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Coronavirus: five new cases in France are British nationals
Coronavirus: two deaths in Wuhan thought to be first of foreign nationals
Ireland election: polls open with Sinn Féin poised to play key role
Democratic candidates zero in on Buttigieg and Sanders at tense debate
More than half of women in Zimbabwe have faced sextortion, finds survey
His master's voice? Jair Bolsonaro posts video of himself watching Trump rant
Inquiry strikes blow to Russian denials of Syria chemical attack
Fox News guests spread 'disinformation' – says leaked internal memo
Sheila Atim: ‘I had impostor syndrome until I picked up my MBE
Death of Stoke-on-Trent woman may have involved hazardous materials
UN rapporteur condemns UK hosting of Israeli spyware firm
'Real power is fear': what Machiavelli tells us about Trump in 2020
Monarch butterflies' marvel of nature under threat from all sides
Private investors won't touch new Coalition-backed coal plant, Labor says
Donald Trump's 'incredible' week in three minutes - video report
Briton tells of life on cruise ship as fellow passenger tests positive for coronavirus – video

Coronavirus: five new cases in France are British nationals

Posted: 08 Feb 2020 02:08 AM PST

Child among five to have come into contact with Briton who had been in Singapore

Two Wuhan deaths thought to be first of foreign nationals

All of the five new cases of the coronavirus in France are British nationals, including a child, the French health minister has said.

The five people were diagnosed in France after they had come into contact with a person who had been in Singapore.

Coronavirus: two deaths in Wuhan thought to be first of foreign nationals

Posted: 08 Feb 2020 01:40 AM PST

US citizen, 60, died of virus, while Japan says citizen who died had symptoms of virus

A US national in China has become the first foreigner confirmed to have died from the new coronavirus, while a Japanese man also died after experiencing symptoms consistent with the disease, authorities have said.

Officials announced the death toll had risen to 724, with 86 more people dying in mainland China – the highest one-day jump so far. The toll is nearing the 774 killed worldwide during the 2002-03 Sars epidemic.

Ireland election: polls open with Sinn Féin poised to play key role

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 11:00 PM PST

Republican party is hoping poll surge will translate into a parliamentary breakthrough

Voters are going to the polls in Ireland after a tumultuous general election campaign during which Sinn Féin has surged into contention as a potential party of government.

The republican party hopes a rise in popularity among young and urban voters will translate into enough parliamentary gains to make it a kingmaker or participant in Ireland's next coalition government.

Democratic candidates zero in on Buttigieg and Sanders at tense debate

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 08:47 PM PST

Competing visions for the party were on display as moderate candidates challenged progressives ahead of New Hampshire primary

Democratic presidential candidates clashed on Friday night in a tense televised debate that was dominated by attacks against Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders, the two candidates who declared victory after the Iowa caucuses.

In the week that Donald Trump was acquitted in his impeachment trial and days ahead of the New Hampshire primary, the competing visions for the Democratic party were on show as moderate candidates challenged the progressives, and those with more Washington experience called out the relative political newcomers.

More than half of women in Zimbabwe have faced sextortion, finds survey

Posted: 08 Feb 2020 01:00 AM PST

Widespread corruption and deteriorating economy have contributed to rise in sexual bribery, say researchers

Zimbabwe has recorded an unprecedented number of women reporting being forced to exchange sex for employment or business favours.

More than 57% of women surveyed by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ) said they had been forced to offer sexual favours in exchange for jobs, medical care and even when seeking placements at schools for their children.

His master's voice? Jair Bolsonaro posts video of himself watching Trump rant

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 09:56 AM PST

Brazil's president was accused of kowtowing with his 73-minute Facebook live stream but some see method in his obsequiousness

He has long styled himself as a tropical Trump – a socialist-skewering hardman fighting Brazilian carnage.

Inquiry strikes blow to Russian denials of Syria chemical attack

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 05:07 AM PST

UN watchdog's investigation rebuts claims it manipulated evidence of Douma incident

A Russia-led campaign that claimed the UN weapons watchdog had manipulated evidence of a Syrian government chemical weapons attack has been dealt a blow by an official inquiry showing that two former employees hailed as whistleblowers had little direct access to the evidence and inflated their role.

The independent inquiry commissioned by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) shows that one of the two had never been on the team investigating the April 2018 attack in Douma and the other was only on the team for a brief period.

Fox News guests spread 'disinformation' – says leaked internal memo

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 08:16 AM PST

Among those named in document are frequent guests Rudy Giuliani, John Solomon, Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova

Fox News has a credibility problem. Most critics of the cable news network will be well aware of that, but in this case the admission is coming from Fox News itself.

An internal research briefing obtained by the Daily Beast names four regular contributors to the network for peddling "disinformation", particularly when it comes to the Ukraine scandal that led to Donald Trump's impeachment.

Sheila Atim: ‘I had impostor syndrome until I picked up my MBE

Posted: 08 Feb 2020 12:00 AM PST

The actor has channelled Bob Dylan and received an honour at just 29. Now she's finally ready for primetime

Sheila Atim would not call it a shrine, exactly, but in her London flat, there is a mantelpiece on which she has placed a few commemorative bits and bobs. There's an Olivier award here, an MBE there. "My friend did say it looked like a shrine," she admits, laughing. "But it's not because I want people to walk into the flat and be blinded by the lights of Sheila's achievements. These things are just nice! They're little milestones. I look at them and go, whoa. What?!"

There's a lovely, knockabout energy to Atim, balanced by a deeply serious side. More than almost anyone I've interviewed, she really, properly, thoroughly considers every angle of every question she is asked, as if she's been set a puzzle to solve. Perhaps that's why casting agents spot a kind of otherworldliness in her. "A little bit, not bang in the middle of the mainstream, just slightly to the left," as she puts it. Atim has been a powerful presence in the theatre world: she won the Olivier in 2018 for her role in the Bob Dylan-inspired musical Girl From The North Country, and has done almost every interesting, just-slightly-to-the-left production of Shakespeare going. Then, in December, she was awarded the MBE – at the age of 29. Now she's moving on to the small screen with a BBC primetime debut in which she'll be playing a witch. In The Pale Horse, a list of names is found on the body of a woman who has been murdered; a man who finds his own name there becomes obsessed with a trio of spooky women in a leafy suburban village. It's an Agatha Christie adaptation, which means Atim can't tell me anything else about it. "It's quite hard, isn't it, with a whodunnit? But I am playing a witch. That much I can tell you."

Death of Stoke-on-Trent woman may have involved hazardous materials

Posted: 08 Feb 2020 01:32 AM PST

Body of woman found at house in Northwood and police are treating death as unexplained

Police believe the sudden death of a woman whose body was found in a house may have involved hazardous materials.

Emergency services were called to a house in Northwood, Stoke-on-Trent, at 5.45pm on Friday, Staffordshire police said.

UN rapporteur condemns UK hosting of Israeli spyware firm

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 09:58 AM PST

David Kaye speaks out over decision to allow NSO Group to exhibit at trade fair

An independent UN investigator has criticised the British government's decision to host a surveillance company whose technology is allegedly used by repressive regimes to intercept the private messages of journalists and human rights activists.

David Kaye, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, who has called for a global moratorium on the sale of such technology, said democratic governments "should be outraged and should develop global standards for the exports of such tools" that respected the rule of law and human rights.

'Real power is fear': what Machiavelli tells us about Trump in 2020

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 11:00 PM PST

As disregard for the 'actual truth of the matter' spreads, what can the author of The Prince tell us about The Donald?

"Real power is – I don't even want to use the word – fear."

Monarch butterflies' marvel of nature under threat from all sides

Posted: 08 Feb 2020 12:00 AM PST

The orange and black insect makes an astonishing 3,000-mile annual migration but the recent deaths of two conservationists in Mexico have highlighted the dangers facing the species

The annual migration of monarch butterflies from the US and Canada is one of the most resplendent sights in the natural world – a rippling orange and black wave containing millions of butterflies fluttering instinctively southward to escape the winter cold.

The spectacle when they reach their destination in central Mexico is perhaps even more astonishing. Patches of alpine forest turn from green to orange as the monarchs roost in the fir trees, the sheer weight of butterflies causing branches to sag to the point of snapping. Tens of thousands of the insects bounce haphazardly overhead, searching replenishment from nearby plants.

Private investors won't touch new Coalition-backed coal plant, Labor says

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 08:38 PM PST

Morrison government to spend up to $4m in grant for feasibility study into coal-fired power plant in Queensland

The federal Labor opposition says private investors will not touch "with a barge pole" the Morrison government's plan to support a coal-fired power plant in Queensland.

The government says it will spend up to $6m in grants for two new Queensland electricity generation projects, including a coal-fired power plant, as part of a bid to lower power prices.

Donald Trump's 'incredible' week in three minutes - video report

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 09:09 AM PST

The president of the United States was greeted by applause for his State of the Union address where he painted a picture of his vision of the future of the US on Tuesday. The following day, Trump was acquitted of impeachment in the Senate with all but one Republican voting in his favour.

On Thursday, Trump held a speech he called a 'celebration'. A Gallup poll has put Trump's approval rating at 49%, the highest level for that survey since 2017. And on top of that, the Democratic primary race got off to a slow and embarrassing start in Iowa after technical difficulties delayed results by almost 24 hours

Briton tells of life on cruise ship as fellow passenger tests positive for coronavirus – video

Posted: 07 Feb 2020 03:09 AM PST

David Abel says in video update on Facebook that he had been dining with fellow Briton who tested positive for coronavirus on a cruise ship docked in Japan. He said Alan Steele was on honeymoon and would be separated from his wife as he was taken off the ship for treatment. Abel has been sharing videos on social media of life under quarantine on the Diamond Princess