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

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


Outrage in South Korea over Telegram sexual abuse ring blackmailing women and girls

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 09:29 PM PDT

Alleged ringleader forced victims to carve 'slave' into their bodies and send him degrading images that were shared with scores of others

A sexual blackmail ring that operated on the app Telegram and targeted dozens of women, including underage girls, has rocked South Korea and triggered demands for authorities to crack down on the rising number of sexual offences online.

Police on Wednesday took the unusual step of naming the man who allegedly ran an online network that lured at least 58 women and 16 girls into what authorities called "virtual enslavement" by blackmailing them into sending degrading and, in come cases, violent sexual images of themselves.

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Great Barrier Reef suffers third mass coral bleaching event in five years

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 10:12 PM PDT

Renowned scientist Terry Hughes says huge swathes of reef have been affected in a 'severe' situation

The Great Barrier Reef has experienced a third mass coral bleaching event in five years, according to the scientist carrying out aerial surveys over hundreds of individual reefs.

With three days of a nine-day survey to go, Prof Terry Hughes told Guardian Australia: "We know this is a mass bleaching event and it's a severe one."

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Former child bride wrongfully accused of murdering husband sues in Pakistan

Posted: 25 Mar 2020 02:00 AM PDT

Rani Bibi was 14 when she was convicted but received no compensation for the miscarriages of justice that led to her spending two decades in prison

A child bride who spent 19 years in prison for a murder she did not commit is to sue the Pakistan authorities in an effort to persuade the country to help thousands of other victims of miscarriages of justice.

Rani Bibi was just 14 when she was convicted, alongside her father, brother and cousin, of the murder of her husband and spent the next two decades sweeping the floors of an overcrowded Pakistan prison.

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China set to indict Australian academic Yang Hengjun on espionage charges

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:31 PM PDT

Concerns grow over 54-year-old's interrogation and treatment while held in isolation with no consular or legal access

China is preparing to formally indict Australian academic Dr Yang Hengjun with espionage, a charge that potentially carries the death penalty, as concerns grow over his isolation and treatment in prison.

Yang, 54, has been imprisoned for more than 432 days, and, for the last three months, has been held in total isolation, allowed no contact with the outside world.

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Sixty-four Ethiopians found dead in truck in Mozambique

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 12:56 PM PDT

Bodies found in cargo container alongside 14 survivors

Sixty-four people from Ethiopia have been found dead crammed inside a freight container in north-west Mozambique, a senior hospital official has said.

The victims were discovered on Tuesday in a blue cargo container loaded on to a truck in the province of Tete. They were surrounded by survivors. Daily temperature highs in Tete are currently about 34C (93F).

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Alex Salmond allies say he plans to sue Scottish government

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:16 AM PDT

Ex-first minister believed to be furious over treatment by SNP and Nicola Sturgeon's office

Alex Salmond is expected to sue the Scottish government over the alleged role of its senior officials in his prosecution for sexual assaults, his allies have disclosed.

Sources close to the former first minister said he believed senior figures inside the government and Nicola Sturgeon's office helped orchestrate significant parts of the case against him, and that he intends to sue for extensive damages.

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Russia earthquake: tsunami warning cancelled after 7.5 magnitude event

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 08:57 PM PDT

US tsunami warning centre says only very small tsunamis were generated

A 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit off Russia's Kuril Islands on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said, prompting a tsunami warning that was later cancelled.

The quake hit at a depth of 59km (37 miles), around 1,400km north-east of the Japanese city of Sapporo, USGS added. There were no early reports of casualties.

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Boko Haram kills 92 Chadian soldiers in seven-hour attack

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 03:15 PM PDT

Overnight raid is the latest sign of the jihadists' growing power in Chad's border area

Ninety-two Chadian soldiers have been killed in the deadliest attack ever by Boko Haram jihadists on armed forces in the country, President Idriss Déby Itno said on Tuesday.

The attack is part of an expanding jihadist campaign in the vast, marshy Lake Chad area, where the borders of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria converge.

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Stock markets rally after Federal Reserve starts printing money

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 02:16 PM PDT

Dow Jones has best day since 1933, with Asian and European markets also up, after US move

Global stock markets staged a strong rally on Tuesday as investors were buoyed by the Federal Reserve's efforts to boost the US economy and the prospect of Congress backing a fiscal stimulus package.

The Dow Jones recorded its best day since 1933 as it gained 11.4%, or 2,113 points, while the FTSE 100 posted its highest ever gain, of 452 points, as it rose 9% to 5,446.

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Woody Allen: 'I would welcome Dylan Farrow back with open arms'

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 10:17 AM PDT

Director says in new memoir that not raising his adopted daughter after abuse allegations – which he denies – was 'one of the saddest things' of his life

Woody Allen has written that he "would welcome Dylan [Farrow] with open arms if she'd ever want to reach out", in his recently published memoir Apropos of Nothing.

In extracts published in the New York Times, Allen writes: "One of the saddest things of my life was that I was deprived of the years of raising Dylan and could only dream about showing her Manhattan and the joys of Paris and Rome. To this day, Soon-Yi [Previn] and I would welcome Dylan with open arms if she'd ever want to reach out to us as Moses [Farrow] did, but so far that's still only a dream."

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‘Opening a door that was closed too long’: the hunt for a female vice-president

Posted: 25 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PDT

As Biden says he will pick a female running mate, experts say having a woman on the Democratic ticket will move the US closer to the first female president

Hours after the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren ended her presidential campaign and all but assured the next American president would be a white man in his 70s, a group of influential Democratic women gathered for dinner at a Spanish restaurant in downtown Washington.

The timing was coincidental, but it underscored the urgency of their meeting.

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UK police chiefs: coronavirus could bring out worst in humanity

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 04:59 PM PDT

Warning after crimes including theft of oxygen canisters and puncturing of ambulance tyres

Police chiefs have warned the coronavirus pandemic could "bring out the worst in humanity" after a spate of opportunistic crimes hindered efforts to control the crisis.

The theft of oxygen canisters from a hospital, the puncturing of ambulance tyres and the raiding of food banks by thieves were among the "worrying isolated incidents" in recent days raised by the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC).

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Coronavirus live news: US Senate leaders and White House reach stimulus deal as India locks down

Posted: 25 Mar 2020 02:05 AM PDT

UN urges G20 to adopt 'wartime plan'; US risks becoming centre of the pandemic, WHO warns; EU urged to evacuate refugees from Greek camps. Follow the latest updates.

A British man is reportedly among nine people who have died from Covid-19 in Hungary, which so far has confirmed 226 coronavirus infections.

Hungarian authorities say the pandemic has now reached its second stage in the central European country, with infections now spreading in the community, About Hungary reports.

The virus can be anywhere and anybody can become infected.

An international survey has found that 70% of people in the world's seven wealthiest economies expect their households to lose income as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, Reuters reports.

The poll, by Kantar, included results from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

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Quarantined Brazilians protest against Bolsonaro from windows and balconies: 'Get out!'

Posted: 25 Mar 2020 02:00 AM PDT

President faces anger at response to coronavirus and pent-up discontent with his year-old administration

Some came to their windows wielding saucepans; others armed with nothing but their voice.

"Fora Bolsonaro!" ("Get out, Bolsonaro!") they yelled into the darkness, as fellow dissenters pounded pots and pans with wooden spoons as a way of venting their spleen against Brazil's far-right president.

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'As if we were the disease': coronavirus brings prejudice for Italy's Chinese workers

Posted: 25 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PDT

Xenophobia and job losses prompt textile industry staff in Tuscany to consider returning to China

At the beginning of February, Ilaria Santi, a councillor in the Italian city of Prato, in Tuscany, visited the canteen of an elementary school. A Chinese girl asked her: "Aren't you afraid of eating next to me?"

"I replied: 'Why should I be afraid?' and she said: 'Afraid that I infect you with the coronavirus.'" I replied that the virus was unfortunately in the minds of too many people," said Santi.

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Urgent action needed as spike in porn site traffic raises abuse fears, say MPs

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:00 PM PDT

Pornhub is using coronavirus lockdowns to promote and drive traffic to its site – but campaigners raise alarm over criminal and non-consensual videos

MPs and campaigners are calling for urgent action to stop videos of rape, revenge porn and child abuse being posted on Pornhub as traffic to the site booms amid a worldwide Covid-19 lockdown.

Worldwide Pornhub's traffic is up a record 12% this March compared to February as millions of people across the world are told to stay in their homes.

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Africa leads calls for debt relief in face of coronavirus crisis

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 10:00 PM PDT

IMF and World Bank lend their support in bid to help poorest countries strengthen their health systems

Government ministers across Africa have called for the suspension of debt interest payments as the Covid-19 crisis deepens.

The numbers of cases being reported in Africa are still behind Europe and the US but rises are being confirmed in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Algeria and Burkina Faso, among others, and there is fear of what economic consequences the pandemic might wreak.

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The Philippines and the struggle to maintain physical distance in lockdown – in pictures

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 07:40 PM PDT

The Philippines has taken drastic measures to combat the spread of Covid-19. The entire country is under strict quarantine and the army is on the streets to monitor compliance. According to official figures, there are 462 positive cases and 33 dead in the Philippines, but it is thought that thousands of cases remain undetected due to lack of resources in a country where millions of people have no access to health care. In the poorest and most crowded areas, it's almost impossible to adhere to the physical distancing required during quarantine

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Mogadishu's refugees 'waiting for death' as Covid-19 reaches Somalia

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 02:23 AM PDT

Fears are growing about the spread of coronavirus in camps where few can afford soap, water is rare and social distancing impossible

In the Nabadoon camp on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Asho Abdullahi Hassan, a 40-year-old mother of seven, has heard about the coronavirus on the radio.

"I am very scared about this deadly virus. I only heard about it from the news. It is like we are waiting for death to come," she says.

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Coronavirus in America: why the US has struggled to tackle a growing crisis

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:14 AM PDT

A lack of preparation, deep-rooted dysfunction and a reckless president – now the US faces being the center of the pandemic

Exactly a month after Donald Trump tweeted that the US had the coronavirus outbreak "very much under control", the World Health Organization delivered a stark and jarring reality check: America faces being the centre of a pandemic that has paralysed much of the world.

Related: Trump's staff cuts have undermined Covid-19 containment efforts, watchdog finds

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How strict are the UK's distancing rules compared with other countries?

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 08:25 AM PDT

Latest coronavirus measures still not as stringent as some others around the world

Boris Johnson's announcement of strict new distancing measures laid out restrictions increasingly familiar around the globe since China initiated its tough lockdown in Wuhan city and Hubei province in January.

More vague in detail than those of some countries, the UK measures unveiled were a lot less stringent than in many other European countries, with penalties appearing to be at the softer end of a spectrum compared with those nations threatening huge fines or imprisonment for violators.

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Trump flounders in the pandemic – but goes from Nero to hero in a week | Arwa Mahdawi

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 06:25 AM PDT

The president's handling of the coronavirus crisis has been feeble. But that's the beauty of setting an incredibly low bar for yourself – you can fail up

Just a few weeks ago, I was confident that Donald Trump's days in the White House were numbered. The economy was tanking; coronavirus cases were soaring. And what was the president doing? Calling the coronavirus a "hoax" and mindlessly tweeting. On the same day, the Dow Jones plunged more than 2,000 points and Trump cheerfully retweeted a doctored photo of him playing a violin, remarking: "Who knows what this means, but it sounds good to me!" "Nero" immediately started trending.

Trump may be fiddling while the world burns, but, over the past week, he has sharply changed his tune. The guy who recently assured us that Covid-19 would "like a miracle … disappear" now insists that, actually, he knew it was "a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic". Having realised he can't just bluster coronavirus away, Trump has rewritten the past, adopted a newly sombre tone and reinvented himself as a "wartime" president. Last Monday, Trump finally admitted the gravity of the situation and announced a 15-day plan to "slow the spread" of the virus.

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Trump says he hopes to win coronavirus battle by Easter – video

Posted: 25 Mar 2020 12:20 AM PDT

Donald Trump has earmarked the Easter weekend as the date he hopes the US can ease restrictions on citizens put in place to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The president called Easter a 'special day' and said he was hopeful of allowing Americans to return to work by that day

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Remnants of Isis: finds in a Syrian village – in pictures

Posted: 25 Mar 2020 12:00 AM PDT

A year after the last black flag of Islamic State was lowered in the Syrian village of Baghouz, traces of the jihadist group are still all around this small and remote village near the Iraqi border, where Kurdish fighters and the US-led coalition declared the defeat of Isis in March 2019

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Modi announces coronavirus lockdown 'to save India' – video

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 10:20 PM PDT

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has announced the country will be placed in lockdown for the next 21 days as his government takes step to halt the spread of coronavirus. Modi made a TV announcement confirming the country of 1.3 billion people will be ordered to remain indoors to prevent a public health disaster

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'We can't have queues for intensive care', Andrews says as coronavirus lockdown increases – video

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 06:51 PM PDT

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has called on Victorians to take coronavirus lockdowns seriously to 'buy time' to treat patients. 'We've got queues at Centrelink offices, that's heartbreaking,' he said. 'We can not have people queuing for intensive care beds ... If you can stay home, you must stay home.'

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'It's not a holiday': police disperse sunbathers in London during coronavirus lockdown - video

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 03:20 PM PDT

The Metropolitan police have released footage of officers clearing Shepherd's Bush Green, west London, of sunbathers on the first day of the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown. 'Can you all go home please,' one officer can be heard saying. 'It's not a holiday, it's a lockdown.' 

Under tough new measures announced by Boris Johnson on Monday, people are allowed to leave their homes only to exercise once a day, to travel to and from 'absolutely necessary' work, and to shop for essential items.

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How to use your spare time during the coronavirus crisis – video

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 02:15 PM PDT

Australian academic, psychologist and author Lea Waters shares some advice as other activities and social engagements are cancelled during the coronavirus crisis. The video forms part of a multipart series looking at ways we can all stay positive

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Coronavirus lockdown in the UK: the dos and don'ts – video explainer

Posted: 24 Mar 2020 12:07 PM PDT

What are the rules for the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK? The Guardian political correspondent Peter Walker clarifies what we are and are not expected to do to limit the spread of the coronavirus across the country

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