North Korea’s main nuclear test site has partially collapsed under the stress of multiple explosions, possibly rendering it unsafe for further testing and leaving it vulnerable to radiation leaks, a study by Chinese geologists has shown.The findings could cast doubt on North Korea’s sincerity in announcing last weekend that it would stop testing nuclear weapons at the site ahead of Friday’s summit between the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.

The test site at Punggye-ri, in a mountainous area in North Korea’s north-east, has been the location for all six of the regime’s nuclear tests since 2006. The findings, by scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China, suggest the partial collapse of the mountain that contains the testing tunnels, as well as the risk of radiation leaks, have potentially rendered the site unusable. The study was published soon after Kim said his country would stop testing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and close down Punggye-ri before his meeting with Moon just south of the countries’ heavily armed border.(theguardian)…[+]

An Indian court has found a guru guilty of raping a teenage girl in 2013 and sentenced him to life in prison. The verdict against Asaram Bapu, 77, was read out inside a prison in Jodhpur, Rajasthan state, due to fears that his followers might resort to violence.Security was tight around the prison complex and in states where the guru has a large following. It is the latest high-profile rape case in India, following others that have fuelled public protests and raised questions about how police handle allegations and treat victims. In August, another popular guru, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for raping two female followers.

Responding to widespread outrage over the recent rape and killings of girls and other attacks on children, India’s government last week approved the death penalty for people convicted of raping children under the age of 12. The judge, Madhusudhan Sharma, announced the prison term for Bapu and sentenced two of his associates to 20 years in prison each for helping him in the crime. Sharma convicted Bapu on charges of criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement and rape.(theguardian)…[+]

Malaria could be quickly eliminated in south-east Asia by an all-out effort to dose whole populations with drugs that treat the disease, regardless of whether people have symptoms or are healthy, say experts. The radical programme may be the best way to outpace rapidly spreading resistance to anti-malarial drugs, they believe.

An experimental programme which involved giving drugs to 365,000 people in malarial “hotspots” across 18,000 square kilometres of Myanmar has succeeded in substantially reducing and even sometimes clearing malaria completely from villages.

The Oxford University team who ran the study believe this “nuclear option” is urgently needed to wipe out malaria in south-east Asia before growing resistance to the best drugs now available – the artemisinin compounds – spreads to India and Africa.

They are calling for urgent political and financial backing from donor governments and the World Health Organization. “It is hard. People don’t want to move outside their comfort zone of the current approaches. We need very high level political commitment and the money,” said Professor Sir Nick White, chair of the Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit which ran the study and board member of the Worldwide Antimalarial Resistance Network (Warn). “We think the risk to the rest of the world is significant and we can’t afford to let this get out of control. If it extends to India and Africa that’s it. All the gains could be reversed.”(theguardian)…[+]