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

US presses North Korea for 'historic' plan to disarm as Pompeo meets Kim aide
Italy's president gives populists more time to form government
Arkady Babchenko reveals he faked his death to thwart Moscow plot
Bavarians wary of new law requiring crosses in all public buildings
Ambien maker responds to Roseanne Barr: 'Racism is not a known side effect'
Belgium sheds a chocolate tear as another manufacturer sold off
MH370: search for missing plane heads for one last spot of interest
Wearing glasses may really mean you're smarter, major study finds
An exercise in hypocrisy? Trump lectures America on fitness
World's longest flight to be launched by Singapore Airlines
Irish PM apologises to 126 people illegally adopted decades ago
UK man who died at Turkish airport seemed ‘nervous’ before flight
Belgian gunman 'killed person day before deadly Liège attack'
Harvey Weinstein indicted on rape and criminal sex act charges
Constructivist capital: the architectural legacy of Yekaterinburg – in pictures
World's oldest lizard fossil forces rethink of reptile family tree
Isis supporter admits to Prince George school attack plot
Market rebound set to continue as Italian fears ease - business live
Landmines made by Isis undo progress made by Princess Diana campaign
How chopping off their horns helps save rhinos from poachers
Trump holds prison reform summit with Kim Kardashian West
The Guatemalan migrant shot in the head could have been me | Aura Hernández
Greg Hunt defends verbal confrontation over ‘matter of life and death’
Does Trump really think preaching celibacy can beat HIV? | Serra Sippel
North Korea summit: uninvited guests could foil Trump's objectives | Simon Tisdall
The Babchenko stunt may end up feeding the Kremlin spin machine | Shaun Walker
Mumbai's summer camp for budding athletes – in pictures
Sarah Sanders chokes up over child's question on US school shootings – video
Colleagues of 'murdered' Russian journalist react upon seeing he is alive – video
How a Russian journalist plotted his own 'murder' with Ukraine – video
A plea from Nauru: 'No one can understand the conditions here' – video
'Murdered' Russian journalist turns up alive at news conference – video
Karachi residents cool off in Pakistan heatwave – in pictures

US presses North Korea for 'historic' plan to disarm as Pompeo meets Kim aide

Posted: 30 May 2018 10:55 PM PDT

State department says regime must map out denuclearisation steps it is willing to take if summit is to go ahead

The North Koreans will have to lay out a disarmament plan in the next few days if a planned summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un is to go ahead on schedule in two weeks' time, a senior US state department official said on Wednesday.

Italy's president gives populists more time to form government

Posted: 31 May 2018 12:35 AM PDT

Financial markets welcome reprieve by sending the euro back up after being battered by bitter row over the formation of new government

The Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, has granted Italy's two populist leaders more time to form a government in an attempt to stave off a snap election.

Mattarella signalled he was ready to install a technocrat government if a deal could not be reached, but decided to give Luigi Di Maio of the Five Star Movement and Matteo Salvini of the League more time to draw up a list of ministers that could be accepted by all parties, according to a source close to the presidential palace.

Arkady Babchenko reveals he faked his death to thwart Moscow plot

Posted: 30 May 2018 10:58 AM PDT

Russian journalist fools world's media by staging his murder in elaborate scheme with Ukraine

Smiling, and looking a little sheepish, Babchenko appeared before a surreal press conference held by Ukraine's SBU security service. He apologised to his wife for the "nightmare" he had caused her but said there had been no alternative to playing at being dead.

Bavarians wary of new law requiring crosses in all public buildings

Posted: 30 May 2018 10:00 PM PDT

State premier brings in rule in reaction to migrant influx, to reinforce 'Bavarian identity'

Bavaria is bracing itself for the introduction of a new law under which Christian crosses will have to hang in the entrance of all public buildings.

Despite opposition from prominent members of the Catholic church and leading theologians, the law will come into effect in the southern German state on Friday.

Ambien maker responds to Roseanne Barr: 'Racism is not a known side effect'

Posted: 30 May 2018 08:59 AM PDT

After the comedian partly blamed her controversial tweets on taking the sedative, drug-maker Sanofi released a statement

The drug manufacturer Sanofi has clarified that one of its most popular medications, the sedative Ambien, does not cause racism. Sanofi tweeted: "While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication."

The company's statement came after Roseanne Barr partly blamed the drug for the series of racist tweets which led to her ABC sitcom being cancelled.

Belgium sheds a chocolate tear as another manufacturer sold off

Posted: 30 May 2018 09:00 PM PDT

Sales of historic chocolatiers to foreign firms have caused almost an existential crisis

Chocolate is not only a major economic player for Belgium, worth €2.8bn (£2.5bn) in exports a year, but one of the few cultural artefacts, along with frites (fries) and beer, which bind this complicated country of many languages.

Yet the latest takeover of a stalwart of the Belgian scene, this time by the Qatari royal family, has caused something of an existential crisis. The Flemish daily newspaper Het Nieuwsblad asked: "How Belgian is Belgian chocolate, if just about all the top players are in foreign hands?"

MH370: search for missing plane heads for one last spot of interest

Posted: 30 May 2018 03:41 PM PDT

Ocean Infinity vessel to investigate area where Chinese ship detected ultrasonic pulse as official operation draws to a close

The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is not quite over, the company leading the mission has said, despite the Malaysian government stating on Monday that it had ended.

Ocean Infinity said it was heading to one last spot of interest before it turns back for good.

Wearing glasses may really mean you're smarter, major study finds

Posted: 30 May 2018 10:45 AM PDT

It's not just a pop culture trope – a University of Edinburgh study has found intelligent people are 30% more likely to have genes related to poor eyesight

If you wear glasses I've got some good news: you may well be smarter than the average person. A new study published in the journal Nature Communications has found that needing to wear glasses is associated with higher levels of intelligence. But you probably knew that already.

In the study, the largest of its kind ever conducted, researchers from the University of Edinburgh analyzed cognitive and genetic data from over 300,000 people aged between 16 and 102 that had been gathered by the UK Biobank and the Charge and Cogent consortia. Their analysis found "significant genetic overlap between general cognitive function, reaction time, and many health variables including eyesight, hypertension, and longevity". Specifically, people who were more intelligent were almost 30% more likely to have genes which might indicate they'd need to wear glasses.

An exercise in hypocrisy? Trump lectures America on fitness

Posted: 30 May 2018 03:32 PM PDT

At the White House's new Sports and Fitness Day, the president's past comments on exercise being bad for you were notably absent

Wednesday was Sports and Fitness Day at the White House. This is not to be confused with the Barack Obama-era Fitness and Sports Day, which Donald Trump has cancelled.

Similarly, in February, the president issued an executive order which replaced the Obama's President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition with a President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.

World's longest flight to be launched by Singapore Airlines

Posted: 30 May 2018 11:30 AM PDT

New 9,500-mile direct route from New York to Singapore will last 18 hours, 45 minutes

The world's longest commercial flight will be launched in October, Singapore Airlines has announced.

Passengers will fly non-stop between New York and Singapore, covering a distance of around 9,500 miles.

Irish PM apologises to 126 people illegally adopted decades ago

Posted: 30 May 2018 09:24 AM PDT

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar tells victims disclosures were part of Ireland's 'dark history'

The Irish prime minister has apologised in parliament to 126 people who were illegally adopted between 1946 and 1969, saying the disclosures were "another chapter from the very dark history of our country".

As campaigners said the number quoted was likely to be the tip of the iceberg, Leo Varadkar said: "What was done was wrong. What was done robbed children, our fellow citizens, of their identity. It was an historic wrong that we must face up to – and again, on behalf of the government, I'm very sorry for it."

UK man who died at Turkish airport seemed ‘nervous’ before flight

Posted: 30 May 2018 08:56 AM PDT

Fellow passenger at Dalaman hub describes scenes before Andrew Westlake's death

A man who died at a Turkish airport after being escorted off a plane home was nervous before the flight but not aggressive, another passenger has said.

Andrew Westlake, 30, from Annfield Plain in County Durham, died early on Tuesday morning at Dalaman airport. He had been due to fly home after a holiday with his girlfriend and their daughter.

Belgian gunman 'killed person day before deadly Liège attack'

Posted: 30 May 2018 10:40 AM PDT

Benjamin Herman allegedly bludgeoned man to death before killing three others

A prisoner on day release who shot dead two police officers and a bystander in Liège on Tuesday in a suspected terrorist attack had killed another person the previous evening.

Belgium's interior minister, Jan Jambon, revealed that Benjamin Herman, 31, "committed a murder the night before" he went on his shooting spree in the Belgian city.

Harvey Weinstein indicted on rape and criminal sex act charges

Posted: 30 May 2018 07:32 PM PDT

The former film mogul was indicted in New York City hours after his lawyers said he wouldn't testify before a grand jury

The former film mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on rape and criminal sex act charges in New York City.

Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr announced the indictment Wednesday and said it brings Weinstein "another step closer to accountability".

Constructivist capital: the architectural legacy of Yekaterinburg – in pictures

Posted: 30 May 2018 03:00 AM PDT

The constructivists of the 1920s and 30s combined modern engineering methods and technology with communist ideology. The World Cup city of Yekaterinburg has retained this legacy – the largest concentration of constructivist architecture in the world

World's oldest lizard fossil forces rethink of reptile family tree

Posted: 30 May 2018 10:00 AM PDT

Discovery pushes back the earliest known member of lizard and snake group by 75m years

The fossilised remains of a small lizard discovered in rock from the Italian Alps has shaken up the evolutionary family tree of reptiles and shed new light on the survivors of the most devastating mass extinction the world ever faced, researchers say.

Thought to have lived in the triassic period, about 240 million years ago, the creature, known as Megachirella wachtleri, has been unveiled as the oldest known member of a group of reptiles known as squamates – which includes lizards, snakes and peculiar legless creatures known as worm lizards.

Isis supporter admits to Prince George school attack plot

Posted: 31 May 2018 02:30 AM PDT

Husnain Rashid admits to encouraging terrorism after calling for Battersea school to be targeted

An Islamic State supporter who posted more than 300,000 propaganda messages online has admitted encouraging would-be lone wolf attackers to target Prince George at school.

Husnain Rashid, of Nelson, Lancashire, called for the four-year-old to be targeted shortly after the prince joined Thomas's school in Battersea, south-west London, last year.

Market rebound set to continue as Italian fears ease - business live

Posted: 31 May 2018 02:42 AM PDT

Hopes of a resolution to Italy's political crisis calm nerves, but investors remain cautious over Spain and US tariffs on EU

10.42am BST

New member appointed to #BOE #MPC; replaces Ian #McCafferty from 1 Sep. Will be interesting to see if changes voting balance on MPC given McCafferty has been repeatedly at hawkish end. Jonathan #Haskel appointed to Bank of England's MPC https://t.co/jcPV94ss6r via @financialtimes

10.37am BST

The government has appointed Jonathan Haskel, a professor of economics at Imperial College Business School, as the newest member of the Bank of England's rate setting Monetary Policy Committee.

Haskel will serve a three year term as an external member and will start on 1 September, when Ian McCafferty's term ends.

My main research interests are productivity, innovation, intangible investment and growth. I currently study (a) how much firms investment in "intangible" or "knowledge" assets, such as software, R&D and new business processes (b) how much such investment contributes to economic growth as whole and (c) what public policy implications there might be, especially for science policy. This work uses a mix of data at the levels of company, individual, industry and whole economy.

Landmines made by Isis undo progress made by Princess Diana campaign

Posted: 30 May 2018 11:00 PM PDT

New mine clearance methods trialled as rising use of homemade devices in Middle East and beyond triggers fresh concern

The international campaign against landmines championed by the late Princess Diana has been driven into sharp reverse by the growing use of homemade devices in countries like Syria and Iraq.

Mine clearance groups are testing experimental mechanical systems to deal with the issue after Stan Brown, the US state department's leading authority on landmine clearance, warned that a new generation of improvised explosives are more labour intensive, costly and complex to remove.

How chopping off their horns helps save rhinos from poachers

Posted: 30 May 2018 10:00 PM PDT

Violent but bloodless, dehorning is considered a necessary evil by anti-poaching campaigners in South Africa

Armed with a dart gun in a helicopter hovering above Somkhanda game reserve in South Africa, the vet Dr Mike Toft has just shot a powerful cocktail of drugs into the massive white rhino below.

The 2,000kg (315st) bull starts to stagger and sinks slowly to its knees as the drugs take effect. Though immobilised, the rhino is conscious. So, once it has been moved into the right position by a team on the ground, foam earmuffs and a blindfold are placed on its head to reduce stress levels.

Trump holds prison reform summit with Kim Kardashian West

Posted: 31 May 2018 12:38 AM PDT

US president meets fellow reality TV star at White House to discuss sentencing guidelines

Donald Trump took time out from bashing his attorney general Jeff Sessions and making the Roseanne Barr racism storm all about himself to meet Kim Kardashian West and discuss the justice system.

Traversing the whole gamut of notable Kims – the president is seeking to solve a nuclear crisis with a potential meeting with Kim Jong-un soon – Trump met the fellow reality TV star in the White House on Wednesday, where she is reported to have asked for Alice Marie Johnson to be pardoned. Johnson is a 63-year-old grandmother who is serving a life sentence for a first-time non-violent drug offence.

The Guatemalan migrant shot in the head could have been me | Aura Hernández

Posted: 31 May 2018 02:00 AM PDT

Like me, Claudia Gomez González came to the US seeking a better future. I survived; she was killed in cold blood

I was in the kitchen when I began watching a video on Facebook of a woman screaming that the Border Patrol had shot a young woman in the head. I soon learned the young woman was a paisana of mine – both of us from Guatemala – and that she had been killed while crossing the same border I'd traversed years ago.

"They killed her!" the woman filming the video screamed in Spanish. I felt so powerless while I watched; there's nothing you can do in that moment, even though the video is live.

Greg Hunt defends verbal confrontation over ‘matter of life and death’

Posted: 31 May 2018 02:15 AM PDT

Health minister also on back foot over incident in which he swore at mayor of Katherine

Greg Hunt has admitted his former departmental head made a complaint about him after a verbal confrontation, adding to an incident where the health minister told the mayor of Katherine she needed to "fucking get over it".

Hunt began Thursday apologising for his expletive-ridden confrontation with the mayor of Katherine, Fay Miller, last December, after it was revealed by News Corp, but then faced sustained pressure in question time about other incidents in which he may have used inappropriate language with stakeholders, bureaucrats or staff.

Does Trump really think preaching celibacy can beat HIV? | Serra Sippel

Posted: 31 May 2018 02:00 AM PDT

As US aid cuts take a ruinous toll on women's health, it is vital short-sighted ideology does not outweigh hard facts

It is no secret that the US president's emergency plan for Aids relief, launched by George Bush in 2003, is one of the most successful public health campaigns in history. Known as Pepfar, it now reaches more than 14 million people with lifesaving HIV treatment. In the past 15 years, it has enabled more than 2.2 million children to be born free from HIV and has reached more than 15.2 million boys and men with voluntary medical circumcisions, a procedure that can prevent new HIV infections.

However, Pepfar's most striking accomplishment is the sharp drop in new HIV infections among adolescent girls and young women in sub-Saharan Africa. In just three years, these infections have declined by between 25% and 40% in nearly two-thirds of districts with the highest HIV prevalence.

North Korea summit: uninvited guests could foil Trump's objectives | Simon Tisdall

Posted: 30 May 2018 09:00 PM PDT

The US president wants instant results but rival countries hope to make strategic gains too

Donald Trump hopes to choose from a quick and easy menu at next month's Singapore summit with North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un.

The US president wants instant results, primarily a headline-grabbing nuclear weapons deal in return for food aid, investment and other support.

The Babchenko stunt may end up feeding the Kremlin spin machine | Shaun Walker

Posted: 30 May 2018 11:32 AM PDT

While Kiev may have prevented a killing, the next time a Kremlin critic is murdered the first question will be: are they really dead?

As dramatic plot-twists go, it was top drawer: gasps all round at a press conference about a murder investigation, as the star guest turns out to be the victim himself, smirking and very much not dead.

The courageous, controversial and contrarian journalist Arkady Babchenko had not been shot in the back by an assassin, as Ukrainian government officials and gruesome leaked photographs had led everyone to believe. In fact, he had faked his own death as part of a top-secret Ukrainian security services operation to catch real would-be killers operating on Moscow's orders.

Mumbai's summer camp for budding athletes – in pictures

Posted: 30 May 2018 11:00 PM PDT

Each summer, students attend the Shree Samarth Vyayam Mandir physical education institute in Mumbai, a training facility for the athletes of tomorrow

Sarah Sanders chokes up over child's question on US school shootings – video

Posted: 30 May 2018 03:33 PM PDT

The White House spokeswoman chokes back tears after a student reporter asks her about the Trump administration's efforts to keep children safe from school shootings. A visibly emotional Sarah Sanders says: 'I think that as a kid, and certainly as a parent, there is nothing that could be more terrifying for a kid to go to school and not feel safe.' She says President Donald Trump's school safety commission plans to meet this week to discuss the issue. Benje Choucroun, who asked the question, is a student at Marin Country day school in California

Colleagues of 'murdered' Russian journalist react upon seeing he is alive – video

Posted: 30 May 2018 02:23 PM PDT

Colleagues of the Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko, who was reported murdered in Kiev on 29 May, jump with joy as he dramatically reappears alive on 30 May in the middle of a televised briefing about his own killing given by the Ukrainian state security service. A friend of Babchenko, Kateryna Lisunova, who was visiting his office at ATR, a Crimean Tatar television channel, captures the moment they see their workmate appear alive at the news conference. An emotional Babchenko appears before reporters saying he had been part of a special Ukrainian sting operation to thwart a Russian attempt on his life

How a Russian journalist plotted his own 'murder' with Ukraine – video

Posted: 30 May 2018 02:15 PM PDT

Arkady Babchenko, the Russian journalist whose murder was dramatically announced by Ukraine on Tuesday, emerged very much alive on Wednesday and said he had faked his own death in order to thwart a plot by Moscow to kill him. Smiling, and looking a little sheepish, Babchenko appeared before a surreal press conference held by Ukraine's SBU security service

Arkady Babchenko reveals he faked his death to thwart Moscow plot

A plea from Nauru: 'No one can understand the conditions here' – video

Posted: 30 May 2018 11:00 AM PDT

A refugee held in offshore immigration detention speaks about her experiences on Christmas Island and Nauru that have left her 'helpless and broken'. She pleads with the Australian public for more compassionate treatment instead of a 'clenched fist'

'Murdered' Russian journalist turns up alive at news conference – video

Posted: 30 May 2018 08:11 AM PDT

Arkady Babchenko, who was reported killed in Kiev, is alive and has appeared at a news conference in Ukraine. The country's security service told reporters they had faked Babchenko's death to catch people who were trying to kill him

Ukraine reveals it staged 'murder' of Russian journalist

Karachi residents cool off in Pakistan heatwave – in pictures

Posted: 30 May 2018 04:06 AM PDT

Pakistan's most populous city is in the grips of a heatwave as temperatures soar to 45C. The sweltering conditions have come during Ramadan, the holy month in which millions of Muslims refrain from food and drink from dawn until dusk. Sixty-five people have been killed in Karachi by the recent spell of hot weather, with the country expected to sizzle into June

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

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

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