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- 'We have abandoned the poor': slums suffer as Covid-19 exposes India's social divide
- The people that Covid-19 has cut off from home
- Nancy Pelosi says she has no confidence in Deborah Birx over handling of pandemic
- Coronavirus live news: Global cases pass 18m as Melbourne braces for further lockdown measures
- Ban SUV adverts to meet UK climate goals, report urges
- Inspired by the US, Europe's 'paperless' children are speaking out
- John Hume, former SDLP leader and Nobel peace prize winner, dies at 83
- Growers and producers at odds in France's 'champagne wars'
- TikTok row: Microsoft pursues deal as China vows to resist US sanctions
- Apple wildfire: thousands ordered to evacuate as southern California blaze grows
- Islamic State attack on Afghanistan prison kills at least 21 people
- $340m in London law firm's account suspected of 1MDB connection
- Vegan food company provokes with M*** F*** advertising campaign
- Leon Fleisher, US pianist who lost use of his right hand, dies aged 92
- Jamie Oliver on fame, failure and fighting obesity: 'I'm actually quite shy. I don't like a ruck'
- The Lebanese economy in freefall – a photo essay
- How a musician's death unleashed violence and death in Ethiopia
- With big rallies cancelled, young climate activists are adapting election tactics
- Coronavirus global report: 'response fatigue' fears as Mexico hits 9,000 daily cases
- UK, eurozone factories bounce back; US-China tensions rise over TikTok – business live
- Coronavirus Australia live update: PM announces $1,500 paid pandemic leave as Victoria records 429 new cases and 13 deaths
- Bolivians driven from pillar to post as Covid-19 overwhelms hospitals
- Coronavirus near me: are UK Covid-19 cases rising in your local area?
- Israel protests may dent Netanyahu's ego, but do they threaten his power?
- Does stage 4 'shock and awe' in Melbourne mean we should have gone for elimination of coronavirus after all? | Gay Alcorn
- Jacinda Ardern: no trans-Tasman travel bubble for 'some time to come' – video
- California's 'Apple Fire' – the wildfire in pictures
- Apple wildfire forces thousands to evacuate in southern California – video
- Inside Lebanon's economic crisis - podcast
- Nancy Pelosi says she doesn't have confidence in Dr Deborah Birx over coronavirus – video
| 'We have abandoned the poor': slums suffer as Covid-19 exposes India's social divide Posted: 02 Aug 2020 08:58 PM PDT Virus proves a reminder to wealthy of their reliance on impoverished workers, reviving calls for a slum revolution that will benefit all Cooking, cleaning, and food shopping have been a shock to Anisa Agarwal. Pre-pandemic, married to a wealthy tile manufacturer, her life in Gulmohar Park in Delhi involved a cook, maid, driver and cleaner who came to her house every day. But despite her total dependence on them, Agarwal, 44, has not allowed her staff to enter her home in four months. Continue reading... |
| The people that Covid-19 has cut off from home Posted: 02 Aug 2020 09:00 PM PDT Chinese students, Mongolian tourists and Palestinians from Gaza are still stranded When her studies in Budapest finished this spring, Puje was meant to return home to Mongolia, where she had a job waiting for her in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. But in mid-March, Mongolia sealed its borders completely, even to its own citizens, and it has not yet reopened them. Now, the 26-year-old Puje is one of thousands of Mongolians stranded in Europe. Covid-19 has caused havoc with the travel plans of millions across the world, ruining holidays and testing long-distance relationships. But for many people who are still unable to get back to their home countries, such problems seem trivial by comparison. Continue reading... |
| Nancy Pelosi says she has no confidence in Deborah Birx over handling of pandemic Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:01 AM PDT Senior scientist on taskforce defends administration but warns that widespread infections mark a 'new phase' for US House speaker Nancy Pelosi escalated an attack on Dr Deborah Birx, a senior scientist on Donald Trump's coronavirus taskforce, in television comments on Sunday as Birx defended the administration's handling of the pandemic. Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, was asked on ABC's This Week whether she has confidence in Birx, a renowned public health expert who has frequently appeared alongside Trump in briefings on the virus. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus live news: Global cases pass 18m as Melbourne braces for further lockdown measures Posted: 03 Aug 2020 02:07 AM PDT Residents in state of Victoria wake up after first night of curfew; 'major incident' declared in Manchester; Nancy Pelosi says she has no confidence in Birx over handling of pandemic
Lebanon's foreign minister announced his resignation Monday in protest at the government's mishandling of the worst economic crisis in decades that has forced Beirut to ask for IMF support. "I have decided to resign today as foreign minister," Nassif Hitti said in a statement seen by AFP, charging that the government had shown no will to initiate reforms demanded by international donors.
The number of confirmed coronavirus related deaths rose by four on Monday in Afghanistan as at least 21 people have been killed in an ongoing complex attack by Isis in eastern Nangarhar province. Health ministry reported that the total death toll stands at 1,288. In its latest update, the health ministry said the number of people who had tested positive for the virus had reached 36,746, an increase of 36 on the day before. There have been 25,556 recoveries, including 47 over the past 24 hours. Continue reading... |
| Ban SUV adverts to meet UK climate goals, report urges Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT High-polluting cars are threat to public health, says New Weather Institute thinktank Advertising of sports utility vehicles, which emit more greenhouse gases than other cars, should be banned so the UK can meet its climate goals, a report has said. The large increase in numbers of SUVs in the UK and around the world is the second-largest contributor to the increase in global emissions since 2010, according to the International Energy Agency. Continue reading... |
| Inspired by the US, Europe's 'paperless' children are speaking out Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT A generation of undocumented Europeans – inspired by the 'Dreamers' in the US – are fighting for residency rights. A new Guardian series hears some of their stories 'Why do you sound so British?" the immigration officer asked 15-year-old Ijeoma Moore as she followed orders to pack for herself and her 10-year-old brother. Officers had arrived at their London home that morning in 2010, as they were eating breakfast and getting ready to leave for school. "Because I am British," the teenager replied. What else could she be? She had lived in the UK since she was two years old. She loved tea and toast and "stupid telly". But her mother's repeated residency applications to the Home Office had all been rejected. Moore was not a British citizen. Continue reading... |
| John Hume, former SDLP leader and Nobel peace prize winner, dies at 83 Posted: 03 Aug 2020 01:59 AM PDT Hume won global acclaim for his efforts towards achieving Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland John Hume, the former SDLP leader and Nobel peace prize winner, has died aged 83. Hume, who was awarded the peace prize for his efforts in forging the Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland, had suffered from ill-health for a number of years. The former Foyle MP had dementia and was cared for in the Owen Mor nursing home in Derry. Continue reading... |
| Growers and producers at odds in France's 'champagne wars' Posted: 02 Aug 2020 09:00 PM PDT Coronavirus has hit the industry hard, with division over how to respond In the champagne vineyards of France, the season of ripening, plumping and sweetening of the grapes ready for harvesting at the end of August, known as the veraison, has begun. Maxime Toubart, a relatively small vigneron who produces 25,000 bottles of bubbly from the 12-acre maison founded by his great-grandparents in 1900, has been cultivating his clients as well as his vines during the coronavirus crisis and is confident his business will survive. Continue reading... |
| TikTok row: Microsoft pursues deal as China vows to resist US sanctions Posted: 03 Aug 2020 02:15 AM PDT Acquisition plans confirmed hours after US secretary of state says Chinese software firms are feeding data directly to Communist party China has pushed back against the threat of further action by the US against its software companies, after Microsoft revealed it was pursuing an acquisition deal for TikTok. On Sunday, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, told Fox News Donald Trump was likely to take unspecified action in the coming days. Continue reading... |
| Apple wildfire: thousands ordered to evacuate as southern California blaze grows Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:47 AM PDT Fire explodes in size as crews battle the flames in triple-digit heat in mountains east of Los Angeles Thousands of people were under evacuation orders Sunday after a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size as crews battled the flames in triple-digit heat. The fire, dubbed the Apple Fire by local firefighters, was straddling Riverside and San Bernardino counties and consumed more than 23sq miles (about 60sq km) of dry brush and timber, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Continue reading... |
| Islamic State attack on Afghanistan prison kills at least 21 people Posted: 03 Aug 2020 02:38 AM PDT Ongoing assault in Jalalabad has also left more than 40 people injured Islamic State fighters have attacked a prison in eastern Afghanistan holding scores of the group's members, killing at least 21 people. Another 43 people have been wounded in the assault, which began late on Sunday when an Isis suicide bomber slammed his explosive-laden vehicle into the prison entrance in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Militants then opened fire on security forces at the facility, which is about 70 miles (115km) east of Kabul. Continue reading... |
| $340m in London law firm's account suspected of 1MDB connection Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT Money in Clyde & Co's bank account linked to money allegedly embezzled from Malaysian fund Investigators probing one of the world's largest financial frauds have said they suspect $340m (£255m) held in the bank account of a major London law firm is linked to money allegedly embezzled from the Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB. According to court papers, Malaysia's anti-corruption agency is urgently trying to prevent City firm Clyde & Co from releasing the large sum of money, which they suspect can be traced to proceeds of the multibillion-dollar 1MDB fraud. Continue reading... |
| Vegan food company provokes with M*** F*** advertising campaign Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT Leeds-based Meatless Farm says it seeks to build on growth in plant-based eating during coronavirus lockdown A vegan food company is sparing no blushes with what it calls a "light-hearted" advertising campaign to encourage more Britons to avoid eating meat. Meatless Farm says it is targeting people who have cut down on bangers and burgers during lockdown with its provocative slogan M*** F***, launched on Monday with a national campaign. Continue reading... |
| Leon Fleisher, US pianist who lost use of his right hand, dies aged 92 Posted: 03 Aug 2020 01:25 AM PDT Acclaimed musician known for interpretations of Brahms and Beethoven was forced to play left-handed for years, before successful treatment in 1990s Leon Fleisher, whose career as an acclaimed US concert pianist continued despite losing the use of his right hand, has died aged 92. His son Julian said he died of cancer, at a hospice in Baltimore on Sunday. Born to eastern European Jewish immigrants in San Francisco in 1928, Fleisher was a child prodigy who, aged four, would repeat the piano phrases his older brother had been learning, without teaching. He played his first public concert aged eight, and began being taught by star pianist Artur Schnabel the following year. He made his debut with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, at the city's Carnegie Hall, when he was 16. Continue reading... |
| Jamie Oliver on fame, failure and fighting obesity: 'I'm actually quite shy. I don't like a ruck' Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT Every time the chef talks about the UK's diet, it gets him in trouble. Remember Turkey Twizzlers? But he's too passionate to give up Jamie Oliver appears on the Skype screen looking a bit harassed. He's at Jamie Oliver HQ and his backdrop is a photographic mural of a giant waitress handing a menu to someone who, I finally figure out when he moves his head, is a young, carefree Jamie Oliver. The contrast between these two faces of the same man – I'm talking about mood, rather than the cruel weathering of time – is striking. He started out as the living embodiment of the carefree lad about town, and now has the frazzled look of a man who is being badgered by seven people at once. It's partly my fault. In many ways, I am here to harass him. Oliver's absolute passion, besides food itself, is fighting childhood obesity, an issue that has just landed at the top of the news agenda thanks to the government's new obesity strategy, which will include banning junk food advertising and putting calorie counts on restaurant menus. Continue reading... |
| The Lebanese economy in freefall – a photo essay Posted: 02 Aug 2020 11:00 PM PDT Photojournalist Achilleas Zavallis travels to Lebanon and finds a country struggling with the effects of economic decline and mismanagement. Inflation is out of control, destroying the spending power of all but a wealthy minority Lebanon has long been a country that somehow held it together. Through war, insurrection, chaos and intervention, it always prevailed. It remains a country of contrasting realities, but it is steadily becoming a place where dreams died. Beirut long ago lost its claim to be the Levantine equivalent of Paris. Its vibrant nightlife has been dulled by an economic implosion, its skyline disappears into darkness as we drive to my hotel at night. With the power grid functioning only two to four hours a day, there are no traffic lights to guide us. Buildings seem empty, or abandoned. Car headlights illuminate a couple walking along an empty street. The centrepiece of the city's shopping and nightlife, Hamra Street, is deserted. Continue reading... |
| How a musician's death unleashed violence and death in Ethiopia Posted: 02 Aug 2020 11:15 PM PDT 160 people have died following the killing of Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, leaving the ethnically and politically riven country more divided than ever The figure holding a gun stepped beside the car in which Haacaaluu Hundeessaa was sitting in Addis Ababa, and pulled the trigger. The cold-blooded killing on the night of 29 June cut short the young life of one of Ethiopia's most popular musicians and activists. It was also the start of some of the most consequential few days in recent Ethiopian history. Hours later, in the lakeside town of Ziway in Ethiopia's Oromia region – from which Haacaaluu came – Selas Russell woke to the sound of gunfire and shouting. Soon a friend rang her. "Get up, grab your passport, leave your belongings and run for your life," he told the Ethiopian-born British citizen who owns a hotel in the town. Continue reading... |
| With big rallies cancelled, young climate activists are adapting election tactics Posted: 03 Aug 2020 02:10 AM PDT Phone banks, social media and friend-to-friend campaigning are the new focus ahead of this year's US elections For young climate activists in the US, staying home because of the pandemic does not mean staying silent, with plans gathering pace across the country to make their voices heard in November's elections. It has been nearly a year since an estimated 6 million people across the world joined the youth-led global climate strikes on 20 September. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus global report: 'response fatigue' fears as Mexico hits 9,000 daily cases Posted: 02 Aug 2020 06:31 AM PDT Many countries that believed they were past the worst are grappling with new outbreaks, says WHO Mexico has recorded more than 9,000 daily coronavirus cases for the first time, as the country overtook the UK with the world's third-highest number of deaths from the pandemic after the US and Brazil. The surging numbers were reported as the World Health Organization warned of "response fatigue" and a resurgence of cases in several countries that have lifted lockdowns. Continue reading... |
| UK, eurozone factories bounce back; US-China tensions rise over TikTok – business live Posted: 03 Aug 2020 02:14 AM PDT
The highlight in the UK this week is the Bank of England's monthly policy decision and the latest quarterly growth and inflation forecasts on Thursday. We are not expecting any changes to the interest rate or the asset-buying programme. At the June meeting, the BOE's monetary policy committee kept the Bank rate at 0.1% but pumped a further £100bn into the economy by raising its quantitative easing (QE) programme to £745bn. But the committee also slowed the pace of net gilt purchases to around £6bn a week from £13.5bn previously as liquidity problems in financial markets eased. Our expectation is that the votes on both the policy rate and QE will be unanimous in favour of 'no change'. But we expect the speed of gilt buying to be reined back further. The Bank of England is due to announce the reverse gilt auction sizes beyond 6 August and has hinted that the programme will run more or less to the end of the year. This suggests a weekly gilt purchase rate somewhere close to £4bn per week in order to meet the total £745bn target at that point. In trying to gauge the policy stance further ahead, we expect the committee to note that the economy has enjoyed further recovery momentum recently ... Welcome though this is, it of course reflects the response to the gradual unwinding of the lockdown.
The pound has risen 0.18% against the dollar to $1.3108. July was sterling's best month versus the dollar in more than a decade, although this reflected the greenback's weakness against a number of major currencies, rather than the pound's strength, analysts said. The pound rose to $1.3170, its highest level in nearly five months, on Friday. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 03 Aug 2020 02:19 AM PDT Victorian premier Daniel Andrews outlines further details of state's new lockdown, including business shutdowns. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
That's where we'll leave the blog for today. Thanks to Amy Remeikis for piloting it for the majority of today. To recap:
Victoria's lockdowns prevented between 9,000 and 37,000 infections in the month of July, according to new research published today by the Medical Journal of Australia. The lockdown reduced the reproduction ratio from 1.75 to 1.16, according to the study from the Burnet Institute, Monash University and the Peter Doherty Institute. Continue reading... |
| Bolivians driven from pillar to post as Covid-19 overwhelms hospitals Posted: 02 Aug 2020 02:45 AM PDT Grover Ponce, 42, died after being shuttled between six different health facilities as his family watched in rising desperation In the two weeks before he died from suspected Covid-19, Grover Ponce was shuttled between six hospitals, as his wife Paola Medina battled the labyrinthine bureaucracy of Bolivia's health system. Just days after he was finally admitted to La Portada hospital in La Paz, he had to be rushed to intensive care in another hospital in El Alto. But by then it was too late. He suffered two cardiorespiratory arrests and died on Sunday. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus near me: are UK Covid-19 cases rising in your local area? Posted: 03 Aug 2020 02:10 AM PDT Latest updates: how has Covid-19 progressed where you live? Check the week-on-week changes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland The map shows local authorities where the number of cases has increased week-on-week and where it has fallen. Some of this is due to natural fluctuations, especially in areas where there are very few cases, and so a rise from 1 to 2 is a doubling. Increased testing also means that more cases may be being detected than previously, although the impact of this between one week and the next is likely to be slight. Continue reading... |
| Israel protests may dent Netanyahu's ego, but do they threaten his power? Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:47 AM PDT Israeli PM says media makes demonstrations seem more significant than they are – he could have a point Images of thousands of people in the streets and police scuffling with protesters paint a picture of an increasingly isolated prime minister whose lengthy grip over Israel may finally be loosening. The visuals are striking, and the protests have certainly grown in size, yet whether they can hurt more than Benjamin Netanyahu's ego is still to be seen. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 02 Aug 2020 03:25 AM PDT Declaring a 'state of disaster' in Victoria gives police more authority, and hope that Covid cases can be contained within six weeks Even the vast majority of Victorians who accepted stage 3 restrictions as necessary, if depressing, would have been confronted by what premier Daniel Andrews announced on Sunday. They were the tightest coronavirus restrictions ever imposed in Australia and among the toughest in the world. Melburnians had just got used to compulsory mask wearing and now are to be confined to their homes from 8pm to 5am except for medical reasons or for essential work, at the risk of a $1,652 fine if they break curfew. Had this ever happened outside war time? There was no such curfew in New Zealand even in their "go early and go hard" response earlier this year. Continue reading... |
| Jacinda Ardern: no trans-Tasman travel bubble for 'some time to come' – video Posted: 03 Aug 2020 12:08 AM PDT New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern says while there was no timeframe on plans for a trans-Tasman travel bubble that would include Australia, the rise in Covid-19 cases in Victoria means it won't happen for some time to come. Once hopeful of including other countries in the Pacific region in the travel bubble, Ardern has confirmed New Zealand's borders will remain closed until the risk of coronavirus entering the country through visitors can be minimised. 'We wish Victoria all the very best as they continue to combat what is a devastating situation,' she said, 'but I think the reality for both of us is this is going to slow things down for us' Continue reading... |
| California's 'Apple Fire' – the wildfire in pictures Posted: 03 Aug 2020 12:00 AM PDT The fire in Cherry Valley, north-west of Palm Springs, prompted authorities to issue new evacuation orders as crews fought the blaze Continue reading... |
| Apple wildfire forces thousands to evacuate in southern California – video Posted: 02 Aug 2020 10:35 PM PDT Thousands of residents in southern California were forced to evacuate as a wildfire in mountains east of Los Angeles exploded in size. The 'Apple fire' burned 60sq km of dry brush and timber after two blazes converged on Friday. Firefighters continue to battle the fire, with dangerously hot weather conditions forecast to carry on Continue reading... |
| Inside Lebanon's economic crisis - podcast Posted: 02 Aug 2020 07:00 PM PDT Scenes of economic despair are visible across Lebanon – from shops to homes, businesses to hospitals. Guardian journalist Martin Chulov discusses why the country is verging on financial collapse Across all pockets of a country conditioned to hardship over decades of war and tumult, the effects of a catastrophic economic implosion were evident when the Guardian's Middle East correspondent Martin Chulov took a road trip across Lebanon. Since March, the prices of most goods have nearly tripled, while the value of the national currency has fallen by 80% and much of the country has ground to a halt. Those who still have work are surviving month to month. Poverty is soaring, crime is rising, and streets are incendiary. The country has defaulted on one bond payment and a second is due soon. Martin tells Rachel Humphreys about how government corruption and financial mismanagement have lead to Lebanon finding itself on the brink of financial collapse. Continue reading... |
| Nancy Pelosi says she doesn't have confidence in Dr Deborah Birx over coronavirus – video Posted: 02 Aug 2020 06:26 PM PDT US House speaker Nancy Pelosi says she has lost trust in Dr Deborah Birx, a senior scientist on Donald Trump's coronavirus taskforce, after the US surpassed 154,000 deaths due to the virus. Pelosi criticised Birx's role in the White House's handling of the pandemic, claiming president Trump had been spreading disinformation about Covid-19, and Birx was his appointee Continue reading... |
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