While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 30
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A February summit in Vietnam between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un collapsed after the two sides failed to reconcile differences between Washington's demands for Pyongyang's complete denuclearisation and North Korean demands for sanctions relief.
PHOTO: AFP
US' Pompeo hopes for North Korea talks soon, no leaders' summit planned
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday (July 29) he hoped working-level talks to revive denuclearisation talks with North Korea could occur "very soon" but emphasised that a follow up leaders' summit was not planned.
"We hope that we can have working-level discussions very soon," Pompeo told an audience at The Economics Club of Washington DC a day before he travels to Asia.
Asked about the possibility of another summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he added: "There is nothing in the works. There is nothing planned."
Scotland's Sturgeon thinks UK PM Johnson is pursuing a no-deal Brexit
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Monday (July 29) she believed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was pursuing a no-deal Brexit.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Johnson in Edinburgh, Sturgeon said there was no clarity on how he planned to reach a new exit deal when the European Union has repeatedly said it will not renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement it reached with his predecessor Theresa May.
"That makes me think that whatever Boris Johnson might be saying publicly about his preference being to strike a deal, in reality he is really pursuing a no-deal Brexit because that is the logic of the hardline position that he has taken," she said.
Man pushes boy in front of train in Germany, killing him
A 40-year-old Eritrean man pushed an eight-year-old boy in front of an oncoming train at Frankfurt's main train station in Germany on Monday (July 29), killing him, police said.
The man also pushed the boy's mother but she survived.
Police were unaware of any connection between the man and the victims and his motive was unclear, a police spokeswoman said.
French NGO files suit over Notre-Dame lead risks
Pressure rose on French authorities on Monday (July 29) after an environmental group said it had filed a lawsuit accusing officials of failing to quickly contain the risks of lead poisoning after the fire that ravaged Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris last April.
Worries about exposure to the toxic metal emerged shortly after the disaster, which saw hundreds of tonnes of lead in the church roof and steeple melt during the blaze.
That dispersed lead particles into the air that later settled on streets and buildings in surrounding neighbourhoods, though officials had insisted there was no danger to residents.
Britain hit record high of 38.7C last week: Official
Temperatures in Britain reached a record high of 38.7 degrees Celsius on July 25, the Met Office national weather service said on Monday (July 28), confirming a preliminary reading.
"The reading at Cambridge Botanic Garden has been quality controlled and is officially the highest temperature on record in the UK," the Met office said in a tweet.
The previous record was 38.5C recorded in Faversham in Kent in southeast England in 2003.