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- Wash your mask daily: the ultimate guide to face coverings
- Czech health minister to lose job after breaching his own Covid rules
- UK coronavirus live: Nicola Sturgeon sets out Scotland's new lockdown levels; Warrington to enter tier 3
- Nine weeks of bloodshed: how brutal policing of Kenya's Covid curfew left 15 dead
- Biden and Trump diverge sharply on major issues in final presidential debate
- Golden Dawn deputy leader evades arrest after jail sentence
- Coronavirus live news: Spanish regions demand curfew after national government fails to make decision
- Prince Andrew asked Ghislaine Maxwell about accuser, documents suggest
- Fukushima reactor water could damage human DNA if released, says Greenpeace
- US signs anti-abortion declaration with group of largely authoritarian governments
- Edward Snowden granted permanent residency in Russia
- Alarm as Arctic sea ice not yet freezing at latest date on record
- China warns Canada to halt ‘blatant interference’ as feud continues
- Amsterdam releases 5,000 leaf fleas to halt Japanese knotweed spread
- Liam goes supersonic as it rises up baby name charts around world
- ‘I’m just coasting’: viral sensation Doggface on the video that gave 2020 some joy
- Digested week: Spurs show why it's best not to take a healthy lead for granted
- Belgium cancels non-urgent surgery as full Covid lockdown looms
- Iraq's prime minister says country on tightrope between US and Iran
- Snap polls give Joe Biden edge over Trump in final TV debate – US politics live
- Yang Hengjun: friend says writer told him he was a Chinese spy for 10 years
- Nurse who treated Indigenous man who died in jail insists she wasn't motivated by 'prejudice'
- Croatia denies migrant border attacks after new reports of brutal pushbacks
- The Nepalese play letting the crowd reimagine the ending – and their lives
- Progress in fight against child poverty could be wiped out by Covid, says report
- The final Trump-Biden presidential debate: five key takeaways
- Humanity has eight years to get climate crisis under control – and Trump's plan won't fix it
- 'We need prison time': Purdue's belated guilty plea gets skeptical reaction
- Trump v Biden: the key moments of the final presidential debate – video highlights
- 'Kills all the birds': Trump and Biden spar over climate in TV debate – video
- Trump and Biden clash on coronavirus during final presidential debate – video
- 'Children brought here by coyotes': Trump squares off with Biden on immigration – video
- 'Abraham Lincoln over here': Trump and Biden clash on racism at presidential debate – video
- Democrats refuse to participate as Amy Coney Barrett nomination advanced – video
- Room for improvement with test and trace, says Patrick Vallance – video
| Wash your mask daily: the ultimate guide to face coverings Posted: 23 Oct 2020 03:44 AM PDT Experts explain the best way to wash masks, how to handle them – and how to prevent 'maskne' We hook them on to our faces, laugh, sneeze and sputter into them, then crumple them into our bags or pockets only to retrieve them and do it all again. Yet despite official advice that we should be wearing a fresh face covering each time we enter an enclosed public space, a YouGov poll revealed many people are going several wears between washes – and 15% of Brits don't wash their reusable masks at all. Similarly, more than half of those opting for disposable masks are rewearing them – 7% of them indefinitely so. Face coverings are designed to catch the respiratory droplets we emit from our mouths and noses, but given that they're our own respiratory droplets, is this really so bad? We examine the evidence. Continue reading... |
| Czech health minister to lose job after breaching his own Covid rules Posted: 23 Oct 2020 04:50 AM PDT Roman Prymula photographed leaving Prague restaurant that appeared to be illicitly open The Czech Republic's health minister has lost his job after visiting a Prague restaurant in breach of emergency coronavirus regulations he had put forward in an effort to win the country's increasingly desperate battle against coronavirus. Roman Prymula, an epidemiologist and the main architect of the Czech regulations, was photographed on Wednesday night by the tabloid Blesk leaving the establishment, which appeared to be illicitly open to high-profile guests, hours after a fresh lockdown was imposed to combat the country's soaring caseload. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 23 Oct 2020 04:54 AM PDT Five-level lockdown unveiled for Scotland; England death rate rises for first time since April, figures show; Warrington reaches deal with government
The Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford has said a firebreak lockdown coming into force in Wales at 6pm is "a short, sharp shock that will save people's lives". He told a press conference in Cardiff: The clear advice we have is that we need to act urgently now because the virus is moving too fast. We have to act and have to act now. Here are the slides from today's press conference pic.twitter.com/x4oWO8A6Hr We are requiring many hundreds of small businesses to close on the high street right across Wales. We cannot do that and then allow supermarkets to sell goods that those people are unable to sell. And we are looking to minimise the amount of time that people spend out of their homes during this two-week period. This is not the time to be browsing around supermarkets looking for non-essential goods.
Sturgeon draws on the six years of WW2, saying we will get through this. Please stick with it. Continue reading... |
| Nine weeks of bloodshed: how brutal policing of Kenya's Covid curfew left 15 dead Posted: 22 Oct 2020 11:15 PM PDT Violent enforcement of lockdown has led to legal action aiming to force police reform and accountability A nervous energy filled downtown Mombasa on the afternoon of 27 March. It was the first day of Kenya's dusk-to-dawn curfew to curb the spread of Covid-19, and baton-wielding police were patrolling the streets of the coastal city as people rushed to get home. Confrontation was expected. Kenya's police have a reputation for being heavy-handed even without the excuse of enforcing a nationwide curfew. But no one anticipated the brutality that was about to take place. The centre of the violence was the Likoni ferry terminal. Huge crowds had built up as commuters tried to get on ferries which were running at lower capacity due to new social distancing rules. Suddenly, hordes of police officers in riot gear appeared. They threw teargas into the crowds, lashing out at innocent men, women and children and forcing them to the ground. Dozens were made to lie on top of one another while others sat choking, vomiting and rubbing their burning eyes. Continue reading... |
| Biden and Trump diverge sharply on major issues in final presidential debate Posted: 22 Oct 2020 09:42 PM PDT
The Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden assailed Donald Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic during Thursday night's final presidential debate, as the president attempted to reset a race that shows him trailing his opponent in opinion polls less than two weeks before election day. Related: Presidential debate live: Trump and Biden set to face off in final clash Continue reading... |
| Golden Dawn deputy leader evades arrest after jail sentence Posted: 23 Oct 2020 01:01 AM PDT Greek neo-Nazi ideologue Christos Pappas will not turn himself in, says lawyer A Greek neo-Nazi ideologue and deputy leader of the Golden Dawn party has evaded arrest Friday as dozens of fellow members headed to prison following a group conviction. Christos Pappas, whose father played a key role in a 1967 military coup, has been sentenced to more than 13 years in prison for his role in running Golden Dawn as a criminal organisation. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 23 Oct 2020 04:41 AM PDT Valencia and Castilla and Leon ask for night-time restrictions; remdesivir approved by FDA for US; France extends curfew
Pope Francis has been warned of potential exposure to Covid-19 after a Vatican diplomat was infected, Australian media reported on Friday. Australian authorities say a diplomat who flew into Sydney on 9 October had tested positive to the coronavirus. They won't reveal the diplomat's identity.
Iran's health ministry on Friday reported a record 6,134 new coronavirus cases for the previous 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 556,891 in the Middle East's hardest-hit country. |
| Prince Andrew asked Ghislaine Maxwell about accuser, documents suggest Posted: 23 Oct 2020 02:58 AM PDT Deposition made in 2016 as Maxwell faced questions about late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein Prince Andrew asked Ghislaine Maxwell for information about a woman who had accused him of sexual misconduct while she was underage, court documents appear to show. The deposition, relating to Maxwell's relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that she had given during past civil litigation involving the accuser, Virginia Giuffre, was unsealed on Thursday, moments before a court-imposed deadline. Continue reading... |
| Fukushima reactor water could damage human DNA if released, says Greenpeace Posted: 22 Oct 2020 09:34 PM PDT Environmental organisation says 'dangerous' levels of carbon-14 exist in water that could soon be released into Pacific ocean Contaminated water that will reportedly be released into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant contains a radioactive substance that has the potential to damage human DNA, a Greenpeace investigation has said. The environmental group claims the 1.23m tonnes of water stored in more than 1,000 tanks at the plant contains "dangerous" levels of the radioactive isotope carbon-14, in addition to quantities of tritium that have already been widely reported. Continue reading... |
| US signs anti-abortion declaration with group of largely authoritarian governments Posted: 22 Oct 2020 10:06 AM PDT Move is part of a campaign by Trump administration to reorient US foreign policy in a more socially conservative direction The US has today signed an anti-abortion declaration with a group of about 30 largely illiberal or authoritarian governments, after the failure of an effort to expand the conservative coalition. The "Geneva Consensus Declaration" calls on states to promote women's rights and health – but without access to abortion – and is part of a campaign by Trump administration, led by secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to reorient US foreign policy in a more socially conservative direction, even at the expense of alienating traditional western allies. Continue reading... |
| Edward Snowden granted permanent residency in Russia Posted: 22 Oct 2020 09:07 PM PDT Former national security contractor fled US in 2013 after leaking documents on American government surveillance operations The former US security contractor Edward Snowden has been granted permanent residency in Russia, his lawyer said on Thursday. Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency, has been living in Russia since 2013 to escape prosecution in the US after leaking classified documents detailing government surveillance programs. Continue reading... |
| Alarm as Arctic sea ice not yet freezing at latest date on record Posted: 22 Oct 2020 03:26 AM PDT Delayed freeze in Laptev Sea could have knock-on effects across polar region, scientists say For the first time since records began, the main nursery of Arctic sea ice in Siberia has yet to start freezing in late October. The delayed annual freeze in the Laptev Sea has been caused by freakishly protracted warmth in northern Russia and the intrusion of Atlantic waters, say climate scientists who warn of possible knock-on effects across the polar region. Continue reading... |
| China warns Canada to halt ‘blatant interference’ as feud continues Posted: 22 Oct 2020 09:15 AM PDT Canada concluded China's actions against ethnic Uighurs in the Xinjiang province constituted a genocide and called for sanctions China has warned Canadian lawmakers to halt their "blatant interference" in its internal affairs, in the latest episode of a rumbling diplomatic feud between the two nations. Earlier this week, a Canadian parliamentary committee concluded China's actions against ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang province constituted a genocide and called for sanctions against officials complicit in the government's policy. Continue reading... |
| Amsterdam releases 5,000 leaf fleas to halt Japanese knotweed spread Posted: 23 Oct 2020 02:39 AM PDT Government issues exemption to alien species ban in attempt to control destructive plant Five thousand Japanese leaf fleas have been released in Amsterdam to combat Japanese knotweed, a once celebrated plant the concrete-breaking roots of which now threaten local biodiversity, impinge on water quality and increase the risk of flooding. The Dutch government made the unprecedented decision to issue an exemption on a ban on the introduction of alien species in the face of spiralling costs related to the invasive species. Continue reading... |
| Liam goes supersonic as it rises up baby name charts around world Posted: 23 Oct 2020 04:24 AM PDT Moniker has spread far beyond its Irish origins – but risks suffering the same fate as Kevin Liam is set to become the new Kevin, researchers predict, as the mellifluous moniker graduates from its Irish origins and rises up baby name charts around the world. Fewer Liams were born in the Republic of Ireland last year (334) than in Germany (an estimated 3,800), Spain (962), Sweden (760), Belgium (575) and Switzerland (443). For American baby boys, the short form of Uilliam or William has been the most popular choice for three years running, with 20,502 boys named Liam born in the US in 2019 alone. Continue reading... |
| ‘I’m just coasting’: viral sensation Doggface on the video that gave 2020 some joy Posted: 23 Oct 2020 03:00 AM PDT Nathan Apodaca was commuting to work from his trailer after his car broke down when everything just drifted into place Until a few weeks ago Nathan Apodaca, also known as @420Doggface208, was working in a potato factory in Idaho – until his life took a sudden turn with a single TikTok video. If his name still doesn't ring any bells, you need to watch this extremely viral video of him longboarding to Fleetwood Mac's Dreams while sipping on a bottle of cranberry juice. Continue reading... |
| Digested week: Spurs show why it's best not to take a healthy lead for granted Posted: 23 Oct 2020 03:50 AM PDT West Ham came back from 3-0 down so Biden should probably be wary he's ahead in the polls This wasn't quite the return to north London that either Gareth Bale or Spurs had hoped. Bale had come on in about the 70th minute and Tottenham were seemingly cruising to a healthy 3-0 win. A quarter of an hour later and Spurs were hanging on to a 3-2 lead. Then Harry Kane put Bale through and the Welshman did all the hard yards of beating the West Ham left back only to stab the ball wide when it seemed easier to score and put the match to bed. Needless to say, West Ham equalised with the last kick of the game and for several hours afterwards I was almost catatonic with shock and disappointment. Then I calmed down a bit and decided the game must have been one of the most Spursy performances I had ever seen and if Bale had forgotten how football is played in N17 he had been given the perfect reminder. Besides, there was no point getting too upset about snatching a draw from the jaws of victory as there is so much more to get angry about in football. Starting with Sky Sports' decision to start charging customers, such as myself, an extra £14.95 on top of our ordinary subscriptions to watch selected games. Sky has been reluctant to disclose just how many people have coughed up for the pleasure so far, which rather suggests that no more than a few thousand people are bothering to make the effort. Something that won't please the advertisers who are presumably being charged an arm and a leg. The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust has come up with the ideal solution. Anyone tempted to fork out the £14.95 to Sky should instead make a comparable donation to the Tottenham Foodbank. Consider it done. Continue reading... |
| Belgium cancels non-urgent surgery as full Covid lockdown looms Posted: 23 Oct 2020 04:55 AM PDT Country moves closer to national shutdown as PM vows to protect health system Belgium has inched closer to a second national lockdown with new "harsh measures" as all non-urgent surgeries were suspended for a month from Monday to give hospitals breathing space in the face of spiralling coronavirus infection rates. Belgium's new prime minister, Alexander De Croo, said he would put a protective ring around the health system, as he announced further restrictions on Friday morning in the few areas of public life left relatively open. Continue reading... |
| Iraq's prime minister says country on tightrope between US and Iran Posted: 22 Oct 2020 01:05 PM PDT Mustafa al-Kadhimi also urges Europe to assist the Middle Eastern nation's debt-ridden economy Iraq's prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, has warned that he is being forced into an impossible balancing act between the US and Iran, as he urged Europe to come to the aid of his country's debt-ridden economy. Appointed as prime minister in June, Kadhimi – a British citizen and former journalist – came to power after unprecedented street protests over corruption, and has since governed with a simple programme of early elections, better security and preventing the collapse of his oil-dependent economy. Continue reading... |
| Snap polls give Joe Biden edge over Trump in final TV debate – US politics live Posted: 23 Oct 2020 04:36 AM PDT
According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, which we've been using as our source of US coronavirus figures, yesterday the United States recorded 71,671 new cases of coronavirus. That is the highest single day's total of new cases since 24 July. It is also only the sixth day on which the US has recorded more than 70,000 new cases since the pandemic began.
Lisa Lerer writes for the New York Times politics newsletter that last night's debate was a "strikingly normal political event in a very strange election year" – but was of not much use to the president. She writes: Instead of getting a debate victory, Trump fought Joe Biden to a draw. There were some improvements over his previous debate performance: Following the advice of his aides, Trump focused his attention on attacking Biden, and restraining his emotional outbursts and frustrations with the moderator. Amid all the attacks, Trump presented no clear vision to a country in the midst of a national crisis, failing to explain how he would use a second term. Continue reading... |
| Yang Hengjun: friend says writer told him he was a Chinese spy for 10 years Posted: 22 Oct 2020 08:45 PM PDT In private letter Yang reveals he spent a decade spying in countries including Hong Kong and the US, according to friend An Australian writer detained in China on charges of espionage spent a decade working as a Chinese spy, including in Hong Kong and the United States, a close friend claims. Yang Hengjun was detained in January 2019 and held in various forms of secretive and punitive detention until he was formally charged this month for alleged espionage on behalf of another country. The early stages of trial are under way. Continue reading... |
| Nurse who treated Indigenous man who died in jail insists she wasn't motivated by 'prejudice' Posted: 23 Oct 2020 02:55 AM PDT Kasey Wright was the only nurse on duty during her night shift for three facilities with up to 1,000 prisoners, inquest told A nurse who treated an Indigenous prisoner dying from an asthma attack denied she was influenced by prejudice when she asked other inmates what he had taken, a Sydney coroners court has heard. Related: Aboriginal man who died in NSW jail after asthma attack was slapped by nurse, inquest hears Continue reading... |
| Croatia denies migrant border attacks after new reports of brutal pushbacks Posted: 23 Oct 2020 02:31 AM PDT Instances of alleged beatings and sexual assaults against asylum seekers continue to blight special units Croatia has dismissed allegations of violence by its border patrol after new reports emerged this week of border police allegedly beating, robbing and sexually abusing migrants. On Wednesday the head of home affairs for the European Commission, Ylva Johansson, said that she was taking the allegations "very seriously". Continue reading... |
| The Nepalese play letting the crowd reimagine the ending – and their lives Posted: 23 Oct 2020 12:00 AM PDT Familiar issues of discrimination and child marriage are being taken to the stage through interactive theatre in remote villages High in the mountains of a remote village in western Nepal – a region once home to a fierce Maoist insurgency – a large crowd is gathering. Women arrive with babies strapped to their fronts; children sit at the edge of the makeshift stage; local officials take up ad hoc seats. Not only is this the first time a play has been performed here – it is the first time a vehicle has ever reached the village. Whatever this travelling theatre group intends to perform, it is a spectacle not to be missed. Continue reading... |
| Progress in fight against child poverty could be wiped out by Covid, says report Posted: 22 Oct 2020 03:36 AM PDT UN and World Bank call for structural changes to tackle the effects of the pandemic on children, who make up half the world's poor The world's limited progress in tackling child poverty over recent years could be destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic, the UN and World Bank have warned. "Slow-paced, unequally distributed" progress meant one in six children were living in poverty even before the pandemic, according to a joint study. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The final Trump-Biden presidential debate: five key takeaways Posted: 22 Oct 2020 10:38 PM PDT Trump tried to change his tone, Biden calls the president a racist and 'Bidencare' is now a thing In the days leading up to the debate, Donald Trump's advisers urged the president to stay calmer than he was at the first presidential debate in Cleveland last month, when he was widely criticized for repeatedly and aggressively interrupting his Democratic presidential rival, Joe Biden. Continue reading... |
| Humanity has eight years to get climate crisis under control – and Trump's plan won't fix it Posted: 22 Oct 2020 10:04 PM PDT Donald Trump presented a fantasy world in which fossil fuels are 'very clean' but realpolitik tempers Biden's climate crisis stance In Donald Trump's world – laid bare during Thursday night's final presidential debate with his Democratic rival Joe Biden in Nashville – fossil fuels are "very clean", the US has the best air and water despite his administration's extensive regulatory rollbacks, and the country can fix climate change by planting trees. Related: Biden mauls Trump's record on coronavirus in final presidential debate Continue reading... |
| 'We need prison time': Purdue's belated guilty plea gets skeptical reaction Posted: 22 Oct 2020 07:25 AM PDT While the guilty plea was welcomed, there was also anger over the US justice department's failure to prosecute executives Lawyers and public relations firms for the Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma have spent months pushing an aggressive campaign to deny that the company's powerful painkiller, OxyContin, unleashed the devastating US opioid epidemic. They manipulated statistics and attacked critics to paint the company and the Sacklers as victims of an unwarranted smear campaign driven by a sensationalist media and grasping addicts trying to lay their hands on the billions of dollars of profits generated by a legitimate drug. Continue reading... |
| Trump v Biden: the key moments of the final presidential debate – video highlights Posted: 23 Oct 2020 03:05 AM PDT Joe Biden and Donald Trump have gone head-to-head for the final time before the US election on 3 November in the final television debate, helped by a mute button on the candidates' microphones that prevented interruptions. Squaring off in Nashville, Biden had to field aggressive questioning about his son's business dealings and when Trump compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, the challenger branded his opponent 'one of the most racist presidents we've had in modern history'. Here is a look back at the key moments
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| 'Kills all the birds': Trump and Biden spar over climate in TV debate – video Posted: 23 Oct 2020 03:01 AM PDT The closing moments of the final presidential debate focused on climate change. Joe Biden stressed the need to expand sources of renewable energy while again disputing Donald Trump's claim that he intended to ban fracking, which he does not. 'I know more about wind than you do,' Trump retorted, drawing an exasperated laugh from Biden. 'It's extremely expensive. Kills all the birds'
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| Trump and Biden clash on coronavirus during final presidential debate – video Posted: 23 Oct 2020 01:03 AM PDT Donald Trump and Joe Biden have clashed over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic during the final presidential debate. While Trump says a vaccine will be available within weeks, Biden questioned the veracity of Trump's claims after the president's previous predictions the pandemic would end by Easter. The pandemic has killed more than 220,000 Americans and infected millions more, including the president
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| 'Children brought here by coyotes': Trump squares off with Biden on immigration – video Posted: 22 Oct 2020 11:06 PM PDT Donald Trump and Joe Biden have squared off over immigration policies, including the US government being unable to locate the parents of more than 500 immigrant children. 'Children are brought here by coyotes and lots of bad people, cartels, and they're brought here and they used to use them to get into our country. We now have as strong a border as we've ever had,' Trump said. The president also criticised immigration under the previous Obama-Biden administration, including the catch and release policy, saying 'those with the lowest IQ' were the only ones who returned for an immigration hearing
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| 'Abraham Lincoln over here': Trump and Biden clash on racism at presidential debate – video Posted: 22 Oct 2020 10:25 PM PDT Donald Trump has defended his handling of race issues in the US, declaring three times during the final presidential debate he is 'the least racist person in this room'. Trump was questioned on his handling of incidents such as describing the Black Lives Matter movement as a symbol of hate and saying protesting Black athletes should be fired. Presidential rival Joe Biden called Trump 'one of the most racist presidents we've had in modern history. He pours fuel on every racist fire', before adding 'this guy has a dog whistle about as big as a foghorn'
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| Democrats refuse to participate as Amy Coney Barrett nomination advanced – video Posted: 22 Oct 2020 02:17 PM PDT Amy Coney Barrett's supreme court nomination was advanced by a unilateral Republican vote to the full Senate despite Democrats' refusal to participate in the Senate judiciary committee hearing for what they called a 'naked power grab'. Democratic senators stood outside the Capital and boycotted the vote to install Donald Trump's third supreme court nominee less than two weeks before the election. No supreme court nominee has ever been installed so close to a presidential election and, just four years ago, the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and senator Lindsey Graham, who now chairs the judiciary committee, said that installing a nominee in an election year would be a shameful defiance of the will of voters
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| Room for improvement with test and trace, says Patrick Vallance – video Posted: 22 Oct 2020 10:15 AM PDT Sir Patrick Vallance said there was 'room for improvement' with test and trace in the UK as only about two-thirds of the close contacts reached are done so within 48 hours of the case entering the system, according to performance figures released on Thursday. Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak presented a new package of government support grants during a televised briefing and also discussed vaccines and local restrictions Continue reading... |
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