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- Academic stands by research querying Indonesia's claim to be coronavirus-free
- William Barr says Trump's tweets 'make it impossible to do my job'
- Bombs dumped in Irish Sea make bridge plan 'too dangerous'
- EU spending tens of millions of euros a year to promote meat eating
- Stephanie Simpson: body of British hiker found in New Zealand
- Leadership of 'French Oscars' resigns amid Polanski controversy
- Boris Johnson tells new cabinet to 'deliver for the people' in first meeting – live news
- Harvey Weinstein trial nears final act after defence rests
- German economy stagnates as eurozone growth hits seven-year low - business live
- 'Are they mean?' Donald Trump obsessed with badgers, new book claims
- Hawaiian, Gaelic, Yiddish: so you want to learn an endangered language on Duolingo?
- Parents of brain-damaged baby lose life support legal battle
- How Nepal’s migration ban traps female 'modern day slaves' in the Gulf
- DJ Diaki: Balani Fou review | Ammar Kalia's global album of the month
- Attorney general William Barr tells Trump to stop tweeting about cases – live updates
- Pipeline protests go mainline as support for Wet'suwet'en battle widens
- Coronavirus latest updates: China cuts death toll after 'double-counting' – live news
- William Tyrrell's family accuse police of 'personal agendas' after closing address in Gary Jubelin trial
- 'Gold pits have become tombs': mining leaves a tragic legacy in Cameroon
- Wave of violence leaves journalists in Somalia 'under siege', says Amnesty
- Vietnam accused of teaching young people that being gay is a ‘disease’
- After a disappointing start, where does Elizabeth Warren go from here?
- China's new Hong Kong chief a hardliner known for crusade against Christian churches
- Cruise ship rejected by five countries over coronavirus fears docks in Cambodia – video
- US expresses 'disappointment' in China's response to coronavirus – video
| Academic stands by research querying Indonesia's claim to be coronavirus-free Posted: 14 Feb 2020 04:45 AM PST Harvard professor Marc Lipsitch says world's fourth most populous country may have missed cases A Harvard academic has defended research suggesting a possible underreporting of coronavirus cases in Indonesia, following fierce criticism from the health minister in the world's fourth most populous country, which insists it has no cases. Professor Marc Lipsitch analysed air traffic out of the Chinese city at the centre of the outbreak in China and suggested in a report last week that Indonesia might have missed cases. On Tuesday the Indonesian health minister Terawan Agus Putranto called the report "insulting" and said the country had proper testing equipment. Continue reading... |
| William Barr says Trump's tweets 'make it impossible to do my job' Posted: 13 Feb 2020 04:58 PM PST US attorney general says he will not be 'bullied' over decisions – but some observers question his motives The US attorney general, William Barr, delivered a remarkable public rebuke of Donald Trump on Thursday, saying that the president's tweets "make it impossible for me to do my job" and that he would not be "bullied or influenced" over justice department decisions. In an interview with ABC News, the attorney general acknowledged his comments could leave him open to backlash from the president, who is notoriously intolerant of criticism from his aides. But Barr said he was determined to lead the justice department without being influence by outside forces, including the president. Continue reading... |
| Bombs dumped in Irish Sea make bridge plan 'too dangerous' Posted: 14 Feb 2020 04:10 AM PST Experts pour cold water on Boris Johnson's idea for Scotland-Northern Ireland link Bomb-disposal experts have warned it would be too dangerous to build a bridge between Northern Ireland and Scotland if it was to involve spanning the vast offshore munitions dump that lies on the most direct route over the Irish Sea. The most direct route for Boris Johnson's idea of a 28-mile bridge would involve crossing Beaufort's Dyke, a trench that contains more than 1m tonnes of unexploded munitions, plus chemical weapons and radioactive waste. Continue reading... |
| EU spending tens of millions of euros a year to promote meat eating Posted: 14 Feb 2020 04:12 AM PST Campaigns to promote consumption of pork and veal labelled 'indefensible' in light of health and climate concerns The EU has been accused of an "indefensible" approach to human health and the climate crisis in spending tens of millions of euros each year on campaigns to reverse the decline in meat eating and trying to rebut so-called "fake news" on the mistreatment of animals bred for food. Campaigns range from those designed to counter official warnings about the risk of cancer from eating red meat, to improving the public image of veal products said to be crucial in "deriving value from young male calves" superfluous to the dairy industry. Continue reading... |
| Stephanie Simpson: body of British hiker found in New Zealand Posted: 14 Feb 2020 12:26 AM PST Essex woman, 32, had been missing for a week in Mount Aspiring national park The body of the missing British hiker Stephanie Simpson has been found more than a week after she went missing, New Zealand police have said. The discovery was made at about 1.40pm on Friday in the Pyke Creek area, where police had devoted significant search resources, including two dog teams, 12 specialist search and rescue staff, thermal imaging drones and a helicopter. Continue reading... |
| Leadership of 'French Oscars' resigns amid Polanski controversy Posted: 14 Feb 2020 05:21 AM PST The French film academy says unanimous resignation was to honour the film-makers and 'regain calm' of the festival The entire board of the César awards, France's equivalent of the Oscars, has resigned two weeks before its gala ceremony amid growing controversy over the director Roman Polanski, whose film An Officer and a Spy leads the 2020 nominations. More than 400 actors, producers, directors and film personalities had earlier demanded the "profound reform" of the César academy, denouncing its dysfunction and the opaqueness of its processes, in an open letter published on Wednesday. Continue reading... |
| Boris Johnson tells new cabinet to 'deliver for the people' in first meeting – live news Posted: 14 Feb 2020 05:43 AM PST Rolling coverage of the day's political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson chairing a meeting of the new cabinet and further government reshuffle developments
The Jewish Labour Movement has also announced its stance on the Labour leadership. It is nominating Lisa Nandy for leader, and Ian Murray for deputy leader. Here are the results of its ballot. Apologies for the on the error, we mistyped! Breakdown of the results pic.twitter.com/Jjv8Eru54R
And, while we're on about Boris Johnson's proposed bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, my colleague Dan Sabbagh has spoken to bomb disposal experts who say the plan is flawed because the bridge would span a vast offshore munitions dump. Related: Bombs dumped in Irish Sea make bridge plan 'too dangerous' Continue reading... |
| Harvey Weinstein trial nears final act after defence rests Posted: 14 Feb 2020 02:45 AM PST Movie producer 'loved' closing remarks of his lawyer, who questioned motives of accusers Harvey Weinstein looked cheerful at the end of five hours of closing remarks in the New York supreme court, despite facing possible life imprisonment. As he trundled down the corridor on his walking frame, smiling broadly at reporters, he was asked what he thought of the final pitch to the jury made by his lead lawyer, Donna Rotunno. "I loved it," he said. "I called it the Queen's speech." Continue reading... |
| German economy stagnates as eurozone growth hits seven-year low - business live Posted: 14 Feb 2020 05:36 AM PST Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, including the latest eurozone growth figures
For days, investors have been fluctuating between panicking about the coronavirus, and persuading themselves that the crisis is abating. Today they're in a calm mood, pushing stocks in Europe up to new record highs. Related: Channel 4 worker taken to hospital for coronavirus test
Back in the UK, supermarket chain Tesco has been blasted by regulators for unlawfully blocking its rivals from opening stores. It's unacceptable that Tesco had these unlawful restrictions in place for up to a decade. By making it harder for other supermarkets to open stores next to its branches, shoppers could have lost out. In the future, we want the ability to fine businesses if we find that they are in breach of our orders. That's why we've called on the Government for more powers. Continue reading... |
| 'Are they mean?' Donald Trump obsessed with badgers, new book claims Posted: 13 Feb 2020 09:02 PM PST Daily Beast reporters say Reince Priebus was repeatedly asked about the rotund, hairy omnivores during briefings on healthcare and foreign policy Of all the topics to occupy the mind of the most powerful person in the United States, one would not expect badgers to make a frequent appearance. But the rotund, hairy omnivores were apparently an alarmingly regular topic of conversation in the White House during the early months of Donald Trump's presidency, according to Daily Beast reporters Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng. Continue reading... |
| Hawaiian, Gaelic, Yiddish: so you want to learn an endangered language on Duolingo? Posted: 14 Feb 2020 12:00 AM PST Languages do not become endangered peacefully. Duolingo's efforts to teach such languages have entangled the company in often fraught historical contexts In October last year, Meena Viswanath, a 31-year-old civil engineer from Berkeley, California, joined a small team of volunteers who were developing a Yiddish course on Duolingo, the free language learning app with over 300 million users. Having grown up in the only Yiddish-speaking family in a majority English-speaking New Jersey neighborhood, the prospect of broadcasting her mother tongue to a global network of students was exciting. Throughout October, Viswanath and three other contributors regularly met to discuss the curriculum over a shared Slack channel. They had a target to get the course up and running towards the end of 2020, and to begin, progress was solid. But then they hit a roadblock. Continue reading... |
| Parents of brain-damaged baby lose life support legal battle Posted: 14 Feb 2020 05:08 AM PST Father describes decision as 'terrible' after appeals court rules son is brain stem dead The parents of a four-month-old baby with brain damage have lost a legal battle to continue his life support treatment. Karwan Ali, 35, and Shokhan Namiq, 28, appealed after a high court judge ruled that Midrar Ali was brain stem dead and doctors at St Mary's hospital in Manchester could withdraw treatment. Continue reading... |
| How Nepal’s migration ban traps female 'modern day slaves' in the Gulf Posted: 13 Feb 2020 11:00 PM PST Rules intended to protect domestic workers have only made them more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, say activists Amita* knew she had to escape. After five months of being assaulted, starved and being forced to work for 20 hours a day as a domestic maid in a suburban house in Kuwait, the 45-year old from Nepal seized her chance. While the household slept, she climbed out of a downstairs bathroom window and fled. Amita managed to find the Nepali embassy, hoping that staff there would assure her safety and help send her home to Kathmandu. Continue reading... |
| DJ Diaki: Balani Fou review | Ammar Kalia's global album of the month Posted: 14 Feb 2020 12:30 AM PST (Nyege Nyege Tapes) Recent years have seen some of the most exciting dancefloor-focused music moving further and further away from its spiritual homes of Detroit, Chicago, Berlin or London. Now, styles such as South African gqom or Angolan kuduro-techno are pushing their way into club sound systems with rattling tempos in excess of 200bpm and unpredictable polyrhythms replacing the familiar four-to-the-floor kick. The work released by Ugandan label Nyege Nyege Tapes is among the most inventive of these styles. Encompassing sounds from the ground-shaking rhythms of Tanzanian singeli to the electro-synths of Ugandan acholi, the label has been challenging a recent trend towards often purposefully punishing "deconstructed" club music with their joyous reimaginings of east African music. Their latest release by Malian DJ Diaki is no less formidable. A stalwart of the Balani Show sound system – a party setup playing electronic, layered versions of the marimba-style instrument balafon – Diaki now releases his debut on Nyege Nyege. Continue reading... |
| Attorney general William Barr tells Trump to stop tweeting about cases – live updates Posted: 14 Feb 2020 05:44 AM PST
Trump is up and about, and giving us his first – relatively restrained – response to William Barr's criticism last night (see earlier). To summarise: I didn't interfere in the Roger Stone case, but I could have if I wanted to, and if I had, that would have been fine. But I didn't. "The President has never asked me to do anything in a criminal case." A.G. Barr This doesn't mean that I do not have, as President, the legal right to do so, I do, but I have so far chosen not to!
TOUGH GUYS FOR TRUMP! pic.twitter.com/DbjZjGzLWU Continue reading... |
| Pipeline protests go mainline as support for Wet'suwet'en battle widens Posted: 14 Feb 2020 02:30 AM PST Justin Trudeau under increasing pressure even as some politicians decry 'hard-left ideology' As armed Canadian police officers advanced through snow towards their camp, the group of Indigenous women was absorbed in a drumming ceremony to honour the spirits of missing and murdered Indigenous women across the country. Rows of red dresses hung from a fishing line slung across the road, and from pine and spruce trees in the surrounding forest – each one a memorial to the thousands of Indigenous women killed or disappeared in recent years. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus latest updates: China cuts death toll after 'double-counting' – live news Posted: 14 Feb 2020 05:38 AM PST Statistical error led to more than 100 deaths being counted twice, national health commission says
Taiwan has accused China of dragging its feet over the evacuation of citizens stranded in the province at the centre of the outbreak, in the latest spat between the two neighbours, AFP reports. Multiple countries have successfully arranged evacuation flights for nationals stuck in Hubei province where the epidemic is at its most intense and deadly. But nearly 1,000 Taiwanese have been waiting for the best part of two weeks for a flight out.
Related: Channel 4 worker taken to hospital for coronavirus test Continue reading... |
| Posted: 14 Feb 2020 01:59 AM PST NSW detective is defending charges of illegally making recordings during investigation into disappearance of three-year-old William William Tyrrell's foster family has blasted the "personal agendas" of police behind the prosecution of former detective Gary Jubelin, saying the investigation into the boy's disappearance has been "cavalier" following his removal. Jubelin is defending four charges of illegally recording elderly neighbour Paul Savage during an investigation into the 2014 disappearance of the three-year-old from the NSW mid-north coast. Continue reading... |
| 'Gold pits have become tombs': mining leaves a tragic legacy in Cameroon Posted: 14 Feb 2020 04:00 AM PST The ruthless quest for gold in eastern Cameroon has left the landscape peppered with deadly open pits It was the last day of the summer holidays when, on his way to meet friends in his hometown of Batouri, eastern Cameroon, 12-year-old Saustem Brandon Samba slipped on reddish mud and fell into what at first looked like a large puddle. Between 2017 and 2019, at least 115 children and adults drowned or were buried alive by landfalls in the mostly abandoned pits in the East and Adamawa regions of Cameroon, according to Forests and Rural Development (Foder), a local watchdog that is alone in tracking the accidents and deaths. |
| Wave of violence leaves journalists in Somalia 'under siege', says Amnesty Posted: 13 Feb 2020 11:00 PM PST Shootings, beatings and arbitrary arrests condemned as election candidates urged to protect freedom of expression The increasingly hostile environment in Somalia has left journalists living in fear of both the government and militant groups, according to Amnesty International. At least eight journalists have been killed since President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed came to power in 2017, while others have survived assassination attempts or been targeted for arrests and censorship, the rights group has said. Continue reading... |
| Vietnam accused of teaching young people that being gay is a ‘disease’ Posted: 13 Feb 2020 04:55 AM PST Government has ignored laws intended to prevent stigma, discrimination and bullying, Human Rights Watch claims Young people in Vietnam continue to be taught at home and at school that same-sex attraction is a "disease" and a "mental illness" that can be cured and treated, despite legislation designed to support and protect LGBTQ+ rights. Stigma and discrimination about sexual orientation and gender identity contribute to the verbal harassment and bullying of LGBTQ+ young people, which in some cases leads to physical violence, according to a report published on Thursday by Human Rights Watch (HRW). Continue reading... |
| After a disappointing start, where does Elizabeth Warren go from here? Posted: 13 Feb 2020 01:00 AM PST She placed third in Iowa and fourth in New Hampshire, but still touts herself as a candidate to excite liberals and please moderates The votes in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary were still being counted when Elizabeth Warren took the stage at a sports center in Manchester to address her supporters. Related: Controversy rages over Trump interference in Roger Stone case – live updates Continue reading... |
| China's new Hong Kong chief a hardliner known for crusade against Christian churches Posted: 12 Feb 2020 11:40 PM PST Xia Baolong is a long-time ally of Xi Jinping who represents a sign Beijing wants to exert more control over the city A hardliner notorious for the demolition of thousands of Christian crosses on churches has been appointed the new head of China's office in Hong Kong, a sign that Beijing aims to further tighten control over the semi-autonomous city, analysts say. Related: Coronavirus: China purges regional leaders hours after spike in deaths and new cases Continue reading... |
| Cruise ship rejected by five countries over coronavirus fears docks in Cambodia – video Posted: 14 Feb 2020 02:02 AM PST Passengers aboard the MS Westerdam cruise ship, which was turned away by five countries over coronavirus fears, were allowed to disembark in Cambodia on Friday. After tests, no one onboard was found to be carrying the Covid-19 virus, and the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, personally greeted the passengers with handshakes and floral bouquets as they stepped off the ship on to a waiting bus Continue reading... |
| US expresses 'disappointment' in China's response to coronavirus – video Posted: 14 Feb 2020 01:34 AM PST Larry Kudlow, the National Economic Council director, said the US was 'disappointed' in the response of China to the coronavirus outbreak. He said it was a concern for the wellbeing of people in China, adding that the virus had been contained in the US. The senior White House official called on Beijing to be more transparent over its handling of the outbreak amid moves by Chinese authorities to expand 'wartime' measures to limit its spread Continue reading... |
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