US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said it is a "matter of time" before North Korea gains the ability to strike the American mainland with a nuclear weapon.
His statement came as he chaired a ministerial level meeting at the United Nations Security Council in New York, where he urged the organisation to agree new economic and diplomatic pressures on Pyongyang.
The approach stood slightly at odds with President Donald Trump's escalating rhetoric on the issue.
In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Mr Trump said a "major, major conflict" with North Korea is possible.
He has repeatedly insisted that "all options are on the table", including the use of military force.
Mr Tillerson singled out China during his remarks, imploring Beijing to use its relationship with North Korea to influence the unpredictable nation.
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson echoed his counterpart's words.
He said: "There could hardly be a clearer threat to world peace, more demanding of a unified response, than the activities of one member of the United Nations, North Korea, breaking its Treaty obligations, ignoring the will of this Council, and making blood-curdling threats to inflict grievous harm on peoples of other countries.
"We urge other partners with direct influence on North Korea to use their leverage to the full, with the aim of easing tensions and ensuring compliance with the expressed will of the UN."
However China seems reluctant to do so.
Addressing the Security Council chamber, China's foreign minister Wang Yi said the answer to the problem did not lie with his country.
He warned that the use of force in the region would lead to "disaster", and that the existing situation could easily "spiral out of control".
Friday, April 28, 2017
Celebrity luxury event Fyre Festival turns to 'mass chaos'
A celebrity-sponsored luxury music festival in the Bahamas has been called a "scam" after ticket-holders were reportedly left stranded.
Co-organised by rapper Ja Rule and promoted by models Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and Hailey Baldwin, the Fyre Festival sold tickets costing up to $12,000 (£9,200) for two weekends of "music, art and food".
Tickets included a flight to a private island in the Bahamas district of the Exumas and VIP treatment with live bands, gourmet food and outdoor activities.
Instead, there were numerous reports of flights cancelled, ticket-holders stranded, no tents to sleep in and a dinner consisting of a cheese sandwich with a side salad.
"So Fyre Fest is a complete disaster. Mass chaos. No organisation. No one knows where to go. There are no villas, just a disaster tent city," festival goer William Finley wrote, sharing photos of the event.
Co-organised by rapper Ja Rule and promoted by models Bella Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski and Hailey Baldwin, the Fyre Festival sold tickets costing up to $12,000 (£9,200) for two weekends of "music, art and food".
Tickets included a flight to a private island in the Bahamas district of the Exumas and VIP treatment with live bands, gourmet food and outdoor activities.
Instead, there were numerous reports of flights cancelled, ticket-holders stranded, no tents to sleep in and a dinner consisting of a cheese sandwich with a side salad.
"So Fyre Fest is a complete disaster. Mass chaos. No organisation. No one knows where to go. There are no villas, just a disaster tent city," festival goer William Finley wrote, sharing photos of the event.
Liam Gallagher threatens 'war' with Damon Albarn and brother Noel
Liam Gallagher has threatened to reignite a "war" with Damon Albarn and his brother Noel for collaborating on a new Gorillaz album.
The former Blur now Gorillaz singer invited former rival Noel Gallagher to lend his vocals to one of the band's new tracks.
We Got The Power featuring Noel and Savages' Jehnny Beth is part of Gorillaz' latest album Humanz, released on Thursday.
Oasis and Blur were Britpop rivals in the 1990s, before the two Gallagher brothers had a high profile fallout.
"Now that d*** out of Blur and the creepy one out of Oasis need to hang their heads in shame as it's no Dancing In The Streets - as you were," Liam tweeted on Thursday, following the album's launch.
"That gobs**** out of Blur might have turned Noel Gallagher into a massive girl but believe you me, next time I see him there's gonna be war," he added.
:: Gorillaz take over the internet with new album Humanz
Noel and Albarn were asked about burying the hatchet and not inviting Liam, to which Noel answered: "Listen, nobody gives a f*** what Liam thinks about anything."
"I mean now it feels like, completely, you know, not news at all really," Albarn said.
"He's fantastic in the studio and it's nice when you see how someone goes about their business."
Last month, Liam Gallagher was announced to headline the Reading & Leeds festival with his latest album titled As You Were.
In a series of tweets, he said he would be playing old Oasis songs "bigger and better than Noel".
"Opening with Don't Look Back In Anger," he wrote.
"To all you Noel Gallagher fanboys I can and will sing any song he wrote bigger and better than him even if I was kicked in the b***** by a wood pigeon".
The former Blur now Gorillaz singer invited former rival Noel Gallagher to lend his vocals to one of the band's new tracks.
We Got The Power featuring Noel and Savages' Jehnny Beth is part of Gorillaz' latest album Humanz, released on Thursday.
Oasis and Blur were Britpop rivals in the 1990s, before the two Gallagher brothers had a high profile fallout.
"Now that d*** out of Blur and the creepy one out of Oasis need to hang their heads in shame as it's no Dancing In The Streets - as you were," Liam tweeted on Thursday, following the album's launch.
"That gobs**** out of Blur might have turned Noel Gallagher into a massive girl but believe you me, next time I see him there's gonna be war," he added.
:: Gorillaz take over the internet with new album Humanz
Noel and Albarn were asked about burying the hatchet and not inviting Liam, to which Noel answered: "Listen, nobody gives a f*** what Liam thinks about anything."
"I mean now it feels like, completely, you know, not news at all really," Albarn said.
"He's fantastic in the studio and it's nice when you see how someone goes about their business."
Last month, Liam Gallagher was announced to headline the Reading & Leeds festival with his latest album titled As You Were.
In a series of tweets, he said he would be playing old Oasis songs "bigger and better than Noel".
"Opening with Don't Look Back In Anger," he wrote.
"To all you Noel Gallagher fanboys I can and will sing any song he wrote bigger and better than him even if I was kicked in the b***** by a wood pigeon".
Paraguay's biggest-ever heist as vault targeted in £9m cash raid
Police are investigating Paraguay's largest-ever heist, following a brazen robbery involving around 50 attackers, prosecutors have revealed.
A gang stole $11.72m (£9.08m) in cash after blasting their way into a vault near the border with Brazil, where the gunmen are believed to have fled to.
Gunmen armed with assault rifles used explosives on the headquarters of the armoured company Prosegur in the city of Ciudad del Este.
Before targeting the building early on Monday, the gunmen set fire to around 20 vehicles and also used grenades at three nearby sites.
They also attacked a police station, killing one officer and injuring four others.
The vault was believed to have held $49m (£38m) before the assault.
Paraguay's police commissioner Abel Canete confirmed Brazilian organised crime organisation, known as the First Capital Command (PCC), had infiltrated the country and was operating from the capital city Asuncion.
He said: "The use of explosives with gel inside automatic rounds, assault on money transport vehicles, bank robbery, excavation of tunnels.
"Prior to this, it was a myth if they (PCC) were there (in Asuncion).
"But given the events that we have investigated we have determined and we have identified members of the PCC. That is to say they exist."
Paraguay's interior ministry has said three suspected members of the gang were killed in a shoot-out with Brazilian federal agents, about 45 miles north of Ciudad del Este.
Brazil's federal police arrested about 15 men suspected of being involved in the theft. But seven have now been released due to lack of evidence.
Ciudad del Este is in the 'Triple Border' region, where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet and where illegal drugs and arms flow across porous borders.
A gang stole $11.72m (£9.08m) in cash after blasting their way into a vault near the border with Brazil, where the gunmen are believed to have fled to.
Gunmen armed with assault rifles used explosives on the headquarters of the armoured company Prosegur in the city of Ciudad del Este.
Before targeting the building early on Monday, the gunmen set fire to around 20 vehicles and also used grenades at three nearby sites.
They also attacked a police station, killing one officer and injuring four others.
The vault was believed to have held $49m (£38m) before the assault.
Paraguay's police commissioner Abel Canete confirmed Brazilian organised crime organisation, known as the First Capital Command (PCC), had infiltrated the country and was operating from the capital city Asuncion.
He said: "The use of explosives with gel inside automatic rounds, assault on money transport vehicles, bank robbery, excavation of tunnels.
"Prior to this, it was a myth if they (PCC) were there (in Asuncion).
"But given the events that we have investigated we have determined and we have identified members of the PCC. That is to say they exist."
Paraguay's interior ministry has said three suspected members of the gang were killed in a shoot-out with Brazilian federal agents, about 45 miles north of Ciudad del Este.
Brazil's federal police arrested about 15 men suspected of being involved in the theft. But seven have now been released due to lack of evidence.
Ciudad del Este is in the 'Triple Border' region, where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet and where illegal drugs and arms flow across porous borders.
UK economic growth shows weakest growth since Brexit vote
The UK economy grew by 0.3% in the first three months of the year, suggesting a Brexit-linked slowdown, according to worse-than-expected official figures.
In a blow to the Chancellor ahead of the General Election, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said retail sales were the biggest drag on first quarter growth, which came in at its weakest level since the EU referendum last June.
The first estimate - which is subject to revision as more information becomes available - marked a sharp slowdown on the 0.7% expansion achieved in the final quarter of 2016 when the economy had continued to defy pre-referendum predictions of a recession in the event of a Leave win.
Economists had been expecting a growth figure of 0.4% at the start of the year amid clear evidence of a squeeze on household budgets.
Labour's shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, seized on the performance, saying: "Today's GDP figures reveal the threat to living standards under the Tories."
"This General Election is a choice between a Labour Party who will stand up for the many and a Tory party which only looks after the privileged few," he added.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said: "Britain's economy is forecast to grow at 2% this year, employment is at record highs and it's set to go higher still."
He said the choice facing the electorate was between strong and stable government under Theresa May or a Jeremy Corbyn-led "coalition of chaos".
:: Is Chancellor Philip Hammond being gagged over GDP?
In a blow to the Chancellor ahead of the General Election, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said retail sales were the biggest drag on first quarter growth, which came in at its weakest level since the EU referendum last June.
The first estimate - which is subject to revision as more information becomes available - marked a sharp slowdown on the 0.7% expansion achieved in the final quarter of 2016 when the economy had continued to defy pre-referendum predictions of a recession in the event of a Leave win.
Economists had been expecting a growth figure of 0.4% at the start of the year amid clear evidence of a squeeze on household budgets.
Labour's shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, seized on the performance, saying: "Today's GDP figures reveal the threat to living standards under the Tories."
"This General Election is a choice between a Labour Party who will stand up for the many and a Tory party which only looks after the privileged few," he added.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said: "Britain's economy is forecast to grow at 2% this year, employment is at record highs and it's set to go higher still."
He said the choice facing the electorate was between strong and stable government under Theresa May or a Jeremy Corbyn-led "coalition of chaos".
:: Is Chancellor Philip Hammond being gagged over GDP?
Roman Polanski film to open at Cannes film festival
Fugitive director Roman Polanski's latest film has been announced as a last-minute entry to the Cannes Film Festival line-up.
The movie, Based On A True Story (D'apres Une Histoire Vraie), will be screened out of competition and stars Emmanuelle Seigner as a Parisian author who meets a mysterious woman, played by Eva Green, at a book signing.
The film marks Polanski's return to the Croisette, four years after his latest film Venus In Fur competed for the Palme d'Or.
:: Cannes 2017: Politics, TV and Adam Sandler
It also comes weeks after a Los Angeles judge rejected the director's bid to end his long-running underage sex abuse case.
Polanski's lawyers requested for the case to be closed without the French-Polish director having to appear in court or serve any more prison time.
Polanski was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl at actor Jack Nicholson's house in 1977, but fled the United States after serving just 42 days in jail.
The woman raped by Polanski took his side on his latest attempt to return to the US without risking jail time.
Samantha Gailey's lawyers revealed a letter in which she accuses prosecutors of not protecting her.
"You have treated me with contempt using a crime committed against me to further your own careers," she said.
Ms Gailey has said in the past she thinks the director's exile has been punishment enough and wants the proceedings to come to an end.
However, prosecutors insist he should return to the US to face justice and should not receive special treatment because of his fame.
Polanski had been set to preside over France's Cesar Awards in February, but withdrew after the protests of feminist groups.
The director has always been welcomed in Cannes, having both Venus In Fur and The Pianist in competition.
Based On A True Story is co-written by Polanski and director Olivier Assayas, whose latest movie Personal Shopper, starring Kristen Stewart as an American in Paris, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes just last year.
Another new addition to the festival lineup is Force Majeure director Ruben Ostlund's drama The Square, starring Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West.
The movie, Based On A True Story (D'apres Une Histoire Vraie), will be screened out of competition and stars Emmanuelle Seigner as a Parisian author who meets a mysterious woman, played by Eva Green, at a book signing.
The film marks Polanski's return to the Croisette, four years after his latest film Venus In Fur competed for the Palme d'Or.
:: Cannes 2017: Politics, TV and Adam Sandler
It also comes weeks after a Los Angeles judge rejected the director's bid to end his long-running underage sex abuse case.
Polanski's lawyers requested for the case to be closed without the French-Polish director having to appear in court or serve any more prison time.
Polanski was found guilty of raping a 13-year-old girl at actor Jack Nicholson's house in 1977, but fled the United States after serving just 42 days in jail.
The woman raped by Polanski took his side on his latest attempt to return to the US without risking jail time.
Samantha Gailey's lawyers revealed a letter in which she accuses prosecutors of not protecting her.
"You have treated me with contempt using a crime committed against me to further your own careers," she said.
Ms Gailey has said in the past she thinks the director's exile has been punishment enough and wants the proceedings to come to an end.
However, prosecutors insist he should return to the US to face justice and should not receive special treatment because of his fame.
Polanski had been set to preside over France's Cesar Awards in February, but withdrew after the protests of feminist groups.
The director has always been welcomed in Cannes, having both Venus In Fur and The Pianist in competition.
Based On A True Story is co-written by Polanski and director Olivier Assayas, whose latest movie Personal Shopper, starring Kristen Stewart as an American in Paris, won the Palme d'Or at Cannes just last year.
Another new addition to the festival lineup is Force Majeure director Ruben Ostlund's drama The Square, starring Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West.
EU 'to pave way for united Ireland membership' at Brexit summit
EU leaders are set to pave the way for automatic membership for Northern Ireland if it decides to reunify with Ireland in the wake of Brexit.
Dublin is expected to ask the bloc's 27 leaders to endorse the idea when they gather in Brussels on Saturday - without Britain - to adopt the EU's guidelines for exit negotiations, according to multiple reports.
"We expect Ireland to ask on Saturday for a statement to be added to the minutes of the European Council, which states that in case of a unification of the island in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement, the united Ireland would be a member of the EU," an EU Council source told the AFP news agency.
"We do not expect a change of the guidelines themselves, but only a statement to the minutes" of the meeting, they added, on condition of anonymity.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has previously asked fellow EU leaders to acknowledge that Northern Ireland would, like East Germany in 1990, automatically become a member in the event of unification with an existing member state.
Irish and EU legal experts have said this is the established position in international law of such territorial changes.
Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, referenda would have to be held on both sides of the border to approve unification.
Another source told Reuters the statement would "state the obvious, i.e. that also a united Ireland would continue being a member of the EU".
They added: "The EU does of course not take a stance on the possibility of a united Ireland.
"Should this question arise, it would be for the peoples of Ireland and Northern Ireland to decide in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement."
Ahead of the summit, European Council President Donald Tusk has said Britain must honour its outstanding financial commitments to the EU before trade talks can commence.
Mr Tusk said discussions about future relations can only start once "we have achieved sufficient progress" on key exit issues:
:: Britain settling outstanding financial commitments to the EU
:: A deal on the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and Britons living in the EU
:: Action to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic
Mr Tusk said: "In other words, before discussing our future, we must first sort out our past."
Dublin is expected to ask the bloc's 27 leaders to endorse the idea when they gather in Brussels on Saturday - without Britain - to adopt the EU's guidelines for exit negotiations, according to multiple reports.
"We expect Ireland to ask on Saturday for a statement to be added to the minutes of the European Council, which states that in case of a unification of the island in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement, the united Ireland would be a member of the EU," an EU Council source told the AFP news agency.
"We do not expect a change of the guidelines themselves, but only a statement to the minutes" of the meeting, they added, on condition of anonymity.
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has previously asked fellow EU leaders to acknowledge that Northern Ireland would, like East Germany in 1990, automatically become a member in the event of unification with an existing member state.
Irish and EU legal experts have said this is the established position in international law of such territorial changes.
Under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, referenda would have to be held on both sides of the border to approve unification.
Another source told Reuters the statement would "state the obvious, i.e. that also a united Ireland would continue being a member of the EU".
They added: "The EU does of course not take a stance on the possibility of a united Ireland.
"Should this question arise, it would be for the peoples of Ireland and Northern Ireland to decide in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement."
Ahead of the summit, European Council President Donald Tusk has said Britain must honour its outstanding financial commitments to the EU before trade talks can commence.
Mr Tusk said discussions about future relations can only start once "we have achieved sufficient progress" on key exit issues:
:: Britain settling outstanding financial commitments to the EU
:: A deal on the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and Britons living in the EU
:: Action to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic
Mr Tusk said: "In other words, before discussing our future, we must first sort out our past."
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