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Exclusive: Passenger manifests seized by Kurdish forces at Tel Abyad have same stamp marks as other Isis documents the Guardian has been able to verify Islamic State militants pass through the Syrian border town Tel Abyad. Photograph: AP Islamic State ran a sophisticated immigration operation through a Syrian border town with Turkey until its defeat in the area by Kurds ... Read More »

Chase for Mexico’s most wanted criminal in Los Mochis is stuff of Hollywood: helicopters, shootouts, sewers, carjacking, handcuffs and satin sheets Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán sits handcuffed on a bed in a the Doux motel as police await for reinforcements. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock A light rain pattered the rooftops of Los Mochis in Friday’s pre-dawn darkness, the town silent and still ... Read More »

Immigrants seek protection for families after 121 people were taken into custody to be deported, as legal groups and Latin American consulates rush to assistance Members of Latino and immigration assistance organization We are CASA protest in front of the White House after ICE raids targeted immigrants for deportation over the weekend. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA Agents arrived at the Morales ... Read More »

Islamic State has built a research centre devoted to launching attacks in the west using driverless cars and rehabilitated anti-aircraft missiles, new footage from inside the terror group reveals. The centre is in the group’s Syrian stronghold, Raqqa, where technicians from around the world have been plotting to wreak chaos outside of the self-declared caliphate’s borders, according to the group’s ... Read More »

Angoulême says it will add female nominees after Daniel Clowes, Joann Sfar and Riad Sattouf pull out in protest Daniel Clowes, Joann Sfar and Riad Sattouf. Sfar said: ‘I simply don’t want to be part of a ceremony so disconnected from the current reality of comics art.’ Photograph: Richard Saker/EPA/Olivia Snaije One of the world’s biggest comic-book festivals has bowed ... Read More »

Angelino Alfano says ‘wombs for rent’ should be punishable with prison, as he suggests new laws will make it easier for gay couples to use surrogate mothers Italian interior minister Angelino Alfano’s comments were condemned by gay rights campaigners. Photograph: Riccardo De Luca/AP Italy’s interior minister has called for surrogates to be treated as sex offenders, as part of a ... Read More »

The suspected North Korean nuclear test appears to be “pretty similar” to Pyongyang’s last test in 2013, according to the head of the international agency tasked with monitoring such incidents. This initial finding adds to scepticism about the North Korean claim that it has tested a much more powerful hydrogen bomb – a development that, if true, would mark significant ... Read More »

Danes, Swedes impose new border checks Denmark has imposed temporary identity checks on its border with Germany following a similar move by Sweden, dealing a double blow to Europe’s fraying passport-free Schengen area amid a record influx of migrants. Sweden began checking documents of travellers from Denmark on Monday for the first time in half a century, causing delays of ... Read More »

New books and documentaries question French authorities’ response to 7 January attacks and examine possible intelligence failings Flowers near the offices of Charlie Hebdo in the wake of the attack last January. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA The first anniversary of terrorist attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Paris kosher supermarket is being marked by ongoing questions and ... Read More »

Bahrain severs ties with Iran Bahrain has announced it is cutting diplomatic ties with Iran, the state news agency BNA reported, a day after its ally and neighbour Saudi Arabia also severed relations with Tehran. Saudi Arabia cut ties with regional rival Iran on Sunday after Iranian protesters attacked its mission there, angered by the Sunni Muslim kingdom’s decision to ... Read More »