Malaysia is returning 42 shipping containers of illegally imported plastic waste to the UK, its environment minister has announced. Yeo Bee Yin said Malaysia would take “steps to ensure” the country “does not become the garbage dump of the world”.

She added Malaysia had sent back 150 containers to their country of origin. The UK government said it received a request from Malaysian authorities last year to repatriate the waste and some containers had already arrived back. An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We continue to work with the shipping lines and Malaysian authorities to ensure all waste is brought back as soon as possible.” He added the government was also “working hard to stop illegal waste exports from leaving our shores in the first place”.

The South East Asian country has seen a sharp rise in foreign plastic waste since China – once the world’s largest importer – announced a ban in 2017. Malaysia said a total of a total of 3,737 metric tonnes of unwanted waste had been sent back to 13 countries, including 43 containers to France, 42 to the UK, 17 to the United States, and 11 to Canada. The authorities hope to send back another 110 containers by the middle of 2020 – with 60 of those going to the US.(bbc)…[+]

US President Donald Trump’s legal team has issued its first formal response to the impeachment charges against him, describing them as a “dangerous attack” on democracy.

The document said the impeachment articles failed to allege any crime and were a “brazen” attempt to interfere with the 2020 presidential elections. The response came as the Democrats filed their brief for the proceedings. Opening statements in the trial will begin on Tuesday. Mr Trump is only the third US president in history to face an impeachment trial. He is accused of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. He has denied wrongdoing and branded the case against him as a “hoax”.

The House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats, impeached the president last month. The Senate, controlled by Mr Trump’s Republican Party, will decide whether to convict and remove him from office. A two-thirds majority of 67 votes in the 100-seat Senate is required to convict and oust Mr Trump. But because there are only 45 Democrats (along with 53 Republicans and two Independents), the president is widely expected to be cleared.

In their brief filed earlier on Saturday, House Democrats laid out their arguments for why Mr Trump should be removed from office.

They said the president had “abandoned his oath to faithfully execute the laws and betrayed his public trust”, and called his conduct the “worst nightmare” of the country’s founding fathers.(BBC)…[+]

Puerto Rico’s top emergencies manager has been sacked after video emerged of a warehouse full of supplies dating back to the devastating Hurricane Maria that hit the island in 2017.

Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced said she wanted answers within 48 hours over the undistributed aid. Sacked director Carlos Acevedo said no-one had been denied “any of the items” found in the warehouse. Since 2017, Puerto Rico has been hit by a series of hurricanes and earthquakes. The island is still recovering from Hurricane Maria, a category-five storm that devastated parts of the Caribbean in September 2017.In Puerto Rico alone, the hurricane is estimated to have killed 2,975 people and caused $100bn (£75bn) of damage.(BBC)…[+]

SpaceX has conducted a test of the abort manoeuvre it would use if one of its crew-carrying rockets ever developed a problem during flight. The rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center saw a Falcon-9 vehicle’s ascent into the sky deliberately terminated just 80 seconds after lift-off.

The Dragon astronaut capsule on top fired its escape engines to carry itself clear of the “faulty” booster. Parachutes brought the vessel to a safe splashdown some 30km off Florida. No humans were involved in the practice abort; the only occupants of the Dragon ship were a couple of Anthropomorphic Test Devices, or “dummies”.

This was considered to be the last major milestone for California’s SpaceX company before the US space agency (Nasa) certifies the firm to carry astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.(BBC)…[+]

The chief executive of the Recording Academy, which organises the Grammy Awards, has been removed from her position just 10 days before this year’s ceremony in Los Angeles. Deborah Dugan was placed on administrative leave following an allegation of misconduct, the Academy said in a statement.

Dugan had replaced former chief executive Neil Portnow, who caused controversy in 2018 when he suggested female artists should “step up” if they wanted to be recognised at the Grammys. She was the Academy’s first female president and, in an interview published this week, called her role “the best job on the planet“.

In a statement, the Recording Academy said: “In light of concerns raised to the Recording Academy board of trustees, including a formal allegation of misconduct by a senior female member of the Recording Academy team, the board has placed Recording Academy president and CEO Deborah Dugan on administrative leave, effective immediately. “The board has also retained two independent third-party investigators to conduct independent investigations of the allegations.”

It continued: “The board determined this action to be necessary in order to restore the confidence of the Recording Academy’s membership, repair Recording Academy employee morale, and allow the Recording Academy to focus on its mission of serving all music creators.”(bbc)…[+]

US congresswoman Ayanna Pressley has revealed she is completely bald because of the hair-loss condition alopecia. The Massachusetts Democrat told The Root that she started noticing her hair was falling out last autumn.

She eventually went totally bald in December, the night before Congress voted to impeach Donald Trump. Sharing the video on social media, Ms Pressley later said: “As a Black woman, the personal is political. My hair story is no exception.” Ms Pressley, 45, is a member of the so-called “Squad” of four progressive Democratic congresswomen of colour.In an interview with The Root website, Ms Pressley said she first got her signature hairstyle – Senegalese twist – four years ago.(bbc)…[+]

As relations between the US and South Korea fray, the American ambassador to the country has brushed off criticism of an increasingly hairy matter: his moustache. Harry Harris, a retired navy admiral, has ruffled feathers in South Korea since becoming US ambassador in 2018.

But recently, it’s his facial hair that has left South Koreans bristling. To some South Koreans, it evokes memories of Japanese colonial rule over the country from 1910 until 1945. Those who feel affronted say his facial hair is reminiscent of the moustaches worn by Japan’s governor-generals in that era. Mr Harris, the son of a US Navy officer and a Japanese mother, has previously raised tensions by demanding that South Korea pay more for hosting US troops. But speaking to reporters on Thursday, he suggested the criticism stemmed from his heritage.(bbc)…[+]

Cities across southern Europe are experiencing dangerously high levels of smog caused by a prolonged period of dry sunny weather and light winds. Temporary bans on diesel vehicles have been ordered in major Italian cities, including the capital, Rome, in an effort to reduce the pollution.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, protesters have taken to the streets in gas masks demanding action from the government. Environmentalists have described the situation as a smog emergency. In Rome, diesel cars, vans and motorbikes have been banned during peak times, while other polluting vehicles have been banned altogether.

The restrictions, which are set to remain in place over the next three days, are expected to affect about one million vehicles. At least nine of the 13 areas in Rome that monitor particulate matter – a fine dust known as PM10 – have recorded levels this week in excess of the legal limit, Italy’s Il Messaggero reported.(BBC)…[+]

Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, who is embroiled in a huge financial scandal, has suggested that she may seek to become the country’s president.

In a BBC interview, Ms Dos Santos pointedly declined four times to rule out running for the presidency. Her father José Eduardo dos Santos ruled Angola for 38 years. Prosecutors are seeking to recover $1bn (£760m) Ms Dos Santos and her associates are alleged to owe the state. She has denied any wrongdoing. Ms Dos Santos, 46, is one of the world’s richest women, with Forbes magazine estimating her fortune to be worth $2.2bn, making her the richest woman in Africa.

Her father controversially appointed her as the head of Angola’s state-owned oil firm Sonangol in 2016. She was sacked from the post in 2017 by President Joao Lourenço, her father’s handpicked successor.(bbc)…[+]

Harvey Weinstein is about to go on trial – and 12 men and women in New York will be responsible for determining whether he is guilty. Jury selection is currently under way, with the former Hollywood producer accused of five charges, including rape and predatory sexual assault relating to two alleged victims. But finding impartial juries for such a high-profile case – one that galvanised the #MeToo movement across the world – could be difficult.

The court has summoned 2,000 potential jurors for the case – about five times more than normal – just to find 12 suitable regular jurors and six alternate jurors. And on the very first day of jury selection, a third of the potential jurors present were dismissed outright, after telling the judge they did not think they could be impartial.

“The first few days of jury selection has already underscored just how challenging it’s going to be,” Valerie Hans, a law professor and jury expert at Cornell University says. “When you have large numbers of people saying they can’t be impartial, it’s a wakeup call – because most people think of themselves as generally fair.”(bbc)…[+]