World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk

0 komentar

World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk


Coronavirus live updates: first two patients in UK test positive

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:59 AM PST

Worldwide death toll reaches 213 as World Health Organization declares a global emergency. Follow live updates and latest news

The Guardian's political correspondent Kate Proctor is tweeting more information about the two UK coronavirus patients announced this morning, gleaned from a Department for Health and Social Care briefing.

BREAKING: two cases of coronavirus being treated at Newcastle's infectious disease unit.
New Gov advice: anyone coming back from China with respiratory symptoms should self isolate for 14 days.
Anyone coming back from Wuhan, with symptoms or not, should self isolate for 14 days.

Chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said he will not release names, gender, ages, whether they have been in China.
They are members of the same family.
Diagnosis came through overnight.
Tracing of who they have had contact with underway.

Professor Chris Whitty said the risk level of coronavirus raised to moderate because of global situation, not cases in Newcastle.
"It's a moderately transmittable virus. This is not at the top end of the range of transmittable respiratory virus'.
"Mortality looks at 2 percent."

The PA news agency has more details on the two UK's first two coronavirus patients.

Two members of the same family have tested positive for coronavirus in England, the agency reports, adding that sources said they are being treated at a hospital in Newcastle.

Continue reading...

Trump impeachment: president faces key vote on calling witnesses – live updates

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:46 AM PST

  • Trump may be acquitted as early as today
  • Key Republican indicates he will not support new witnesses
  • Help us cover the critical issues of 2020. Consider making a contribution

Good morning. Today Donald Trump could become the third US president to be acquitted in a Senate impeachment trial.

Senators will reconvene at 1pm ET (6pm UK) for two more hours of debate on each side.

The question then is not whether the president did it, but whether the United States Senate or the American people should decide what to do about what he did. I believe that the Constitution provides that the people should make that decision in the presidential election that begins in Iowa on Monday.

Related: Senate races toward Trump acquittal as hopes for new witnesses fade

Related: Verge of acquittal: takeaways from day nine of the impeachment trial

Continue reading...

'Intelligent drones': albatross fitted with radar detectors to spot illegal fishing

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 06:41 PM PST

Scientists design lightweight device to identify suspicious ships and send location back to authorities

Albatross cops may soon be taking to the skies over the subantarctic Isles to scan remote parts of the Pacific Ocean for illegal fishing boats.

In a trial using technology shared by New Zealand and France, 169 albatrosses were fitted with radar detection tags in November 2018 and released to the south of the Indian Ocean.

Continue reading...

Militia raids kill dozens as DRC plunges deeper into instability

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 09:00 PM PST

Deadly attacks come as tensions grow between president and supporters of his predecessor

A militia group has launched a series of bloody attacks in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, plunging the country further into instability after months of violence and political tension.

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an extremist group, carried out a series of raids on four villages to the west of Beni territory on Tuesday, where the army has begun a large-scale offensive against the rebels.

Continue reading...

Mass cervical cancer vaccine rollout could save 62 million lives in next 100 years

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 03:30 PM PST

Studies project rapidly deploying HPV vaccine in 78 of the world's poorest countries could help prevent more than 74 million cases

More than 74m cervical cancer cases and 62m deaths could be averted in the next 100 years if 78 of the world's poorest countries rapidly deploy HPV vaccinations, cervical screening and cancer treatment, two new studies have projected.

The predictive modelling is published on Friday in Lancet by Université Laval, Harvard University and Cancer Council New South Wales working with the World Health Organisation. All three teams independently developed their models based on the biological understanding of cervical cancer, and multiple data sources from multiple countries located in east Asia and Pacific, Europe and central Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Continue reading...

Katie Hopkins' Twitter account suspended

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 05:04 PM PST

Controversial rightwing commentator locked out of the social media site after complaints from anti-racism campaigners

The controversial rightwing commentator Katie Hopkins has had her Twitter account suspended for violating the terms of the social media site.

Hopkins' account was still visible online on Thursday night, but Twitter said that Hopkins had been temporarily locked out of the platform for violating its anti-hate policy.

Continue reading...

Change climate policy now to avert oil market crisis, warns thinktank

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 04:01 PM PST

Governments risk derailing global fossil fuel demand with 'handbrake turns' in future

The oil industry is at risk of a global market shock that could halve the value of fossil fuel investments if governments delay setting policies to tackle the climate crisis, according to new analysis.

A report by Carbon Tracker, a financial thinktank, warned that a "handbrake turn" in climate policy could have a "forceful, abrupt, and disorderly" impact on the global oil industry by derailing fossil fuel demand.

Continue reading...

Eurozone growth slows sharply as French and Italian economies shrink – business live

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:47 AM PST

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as France's economy contracts by 0.1% in the last quarter

Here's Reuters' take on today's growth reports:

Euro zone economic growth was slower than expected in the last three months of 2019, a first estimate showed on Friday, while inflation in January picked up in line with expectations thanks to a jump in prices of food, alcohol and tobacco and energy.

The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.1% quarter-on-quarter for a 1.0% year-on-year gain.

In another blow to households, inflation across the eurozone has picked up.

Consumer prices rose by 1.4% year-on-year in December, up from 1.3%, due to rising food, alcohol and tobacco prices.

BREAKING: #Eurozone GDP inched up by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, that was slower than 0.2% quarterly growth expected by economists. @EU_Eurostat also reported annual inflation expected to be 1.4% in January, a tenth higher than Dec, while the core slowed to 1.1% growth vs 1.3%

Continue reading...

Mexico: defender of monarch butterflies found dead two weeks after he vanished

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 10:00 AM PST

  • Homero Gómez González was found floating in a well
  • Activists say death could be over illegal logging disputes

A Mexican environmental activist who fought to protect the wintering grounds of the monarch butterfly has been found dead in the western state of Michoacán, two weeks after he disappeared.

Homero Gómez González, a former logger who managed El Rosario butterfly reserve, vanished on 13 January. His body was found floating in a well on Wednesday, reportedly showing signs of torture.

Continue reading...

Stella McCartney launches collection inspired by Jonathan Safran Foer

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:06 AM PST

Designer says author's book We Are the Weather struck a chord with its environmental message

From the hats of Hunter S Thompson to the jewellery of Edith Sitwell, fashion has long been inspired by authors' styles, but Stella McCartney has taken a different tack and designed a capsule collection inspired by the words of the bestselling author Jonathan Safran Foer.

The book in question is Safran Foer's We Are the Weather. Published last year, it proselytises eating less meat, specifically aiming to eat no animal products before dinner, as a way to save the planet, given that animal agriculture produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation sector.

Continue reading...

Parasite director Bong Joon-ho: 'Korea seems glamorous, but the young are in despair'

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 10:00 PM PST

After a sojourn in Hollywood, the film-maker went back to South Korea to do his next film – and produced an undisputed masterpiece. Why is his stunning critique of the class system striking chords all over the world?

The past year has been a whirlwind for Bong Joon-ho, and he is still in the midst of it. His movie Parasite has whisked him to places few directors – and certainly no South Korean director – have been before. It started with winning the top prize at the Cannes film festival last May, and the momentum has not let up: critical adulation, box office success, US talkshow appearances and a ridiculous 170 awards and counting.

And not just not just awards in the "foreign film" categories; Parasite is the first foreign-language film to win the Screen Actors Guild's coveted ensemble performance award. It is also up for six Oscars, including best picture and best director. Before, it was only connoisseurs who appreciated Bong's singular output – including Donald Glover, Edgar Wright, Guillermo del Toro and Quentin Tarantino. Now there's a whole online "#BongHive" sharing memes, news and general love about the 50-year-old film-maker. He's this season's must-have selfie for Hollywood stars to brandish on Twitter. Even Bong's ever-present interpreter, Sharon Choi, has become a minor celebrity.

Continue reading...

Helen McCourt's mother begins proceedings to prevent killer's release

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:23 AM PST

Marie McCourt lodges papers requesting judicial review into release of Ian Simms

The mother of a 22-year-old woman who was murdered as she walked home from work has begun legal proceedings to prevent the release of her killer.

Ian Simms was convicted of killing the insurance clerk Helen McCourt, who disappeared in Merseyside in 1988.

Continue reading...

Brexit day: UK prepares to leave the EU within hours – live news

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 03:02 AM PST

All the latest as Britain gears up to leave the European Union at 11pm local time

Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, says Britain's departure from the EU today is "bittersweet" and that he is looking forward to a "new alliance, a bespoke relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom".

The Taoiseach acknowledged the UK would like to see a trade deal happen before the transition phase finishes in 2020 but said it would be "difficult".

Here are the thoughts of some young people who've contacted the Guardian to give their take on Britain's departure from the EU.

Sean Van Eynort, a 21-year-old student who lives between Worthing and Montesinho in Portugal, said the whole process has been very sad and that he is trying to obtain a Portuguese passport. He said:

"I have a British mum and a Dutch dad. Having grown up living between Portugal and the UK (but having only a British passport) my identity has always been that of a European Brit. Today that identity feels like it is no longer allowed by what I thought to be my country.

"So I feel deeply sad and hurt by what is happening today and can only hope for the best, and the speedy resolution of my application for a Portuguese passport! I am flying to Sweden this morning to spend a weekend with a friend I met while travelling. I hadn't realised when booking that my flight would fall on Brexit day but I couldn't be happier to be escaping for a few days to a nation I often wish we would learn from."

"I'm going to a vigil tonight to mark our exit from Europe, and I'm going to campaign for our re-entry from day one. I'm terrified we will fall further into the American sphere – I'd take Europe over them any day. Whatever hope leavers had for some 'great' Britain is going to be swept away when Scotland leaves the union. Who is to say Northern Ireland won't leave too?"

"I feel sad and a little sombre; I feel like I never had a voice, as I was frustratingly just one month too young to vote in the 2016 referendum. My maternal grandparents were Italian and emigrated to the UK in the 1950s. Although this was before the EU existed in its current form, I feel that if they were alive today, they'd be disappointed, as the EU was originally formed to prevent wars ravaging Europe and ultimately, stamp out the fascism which my grandparents tried to escape.

"I don't feel bitter or resentful towards those who voted leave; it was their democratic right to vote however they wished, and the crux of the issue is that leave voters all had different versions of Brexit in their mind's eye, and Boris Johnson now has the impossible task of reconciling them all. I do think that the EU needs reform and isn't perfect but the UK already had a pretty good arrangement and we could have effected reform by remaining a voting member, rather than isolating ourselves."

Continue reading...

Trump's foreign policy is cynical and self-interested. His 'peace plan' is no exception | Michael H Fuchs

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:30 AM PST

The plan is a giant middle finger to the Palestinian people, and a way for Trump – and Netanyahu – to distract voters from domestic political problems

Donald Trump's foreign policy is all about advancing the interests of Donald Trump, and the release of his Israeli-Palestinian "peace plan" is yet another illustration of Trump's disregard for America's national security when he believes doing so will benefit him personally.

At the same time that Trump's lawyers stood on the floor of the US Senate defending the president from impeachment charges of abuse of power, and in Jerusalem the Israeli attorney general filed an indictment for corruption against the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the two leaders stood together in the White House in an attempt to distract from their domestic problems and feed their political bases.

Continue reading...

US briefing: Trump acquittal looms, Iowa caucuses and China travel ban

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 03:02 AM PST

Friday's top story: hopes for new impeachment witnesses fade as Senate prepares to acquit president. Plus, why a generation of rappers is dying young

Good morning, I'm Tim Walker with today's essential stories.

Continue reading...

Massacre leaves six indigenous people dead at Nicaraguan nature reserve

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 12:38 PM PST

  • Shooting of Mayangnas believed linked to land dispute
  • Settlers have been encroaching on protected Bosawás area

Six indigenous people have been killed and other 10 kidnapped after scores of armed men raided an isolated Nicaraguan nature reserve in an attack linked to raging land disputes.

About 80 attackers stormed a Mayangna commune about 500km (310 miles) north of capital Managua, deep in the north-central Bosawás Biosphere Reserve, the second-largest rainforest in the Americas after the Amazon.

Continue reading...

Australia fires: timelapse shows huge smoke cloud rising near Canberra – video

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 01:20 AM PST

Timelapse video shows a cloud of smoke rising behind houses in southern Tuggeranong, near the Australian capital, on Friday.

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has declared a state of emergency  as bushfires continue spreading in the south of Canberra, and the Orroral bushfire has grown to 8% of territory's land mass

Continue reading...

Coronavirus outbreak: Britons fly out of Wuhan as death toll passes 200

Posted: 31 Jan 2020 02:07 AM PST

Flight carrying 83 British people and 27 foreign nationals will land in the UK on Friday as US tells citizens 'don't go to China'

A plane carrying more than 100 British and other EU nationals trapped in Wuhan, the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, has left for the UK after Chinese spouses and partners were given permission to travel.

The chartered flight left Wuhan at 9:45am local time on Friday, the Foreign Office said in a statement. The plane was carrying 83 British people and 27 foreign nationals, and was scheduled to land at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire at 1 pm UK time.

Continue reading...

Cumberbatch, Colman among stars urging action on climate and poverty

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 07:10 AM PST

Inequality also targeted as 2,000 high-profile figures champion sustainable development goals in open letter

Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch and Malala Yousafzai are among 2,000 leading activists, campaigners and public figures who have backed an open letter demanding urgent action to end extreme poverty, conquer inequality and fix the climate crisis.

Directed at the world leaders who in 2015 agreed a series of UN global goals – including tackling gender inequality, ending global warming and eradicating hunger by 2030 – the letter declares a state of emergency for people and planet.

Continue reading...

Poorer countries suffer most from global health crises, we need help to handle coronavirus | Dr Claude Posala

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 04:40 PM PST

Pacific nations, still reeling from a devastating measles outbreak, have watched news out of Wuhan in panic

As Pacific Islanders watched updates about the coronavirus outbreak over the past few weeks, unease soon gave way to panic.

Still reeling in shock from a measles outbreak in Samoa, Pacific Islanders' fears were stoked as it became apparent that even large, well-developed countries were struggling to contain the outbreak. Low-resourced settings always suffer the greatest losses in global medical crises and people living in these island nations are not blind to that detail.

Continue reading...

What is coronavirus and how worried should we be?

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 04:19 AM PST

What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how is it transmitted from one person to another, and at what point should you see a doctor?

It is a novel coronavirus – that is to say, a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. Many of those infected either worked or frequently shopped in the Huanan seafood wholesale market in the centre of the Chinese city, which also sold live and newly slaughtered animals. New and troubling viruses usually originate in animal hosts. Ebola and flu are examples.

Continue reading...

Timelapse footage captures Wuhan hospital construction — video

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 09:52 PM PST

New aerial footages captures the construction progress of two new hospitals in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The first hospital is expected to be completed in 10 days as the country races to contain the spread of coronavirus.


Continue reading...

Trump lawyers: 'puritanical rage' driving impeachment trial – video

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 07:42 PM PST

The to and fro continues in the Trump impeachment trial as the prosecution and defense continue to debate subpoenaing witnesses. The White House lawyer Pat Cipollone accused the House impeachment managers of being driven by 'puritanical rage' while the Democratic congressman Hakeem Jeffries criticised the defense for raising 'conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory'

Continue reading...

Hongkongers take no chances with deadly coronavirus – in pictures

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 06:43 PM PST

For Hong Kong people, the memories of the Sars outbreak are still fresh. In 2003 there were 1,755 Sars cases and 299 deaths (according to the World Health Organisation). With the threat of the coronavirus outbreak declared a global emergency, Hongkongers are taking all precautions. Most people are wearing masks, others goggles or double masks. Airports and the subways are screening passengers for high temperatures. People are buying masks, hand sanitiser and even food in bulk

Continue reading...

Coronavirus: British family heads for exit flight after Chinese wife allowed to board – video

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 04:20 PM PST

Exclusive video: late U-turn from Chinese authorities meant that Matt Raw and his 75-year-old mother Hazel were given permission to fly along with Raw's wife Ying, who holds a Chinese passport. Previously, restrictions imposed by China meant those with Chinese passports were not permitted to leave the country, and China does not recognise dual nationality.

Continue reading...

WHO declares coronavirus a global health emergency – video

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 12:39 PM PST

The World Health Organization director general on Thursday declared the novel coronavirus a global health emergency but stressed that it was 'not a vote of no confidence in China'. Tedros Adhanom said that the declaration comes amid concern for countries with weaker health systems 

Continue reading...

British resident of Wuhan: 'Government won't let my wife leave with me' - video

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 09:54 AM PST

A Briton living in Wuhan with his mother and Chinese wife has deplored the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's handling of the coronavirus outbreak as 'abominable'. Matt Raw has said the whole family was staying in Wuhan because his wife has been prevented from flying by the Chinese government, and that the level of communication from the FCO has been 'terrible'. An FCO spokesperson said: 'The safety of British nationals is our top priority and we have been in close contact with British nationals and their family members who might need help. Our priority is to keep British nationals and their family members together and have urgently raised this with the Chinese authorities.'

Continue reading...

Cruise ship passengers on lockdown in Italy over coronavirus fears – video

Posted: 30 Jan 2020 09:09 AM PST

More than 6,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members have been stopped from disembarking the Costa Smeralda ship over fears a woman onboard could have coronavirus. Footage shows passengers onboard the ship, which is docked at the Italian port city of Civitavecchia while tests are carried out


Continue reading...


Posting Komentar