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

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


'It’s world-leadingly bad, is what it is': the week Covid surged again in UK

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 08:45 AM PDT

Queues for tests are growing, Tory MPs are agitated and doctors are sceptical about the 'moonshot'

For Alex, an NHS call centre worker, the signs that coronavirus was back in earnest came when his phone wouldn't stop ringing.

Over the summer, Alex would log on at home to see 70 or 80 people in the queue for advice on booking an appointment for a Covid test. "You'd get answered in a few minutes," he said. "Last week, that went up to about 100. By this week it was 1,500."

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Covid-19: Fauci says US life won’t return to normal until deep into 2021

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 01:34 PM PDT

  • Expert: no return to 'a degree of normality' until next year
  • Current American data on virus cases and deaths 'disturbing'

The White House coronavirus taskforce's most senior public health expert, Anthony Fauci, said on Friday that it would probably take another year before life returns to a sense of "normality" in the US, even if a successful Covid-19 vaccine is approved in the next few months.

Related: Bob Woodward rejects criticism that he sat on Trump 'deadly' virus remarks

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Coronavirus closures threaten future of Papua New Guinea's only animal rescue centre

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 03:46 PM PDT

Port Moresby nature park may not survive the impact of pandemic shutdowns

From the heat and dust of the city's noisy, crowded streets, the Port Moresby Nature Park is an oasis, for the city's residents as well as the animals it keeps.

Home to more than 500 creatures and spread over 30 verdant acres, the park has spent years rescuing injured, orphaned or trafficked animals from across the country, and protected and nurtured native species, including the endangered pig-nosed turtle, and the magnificent riflebird.

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The Covid-19 vaccine gamble: where bets have been placed and why

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 06:42 AM PDT

Wealthy nations have ordered millions of doses of unproven candidates, but equal access is the key to beating virus

The UK has ordered a total of 340m doses of potential coronavirus vaccines from six manufacturers.

The EU has done a deal said to be worth €2.4bn (£2.2bn) with one developer, while the US has orders with six companies for 800m doses under Operation Warp Speed, with options on a further 1.6bn.

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Coronavirus: one in nine people in UK in lockdown; India reports a record daily case rise – live updates

Posted: 12 Sep 2020 02:15 AM PDT

India racks up another 97,570 infections; police disperse demonstartors in Victoria; Brazil deaths climb past 130,000. Follow all the developments

The Philippines has reported the highest single-day coronavirus death toll so far recorded in south east Asia, according to Reuters.

The health ministry on Saturday 186 more deaths related to coronavirus, a new daily record.

Indonesia has reported 3,806 new coronavirus infections and 106 new deaths, data from the health ministry website showed, according to Reuters.

Saturday marked the fifth consecutive day Indonesia registered daily infections of more than 3,000, bringing the total number of cases to 214,746.

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Brussels could 'carve up' UK if Tories reject Brexit bill, says Johnson

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 03:11 PM PDT

PM claims internal market bill is needed to counter EU 'threats' to put a blockade in Irish Sea

Boris Johnson has said his controversial legislation to override parts of his Brexit deal is needed to end EU threats to install a "blockade" in the Irish Sea.

The prime minister said Brussels could "carve up our country" and "seriously endanger peace and stability" in Northern Ireland if Conservative MPs rebel to block the internal market bill.

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Dozens missing in Oregon as historic fires devastate western US

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 07:05 PM PDT

Dozens of people are missing and at least 23 people are believed to have been killed as historic wildfires in the western US forced evacuations, stretched fire crews thin and spawned misinformation.

Residents of Portland, Oregon, awoke on Friday to air thick with smoke pollution that dimmed the sun and turned the skies blood-orange red. Hundreds of firefighters are battling two large wildfires that threatened to merge near the most populated part of Oregon, including the suburbs of Portland, and the governor said dozens of people are missing in other parts of the state.

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Toots Hibbert, pioneering reggae star, dies aged 77

Posted: 12 Sep 2020 12:40 AM PDT

Frontman of Toots and the Maytals helped make reggae globally famous

Toots Hibbert, whose glorious songcraft as frontman of Toots and the Maytals helped make reggae globally famous, has died aged 77.

A statement from his family on Saturday read: "It is with the heaviest of hearts to announce that Frederick Nathaniel "Toots" Hibbert passed away peacefully tonight, surrounded by his family at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.

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UK urged to take in refugees after fire at Lesbos migrant camp

Posted: 12 Sep 2020 12:36 AM PDT

Thousands have been left without shelter after blaze at Moria camp on Greek island

Pressure is mounting on the UK government to take in some of the thousands of asylum seekers left without shelter following a devastating fire at Europe's largest migrant camp on the Greek island of Lesbos.

The blaze tore through the Moria registration and identification centre (RIC) overnight on Tuesday, incinerating tents that had been home to 13,000 people, including at least 4,000 children.

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More than 25 apes trafficked from Congo recovered in Zimbabwe

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 08:06 PM PDT

Large seizure of pangolin scales also carried out, government says, as four suspects are arrested

At least 26 great apes illegally removed from the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been seized in Zimbabwe, where four suspected traffickers have been arrested.

Congo's environment minister, Claude Nyamugabo Bazibuhe, also announced a large seizure of pangolin scales from the country's north-east.

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China announces retaliatory restrictions on US diplomats in China and Hong Kong

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 10:42 PM PDT

Foreign ministry says new rules will apply throughout country without giving any details

China has announced new restrictions on the activities of US diplomats working on the mainland China and Hong Kong, in what it called a justified response to similar measures imposed on Chinese diplomats in the US last year.

In a statement posted online late Friday, a foreign ministry spokesperson said the rules would apply to senior diplomats and all other personnel at the American embassy in Beijing and consulates throughout China.

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Peru lawmakers begin impeachment of president Martín Vizcarra

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 10:53 PM PDT

Leader faces being removed for 'moral incapacity' after tapes revealed alleged ties to a singer involved in a fraud case

The Peruvian president, Martín Vizcarra, faced a fresh challenge to his leadership on Friday after the Congress approved a motion to start impeachment proceedings against him over leaked audio tapes and alleged ties to a singer involved in a fraud case.

Whether to remove Vizcarra from office for "moral incapacity" is due to be debated and voted upon in the next week, which risks plunging the world's second-largest copper producer further into crisis as it battles one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks globally amid its deepest recession in decades.

Vizcarra vowed not to resign.

Related: 'They killed him': widow confronts Peru's president over Covid-19 deaths

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Three Rohingya refugees die days after seven-month ordeal on trafficking boat

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 11:15 PM PDT

300 people disembarked in Indonesia in a 'terrible condition' after being held hostage at sea by traffickers demanding payment

At least three young Rohingya refugees have died this week since landing in Indonesia after seven months at sea, relief workers have said.

After being refused entry by several countries and held hostage at sea by traffickers, 296 refugees disembarked in Aceh province on Monday, weak and in poor health. Two-thirds of them were women and children.

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Afghan peace talks with Taliban begin in Doha with rocky path ahead

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 11:56 PM PDT

Nineteen years after 9/11, securing a ceasefire and safeguarding rights of women and minorities are key challenges

Talks between the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents started in Qatar's capital of Doha on Saturday with the goal of bringing an end to a conflict that has laid waste to the country and killed tens of thousands of combatants and civilians.

The head of Afghanistan's peace council, Abdullah Abdullah, said that if the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents came together, they could finally strike a peace deal to end decades of conflict.

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John Fahey: former NSW premier and federal finance minister dies age 75

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 06:12 PM PDT

Liberal premier played key role in bid for Sydney Olympics and also helped thwart attack on Prince Charles

John Fahey, the former premier of New South Wales and federal finance minister, has died aged 75.

In a statement on Saturday morning, the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, paid tribute to Fahey and offered his family the option of a state funeral for the former premier.

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Margaret Atwood: ‘If you’re going to speak truth to power, make sure it’s the truth’

Posted: 12 Sep 2020 12:00 AM PDT

A polarising US election, a global pandemic, the rise of cancel culture: what does the queen of dystopian fiction make of 2020 so far?

Margaret Atwood is smiling, waving a green copy of her book The Testaments at me, while I wave a black one back at her. High-cheekboned, pale-skinned, her curly grey hair like a corona, she's wearing a jewel-green blouse that makes her eyes glitter. Behind her stretches her large, comfy, slightly darkened sitting room in Toronto, with books and wall hangings and a whirring fan. Atwood gleams out of my screen, bright in all senses.

She is talking about being a grouch. She tells me she turns down a lot of interview requests, "and then I get a reputation as being very grumpy and hard to deal with. But who cares?" Grumpy seems wrong to me. I had been warned that Atwood was scary – super-sharp and impatient – but she's not like that either. She is unsentimental, clear, sure of her facts and opinions, but she also has a light, mischievous quality. She says my name as though constantly on the verge of teasing me.

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Winchester school bus crash leaves three children needing surgery

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 09:12 AM PDT

Pupils treated for 'potentially life-changing injuries' after double-decker hit bridge

Three children required surgery for "potentially life-changing injuries" after a double-decker school bus crashed into a railway bridge.

The top of the bus was ripped off almost completely when the vehicle hit the bridge in Wellhouse Lane, Winchester, on Thursday.

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At least 50 killed in collapsed gold mine in east Congo, says NGO

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 02:45 PM PDT

Cave-in occurred at artisanal mine, in an industry where fatalities are common

At least 50 people are thought to have died when an artisanal gold mine collapsed near Kamituga in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a local mining NGO said.

The cave-in occurred on the Detroit mine site at around 3pm local time (13:00 GMT) on Friday following heavy rains, said Emiliane Itongwa, president of the Initiative of Support and Social Supervision of Women.

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As fires burn the west, top Democrats stay quiet on the climate crisis

Posted: 12 Sep 2020 01:30 AM PDT

Nancy Pelosi has been notably tepid on green legislation – so are the Democrats serious about fighting climate change?

With hundreds of thousands of Americans forced to evacuate their homes in the western US, Donald Trump hasn't said a word about the wildfires blazing across multiple states in nearly three weeks.

Related: Oregon fires force hundreds of thousands to flee as deaths rise

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Victoria police arrest 14 people at illegal anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne

Posted: 12 Sep 2020 12:43 AM PDT

About 100 people attended the protests, with 51 fines issued for breaching stay-at-home orders

Victoria police have arrested 14 people at illegal anti-lockdown protests in Melbourne, with 51 fines issued for breaching stay-at-home orders.

About 100 people attended the protests at various locations in the city, with a large police presence outnumbering those taking part in the so-called "freedom walk" at the popular running track the Tan and Fitzroy Gardens.

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‘Moria no more’: the refugees left to sleep in car parks after escaping blaze

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 06:17 AM PDT

Peaceful protests break out as the fire that destroyed Europe's largest refugee camp leaves thousands without provisions, shelter or medical help

After days of sleeping on the streets since fleeing a fire which, for many, claimed all of their worldly belongings, Moria camp residents protested in their thousands on Friday. Babies sat on the shoulders of their fathers and small children carried signs bearing the word "freedom," written on scraps of cardboard.

People clapped, whistled and banged empty water bottles together during a peaceful but noisy protest as frustrations ran high. Camp residents have been stuck on the streets between Moria camp and the main town of Mytilene, blocked in on all sides by police buses. Riot police in helmets and holding shields looked on as the protest passed them.

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Save the Children can resume funding bids following sexual abuse scandal

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 03:17 AM PDT

Charity has made 'significant steps' to improve safeguarding and can now apply for government funds two years on from withdrawal

The charity Save the Children can resume bids for government funding after it withdrew from the process two years ago over a sexual misconduct scandal.

The charity, one of the largest British recipients of government funding, receiving £139m in 2017, had taken "significant steps" to improve safeguarding and now meets government standards, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed on Thursday.

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9/11 memorial ceremonies mark 19th anniversary of attack – video report

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 02:26 PM PDT

Ceremonies were held across the US in remembrance of the victims of the al-Qaida attack on 11 September 2001.

Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden were among the attendees at memorial services in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to honor the 40 passengers who died aboard Flight 93.

At the Pentagon, US army chief general Mark Milley spoke in defense of a free press when listing examples of  US armed forces' "values". 

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Lesbos refugees protest after devastating camp fire – video report

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 10:25 AM PDT

Thousands of refugees on Lesbos protested in the street on Friday outside what was the largest migrant camp in Europe, which burned to the ground on Tuesday night.

Greek officials have pledged new temporary tents for the close to 13,000 refugees who were staying in Moria, as 11 European countries agreed to take 400 unaccompanied minors from among those left homeless by the fire

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Can Belarus protesters topple Europe's last dictator? – video explainer

Posted: 11 Sep 2020 09:31 AM PDT

Thousands of Belarusians have defied beatings and arrests to demand the resignation of the country's authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, after he claimed victory in an election they say was rigged. Protesters have flooded Belarus's capital, Minsk, every week for a month to call for new, free and fair elections, as well as an end to police violence. But Lukashenko has held on with the support of the police and military. Can the protesters topple the man often called Europe's last dictator?

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