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Cambridge Analytica closing after Facebook data harvesting scandal
Trump repaid his lawyer for Stormy Daniels hush money, says Giuliani
Malaysia opposition leader investigated under fake news laws
Basque separatist group Eta announces dissolution
Climate change aid to poor nations lags behind Paris pledges
Chinese Nobel laureate's widow 'ready to die' in house arrest
Japan: robot dogs get solemn Buddhist send-off at funerals
Pakistan province tells Red Bull and its rivals to drop 'energy' tag
Tesla posts record $710m net loss as it struggles to produce Model 3 cars
Isis attack on Libya election commission kills more than a dozen
Is it a prop? Is it a prank? Mystery car hanging from bridge perplexes Toronto
China deploys cruise missiles on South China Sea outposts – reports
Lidl offers locally grown cannabis to Swiss shoppers
An open book: a photographer's love letter to city libraries – in pictures
Turkey's iron lady: 'It's time for the men in power to feel fear'
Bring your own picnic: royal wedding guests bemused by lack of catering
Russian jet crashes after takeoff from Syria airbase killing crew
Uganda launches major vaccination drive as deadly cholera outbreak bites
Trump could end protected status for Hondurans – 'condemning them to total misery'
China's Xiaomi set to raise $10bn on Hong Kong stock exchange
Coalition berates Commonwealth Bank over failure to notify customers after data breach
UN chief urges Donald Trump not to scrap Iran nuclear deal
Penny Mordaunt told to 'get a grip' over use of aid budget by rival departments
US teacher of the year stages silent protest as Trump awards prize – video
Ice breakers: Finland's Unesco jetties - in pictures
Giuliani: Trump repaid Stormy Daniels money to attorney – video
New film Border Politics follows the path of the world's refugees – video trailer
Emmanuel Macron thanks Australian PM's 'delicious wife' – video

Cambridge Analytica closing after Facebook data harvesting scandal

Posted: 02 May 2018 12:21 PM PDT

Political consultancy, under fire over use of millions of Facebook users' data, has begun insolvency proceedings

Cambridge Analytica, the data firm at the centre of this year's Facebook privacy row, is closing and starting insolvency proceedings.

The company has been plagued by scandal since the Observer reported that the personal data of about 50 million Americans and at least a million Britons had been harvested from Facebook and improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica.

Trump repaid his lawyer for Stormy Daniels hush money, says Giuliani

Posted: 03 May 2018 12:22 AM PDT

In Fox News interview, Giuliani says lawyer Michael Cohen was personally reimbursed for $130,000 used to silence porn actor

Donald Trump personally repaid his lawyer Michael Cohen the $130,000 hush money given to the adult-film star Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence over an alleged affair, Rudy Giuliani said on Wednesday night.

In an interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, the former mayor of New York, who recently joined Trump's legal team dealing with the Russian investigation, let out the bombshell detail that the US president had fully repaid the hush money. The disclosure contradicts Trump's own firm statement, made on Air Force One last month, that he had no knowledge of his private lawyer Michael Cohen having paid Daniels the $130,000 sum.

Malaysia opposition leader investigated under fake news laws

Posted: 03 May 2018 01:23 AM PDT

Mahathir Mohamad is being investigated under law recently rushed through ahead of general election

The opposition leader in the upcoming Malaysian elections is being investigated under the country's new fake news laws, police have confirmed.

Mahathir Mohamad, who was prime minister of Malaysia for two decades and is now running again at 92, claimed last weekend that people working for the government were responsible for the "sabotage" of his plane, in order to stop him registering as an election candidate.

Basque separatist group Eta announces dissolution

Posted: 02 May 2018 09:11 AM PDT

Militant group responsible for more than 800 deaths says it has 'dissolved all its structures'

The Basque separatist group Eta, which killed more than 800 people during its 40-year terror campaign, has announced its full dissolution days after apologising to its victims and their families.

In a letter dated 16 April, but published by a Spanish online newspaper on Wednesday, the group informed Basque institutions and civil society groups that it had come to the end of its existence.

Climate change aid to poor nations lags behind Paris pledges

Posted: 02 May 2018 04:01 PM PDT

Donor nations' 2020 target of $100bn annual fund for adapting economies falls short by near 50% says Oxfam

Finance for poor countries to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and deal with climate change is lagging behind the promises of rich countries, an Oxfam report finds.

While taxpayer-funded finance has increased, and the private sector has stepped up with some initiatives, the amount raised could still fall short of the goal of providing $100bn a year to the developing world by 2020.

Chinese Nobel laureate's widow 'ready to die' in house arrest

Posted: 02 May 2018 08:20 PM PDT

Liu Xia, wife of the late human rights activist Liu Xiaobo, says she has nothing left to live for, in phone call with exiled friend

Liu Xia, the widow of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, has said she is ready to die in protest at being held under house arrest in China for more than seven years.

"Now, I've got nothing to be afraid of. If I can't leave, I'll die in my home. Xiaobo is gone, and there's nothing in the world for me now. It's easier to die than live. Using death to defy could not be any simpler for me," she said, according to a phone call on 30 April, recorded by her friend and exiled writer, Liao Yiwu, and posted online.

Japan: robot dogs get solemn Buddhist send-off at funerals

Posted: 02 May 2018 09:24 PM PDT

At a memorial for 114 'deceased' robot pets, incense wafted through the air as priests chanted and prayed for their souls

Laying to rest a much-loved family pet usually requires little more than a shovel, a plot in the back garden and some well-chosen words. But what happens when the "pet" in question is a robot?

In Japan, the demise of irreparable Aibo robotic dogs is marked in much the same way as that of humans, with a solemn ceremony at a Buddhist temple.

Pakistan province tells Red Bull and its rivals to drop 'energy' tag

Posted: 02 May 2018 09:00 PM PDT

Highly-caffeinated fizzy drinks market censored for making misleading claims

Pakistan's largest province has ordered energy-drink manufacturers including Red Bull to remove the word "energy" from their labels, saying it is scientifically misleading and encourages a population unaware of the beverages' contents to guzzle them in potentially dangerous quantities.

The order comes amid an international regulatory pushback against the highly-caffeinated fizzy drink market, and is believed to be the first in the world to censor the term "energy" – a key part of the drinks' appeal.

Tesla posts record $710m net loss as it struggles to produce Model 3 cars

Posted: 02 May 2018 05:53 PM PDT

Elon Musk got testy with analysts amid concerns over company's future, after it burned through $745.3m in cash during important quarter

Tesla posted a record $709.6m net loss in the first quarter and burned through $745.3m in cash while struggling to crank out large numbers of its Model 3 mass-market electric car.

The loss and cash burn announced Wednesday raised questions about the company's future and whether it would be able to pay all of its bills by early next year without more borrowing or another round of stock sales.

Isis attack on Libya election commission kills more than a dozen

Posted: 02 May 2018 04:34 PM PDT

Bloodshed comes amid push for elections hoped to calm turmoil that plagues country

Suicide bombers have stormed Libya's electoral commission in Tripoli, killing at least a dozen people in an attack claimed by Islamic State jihadists.

The bloodshed comes as the international community pushes for elections it hopes will help calm the turmoil that has plagued the north African country since the 2011 ouster of dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Is it a prop? Is it a prank? Mystery car hanging from bridge perplexes Toronto

Posted: 02 May 2018 10:39 AM PDT

Canadian police initially said the hollowed-out Honda Civic found dangling linked to a movie shoot. Now they don't know

Was it the aftermath of a horrific accident? An art project? A prank?

Police and passersby were left perplexed and concerned after a burned-out car was found dangling precariously from a Toronto bridge as traffic rumbled overhead.

China deploys cruise missiles on South China Sea outposts – reports

Posted: 02 May 2018 07:56 PM PDT

Missiles could targets ships and aircraft, according to CNBC, and mark another step in the militarisation of the disputed islands

China has installed cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three of its outposts in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, according to reports.

The US news network CNBC reported that the YJ-12B cruise missiles could target ships within a radius of 295 nautical miles and the HQ-9B long-range surface-to-air missiles could strike within 160 miles, citing sources with knowledge of US intelligence reports.

Lidl offers locally grown cannabis to Swiss shoppers

Posted: 03 May 2018 02:40 AM PDT

Supermarket takes advantage of law change to sell 'relaxing and anti-inflammatory' tobacco alternative

You may have heard about their cut-price stollen, and possibly their surprisingly flavoursome jam. But you probably won't have sampled the latest range offered by the supermarket chain Lidl: locally grown cannabis.

Two products derived from hemp flowers are being offered in Swiss stores as an alternative to rolling tobacco.

An open book: a photographer's love letter to city libraries – in pictures

Posted: 02 May 2018 03:00 AM PDT

Swiss librarian and photographer Thomas Guignard captures the beauty, symmetry and intricate designs of libraries across the world

To some they are a sanctuary, to others a place of silent boredom, but to Swiss photographer Thomas Guignard libraries are a thing of beauty.

Working as a librarian and photographer for the last 12 years, Canada-based Guignard combines his great loves in the Instagram account @concretelibraries.

Turkey's iron lady: 'It's time for the men in power to feel fear'

Posted: 02 May 2018 09:00 PM PDT

Nationalist politician Meral Akşener emerges as only credible presidential candidate pushing for victory over Erdoğan

Meral Akşener stood near a statue of the Turkish republic's founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, in the Black Sea town of Giresun earlier this year, as she lambasted and mocked the ruling party of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

His apparatchiks had hurt their hands, she told the farmers in the crowd, counting the millions of euros with which they'd enriched themselves while in office. Across the square a giant banner implored: "Save us, iron lady."
Whatever the president touches turns to dust, she said. He once dubbed Bashar al-Assad, Syria's dictator and ally turned foe, "Brother Assad."

Bring your own picnic: royal wedding guests bemused by lack of catering

Posted: 03 May 2018 02:16 AM PDT

Commoners invited to Windsor Castle say they might have to resort to a McDonald's takeaway

The invitation is meant to build bridges between the royal family and some of the most deprived parts of British society. Twelve-hundred handpicked members of the public – including inner-city youth workers from Coventry and community leaders from Bolton – will crowd inside the grounds of Windsor Castle to be among the first to see Prince Harry and Meghan Markle emerge as a married couple on Saturday 19 May.

But it seems the hospitality won't extend far. Representatives of the royal family, which has an estimated net worth well in excess of £400m, have sent letters to these guests encouraging them to bring their own picnics, in a move described by one invitee as "unfathomable".

Russian jet crashes after takeoff from Syria airbase killing crew

Posted: 03 May 2018 02:37 AM PDT

Two-seater Sukhoi-30SM crashes after leaving Hmeymim airbase in Latakia province

An advanced Russian fighter plane has crashed in Syria shortly after takeoff, killing both members of its crew, the Russian military has said.

The two-seater Sukhoi-30SM jet crashed on Thursday morning after taking off from Russia's Hmeymim airbase in Latakia province. According to agencies, the Ministry of Defence in Moscow said its two crew members had tried in vain to save the plane until the last moment.

Uganda launches major vaccination drive as deadly cholera outbreak bites

Posted: 02 May 2018 11:00 PM PDT

Campaign targets 360,000 people, including Congolese refugees in congested camps where disease has already killed dozens

Uganda has launched a major cholera vaccination campaign in an effort to contain an outbreak that has killed 45 people in the country's overcrowded refugee camps this year.

With the rainy season approaching, tens of thousands of people who have fled violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being targeted alongside the local population. The five-day exercise marks the first large-scale cholera vaccination campaign in Uganda's history.

Trump could end protected status for Hondurans – 'condemning them to total misery'

Posted: 03 May 2018 02:00 AM PDT

Trump administration will decide whether or not to extend program for thousands who fled violence and catastrophes

For Jonny Rivas, going home is not an option. For the past four years, the 40-year-old campesino leader has been hunted by gunmen terrorizing the Bajo Agua region of Honduras – a territory controlled by drug traffickers, African palm conglomerates, mining companies and elite military units.

China's Xiaomi set to raise $10bn on Hong Kong stock exchange

Posted: 03 May 2018 01:30 AM PDT

Smartphone firm's flotation could be world's largest IPO in years valuing company at $100bn

The Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is reportedly seeking to raise at least $10bn (£7.3bn) by floating on the Hong Kong stock exchange, in what could be one of the world's biggest initial public offerings in years.

The IPO, announced in stock exchange filings on Thursday, may be the largest since the e-commerce giant Alibaba listed in New York in 2014, raising $25bn.

Coalition berates Commonwealth Bank over failure to notify customers after data breach

Posted: 03 May 2018 02:01 AM PDT

Christian Porter says loss of backup tapes with details of almost 20 million accounts 'very disappointing'

Christian Porter has lambasted the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) for failing to notify its customers of a data breach in which it lost backup tapes with details of almost 20 million accounts spanning 15 years.

Although the incident occurred in 2016, before new laws that require mandatory reporting for serious breaches, the attorney general told Sky News on Thursday that he and other customers of the bank would expect to have been notified.

UN chief urges Donald Trump not to scrap Iran nuclear deal

Posted: 03 May 2018 02:23 AM PDT

António Guterres says region will become even more dangerous if such an important diplomatic victory is thrown away

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, has urged Donald Trump not to scrap the Iran nuclear deal, saying that the Middle East would become an even more dangerous place if such an important diplomatic victory was thrown away with nothing better to replace it.

Penny Mordaunt told to 'get a grip' over use of aid budget by rival departments

Posted: 02 May 2018 10:00 PM PDT

Development secretary hauled over the coals as MPs express disquiet over lavish Foreign Office expenditure in China

Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary, has been told to "get a real grip" on aid spending amid questions over millions of pounds of taxpayers' money going to China.

In a testing evidence session before MPs on the international development committee, Mordaunt was repeatedly challenged about aid spending by areas of government other than the Department for International Development (DfID).

US teacher of the year stages silent protest as Trump awards prize – video

Posted: 03 May 2018 01:23 AM PDT

A teacher who leads a classroom for teenage refugees staged a silent protest by wearing several overtly political badges while receiving an award from Donald Trump at the White House. Mandy Manning works at a school that specialises in English language development

US teacher of the year stages silent protest as Trump awards prize

Ice breakers: Finland's Unesco jetties - in pictures

Posted: 02 May 2018 11:00 PM PDT

Every spring cracks emerge in the frozen Gulf of Bothnia around the Unesco-protected islands of the Merenkurkku archipelago in western Finland. The archipelago, also known as Kvarken and situated off the coast of Vaasa, has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2006, drawing tourists to its scenery and wildlife. The landscape, featuring thousands of islands, is largely the result of the last Ice Age. Photographer Olivier Morin has produced a series of aerial images of jetties on the frozen coast.

Giuliani: Trump repaid Stormy Daniels money to attorney – video

Posted: 02 May 2018 10:39 PM PDT

In a startling revelation, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said Donald Trump repaid his personal attorney $130,000 which was paid in a deal made just before the 2016 election to keep porn star Stormy Daniels quiet about her alleged tryst with the president, seeming to contradict Trump's statements about the money.

New film Border Politics follows the path of the world's refugees – video trailer

Posted: 02 May 2018 11:00 AM PDT

Australian lawyer Julian Burnside travels the globe to examine the treatment of refugees. What role do anti-terrorism laws play in how borders are policed? And how do these policies affect these vulnerable people?

Emmanuel Macron thanks Australian PM's 'delicious wife' – video

Posted: 02 May 2018 10:03 AM PDT

The French president thanks Malcolm Turnbull and his 'delicious wife' Lucy for their hospitality during his visit to Sydney. The French word for delicious - délicieux - can also translate as delightful