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- Oxford Covid vaccine 10% effective against South African variant, study suggests
- Protests swell in Myanmar one week after military coup
- Storm Darcy: Netherlands declares 'code red' emergency as rare snowstorm hits
- Balloon test flight plan under fire over solar geoengineering fears
- Rescuers search for 202 missing after Indian glacier causes devastating flood
- Revealed: Queen lobbied for change in law to hide her private wealth
- Super Bowl LV: Buccaneers beat Chiefs for Tom Brady's magnificent seventh
- Trump impeachment: final day of preparations as Senate trial looms – live updates
- 'Bingeing free expression': popularity of Clubhouse app soars in China
- A 'uniquely American whale': new species discovered off southern US coast
- Coronavirus live news: WHO panel to discuss Oxford vaccine; France bans homemade masks in schools
- Covid deaths of Yanomami children fuel fears for Brazil's indigenous groups
- Coronavirus vaccine strategy needs rethink after resistant variants emerge, say scientists
- ‘Horrible guilt’: the impact of Covid deaths on a care home worker
- Catherine O'Hara on the joy of Schitt's Creek: 'Eugene Levy is the sweetest man!'
- ‘This fever will break’: Republican Jeff Flake on the slow fade of Trumpism
- Three-finger salute: Hunger Games symbol adopted by Myanmar protesters
- What do Joe Biden's executive orders do?
- Covering the Russia protest: 'Police usually let western reporters go'
- Jackie Kay on Bessie Smith: 'My libidinous, raunchy, fearless blueswoman'
- UK weather: Storm Darcy to bring more snowfall and gale-force winds on Monday
- Netanyahu's corruption trial resumes weeks before Israeli election
- It's time for Africa to rein in Tanzania's anti-vaccine president | Vava Tampa
- Pork barrelling is 'what elections are for': John Barilaro defends bushfire grants
- 'Fighting for life': Bangladesh shrimp farmers destitute in wake of cyclone
- ‘It feels like a placebo’: Mexico’s vaccine program sees disastrous launch
- Migrants speak of 'inhumane' conditions at Ice detention centers during Covid – video
- New Orleans houses become Mardi Gras floats in Covid era – in pictures
- Couple reunite in Bolton care home after one year apart due to Covid lockdown – video
- Myanmar: tens of thousands protest for second day despite internet blackout – video
- Scores feared dead after glacier causes dam burst in India – video
- Nadhim Zahawi: UK has no plans to introduce Covid vaccine passports – video
| Oxford Covid vaccine 10% effective against South African variant, study suggests Posted: 08 Feb 2021 01:38 AM PST Small-scale trial of vaccine's efficacy shows it offers very little protection against mild to moderate infection The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine offers as little as 10% protection against the Covid variant first seen in South Africa, researchers have suggested. Scientists who conducted a small-scale trial of the vaccine's efficacy said it showed very little protection against mild to moderate infection, though they expressed hope that – in theory – it would still offer significant protection against more serious infection. Continue reading... |
| Protests swell in Myanmar one week after military coup Posted: 08 Feb 2021 02:38 AM PST Water cannon used on demonstrators in the capital as marches take place in cities and towns across the country Massive crowds of protesters have marched in towns and cities across Myanmar in the largest show of popular defiance so far to a military coup a week ago. From the Himalayan town of Putao to cities on the shore of the Andaman Sea, demonstrators filled the streets for a third day of street demonstrations against the ousting of the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Continue reading... |
| Storm Darcy: Netherlands declares 'code red' emergency as rare snowstorm hits Posted: 07 Feb 2021 09:03 PM PST The worst weather for a decade causes all trains to be cancelled but raises hopes of first traditional ice-skating marathon for 24 years Authorities in the Netherlands declared a rare "code red" emergency for the entire country as it was hit by its first proper snowstorm in more than a decade. Storm Darcy, which has also sent temperatures plummeting across Germany, packed winds of up to 90km (55 miles) an hour and sent temperatures as low as -5C (23F). Continue reading... |
| Balloon test flight plan under fire over solar geoengineering fears Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:30 PM PST Swedish environmental groups warn test flight could be first step towards the adoption of a potentially "dangerous, unpredictable, and unmanageable" technology A proposed scientific balloon flight in northern Sweden has attracted opposition from environmental groups over fears it could lead to the use of solar geoengineering to cool the Earth and combat the climate crisis by mimicking the effect of a large volcanic eruption. In June, a team of Harvard scientists is planning to launch a high-altitude balloon from Kiruna in Lapland to test whether it can carry equipment for a future small-scale experiment on radiation-reflecting particles in the Earth's atmosphere. Continue reading... |
| Rescuers search for 202 missing after Indian glacier causes devastating flood Posted: 07 Feb 2021 08:55 PM PST Nineteen confirmed dead as hundreds of military personnel look for survivors in Himalayan state of Uttarakhand Hundreds of Indian military personnel are searching for over 200 people unaccounted for after a part of a glacier collapsed and released a torrent of water, rock and dust down a mountain valley in the country's Himalayan north, killing at least 19. According to footage and witness accounts, a towering surge of water swept down the river at high speed on Sunday morning, gathering momentum as it moved through the narrow gorge, completely wiping out Rishiganga hydropower dam. It swept away five bridges and damaged dozens of homes. Continue reading... |
| Revealed: Queen lobbied for change in law to hide her private wealth Posted: 07 Feb 2021 07:00 AM PST Monarch dispatched private solicitor to secure exemption from transparency law The Queen successfully lobbied the government to change a draft law in order to conceal her "embarrassing" private wealth from the public, according to documents discovered by the Guardian. A series of government memos unearthed in the National Archives reveal that Elizabeth Windsor's private lawyer put pressure on ministers to alter proposed legislation to prevent her shareholdings from being disclosed to the public. Continue reading... |
| Super Bowl LV: Buccaneers beat Chiefs for Tom Brady's magnificent seventh Posted: 08 Feb 2021 12:12 AM PST
Whoever said records were made to be broken didn't have Tom Brady in mind. Tampa Bay's ageless marvel captured a record-extending seventh Super Bowl championship on Sunday night, helming the underdog Buccaneers to a 31-9 rout of the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and further bolstering his claim as the greatest quarterback ever in the epilogue of a storied career that shows no sign of winding down. Continue reading... |
| Trump impeachment: final day of preparations as Senate trial looms – live updates Posted: 08 Feb 2021 02:32 AM PST
If you've got questions about how Trump's Senate trial will play out this week, then hopefully we have them covered off here: Donald Trump impeachment trial – what you need to know. Here are the key points:
With Donald Trump almost certainly to be acquitted by the bloc vote of the Republican party in the Senate, part of the Democrat focus on this week's proceedings is to set out a permanent record in Congress of the events of 6 January. As Jeremy Herb and Daniella Diaz put it for CNN: The House impeachment managers haven't made a final decision on whether they will call witnesses for the trial. They're preparing for the possibility they won't have any witnesses – but they may decide to use them if they find a witness willing to voluntarily step forward, according to sources. The managers want to avoid any kind of court fight over witnesses like the House had to deal with during the first impeachment of Trump, which would delay the trial further. Continue reading... |
| 'Bingeing free expression': popularity of Clubhouse app soars in China Posted: 08 Feb 2021 12:55 AM PST US social media platform allows users to discuss sensitive subjects but many fear it could fall foul of China's censors Chinese internet users have flocked to the audio-only social media app Clubhouse for uncensored discussions on political and human rights subjects, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the persecution of Uighurs. But there are fears the popularity of the app could lead to censorship or recrimination. The invitation-only US app, which is restricted to iPhones, allows users to listen in to discussions and interviews in quasi conference-call style online rooms. Running for almost a year, it became suddenly popular last week – particularly in China. Continue reading... |
| A 'uniquely American whale': new species discovered off southern US coast Posted: 08 Feb 2021 12:30 AM PST Rice's whales already considered endangered by the US with a population estimated at fewer than 100 Genetic analysis and a close examination of the skulls from a group of baleen whales in the north-eastern Gulf of Mexico have revealed that they are a new species. "I was surprised that there could be an unrecognized species of whale out there, especially in our backyard," says Lynsey Wilcox, a geneticist with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who helped uncover the new species. "I never imagined I would be describing a new species in my career, so it is a very exciting discovery." Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus live news: WHO panel to discuss Oxford vaccine; France bans homemade masks in schools Posted: 08 Feb 2021 02:21 AM PST WHO meeting comes after South Africa suspends Oxford vaccine after trial data showed it offered only limited protection against variant; Staff and pupils in French schools must wear Category 1 face masks
I am running the live blog from London, where it's 10am GMT. Please get in touch with me to share news tips or comments while I work. Twitter: @sloumarsh
Tanzania has spent more than six months trying to convince the world it has been cured of the coronavirus through prayer while refusing to take measures to curb its spread, AFP reports. However, dissent is mounting, along with deaths attributed to "pneumonia", with even a politician in semi-autonomous Zanzibar admitting he has the virus. Continue reading... |
| Covid deaths of Yanomami children fuel fears for Brazil's indigenous groups Posted: 08 Feb 2021 02:00 AM PST Health ministry sends team to investigate 'concerning' virus cases in Yanomami territory near Venezuelan border Ten Yanomami children have died from Covid-19, fueling fears over the disproportionate impact the coronavirus is having on vulnerable indigenous communities in the Brazilian Amazon. "It is very concerning that so many kids died in less than one month," said Júnior Hekurari Yanomami, the head of Condisi-YY, an indigenous health council. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus vaccine strategy needs rethink after resistant variants emerge, say scientists Posted: 08 Feb 2021 12:08 AM PST Oxford vaccine shown to have only limited effect against South African variant of coronavirus Leading vaccine scientists are calling for a rethink of the goals of vaccination programmes, saying that herd immunity through vaccination is unlikely to be possible because of the emergence of variants like that in South Africa. The comments came as the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca acknowledged that their vaccine will not protect people against mild to moderate Covid illness caused by the South African variant. The Oxford vaccine is the mainstay of the UK's immunisation programme and vitally important around the world because of its low cost and ease of use. Continue reading... |
| ‘Horrible guilt’: the impact of Covid deaths on a care home worker Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST 'There's a voice in your head saying you've killed these people', says one employee of a UK home with 12 dead It's already hard for care workers to cope with Covid outbreaks that kill residents they have known for years. Guilt that they may possibly have caused it only makes things worse. That is the anxiety faced by many, according to a carer who has spoken to the Guardian from the midst of a care home outbreak which has so far claimed 12 lives. Continue reading... |
| Catherine O'Hara on the joy of Schitt's Creek: 'Eugene Levy is the sweetest man!' Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST The biggest TV hit of the pandemic? A comedy about a family holed up against their will. Its star discusses warmth, wigs and why she loves playing Moira Rose Catherine O'Hara and I spend most of our time together anxiously apologising to one another, me for my terrible wifi connection, her for what she describes as her "ramblings". Her infraction is more forgivable. A frozen Zoom screen is just annoying. O'Hara's verbal meanderings ("Oh dear, what am I on about?") are far more fun, swooping among the highlights from her career as a comedy cult star in the 1970s (the Canadian sketch show SCTV), 80s and 90s (Beetlejuice, Home Alone), and then Christopher Guest's series of brilliant and largely improvised films (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration). Now, at 66, she has peaked yet further, with her glorious performance as Moira Rose in Schitt's Creek, the most endearing sitcom to come along in yonks. The show came to an end last year after six seasons and it went out with fireworks, setting the record for the most Emmys won by a comedy series in a single season. One went to O'Hara, almost 40 years after she won her first, for her writing on SCTV, in which she starred alongside John Candy, Harold Ramis and, most importantly, her Schitt's Creek co-star Eugene Levy. Continue reading... |
| ‘This fever will break’: Republican Jeff Flake on the slow fade of Trumpism Posted: 08 Feb 2021 01:30 AM PST Anti-Trumpists are growing but very slowly – convicting Trump in his impeachment trial would help speed things along, says Flake By now, Jeff Flake thought this would all be over. Flake, the former Arizona Republican senator and outspoken critic of Donald Trump, concedes that he expected the ripple effects in the Republican party Trump's loss of the White House to have been bigger by now. Continue reading... |
| Three-finger salute: Hunger Games symbol adopted by Myanmar protesters Posted: 07 Feb 2021 09:49 PM PST The gesture was first used after a coup in Thailand in 2014 and has since come to stand for solidarity and resistance across the region From Thailand to Myanmar, pro-democracy protesters are raising the three finger salute in opposition to military dictatorships. Adopted from the Hunger Games films, the gesture has become a symbol of resistance and solidarity for democracy movements in south-east Asia. On 1 February Myanmar's army took power in a coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. She and other senior party figures were detained in a morning raid. In response, tens of thousands have protested in the streets of Yangon and other cities as part of a growing campaign of civil disobedience. The military have blocked social media platforms in an attempt to stamp out dissent. The United Nations Security Council has called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other ministers detained. |
| What do Joe Biden's executive orders do? Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST The president has signed a number of executive orders during his first weeks in office, ranging from the pandemic to immigration – here's what they are Continue reading... |
| Covering the Russia protest: 'Police usually let western reporters go' Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST Our Moscow correspondent reflects on a new wave of anger against Putin over the treament of dissident Alexei Navalny Over the last decade, I've covered so many protests against Vladimir Putin in Russia that they all start to blur together. But the past month's demonstrations against the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have seemed to me darker and more serious than ever. There are few fun signs and little chanting; the mood is joyless but determined. I've never seen the streets of Moscow locked down like they have been in 2021, patrolled by riot police called "cosmonauts" for their space-like helmets. Continue reading... |
| Jackie Kay on Bessie Smith: 'My libidinous, raunchy, fearless blueswoman' Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:00 PM PST As a black girl growing up in 1970s Glasgow, poet Jackie Kay developed a passion for Bessie Smith. In this extract from her new book, she remembers the wild spirit who helped her find her true self I was adopted in 1961 and brought up in a suburban house in a suburban street in the north of Glasgow. A small, semi-detached Wimpey house. Outside our house is a cherry-blossom tree that is as old as me. It doesn't seem the most likely place to be introduced to the blues, but then blues travel to wherever the blues lovers go. In my street and in the neighbouring streets to Brackenbrae Avenue, I never saw another black person. There was my brother and me. That was it. The butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker were all white. (Although I never actually met a candlestick-maker – has anyone?) So the first time I saw Bessie Smith, it really was like finding a friend. I saw her before I heard her. My father – a Scottish communist who loved the blues – bought me my first double album. I was 12. The album was called Bessie Smith: Any Woman's Blues and produced by CBS Records ( John Hammond and Chris Albertson; Albertson went on to write her biography). I remember taking the album off him and poring over it, examining it for every detail. Her image on the cover captivated me. She looked so familiar. She looked like somebody I already knew in my heart of hearts. I stared at the image of her, trying to recall who it was she reminded me of. Continue reading... |
| UK weather: Storm Darcy to bring more snowfall and gale-force winds on Monday Posted: 08 Feb 2021 02:32 AM PST Met Office warnings suggest there could be widespread disruption and power cuts in south-east England Heavy snow and gale-force winds that hit south-east England and East Anglia on Sunday are forecast to continue into Monday as Storm Darcy brings icy conditions to much of the nation. Amber and yellow weather warnings for snow issued by the Met Office were expected to cause widespread travel problems and possible power cuts to parts of London, the east and south-east of England. Continue reading... |
| Netanyahu's corruption trial resumes weeks before Israeli election Posted: 08 Feb 2021 12:25 AM PST PM alleged to have accepted gifts from billionaires and traded favours with media and telecoms moguls Benjamin Netanyahu has told judges he is innocent of corruption charges, as a high-profile trial against the Israeli prime minister resumed weeks before a national election. Following a nearly-half-year hiatus and repeated delays due to the pandemic, hearings restarted on Monday. The court expected to announce a schedule for the potentially explosive witness testimony and evidence stage of the trial. Continue reading... |
| It's time for Africa to rein in Tanzania's anti-vaccine president | Vava Tampa Posted: 08 Feb 2021 12:30 AM PST John Magufuli's cavalier disregard of Covid's impact in the great lakes region is fuelling conspiracies and endangering lives What is wrong with President John Magufuli? Many people in and outside Tanzania are asking this question. Magufuli claimed last year that God had eliminated Covid in the east African country of 60 million people, and has since made dismissing Covid vaccines his central priority – leaving many people asking: why? Continue reading... |
| Pork barrelling is 'what elections are for': John Barilaro defends bushfire grants Posted: 07 Feb 2021 11:54 PM PST Blue Mountains mayor refutes NSW deputy premier's assertion that councils in non-Coalition seats were not eligible The mayor of Blue Mountains council has contradicted the New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro's claim that it did not receive money from a $177m bushfire recovery fund because its application did not meet the grant's conditions, saying the projects were "shovel ready". Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry into the state government's alleged pork barrelling of council grants in NSW on Monday, Barilaro defended the government's allocation of bushfire relief funding to Coalition-held seats, saying councils in Labor-held seats including the Blue Mountains had not been eligible because they were not of sufficient size or readiness. Continue reading... |
| 'Fighting for life': Bangladesh shrimp farmers destitute in wake of cyclone Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:45 PM PST Natural disaster compounded by the collapse of a lucrative export during the pandemic has thrust people into poverty This time last year the west coast of Bangladesh was a thriving place for shrimp farmers. It was a decent enough living and there was a healthy export market. Majnu Sardar, who lives in Koyra upazila (administrative region) in Khulna district, used to earn enough to feed, clothe and educate his family of six. Now they are living in a small mud hut, with a canopy of leaves as a roof, on the banks of the Kapotaksha River after Cyclone Amphan buried his house and land in May. Continue reading... |
| ‘It feels like a placebo’: Mexico’s vaccine program sees disastrous launch Posted: 07 Feb 2021 04:00 AM PST Pace for vaccinations has slowed as government website to register crashes repeatedly and Covid death toll is third highest Rodolfo spent hour after aggravating hour trying to register his elderly mother for a Covid-19 vaccination through a Mexican government website, only for the system to crash repeatedly. "I spent three days fighting with the website," he said. "My mom would have been unable to do it without me." Continue reading... |
| Migrants speak of 'inhumane' conditions at Ice detention centers during Covid – video Posted: 08 Feb 2021 01:24 AM PST Migrants have shared their experiences at privately-run US Immigation and Customs Enforcement (Ice) detention centers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Alonzo and Javier were held at La Palma Correctional Center; they alleged the treatment many received was 'inhumane'. At Eloy Detention Center, Carmen claimed medical staff would only tell them to 'drink water' regardless of symptoms. José, who was held at Central Arizona Florence Correctional Complex and La Palma, said for months he was barely able to go outside. Alejandro, who was also held at Central Arizona Florence, said at times there were up to 64 people living in his tank. These audio recordings were captured as part of a project covering the world's largest for-profit immigration detention system. 'We've commodified human displacement,' said artist David Taylor, who in recent months used drones to take aerial photography and video of centers near the US southern border, in California, Arizona and Texas. |
| New Orleans houses become Mardi Gras floats in Covid era – in pictures Posted: 07 Feb 2021 11:00 PM PST Houses are being decorated as floats because the pandemic has resulted in the cancellation of the customary parades during the carnival season Continue reading... |
| Couple reunite in Bolton care home after one year apart due to Covid lockdown – video Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:46 AM PST Stanley Harbour, 83, and his wife, 81-year-old Mavis, embraced at Lever Edge care home in Great Lever, Bolton, in a moment captured on film by care workers. Stanley, who lives with dementia, has been confined to the home since his wife last visited him in February 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic triggered care home lockdowns. They had been 'lost without each other', according to the Manchester Evening News |
| Myanmar: tens of thousands protest for second day despite internet blackout – video Posted: 07 Feb 2021 10:07 AM PST Tens of thousands of people have poured on to the streets across Myanmar for a second day of demonstrations against the military coup, demanding the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the return of democracy. Continue reading... |
| Scores feared dead after glacier causes dam burst in India – video Posted: 07 Feb 2021 06:15 AM PST As many as 150 people are feared dead in northern India after a Himalayan glacier broke and crashed into a dam, with floods forcing the evacuation of villages downstream. Videos from the scene show water surging through the dam site, washing away equipment Continue reading... |
| Nadhim Zahawi: UK has no plans to introduce Covid vaccine passports – video Posted: 07 Feb 2021 03:39 AM PST The vaccines minister insisted the government was not considering vaccine passports to allow those who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to travel internationally. 'Vaccines are not mandated in the UK ... and it would be discriminatory,' Zahawi told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show. 'We have no plans of introducing a vaccine passport' Continue reading... |
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