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

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


Trump impeachment: president acquitted on both articles

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 01:19 PM PST

President becomes third in US history to be impeached by the House and acquitted in Senate trial

Donald Trump has been acquitted in his Senate trial on both of the articles of impeachment he faced, ending the threat that he would be removed from office and concluding the impeachment process.

Voting largely along party lines, the senators found Trump not guilty of the first article of impeachment, abuse of power, by a 52-48 tally, and not guilty of the second article of impeachment, obstruction of Congress, by a 53-47 tally.

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Coronavirus: China deaths pass 560 as 10 more cruise passengers test positive – latest news

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 02:40 AM PST

Wuhan authorities warn of lack of 'equipment and materials' and consider converting hotels and schools into treatment centres

More than 140 Russians have been evacuated from Wuhan, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, to a medical facility in Siberia guarded by members of Russia's National Guard.

Inside, many have taken to Instagram to blog their time in quarantine, snapping photos of their dinner and exercise routines.

The quarantine is pretty hands-off and easy. The only thing is that we're not allowed to come into contact with the people who are in the neighbouring rooms. We don't leave our rooms. They bring us food. Doctors come in to test us: check our temperatures, inspect our throats, and measure the amount of oxygen in our blood.

In the hall we were met by people not just in masks, but in full bodysuits. They met us as though we were radiating this virus.

The US is continuing to fly hundreds of its citizens out of Wuhan, the city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, in what it anticipates to be the last of its chartered flights.

On Wednesday, two planes flew 350 citizens back to an air force base in California, and two more flights will arrive from Wuhan this week. The US does not anticipate any further chartered flights after this.

Inside a US evacuation flight from #Wuhan: hazmat suits, Ghostbusters masks, megaphones, forms & a heads up for Americans it'll 'get really weird' when they land. Final US airlifts tonight as #coronavirus cases rise to 28k+ in #China; 563 have died. @NBCNews (video Jacob Wilson) pic.twitter.com/CJZ5i6ALQg

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'Feed them bullets not biryani': BJP uses Delhi elections to stoke religious hatred

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 09:29 PM PST

Even for a party known for its openly Hindu nationalist agenda, the campaign has been one of their most brazenly anti-Muslim

Standing before a political rally in Delhi, Yogi Adityanath, the firebrand Hindu nationalist chief minister of Uttar Pradesh known for preaching hate and violence against India's Muslims, did not mince his words.

The thousands of women who have been gathered for two months in the Delhi suburb of Shaheen Bagh in protest against India's new citizenship law were "terrorists", he said.

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Kirk Douglas, Hollywood legend and star of Spartacus, dies aged 103

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 05:18 PM PST

Square-jawed star of Paths of Glory and Lust For Life leaves legacy 'that will endure for generations', says son Michael Douglas

Kirk Douglas, the self-styled "ragman's son" who became the last great star of Hollywood's golden age, has died at the age of 103.

His son Michael announced the news in a statement posted on Instagram on Wednesday evening.

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Maldives stabbing: Australian and two Chinese injured in attack claimed by Isis sympathisers

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 12:58 AM PST

Police confirm three foreigners attacked by 'suspected extremists' but say their injuries are not serious

Three people including an Australian man have been stabbed in the Maldives in an attack claimed by Islamic State sympathisers.

Police in the South Asian archipelago said the Australian, 44, and two Chinese nationals were stabbed by "suspected extremists" between 7pm and 8pm on Tuesday on Hulhimalé, an island near the capital Male.

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High-speed passenger train crashes in northern Italy

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 12:20 AM PST

Two reported killed after train derails and crashes into freight train near town of Lodi

A high-speed passenger train has derailed and struck another train in northern Italy, killing two railway workers and injuring 27 people.

Italy's civil protection chief, Angelo Borrelli, told state radio the state railway train went off the rails and struck a train on adjacent tracks in the countryside near the town of Lodi. He said one of the dead was a train engineer.

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Scottish finance secretary quits over messages to boy, 16

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 02:34 AM PST

Derek Mackay reportedly sent hundreds of messages to teenager on social media

Scotland's finance secretary, Derek Mackay, has resigned hours before he was due to deliver next year's budget after it emerged he had been sending messages to a 16-year-old boy.

The Scottish Sun published hundreds of messages that Mackay, 42, had sent the teenager, including calling him "cute", discussing the boy's new haircut, and inviting him to dinner and to a parliamentary event as his guest.

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Turkish Cypriot leader warns Cyprus is facing permanent partition

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 09:00 PM PST

Mustafa Akıncı says differences between island's two sides are growing more entrenched

The president of Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus has warned the Mediterranean island faces permanent partition of its Greek and Turkish communities unless an agreement is swiftly reached involving an "equitable" federal solution.

In an interview with the Guardian, Mustafa Akıncı said the differences between the two sides were growing more entrenched every year, diminishing the prospect of reunification. "We need to hurry up. After all these years we have come to a crossroads, a decisive moment," he said.

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Jared Kushner appeared ignorant of what Nato actually does, book claims

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 10:30 PM PST

Sinking in the Swamp says Trump's 'lead point of contact' for US allies seemed unaware of alliance members' commitment to defend each other from attack

Though Jared Kushner was a "lead point of contact" for US allies worried about Donald Trump's threats to Nato, the president's son-in-law did not "seem to know what Nato actually did", a new book claims.

Related: Jared Kushner may have an ethics problem - to the tune of $90m | Vicky Ward

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Sun! Samba! Street crime! Red-faced Rio highlights the negative

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 01:46 PM PST

Instagram post about being robbed in the city is accidentally shared by tourist agency

When marketing Rio de Janeiro, Brazil's national tourism agency typically focuses on the city's world-class beaches, samba-filled music scene and caipirinha-fueled parties.

Violent crime is rarely listed among the attractions.

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UN poverty expert's visit shines light on struggles of Spain’s poor

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 09:00 PM PST

Country's recovery from 2008 economic crisis has masked deeply entrenched socio-economic problems

On what was probably their only day off all week, two dozen Latin American women had gathered in south Madrid to explain to a UN human rights expert the paradox of their invisibility.

They were of different ages and were born in different countries – Bolivia, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, to name a few – but their stories soon entwined to form a single narrative.

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Government to be challenged in court over Prevent reviewer

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 11:00 PM PST

Legal action from Rights Watch (UK) comes amid spate of terror attacks in London

The government's failure to appoint an independent reviewer of its Prevent strategy and assess the controversial de-radicalisation programme's effectiveness is to be challenged in court.

The decision by Rights Watch (UK) to initiate legal action against the Home Office comes amid terror attacks in London that raise questions about whether young men can be successfully directed away from terrorist violence.

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Saudi Arabia using secret court to silence dissent, Amnesty finds

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 04:01 PM PST

Activists handed long prison sentences or death penalty by court set up for terror cases

Saudi Arabia is using a secretive special court set up for terrorism-related cases to systematically prosecute human rights activists and other dissenting voices who defy the country's absolute monarchy, a new report has found.

The human rights watchdog Amnesty International spent five years investigating 95 cases heard at the Specialised Criminal court (SCC) in Riyadh, concluding in a report published on Thursday that the court is routinely used as a weapon to silence criticism despite the kingdom's recent attempts to cultivate a reformist image.

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We will end female genital mutilation only by backing frontline activists

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 01:00 AM PST

From the Gambia to Kenya, FGM has been fought most successfully at grassroots level. The world must pay heed

I underwent female genital mutilation at the age of seven, while on holiday in Djibouti. When I returned to school in the UK my teacher told me that this happened to "girls like me".

Thankfully, this type of reaction is no longer common, and this country is much better equipped to protect girls at risk. FGM is now seen as a global issue, which we know has affected more than 200 million women and girls around the world.

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US briefing: Trump acquitted, Iowa caucus fallout and Kirk Douglas

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 03:08 AM PST

Thursday's top story: Senate acquits president on both impeachment charges. Plus, writers pick the best migration stories that aren't American Dirt

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

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'The luxury days are gone': life on cruise ship stricken by coronavirus

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 02:49 AM PST

Passengers on the Diamond Princess are experiencing fear, uncertainty and dark humour

It began as an expensive, luxury cruise around east Asia, but for the 2,666 passengers onboard the Diamond Princess, the holiday of a lifetime has turned into a waiting game marked by fear and uncertainty, and a touch of gallows humour.

On Monday, as they prepared to dock in Yokohama, near Tokyo, to savour the final few days of their adventure, the passengers and 1,045 crew found themselves trapped by the coronavirus outbreak.

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Julie Bishop: Coalition should lead world on climate despite 'missteps' on bushfires

Posted: 06 Feb 2020 12:00 AM PST

Chancellor of Australian National University puts experts at government disposal to provide 'evidence-based' solutions

Australia "needs action on several fronts" following a catastrophic bushfire season, including leading international efforts against climate change and cutting emissions beyond the electricity sector, Julie Bishop has said.

Bishop, the incoming chancellor of the Australian National University, made the comments to Guardian Australia, offering to put the university's disaster management experts and more than 300 climate scientists at the federal government's disposal to provide "evidence-based" responses to the bushfires.

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'Hidden' coronavirus cases could thwart containment efforts, experts warn

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 11:00 PM PST

Failure to report mild symptoms combined with highly contagious nature of disease raises fears existing figures are 'tip of the iceberg'

Global health experts have warned that "hidden" infections make containment of the coronavirus unlikely and raised fears that the rapidly rising caseload of 25,000 people could be the "tip of the iceberg".

"Hidden" cases – where people with mild symptoms do not seek medical help and so remain untested and unrecorded – combined with the highly contagious nature of the disease mean there could be "vastly more cases" than previously thought, according to Tom Frieden, a former director at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Deeper economic turmoil looms for Hong Kong amid coronavirus panic

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 09:45 PM PST

Reports of panic buying emerge as airlines drop city as a destination and lucrative tourism from China falls away

Hong Kong's economy risks being plunged deeper into recession as the coronavirus outbreak wreaks havoc in the crisis-hit territory, with consumers panic buying staple goods and airlines stopping flights.

Hours after the city's flagship carrier Cathay Pacific placed 27,000 staff on three weeks unpaid leave, Virgin Australia said on Thursday that it would no longer fly to Hong Kong because it was not "commercially viable".

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How a new Sesame Street show is bringing Muppet magic to refugee camps

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 09:40 AM PST

Three new Muppets, Basma, Jad, and Ma'zooza, will star in new show for the millions of children displaced across the Middle East

Cooperation, kindness and the alphabet. For over 50 years, the characters of Sesame Street, from the Cookie Monster to Big Bird, have helped children from diverse backgrounds navigate the challenges of life as a small person in a big world.

From the moment it launched, Sesame Street has unflinchingly dealt with difficult issues – and from this week they are bringing their special brand of magic to the children who need them the most.

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What is coronavirus and how worried should we be?

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 03:43 PM PST

What are the symptoms caused by the virus from Wuhan in China, how does it spread, and should you call a doctor?

It is a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. Many of those initially 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.

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The great escape: how Donald Trump survived impeachment

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 01:34 PM PST

How did Trump and his team pull off his successful defense? Here's a look at key factors

Will historians find Donald Trump's impeachment remarkable because Republican politicians turned a blind eye to such egregious wrongdoing and acquitted him? Or will they find it remarkable because it was the last time a cadre of Republican officials publicly turned against Trump?

While most of the career civil servants who defied the president by testifying in the impeachment inquiry do not publicly identify as Republican, many were Trump appointees with strong Republican ties, while other key figures such as former national security adviser John Bolton are wizened party warriors.

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Trump's acquittal in impeachment 'trial' is a glimpse of America's imploding empire

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 01:33 PM PST

In a hyperpartisan era, Republicans cast Trump as a victim while Democrats lamented his 'normalisation of lawlessness'

Donald Trump's short but indelible political career has been based around the principle of divide-and-fool. His acquittal in the impeachment trial by the US Senate will further fan the flames of the most profound national split since the Vietnam war, perhaps even the civil war.

First, expect Trump to be cocky and take a victory lap, falsely claiming "exoneration" just as he did after special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation left him bruised but unbowed. A day after Mueller's leaden testimony to Congress, the president felt able to act with such impunity that he made his bullying phone call to the leader of Ukraine.

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Will coronavirus make markets take a 'black swan' dive?

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 09:52 AM PST

Impact of Chinese outbreak has already rippled out well beyond world's No 2 economy

The impact of coronavirus on the global economy is growing and spreading daily. What started as a medical emergency in the Chinese city of Wuhan has led to planes being grounded, cruise ships being quarantined, theme parks being shut and car plants being mothballed.

TV footage of deserted streets and empty shops tell their own story: China's economy, which was already slowing, is going to suffer a major hit as the authorities seek to stop the virus from spreading.

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More Australian coronavirus evacuees arrive on Christmas Island to be quarantined – video

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 07:35 PM PST

Thirty-five Australian citizens and permanent residents, including 13 children and infants, have arrived on Christmas Island from Wuhan for a 14-day quarantine. They join 241 other Australians evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak

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New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern picks up the tongs for Waitangi Day barbecue – video

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 06:08 PM PST

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern takes part in the Waitangi Day dawn service, serving up a barbecue breakfast. The prime minister was among the many to gather at Waitangi before sunrise as part of commemorations on the 180th anniversary of the Treaty of Waitangi's signing

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New Zealand's Waitangi Day 2020 celebrations – in pictures

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 04:17 PM PST

Jacinda Ardern has spent several days at the Waitangi treaty grounds, meeting Māori chiefs and iwi members

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Second avalanche kills dozens of rescuers in Turkey – video

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 10:17 AM PST

More than 30 rescue workers have died in an avalanche in eastern Turkey while trying to find people missing after an earlier snowslide. The country's emergency and disaster management agency said rescue teams were searching for victims of the first avalanche, which killed at least five people, when a second struck

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Plane breaks apart after skidding off track at Istanbul airport – video

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 08:46 AM PST

A Pegasus Airlines plane has slid off the runway at Sabiha Gökçen airport in Istanbul. Footage shows the aircraft in a ditch, with the front part snapped and facing away from the rest of the body. No casualties have been reported so far


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Do face masks help prevent coronavirus? – video explainer

Posted: 05 Feb 2020 06:26 AM PST

The Guardian's health editor, Sarah Boseley, gives the lowdown on the effectiveness of wearing face masks to protect against the coronavirus, explains how viruses are spread, and offers tips on staying healthy and safe as the outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China, continues to spread


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