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- Coronavirus live news: Barack Obama attacks Trump virus response
- Global report: Shanghai schools to partly reopen, New Orleans restaurants restart
- How will we ever make people feel at home again, ask Italy's fearful trattorias
- 'Hubs of infection': how Covid-19 spread through Latin America's markets
- As lockdown consensus unravels, Boris Johnson divides nation and party
- Homophobic crimes rise by more than a third in France
- Berlin's cultural capital in peril from exodus of billionaire art collectors
- Los Angeles explosion: 11 firefighters hurt as 'hash oil factory' burns
- Poorer middle-aged men most at risk from suicide in pandemic, say Samaritans
- French police arrest Rwandan genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga
- Phyllis George, pioneering NFL sportscaster, dies at age 70
- The end of plastic? New plant-based bottles will degrade in a year
- Polish clerical child abuse documentary casts shadow on John Paul II centenary
- Practical joke or toy? Leather ‘mouse’ shows Romans' playful side
- KSI: ‘Money gravitates towards me’
- HS2’s costs and potential delays are running out of control, warn MPs
- The Caravan: Abdallah Azzam and the Rise of Global Jihad review – recent history at its finest
- Trump, Putin and Bolsonaro have been complacent. Now the pandemic has made them all vulnerable
- Australia coronavirus news: Victorian restaurants to reopen 1 June with 100 patrons by mid-July - as it happened
- Piers Corbyn among those arrested at Hyde Park anti-lockdown protest – video
- Trump says US is developing a 'super duper' missile – video
Coronavirus live news: Barack Obama attacks Trump virus response Posted: 17 May 2020 01:34 AM PDT Russia reports 9,709 new confirmed cases in past 24 hours; WHO calls for 'preparation, not celebration'; boy in France dies of Kawasaki-like disease
Here's Shaun Walker, the Guardian's central and eastern Europe correspondent, on the world leaders who are too macho for masks: "Appearing to play it safe contradicts a core principle of masculinity: show no weakness," according to Peter Glick, a scientist who has co-authored research on how so-called "masculinity contest culture" poisons work environments. All the leaders have built brands as strongmen offering maverick solutions, and want to be seen as recovery presidents sweeping the illness aside, even if the virus has other ideas. Trump and his vice-president, Mike Pence, have both refused to take what many scientists agree is the simplest precaution, and wear a mask. Even as cases of coronavirus spread inside the White House, the president has balked at the idea: "I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don't know, somehow I don't see it for myself. I just don't. Maybe I'll change my mind," he has said. Related: Putin, Johnson, Bolsonaro and Trump: men too macho for masks
The Philippines' department of health has reported 208 new cases of coronavirus, and seven more fatalities. They have now had 12,513 confirmed cases, and 824 deaths. Japan has confirmed five new cases today. Continue reading... |
Global report: Shanghai schools to partly reopen, New Orleans restaurants restart Posted: 16 May 2020 11:24 PM PDT Lockdowns around the world continue to loosen as China reports highest level of internal travel since February China's commercial hub of Shanghai announced the restart of classes for younger students amid falling virus cases, while New Orleans' famed restaurants have been allowed to reopen with a limited number of diners. China's airline regulator also reported numbers of flights had returned to 60% of pre-outbreak levels, exceeding 10,000 per day for the first time since 1 February. No new deaths have been reported in a month in the world's second-largest economy, where the coronavirus was first detected late last year. Continue reading... |
How will we ever make people feel at home again, ask Italy's fearful trattorias Posted: 17 May 2020 12:55 AM PDT Owners say plexiglass panels and social distancing mean they will struggle to survive in a post-lockdown age Armando al Pantheon, a lively, family-run trattoria in the heart of Rome, counts the architect Renzo Piano among its illustrious customers. And there is no way that owner and chef Claudio Gargioli, is going to offend his sensibilities – and those of other regulars – with plexiglass. His father, who opened the restaurant a stone's throw away from the majestic Pantheon in 1961, would turn in his grave at such a notion, he said. "It could work as a barrier at the till, but on the table it's not only ugly, but an insult," Gargioli told the Observer. Continue reading... |
'Hubs of infection': how Covid-19 spread through Latin America's markets Posted: 17 May 2020 12:00 AM PDT Authorities have struggled to enforce social distancing at the trading centres. At one Lima market, 79% of vendors had coronavirus Four out of five merchants at a major fruit market in Peru have tested positive for coronavirus, revealing shocking levels of infection – and prompting fears that Latin America's traditional trading centres may have helped spread Covid-19 across the region. Seventy-nine per cent of stall-holders in Lima's wholesale fruit market tested positive for Covid-19, while spot tests at five other large fresh food markets in the city revealed at least half were carrying the virus. Continue reading... |
As lockdown consensus unravels, Boris Johnson divides nation and party Posted: 16 May 2020 11:00 PM PDT The prime minister's new policy left Scotland, Wales and England's regions in a battle for money and control – and gave the Tory party a huge ideological challenge Only a few weeks ago Boris Johnson was invoking the spirit of Winston Churchill when he called on the nation to unite in the fight against the coronavirus. As he took the momentous decision to order the closure of pubs, restaurants and many shops on 23 March, much of the United Kingdom seemed ready to respond and rally round the flag at a time of crisis. Similar lockdowns were ordered in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Rival political leaders offered to abandon hostilities and seek consensus. There was talk of forming a government of national unity. Johnson's ratings soared in the polls as voters heard the call to join a great collective effort. "We will get through this together," he told the country. That was then. Last week the short-lived unity fractured, and trust in the government in London started to haemorrhage away. Political leaders in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast began to resist and go their own ways in the fight against Covid-19. In England, open dissent started to break out in the regions. This weekend some council leaders in England have vowed to defy the government at Westminster by refusing to re-open schools on 1 June, as Johnson wants, because of fears for their pupils' and teachers' safety. The R rate (of the virus's reproduction) is too high and the move too risky, they say, echoing the views of worried teaching unions. Yesterday Hartlepool council issued a statement: "Given that coronavirus cases locally continue to rise, Hartlepool borough council has been working with schools and we have agreed they will not reopen on Monday 1 June. Whilst we recognise the importance of schools reopening, we want to be absolutely clear that we will be taking a measured and cautious approach to this." Continue reading... |
Homophobic crimes rise by more than a third in France Posted: 16 May 2020 07:54 PM PDT Figures released on eve of International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia show 36% leap in offences Homophobic attacks and insults in France rose by 36% last year, according to figures released by the interior ministry, prompting the government to talk of an "anchoring" of homophobia in the country. The figures released on Saturday show a steady increase in offences and come on the eve of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, and 30 years after the withdrawal of homosexuality from the list of mental illnesses by the World Health Organization. Continue reading... |
Berlin's cultural capital in peril from exodus of billionaire art collectors Posted: 17 May 2020 01:00 AM PDT Thousands of works will disappear from galleries as rent rises and a stand-off with city government take their toll Home to some 400 galleries and an estimated 8,000 artists, Berlin has long aspired to be what its politicians call the cultural capital of Europe. Yet in the coming year, thousands of works by artists including Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Bruce Nauman and Gerhard Richter are set to vanish from its galleries, as the city debates what lengths it should go to to protect art collectors from the sharp edge of a property boom. Continue reading... |
Los Angeles explosion: 11 firefighters hurt as 'hash oil factory' burns Posted: 16 May 2020 10:30 PM PDT Fire department says 230 firefighters responded to blaze An explosion in downtown Los Angeles has injured 11 firefighters, with scores more sent to put out the blaze in what was described as a factory making cannabis oil. Captain Erik Scott of the Los Angeles fire department said "one significant explosion" shook the neighborhood around 6.30pm on Saturday and as first responders arrived they saw firefighters emerge from the building with burns and other injuries. Some of their uniforms were on fire. Continue reading... |
Poorer middle-aged men most at risk from suicide in pandemic, say Samaritans Posted: 16 May 2020 11:26 PM PDT Charity raises concerns over 'hidden victims' in a socioeconomic group known to be reluctant to seek help Middle-aged men from poor backgrounds have been identified as potential "hidden victims" of the Covid-19 pandemic, and urgent government intervention is required to protect them, the Samaritans charity has warned. Analysing feedback from 1,920 volunteers who have worked for its helpline throughout the lockdown, the charity called on ministers to introduce measures to help protect this group, which it says is the most at risk from suicide, but also the least likely to seek help. Continue reading... |
French police arrest Rwandan genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga Posted: 16 May 2020 04:32 AM PDT Officers find African country's most-wanted man living under false identity in Paris French police have ended a decades-long hunt for a fugitive accused of playing a key role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, arresting 84-year-old FĂ©licien Kabuga during a dawn raid near Paris. Kabuga, who is accused of financing the killings and frequently listed as one of the world's most wanted men, was living under a false identity in the French capital's suburbs, local police and prosecutors said in a statement on Saturday. Continue reading... |
Phyllis George, pioneering NFL sportscaster, dies at age 70 Posted: 16 May 2020 09:17 PM PDT Former Miss America became a trailblazer for women in sports journalism with The NFL Today on CBS Phyllis George, the former Miss America who became a female sportscasting pioneer on CBS program The NFL Today and served as the first lady of Kentucky, has died. She was 70. A family spokeswoman said George died Thursday at a Lexington, Kentucky, hospital after a long fight with a blood disorder. Continue reading... |
The end of plastic? New plant-based bottles will degrade in a year Posted: 16 May 2020 05:05 AM PDT Carlsberg and Coca-Cola back pioneering project to make 'all-plant' drinks bottles Beer and soft drinks could soon be sipped from "all-plant" bottles under new plans to turn sustainably grown crops into plastic in partnership with major beverage makers. A biochemicals company in the Netherlands hopes to kickstart investment in a pioneering project that hopes to make plastics from plant sugars rather than fossil fuels. Continue reading... |
Polish clerical child abuse documentary casts shadow on John Paul II centenary Posted: 16 May 2020 06:36 PM PDT Polish archbishop calls for Vatican to 'launch proceedings' after release of child abuse documentary Hide and Seek A Polish documentary on child abuse by Catholic clerics has put a damper on centenary celebrations of the late Pope John Paul II's birth. After the film Hide and Seek was seen by almost 80,000 people on YouTube, Polish archbishop Wojciech Polak called on the Vatican to "launch proceedings" into the cases in question. Continue reading... |
Practical joke or toy? Leather ‘mouse’ shows Romans' playful side Posted: 16 May 2020 05:35 AM PDT Unique 2,000-year-old discovery made by staff in lockdown at Northumberland's Vindolanda Museum The Roman author Pliny the Younger advised "kissing the hairy muzzle of a mouse" as a cure for the common cold. His fellow countrymen linked mice to the god Apollo, who could bring deadly plague upon them with his arrows. So they might not have seen the funny side of a lifelike mouse made out of a strip of leather which has been newly discovered at the Roman fort of Vindolanda, south of Hadrian's Wall, near Hexham, Northumberland. Continue reading... |
KSI: ‘Money gravitates towards me’ Posted: 16 May 2020 11:00 PM PDT With millions of young followers, Olajide Olatunji is one of Britain's biggest internet stars – now the man behind the acronym explains why he is revealing his personal side During the past couple of months, the internet star KSI has been prolific on YouTube, because what else has there been to do? He has asked subscribers to tell him their jokes and recorded himself reacting to them. He has filmed himself playing scary video games ("I'm shaken"), invited his haters to insult him ("Why am I doing this?") and responded to pressing personal questions from superfans, including this corker: "Who is your barber?" Captivity, it turns out, will spark a boom time for content. "If anything, it's moving faster now," says KSI, during a video chat on a Thursday afternoon in April. "People have time on their hands!" KSI stands for "Knowledge, Strength, Integrity". It is the alias of Olajide Olatunji, a 26-year-old from Watford, who happens to be one of the most successful YouTubers in the history of YouTube – a product and exemplar of our very online culture. (Friends call him JJ.) More than 20m people subscribe to his main YouTube channel, which he registered in 2008, when he was 15 and still at school and uploading videos of himself playing Fifa. This was before most of us, least of all grown-ups, came to realise that recording yourself playing video games in your bedroom might actually turn out to be lucrative. "I have African parents," Olatunji says. "They wanted me to be the kind of person who becomes a doctor." When he was asked to leave school, at 16, acrimoniously (grades troubles), family relationships became strained, though his parents needn't have worried. At the time of writing, Olatunji's videos have been viewed more than 5 billion times. He has 5.7m followers on Twitter and an Instagram audience of 8m. Even his secondary YouTube channel has 10m subscribers. At a moment when numbers like these really seem to matter – culturally, financially, anthropologically – Olatunji is overloaded with them. Continue reading... |
HS2’s costs and potential delays are running out of control, warn MPs Posted: 16 May 2020 10:30 PM PDT Damning report by public accounts committee accuses transport department of hiding details of overspending and hold-ups The HS2 high-speed rail project has gone "badly off course" and further cost increases and delays cannot be ruled out because of the way it is being managed, according to an excoriating report by the parliamentary spending watchdog published on Sunday. The hard-hitting assessment by the all-party public accounts committee (PAC) accuses the Department for Transport of hiding information about cost overruns and delays from MPs, in a way that has undermined confidence in the entire scheme. Continue reading... |
The Caravan: Abdallah Azzam and the Rise of Global Jihad review – recent history at its finest Posted: 17 May 2020 01:00 AM PDT Thomas Hegghammer delivers a meticulously researched account of a charismatic Islamist Abdallah Azzam is not exactly a household name – at least when compared with the far more notorious Osama bin Laden. But the militant Palestinian cleric who inspired and mobilised Arabs to come to Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union in the 1980s is the most important jihadist figure before the birth of al-Qaida and the continuing consequences of the 9/11 attacks on the US. Azzam is still revered by many who believe that the Islamic ummah (community/nation) matters more and has greater legitimacy than individual authoritarian Arab and Muslim states. Mosques, fighting units, training camps and websites have been named after him since he was assassinated in Pakistan in 1989. Fans maintain Twitter and Telegram accounts. Uncritical and heroic accounts of his achievements abound – in Arabic and English. Continue reading... |
Trump, Putin and Bolsonaro have been complacent. Now the pandemic has made them all vulnerable Posted: 17 May 2020 12:35 AM PDT The world's strongmen may well end up paying a political price for their cynicism and incompetence If Boris Johnson is mishandling the pandemic, he is not alone. Falsely claiming everything is under control, dodging responsibility, hiding from public view, exploiting the crisis for political gain, mounting artificial distractions and blaming the media: these are common behaviour patterns exhibited by some of the world's most powerful – and shifty – leaders. Will they pay a price for their lethal incompetence and cynicism? It's possible some will, though it may take a while. The pandemic is changing political calculations around the globe. Leaders who looked invulnerable suddenly appear less so. That in turn could shift the strategic calculus and alter the balance of power between countries in ways both unexpected and permanent. Continue reading... |
Posted: 17 May 2020 01:19 AM PDT Premier Dan Andrews says the easing of restrictions is due to low numbers of new cases, but patrons will still have to abide by social distancing. This blog has closed
And with that, we'll leave you for the day. Thanks for following along.
Let's wrap up the main developments of the day. Continue reading... |
Piers Corbyn among those arrested at Hyde Park anti-lockdown protest – video Posted: 16 May 2020 12:12 PM PDT The brother of the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was one of several protesters arrested at an anti-lockdown demonstration in Hyde Park. Between 50 and 70 people defied social distancing guidelines to gather close together at Speakers' Corner Continue reading... |
Trump says US is developing a 'super duper' missile – video Posted: 16 May 2020 03:02 AM PDT Unveiling the flag for his new space force, Donald Trump said the US was developing a 'super-duper missile' to outpace its military adversaries. 'We have no choice, we have to do it with the adversaries we have out there. We have, I call it the super duper missile and I heard the other night [it's] 17 times faster than what they have right now,' the US president said on Friday Continue reading... |
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