North Korea may have been exploiting collaboration with foreign scientists to bypass tough international sanctions and further its nuclear weapons programme, according to a new investigation. 

An analysis released by the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California, flags at least 100 journals published jointly by North Korean and foreign scientists that have “identifiable significance for dual-use technology, weapons of mass destruction (WMD), or other military purposes.” 

The findings, based on scientific journals spanning more than six decades, shed some light on how North Korea could have advanced so rapidly in building its nuclear and missiles technology despite long-running and harsh international penalties to prevent it from doing so. 

The large majority of the 1,304 research papers dating from 1956 to April 2018 involve natural sciences, engineering or mathematics, but among the identified “areas of concern or potential concern” are Romanian assistance with uranium purification and GPS-related work with Germany and China. 

Most of the research that warrants a closer look involves collaboration with Chinese scientists. 

In an interview with The Telegraph, Joshua Pollack, one of the lead authors on the report, highlighted work on the “isolation of high voltage cables” and on automotive technology as apparently “clear-cut” examples of potential breaches of the ban on the transfer of dual-use equipment. 

Dual-use in this sense would be any legitimate technology that could also be appropriated to assist the creation of WMD or nuclear reactors.

Joint Chinese and North Korean papers on automotive technology had set off alarm bells as they included a computer system that could make the axels on a truck operate independently, said Mr Pollack. 

“That is something that is not associated with an ordinary truck. There are civilian applications for that but in North Korea the obvious use for that is a missile launching vehicle,” he revealed. 

Such an extensive analysis of the risks of scientific collaboration with North Korea is rare, but it is not the first time the issue has been raised. 

Last year, Ken Kato, director of the Tokyo-based Human Rights in Asia, wrote to the ambassadors of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, urging them to close a legal loophole that allegedly allowed pro-North Korean scientists to remain in sensitive research positions. 

“There are six Korean scientists who have been able to remain in sensitive research positions after claiming to have switched their political allegiances to South Korea,” Mr Kato claimed on Thursday. He has not yet received a UN response to his earlier enquiry. 

Mr Pollack and his team conclude that “UN member states must decide what research activities by their nationals or within their territory lie within the scope of sanctions, and which activities are better avoided in order to uphold the integrity of the sanctions regime." 

He added: “We do not want to hand Kim Jong-un a shortcut to advancing his military, advancing his weapons of mass destruction.”

But the complicated nature of scientific research also creates a dilemma about where to draw the line. 

Mr Pollack stressed that concerns over the misuse of some research should not lead to a “blanket ban” on scientific collaboration with the secretive regime, which prizes scientists so highly that it awards them with the best housing in the capital, Pyongyang. 

“You would have to have very strong reasons to shut the North Koreans out, bearing in mind that science contributes to human welfare and progress. It’s not all about weapons,” he said. 

Many Western researchers are heavily vetted by their governments before they can proceed.  

British cooperation with Pyongyang over the years has included “frontiers on mathematics”, engineering principles and, more recently, studies of Mount Paektu, a volcano on North Korea’s border with China. 

James Hammond, a geophysicist at the Birkbeck University of London, who has been working on the project alongside American, Chinese and North Korean colleagues, told NPR that it took almost two years to get US and UK government approval to carry in sensitive seismic equipment. 

Research on the volcano could prove vital to saving many lives if there was a future eruption, Mr Pollack pointed out. 

“I think it may be the case that we don’t do enough when there are humanitarian issues. In particular, epidemiology comes to mind. In both China and North Korea there is a lot of drug-resistant tuberculosis, for example… And disease doesn’t care that much about borders,” he said.  

Finally, he argued, scientific collaboration made sense from a strategic point of view. Towards the end of the Cold War, cooperation between Soviet and American scientific establishments helped to build bridges between the two enemies. 

“Having these bridges between scientists is not a bad thing from a perspective of enlightened self-interest,” he said.   

The family of British backpacker Grace Millane have said they hope that what happened to her "will not deter even one  person from venturing out into the world" after the disappearance of the 22-year-old.

The body of Ms Millane was formally identified on Wednesday after she went missing from a hostel in Auckland, New Zealand, on December 1.

Officers said Ms Millane’s family were "in the process of organising to take her home" as their investigation into the circumstances of her death continue.

Her family said: "Grace went off to travel the world in mid-October and arrived in New Zealand on the 20th November.

"By the amount of pictures and messages we received, she clearly loved this country, its people and the lifestyle.

"We all hope that what has happened to Grace will not deter even one person from venturing out into the world and discovering their own OE (overseas experience)."

Calling the crime "heinous", the family also paid tribute to investigating officers for completing a "concise, stringent and thorough investigation".

They added: "We would like to thank the people of New Zealand for their outpouring of love, numerous messages, tributes and compassion.

"Grace was not born here and only managed to stay a few weeks, but you have taken her to your hearts and in some small way she will forever be a Kiwi."

Jesse Kempson, 26, has been charged with murder and appeared in an Auckland court on Monday.

Ms Millane, from Essex, was last seen at about 9.40pm on December 1 in the company of a man at the CityLife hotel in Auckland, not far from the hostel she was staying at, which is located on the road Mr Kempson lived on.

Detective Inspector Scott Beard said: "Work continues to piece together exactly what happened to Grace, as we build a timeline of the circumstances."

Officers said they have received "hundreds" of calls about the case and investigators are trying to establish a timeline of events.

Police initially launched a missing person inquiry for the University of Lincoln graduate after her parents became concerned that she did not reply to birthday wishes sent on December 2.

Since arriving in New Zealand from Peru on November 20, she had been in near-daily contact with her family, officers said.

A week after she was last seen alive, police said they were treating the case as a homicide investigation and a day later a body was found in the Waitakere Ranges 10 metres away from the road

On Monday, New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern gave an emotional apology to Ms Millane’s family, saying: "Your daughter should have been safe here, and she wasn’t, and I’m sorry for that."

"I cannot imagine the grief of her family and what they would be experiencing and feeling right now."

Candlelit vigils were held throughout New Zealand to honour Grace Millane on Wednesday night, and several more were planned for Saturday with peace walks in Auckland and Christchurch.

The vigil held outside Auckland’s SkyCity Casino – one of the places Grace was last seen alive – was a tribute all 15 women killed on New Zealand soil during 2018.

On a warm summer night, amidst the fake snow and bauble-strewn pines of Christmas, hundreds of people gathered beside the casino. Many clasped candles, some were in tears.

Broadcaster Ali Mau organised the event and said Millane’s death had "become a flashpoint for anger and grief over New Zealand’s appalling record on violence against women".

"Sadly, Grace is not alone. Just today, police have given details of another Auckland woman murdered in the past 24 hours."

Abby Munckhof, 23, said she that while she was aware violence towards women was a problem the world over, following Millane’s story had “brought it home” for her.

“I can identify with Grace. I’m also a young women, I also go travelling overseas, head off with strangers … you think you’re going to be safe and she deserved to be safe.”

Saoirse Ronan has credited her mother with shielding her from influential Hollywood executives who preyed on young women.

At 24 years old, the actress is practically an industry veteran, having made her breakthrough as Bryony Tallis in Atonement – earning her an Oscar nomination at just 13.

“I don’t know what would have happened if she hadn’t been around,” she said of her mother, Monica, a former nanny.

“I’m sure I would have been exposed to that quite a bit, but she just protected me from all that. I wasn’t unaware that there were people in the industry who abused their power, or who were seedy or untrustworthy.

“But because of her I was never a victim and I’m very, very thankful,” she told Harper’s Bazaar UK. “I didn’t leave home at 19 all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I hadn’t been wrapped in cotton wool but I had been protected.”

Ronan, who still lives in her native Ireland, went on to be Oscar-nominated for Brooklyn and Lady Bird.

In her latest film, Mary Queen of Scots, which opens on Jan 18, she plays the lead role opposite Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I.

In a separate interview last week, Ronan said she had never been cast for her looks but acknowledged that there was a double standard in the film industry.

“I suppose I was playing girls from an early age that had nothing pretty about them – they were weird or they were tomboys,” she said.

“So many male actors are odd-looking, and they’re just considered to be interesting, and they have amazing careers and they play romantic figures.

“But I wonder – does that just maybe go back to how women view men? We are, in general, more forgiving.”

The February issue of Harper’s Bazaar is available now.     

The December solstice happens at the same instant for everyone, everywhere on Earth – and this year the winter solstice occurs today, Friday December 21st 22:23 GMT in the Northern Hemisphere.

The winter solstice happens every year when the Sun reaches its most southerly declination of -23.5 degrees. In other words, it is when the North Pole is tilted farthest away from the Sun, delivering the fewest hours of sunlight of the year.

The Sun is directly overhead of the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere during the December solstice and is closer to the horizon than at any other time in the year, meaning shorter days and longer nights.

The shortest day of the year lasts for 7 hours 49…

A three-year old girl is in critical condition in a New Delhi hospital where she was admitted over the weekend after allegedly being raped by her 40-year old neighbour.

Officials on Monday said the girl’s condition was ‘serious’ following surgery and doctors were unsure whether the infant would survive.

“A three-year old girl has been brutally raped in Bindapur in Delhi. She is bleeding profusely and is very critical,” tweeted the Delhi Commissioner for Women Swati Maliwal.  

Police have arrested the suspect, who is a security guard living in the same building as the victim.  

They said he tried to flee after reportedly raping the child, but was apprehended by her father and beaten up by other neighbours in their tenement after he raised the alarm.

He was later arrested and admitted to the same hospital where the girl is undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in the beating.

Police said they were alerted to the crime on Sunday afternoon after the girl’s parents called their emergency number and said their daughter had not returned home after going out to play with her friends hours earlier.

One police officer said the girl’s father, a daily wage labourer, then went to a neighbour’s room in their tenement and found his daughter bleeding and unconscious on the floor with the security guard standing over her.  

“The guard allegedly tried to escape, but was overpowered by the girl’s father who also began shouting for help” the policemen said. Some neighbours arrived and thrashed the guard before handing him over to the police, he added. 

Police said initial inquires had revealed that the alleged culprit had lured the three-year old with sweets and taken her to his room before allegedly raping her. 

The brutal incident took place on the sixth anniversary of the fatal gang rape of a 23-year old medical student aboard a moving bus in New Delhi on 16 December 2012.  

The victim, who was christened Nibhaya or Fearless, later died in a hospital in Singapore from internal injuries sustained during the gang rape, but the vicious attack triggered outrage and protests across India, resulting in tougher anti-rape legislation.

It also led to tougher laws to curb voyeurism, stalking, acid attacks on women by spurned men and the trafficking of women for prostitution.

However, these measures do not appear to have lessened the numbers of rapes, especially of children, which have increased in recent years.

The number of reported child rapes has more than doubled from 8,541 cases in 2012 to 19,765 in 2016.

Officials numbers say that over 10,000 children were raped in 2015 and that some 50 per cent of rapists were either known to the victim or trusted by them in their capacity as ‘care givers’.