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

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


Ivanka Trump in Jerusalem for embassy opening as Gaza braces for bloodshed

Posted: 13 May 2018 11:12 PM PDT

Israeli army deploys extra combat battalions and snipers at Gaza frontier

Ivanka Trump is in Israel for the inauguration of the US Jerusalem embassy on Monday, as protesters in Gaza prepare for a day of rallies along the frontier that are expected to be met with gunfire.

The US president's daughter said she was returning "with great joy" to Jerusalem, which Donald Trump has recognised as Israel's capital to the dismay of Palestinians, who claim part of the holy city as the capital of a future state.

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Surabaya blast: family of five carried out bomb attack on Indonesia police station

Posted: 13 May 2018 11:05 PM PDT

Suicide bombing in Indonesia's second-largest city comes after a family of six targeted a church, killing 13

A family of five, including an eight-year-old child, has carried out a bomb attack on a police headquarters in Surabaya, killing at least four people and injuring 10, an Indonesian police official has said

The suicide bombing comes just one day after 13 people were killed in the city during coordinated suicide bombings targeting three churches.

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New lava fissures open as Hawaii volcano threatens explosive eruption

Posted: 13 May 2018 11:40 PM PDT

  • 16th, 17th and 18th fissures open with magma thrown 100ft into air
  • Geologists say steam eruption could produce 20,000ft plume

A new fissure in Hawaii's Puna District has sent gases and lava exploding into the air, spurring officials to call for more evacuations as residents waited for a possible major eruption at Kilauea volcano's summit.

Hawaii County Civil Defense issued an emergency alert after the fissure was discovered early Sunday morning. The agency said one "unidentified structure" was destroyed by the new vent, bringing the total number of homes and other buildings lost to the lava to nearly 40.

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China: security guards assault women attending LGBT event

Posted: 13 May 2018 10:59 PM PDT

Women wearing rainbow badges were blocked from entering Beijing's 798 arts district by guards who punched them and then knocked them to the ground

Video of security guards punching and knocking down two Chinese women attending an LGBT gathering in Beijing has caused outrage among China's LGBT community and its supporters.

On Sunday, two women wearing rainbow badges were blocked from entering Beijing's 798 art district, according to witness accounts posted online. Videos showed police punching and knocking down one woman, after which another woman attempts to hit a guard before she is also punched and knocked down.

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Timor-Leste hero Xanana Gusmão heads back into power

Posted: 13 May 2018 10:25 PM PDT

With 99% of votes counted, the former leader's coalition has secured more than 49.5%

Timor-Leste independence hero Xanana Gusmão is expected to be appointed prime minister again after the country's second parliamentary election in less than a year.

Gusmão led a coalition of opposition parties that has secured more than 49.5% of the vote, with 99% counted. The official result will be announced later this month.

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Paris knife attacker was known to counter-terrorism police

Posted: 13 May 2018 03:50 AM PDT

Khamzat Azimov, who struck in busy theatre district of French capital on Saturday night, had been flagged as a security risk

French officials said the knife-wielding attacker who killed a passerby and injured four others in Paris on Saturday evening had been previously been flagged as a possible security risk and interviewed by counter-terrorist police.

The attacker, named as Khamzat Azimov, 20, struck in one of the most popular areas of the city, near the celebrated opera house and theatres, before before being shot dead by police in Paris.

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US threatens European companies with sanctions after Iran deal pullout

Posted: 13 May 2018 01:19 PM PDT

  • Bolton and Pompeo push hardline Trump White House position
  • French and German companies among those with interests in Iran

Donald Trump is prepared to impose sanctions on European companies that do business in Iran following his withdrawal of the US from the international nuclear deal, his administration reiterated on Sunday.

Related: Pompeo: US firms could invest in North Korea and Kim may get 'security assurances'

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Salma Hayek: male Hollywood stars should take pay cut

Posted: 13 May 2018 10:08 AM PDT

Mexican actor says highly paid male stars would have to make sacrifices if they were serious about gender equality

The Cannes film festival is one of the glamorous highlights of the silver screen's year – a time for sun, stars and self-satisfaction.

But this year, the atmosphere is mutinous. On Sunday the Hollywood actor Salma Hayek became the latest to throw yet another grenade into the simmering gender debate, arguing that male movie stars would have to take pay cuts if they were serious about equal pay for women.

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Pilot and 7-year-old boy killed in plane crash in County Offaly, Ireland

Posted: 13 May 2018 03:59 PM PDT

The light aircraft 'came vertically down', minutes after 16 parachutists jumped

A man and young boy were killed when a plane crashed in Ireland, minutes after 16 parachutists jumped from the aircraft.

The pilot, believed to be from the UK, and a seven-year-old local boy were onboard when the plane went down in bog land in County Offaly on Sunday afternoon.

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Israeli football club renames itself Beitar Trump Jerusalem after 'courageous' president

Posted: 13 May 2018 01:13 PM PDT

  • Six-time Premier League champion have 'greatest love' for Trump
  • Move made after president moves US embassy to Jerusalem

As Jerusalem prepares for the inauguration of its new US embassy on Monday, the city's best football team has announced it is renaming itself in honour of Donald Trump.

Related: Ivanka Trump in Jerusalem for embassy opening as Gaza braces for bloodshed

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IMF to launch global public and private borrowing database

Posted: 13 May 2018 06:02 AM PDT

With worldwide debt at $164tn, 190 countries will be included in database dating back to 1950s

With global debt currently at a record high, the International Monetary Fund is launching a database of public and private borrowing across 190 countries – virtually the entire world – dating back to the 1950s.

In April the fund said the global economy was more indebted than before the financial crisis and immediate action needed to be taken before the next downturn. It said worldwide debt now stood at $164tn, equal to 225% of global GDP and up from a previous record of 213% in 2009.

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Trump 'working' with Xi Jinping to save jobs at Chinese company hit by US ban

Posted: 13 May 2018 01:14 PM PDT

  • ZTE lost access to US suppliers over Iran and North Korea sanctions
  • Reversal is concession to Beijing ahead of high-profile trade talks

In a surprise policy reversal, Donald Trump said on Sunday he had instructed his commerce department to help get a Chinese telecommunications company "back into business", after his government cut off access to its US suppliers.

Related: US threatens European companies with sanctions after Iran deal pullout

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Opposition to Seattle's 'Amazon tax' unites labor and big tech

Posted: 13 May 2018 09:37 AM PDT

The city council wants to impose a 'head tax' on big firms' employees to tackle homelessness but the mayor says the plan 'hurts workers'

Amazon and organized labor don't often find common cause, but an unorthodox attempt at taxing big business has given them just that in Seattle.

Related: Sign up for the Guardian's US daily email

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Pompeo: US firms could invest in North Korea and Kim may get ‘security assurances’

Posted: 13 May 2018 12:58 PM PDT

  • Pompeo says US willing to help with power and food
  • Bolton: 'I wouldn't look for economic aid from us'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that if North Korea agrees to fully dismantle its nuclear weapons program, the Trump administration will allow the American private sector to invest in the country.

Pompeo also hinted that the US might assure Kim Jong-un he can stay in power after any deal.

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Inside Shanghai's robot bank: China opens world's first human-free branch

Posted: 13 May 2018 11:30 PM PDT

'Little Dragon' can chat to customers, accept bank cards and check accounts. She joins a growing army of robot workers in China's cities

Xiao Long, the latest employee at the Jiujiang Road branch of the China Construction Bank is never late for work. "Welcome to China Construction Bank," she chirps to customers arriving at the Shanghai branch, flashing her white teeth. "What can I help you with today?"

Xiao Long, or "Little Dragon", is not your typical employee – she's a robot at China's first fully automated, human-free bank branch.

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The core Isis manual that twisted Islam to legitimise barbarity

Posted: 12 May 2018 04:05 PM PDT

Experts rebut terrorists' religious justification for beheading and kidnapping

The jihadist manual behind the brutality that underpinned Islamic State has been revealed for the first time in new analysis of a 579-page text, written by the Isis ideologue Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir.

The text attempts to legitimise the barbarous acts of the jihadist group, including the mutilation of corpses, the trade in human organs, beheading, the killing of children along with "scorched earth operations" and global terrorist attacks.

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The lives of Grenfell Tower: the 71 victims of the fire

Posted: 13 May 2018 11:37 PM PDT

Portraits of all 71 people who died in the Grenfell Tower fire, based on moving testimony from family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances

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Markets shrug off prospect of new Italian government - business live

Posted: 14 May 2018 02:26 AM PDT

All the day's economic and financial news, as Italy's League and Movement Five Star move towards forming a new government

Peter Rosenstreich of online bank Swissquote thinks investors are too complacent this morning:

Political risk is building in Italy, and markets are ignoring it.

Yield spreads failed to react to news that the Northern League and 5-Star parties have reached a tentative coalition. This might have dramatic implications for Italian government spending: but the Euro continues to firm against the US dollar.

The European Central Bank can also take some credit for today's calm markets.

Back in 2011, Italy's borrowing costs hit dangerous levels during the political crisis that forced Silvio Berlusconi out of office. Since then, the ECB has launched a series of schemes to shore up the eurozone, including its huge QE bond-buying programme.

As long as the ECB has the bond market's back, the euro will try to ignore Italian politics.

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Cleric who fought US takes surprise lead in Iraq elections

Posted: 14 May 2018 02:03 AM PDT

With 95% of votes counted, Moqtadr al-Sadr in pole position to choose next prime minister

An Iraqi nationalist cleric who led two uprisings against US troops has taken a surprise lead in parliamentary elections, fending off Iran-backed rivals and the country's incumbent prime minister, the electoral commission has said.

With 95% of the votes counted in 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces, Moqtadr al-Sadr, a rare enemy of both the US and Iran, is ahead with Tehran-backed Shia militia chief Hadi al-Amiri's bloc in second place and the prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, trailing in third.

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Burundi on a knife edge as president's power play hastens exodus to Rwanda

Posted: 14 May 2018 02:20 AM PDT

With tensions running high ahead of a referendum that would allow Pierre Nkurunziza to prolong his hold on power, fear grips even those Burundians who have fled across the border

Aline Niragira was five years old when Burundi's first democratically elected Hutu president was assassinated by Tutsi extremists, sparking mass killings and a brutal civil war that would last 12 years.

During a raid on her home in Ruyigi province the girl was pelted with stones and her neck was slashed with a machete by attackers. Her father and three brothers were murdered but, miraculously, she survived.

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Rising fame: experts herald Canadian woman's 120-year-old sourdough starter

Posted: 14 May 2018 02:00 AM PDT

Ione Christensen's starter, one of the oldest strains around, is being added to a collection in a Belgian 'library' with 84 samples from 20 countries

Every Saturday night for the last sixty years, Ione Christensen has followed the same routine to prepare waffles for breakfast the following morning: she measures out two cups of flour and two cups of warm water, then she reaches into her fridge to bring out her sourdough starter.

"It's a family pet, if you will," she said from her home in Canada's Yukon territory.

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Former Malaysian PM accused of blocking 1MDB investigation

Posted: 14 May 2018 12:06 AM PDT

Ex-head of anti-corruption office claims Najib Razak prevented inquiry into embezzlement of funds

The former director of Malaysia's anti-corruption office has lodged a complaint against the former prime minister, Najib Razak, alleging he personally blocked an investigation into the $3.2bn 1MDB scandal.

Abdul Razak Idris has claimed that Najib, with the help of other civil servants, prevented a full investigation into the billions embezzled from the government fund overseen by Najib.

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Defence won't check it has enough cash for ship-building plan

Posted: 14 May 2018 01:05 AM PDT

Audit office urges department to crunch the numbers again on the $89bn program

The tight timeframe on building Australia's nine new Navy frigates has the potential to embarrass the government, the auditor's office has warned.

It's also worried the Defence department has given second-tier approval for the offshore patrol vessels project without knowing maintenance costs or finalised commercial arrangements.

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Life with microcephaly in wartorn Afghanistan – in pictures

Posted: 13 May 2018 11:00 PM PDT

In an impoverished country where support is limited at best, people with disabilities must look to their families for help. Mahgul, 69, is the sole carer for her four siblings, who suffer from microcephaly – a birth defect that prevents the skull from growing. The condition is so rare in Afghanistan that there is no specialist treatment available

Text and photographs by Tahmina Saleem

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Three churches in Indonesia hit by suicide bombers – video report

Posted: 13 May 2018 08:28 AM PDT

Suicide bombers have carried out coordinated attacks on three churches in Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya. Police believe  a couple and their four children were responsible for the blasts

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One man killed in Paris as knifeman attacks passersby at random – video report

Posted: 13 May 2018 07:12 AM PDT

A knifeman, identified as Khamzat Azimov, killed one man and injured four other people on Saturday in Paris, before being shot dead by police. Azimov lunged at people at random crying 'Allahu Akbar' according to witnesses

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