in Virginia
Manafort pleads not guilty on separate money-laundering charges

Donald Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty on Thursday to additional criminal charges ranging from bank fraud to filing false tax returns. His trial will begin on 10 July.

Yulia Skripal: from suburban Moscow life to nerve agent mystery

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 09:23 AM PST

The Moscow estate where the Skripals lived is a long way from Wiltshire – and some locals are tight-lipped about their former neighbours

The skyline of the west Moscow housing estate where Yulia Skripal grew up is a long way from the green fields and quiet streets of Salisbury, where she remains critically ill in hospital after she and her father, Sergei, were targeted with a nerve agent.

Danish inventor denies murder of Kim Wall as trial opens

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 08:49 AM PST

Peter Madsen says account of journalist's death changed because he wanted to spare her relatives 'grim' details

A Danish inventor has denied murdering the Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his homemade submarine, claiming that he had lied previously about how she died only to spare her relatives.

"I deny that I am guilty of the murder of Kim Wall," Peter Madsen told the court in Copenhagen on the first day of his trial, after prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen had presented a barrage of new detail.

Can Trump block Twitter users? Judge considers constitutional question

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 10:33 AM PST

Users who were blocked by the president on Twitter say Trump violated their first amendment free speech rights

A federal judge on Thursday expressed skepticism about whether Donald Trump can constitutionally block Twitter users whose views he does not like from following and retweeting from his own account.

At a hearing in Manhattan federal court, US district judge Naomi Reice Buchwald asked Trump's lawyer Michael Baer whether letting Trump block users from the @realDonaldTrump account would violate their first amendment free speech rights.

'Urban dirt bikes saved my life' – a photo essay

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:00 PM PST

Hunted by police but idolised by followers, some street riders have risen from their inner-city neighbourhoods to find fame and big money sponsorship. Could urban dirt biking do a Nascar?

All photographs by M Holden Warren

"This is to dirt bike culture what the Grammys are to hip hop," beamed veteran rider Albert "Al Capone" Elkerson as he took to the stage of a swanky historic theatre in Manhattan for the second annual Motocross Freestyle Streetriders awards.

It was a family-friendly event, packed with young fans ogling their role models. Smartphones broadcast to millions of followers while Oscars-style trophy girls handed out accolades for best swag, best swerve and longest no-hander.

Where is the world’s noisiest city?

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 03:00 AM PST

The 'ignored pollutant' can cause depression, stress, diabetes and heart attacks. What are cities doing to curb excess noise?

The constant roar of traffic, incessant construction noise, piercing sirens, honking horns, shrieking loudspeakers – noise in cities is clearly a nuisance.

But it's also a danger. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has described noise pollution as an underestimated threat that can cause hearing loss, cardiovascular problems, cognitive impairment, stress and depression. Some experts go further: they believe exposure to environmental noise could be slowly killing us.

International Women’s Day marked by protests and celebrations

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 09:47 AM PST

Events around the world put spotlight on progress and failings in achieving gender equality

Millions of women gathered across the world to strike, protest and party to mark International Women's Day on Thursday.

Trains stopped in Spain as female workers went on the country's first "feminist" strike, newspapers dropped their prices for women in France, and the IWD flag flew over the UK parliament.

Russian spy poisoning inquiry widens after medics treat 21 people

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:41 PM PST

Officers investigating nerve gas poisoning begin major search at Sergei Skripal's house and seal off a garage

The investigation into the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal has widened, as police sealed off the graves of his wife, Liudmila, and son, Alexander, and confirmed that a total of 21 people had been treated as a result of the incident.

The police officer who was exposed to the nerve agent used on the Skripals, named on Thursday as DS Nick Bailey, remained in a serious but stable condition.

Calais after Brexit 'could be 10 times worse than Irish border'

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 01:43 AM PST

Boss of French port says customs and sanitary checks could lead to 30-mile tailbacks

The boss of the port of Calais has said there could be tailbacks up to 30 miles in all directions and potential food shortages in Britain if a Brexit deal involves mandatory customs and sanitary checks at the French ferry terminal.

Jean-Marc Puissesseau made an impassioned plea to Theresa May and Michel Barnier to put plans in place immediately to avert congestion in Calais and Dover, where bosses have already warned of permanent 20-mile tailbacks.

Saudi Arabia wants more UK trade deals, say crown prince's team

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:08 AM PST

Saudi minister said his country could be gateway to new markets in the Middle East and Africa

The UK should turn to Saudi Arabia for new trade and investment opportunities after Brexit and not a backward-looking Commonwealth, Saudi ministers said on the second day of a controversial visit to the UK by the country's crown prince.

As the UK and Saudi Arabia set out a broad ambition to strike nearly $100m of commercial deals over the next decade, the powerful Saudi energy minister, Kalid A al-Falih, told a business conference in London: "I would like to think that Saudis can be the pivotal link to a new partnership sphere for the UK that is perhaps not positioned in the past, as is the Commonwealth, but forward-looking, looking at the demographics of the Middle East, Africa, and Islamic world to which Saudi Arabia is central."

Barack and Michelle Obama 'in talks with Netflix over TV series'

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 02:24 AM PST

Ex-president and first lady said to be in advanced negotiations with streaming service

Barack Obama is in talks with Netflix about producing a series of high-profile shows, it has been reported.

The former president of the US and his first lady, Michelle Obama, are in advanced negotiations with the streaming service, which has nearly 118 million subscribers around the world, sources told the New York Times.

'There are a lot of unknowns': British scientists set to work on Zika vaccine

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:00 PM PST

Research begins on £4.7m project with scientific community still puzzled by concentrated but intense spate of birth defects in Brazil

Scientists in the UK have started work on developing a vaccine to protect women against the Zika virus.

The £4.7m project, involving the universities of Manchester and Liverpool, and Public Health England, aims to have trials on humans up and running within the next three years.

Markets cautious ahead of US jobs report - business live

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 02:23 AM PST

Investors were cautious on Friday ahead of the closely-watched non-farm payrolls report, as they await clues on the likely path of US interest rate

10.21am GMT

Away from the data, the Institute of Directors has suspended its chairwoman, Lady Barbara Judge, following allegations of misconduct including racism.

The council took the decision, having received the Hill Dickinson executive summary, to suspend the IoD Chair pending further investigation into the matters raised and the process.

10.11am GMT

Ole Black, a senior statistician at the ONS, sums up this morning's UK data:

Manufacturing has recorded its ninth consecutive month of growth but with a slower start to 2018. Total production output continues to advance, bolstered in January by the Forties oil pipeline coming back on stream after December's shutdown.

Construction continues to be a weak spot in the UK economy with a big drop in commercial developments, along with a slowdown in house building after its very strong end to last year.

Former Liberal party federal director Tony Nutt gets two new roles

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:20 PM PST

Nutt's Australia Post directorship and part-time museum council job will together fetch him more than $110,000 a year

The former Liberal party federal director Tony Nutt has scored two government jobs.

He will join the Australia Post board as a non-executive director, taking home $93,000 a year during his three-year term.

What about the men? Frankly, it depends why you're asking | Anne Marie Goetz and Rachel Dore-Weeks

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 04:00 AM PST

Improved protection for women affected by violence and poverty has led to calls for a renewed focus on men – but one approach must not outweigh the other, or years of progress will be undone

As we celebrate International Women's Day, a recurring refrain may be heard: "What about men?"

Behind this testy question is an impression that focusing on women and girls is squeezing out attention to the needs of men and boys, with destructive consequences. Some of the most strident calls to concentrate on men – especially young, socially isolated men – come from within the humanitarian sector, where long overdue reforms have sought to address women and girls' vulnerability to sexual violence, and their need for safe spaces and employment, even in displacement and flight.

'Believe in yourself, the rest will follow': five trailblazing women you've never heard of

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 02:01 AM PST

From the farmer's daughter who set up the only safari resort in the world run solely by women, to the first female Dalit to win a seat in Pakistan's parliament, women who have challenged stereotypes and refused to give in to fear or discrimination tell their stories.

Angel Vendeline Namshali dresses in khaki with big, laced military boots on her feet. She is armed with nothing more than a walkie-talkie and torch, but the bush of Tanzania's Serengeti is her second home.

"The bush has many challenges for women," she says. "But of course we can do it."

Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un believe they are winning – and the risks of that are epic

Posted: 09 Mar 2018 01:12 AM PST

Only months ago they traded insults but now they could be about to meet. The moment is fraught with danger

If a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un really takes place in May, it will count as one of the most remarkable and unexpected pieces of theatre in diplomatic history.

Trans-Pacific Partnership explainer: what the deal is and what it means for Australia

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 10:14 PM PST

The US has pulled out but the recently signed trade agreement has still been welcomed, although concerns remain

Australia has joined 10 other nations to sign the long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership, which many thought was doomed when Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Obama-era pact in January 2017.

But after strong lobbying by Japan and Australia, the idea was revived and on Friday they struck the renamed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP-11.

'Shocking, incredible': what the experts say about a Trump meeting with Kim

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 07:47 PM PST

Donald Tump has accepted an invitation to talks with North Korea's Kim Jong-un – but what will happen?

Donald Trump has agreed to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un before May, a South Korean official said after a meeting at the White House. It would be the first time a sitting US president has met the leader of North Korea.

Why is Saudi Arabia in Yemen and what does it mean for Britain?

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 04:40 AM PST

Key questions around Saudi involvement in Yemen and potential UK complicity

In March 2015 a Saudi-led coalition began bombing Houthi rebels who had forced Yemen's president, Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, into exile. This week's visit to the UK by Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, has refocused attention on the conflict.

How children are hit with tobacco advertising - video explainer

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 11:00 PM PST

School children around the world are being exposed on a daily basis to cigarette advertising and promotions by a tobacco industry that needs to recruit the young to maintain its vast profits.

How children around the world are exposed to cigarette advertising

Bird's-eye view: penguins take a selfie – video

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 05:36 PM PST

A pair of emperor penguins managed to take a selfie video after an explorer, Eddie Gault, left his camera unattended at the Auster rookery. The rookery is on sea-ice and is sheltered by grounded icebergs about 5km east of Auster islands and about 51km east-north-east of Mawson station in Antarctica

North Korea must 'match words with concrete actions', says South – video

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 05:26 PM PST

South Korea's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, says Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will meet by May this year for denuclearisation talks. He says North Korea's leader indicated he is committed to the issue and would not carry out further nuclear or missile tests. Chung says South Korea, the US and its partners 'stand together in insisting that we not repeat the mistakes of the past and that the pressure will continue until North Korea matches its words with concrete actions'.

Trump kills off steelworker's father during chaotic tariffs announcement – video

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 03:53 PM PST

The US president signs a proclamation to impose tariffs on some steel and aluminium imports, telling reporters 'we have to do something' to fix a $500bn trade imbalance with China. However, Donald Trump's White House press conference descended into laughter when he told the president of a local steel union, Scott Sarge, 'Your father Herman is looking down, he's very proud of you.' Sarge pointed out that his father was still alive, at which point Trump said in that case he must be even more proud. The president then offered to arm wrestle another industry figure as he stepped up to the podium.

How International Women's Day was celebrated around the world - video

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 03:03 PM PST

Millions of women gathered across the world to strike, protest, party and pay tribute to women's achievements to mark International Women's Day on Thursday. The message was spelt out that much work still needed to be done to achieve global gender equality

International Women's Day marked by protests and celebrations

A female doctor in east Ghouta challenging patriarchy - video

Posted: 08 Mar 2018 04:44 AM PST

With many men killed or missing, women are rising to prominence in the besieged enclave of eastern Ghouta in Syria. On International Women's Day Syrian campaign group Liberated T bring us Dr Amani Ballour who is committed to challenging gender stereotypes – even in war.