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- World Bank: Covid-19 pushes poorer nations 'from recession to depression'
- Italy at a crossroads as fears grow of Covid-19 second wave
- UK coronavirus: Matt Hancock defends scrapping PHE – live news
- Morrison walks back comments on potential Covid vaccine, saying 'it is not going to be compulsory'
- Belarus crisis: EU leaders to hold emergency talks
- Another two years lost to climate inaction, says Greta Thunberg
- Coronavirus live news: global cases pass 22m as Australia will provide vaccines to 'Pacific family'
- Mali soldiers promise 'civilian political transition' leading to general election
- Team Ineos: Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas dropped for Tour de France
- Obama expected to denounce Trump's 'cynical moves' on mail-in voting – US politics live
- Facebook funnelling readers towards Covid misinformation - study
- Berlin highway crashes investigated as Islamic extremist attack
- Fears for endangered macaw as fire devastates Brazilian wetland
- Hong Kong censorship fears as protest slogans removed from some textbooks
- Britney Spears seeks major changes to court-appointed conservatorship
- An oral history of Fame: 'We were dancing on cars in the epicentre of porn and filth!'
- London's Greenwich Market stalls fear closure following huge rent increase
- Syria is deadliest place to be an aid worker, amid global 30% rise in attacks
- China floods: 100,000 evacuated as waters reach Giant Buddha statue
- Deaths in custody: Western Australia sets up taskforce to review treatment of at-risk prisoners
- Uganda to US adoption scam: judges and lawyers sanctioned
- Children forced to beg or work as hunger eclipses fear of Covid-19 in Yemen
- It took me 15 trips to withdraw money. Banking is a maze for ordinary Nigerians
- Belarus protests: who are the key players and what do they want?
- I witnessed the horror of HIV 30 years ago. Here's how we can conquer a pandemic | Cleve Jones
- Belarus opposition leader calls on EU not to recognise 'fraudulent' elections – video
- Activist Ady Barkan delivers powerful speech on protecting US healthcare – video
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praises Bernie Sanders in DNC speech – video
- Democratic national convention day two: Ocasio-Cortez & Jill Biden among speakers – watch in full
- 'They're afraid of the voter': Pelosi says Democrats will fight for USPS – video
- Young people are not invincible to coronavirus, warns WHO – video
- Trump says Michelle Obama is the one 'in over her head' – video
| World Bank: Covid-19 pushes poorer nations 'from recession to depression' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:20 AM PDT The president, David Malpass, says a more ambitious debt relief plan is needed The head of the World Bank has called for a more ambitious debt relief plan for poor countries after warning that the Covid-19 recession is turning into a depression in the most challenged parts of the globe. In an interview with the Guardian, David Malpass raised the prospect of the first systematic write-off of debts since the 2005 Gleneagles agreement as he said fresh Bank figures due out next month would show an extra 100 million people had been pushed into poverty by the crisis. Continue reading... |
| Italy at a crossroads as fears grow of Covid-19 second wave Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:01 AM PDT New infections are rising, raising questions over lockdown easing and planned reopening of schools It took a weekend to take Italy back three months in its struggle against the pandemic. Last week's rapid increase in coronavirus infections risks erasing the progress made by the first European country to be engulfed by Covid-19 and extending the closure of schools in September. The alarm was sounded last Saturday when Italy registered 629 new cases in 24 hours, up from 500 on the previous two days. Such numbers recorded in a row had not been seen since May, when Italy cautiously emerged from one of the longest lockdowns in the world after more than 30,000 Covid-related deaths. Continue reading... |
| UK coronavirus: Matt Hancock defends scrapping PHE – live news Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:09 AM PDT Follow the latest on the pandemic in the UK as the health secretary is set to defend the decision to scrap Public Health England as he increases testing
Hello, this is Kevin Rawlinson taking over from Matthew Weaver for the next few hours. I'll try to keep an eye on the comments BTL but by far the best way of drawing my attention to something will be via Twitter, where I'm KevinJRawlinson.
This will be sobering for Labour: as the government lurches from crisis to crisis, the Conservatives still remain 5% ahead in the latest opinion poll. Westminster voting intention: |
| Morrison walks back comments on potential Covid vaccine, saying 'it is not going to be compulsory' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:19 AM PDT Health experts say prime minister discussing coercive measures early risked driving hesitant Australians away The health minister Greg Hunt says the federal government will not "force vaccinations on any Australian" and Scott Morrison has clarified they would not be compulsory after experts expressed concern that earlier talk of "mandatory" vaccination might drive hesitant Australians away. The prime minister announced on Tuesday night that a letter of intent had been signed with the British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to supply Australians with the University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine if it clears clinical trials. Continue reading... |
| Belarus crisis: EU leaders to hold emergency talks Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:20 AM PDT Heads of state poised to declare solidarity with protests against Lukashenko's grip on power EU leaders are to hold emergency talks to discuss the political crisis in Belarus, after 10 days of protests that have shaken Alexander Lukashenko's 26-year grip on power. In the run-up to the meeting on Wednesday, the Belarusian opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, urged the EU not to recognise Lukashenko as president. Continue reading... |
| Another two years lost to climate inaction, says Greta Thunberg Posted: 18 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT Two years on from her first school strike, activist attacks 'ignorance and unawareness' Two years on from Greta Thunberg's first solo school strike for the climate, she says the world has wasted the time by failing to take the necessary action on the crisis. Thunberg's strike inspired a global movement, and on Thursday she and other leading school strikers will meet Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, which holds the rotating presidency of the European council. They will demand a halt to all fossil fuel investments and subsidies and the establishment of annual, binding carbon budgets based on the best science. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus live news: global cases pass 22m as Australia will provide vaccines to 'Pacific family' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:13 AM PDT US and Brazil continue to drive worldwide count; S&P500 index closes at all-time high; European restrictions tighten
Hello everybody, this is Damien Gayle taking the reins of the live blog now. I will be bringing you the latest updates on the ongoing coronavirus outbreak from around the world for the next eight hours or so. If you have any comments, tips or suggestions for coverage, please drop me a line, either via email to damien.gayle@theguardian.com, or via Twitter direct message to @damiengayle.
Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the health ministry said: the highest death toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic. The announcement came as the Islamic Republic, which has been struggling with both the region's largest outbreak and the highest number of fatalities, went ahead with university entrance exams for over 1 million students. Iran is also preparing for mass Shiite commemorations later this month. Continue reading... |
| Mali soldiers promise 'civilian political transition' leading to general election Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:03 AM PDT New military rulers vow to restore confidence 'between governed and governors' Mali's new military rulers have promised "a civilian political transition" that will lead to a general election after a "reasonable time". In a short televised statement on Wednesday morning, the soldiers who are now in charge of the country after a military coup on Tuesday said they were "not interested in power but in the health of the nation" but had intervened because of growing "chaos, insecurity and anarchy". Continue reading... |
| Team Ineos: Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas dropped for Tour de France Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:50 AM PDT
Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas have been dropped from Team Ineos for this year's Tour de France after paying the price for their poor form at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné. Froome, who was desperate to win an historic fifth yellow jersey after coming back from a horrific crash last year, will instead race the Vuelta a España in late October. The 2018 winner Thomas, meanwhile, will head Ineos's challenge in the Giro D'Italia in early October. Continue reading... |
| Obama expected to denounce Trump's 'cynical moves' on mail-in voting – US politics live Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:07 AM PDT
Alongside the Kamala Harris VP acceptance speech, one of the main attractions at tonight's DNC is the appearance of former president Barack Obama. Details of what he is expected to say in his live address at 10pm ET have been emerging overnight – and criticism of Donald Trump and the Republican attempts to discourage mail-in voting are high on his agenda. Obama is expected to describe the moves as "cynical". President Obama will highlight the cynical moves by the current administration and the Republican Party to discourage Americans from voting. He'll make a pointed case that democracy itself is on the line – along with the chance to create a better version of it.
Welcome to our live coverage of US politics and the American coronavirus crisis for today. Here's a brief round-up of where we are, and what's on the diary for today. |
| Facebook funnelling readers towards Covid misinformation - study Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT Research findings undermine firm's claims it is cracking down on inaccurate news Websites spreading misinformation about health attracted nearly half a billion views on Facebook in April alone, as the coronavirus pandemic escalated worldwide, a report has found. Facebook had promised to crack down on conspiracy theories and inaccurate news early in the pandemic. But as its executives promised accountability, its algorithm appears to have fuelled traffic to a network of sites sharing dangerous false news, campaign group Avaaz has found. Continue reading... |
| Berlin highway crashes investigated as Islamic extremist attack Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:36 AM PDT Man, 30, held after allegedly driving into several vehicles and injuring six people A series of car crashes on a Berlin highway was an extremist attack, German prosecutors have said. According to the current state of its investigation, it was an Islamist-motivated attack, the regional office told DPA news agency. Continue reading... |
| Fears for endangered macaw as fire devastates Brazilian wetland Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:15 AM PDT The Pantanal wetland – home to the hyacinth macaw – is suffering its worst blazes in decades, most probably started by humans The world's biggest refuge for endangered hyacinth macaws has been devastated by a historic fire in the Brazilian Pantanal. The Pantanal, a vast tropical wetland straddling Brazil's border with Bolivia and Paraguay, is currently suffering its worst fires in more than two decades, with nearly 12% of its vegetation reportedly already lost. Continue reading... |
| Hong Kong censorship fears as protest slogans removed from some textbooks Posted: 18 Aug 2020 11:02 PM PDT References to 'separation of power' removed in some books, as well as illustrations of protesters holding placards Hong Kong publishers have been told to remove references to the separation of powers and protest slogans from school textbooks, in a move decried as censorship by the authorities. Six publishers voluntarily submitted eight textbooks to the education regulator for vetting and were asked to make revisions, reports in Hong Kong and mainland media said on Wednesday. Continue reading... |
| Britney Spears seeks major changes to court-appointed conservatorship Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:54 AM PDT Pop singer seeks to have father Jamie removed from conservator role set up in 2008 following breakdown in mental health Britney Spears is seeking to make major changes to the court-appointed conservatorship that has controlled various aspects of her life since a public breakdown in 2008. As reported in the New York Times, the Blast and elsewhere, the pop singer is looking to permanently remove her father James Spears (also known as Jamie) as her conservator, a role that oversees her personal and financial decision-making as well as her healthcare. He was assigned the role in 2008 after Spears behaved erratically amid substance misuse and mental health issues, but the role was taken over in 2019 by an independent professional conservator, Jodi Montgomery, after Jamie suffered a bout of ill health. Continue reading... |
| An oral history of Fame: 'We were dancing on cars in the epicentre of porn and filth!' Posted: 18 Aug 2020 10:00 PM PDT It was the late director Alan Parker's most enduring hit, capturing what it was to be young and ambitious in the hot, gritty New York of 1980. The cast and crew reflect on the acting, fighting, flirting and fallout • 'The most important experience of my youth': Fame star Barry Miller on Alan Parker Forty years ago, Alan Parker's musical about a group of teenagers at the New York High School for the Performing Arts was released. Originally titled Hot Lunch after one of the composer Christopher Hope's key numbers, the film is a crowd-pleaser with a heart of ice. For all the fun and legwarmers, this isn't some starry-eyed fantasy. Rather, its edge and pessimism make it a remarkably responsible piece of film-making, with a conclusion about the wisdom of pursuing a career in the arts that is ambivalent at best. Continue reading... |
| London's Greenwich Market stalls fear closure following huge rent increase Posted: 19 Aug 2020 12:00 AM PDT Some traders faced 60% daily rent hike in aftermath of coronavirus lockdown Traders at the historic Greenwich Market in south-east London say they could be forced out of business after being hit with a massive rent increase in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown. Hot food stallholders in the cobbled square market, which has operated since 1737, were originally asked to pay 60% more per day, while some drinks sellers have had their rent doubled. Three weeks after their rents were hiked, prompting an outcry, they say increases for some are now being reduced to about 30%, however. Continue reading... |
| Syria is deadliest place to be an aid worker, amid global 30% rise in attacks Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:46 AM PDT Fears raised over ability to carry out humanitarian work in worst conflict-hit regions, with local NGO staff often caught in crossfire There has been a sharp rise in the number of aid staff killed in the first six months of this year with Syria at the top of the list of the deadliest places to be a humanitarian worker. A total of 74 fatalities have been recorded globally since January, a 30% rise on the same period last year. Syria accounted for more than a quarter of the deaths. Continue reading... |
| China floods: 100,000 evacuated as waters reach Giant Buddha statue Posted: 19 Aug 2020 03:07 AM PDT Flooding in Sichuan province rises over feet of Leshan Giant Buddha for first time since 1949 Floods on the upper reaches of China's Yangtze river forced authorities to evacuate more than 100,000 people on Tuesday and threatened a 1,200-year-old world heritage site. Staff, police and volunteers used sandbags to try to protect the 71-metre (233ft) Leshan Giant Buddha, a Unesco world heritage site in the south-west Sichuan province, as muddy flood water rose over its toes for the first time since 1949, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Continue reading... |
| Deaths in custody: Western Australia sets up taskforce to review treatment of at-risk prisoners Posted: 19 Aug 2020 02:49 AM PDT Panel will assess whether prisons are following the suicide prevention strategy after the fourth Aboriginal death in jail in three months The Western Australian government has set up a taskforce to review the treatment of at-risk prisoners after the fourth Aboriginal death in jail in three months. The taskforce, whose membership is yet to be announced, will assess whether prisons are following the state's suicide prevention strategy. Continue reading... |
| Uganda to US adoption scam: judges and lawyers sanctioned Posted: 18 Aug 2020 07:14 AM PDT Judgment follows Guardian investigation into case of boy who was adopted by American couple without parents' knowledge The US has imposed financial sanctions and visa restrictions on two Ugandan judges and two lawyers over their part in an international adoption scam involving more than 30 children. "Together, these individuals engaged in corruption to arrange the adoption of Ugandan children by unwitting parents in the United States," the statement said. Continue reading... |
| Children forced to beg or work as hunger eclipses fear of Covid-19 in Yemen Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:06 AM PDT Hikes in food, water and petrol prices adds to 'triple emergency', as coronavirus spreads unchecked and humanitarian aid dwindles Families in Yemen are having to send their children out to work and to beg as concerns mount over rising food, water and petrol prices, a survey has found. Despite coronavirus spreading undetected across the war-ravaged nation, data collected from more than 150 households in three provinces of southern Yemen found that respondents were more worried about going hungry than contracting Covid-19. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which led the survey, found nearly two-thirds (62%) of respondents reported being unable to afford food and drinking water. Prices for sugar and vegetable oil have jumped by more than 25% in the past year. Continue reading... |
| It took me 15 trips to withdraw money. Banking is a maze for ordinary Nigerians Posted: 18 Aug 2020 11:15 PM PDT Red tape intended to disrupt fraudsters excludes people from accessing vital financial services. An overhaul is long overdue It took winning an international writing prize for me to realise how excluded I was from banking in my country. Before this, I had a savings account that I had opened at school, during a financial literacy session, with nothing but my school identity card, a blue pen, and a 500 naira (£1) required balance. Continue reading... |
| Belarus protests: who are the key players and what do they want? Posted: 18 Aug 2020 05:11 AM PDT The opposition challenge to Lukashenko also presents an issue for Russia and the EU Historic protests in Belarus have driven the longtime president, Alexander Lukashenko, into the worst crisis of his career. It appears possible, though not certain, that his regime could fall in the coming weeks. For the first time in a generation, opposition protesters can see a path to power through free and fair elections. The former Soviet republic is a close ally of Russia but has played towards the west in recent years. Here is a short guide to what each side wants and how they might get it. Continue reading... |
| I witnessed the horror of HIV 30 years ago. Here's how we can conquer a pandemic | Cleve Jones Posted: 18 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT The danger and politicization of Covid-19 mirrors the HIV/Aids crisis. But there is hope, writes LGBT organizer Cleve Jones As the coronavirus rages across America, we would do well to remember the lessons, and victories, of the fight against HIV/Aids. Thirty years ago this summer, we were one decade into the HIV/Aids pandemic and more than 100,000 Americans had already lost their lives. The nation was politically and socially divided as the virus decimated gay men and people of color. Our nation stigmatized and abused the individuals, families and communities who were suffering the most. Continue reading... |
| Belarus opposition leader calls on EU not to recognise 'fraudulent' elections – video Posted: 19 Aug 2020 01:10 AM PDT Svetlana Tikhanovskaya is appealing to EU leaders to disregard the results of the election on 9 August, calling them fraudulent. In the statement issued from Lithuania, where she is exiled, she said: 'I call on you to support the awakening of Belarus'. Tikhanovskaya claimed the election results were falsified and protesters had been beaten and tortured Continue reading... |
| Activist Ady Barkan delivers powerful speech on protecting US healthcare – video Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:55 PM PDT Prominent activist Ady Barkan called on voters to act in the forthcoming presidential election to safeguard the future of the US healthcare system. 'Even during this terrible crisis, Donald Trump and Republican politicians are trying to take away millions of people's health insurance,' Barkan said on the second night of the Democratic national convention Continue reading... |
| Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praises Bernie Sanders in DNC speech – video Posted: 18 Aug 2020 07:44 PM PDT In a symbolic speech at the Democratic National Convention, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez praised Bernie Sanders for his 'historic grassroots campaign to reclaim our democracy', calling it 'a movement that realized the unsustainable brutality of an economy that rewards explosive inequalities of wealth for the few at the expense of long-term stability for the many'. Before Joe Biden was formally nominated for president, Ocasio-Cortez delivered this short nominating speech Sanders, but there was confusion on social media as some appeared to incorrectly believe she was trying to snub Biden. Ocasio-Cortez explained on Twitter that it was standard procedure in order for Sanders to be included in the roll call. Sanders was the runner-up in the primary contest Continue reading... |
| Democratic national convention day two: Ocasio-Cortez & Jill Biden among speakers – watch in full Posted: 18 Aug 2020 06:11 PM PDT Democrats attending an online convention are expected to formally pick Joe Biden as their party's nominee to face President Donald Trump in the Nov 3 election. The main speakers on the second night of the convention include Joe Biden's wife, Jill, former President Bill Clinton, liberal firebrand Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the party's 2004 presidential nominee John Kerry Continue reading... |
| 'They're afraid of the voter': Pelosi says Democrats will fight for USPS – video Posted: 18 Aug 2020 02:42 PM PDT The House speaker on Tuesday said Democrats would fight to protect the US Postal Service and postal voting after Donald Trump's new postmaster general announced he was halting some operational changes to mail delivery that critics warned could disrupt the November election. Speaking to reporters in front of a US post office in the Bayview neighbourhood in San Francisco, Pelosi mocked the Trump administration's stance on funding for the postal service
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| Young people are not invincible to coronavirus, warns WHO – video Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:58 AM PDT People should not be blamed for wanting to live normal lives but no one is invincible to coronavirus, including younger people, the WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove said on Tuesday. Her comments came in response to a question about photographs showing people in close proximity to one another at a pool party in Wuhan, China, where the novel coronavirus outbreak began. She said similar photos could be seen from every country in the world. |
| Trump says Michelle Obama is the one 'in over her head' – video Posted: 18 Aug 2020 08:07 AM PDT Donald Trump has responded to the scathing speech Michelle Obama delivered at the virtual Democratic National Convention on Monday, in which the former first lady said that Trump is 'clearly in over his head'. In turn, the US president said it was Obama who was in over her head and also criticised her for not delivering her speech live Continue reading... |
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