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- Coronavirus live news: Europe reporting 26,000 new cases a day; Africa reports drop in daily infections
- I'm Deaf. When mask-wearing came along, I had to rebuild my world
- UK coronavirus live: Scotland to stay in phase three of lockdown easing after cases rise
- Filmmakers told to ditch sex scenes to protect actors from coronavirus
- Russian activist Alexei Navalny unconscious after being 'poisoned'
- EU rejects British plan for post-Brexit return of asylum seekers
- Kamala Harris accepts vice-presidential nomination on historic night
- Chinese state media dismisses attacks on Wuhan's huge pool party as 'sour grapes'
- Anxiety grows as China’s Three Gorges dam hits highest level
- Boeing publicises new name for 737 Max planes after crashes
- Trump tacitly endorses baseless QAnon conspiracy theory linked to violence
- California fires: hundreds of blazes burn amid scorching heatwave – live
- Belgian police officer made 'Nazi' salute in cell of man who died
- Manchester Arena bombing: Hashem Abedi jailed for at least 55 years
- ‘Bored’ ravens straying from Tower of London as tourist numbers fall
- Pando, Miss Rona and Covid Toe: how the language of a disease develops – shaped by fear and prejudice
- ‘Cancer of the industry’: Beirut's blast proves lethal risk of abandoning ships
- Beverley Ditsie: the South African woman who helped liberate lesbians everywhere
- Covid cases top 5.5m as Joe Biden prepares for big DNC night – live
- China floods: Three Gorges dam gushes with water while streets are submerged – video
- Bus strike scheduled for Sydney cancelled after government agrees to review Covid mask advice
- Will Ivory Coast's 'president for life' unleash chaos?
- Andrzej Krauze on repression in Belarus – cartoon
- Kamala Harris makes history, Barack Obama slams Trump: day three at the DNC – video highlights
- Shooting survivor Gabby Giffords delivers moving speech at DNC – video
- Kamala Harris reflects on vice-presidential nomination at DNC – video
- Clinton urges Americans to vote so 'Trump can't steal' the election – video
- Barack Obama's fiery DNC speech in full – video
- Barack Obama condemns Trump in powerful Democratic convention speech – video
- Democratic national convention day three: Barack Obama & Kamala Harris lead speeches – watch in full
| Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:17 AM PDT WHO says European countries registering an average of 26,000 new cases a day; Africa CDC says continent-wide daily average was 10,300 last week, down from 11,000; Germany records 1,707 new infections
"We now have a name for the disease." These were the words of the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) in a historic announcement on 11 February 2020. Back then, there had only been 393 cases of a mysterious new respiratory illness outside China, and in most places life continued as normal. "Covid-19. I'll spell it: C-O-V-I-D hyphen one nine," he continued. Little did we know that this oddly technical-sounding phrase would become not just a household name, but an era-defining one. On the same day, the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which researches the family of viruses that includes Sars, Mers and some strains of the common cold, rushed out a paper. It redesignated the pathogen that had until then been called 2019-nCoV, the "n" standing for "novel". The new name was "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2", or Sars-CoV-2. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| I'm Deaf. When mask-wearing came along, I had to rebuild my world Posted: 20 Aug 2020 03:00 AM PDT Masks prevent me from lipreading and using facial cues to communicate –hearing people need to be more open to communicating in different ways with strangers Since mask-wearing began, my world has disappeared. I was born partially deaf, and masks prevent me from lipreading and using facial cues to communicate. I'm not alone. Over 460 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss according to the World Health Organization. So how are people who are d/Deaf (lower case refers to the physical condition of deafness, capital D refers to the Deaf community) or hard of hearing surviving mask mandates? Continue reading... |
| UK coronavirus live: Scotland to stay in phase three of lockdown easing after cases rise Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:17 AM PDT Nicola Sturgeon keeps Scotland in current state of lockdown as country records 77 new cases, the highest number of daily cases in almost three months
A total of 57,457 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England have had their cases transferred to the NHS Test and Trace contact tracing system since its launch, according to figures from the Department of Health and Social Care. Of this total, 45,037 (78%) were reached and asked to provide details of recent contacts, while 10,827 were not reached.
Birmingham is set to join the national Covid "watch list" and faces a one week race against time to avoid a devastating lockdown, the Birmingham Mail reports. Dr Justin Varney, director of public health, told business leaders this afternoon that the rise in cases has been "dramatic" and triggered national concern. There is a meeting of gold command this morning (with health secretary Matt Hancock) going on - the national watch list is being discussed and is published tomorrow. "I expect we will be on that national list and will go on as an area of 'enhanced support' - that is not the level that Leicester and Greater Manchester are in, but the level below that - think Northamptonshire, Blackburn, areas like that, certainly over the next week. Continue reading... |
| Filmmakers told to ditch sex scenes to protect actors from coronavirus Posted: 20 Aug 2020 12:00 AM PDT Updated guidance suggests directors take inspiration from classic films made when sex on screen was prohibited British film and TV directors are being encouraged to seek inspiration from classic romances such as Casablanca and ditch depictions of sex altogether when planning intimate scenes under new guidelines for directing during the Covid-19 crisis. Directors UK, the professional association for screen directors in Britain, suggested some creative alternatives to avoid sex scenes with physical interaction while social distancing is required, in an update to its Directing Nudity and Simulated Sex guidelines, which are focused on safe working during the pandemic. Continue reading... |
| Russian activist Alexei Navalny unconscious after being 'poisoned' Posted: 20 Aug 2020 03:54 AM PDT Opposition politician may have been poisoned by toxic substance in his tea, says press secretary The Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny is unconscious and on a ventilator in a hospital intensive care unit after suffering a suspected poisoning. "We assume that Alexei was poisoned with something mixed into his tea," his press secretary, Kira Yarmysh, tweeted. "That was the only thing he drank this morning. The doctors say that the toxin was absorbed more quickly because of the hot liquid. Right now Alexei is unconscious." Continue reading... |
| EU rejects British plan for post-Brexit return of asylum seekers Posted: 20 Aug 2020 04:33 AM PDT UK set to lose right to transfer refugees to other EU countries under Dublin regulation EU negotiators have rejected a British request for a migration pact that would allow the government to return asylum seekers to other European countries. When the Brexit transition period expires on 31 December, the government will lose the right to transfer refugees and migrants to the EU country in which they arrived, a cornerstone of the European asylum system known as the Dublin regulation. Continue reading... |
| Kamala Harris accepts vice-presidential nomination on historic night Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:31 PM PDT Democratic nominee urges voters to reject Donald Trump and says: 'We can do better and deserve so much more' Kamala Harris, a California senator and daughter of immigrants who has broken racial barriers at every step of her political career, made US history on Wednesday night as she became the first Black woman and first Asian American to formally accept a major party's vice-presidential nomination. In the most consequential speech of her career to date, Harris urged voters to reject the divisive and destructive leadership of Donald Trump, calling him a president who "turns our tragedies into political weapons". Continue reading... |
| Chinese state media dismisses attacks on Wuhan's huge pool party as 'sour grapes' Posted: 19 Aug 2020 10:30 PM PDT Global Times says celebration in city where virus began showed strong coronavirus measures had 'paid off' Chinese state media has defended Wuhan residents after photos and video of a huge pool party went viral this week, saying complaints by foreigners were "sour grapes" . Thousands of people celebrated at a water park music festival in Wuhan this week, crowded in front of the stage, shoulder to shoulder. Continue reading... |
| Anxiety grows as China’s Three Gorges dam hits highest level Posted: 20 Aug 2020 12:34 AM PDT Officials seek to reassure public after world's largest hydro-electric dam nears capacity amid heavy floods Extreme floods have hit China's Three Gorges dam, which recorded the largest inflow of water in its history, prompting officials to assure the public it would not be breached. Inflows to the world's largest hydro-electric dam reached 75m litres of water a second, according to state media. By Thursday morning, 11 outlets of the dam had been opened to discharge 49.2m litres of water a second, the largest release since its construction. Continue reading... |
| Boeing publicises new name for 737 Max planes after crashes Posted: 19 Aug 2020 07:08 PM PDT Statement unveiling new order from Polish airline calls it a 737-8 aircraft first, before noting it is a Max jet Boeing appears to have started quietly dropping the "Max" from its 737 Max aircraft in the wake of recent air disasters, instead referring to a 737-8. The new name has hitherto been used only internally at Boeing and emerged when the company put out a statement on Wednesday to announce it had won its first order for the grounded 737 Max aircraft this year. Poland's Enter Air SA agreed to buy up to four variants of the jet. Continue reading... |
| Trump tacitly endorses baseless QAnon conspiracy theory linked to violence Posted: 19 Aug 2020 06:25 PM PDT President says followers of movement, which claims Trump is fighting 'deep state' paedophiles, 'love our country' Donald Trump has tacitly endorsed QAnon, a baseless rightwing conspiracy theory identified as a potential domestic terrorism threat by the FBI, claiming its followers "love our country" and "like me very much". Followers of the QAnon movement believe without evidence that Trump is fighting a Satanic "deep state" of global elites involved in paedophilia, human trafficking and the harvesting of a supposedly life-extending chemical from the blood of abused children. |
| California fires: hundreds of blazes burn amid scorching heatwave – live Posted: 20 Aug 2020 05:58 AM PDT
The huge wildfires in California are so intense that they have created a real problem with air pollution and some of the worst air quality in the entire world. That would be bad enough at the best of times but during a pandemic that targets people's respiratory systems it is a real nightmare scenario.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the wildfires that have been ravaging California. Many of the fires are burning out of control and they have forced thousand of people to flee their homes. Here are some key developments: Continue reading... |
| Belgian police officer made 'Nazi' salute in cell of man who died Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:10 AM PDT Slovakian citizen Jozef Chovanec died after being held in cell at Charerloi airport in 2018 The Belgian government has been urged to investigate the death of a man in police custody after an officer sat on his rib cage for 16 minutes and another apparently made a Nazi salute. Jozef Chovanec, a 38-year old Slovakian citizen, was arrested at Charleroi airport in February 2018 after causing a disturbance while boarding a flight to Bratislava. Taken to a cell, he started banging his head against a wall, causing bleeding. Continue reading... |
| Manchester Arena bombing: Hashem Abedi jailed for at least 55 years Posted: 20 Aug 2020 05:29 AM PDT Brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi is jailed for life over murder of 22 people at Ariana Grande concert in 2017 Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester Arena bomber, has been given a life sentence with a minimum of 55 years in prison for the murder of 22 people. Abedi, 23, who helped to plan one of the deadliest terrorist attacks ever to take place on UK soil, was not present in the courtroom after refusing to leave his cell. Continue reading... |
| ‘Bored’ ravens straying from Tower of London as tourist numbers fall Posted: 20 Aug 2020 04:28 AM PDT Legend warns monarchy and building will crumble if resident birds flee fortress A lack of tourists is driving the ravens at the Tower of London to boredom and causing them to fly away. Legend has it the monarchy and the Tower of London will fall if its six resident ravens leave the fortress. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 20 Aug 2020 05:22 AM PDT Deadly outbreaks always lead to a new vocabulary, as people search for ways to understand a growing threat. And while some of the new words are merely descriptive, others have ugly underpinnings "We now have a name for the disease." These were the words of the director of the World Health Organization (WHO) in a historic announcement on 11 February 2020. Back then, there had only been 393 cases of a mysterious new respiratory illness outside China, and in most places life continued as normal. "Covid-19. I'll spell it: C-O-V-I-D hyphen one nine," he continued. Little did we know that this oddly technical-sounding phrase would become not just a household name, but an era-defining one. On the same day, the Coronavirus Study Group of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, which researches the family of viruses that includes Sars, Mers and some strains of the common cold, rushed out a paper. It redesignated the pathogen that had until then been called 2019-nCoV, the "n" standing for "novel". The new name was "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2", or Sars-CoV-2. Continue reading...This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| ‘Cancer of the industry’: Beirut's blast proves lethal risk of abandoning ships Posted: 20 Aug 2020 12:00 AM PDT Cargo from the MV Rhosus caused the explosion in Lebanon's main port – its crew say they were stranded aboard for a year The problems began the moment Captain Boris Prokoshev set sail aboard the MV Rhosus in 2013. He discovered that the ageing Russian-owned cargo ship, bound for Mozambique, was in "terrible" condition, including having a defunct generator. Then he learned that the previous crew had mutinied over unpaid wages. So it was no surprise when the owner told Prokoshev there was no money to pay for fees for the Suez canal, either. Continue reading... |
| Beverley Ditsie: the South African woman who helped liberate lesbians everywhere Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:36 PM PDT Growing up in 80s Soweto, Ditsie was immersed in the struggle against apartheid. But she knew racial oppression was only part of the fight – and organised the first Pride march in Africa Beverley Ditsie first understood what the word "gay" meant while listening to Boy George. She was a teenager in the South African township of Soweto in the early 1980s, obsessed with the UK's New Romantic movement. In South Africa, people were speculating about the singer's sexuality, as they were all over the world, and when Ditsie heard that to be gay was to love someone of the same sex, she felt a shock of joy. "I remember this confusion that I'd always had; I'd been trying to work out how I'd get over this thing. I always thought I was the only one," says Ditsie. "I thought: 'I'm just gay. Oh my God! I'm just gay, everything is OK. I'm just gay.'" For a fleeting moment, Ditsie felt free – something that was almost taboo in a country in turmoil as a result of apartheid. "As a child, you grow up being told you can't use the word 'free' or 'freedom', because then you're a terrorist and so will be taken, beaten, arrested, killed." In the excitement of the moment, she ran to tell her family, who were having Sunday lunch, that she, too, was gay. She expected them to be pleased. "The look on their faces kind of said: maybe not," she says with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow. Continue reading... |
| Covid cases top 5.5m as Joe Biden prepares for big DNC night – live Posted: 20 Aug 2020 06:05 AM PDT
Museum officials have announced that nearly six months after the coronavirus forced its closure, the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York will be reopening on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks next month, first to those who lost loved ones, and then to the general public. The memorial plaza had been open to the public with social distancing restrictions since early July, but the museum remained closed as did other cultural institutions. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said last week that museums would be allowed to reopen with restrictions starting later this month.
Local media is reporting that Chicago police have effectively banned protests on Mayor Lori Lightfoot's block, ordering arrests for anyone who won't leave. The Chicago Tribune says: Lightfoot's office said the city supports residents' First Amendment right to peacefully protest but did not specifically address whether activists should be allowed to assemble outside her home. Continue reading... |
| China floods: Three Gorges dam gushes with water while streets are submerged – video Posted: 20 Aug 2020 05:20 AM PDT Extreme floods have hit the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River, which recorded the largest inflow of water in its history, prompting officials to promise it could withstand the flows. Several outlets of the dam have been opened to discharge water, the largest release since its construction. A breach would be embarrassing for China, which took 12 years to build the dam, displacing millions and submerging swaths of land. Meanwhile, upstream from the dam, officials in the city of Chongqing, Sichuan province, evacuated almost 300,000 residents. Levels along the Yangtze nearby have reached heights not seen since 1981 Continue reading... |
| Bus strike scheduled for Sydney cancelled after government agrees to review Covid mask advice Posted: 20 Aug 2020 04:06 AM PDT The union says the NSW government has undertaken to review health advice and guidelines if community infection levels increase Sydney bus drivers have called off a planned 48-hour strike after the New South Wales government agreed to their demands for a review of mandatory mask use on public transport. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union met with government officials at the Industrial Relations Commission on Thursday in the hope the strike, scheduled for next week, could be avoided. Continue reading... |
| Will Ivory Coast's 'president for life' unleash chaos? Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:15 PM PDT Alassane Ouattara has outstayed his welcome. His attempt to cling on for a third term could make parts of the country ungovernable This month the president of Ivory Coast caused outrage which spilled into bloodshed on the streets of the capital, Abidjan, when he announced he would seek a third term in office after all. Tensions are running high in the country after months of violence surrounding the disputed presidential election in 2010. Just five months ago, the 78-year-old Alassane Ouattara had announced his retirement, pledging to "transfer power to a new generation". |
| Andrzej Krauze on repression in Belarus – cartoon Posted: 20 Aug 2020 02:08 AM PDT On the EU's doorstep, Alexander Lukashenko remains in power after 26 years, deploying riot police to cling on amid widespread protests |
| Kamala Harris makes history, Barack Obama slams Trump: day three at the DNC – video highlights Posted: 20 Aug 2020 03:59 AM PDT Kamala Harris officially accepted her vice-presidential nomination on the third day of the Democratic national convention. Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, joined her on stage alongside Joe Biden and his wife, Jill. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Gabrielle Giffords were among the many figures who condemned Donald Trump's presidency and pledged their support for the Biden-Harris ticket
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| Shooting survivor Gabby Giffords delivers moving speech at DNC – video Posted: 20 Aug 2020 01:22 AM PDT Former US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords provided the most emotional moment of the third night of the Democratic national convention. Giffords, who sustained brain damage after she was shot at an event with constituents in 2011, spoke during a segment on gun control. She said: 'Today, I struggle with speech but I have not lost my voice. America needs all of us to speak out, even when you have to fight to find the words.' A spokesperson for Giffords said she spent 'countless hours' practising the speech, the longest she has delivered since the shooting Continue reading... |
| Kamala Harris reflects on vice-presidential nomination at DNC – video Posted: 20 Aug 2020 01:16 AM PDT Kamala Harris made US history as she became the first black woman and first Asian American to join a major party's presidential ticket. On the third night of the Democratic national convention, she urged voters to reject the divisive and destructive leadership of Donald Trump, calling him a president who 'turns our tragedies into political weapons'
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| Clinton urges Americans to vote so 'Trump can't steal' the election – video Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:35 PM PDT Hillary Clinton returned to the Democratic national convention and issued a stark warning about the 2020 election. The 2016 Democratic nominee said she had met many Americans who have told her they wish they could go back to 2016 and vote differently, or just vote. 'This can't be another woulda-coulda-shoulda election,' Clinton said. The former secretary of state, who lost the electoral college but won the popular vote in 2016, also reminded voters: 'Joe and Kamala can win 3 million more votes and still lose. Take it from me. We need numbers so overwhelming Trump can't sneak or steal his way to victory' Continue reading... |
| Barack Obama's fiery DNC speech in full – video Posted: 19 Aug 2020 11:23 PM PDT Barack Obama delivered a powerful message calling for voters to protect American democracy during the third night of the Democratic national convention. The former president argued that Donald Trump's potential re-election posed an existential threat to the country's democratic values and institutions, and he implored voters to 'embrace your own responsibility as citizens' Continue reading... |
| Barack Obama condemns Trump in powerful Democratic convention speech – video Posted: 19 Aug 2020 09:41 PM PDT The former president spoke at the Democratic national convention and cast Donald Trump as someone who will 'tear our democracy down if that's what it takes to win' and urges Americans to get out and vote in November Continue reading... |
| Democratic national convention day three: Barack Obama & Kamala Harris lead speeches – watch in full Posted: 19 Aug 2020 06:01 PM PDT Democrats stage the third night of their online convention after formally nominating Joe Biden as the presidential candidate for November's election. The main speakers on Wednesday include Barack Obama, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi Continue reading... |
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