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

Covid UK: scientists at loggerheads over approach to new restrictions
Face shields ineffective at trapping aerosols, says Japanese supercomputer
Lack of Covid help for poor countries will haunt west, says UN aid chief
'Bring it on': New Zealand tourist hotspots bank on holidays to ease Covid pressures
Trump races to fill supreme court seat as Republicans fall into line
Far-right Brothers of Italy close to snatching Marche region from left
Coronavirus live news: Trump falsely claims Covid-19 affects 'virtually' no young people; UK set for new restrictions
Ren Zhiqiang - who called Chinese president a 'clown' - jailed for 18 years
Rising temperatures shrink Arctic sea ice to second-lowest level on record
Video released showing Utah police shooting at boy with autism nearly a dozen times
Ang Rita Sherpa, the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times, dies at 72
Facebook suspends environmental groups despite vow to fight misinformation
Australia whales: rescuers in Tasmania free 25 stranded pilot whales, but 90 already dead
Rohingya refugees allege sexual assault on Bangladeshi island
China uses Hollywood film clips in air force propaganda video
Why the UN’s 75th general assembly could be worse than the world’s worst Zoom meeting
National Trust reassesses colonial history of properties
Are your eyes playing tricks? The early work of Olivo Barbieri – in pictures
'We feel betrayed': Palestinians fear cost of Arab states' deals with Israel
What are we waiting for? We must increase lending to the world's poorest now
'It smells bad, it tastes bad': how Americans stopped trusting their water
Jamaican director of UCL's slavery research centre: British racism is 'clear and sharp'
Mulan: why it was a missed opportunity to create a strong Asian woman on screen
Labor to push for inquiry into 'shocking' Western Sydney airport land deal
'Landmark moment': 156 countries agree to Covid vaccine allocation deal
A third of my country was just underwater. The world must act on climate | Sheikh Hasina
Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state
Can the UK avoid 50,000 Covid-19 cases a day?
'The seasons are against us': what we learned from UK's top Covid scientists
Joe Biden blames Trump's 'lies and incompetence' for coronavirus death toll – video
EU fails to agree on Belarus sanctions – video report
Madrid's Teatro Real cancels opera after social distancing protests – video

Covid UK: scientists at loggerheads over approach to new restrictions

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 12:27 AM PDT

Two groups of prominent scientists write open letters with conflicting advice on how to tackle virus

Rival groups of scientists are at loggerheads over how government should handle the Covid pandemic, with one advising that only over-65s and the vulnerable should be shielded, while the other backs nationwide measures.

The conflicting advice to the UK government and chief medical officers (CMOs) came in two open letters issued on Monday by the rival camps.

Face shields ineffective at trapping aerosols, says Japanese supercomputer

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:19 PM PDT

Simulation using world's fastest supercomputer casts doubt on effectiveness in preventing spread of coronavirus

Plastic face shields are almost totally ineffective at trapping respiratory aerosols, according to modelling in Japan, casting doubt on their effectiveness in preventing the spread of coronavirus.

A simulation using Fugaku, the world's fastest supercomputer, found that almost 100% of airborne droplets of less than 5 micrometres in size escaped through plastic visors of the kind often used by people working in service industries.

Lack of Covid help for poor countries will haunt west, says UN aid chief

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 12:23 AM PDT

Sir Mark Lowcock fears impact will fuel grievances, conflict, instability and refugee flows

The west will be haunted for decades to come by its failure to do more to help poor countries cope with the economic and social impact of the Covid-19 crisis, the United Nations humanitarian chief has warned.

Writing for the Guardian, Sir Mark Lowcock, the former top civil servant at the UK's Department for International Development, said rich nations had acted decisively to deal with their own problems but failed to show the same vigour in response to the growing international crisis.

'Bring it on': New Zealand tourist hotspots bank on holidays to ease Covid pressures

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:44 PM PDT

Regional mayors hope the easing of restrictions means boom time for domestic tourism

Covid-19 restrictions have been dropped and school's almost out for a fortnight – to the delight of mayors in New Zealand's tourism hotspots, where there are hopes the holidays will boost coffers in the struggling tourism sector.

"Bring it on, bring it on," said David Trewavas, the mayor of Taupō district – an area in the central North Island that is home to some of the country's most famed skiing and hiking. "You can even have a mass gathering down here."

Trump races to fill supreme court seat as Republicans fall into line

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 12:04 AM PDT

Democrats' hopes of keeping seat empty fade as two key Republican senators signal support for moving quickly

Donald Trump has raced to cement a conservative majority on the US supreme court before the presidential election on 3 November, and Democrats' hopes of keeping the seat empty have faded as two Republican senators signalled their support for moving quickly.

The president said on Monday he would name his third supreme court nominee on Friday or Saturday, following memorials for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the liberal justice who died aged 87 on Friday.

Far-right Brothers of Italy close to snatching Marche region from left

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 07:24 PM PDT

Party set to end 25 years of leftist rule and take second presidency in regional elections

A candidate for the far-right Brothers of Italy has ended 25 years of leftwing rule in the eastern Marche region, giving the party its second regional presidency, according to incomplete results.

However, the centre-left managed to retain its stronghold of Tuscany, in what the region's centre-left candidate Eugenio Giani called "an extraordinary victory".

Coronavirus live news: Trump falsely claims Covid-19 affects 'virtually' no young people; UK set for new restrictions

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT

Trump claims Covid-19 only 'really' affects people who have 'other problems'; UK to tighten measures; Czech PM says he 'got carried away' reopening too soon

9.58am BST

Russia expects to register a second potential Covid-19 vaccine by 15 October, the Tass news agency has cited Russian consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor as saying.

The vaccine has been developed by Siberia's Vector Institute, which completed early-stage human trials of the vaccine last week.

9.44am BST

Spain's health minister has advised people in Madrid, the worst-affected region of Spain, against making unnecessary journeys as the authorities struggle to contain the second wave of the virus in and around the capital.

"I recommend that people in Madrid restrict their movements as much as possible over the next few days, only doing what is essential and limiting contact to their closest household members," Salvdor Illa told Cadena Ser radio on Tuesday morning.

Ren Zhiqiang - who called Chinese president a 'clown' - jailed for 18 years

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:37 PM PDT

Former real estate mogul was investigated after criticising Xi Jinping over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic

China has sentenced an influential former property executive and critic of President Xi Jinping to 18 years in prison for corruption.

Ren Zhiqiang, the former chairman of Huayuan, a state-owned real estate group, was also fined 4.2m yuan, Beijing No. 2 Intermediate Court said on its website on Tuesday.

Rising temperatures shrink Arctic sea ice to second-lowest level on record

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 02:46 PM PDT

Sea ice minimum has fallen below 4m sq km for the second time in 40 years as the climate crisis rapidly transforms the region

Rising temperatures in the Arctic shrank the ice covering the polar ocean this year to its second-lowest extent in four decades, scientists have announced, in yet another sign of how the climate crisis is rapidly transforming the region.

Satellites recorded this year's sea ice minimum at 3.74m sq km on 15 September, only the second time the ice has been measured below 4m sq km in 40 years of record keeping, said researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Video released showing Utah police shooting at boy with autism nearly a dozen times

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 06:59 PM PDT

Salt Lake City 13-year-old remains in hospital after mother called 911, requesting mental health worker

A 13-year-old Utah boy with autism was shot by police after his mother asked for help getting him hospital mental health treatment and officers agreed to talk with him, police footage released Monday showed.

The videos show Salt Lake City officers chasing him down an alley after they arrive at his home, then yelling at him to get on the ground. The boy collapses after about 11 shots ring out. He survived but suffered broken bones and pierced organs, the family's attorney has said. He remains hospitalized.

Ang Rita Sherpa, the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times, dies at 72

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:02 PM PDT

Ang Rita made his ascents without the use of oxygen and was known in Nepal as the 'snow leopard' for his climbing skills

Ang Rita Sherpa, the first person to climb Mount Everest 10 times, has died after a long illness, his family has said, in what fellow sherpas called a major loss to Nepal and the climbing community.

All the ascents to the 8,850-metre (29,035ft) summit of the world's tallest mountain between 1983 and 1996 by Ang Rita, who went by his first name, like many Sherpas, were made without bottled oxygen. He was among the first Sherpa guides to receive international fame for his accomplishments.

Facebook suspends environmental groups despite vow to fight misinformation

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 12:30 AM PDT

Facebook blames mistake in system for restrictions on groups including Greenpeace USA

Facebook has suspended the accounts of several environmental organizations less than a week after launching an initiative it said would counter a tide of misinformation over climate science on the platform.

Groups such as Greenpeace USA, Climate Hawks Vote and Rainforest Action Network were among those blocked from posting or sending messages on Facebook over the weekend. Activists say hundreds of other individual accounts linked to indigenous, climate and social justice groups were also suspended for an alleged "intellectual property rights violation".

Australia whales: rescuers in Tasmania free 25 stranded pilot whales, but 90 already dead

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:47 PM PDT

A huge rescue effort is under way near Strahan in Macquarie Harbour, with 60 people and several boats

Rescuers have freed 25 of the 270 whales stranded on Tasmania's west coast with the state government confirming about 90 of the marine mammals have already died.

A huge rescue effort got under way near Strahan in Macquarie Harbour on Tuesday morning, with 60 people and several boats trying to free the marine mammals stuck on two sandbanks and a beach.

Rohingya refugees allege sexual assault on Bangladeshi island

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:00 PM PDT

Group says it has been held in jail-like conditions on Bhasan Char since April

Rohingya refugees allege they are being held against their will in jail-like conditions and subjected to rape and sexual assault on a Bangladeshi island in the Bay of the Bengal.

A group of more than 300 refugees were taken to the uninhabited, silt island of Bhasan Char in April, when a boat they were travelling on was intercepted by Bangladeshi authorities.

China uses Hollywood film clips in air force propaganda video

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:37 AM PDT

Social media users point out scenes from Transformers, The Rock and The Hurt Locker films

A high-octane PR video for China's air force crash-landed on social media after users questioned why the world's second-largest military power spliced clips from Hollywood blockbusters into its own propaganda material.

Why the UN’s 75th general assembly could be worse than the world’s worst Zoom meeting

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:00 PM PDT

The worst parts of UN events will be on display, the endless speechifying first among them, but none of what normally makes the general assembly indispensable

It has been billed as the world's worst Zoom meeting, but the United Nation's 75th general assembly could be even worse than that.

It is called the "general debate" but, unlike a Zoom meeting, there will be no discussion – just a week-long procession of pre-recorded video messages from the world's leaders, stating their positions, very much with their domestic audience in mind. They were supposed to have sent their videos at the end of last week. As of Monday, only half had been turned in.

National Trust reassesses colonial history of properties

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 04:01 PM PDT

Churchill's home Chartwell and Lundy island listed in report highlighting owners' links to British empire and slavery

A report laying bare the extent of connections that National Trust properties have with colonialism and slavery is just the beginning of a process to better examine history that is often "complex, nuanced and messy".

The trust on Tuesday published research it commissioned a year ago to explore in more detail than ever before what are sometimes less palatable links to the past.

Are your eyes playing tricks? The early work of Olivo Barbieri – in pictures

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:00 PM PDT

The Italian photographer shot the everyday – from cars in the suburbs to stacks of watermelons. Yet somehow his images make you question reality...

'We feel betrayed': Palestinians fear cost of Arab states' deals with Israel

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:00 PM PDT

The accords signed in Washington are seen as diminishing the leverage for independence

Diplomatic breakthroughs between Israel and Gulf monarchies have revealed fissures in the relationship between Palestine and Arab governments – and raised questions over whether they can still be relied on to champion the Palestinian cause.

For years, Israel has vigorously pursued ties with the Arab world, focusing on powerful Gulf countries with whom it shares a common enemy in Iran and who crave its hi-tech security and espionage products.

What are we waiting for? We must increase lending to the world's poorest now

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:30 PM PDT

Africa looks set for its worst recession in decades due to Covid. International banks needs to act fast – or pay the price later

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts Africa will suffer its worst recession since the 1970s. For the first time since the 1990s, extreme poverty will increase. The annual death toll from HIV, tuberculosis and malaria is set to double. We also fear a near doubling in the number of people facing starvation. Many girls out of school will never go back. Life expectancy will fall.

All this will fuel grievances, and in their wake conflict, instability and refugee flows, all giving succour to extremist groups and terrorists. The consequences will reach far and last long. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and G20 nations will feel the blowback just as some start to see light at the end of the Covid tunnel.

'It smells bad, it tastes bad': how Americans stopped trusting their water

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 02:15 AM PDT

Many residents of Martin county, Kentucky, won't drink their tap water, a legacy of years of mismanagement

Florene Reed always makes sure there's enough bottled water for her teenaged grandson, even if that means making do with tap water that causes a burning sensation in her stomach.

Reed, 63, grew up drinking the crystalline water from wells and local springs dotted throughout the Appalachian mountains in Martin county, but switched to bottled while raising her own family amid safety fears linked to coal mining and mismanagement at the utility.

Jamaican director of UCL's slavery research centre: British racism is 'clear and sharp'

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 12:00 AM PDT

The UK continues the fiction that racial exploitation is in the past, says Matthew Smith. He hopes his London appointment will help change that

Matthew Smith did not plan to quit Jamaica. Until last year the historian, who previously headed the history and archaeology department of the University of the West Indies at Mona, near Kingston, had made a point of staying. "I wanted my career to be an example that you don't have to leave," he explains on a video call. But when the directorship of UCL's Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership came up, he couldn't resist. "I couldn't think of a better job," he says. "For me it was the perfect way to bridge research on the Caribbean with meaningful public engagement."

Smith, 46, takes over the reins of the centre at an extraordinary time. Awareness of the UK's role in slavery is arguably at an all-time high after the toppling of the statue of the Bristol slave trader Edward Colston in June.

Mulan: why it was a missed opportunity to create a strong Asian woman on screen

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 12:00 AM PDT

In casting waif-like Liu Yifei in its live-action remake, Disney squandered its chance to show a Chinese audience that girls can be both beautiful and tough

As a child who grew up in China with little exposure to Disney until I was eight, the idea of a princess marrying a prince and living happily ever after was something entirely foreign. I was more familiar with the fox and snake spirits in Chinese folklore that transformed into beautiful women and sorceresses, and the cross-dressing heroines of wuxia martial-arts TV shows of the 90s.

It's no surprise, then, that Disney's 1998 film Mulan was more relatable than Sleeping Beauty. Mulan was not only Chinese but had a mission greater than marriage – to save her father and country – and she didn't need saving herself. For Disney, she was the first "non-princess" who did not end up marrying a prince. It was a mortal's story: there were no spells or supernatural forces to help her fight her battles, and she did not levitate off rooftops like the wuxia women. Her only celestial remedy was a plump, cheering squad of ancestor spirits and a funny little serpent called Mushu.

Labor to push for inquiry into 'shocking' Western Sydney airport land deal

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 02:24 AM PDT

Revelations federal government paid company 10 times too much for land needs parliamentary scrutiny, opposition urges

Labor will push for a parliamentary inquiry into revelations the government paid $26.7m above the fair value for a parcel of land at the Western Sydney airport owned by a Liberal donor that will not be used until after 2050.

Two members of the federal joint committee of public accounts and audit – Labor's deputy chair, Julian Hill, and senator Rex Patrick – told Guardian Australia the $30m purchase from the Leppington Pastoral Company should be investigated.

'Landmark moment': 156 countries agree to Covid vaccine allocation deal

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:39 AM PDT

Covax plan will counter rising threat of 'vaccine nationalism', prioritising vulnerable healthcare systems and frontline workers

A coalition of 156 countries has agreed a "landmark" deal to enable the rapid and equitable global distribution of any new coronavirus vaccines to 3% of participating countries' populations, to protect vulnerable healthcare systems, frontline health workers and those in social care settings.

The Covid-19 vaccine allocation plan – co-led by the World Health Organization and known as Covax – has been set up to ensure that the research, purchase and distribution of any new vaccine is shared equally between the world's richest countries and those in the developing world.

A third of my country was just underwater. The world must act on climate | Sheikh Hasina

Posted: 22 Sep 2020 02:00 AM PDT

The climate crisis and Covid-19 are crying out for international cooperation, writes the prime minister of Bangladesh

One-third of my country was underwater last month. The heaviest rains in almost a decade began and have still not abated. More than 1.5 million Bangladeshis are displaced; tens of thousands of hectares of paddy fields have been washed away. Millions of my compatriots will need food aid this year.

Calamities, alas, never strike alone. The floods, which come in the wake of widespread destruction caused by Cyclone Amphan in May, are making it more difficult to contain the coronavirus. More than 2.4 million people had already been moved from the destructive path of the storm without delivering them into the even greater danger of Covid-19. Yet while the infection and death rates have been contained, concerns remain until a foolproof safeguard is acquired. Economic lockdowns have hit our textile industry and exports and forced hundreds of thousands of our international migrant workers to return home, with the vast majority remaining unemployed.

Coronavirus map of the US: latest cases state by state

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:01 AM PDT

With countries all over the world affected by the coronavirus pandemic, the US has emerged as a global hotspot. The Trump administration has been criticized for being slower to act than other countries. The US currently leads the world in both confirmed Covid-19 cases and deaths according to Johns Hopkins University.

It's important to point out that the actual death toll is believed to be far higher than the tally compiled from government figures.

Can the UK avoid 50,000 Covid-19 cases a day?

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:18 AM PDT

Continued doubling of infection rate feared by top advisers is unlikely to happen, say some experts

On one thing, everyone agrees: the UK is at a turning point.

After a summer of crowded beaches and pubs reopening, followed by children returning to school and employees going back to the workplace, new cases of Covid-19 are definitely on the rise.

'The seasons are against us': what we learned from UK's top Covid scientists

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 07:00 AM PDT

Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty's briefing predicted an autumn of rising deaths and difficult lockdown choices

The UK government's most senior scientists, England's chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, and the chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, have given a televised briefing about the recent increases in coronavirus cases, and what to expect – unusually, doing so without a politician there as well. Here is what we learned.

Joe Biden blames Trump's 'lies and incompetence' for coronavirus death toll – video

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:18 PM PDT

Joe Biden said Donald Trump's 'lies and incompetence' since the start of the coronavirus pandemic had led to the 'one of the greatest losses in American history' as he spoke at an aluminum plant in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

The Democratic presidential nominee noted the country was about to hit the 'tragic milestone' of recording 200,000 deaths from Covid-19, adding that number represented many 'empty chairs' for families who had lost loved ones to the virus

Trump says he wants supreme court seat filled 'before the election' – live

EU fails to agree on Belarus sanctions – video report

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 01:22 PM PDT

Large protests against the veteran Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, continued with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets of the capital, Minsk, for the sixth weekend in a row.

The demonstrations began when Lukashenko secured a sixth term after claiming victory in an election that has had its legitimacy called into question.

The leader of the main opposition party, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, was in Brussels on Monday to push the European Union to agree on sanctions against officials accused of election-rigging in Belarus but the EU failed to reach unanimity on the decision despite not recognising Lukashenko's legitimacy.

As violent arrests of protesters continue in Belarus, anonymous hackers leaked the personal data of 1,000 police officers in retaliation.

Madrid's Teatro Real cancels opera after social distancing protests – video

Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:39 AM PDT

Audience members clapped and shouted in protest over a lack of social distancing measures in Madrid on Sunday night causing an opera to be pulled at the last minute.

A performance of Verdi's A Masked Ball at the Teatro Real was abandoned after two failed attempts to begin. The decision was made to bring down the curtain at about 9.10pm.

One member of the audience said there were rows of more than a dozen people without any gaps between them. In a statement, theatre management said the house had been operating at just 51.5% of its total capacity

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

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