Kim Jong-un has pledged to disarm his nuclear programme and development in return for security guarantees signed off by Donald Trump
Hello, this is Anna getting you caught up on Tuesday's biggest news stories.
Today's headlines
Historic summit between Trump and Kim
Kim Jong-un has pledged to disarm his nuclear programme and development in return for security guarantees signed off by Donald Trump in a joint statement at the end of a historic summit in Singapore. All eyes around the world have been on Singapore as the leaders of North Korea and the US met in a highly-anticipated summit aimed at bringing an end to increased tension between the two countries. However, the agreed commitments were vaguely worded on a key issue: what denuclearisation actually means.
The statement said there would be further meetings between senior officials from both countries to continue the momentum of the summit. The joint statement, signed by the leaders after five hours of talks, laid out a basic bargain. ‘President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,’ it read. Kim said the pair had agreed to ‘leave the past behind’. And posing for photographs afterwards, Trump said he had learned that Kim was a ‘very talented man’ who loved his country.
WhatsApp killings in India
Police in India have arrested 16 people after two men became the latest victims of hysteria over WhatsApp rumours of child kidnappers. The men had stopped to ask directions in north-eastern Assam state when they were beaten to death by a large mob. Rumours of child kidnappings are spreading across India over WhatsApp, according to BBC News, causing the deaths of seven other people in the past month. The two recent victims have been identified as Nilotpal Das, an audio engineer and Abijeet Nath, a digital artist, from Guwahati, Assam.
Climate change kills African trees
Some of Africa’s oldest and biggest baobab trees have abruptly died over the past decade, according to researchers. The trees, aged between 1,100 and 2,500 years, may have fallen victim to climate change, the team speculated. ‘It is definitely shocking and dramatic to experience during our lifetime the demise of so many trees with millennial ages,’ said the study’s co-author Adrian Patrut of the Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania.
‘La Barbie’ drug trafficker jailed for nearly five decades
A Texas-born man who rose to the top ranks of a Mexican drug cartel, according to prosecutors, was sentenced on Monday by a federal judge in Atlanta to serve nearly five decades in prison. Edgar Valdez Villarreal, known as ‘La Barbie’, was sentenced to serve 49 years and one month, as well as being ordered to forfeit $192 million, which prosecutors say is a moderate estimate of the cocaine value Valdez was responsible for importing into the United States.
Rose McGowan indicted on cocaine possession charges
Rose McGowan was indicted on Monday by a grand jury in Virginia for felony possession of cocaine, and could face a year in prison if found guilty, Buzzfeed News reports. McGowan was the subject of an investigation after a wallet she left on a flight from Washington Dulles International Airport in January 2017 tested positive for cocaine. Police issued an arrest warrant the following month, charging McGowan with possession of a controlled substance, a class 5 felony. McGowan has been out on $5,000 bail and denies the drugs are hers. Her attorney, Jim Hundley, says they believe the drugs could have been planted in McGowan’s wallet.
Ariana Grande appears to confirm engagement
Ariana Grande seems to have confirmed reports that she is engaged to comedian Pete Davidson. The singer has been replying to fans tweeting her about a potential wedding. ‘I hope he knows he is marrying us as well,’ one fan tweeted. ‘HAHAHAHAHAHH HES BEEN BRIEFED,’ Grande replied.