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- Deadly floods hit central China, killing 16 and forcing thousands to flee homes
- Men cause more climate emissions than women, study finds
- Capitol attack committee chair vows to investigate Trump: ‘Nothing is off limits’
- New Zealand falls for stranded baby orca, but dilemma looms over ‘life support’
- Britney Spears: US House of Representatives introduce bill to end conservatorship abuse
- After 32 years, Rio Tinto to fund study of environmental damage caused by Panguna mine
- ‘If anybody is lying here, it is you’: Fauci turns tables on inquisitor Rand Paul
- Eating processed meat raises risk of heart disease by a fifth
- Australian Olympic showjumper suspended after testing positive for cocaine
- Bitcoin price slides amid EU call to make transfers traceable, and rise of ‘stablecoins’
- Coronavirus live news: South Korea reports record daily cases; 67% in India have Covid antibodies, survey finds
- Prime minister risks major rebellion over Covid jab passports, say Tory MPs
- Covid-19 antibodies detected in 67% of India’s population
- Australia’s PM defends Covid vaccine rollout as half of population awakes in lockdown
- Self Esteem: ‘I was tired of being this sweet heterosexual lady in a band’
- A moment that changed me: meeting the rescue dog who comforted me through unfathomable loss | Shirley Manson
- Top US scientist on melting glaciers: ‘I’ve gone from being an ecologist to a coroner’
- Syrian economy lies in ruins and China sniffs opportunity
- Olympic Games highlights: your day-by-day guide to the best bits in Tokyo
- Why does Jeff Bezos’s rocket look like that? An inquiry
- Girl, 3, left with ‘life-changing’ injuries after being hit by e-scooter in London
- Split city: Michael Schmidt’s Berlin – in pictures
- Death of 13-year-old girl sparks calls for action on FGM in Somalia
- First Thing: Delta Covid variant rampaging through US
- Haiti minister says ‘big fish’ behind president’s killing still at large
- ‘We are in the same boat’: Japan urges Australia to join forces to address challenge of China
- Australia Covid live news update: Morrison acknowledges vaccine rollout problems; NSW records 110 new local cases, South Australia 12 and Victoria 22
- Offering aid without development is costing lives in the global south | Letter
- Germany’s Greens cautious over linking floods to climate crisis
- NSW premier asked why so many people still infectious in community after 110 new Covid cases – video
- Fauci to Rand Paul: 'You do not know what you are talking about' – video
- Siberia hit by unprecedented heatwave and forest fires – video report
- Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha – in pictures
| Deadly floods hit central China, killing 16 and forcing thousands to flee homes Posted: 20 Jul 2021 09:57 PM PDT Torrential rainfall and burst rivers swamp Henan cities, with commuters trapped in underground trains in the capital Zhengzhou Days of torrential rain and massive flooding have hit China's Henan province, bursting the banks of rivers, overwhelming dams and the public transport system and forcing thousands of people to evacuate their homes. At least 12 people have been killed in the provincial capital, Zhengzhou, and another four in the nearby city of Gongyi as 14 reservoirs overflowed, sparking flooding and landslides, state media said. The provincial authorities issued its highest level of weather warning. A year's worth of rain – 640mm – fell in just three days. The city's weather bureau said more than 552mm of rain had fallen between 7pm Monday and 7pm Tuesday, including 202mm between 4 and 5pm on Tuesday. Continue reading... |
| Men cause more climate emissions than women, study finds Posted: 20 Jul 2021 10:00 PM PDT Both spend similar amounts of money but men use cars much more, Swedish analysis shows Men's spending on goods causes 16% more climate-heating emissions than women's, despite the sum of money being very similar, a study has found. The biggest difference was men's spending on petrol and diesel for their cars. The gender differences in emissions have been little studied, the researchers said, and should be recognised in action to beat the climate crisis. Continue reading... |
| Capitol attack committee chair vows to investigate Trump: ‘Nothing is off limits’ Posted: 20 Jul 2021 11:00 PM PDT Bennie Thompson tells Guardian he will pursue wide-ranging inquiry to uncover root causes of January 6 attack Congressman Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the new House select committee to scrutinize the Capitol attack, says he will investigate Donald Trump as part of his inquiry into the events of 6 January – a day he sees as the greatest test to the United States since the civil war. Related: Trump supporter sentenced to eight months in prison for role in Capitol riot Continue reading... |
| New Zealand falls for stranded baby orca, but dilemma looms over ‘life support’ Posted: 20 Jul 2021 08:35 PM PDT Time could be running out for killer whale named Toa, who has charmed the nation but depends on round-the-clock care to stay alive When Toa, the orphaned baby orca, sees food coming he sticks his large pink tongue out of his wide gummy mouth in happy anticipation. He gurgles and belches as he hungrily tugs at the specially designed latex teat. Four volunteers in wetsuits and beanies cradle him and coo that he is "a good boy" as he feeds. When he is done, he rolls over, revealing his cream white skin, and nudges a volunteer for a belly rub. If they dare stop, he nudges them again. When he is excited he zooms about his holding pool, playing with the volunteers, and when a large tentacle-like piece of kelp is heaved into the water, he snuggles under it, as though it were a blanket, or the protective weight of his missing mother. The young calf, thought to be between two and six months old, became stranded in the rocks near Plimmerton, north of Wellington 10 days ago with minor injuries. Continue reading... |
| Britney Spears: US House of Representatives introduce bill to end conservatorship abuse Posted: 21 Jul 2021 02:31 AM PDT Inspired by Spears' case, the Free Act would bring protection and oversight to a 'broken system' Britney Spears' fight to end her conservatorship has inspired a new bipartisan proposal in the US House of Representatives. The Freedom and Right to Emancipate from Exploitation (Free) Act would allow a person bound by a conservatorship to petition to replace their court-appointed private conservator with a public conservator, family member or private agent without having to prove abuse. Continue reading... |
| After 32 years, Rio Tinto to fund study of environmental damage caused by Panguna mine Posted: 20 Jul 2021 08:49 PM PDT Three decades after leaving Bougainville as the island descended into civil war, the mining giant will assess impact of its former mine Thirty-two years since it fled Bougainville island, Rio Tinto has promised to fund an independent assessment of the ongoing environmental damage caused by its Panguna mine, a move landowners have welcomed as "a start" towards repairing decades of contamination. The mining giant has committed to a multi-million dollar "environmental and human rights impact assessment" of its former copper and gold mine in Panguna, which was the flashpoint for Bougainville's decade-long civil war. Continue reading... |
| ‘If anybody is lying here, it is you’: Fauci turns tables on inquisitor Rand Paul Posted: 20 Jul 2021 01:26 PM PDT The senator bit off more than he could chew when he accused Biden's top health adviser of lying about US-funded virus research Anthony Fauci has a reputation for plain speaking, as a senator who accused him of lying discovered to his cost on Tuesday. A congressional hearing on the coronavirus pandemic was electrified when Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert, clashed with Rand Paul, a Republican senator for Kentucky and longtime opponent of mask-wearing. Continue reading... |
| Eating processed meat raises risk of heart disease by a fifth Posted: 20 Jul 2021 11:00 PM PDT Oxford University researchers urge people to reduce consumption by three-quarters or give it up Eating processed meat raises the risk of heart disease by a fifth, according to the largest ever analysis of research into the impact of meat consumption on cardiac health. Researchers at the University of Oxford are urging the public to cut their red and processed meat consumption by three-quarters, or to give it up entirely, to lower their risk of dying from coronary heart disease. Continue reading... |
| Australian Olympic showjumper suspended after testing positive for cocaine Posted: 20 Jul 2021 07:23 PM PDT
Controversy hit Australia's Olympic team on the first day of sporting action in Tokyo, with a remorseful Jamie Kermond kicked off the team after the showjumper tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine. Australia's chef de mission at the 2020 Games, Ian Chesterman, confirmed on Wednesday that Kermond's membership of the team had been terminated after he had brought the sport into disrepute. Continue reading... |
| Bitcoin price slides amid EU call to make transfers traceable, and rise of ‘stablecoins’ Posted: 20 Jul 2021 07:09 PM PDT European regulator want banks to hold personal details of cryptocurrency clients, while US wants swift work to establish less volatile 'stablecoins' Bitcoin has slipped below $30,000 as calls grew among regulators in the US, Europe and Asia for tighter checks on cryptocurrencies, and the less volatile digi-currency known as "stablecoins". Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 5% to $29,300, its lowest since 22 June, and investors said it was likely to test the $28,600 level touched last month, its lowest since early January, as it faced a variety of regulatory headwinds. Smaller cryptocurrencies such as ether and XRP also lost around 5%. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 21 Jul 2021 02:06 AM PDT South Korea confirms 1,784 new infections in 24 hours; Indian officials hopeful that antibody positivity rate means majority of country less vulnerable
A major Taiwanese Buddhist group has said it has signed a deal to buy 5m doses of BioNTech Covid vaccine via the German firm's Chinese sales agent, bumping the island's order for the shot up to 15m doses. The Tzu Chi Foundation said in June it was bidding to get the vaccines, and Taiwan's government said it would allow the group to negotiate on its behalf for the shot. The vaccines will be donated to the government for distribution.
Reuters report that Russia has announced 23,704 new Covid cases on Wednesday, including 3,254 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 6,030,240. There were 783 further deaths. Continue reading... |
| Prime minister risks major rebellion over Covid jab passports, say Tory MPs Posted: 20 Jul 2021 10:00 PM PDT More than 40 Conservatives said to be ready to defy government over civil liberties concerns Conservative MPs believe Boris Johnson faces a major rebellion over Covid vaccine passports but could be supported by Labour, who were on Tuesday night wavering over whether to back them. Tory MPs opposed to the plan for Covid passes to enter nightclubs and other crowded indoor venues said more than 40 Conservatives were prepared to defy the prime minister over civil liberties concerns, particularly as No 10 has refused to rule out extending the passes to pubs and other sectors. Continue reading... |
| Covid-19 antibodies detected in 67% of India’s population Posted: 20 Jul 2021 11:09 PM PDT The figure compares with 24% in January and shows how the Delta variant has ripped through the nation of 1.3bn Covid-19 antibodies have been detected in 67% of the population of India, according to a new survey, indicating how widely the virus spread through communities during the second wave. India's fourth national sero-survey, which examines the prevalence of Covid-19 antibodies either through infection or vaccination, found that 67.6% of the population of more than 1.3 billion has coronavirus antibodies. Continue reading... |
| Australia’s PM defends Covid vaccine rollout as half of population awakes in lockdown Posted: 20 Jul 2021 10:58 PM PDT Prime minister Scott Morrison faces growing frustration amid sluggish vaccination rate and growing list of coronavirus hotspots across the country The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, has refused to apologise for his government's handling of the coronavirus vaccine rollout, amid testy exchanges during a radio interview as more than 13 million Australians – or half of the population – awoke in lockdown conditions. Morrison carried out a whistle-stop tour of radio stations on Wednesday as Covid measures spread further into the state of New South Wales, while Victoria reported a record one-day increase in cases and South Australia began its first full day of a week-long lockdown. Continue reading... |
| Self Esteem: ‘I was tired of being this sweet heterosexual lady in a band’ Posted: 20 Jul 2021 10:00 PM PDT Once an earnest indie singer with Slow Club, Rebecca Lucy Taylor is now a take-no-prisoners pop diva. Can her patriarchy-smashing anthems conquer the charts? In a comedy sketch that was released to promote her 2019 debut Compliments Please, Rebecca Lucy Taylor is grilled about the imagined impact of the album 20 years on (it was so great, it "destroyed music as we know it"). With a transatlantic accent, impeded facial movement and wearing a tiara over a turban , she faces a hostile male interviewer who attempts to sum up her revolutionary sound: it is "melodic complaining", "poor-me periodcore", and "menstrual madness set to music". "That's what it is!" cackles Taylor, two years on. "Can't deny it!" It's true that the 34-year-old – better known by her nom de disque, Self Esteem – makes music packed with warts-and-all honesty and, yes, a certain amount of justified complaining. Topics include toxic relationships and the insidious effects of the patriarchy. But her songs are also maximalist, danceable and infectiously fun – a wholesale rejection of the restrained indie-folk of her previous band Slow Club. "I'm trying to do a Trojan horse thing," explains Taylor over a cup of coffee in her PR team's dazzlingly white offices. "You think you're getting this sugary injection of a pop song but it's going to leave you with something more." Continue reading... |
| Posted: 20 Jul 2021 11:00 PM PDT When I first held my dog Veela in my arms, I was grappling with my mother's dementia, which was followed much too soon by her death. The teachings of my little red dog helped me survive The first time I rescued an animal was almost 15 years ago, while I was on hiatus from my band, Garbage, in 2007. Shuffling around Los Angeles with little to occupy my time and my catastrophic imagination, my husband suggested we might consider adopting a rescue dog from one of the local shelters. I was a little hesitant at first. It struck me as a massive undertaking (I was not wrong) and I was unsure I had the emotional capacity to engage in the love of a small, defenceless, living thing. My mother had just been diagnosed with Pick's disease, a criminally aggressive form of dementia that can take a person, as it did my mother, out of the game in less than two years from the day of diagnosis. I was deeply disturbed by the course her disease was taking and finding it hard to connect with life in any joyful, meaningful way. Continue reading... |
| Top US scientist on melting glaciers: ‘I’ve gone from being an ecologist to a coroner’ Posted: 21 Jul 2021 01:00 AM PDT Diana Six, an entomologist studying beetles near Glacier national park in Montana, says the crisis has fundamentally changed her profession Diana Six's love of the outdoors began before she could form words, run, or collect the bugs and fungi that were precious to her as a child. A tough home life eventually led her to drop out of school and live on the streets. But biology classes in community college helped Six discover her calling in studying various forms of life. "They took me right back to how I was as a kid," she says. Related: Activists fear Biden's climate pledges are falling apart: 'We aren't seeing grit' Continue reading... |
| Syrian economy lies in ruins and China sniffs opportunity Posted: 20 Jul 2021 09:00 PM PDT Analysis: War may be winding down, but with Assad in charge for seven more seven years the country remains splintered Standing on a podium on Saturday to take an oath of office, Bashar al-Assad declared himself the only man who could rebuild Syria. His first foreign guest, China's foreign minister, Wang Yi, seemed to enhance his claim, endorsing the president's win in a May poll described by Britain and Europe as "neither free nor fair" and laying a marker to help get the job started. Continue reading... |
| Olympic Games highlights: your day-by-day guide to the best bits in Tokyo Posted: 21 Jul 2021 12:00 AM PDT From the spectacular opening ceremony to the final gold in the marathon, via the pool, the beach and the stadium, your indispensable guide to the Games The opening ceremony in the Olympic Stadium will be spectacular but has been shrouded in secrecy so far. Because of Covid restrictions fewer athletes than usual will be joining the parade of nations. As usual Greek athletes will lead the march behind the flags with the Americans and French last before the entry of the host Japanese team. Like the final event of the Games it will be a marathon and a lump in the throat is inevitable. That opening ceremony does not leave a lot of time for events on the first real day of competition although Britain's rowers are quickly into action on the Sea Forest Waterway. The women's quadruple sculls, Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne, Hannah Scott, Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne and Lucy Glover are a strong combination and Team GB expect another healthy haul of medals. The other events on the first Friday are the individual ranking rounds for men and women in archery at Yumenoshima Park. The six-strong British team includes Naomi Folkard who is competing in her fifth Games with the 18-year-old James Woodgate competing in his first Olympics. India will be hoping to build on their recent impressive World Cup displays. Continue reading... |
| Why does Jeff Bezos’s rocket look like that? An inquiry Posted: 20 Jul 2021 06:11 PM PDT Experts weigh in on the 'anthropomorphic' design of New Shepard, the Amazon CEO's Blue Origin rocket Jeff Bezos's 11-minute trip aboard a Blue Origin rocket to the edge of space on Tuesday left the world's richest man feeling "unbelievably good" and his crew "very happy". But afterwards, as he wondered aloud how fast he could refuel, the rest of the world was left pondering just why the New Shepard rocket had such a distinctive shape. As social media erupted with innuendo, we contacted a few experts to find out why it looked, in the words of one astrophysicist, so "anthropomorphic". At one major research institution, the press officer referred us to the gender studies department, but Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, was able to shed some light on the topic. Continue reading... |
| Girl, 3, left with ‘life-changing’ injuries after being hit by e-scooter in London Posted: 21 Jul 2021 12:43 AM PDT Police appeal for rider, who stopped and apologised to girl's mother after incident, to come forward A three-year-old girl has been left with "life-changing" injuries after being hit by a man riding an e-scooter in south London, police have said. The incident happened in Myatt's Fields Park, Lambeth, at about 8.30pm on Monday. She had been in the park with her family when the collision happened, and was taken to a south London hospital by her relatives. Continue reading... |
| Split city: Michael Schmidt’s Berlin – in pictures Posted: 20 Jul 2021 11:00 PM PDT From schoolchildren to squatters and punks, Michael Schmidt captured the people and buildings of his native Berlin – as well as its unique atmosphere in the shadow of the Wall. Now, a retrospective at the Jeu de Paume in Paris offers a complete overview of his groundbreaking images, taken between 1965 and 2014 Continue reading... |
| Death of 13-year-old girl sparks calls for action on FGM in Somalia Posted: 21 Jul 2021 02:03 AM PDT Fartun Hassan Ahmed bled to death after undergoing female genital mutilation, a practice that 98% of women in the east African country undergo A 13-year-old girl has died after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia, as activists report a rise in the practice during the pandemic. Fartun Hassan Ahmed, the daughter of nomadic pastoralists, bled to death after being cut earlier this month in the village of Jeerinle in the state of Galmudug, her mother said. Continue reading... |
| First Thing: Delta Covid variant rampaging through US Posted: 21 Jul 2021 02:41 AM PDT The Delta variant has become America's dominant Covid strain, with midwestern and southern states emerging as virus hotspots. Plus, why men cause more emissions than women Good morning. The highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 is galloping across America and accounts for 83% of all sequenced cases in the US, a top federal health official said on Tuesday. Continue reading... |
| Haiti minister says ‘big fish’ behind president’s killing still at large Posted: 20 Jul 2021 02:30 AM PDT New prime minister announced as elections chief says current suspects were probably not ringleaders The "big fishes" who masterminded the assassination of Haiti's president, Jovenel Moïse, remain at large, a senior government minister has admitted, as the Caribbean country unveiled a new prime minister in a bid to defuse a burgeoning struggle for power. Police have named two Haitian citizens as key suspects in the murder: a Florida-based pastor called Christian Emmanuel Sanon and the former intelligence officer Joseph Felix Badio. On Friday Colombia's police chief, Gen Jorge Luis Vargas, claimed Badio might have given the order for two retired Colombian soldiers to assassinate Moïse in the early hours of 7 July for reasons that remain obscure. Sanon was arrested in Haiti last week, and Badio's whereabouts are unknown. Continue reading... |
| ‘We are in the same boat’: Japan urges Australia to join forces to address challenge of China Posted: 21 Jul 2021 01:20 AM PDT Ambassador Shingo Yamagami calls for two countries to deepen cooperation in East China Sea, where Tokyo has reported an influx of Chinese vessels Japan's ambassador has called on Morrison government to consider joint military exercises with Japan in the East China Sea, saying the shipping lane is just as important as the South China Sea to Australia's security and prosperity. Shingo Yamagami flagged the proposal in Canberra on Wednesday while pushing for Japan and Australia to lift their overall defence ties to "unprecedented" levels. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 21 Jul 2021 02:04 AM PDT PM's office says CMO prefers only vaccinated reporters attend today's press conference; New SA cases linked to potential super-spreader events; NSW records 110 local cases; Victoria records 22 local cases overnight
And that's all for the evening. Here are today's main events:
The house of former federal Labor MP Craig Thomson has been raided as part of a wide-ranging federal police investigation into alleged fraud. Thomson's house in Wamberal on the NSW central coast was raided on Wednesday. Continue reading... |
| Offering aid without development is costing lives in the global south | Letter Posted: 20 Jul 2021 09:03 AM PDT The west is acting like the empires of old and failing to help poor people stand on their own two feet, says Benny Dembitzer The debate in the Guardian (Outrage aimed at No 10 as MPs back £4bn cut to foreign aid budget, 13 July; Letters, 15 July) over the past few days has only contributed to the continuation of a fundamental error that is literally costing millions of lives in the global south. None of the politicians or correspondents who have intervened in the discussions have emphasised the profound conflict between aid and development. The two are usually presented as synonymous – they are not. Because we have nurtured very little development to enable poor people in poor countries to stand on their own two feet, we have had to give them more aid. We have not helped them develop their own agency. We have not enabled them to develop agriculture to meet their own needs, encouraged governments to undertake land reform, educated women farmers, facilitated local seed multiplication or created local agricultural colleges. Continue reading... |
| Germany’s Greens cautious over linking floods to climate crisis Posted: 20 Jul 2021 08:10 AM PDT Party leaders hope public will draw its own conclusions from last week's catastrophic floods It was a slogan that cut to the chase: "Everybody is talking about Germany. We talk about the weather." The provocative message – itself an inversion of the title of an essay by Red Army Faction terror group founder Ulrike Meinhof ("Everybody talks about the weather. We don't") – was at the heart of the West German Green party's 1990 election campaign, but has rarely felt more relevant than today as catastrophic floods in western Germany have brought extreme weather events to the centre of the national debate little more than two months before federal elections. Continue reading... |
| NSW premier asked why so many people still infectious in community after 110 new Covid cases – video Posted: 20 Jul 2021 07:51 PM PDT NSW has recorded 110 local Covid-19 cases overnight, with 43 of those infectious while in the community. Premier Gladys Berejiklian was questioned as to why that number remained so high even after tighter lockdown restrictions have been introduced. ► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube
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| Fauci to Rand Paul: 'You do not know what you are talking about' – video Posted: 20 Jul 2021 05:44 PM PDT Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci got into a heated discussion with Republican Senator Rand Paul during a Senate hearing on the coronavirus. Paul pressed Fauci on previous comments made to the committee about funding for a lab in Wuhan, China, 'You take an animal virus and you increase its transmissibility to humans, you're saying that's not 'gain of function'?' To which Fauci replied, 'Senator Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly. And, I want to say that officially. You do not know what you are talking about' Continue reading... |
| Siberia hit by unprecedented heatwave and forest fires – video report Posted: 20 Jul 2021 12:50 PM PDT A heatwave in one of the world's coldest regions has sparked forest fires and threatened the Siberian city of Yakutsk with an 'airpocalypse' of thick toxic smoke, atmospheric monitoring services have reported. Local authorities have warned the 320,000 residents to stay indoors to avoid choking fumes from the blazes, which are on course to break last year's record. Officials have described this summer's weather as the driest in the past 150 years |
| Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha – in pictures Posted: 20 Jul 2021 05:58 AM PDT Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice, is celebrated throughout the Muslim world to mark Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God. Cows, camels, goats and sheep are traditionally slaughtered on this day Continue reading... |
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