Top story: North Korea displays military might
North Korea has fired a volley of short-range missiles into the sea after the UN ratcheted up sanctions against the regime. The new restrictions on trade are the toughest in decades and were approved unanimously by the security council, prompted by North Korea’s nuclear missile tests.
North Korea has previously carried out live firing near or across its borders when facing international condemnation so this launch off its east coast was seen as a low-level response to the sanctions.
The US and North Korea’s increasingly uneasy ally China spent seven weeks negotiating the new sanctions. They include mandatory inspections of cargo leaving and entering North Korea by sea or air, a ban on all sales or transfers of small arms and light weapons to Pyongyang, and expulsion of diplomats from the North who engage in “illicit activities”.
News wrap: today’s headlines digested
A senior French government minister has warned that his country would tear up the agreement allowing British border police to operate in Calais if the UK leaves the EU. Chiming with comments by campaigners for the UK to stay in the union, France’s economy minister, Emmanuel Macron, has warned that the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp could be moved over the Channel if Britain voted to leave the union. He has also said France would “roll out the red carpet” for London bankers who want to continue to work within the EU.
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Debris washed up on a beach in Mozambique appears to be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. Malaysia’s transport minister says there is a ‘high possibility’ that it belongs to the same type of aircraft and it will be taken to Australia for analysis. The development comes days before the second anniversary of the plane’s disappearance.
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Adblocking on websites is a ‘modern-day protection racket’, the culture secretary John Whittingdale has said. Unveiling plans for an industry-wide roundtable, he said the fast-growing use of software that blocks advertising presented an existential threat to the newspaper and music industries. Web users have turned to adblockers to fix slow page load times – but the software been criticised for robbing publishers and others of vital revenue
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Olympic chiefs have given the go ahead for a ‘refugee team’ to take part in Rio games. More than 40 high-performance athletes, who are also refugees with no home country, have been identified as possible members of a 10-strong team to compete in Brazil this year.
The thing you’ll be talking about today
The final round of voting on New Zealand’s flag has begun. Kiwis must choose whether to keep the current design, which incorporates the British flag, or switch to a new-look silver fern against blue and black. The alternative flag was the highest-ranked of five designs in a referendum last year, with 50.58% of the vote.
Your lunchtime read
Me! Me! Me! Are we living through a narcissism epidemic?
From attention-seeking celebrities to digital oversharing and the boom in cosmetic surgery, narcissistic behaviour is all around us. How worried should we be about our growing self-obsession?
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What do you think of the morning briefing?
We are trying out this new style of email briefing for two weeks only and we’d love to know whether you liked it and hear your suggestions. Share your thoughts, anytime, here.
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