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

0 komentar

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


'One state can chart the course': Biden rallies in Georgia on eve of Senate runoffs

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 06:53 PM PST

President-elect speaks at Atlanta rally alongside Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and the Rev Raphael Warnock

Joe Biden urged Georgia voters to surprise the nation once again by sending two Democrats to the US Senate, on the eve of a pair of critical runoff elections that will determine the balance of power in Washington and the scope of the president-elect's ambitious legislative agenda.

Biden, speaking at a drive-in rally in downtown Atlanta alongside the Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and the Rev Raphael Warnock on Monday afternoon, did not mention Donald Trump's increasingly brazen efforts to overturn the results of the November election, which escalated this weekend when the president pressured Georgia's secretary of state to "find" enough votes to reverse his defeat in the state. Instead, he focused on what Democrats could accomplish with control of the Senate.

Continue reading...

Enrique Tarrio, leader of rightwing Proud Boys, arrested ahead of rallies

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 06:03 PM PST

He was charged with destruction of property – related to his role in burning a Black Lives Matter banner – and a firearms offense

The leader of the Proud Boys, the violent far-right group, was arrested in Washington DC and charged with destruction of property and a firearms offense, according to local police.

The arrest of Enrique Tarrio on Monday comes ahead of pro-Donald Trump protests in Washington planned for Tuesday and Wednesday to coincide with the US Congress' vote on Wednesday affirming Joe Biden's election victory.

Continue reading...

Covid lockdown in England likely in place until March, Gove warns

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 12:50 AM PST

Minister says time needed for vaccine to take effect means restrictions cannot definitely be lifted in mid-February

The third national lockdown imposed in England to try to deal with the huge increase in Covid-19 cases is likely to remain in place into March at least, with some measures lasting even longer, the government has indicated.

The cabinet secretary, Michael Gove, said he hoped the gradual lifting of restrictions could begin in mid-February, but that the time it took for the vaccines to take effect meant it was likely to be at least another couple of weeks before measures could start to be eased.

Continue reading...

Calls for Saudi Dakar Rally boycott while women’s right to drive activist in prison

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 09:30 PM PST

Campaigners say racers will pass jail holding Loujain al-Hathloul while kingdom 'sportwashes' its reputation

Supporters of women's rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul, who campaigned for women's right to drive in Saudi Arabia, have called for a boycott of the Dakar Rally for "sportswashing" the reputation of the conservative kingdom while Hathloul remains in prison.

Racers in the off-road competition – including 12 women – are due to pass within a few hundred metres of Riyadh's Al-Ha'ir prison, where Hathloul is being held, on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

South Korean forces arrive in waters near strait of Hormuz amid Iran tensions

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:32 PM PST

Destroyer moves into region one day after Revolutionary Guards seize a South Korean tanker

South Korean forces have arrived in waters near the strait of Hormuz as pressure builds on Iran to free a South Korean tanker it seized along with its crew on Monday.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had taken control of the South Korean vessel, the Hankuk Chemi, and its 20 crew because it was "polluting the Persian Gulf with chemicals". The tanker is being held at Iran's Bandar Abbas port city.

Continue reading...

Where is Jack Ma? Chinese tycoon not seen since October

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 02:05 AM PST

Alibaba co-founder has fallen out of favour with Beijing, but observers cautious about drawing conclusions

Speculation is mounting over the whereabouts of the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, who has not been seen or heard in public for more than two months.

Ma, the co-founder and former chairman of the technology firm Alibaba, has fallen out of favour with China's leadership. In late October, he stood alongside senior officials and delivered a blunt speech criticising national regulators, reportedly infuriating China's president, Xi Jinping.

Continue reading...

Tanya Roberts' publicist retracts report that said actor had died

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 03:56 PM PST

The former Bond girl was mistakenly reported dead after being hospitalised following a fall at her home

Tanya Roberts, who played Roger Moore's love interest in A View to a Kill and later starred in the sitcom That '70s Show as Midge Pinciotti, has been hospitalised after falling at her home.

Her publicist, Mike Pingel, mistakenly reported the 65-year-old dead on Monday, leading multiple outlets, including the Guardian, to publish stories saying she had died. Pingel later told the Associated Press that Roberts was still alive as of 10am in California but was in a poor condition.

Continue reading...

Budapest Black Lives Matter artwork sparks rightwing backlash

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 09:00 PM PST

Officials from Viktor Orbán's rightwing party stoke outrage over two-week installation

It will be only one metre high, and will be on display for just two weeks. Nevertheless, a planned art installation dedicated to the theme of Black Lives Matter is causing uproar in Budapest, where the rightwing, nationalist government of Viktor Orbán has taken aim at the movement and all it represents.

The installation won a recent tender for public art in Budapest's ninth district, an area on the city's Pest side that combines streets of grand turn-of-the-century buildings with communist-era social housing projects.

Continue reading...

China moves to punish lawyers who helped Hong Kong activists

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 01:50 AM PST

Authorities threaten to revoke licences of pair who assisted group of 12 that tried to flee to Taiwan

Chinese authorities have threatened to end the careers of two lawyers who assisted 12 activists who tried to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan last August, 10 of whom were given jail terms by a Chinese court last week.

Ren Quanniu – who also represented the Wuhan citizen journalist Zhang Zhan – and Lu Siwei received notices from local departments of justice on Monday that authorities intended to revoke their licences and they had three days to arrange for a defence hearing.

Continue reading...

UK urged to put Alok Sharma in full-time charge of Cop26 talks

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 11:00 PM PST

Business secretary should focus on making Glasgow climate summit a success, say experts

Ministers are facing calls to make the business secretary, Alok Sharma, the full-time president of the Cop26 UN climate talks to be hosted in Glasgow in November.

Amber Rudd, who as energy and climate secretary led the UK delegation to the successful Paris climate talks in 2015, said: "Alok could do this and do it well. But it will take 100% of his time, energy and persuasion to make it a success."

Continue reading...

Australian government urged to press Trump to end US pursuit of Julian Assange

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 07:17 PM PST

Coalition backbencher says a presidential pardon for the WikiLeaks co-founder is the best way to end the saga

The Australian government is facing calls from its own Coalition backbench and the opposition Labor party to press the Trump administration to end the pursuit of Julian Assange after a British court ruled out the WikiLeaks co-founder's extradition to the United States.

With the US government signalling it plans to appeal the court's ruling, the Coalition backbencher George Christensen and the South Australian independent senator Rex Patrick were among Assange supporters who saw a presidential pardon from Donald Trump as the best way to bring an end to the saga.

Continue reading...

Coronavirus live news: Italy to keep nationwide restrictions in place; Russia reports 24,246 new cases

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 02:20 AM PST

Italy has decided to keep nationwide restrictions in place while relaxing curbs on weekdays; Russia reports 518 deaths and 24,246 new cases

A political row has erupted in India over the home-grown coronavirus vaccine, according to the South China Morning Post.

The Covaxin vaccine was granted emergency approval before final-stage human trials had been completed. Health experts have widely criticised the move as premature, pointing out that there is no publicly available data on its efficacy.

Some slightly cheering news from Germany, where retail sales rose in November and jobless numbers fell last month, against forecasts that both readings would worsen.

The figures suggest that parts of Europe's largest economy have weathered the impact of the coronavirus unexpectedly well, Reuters is reporting.

Continue reading...

Covid vaccinations: slow start around world brings dose of reality

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 12:00 AM PST

Burst of optimism over approvals has been followed by delays, shortages and bureaucratic errors

The global introduction of newly approved coronavirus vaccines has been marked by delays, shortages and bureaucratic errors as it has become clear that many governments will miss their targets for mass inoculation.

The burst of optimism that arrived with approvals of new vaccines – encouraged by unrealistic expectations raised by politicians – is colliding with the reality of the challenge of vaccinating a large part of the world's population.

Continue reading...

Many 'long Covid' sufferers unable to fully work six months later

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:00 PM PST

Respondents to global survey report 205 symptoms across 10 organ systems after infection

Many people suffering from "long Covid" are still unable to work at full capacity six months after infection, a large-scale survey of confirmed and suspected patients has found.

While Covid-19 was initially understood to be a largely respiratory illness from which most people would recover within two or three weeks, as the pandemic wore on increasing numbers reported experiencing symptoms for months on end.

Continue reading...

US pharmacist who tried to ruin Covid vaccine doses is a conspiracy theorist, police say

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 04:00 PM PST

Officers say Steven Brandenburg told investigators he intentionally tried to spoil the doses because he believed the vaccine could change DNA

A Wisconsin pharmacist who was convinced the world was "crashing down" told police he tried to ruin hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine because he believed the shots would mutate people's DNA, according to court documents released on Monday.

Continue reading...

Cinema legend Ellen Burstyn: 'It was never my intention to be a movie star'

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:00 PM PST

As she prepares to smash an Oscar record, the great actor talks about drawing on her own suffering, missing her violent mother – and surviving the Hollywood 'hamburger machine'

Ellen Burstyn is struggling to make herself heard above the sirens that are screeching across the city. "I live on a road that's very popular with police cars and ambulances," she says down the line from New York. She had been trying to tell me about the Oscars when she was interrupted by the racket. If she is nominated in March – and, with the odds of her winning best supporting actress currently at 5/1, she almost certainly will be – this would make her the Academy's oldest acting nominee, having turned 88 this month. "At the moment, it's Chris Plummer," she says excitedly. "But I would beat him by 42 days! What a great crown that would be to wear."

If her performance in the Netflix drama Pieces of a Woman wins her a nomination, it will be her seventh. Over the last 50 years, Burstyn has been recognised for her portrayals of a jaded wife in The Last Picture Show; of a mother whose child is demonically possessed in The Exorcist; and of a widowed waitress who hits the road with her young son in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. In Same Time, Next Year, she played a married woman who meets annually with her lover; in Resurrection she was a car crash survivor who acquires healing powers; and in Requiem for a Dream she starred as the mother of a junkie who becomes an addict herself.

Continue reading...

Why the world's biggest mammal migration is crucial for Africa – photo essay

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:00 PM PST

Up to 10 million straw-coloured fruit bats descend on Zambia's Kasanka national park every year, dispersing millions of seeds as they go

  • Words and photographs by Georgina Smith

David Mubiana will always remember the day he was shot. It happened in 2002, when his unit was ambushed by poachers with AK-47 rifles and a shotgun. He was wounded in the arm and stomach; one bullet rupturing his spleen. As a wildlife police officer in Zambia's Department of National Parks and Wildlife, his job is inherently risky.

"Even if you fall down, you have to stand up and continue fighting. If we finish our wildlife, [our children] are not going to see what we are seeing today," he says.

Continue reading...

Burning the furniture: my life as a consumer

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:00 PM PST

Some thoughts on buying a house, white privilege and homewares for the apocalypse

What does it say about capitalism, John asks, that we have money and want to spend it but we can't find anything worth buying? We're on our way home from a furniture store, again. We almost bought something called a credenza, but then John opened the drawers and discovered that it wasn't made to last.

I think there are limits, I say, to what mass production can produce.

Continue reading...

Emma Mackey: ‘You’d have to be a sociopath to want to be a celebrity’

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 01:00 AM PST

The Sex Education star on the perils of social media, playing Emily Brontë, and her new Disney whodunnit with French and Saunders

When the trailer came out, it felt really Hollywood, which makes me laugh. I was like: 'Ah, OK. This is quite a big deal.'" Emma Mackey spent the last few months of 2019 filming Death on the Nile, the second of Kenneth Branagh's Poirot adaptations. It's a big-budget, big-name Disney extravaganza, and for Mackey, who turns 25 on Monday, it marks a first dip into blockbuster waters.

"I'd never really had that experience of walking into a studio before, where the sets were all built, and the costumes were tailored to my body, and I had a wig, and it was just … " She trails off, lost for words. "I clearly can't talk about it!" she says, laughing. "It completely blows my mind, still." She does an impression of a 1930s ingenue. "'It felt like a movie! A proper movie!' Which is a good sign, I guess."

Continue reading...

'He's a risk-taker': Germans divided over Elon Musk's new GigaFactory

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:00 PM PST

The Tesla project will put Grünheide on the map, but some say it is doing 'irreversible' harm to the environment

For the past 10 months, Silas Heineken has been flying a drone over one of Germany's biggest building sites and posting the images on YouTube.

The 14-year-old self-named "Tesla Kid" has built a significant following, as tens of thousands tune in each week to see the latest developments in Elon Musk's GigaFactory as it emerges at speed from the sandy ground of Brandenburg, south-east of Berlin.

Continue reading...

21 things to look forward to in 2021 – from meteor showers to the Olympics

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:00 PM PST

From finally seeing the back of Donald Trump to being in a football stadium – the new year is full of promise

You probably found a few things to enjoy about last year: you rediscovered your bicycle, perhaps, or your family, or even both, and learned to love trees. And don't forget the clapping. Plus some brilliant scientists figured out how to make a safe and effective vaccine for a brand new virus in record time.

Continue reading...

How do you feel about shielding in the UK during lockdown?

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 02:17 AM PST

We'd like to hear from those who are at high risk from coronavirus and are having to shield during the new national lockdown

The government have asked those who're high risk from coronavirus to start shielding again as the the new national lockdown gets underway.

New government guidelines advise those who are clinically vulnerable to the disease to stay at home unless they're going outside for exercise or attending a medical appointment.

Continue reading...

Trump call to Georgia secretary of state electrifies voters in Senate runoffs

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 11:00 PM PST

Some voters not surprised by president's call but expressed uncertainty over how it would impact the race

An explosive recording of Donald Trump pressuring Georgia election officials to overturn the election results is further electrifying voters in Georgia's elections for two US Senate seats, in Tuesday's runoff that will determine which party controls Congress' upper chamber.

In the call, made public by the Washington Post on Sunday, Trump pressured Georgia's Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to "find 11,780 votes", to overturn Trump's loss there. When Raffensperger refused, Trump suggested he and his aides may be committing a criminal offense.

Continue reading...

Lupita: the powerful voice of one indigenous woman leading a movement

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 02:00 AM PST

Film-maker Monica Wise talks about making her documentary on Mexican indigenous resistance

Our latest Guardian documentary tells the story of Lupita, a courageous young Tzotzil-Maya woman​ ​at the forefront of a Mexican indigenous movement. Over twenty years after Lupita lost her family in the Acteal massacre in southern Mexico, she has become a spokesperson for her people​ and for a new generation of Mayan activists. She balances the demands of motherhood with her high-stakes efforts to re-educate and restore justice to the world. The film-maker Monica Wise talks to us about her experience making the film.

Continue reading...

Australia 'not for turning' in dispute with China, UK envoy George Brandis says

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 01:32 AM PST

The high commissioner in London offers sharp observations on the dispute between Canberra and Beijing

Australia is "not for turning" in its dispute with China and must cut its reliance on supply chains "over which we had little to no sovereign control", the country's top envoy to the UK has said.

George Brandis, Australia's high commissioner in London, argued the situation "must change" as he called for a trade deal between Australia and Britain to be completed by the end of this year.

Continue reading...

Zimbabwe enters Covid lockdown amid fears over crowded new year parties

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 11:15 PM PST

Panic over infection rates mixed with fear of widespread hunger as 30-day shutdown is imposed after people defy ban on gatherings

Parties and new year celebrations that attracted thousands of revellers with little social distancing or mask wearing have triggered panic and a strict 30-day national lockdown in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.

On New Year's Eve thousands of people gathered at Matapi, Mbare, one of Zimbabwe's oldest townships for a dancehall concert, while thousands of others held parties across the city despite a police ban.

Continue reading...

New-sprung: the project turning PPE offcuts into Covid patient mattresses

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 02:46 AM PST

Cheap, hygienic and sustainable, the mattresses made by Indian fashion designer Lakshmi Menon also generate income for rural women

At the height of the pandemic in the Indian state of Kerala, fashion designer Lakshmi Menon, 46, heard that every new Covid care centre had to have 50 beds. Mattresses were in short supply. Every time a patient was discharged, the mattress had to be incinerated. "I thought: that's a lot of mattresses and a lot of burning," says Menon.

Menon's solution was to collect the mountains of plastic pieces from factories that make PPE – all the little bits left over after cutting. Women then braid the bits into rope-like plaits 6ft long. The braids are laid out in a zigzag and the ends tied together. The result is a light, soft, washable, hygienic mattress for just 300 rupees (£3) – half the price of a normal one.

Continue reading...

Watching New Zealand's Covid success from bungling Britain has been torture | Todd Atticus

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 05:11 PM PST

Living between the two countries, I know that the British government's best isn't good enough

Like most Britons this past year, I've spent more time than I care to admit doomscrolling social media. But in between the muted festive lockdown celebrations, I also saw photos of crowded house parties, family barbecues and road trips to baches and beaches. My social feeds have split into alternate realities. Because although I'm a British citizen living in Oxford, I'm also a resident of New Zealand, where things really couldn't be more different.

As a resident of two countries, with friends and family in each, I'm used to witnessing events and political developments in both places at once. Usually this experience is a rewarding one where new ideas and cultural differences cross-pollinate in my brain and expand the way I see the world. But in 2020 it's been an exercise in frustration. The torture of watching how one country has handed the Covid pandemic so well, while living in another that has bungled it so badly, has been one of the defining characteristics of my past year.

Continue reading...

The many U-turns on the road to England's third lockdown

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 01:01 PM PST

November lockdown decision has been followed by a series of flip-flops and 11th-hour announcements

The government's coronavirus strategy for England has changed a number of times since the start of the November lockdown, as infections soared and a new variant of the virus emerged.

14 October 2020: Johnson dismisses calls from the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, for a "circuit-breaker" lockdown, telling MPs: "Opportunism is the name of the game for the party opposite."

Continue reading...

Republicans divided: Trump creates new splits as party frets about Georgia

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 11:41 AM PST

The president's baseless claims have pleased some in the party but turned off others, which does not bode well for the runoff results

Donald Trump has been marking the final days of his presidency by creating new fissures within the Republican party, at a time when the GOP needs to unify if it is to win two races in Georgia, which will decide control of the Senate.

Related: Trump's Republicans have dumped Lincoln – they're the Confederacy now | Lloyd Green

Continue reading...

Tier 5, closed schools? The new restrictions England could face

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 02:16 AM PST

As coronavirus spreads rapidly, what are the options for the government?

Pressure is building on the government to move rapidly to curb the currently rapid spread of coronavirus, with ministers indicating tougher rules for England could be imminent. So what new restrictions might be considered?

Continue reading...

Lupita: the indigenous activist leading a new generation of Mexican women – video

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 02:00 AM PST

In a country where indigenous people are increasingly displaced and journalists are killed at an alarming rate, a courageous new voice has emerged: Lupita, a Tzotzil-Maya woman​ ​at the forefront of a Mexican indigenous movement. Twenty years after Lupita lost her family in the Acteal massacre in southern Mexico, she has become a spokesperson for her people​ and for a new generation of Mayan activists. She balances the demands of motherhood with her high-stakes efforts to re-educate and restore justice to the world

Continue reading...

England's coronavirus lockdown may last until March says Gove – video

Posted: 05 Jan 2021 01:39 AM PST

The third national lockdown imposed in England to try to deal with the huge increase in Covid-19 cases is likely to remain in place until March at least, with some measures lasting even longer, according to the Cabinet Office minister, Michael Gove.

Gove said he hoped the gradual lifting of restrictions could begin in mid-February, but that the time it took for the vaccines to take effect meant it was likely to be at least another couple of weeks before measures could start to be eased

Continue reading...

Boris Johnson urges people to stay home as England braces for third national lockdown – video

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 02:29 PM PST

The prime minister warned that the weeks ahead 'will be the toughest yet' as he announced England would be placed under its strictest nationwide lockdown since March. Schools will be closed until mid-February and people will be advised to leave their homes only once a day for exercise. But Johnson added that the arrival of the Oxford vaccine showed that 'the end was in sight'

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer: Labour will support 'necessary' new lockdown measures – video

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 01:36 PM PST

The Labour leader said he supported Boris Johnson's decision to move England into a third national lockdown amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. 'Whatever our criticisms of the government, we've all got to pull together now to make this work,' Starmer said. Under the strict new measures, announced the day the UK recorded a record high of 58,784 new cases, people will be ordered to stay at home unless they are engaging in a small number of exempted activities

Continue reading...

Nicola Sturgeon confirms Scotland to go into new lockdown – video

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 07:07 AM PST

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first minister, announced to the Scottish parliament that her cabinet had decided to introduce from midnight on Monday a legal requirement to stay at home, except for essential purposes. 

The new 'stay at home' Covid rules, mirroring the very strict controls imposed last March, would also be legally enforced and greatly restrict who was able to travel, the Scottish government's cabinet agreed earlier on Monday

Continue reading...

Kamala Harris says Trump's call to Georgia secretary of state is 'bold abuse of power' – video

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 05:49 AM PST

The US vice-president-elect said a phone call made by Donald Trump to Georgia's secretary of state in which he asked to reverse his 3 November election defeat is a 'bold abuse of power'.

Speaking at a rally in Savannah on Sunday, Harris said the call was 'the voice of desperation'.

The Washington Post obtained the recording of a conversation on Saturday between Trump and Brad Raffensperger.

Continue reading...

First patient receives Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine – video

Posted: 04 Jan 2021 04:57 AM PST

An 82-year-old retired maintenance manager has become the first person in the world outside clinical trials to receive the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.

Brian Pinker, a dialysis patient, received the jab at 7.30am on Monday from Sam Foster, a nurse at Churchill hospital, part of the Oxford University hospitals NHS foundation trust.

Continue reading...


Posting Komentar