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- Myanmar: internet restored as Aung San Suu Kyi's detention extended
- India: activist arrested over protest 'toolkit' shared by Greta Thunberg
- Coronavirus live news: UK variant hits New Zealand; WHO envoy expects 'some sort' of vaccine passports
- US lawmakers call for 9/11-style commission to investigate Capitol riot
- Carlos Menem, flamboyant former Argentine president dies, aged 90
- CT scan catches 70% of lung cancers at early stage, NHS study finds
- Second crocodile killed and examined for human remains after man went missing in Queensland
- Australian Open 2021: Barty wins, Nadal through, Berrettini withdraws – as it happened
- 'I'm a fighter': WTO's first female, African head ready for battle
- Researchers rethink life in a cold climate after Antarctic find
- Harry and Meghan expecting second child
- Lack of Covid data may leave African countries behind in vaccine rush
- How the Covid pandemic could end – and what will make it happen faster | Devi Sridhar
- Peru's foreign minister resigns in scandal over early vaccination of officials
- England hotel quarantine begins for arrivals from high-risk countries
- Four years at sea, now just metres from shore: 'living hell' of stranded UAE ship
- How a Spanish town pioneered dolls with Down's syndrome
- Kim Novak on Hitchcock, Sinatra and why she turned her back on Hollywood to paint
- Bill Gates: ‘Carbon neutrality in a decade is a fairytale. Why peddle fantasies?’
- 'I won't go back': why Libyans are joining the boats leaving their shores
- Clubhouse app: what is it and how do you get an invite to the audio app Elon Musk uses?
- Johnson should repay north of England voters with private investment – report
- If the French distrust vaccines, it's because they distrust their politicians | Laurent-Henri Vignaud
- The inselbergs of Egypt's White desert – in pictures
- Border agency reports spike of nearly 6,000 immigrant children crossing into US alone
- Libs Dems warn China over 'international bullying' after sanctions threat
- First shipment of vaccine lands in Australia – as it happened
- Pakistan to allow private firms to import coronavirus vaccines
- 'They want division': on patrol with Myanmar's civilian night watch
- Summer in Auckland felt like a fool's paradise – we all knew it couldn't last | Steve Braunias
- What are the pros and cons of Covid vaccine passports?
- Tens of thousands protest in Myanmar nine days after coup – video
- Strong earthquake off Fukushima shakes Japan – video
| Myanmar: internet restored as Aung San Suu Kyi's detention extended Posted: 14 Feb 2021 08:34 PM PST Government workers on strike as protesters take to the streets despite presence of army tanks in major cities Internet services have been restored in Myanmar after an eight-hour blackout as it emerged that civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained in a coup two weeks ago, would be remanded for a further two days. Demonstrators again returned to the streets of major cities on Monday despite security forces deploying armoured vehicles. Extra troops were seen in key locations of Yangon, the nation's commercial hub and biggest city, including armoured personnel carriers near the central bank. Continue reading... |
| India: activist arrested over protest 'toolkit' shared by Greta Thunberg Posted: 14 Feb 2021 06:31 PM PST Disha Ravi charged with sedition, accused editing document on how to support India's farmers that was tweeted by Swedish climate activist Indian police have charged a 22-year-old climate activist with sedition over accusations she edited and circulated a document tweeted by climate activist Greta Thunberg relating to India's ongoing farmer protests. Swedish climate activist Thunberg tweeted her backing this month for the farmers, who have been demonstrating since December against agricultural reforms they say will harm their livelihood but benefit large corporations. She shared a document which she said was a toolkit to create and spread awareness about the farmers' complaints. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 15 Feb 2021 02:45 AM PST Australia suspends quarantine-free travel with New Zealand; WHO envoy suggests vaccine passports may be needed for travel; Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine gives 94% protection
Vietnam is to put two million people under new coronavirus restrictions from Tuesday after a new outbreak in a northern province of the country. Residents of Hai Duong province have been ordered to stay at home for 15 days, state media reported, according to the French news agency AFP, as a nation widely praised for its handling of the pandemic struggles to extinguish a troubling new outbreak. Since late January, Vietnam has recorded 637 locally transmitted coronavirus cases, including 461 in Hai Duong province alone. "People (in Hai Duong) are asked to stay at home and only go out when necessary, such as to buy food or medicine, or to work at factories or production establishments that are not being asked to close," said the official mouthpiece of Vietnam's health ministry, Suc Khoe Doi Song.
Pakistan will allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has exempted the vaccines from price caps in a divisive move that health experts fear will create vast inequalities in access, writes Shah Meer Baloch for the Guardian in Islamabad. The country has been scrambling to secure vaccine supplies but so far only the Chinese-made Sinopharm treatment is being deployed. This month 500,000 doses were donated to Pakistan. Like many other countries, Pakistan has been relying on the Gavi/World Health Organization Covax vaccine initiative, but has yet to receive any of the 17m doses it is expecting. Related: Pakistan to allow private firms to import coronavirus vaccines Continue reading... |
| US lawmakers call for 9/11-style commission to investigate Capitol riot Posted: 14 Feb 2021 11:15 PM PST Democrats and Republicans both voice support for panel to 'make sure it never happens again' Democratic and Republican lawmakers have issued fresh calls for a bipartisan 9/11-style commission to investigate why government officials and law enforcement failed to stop the attack on the US Capitol in January, following Donald Trump's acquittal in his impeachment on charges that he incited the insurrection. The commission would be modeled after a panel created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, which reviewed what caused the atrocity and laid out recommendations on how to foresee and prevent any future incursions. Continue reading... |
| Carlos Menem, flamboyant former Argentine president dies, aged 90 Posted: 14 Feb 2021 07:25 PM PST Menem delivered short-lived economic stability in the 1990s and was known for his tabloid personal life The flamboyant Argentine ex-President Carlos Menem died on Sunday at age 90 after long-term health problems, the country's current president, Alberto Fernandez, announced in a tweet. Menem led a colourful personal life while he pushed Argentina to an economic boom, but his two-term 1989-1999 presidency crumbled under the weight of corruption scandals and he spent years plotting an unlikely comeback. Continue reading... |
| CT scan catches 70% of lung cancers at early stage, NHS study finds Posted: 14 Feb 2021 10:00 AM PST Exclusive: early detection hailed as 'major breakthrough' for treatment of Britain's deadliest form of cancer Thousands of lives could be saved if people at risk of developing Britain's deadliest cancer were screened to diagnose it before it becomes incurable, a major NHS study has found. Giving smokers and ex-smokers a CT scan uncovers cancerous lung tumours when they are at an early enough stage so they can still be removed, rather than continuing to grow unnoticed, it shows. Continue reading... |
| Second crocodile killed and examined for human remains after man went missing in Queensland Posted: 14 Feb 2021 10:21 PM PST It's the third crocodile attack in the state this month, after two swimmers in Cairns and Weipa survived encounters A second crocodile has been killed and will be examined for human remains after a 69-year-old fisher went missing in north Queensland. The reptile, measuring about 3 metres, was caught and euthanised by Department of Environment and Science officers near Hinchinbrook Island on Sunday night. Continue reading... |
| Australian Open 2021: Barty wins, Nadal through, Berrettini withdraws – as it happened Posted: 15 Feb 2021 02:03 AM PST Rafael Nadal and Ash Barty stormed into the last eight and there were also wins for Jessica Pegula, Jennifer Brady, Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev and Karolina Muchova, while Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a walkover
But for today, that's all folks I'm afraid – poor Mario Berrettini is injured, so Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a walkover. Check back shortly for a report on Barty-Rogers, and otherwise ta-ra until tomorrow.
Hsieh-Osaka is our first match tomorrow, after which we've got Dimitrov-Karatsev. Then, in the evening session, we've got, in the best possible way, a punch in the the face with Serena-Simona, then a heel to the solar plexus with Djokovic-Zverev. I cannot wait. Continue reading... |
| 'I'm a fighter': WTO's first female, African head ready for battle Posted: 15 Feb 2021 12:30 AM PST Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, set to be named director general, joins as global trading system facing make-or-break moment Even for an economist, there are lots of very large numbers in the life of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. As the chair of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, she has overseen the annual immunisation of millions of children. When managing director of the World Bank, she oversaw $81bn worth of operations. In her stints in charge of Nigeria's finances, she tackled Africa's most populous country's $30bn debt. And she has 1.5 million followers on Twitter. There are lots of smaller numbers too: the 20 non-profit organisations that have appointed Okonjo-Iweala to their advisory boards, the major banks and corporations she has advised, the 10 honorary degrees in addition to her own doctorate, 20 or so awards, dozens of major reports authored, and the books. Continue reading... |
| Researchers rethink life in a cold climate after Antarctic find Posted: 14 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST Scientists surprised by marine organisms on boulder on sea floor beneath 900 metres of ice shelf The accidental discovery of marine organisms on a boulder on the sea floor beneath 900 metres (3,000ft) of Antarctic ice shelf has led scientists to rethink the limits of life on Earth. Researchers stumbled on the life-bearing rock after sinking a borehole through nearly a kilometre of the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf on the south-eastern Weddell Sea to obtain a sediment core from the seabed. Continue reading... |
| Harry and Meghan expecting second child Posted: 14 Feb 2021 12:21 PM PST Couple share picture of Harry resting his hand on Meghan's head as she lies in his lap cradling her bump The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed that they are expecting a younger brother or sister for their one-year-old son, Archie. A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan said: "We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child." Continue reading... |
| Lack of Covid data may leave African countries behind in vaccine rush Posted: 14 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST Experts say continent may not be seen as priority because true extent of pandemic is unknown African countries may suffer in the global rush for vaccines because they are unable to gather statistics that reveal the true extent of the spread of Covid among their populations, epidemiologists and other experts fear. According to data from Johns Hopkins university, there have been 3.7m confirmed cases in Africa, and the landmark figure of 100,000 confirmed deaths is likely to be reached within days. Continue reading... |
| How the Covid pandemic could end – and what will make it happen faster | Devi Sridhar Posted: 15 Feb 2021 02:00 AM PST Pandemics are global by definition. Only travel restrictions and equal vaccine access for all countries will end this crisis Most people have already adjusted their expectations to a spring of disruption – but most are quietly hoping that by the summer, and into the autumn, life in the UK will have returned more or less to normal. Are they right to be confident? What can we do to avoid slipping back into a cycle of lockdowns? In short: how does this pandemic end, and how can we end it faster? Globally, the UK is in the strong position of having at least five effective and safe vaccines, but there are major challenges ahead. We already know about variants, such as those arising in Kent, Brazil and South Africa, which are proving challenging in terms of being more transmissible, and having potentially more severe health outcomes in the case of the UK variant. Continue reading... |
| Peru's foreign minister resigns in scandal over early vaccination of officials Posted: 15 Feb 2021 12:29 AM PST Health minister had already quit after it emerged ministers received jabs before health workers Peru's foreign minister has resigned amid uproar over government officials being secretly vaccinated against coronavirus before the country recently received 1m doses for health workers facing a resurgence in the pandemic. The president, Francisco Sagasti, confirmed that Elizabeth Astete had stepped down and told a local television channel that Peruvians should feel "outraged and angry about this situation that jeopardises the enormous effort of many Peruvians working on the frontline against Covid". Continue reading... |
| England hotel quarantine begins for arrivals from high-risk countries Posted: 14 Feb 2021 08:08 PM PST UK nationals and residents must pay for a 10-day stay in government-approved hotels from Monday All UK nationals or residents arriving back in England from high-risk countries will begin checking into government-designated accommodation on Monday as the hotel quarantine regime to prevent the spread of new coronavirus cases begins. People returning to England from 33 "red list" countries – comprised of hotspots with Covid-19 variants in circulation – will be required to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. Continue reading... |
| Four years at sea, now just metres from shore: 'living hell' of stranded UAE ship Posted: 14 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST Five seafarers are stuck in limbo on a beached tanker after a long, terrifying ordeal of abandonment Tourists are more accustomed to seeing kite surfers or kayaks off the idyllic coast of Umm Al Quwain, in the United Arab Emirates. But today they have gathered on sun loungers to sip coffee and gaze at the unusual sight of a 5,000-ton oil tanker grounded on the sand. For the crew inside the Panama-flagged MT Iba, however, being grounded on the beach marks another harrowing chapter in an almost four-year ordeal at sea. Continue reading... |
| How a Spanish town pioneered dolls with Down's syndrome Posted: 14 Feb 2021 09:00 PM PST The town of Onil has changed the lives of children everywhere The first time Kelle Hampton glimpsed a doll with Down's syndrome, anger boiled up inside her. Its exaggerated features bore little resemblance to the sweet facial characteristics that she loved about her daughter Nella, who was born with the genetic disorder. The experience set the US blogger and author firmly against such dolls. But to her surprise, years later she found herself smitten with another doll. This time it had been carefully crafted to subtly capture the characteristics that made Nella unique. "This one was simply a beautiful doll any child would want to play with," she said. Continue reading... |
| Kim Novak on Hitchcock, Sinatra and why she turned her back on Hollywood to paint Posted: 14 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST Kim Novak starred in Vertigo – voted the best film ever made – but knew she was too fragile for fame. She talks about her tough childhood, the sensitive side of Sinatra and starting again in her forties Kim Novak apologises for the mess. And, to be fair, the studio at her Oregon home is fabulously messy. Behind her are a couple of canvases she has been working on; to the left and right, all sorts of all sorts. At the back of the room, her rescue dog, Patches, lies on a sofa, half snoozing, half listening. Occasionally, Sadie Ann, her husband's pudelpointer, wanders in, sniffs around and leaves. Novak, who turned 88 two days ago, is so much more than a Hollywood legend. The star of Hitchcock's Vertigo is a wonderful artist, a mental health activist (she is proudly bipolar), an anti-bullying campaigner, a vet's assistant and one of the greatest life forces I've spoken to. Continue reading... |
| Bill Gates: ‘Carbon neutrality in a decade is a fairytale. Why peddle fantasies?’ Posted: 14 Feb 2021 05:30 PM PST After putting $100m into Covid research, the billionaire is taking on the climate crisis. And first he has some bones to pick with his fellow campaigners... Bill Gates appears via video conference – Microsoft Teams, not Zoom, obviously – from his office in Seattle, a large space with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Lake Washington. It's a gloomy day outside and Gates is, somewhat eccentrically, positioned a long way from the camera, behind a large, kidney-shaped desk; his communications manager sits off to one side. If one had to stage, for the purposes of symbolism, a tableau of a man for whom a distance of 3,000 miles between callers still constitutes too intimate a setting, it might be this. "As a way to start," says Gates' aide, "would it be helpful for Bill to make a couple of comments about why he wrote his new book?" It is helpful, and I'm not ungrateful, but this is not how interviews typically commence. There is an urge towards deference, when speaking to Gates, which attends few other people of commensurate fame. Celebrity is one thing, but wealth – true, former-richest-man-in-the-world wealth – is something else entirely; one has a sense of being granted an audience with the Great Man, a fact made more surreal by his famously muted persona. The 65-year-old has the lofty, mildly longsuffering air of a man accustomed to being the smartest guy in the room, leavened by wry amusement and interrupted, on the evidence of past interviews, by the occasional peevish outburst – most memorably in 2014, when Jeremy Paxman questioned him about Microsoft's alleged tax avoidance. ("I think that's about as incorrect a characterisation of anything I've ever heard," he said, practically squirming in his seat with annoyance.) Continue reading... |
| 'I won't go back': why Libyans are joining the boats leaving their shores Posted: 14 Feb 2021 11:15 PM PST Libya, a transit stop for migrants trying to reach Europe, is now facing an exodus of its own people After witnessing abuse and discrimination, Sherif Targi*, 21, decided to leave Libya for Europe. "I saw killing and massacres because of the conflicts between Tuaregs and the Tebu [ethnic minorities]," he says. |
| Clubhouse app: what is it and how do you get an invite to the audio app Elon Musk uses? Posted: 14 Feb 2021 04:42 PM PST The exclusive invitation-only social networking app is a hybrid of conference calls, talkback radio and Houseparty Part talkback radio, part conference call, part Houseparty, Clubhouse is a social networking app based on audio-chat. Users can listen in to conversations, interviews and discussions between interesting people on various topics – it is just like tuning in to a podcast but live and with an added layer of exclusivity. Continue reading... |
| Johnson should repay north of England voters with private investment – report Posted: 14 Feb 2021 04:01 PM PST Research argues ministers should create economic 'big bang' for area that turned Tory in last election The prime minister should repay voters in the north of England who lent the Conservatives their vote at the last election by unleashing billions of pounds of private investment, according to a report. It argues that ministers should aim to harness the "restless radicalism" from those who voted for Brexit in 2016 and the Conservatives in 2019 by creating an economic "big bang", along the lines of the Thatcherite deregulation of the City in the 1980s which reinforced London's position as a global financial centre. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 15 Feb 2021 12:00 AM PST Although it's easy to exaggerate the problem, the French appear to be among the most 'vaccine hesitant' in the world In the land of Louis Pasteur, pioneer of microbiology, the people are shunning vaccination. Or at least that is what polls over the past decade suggest, putting France among the countries most dubious about vaccination, alongside Bosnia-Herzegovina, Japan and Mongolia. France is far from being the only place affected by "vaccine hesitancy", as the World Health Organization (WHO) describes it. The phenomenon has been gaining ground in the west, and more broadly in the developed world, for a simple and paradoxical reason: thanks to the benefits of immunisation and rising standards of healthcare, the notion of a life-threatening epidemic has until recently seemed distant – opening the way for the luxury of fearing vaccines themselves. Continue reading... |
| The inselbergs of Egypt's White desert – in pictures Posted: 15 Feb 2021 12:00 AM PST The unusual rock formations are scattered across the landscape of Egypt's White desert, about 300 miles from Cairo Continue reading... |
| Border agency reports spike of nearly 6,000 immigrant children crossing into US alone Posted: 15 Feb 2021 02:00 AM PST The surge is low compared to past years, but Covid-19 has reduced housing capacity, necessitating use of a controversial influx facility Thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children are attempting to flee to the United States amid the coronavirus pandemic, propelled by devastating natural disasters, chronic violence, and severe economic hardship at home. US Customs and Border Protection encountered 5,871 kids at the south-west border without a parent or legal guardian last month, the largest influx yet since the start of the public health crisis in early 2020. Continue reading... |
| Libs Dems warn China over 'international bullying' after sanctions threat Posted: 14 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST Chinese newspaper said countries that boycott 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over treatment of Uighurs would face retaliation The Liberal Democrats have warned China against "international bullying" after a call by UK MPs for countries to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics was met by a warning of potential sanctions. Last week, Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, joined with the Labour MP and former Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant in demanding that the government and the British Olympic Association act over the mass repression of the Muslim Uighur population in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, which campaigners say constitutes genocide. Continue reading... |
| First shipment of vaccine lands in Australia – as it happened Posted: 15 Feb 2021 12:20 AM PST Parliament remembers apology to stolen generations, and quarantine-free border to New Zealand closed after new cases. This blog is now closed.
We'll leave it there for today. Thanks for tuning in. Here are today's main developments:
Prof Tony Blakely, a top epidemiologist at the University of Melbourne, says the federal government should set up an independent agency to accredit and audit Covid quarantine hotels. Blakely also says some federal politicians have politicised the most recent Victorian outbreak by talking about the state's contact tracing regime in a "diversionary tactic to take the discussion off the federal government providing better quarantine facilities and support". Continue reading... |
| Pakistan to allow private firms to import coronavirus vaccines Posted: 15 Feb 2021 01:50 AM PST Vaccines also exempt from price caps in divisive move that health experts fear will deepen inequality Pakistan will allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has exempted the vaccines from price caps in a divisive move that health experts fear will create vast inequalities in access. The country has been scrambling to secure vaccine supplies but so far only the Chinese-made Sinopharm treatment is being deployed. This month 500,000 doses were donated to Pakistan. Continue reading... |
| 'They want division': on patrol with Myanmar's civilian night watch Posted: 15 Feb 2021 01:31 AM PST Since the coup, people in Yangon have been patrolling the streets to protect neighbours from overnight military raids and criminals Sitting next to a makeshift barricade of bamboo and recycled metal, Aung Than, 30, a tour operator, says he is ready to die for his street. "A life on this street is worth more than mine," he says. "I am ready to exchange my life to protect them if it comes to that." Protests against the 1 February coup have grown in recent days in Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon. Meanwhile, nights are filled with an eerie silence, punctuated by bursts of clashing pots and pans in support of the detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and the clamour of mobs chasing down lone figures. Continue reading... |
| Summer in Auckland felt like a fool's paradise – we all knew it couldn't last | Steve Braunias Posted: 14 Feb 2021 05:16 PM PST Reports of queues for inessential items have come in fast but we can still count ourselves lucky The bananas were the first to go. "Look," I said to my daughter. We stood and gazed at the supermarket shelves set aside for bananas. They'd been stripped bare less than an hour after the latest lockdown was announced. We sighed, and then went about stripping the shelves of nectarines. She asked, "Will six do?" I said, "No. Grab 10. You never know." Last night's lockdown announcement took place at 7pm. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called an urgent press conference and emergency sirens wailed from mobile phones – they'd make a good ringtone – as New Zealanders were told to return to various states of lockdown. A family of three in South Auckland had tested positive for Covid-19. The city was put in lockdown level 3 at midnight, the rest of the country in the more relaxed level 2. It's in place till Wednesday midnight and what happens after that is largely going to depend on whether more cases are tested positive in the community. Continue reading... |
| What are the pros and cons of Covid vaccine passports? Posted: 14 Feb 2021 10:09 AM PST The UK government is reconsidering the idea of certificates of vaccination to help reopen travel and business Desperate to return to pre-pandemic normality, many countries where vaccination campaigns for Covid-19 are in full swing are considering endorsing "vaccine passports" to reignite international travel and reopen economies. A week ago, the UK government ruled out plans for such passports – with vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi calling them "discriminatory" – but on Sunday, the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said the documents were "under consideration". Labour politicians have advocated their introduction, with the former prime minister Tony Blair making the case for domestic vaccine passports in this week's Mail on Sunday. So what are the pros and cons of such "immunity certificates"? Continue reading... |
| Tens of thousands protest in Myanmar nine days after coup – video Posted: 14 Feb 2021 06:56 AM PST Tens of thousands of people took part a ninth day of anti-coup demonstrations on Sunday. Students marched through the centre of Yangon, the country's biggest city, carrying placards demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since Myanmar's military overthrew the elected government on 1 February
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| Strong earthquake off Fukushima shakes Japan – video Posted: 14 Feb 2021 03:21 AM PST A 7.3-magnitude earthquake that shook Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures off the coast of Japan, injuring more than 100 people, was an aftershock of the devastating 2011 quake that caused the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, the nation's meteorological agency has said. The Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, expressed his sympathy to all affected and injured, although no deaths have been reported Continue reading... |
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