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

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


North Korea leaves door open for 'desperately necessary' Trump summit

Posted: 25 May 2018 01:33 AM PDT

Regime's vice foreign minister says meeting cancellation is 'regrettable' as South Korean president says he is 'perplexed' by US president's decision

North Korea has said it is still willing to hold direct talks between its leader Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, calling the planned summit "desperately necessary" to resolve potential hostilities after the US cancelled the meeting.

"We express our willingness to sit down face-to-face with the US and resolve issues anytime and in any format," North Korea's vice foreign minister Kim Kye-gwan said in a statement. "Our commitment to doing our best for the sake of peace and stability for the world and the Korean Peninsula remains unchanged, and we are open-minded in giving time and opportunity to the US."

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Ireland abortion referendum: close result expected in historic vote

Posted: 25 May 2018 01:35 AM PDT

Yes voters slightly ahead as Ireland goes to the polls after hard-fought campaigns by both sides

The people of Ireland are voting on Friday in a historic referendum on whether to repeal or retain a constitutional clause protecting the rights of the unborn that has produced one of the most restrictive abortion regimes in the world.

Polling stations across Ireland opened at 7am and close at 10pm. At 6.55am in Dublin, voters were already waiting in the entrance of Our Lady's Clonskeagh Parish secondary school.

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Gaza ministry removes baby from list of people killed by Israeli army

Posted: 24 May 2018 02:09 PM PDT

Authorities investigate death of eight-month-old who 'had pre-existing condition'

Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry has said it has removed an eight-month-old baby from a list of people killed by Israeli troops while authorities investigate to determine the cause of death.

The ministry announced last week that Leila al-Ghandour died from teargas inhalation during a 14 May demonstration along the frontier, where it said Israeli fire killed more than 60 people.

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Who betrayed Anne Frank? Book claims to shed new light on mystery

Posted: 24 May 2018 09:00 PM PDT

Son of Dutch resistance member says Nazis were alerted to family's secret chamber by Jewish collaborator

A new book has provided what it claims is fresh evidence that Anne Frank and her family were betrayed by a Jewish woman who was executed after the second world war for collaborating with the Nazis.

The mystery of how the Franks were found in a secret annex in a building on Amsterdam's Prinsengracht in August 1944 has thwarted formal investigations and troubled academics ever since.

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Zuckerberg set up fraudulent scheme to 'weaponise' data, court case alleges

Posted: 24 May 2018 05:01 AM PDT

Facebook CEO exploited ability to access data from any user's friend network, US case claims

Mark Zuckerberg faces allegations that he developed a "malicious and fraudulent scheme" to exploit vast amounts of private data to earn Facebook billions and force rivals out of business.

A company suing Facebook in a California court claims the social network's chief executive "weaponised" the ability to access data from any user's network of friends – the feature at the heart of the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

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Morgan Freeman accused of sexual harassment by eight women

Posted: 24 May 2018 10:06 AM PDT

A new report alleges that the actor subjected women to sexual and verbal harassment on film sets and at his production company

Morgan Freeman has been accused of sexual and verbal harassment by eight different women.

According to CNN, the women, who say Freeman subjected them to inappropriate remarks about their bodies, allege that he harassed them on the set of his films, at his production company Revelations Entertainment and at press junkets.

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Sudanese teenager who killed rapist husband appeals death sentence

Posted: 24 May 2018 10:12 AM PDT

Noura Hussein, whose case has been taken up by Naomi Campbell and Emma Watson, vows to help other women forced to marry

The lawyers for a young Sudanese woman sentenced to death for killing her husband as he tried to rape her have formally appealed the ruling as a petition calling for her to be spared reached a million signatures.

The legal team working on behalf of 19-year-old Noura Hussein, whose case has become an international cause celebre, had until Thursday to file an appeal to the death sentence handed down by a Sudanese court 15 days ago.

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China accused of 'dollar diplomacy' as Taiwan loses second ally in a month

Posted: 24 May 2018 08:56 AM PDT

President Tsai accuses China of 'crude behaviours' as Burkina Faso ends diplomatic relations with Taipei

The Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, has lashed out at China after Burkina Faso broke diplomatic ties with the island, the second country to do so this month.

The move, which has been welcomed by China, came after the Dominican Republic switched recognition to Beijing earlier this month, leaving Taiwan with only 18 diplomatic allies around the world. Although it was not immediately clear if Burkina Faso and China would establish diplomatic relations, officials in Taipei said it was only a matter of time and blamed Beijing for the setback.

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Emergency brake was disabled on self-driving Uber that killed woman

Posted: 24 May 2018 10:52 AM PDT

Federal investigation finds emergency braking system was not enabled in SUV that hit Arizona pedestrian

A federal investigation into a self-driving Uber SUV that hit and killed a pedestrian in March has found that the vehicle's emergency braking system was disabled.

The preliminary report, issued by the National Transportation Safety Board, said on Thursday that while the vehicle's guidance system had spotted the woman about six seconds before hitting her, emergency braking manoeuvres were not enabled in order to "reduce the potential for erratic vehicle behavior".

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Birds had to relearn flight after meteor wiped out dinosaurs

Posted: 24 May 2018 09:58 AM PDT

Fossil records suggest only flightless birds survived when T rex was wiped off the Earth

Birds had to rediscover flight after the meteor strike that killed off the dinosaurs, scientists say.

The cataclysm 66m years ago not only wiped out Tyrannosaurus rex and ground-dwelling dinosaur species, but also flying birds, a detailed survey of the fossil record suggests.

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MH17 downed by Russian military missile system, say investigators

Posted: 24 May 2018 02:39 AM PDT

International team says evidence shows missile came from a Russia-based unit

A Russian military missile was responsible for shooting down flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, an international team of investigators said on Thursday, for the first time pointing the finger directly at Moscow.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down over the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014. All 298 people onboard were killed.

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Cash converters: could this Dutch scheme stop drivers speeding?

Posted: 24 May 2018 11:30 PM PDT

The city of Helmond is trialling a speed sensor with a difference – motorists who observe the speed limit earn cash for local projects

A Dutch city is hoping to target speeding motorists by rewarding those who keep to the limit with cash for their community – car by car, and cent by cent.

A "speed-meter money box" was installed earlier this month on a stretch of road notorious for speeding in Helmond, a city in North Brabant province in the Netherlands. Each vehicle that was observing Dijksestraat's 30km/h (19mph) speed limit as it passed added €0.10 (£0.09) to the monetary figure displayed, to a maximum of half a euro per vehicle each day.

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Tall stories: the weird world of Hong Kong's rooftops – in pictures

Posted: 24 May 2018 03:00 AM PDT

From badminton to bonsai pruning to a precarious nap, it's all going on high above the packed streets of Kowloon, Hong Kong. This series by Romain Jacquet-Lagrèz is a record of life in one of the world's densest neighbourhoods

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Grenfell Tower fire inquiry hears more tributes on day five – live updates

Posted: 25 May 2018 02:54 AM PDT

Tributes are being paid to more of the 72 victims of last year's fire

Ahmed Chellat is writing out the commemoration of the El Wahabi family on behalf of his wife Ghita, brother of Abdulaziz El Wahabi, who is on pilgrimage in Mecca.

My brother was the first born in the family so he was very special, we all loved him ... He was very kind, generous, selfless and respectful person, who always put a smile on everyone's face.

I will miss little things like this.

A young cousin of Mehdi El Wahabi is now reading out his commemoration.

"I couldn't have read like that at nine-years old and I think you did a beautiful job," she is told.

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This Is Congo review – distressing story of a humanitarian crisis

Posted: 25 May 2018 02:00 AM PDT

Daniel McCabe's potted documentary about the DRC takes in colonial history, independence and its dire modern struggles. It's a difficult, necessary watch

Photographer-turned-filmmaker Daniel McCabe's This Is Congo feels like the documentary equivalent of a long read about the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The film's potted history in 92 minutes (delving into the complexity of the DRC's colonial history, post-independence power struggles, foreign meddling and corruption) will no doubt frustrate experts as superficial. But here's a necessary reminder of a conflict that has gone on for so long that the world seems to have disengaged and moved on to other war zones.

McCabe interviews two soldiers; one of them a high-ranking officer, the other a charismatic young colonel who boasts that his soldiers have been trained in human rights. (Earlier in the film we watch a few of them beat a man with a belt). Bibianne, known to everyone as Mama Romance, is a single mother who keeps her kids in education by illegally smuggling gemstones. Hakiza Nyantaba is a tailor who for the sixth time has fled fighting in his village, carrying whatever he could grab. We don't hear from women or girls who've been victims of sexual violence, which is widespread in the DRC.

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‘It’s worse than murder’: how rural America became a hospital desert

Posted: 24 May 2018 09:00 PM PDT

Since 2010, 53 rural hospitals have closed – many in counties with poverty rates lower than average – leaving residents stranded in times of need

It makes sense to sell this old place now, but he can't bring himself to leave her ashes.

Barry Gibbs lives alone in a single-story home among the loblollies of Hyde County in eastern North Carolina. The army veteran collects a small disability check after he tore tendons in his shoulder during a fall at his maintenance job at the local school. He winces every time he stands up. He's 64 years old and the closest hospital is more than an hour away, a distance he came to understand too damn well on the day she needed help.

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Dancing clean: the woman helping clubbers deal with consent in the post-#MeToo world

Posted: 25 May 2018 12:00 AM PDT

As Canada's first 'consent captain', Tanille Geib helps revellers with flirting, dating and hooking up on the dancefloor

Most nights of the week, Tanille Geib can be found wandering through drunken crowds on a dance floor in the western Canadian city of Victoria.

She's not a bartender or a bouncer – she's there to help patrons navigate the sometimes murky world of flirting, dating and hooking up in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

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Dutton looks at taking up New Zealand offer to resettle 150 refugees

Posted: 25 May 2018 12:56 AM PDT

Home affairs minister says it will happen only if asylum seekers are banned from ever coming to Australia

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Peter Dutton says he is willing to consider a New Zealand offer to resettle some refugees held in offshore detention, but only if they are banned from ever coming to Australia.

The home affairs minister has floated the prospect in a bid to pressure the opposition into supporting stalled legislation which would stop anybody who arrived by boat from ever reaching Australia's shores.

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A safe haven on the Nile: life in South Sudan's Old Fangak – in pictures

Posted: 24 May 2018 11:00 PM PDT

Before civil war erupted, Old Fangak was home to about 5,000 people. But since December 2013, the remote town in South Sudan's Jonglei state has become a refuge for people fleeing the fighting, swelling its numbers tenfold

All photographs by Frederic Noy for Médecins Sans Frontières

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Women saved from Boko Haram claim soldiers made them trade sex for food

Posted: 24 May 2018 03:51 AM PDT

Amnesty investigation alleges 'horrendous abuse' by Nigerian military in camps where thousands reportedly died of hunger

Thousands of women and girls who believed they were being led to safety from Boko Haram by Nigerian security forces were instead systematically abused in exchange for food and assistance, an Amnesty International investigation has revealed.

The shocking claims were made by more than 250 people interviewed over a two-year period. Some allege they were raped by members of the Nigerian military and Civilian Joint Task Force (Civilian JTF), while others say they were starved. The troops ordered civilians out of their villages and into satellite camps, where thousands of people, including children, have died of hunger, the report claims.

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Kim Jong-un gains stature and gives up little as summit falls apart

Posted: 24 May 2018 11:19 PM PDT

Cancellation of the historic talks by Donald Trump leaves North Korean leader unscathed

Donald Trump's decision to cancel a planned meeting with Kim Jong-un is a gift to North Korea in many ways, according to some analysts.

Kim has worked for months to craft an image of a senior statesman and peacemaker, hoping to break decades of hostilities with a country North Korea has called its "sworn enemy". Trump cancelling the summit further reinforced the narrative Kim is willing to talk while the US agitates for regime change.

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The failed Trump-Kim summit: the story of a trainwreck foretold

Posted: 24 May 2018 11:19 AM PDT

Washington and Pyongyang were talking at cross purposes, and the debacle began and ended with gut decisions made by Trump

The short, turbulent history of the Trump-Kim summit, from its surprise announcement in March to its abrupt cancellation on Thursday, is the chronicle of a trainwreck foretold.

The debacle had been predicted by just about anyone with an experience of negotiating with North Korea, and experts who repeatedly warned that Washington and Pyongyang were talking at cross purposes.

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Is Italy's government on a collision course with the EU?

Posted: 24 May 2018 05:01 AM PDT

Brussels has shown concern about the rhetoric of M5S and League, but the ragtag coalition has domestic worries of its own

Italy's unlikely new coalition partners, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the far-right League, disagree on so much that the new government will have a "conciliation committee" to settle its internal differences.

But on some things, most notably an avowed desire to stick it to Europe, the two rival parties agree, and if they follow through on their promises Italy will be set on a collision course with the EU. The question is: will they? Much suggests they will not.

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Suspects sought after Canada restaurant explosion – video

Posted: 24 May 2018 11:23 PM PDT

Paramedics in MIssissauga, near Toronto, say 15 people have been injured in an explosion at an Indian restaurant. A spokesman for the paramedic service says three people were rushed to a trauma centre with critical injuries due to the blast. The other 12 people suffered what he described as minor or superficial wounds

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North Korea 'destroys' Punggye-ri test site – in pictures

Posted: 24 May 2018 07:28 PM PDT

Three explosions at nuclear site take place hours before President Trump cancels his historic summit with Kim Jong-un

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Huge explosions as North Korea 'destroys' nuclear test site – video

Posted: 24 May 2018 07:04 PM PDT

Kim Jong-un makes good on his promise to close his country's only known nuclear test site, detonating explosives and collapsing its entrances in front of international television crews in a highly symbolic move

• North Korea 'destroys' Punggye-ri test site – in pictures 

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Donald Trump: 'I have decided to terminate the planned summit in Singapore' - video

Posted: 24 May 2018 10:05 AM PDT

Donald Trump has called off a planned summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, scheduled for next month, citing Pyongyang's 'open hostility' and warned the US military was ready to respond to any reckless acts by North Korea. Trump announced his abrupt withdrawal from what would have been the first meeting between a serving US president and a North Korean leader in a letter to Kim.  However, he said the summit could still be held at a later date

Donald Trump cancels North Korea nuclear summit

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Boris Johnson pranked in phone call by Russian posing as Armenian PM – video

Posted: 24 May 2018 04:31 AM PDT

A Russian prankster duo, Alexei Stolyarov and Vladimir Kuznetsov, known by their monikers Lexus and Vovan, appear to have gained access to the UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, in an 18-minute phone call. Pretending to be the Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, one of the pranksters asks for advice on how to deal with Vladimir Putin, and for information on Britain's response to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury

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