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- Israel election: early results suggest extended deadlock
- Suez Canal blocked by huge container ship
- Coronavirus live news: Ukraine suffers record daily deaths; Hong Kong suspends Pfizer vaccines
- Myanmar military releases 600 coup protesters as 'silence strike' begins
- 'Festival of Brexit': 10 teams announced as part of divisive £120m project
- Zuckerberg faces Capitol attack grilling as Biden signals tougher line on big tech
- Big banks’ trillion-dollar finance for fossil fuels ‘shocking’, says report
- Over 30 million people 'one step away from starvation', UN warns
- Goldman Sachs' junior bankers rebel over '18-hour shifts and low pay'
- 'A scandalous swamp': how the Australian parliament's toxic male culture hit global headlines
- British artist sells world's largest painting The Journey of Humanity for $62m
- How Taiwan triumphed over Covid as UK faltered
- Covid ‘vaccine hesitancy’ in England and Wales is being overcome, study finds
- Joe Biden touts $1.9tn Covid rescue package on anniversary of Affordable Care Act
- The social biome: how to build nourishing friendships – and banish loneliness
- China's rural revolution: the architects rescuing its villages from oblivion
- 'I've lost everything once again': Rohingya recount horror of Cox's Bazar blaze
- Abandoned: gangs in Guatemala replace families – photo essay
- Philip Roth by Blake Bailey review – how a literary giant treated women
- 'I have to keep smiling': how the female pop star documentary got real
- OnePlus 9 Pro review: super slick, rapid charging Android phone
- Priti Patel defends 'inhumane' overhaul of UK asylum system
- Why is no one in Europe talking about dangers of rising inflation?
- The world has a vested interest in Somalia. Will it act to stop its collapse? | Vava Tampa
- Michigan Covid surge raises fears it’s an early sign of things to come across US
- Australia live news: man killed in car in Queensland floods after NSW death; Tasmanian MP stands by statement on Abetz
- Hundreds of people missing after Rohingya refugee camp fire
- UK braced for Chinese retaliation over Uighur abuse sanctions
- Container ship runs aground in Suez Canal causing traffic jam – video
- Boris Johnson says UK will be dealing with the fallout of the pandemic for decades – video
- Hundreds of people missing after fire in Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh – video
- Reflecting on a year since the UK's first lockdown - in pictures
- Police crack down on Miami partygoers defying spring-break Covid curfew – video
- 'I couldn't help anybody': customer describes escape from Colorado shooting – video
| Israel election: early results suggest extended deadlock Posted: 24 Mar 2021 02:53 AM PDT Benjamin Netanyahu may need to build alliance yoking together far right and Islamists Early results from Israel's fourth snap election suggested yet another stalemate, with Benjamin Netanyahu looking to cobble together a coalition by partnering with extreme nationalist, hardline religious and far-right parties. With close to 90% of votes counted on Wednesday, the prime minister's Likud party was clearly leading with about 30 seats. The opposition head, Yair Lapid, had roughly 17. Continue reading... |
| Suez Canal blocked by huge container ship Posted: 23 Mar 2021 10:32 PM PDT 'Suspected gust of wind' sends 400m-long vessel into bank, sparking several failed attempts to refloat it A vast container ship has run aground in the Suez canal after being blown off course by a "gust of wind", causing a huge traffic jam of vessels at either end of the vital international trade artery. The 220,000-tonne, 400 metre-long Ever Given – a so-called "mega ship" – became stuck near the southern end of the canal on Tuesday. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus live news: Ukraine suffers record daily deaths; Hong Kong suspends Pfizer vaccines Posted: 24 Mar 2021 02:37 AM PDT Ukraine suffers record daily deaths for second consecutive day; Brazil Covid deaths pass 3,000 for first time; Hong Kong suspends Pfizer vaccinations over defective packaging
Poland has reported 29,978 new daily coronavirus cases, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. The country also recorded 575 coronavirus related deaths, the highest number in 2021. This brings the total death toll to over 50,000.
A Hong Kong clinic has been punished for recommending a foreign vaccine over a Chinese vaccination, AFP reports: Hong Kong health authorities have ejected a private clinic from the city's coronavirus vaccination programme after it reportedly recommended the German-made Pfizer/BioNTech shot to patients over the one from China's Sinovac. The move illustrates the Hong Kong government's sensitivity to any criticism of the Sinovac vaccine, which has a comparatively lower efficacy rate and was fast-tracked by regulators despite a lack of published data. Continue reading... |
| Myanmar military releases 600 coup protesters as 'silence strike' begins Posted: 24 Mar 2021 12:07 AM PDT Busloads of mostly young people seen leaving Insein Prison in Yangon, some making three-finger salutes Hundreds of people imprisoned for protesting last month's coup have been released in the first apparent gesture by the military to try to placate the protest movement. Witnesses outside Insein Prison in Yangon saw busloads of mostly young people, looking happy with some flashing the three-finger gesture of defiance adopted by the protest movement. State-run TV said a total of 628 were freed. Continue reading... |
| 'Festival of Brexit': 10 teams announced as part of divisive £120m project Posted: 23 Mar 2021 11:00 PM PDT A celebration of British weather and a grow-your-own food initiative will be among the festivities A celebration of the British weather and the largest grow-your-own food project of modern times will be among the events being staged for a nationwide festival of creativity aimed at bringing the UK together in 2022. Organisers of the £120m festival, commissioned by Theresa May's government and supported by Boris Johnson, announced 10 teams who had successfully pitched ideas. Continue reading... |
| Zuckerberg faces Capitol attack grilling as Biden signals tougher line on big tech Posted: 24 Mar 2021 12:00 AM PDT The head of Facebook, and his Google and Twitter counterparts, could face a rough ride at the scene of the insurrectionists' crime Mark Zuckerberg, the head of Facebook, could be in for a rough ride on Thursday when he testifies to Congress for the first time about the 6 January insurrection at the Capitol in Washington DC and amid growing questions over his platform's role in fuelling the violence. The testimony will come after signs that the new administration of Joe Biden is preparing to take a tougher line on the tech industry's power, especially when it comes to the social media platforms and their role in spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories. Continue reading... |
| Big banks’ trillion-dollar finance for fossil fuels ‘shocking’, says report Posted: 23 Mar 2021 10:00 PM PDT Coal, oil and gas firms have received $3.8tn in finance since the Paris climate deal in 2015 The world's biggest 60 banks have provided $3.8tn of financing for fossil fuel companies since the Paris climate deal in 2015, according to a report by a coalition of NGOs. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic cutting energy use, overall funding remains on an upward trend and the finance provided in 2020 was higher than in 2016 or 2017, a fact the report's authors and others described as "shocking". Continue reading... |
| Over 30 million people 'one step away from starvation', UN warns Posted: 23 Mar 2021 11:30 PM PDT The pandemic, climate crisis and conflict combining to drive 'alarming' levels of global hunger, says report Acute hunger is likely to soar in more than 20 countries in the next few months, the UN has warned. Families in pockets of Yemen and South Sudan are already in the grip of starvation, according to a report on hunger hotspots published by the agency's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Programme (WFP). Continue reading... |
| Goldman Sachs' junior bankers rebel over '18-hour shifts and low pay' Posted: 23 Mar 2021 11:00 PM PDT Younger staff in London follow revolt in US offices over remote-working conditions The reputation of Goldman Sachs as the most desirable employer for aspiring investment bankers is at stake. Legendary for its pulling power with the best graduates, the bank is now facing a rebellion in its lower ranks. Junior staff who used to tolerate long working hours thanks to office camaraderie have been forced to manage burnout at home, alone, throughout the pandemic. Some have started demanding change, while others are plotting their exit. What began as a little local trouble at a US office in February has now spread to the UK. Continue reading... |
| 'A scandalous swamp': how the Australian parliament's toxic male culture hit global headlines Posted: 23 Mar 2021 08:09 PM PDT Papers in Europe and the US report on 'sexism in politics' and how Scott Morrison has been 'dealing awkwardly' with the problem As the Australian government responds to yet more revelations about toxic male culture inside parliament, newspapers worldwide have reacted in horror, with Germany's Der Spiegel warning that the news has put the prime minister, Scott Morrison, in "dire straits", in a story headlined "Australia's government is sinking into a scandalous swamp". This week a whistleblower alleged that Coalition staffers were swapping videos of themselves engaging in sex acts in Parliament House, including on the desk of a female Coalition MP. The whistleblower claimed that the building's prayer room was often used for sex and sex workers had been invited into Parliament House by a former minister. Continue reading... |
| British artist sells world's largest painting The Journey of Humanity for $62m Posted: 23 Mar 2021 06:15 PM PDT Sacha Jafri's artwork is split into 70 framed sections equivalent to nearly four basketball courts Work by British artist Sacha Jafri consisting of the world's largest painting on canvas has been sold for $62m (£45m) at an auction in Dubai, organisers said on Tuesday. The Journey of Humanity is split into 70 framed sections spanning 1,595.76 sq metres (17,176 sq feet) – equivalent to nearly four basketball courts. Continue reading... |
| How Taiwan triumphed over Covid as UK faltered Posted: 23 Mar 2021 10:00 PM PDT Taipei's success shows lives may have been saved had the UK government acted differently Along central Taipei's busy Yongkang Street crowds spill out of restaurants and bars every evening, mingling with people queueing outside popular eateries for a tiny table to cram around with groups of friends. Children out way past their bedtime run amok over the play equipment in a nearby park, shrieking and laughing as their parents chat nearby. In London, it would be unthinkable. In the Taiwanese capital, it is just another spring evening. Continue reading... |
| Covid ‘vaccine hesitancy’ in England and Wales is being overcome, study finds Posted: 23 Mar 2021 05:01 PM PDT More than 80% of people who were reluctant to accept a jab in December have changed their mind More than four in five people who said last December they were either uncertain about or intended to refuse a Covid-19 vaccine had changed their mind by February and had accepted a jab or planned to, an analysis has found. Researchers tracked responses of 14,713 adults in England and Wales over the two months, finding that the change was consistent across all ethnic groups and all levels of social deprivation. The results are encouraging given minority ethnic people have been hit hardest by Covid but are among the least likely to take up the vaccine. Continue reading... |
| Joe Biden touts $1.9tn Covid rescue package on anniversary of Affordable Care Act Posted: 23 Mar 2021 06:44 PM PDT Administration also extended the enrollment period for registering for subsidized health insurance coverage until 15 August Joe Biden marked the 11th anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act with a trip to Ohio on Tuesday, touting his efforts to reverse many Trump-era measures aimed at weakening the landmark health reform law, and pledging that his $1.9tn Covid rescue package would build on the ACA's promise. Continue reading... |
| The social biome: how to build nourishing friendships – and banish loneliness Posted: 23 Mar 2021 11:00 PM PDT All your daily interactions with others, big and small, make up your social biome, and the pandemic has severely damaged most of ours. Here's how to reinvigorate it You probably don't know you have a social biome – but according to Jeffrey Hall, professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, you do. Perhaps you've heard of the gut microbiome – the unique, diverse ecosystem of bacteria and other microbes that inhabit our gastrointestinal system and which, when balanced, keep us in good digestive health. Well, the social biome, says Hall, is the individual ecosystem of relationships and interactions that shapes our emotional, psychological and physical health. And – thanks to lockdown – it is unlikely to be in good shape. Hall's term encompasses the "pattern of your social interactions throughout your days; the who, the what you talk about, and the modalities you use to communicate, from face to face to other means". The concept has roots, he says, in the idea that social interactions, like food, have "calories" that can make you feel socially nourished. And just as with what you eat, it is not just quantity that matters to health, but variety. Just as you need a mix of food groups on your plate, so you need a mix of modes of communication and types of relationship in your social diet. Continue reading... |
| China's rural revolution: the architects rescuing its villages from oblivion Posted: 23 Mar 2021 11:00 PM PDT After 20 years of frantic city-building, rustic China is in a death spiral. Now architects are helping to reverse the exodus – with inspirational tofu factories, rice wine distilleries and lotus tea plants In the remote Chinese village of Caizhai, a series of wooden pavilions step down a slope next to a babbling brook, their pitched tiled roofs echoing the rocky peaks of the mountains behind. Through big picture windows, day-trippers look inside, watching big barrels of soya make the journey from bean to tofu, passing through different rooms for soaking, grinding, pressing and frying, in a mesmerising parade of beancurd production. |
| 'I've lost everything once again': Rohingya recount horror of Cox's Bazar blaze Posted: 23 Mar 2021 10:51 PM PDT Refugees caught up in the deadly blaze describe panic and despair after fire tore through the Balukhali area on Monday Marium Khatun, 40, was feeding her 10-month-old son at home when she first saw the fire and smoke nearby. Realising a huge blaze was ripping through the Cox's Bazar refugee camp just metres from her two-room shack, she panicked. "I suddenly noticed people were running, scattered on the road in front of my house. I came to the door and saw this huge fire around 30 metres (100ft) away from my house. I couldn't think straight. Continue reading... |
| Abandoned: gangs in Guatemala replace families – photo essay Posted: 24 Mar 2021 02:30 AM PDT Decades of migration to the US left generations of children behind for whom gangs are substitute families Photographs and text by Ignacio Marin Since she arrived in Guatemala City a few decades ago, she has lived in the same humble home. Between bare concrete walls and under a tin roof, she raised three children. Now Berenice is raising her 15-year-old grandson since his mother left for the US and his father was murdered. Continue reading... |
| Philip Roth by Blake Bailey review – how a literary giant treated women Posted: 24 Mar 2021 12:30 AM PDT An impressive, complex biography of the celebrated American writer, packed with anecdotes and jokes, inevitably details his shocking attitude towards women "I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth instructed Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." The headline story can't fail to be interesting: lower-middle-class grandson of immigrants writes scandalous bestseller about masturbation, is vilified as a self-hating Jew, has two disastrous marriages and many lovers, accumulates a stupendously diverse body of work (comic, surreal, metafictional, naturalistic), comes to be seen as the greatest English-language novelist of his day yet never, to his chagrin, wins the Nobel. But Roth wanted nuances not headlines, suggesting that Bailey call his biography "The Terrible Ambiguity of the 'I'". Luckily, that isn't the title. But ambiguity is central to the story, particularly in relation to Roth's treatment of women, in life and in fiction, which is where the issue of rehabilitation arises and, as with his peers (Saul Bellow, John Updike and Norman Mailer), can't really be avoided, least of all now. "Always it came back to the women," Bailey writes, the first of them Roth's mother Bess, who, if not as suffocating as Alex Portnoy's mother, was so adoring that no subsequent woman in his life could match up. While sharing Bess's devotion to Philip and his brother Sandy, her husband Herman left a mark in other ways, not least through his work ethic (12-hour days, six days a week). "He who is loved by his parents is a conquistador," Roth liked to say. Despite the antisemitism of the period, he remembered his childhood as a haven. Newark to him was like Dublin to Joyce: a place he escaped but never left. Continue reading... |
| 'I have to keep smiling': how the female pop star documentary got real Posted: 23 Mar 2021 11:24 PM PDT New docs about Demi Lovato and Billie Eilish reveal that while candor around mental health and body scrutiny has changed, the toxic pressures of fame have not The YouTube docuseries Demi Lovato: Dancing with the Devil, which premiered at SXSW last week and is being released online over the coming month, is a four-episode punch of honesty, brutal both for the viewer and, seemingly, for Demi Lovato. While ostensibly a vehicle to address the headline-generating drug overdose that nearly killed her in 2018 on her terms (and promote her upcoming album), the former Disney star turned pop singer, 28, fluidly addresses a constellation of past traumas, from drug addiction to bulimia to sexual assault. Related: The betrayal of Britney Spears: how pop culture failed a superstar Continue reading... |
| OnePlus 9 Pro review: super slick, rapid charging Android phone Posted: 24 Mar 2021 12:00 AM PDT Latest top-spec handset has Hasselblad-branded camera, great screen and long battery life OnePlus's latest 9 Pro Android phone takes the firm's winning formula of slick speed and adds knowhow from the Swedish renowned camera manufacturer Hasselblad to try to improve things in the photography department. The £829 phone tops the Chinese brand's line for 2021 and joins its stablemate Oppo in its pursuit of top dog Samsung. Continue reading... |
| Priti Patel defends 'inhumane' overhaul of UK asylum system Posted: 24 Mar 2021 02:37 AM PDT Migrants who arrive in UK by illegal routes will be indefinitely liable for removal even if granted asylum The home secretary, Priti Patel, has defended her immigration plans that mean migrants who arrive in the UK by illegal routes will be indefinitely liable for removal even if they are granted asylum. The proposals have been billed as the "biggest overhaul of the UK's asylum system in decades" but were described as "inhumane" by the British Red Cross. Patel plans to make every effort to remove those who enter the UK via routes deemed illegal, having travelled through a safe country in which they could have claimed asylum. Continue reading... |
| Why is no one in Europe talking about dangers of rising inflation? Posted: 23 Mar 2021 11:00 PM PDT If economies recover and stimulus turbocharges pent-up demand, a lot of bank credit could result from central bank money The increasing risk of a return of inflation in the US and Europe is beginning to galvanise debates among economists. One key source of inflation fears is the expectation that, once the Covid-19 pandemic has been overcome by vaccines, pent-up demand will explode in an orgy of consumption. Moreover, today's unprecedentedly large government bailout programmes will have powerful inflationary multiplier effects. Continue reading... |
| The world has a vested interest in Somalia. Will it act to stop its collapse? | Vava Tampa Posted: 24 Mar 2021 01:30 AM PDT Starvation, al-Shabaab and postponed elections have made the country a ready gun. If the trigger is pulled, global trade is at risk Frantz Fanon once quipped: "Africa is shaped like a revolver, and Congo is the trigger." More than 60 years later, I think the French philosopher's assessment is only half true. It leaves out Somalia – which once held the crown as the "Switzerland of Africa", but is now again on the verge of political disintegration. Continue reading... |
| Michigan Covid surge raises fears it’s an early sign of things to come across US Posted: 24 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PDT State recorded nearly 17,000 new cases last week as numbers underscore the need for a speedier vaccine rollout, experts say A recent jump in Michigan Covid cases and hospitalizations is alarming public health officials and raising fear that it could be an early sign of things to come across the rest of the country. Michigan recorded nearly 17,000 new cases last week, which represents a more than 300% increase from the same week last month. Its per-capita rate over the last week is the nation's fourth highest, while its positivity rate recently hit 9% – the highest mark since mid-January. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 24 Mar 2021 02:44 AM PDT Victim found in submerged car in Gold Coast hinterland; man killed in car at Glenorie was on first day of new job; PM defends Eric Abetz after senator denies making offensive comments about Brittany Higgins. Follow the latest
That's where we will wrap up the blog for today. Here is what happened today:
Trish Doyle, the Labor MP for the Blue Mountains, made the statement to parliament on Wednesday. Doyle said she had been contacted 18 months ago by a sex worker who said she "had recently been assaulted in my electorate". She tells me she made herself clear that she was not willing to have penetrative sex with him, however towards the end the man moved around behind her and assaulted her in a way she had not consented to. They met at a secluded lookout ... in the Blue Mountains. In her emails to me she said that once the assault began she just wanted it to finish. But on that she was emphatic. It was an assault, and it was against her explicit instructions. She did not consent. It was rape. Related: NSW Labor MP tells state parliament government MP allegedly raped a sex worker Continue reading... |
| Hundreds of people missing after Rohingya refugee camp fire Posted: 23 Mar 2021 11:17 AM PDT At least 15 people killed as blaze spread across Bangladesh camp of about 124,000 refugees from Myanmar Hundreds of people are missing with at least 15 confirmed dead, including three children, after a fire tore through a camp for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The toll was exacerbated by barbed wire fencing that caged refuges into areas of the sprawling Balukhali camp that were going up in flames, aid workers said. Continue reading... |
| UK braced for Chinese retaliation over Uighur abuse sanctions Posted: 23 Mar 2021 08:48 AM PDT Analysis: British government will hope a deterioration in relations can be avoided The UK government is bracing itself for retaliatory action by China over its decision to impose sanctions on four Chinese officials in response to human rights abuses of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province. The British ambassador to China, Caroline Wilson, was summoned by the Chinese foreign ministry to hear "solemn representations" about the UK sanctions imposed for the mass detention of Muslim minorities. Continue reading... |
| Container ship runs aground in Suez Canal causing traffic jam – video Posted: 23 Mar 2021 10:36 PM PDT A container ship heading to Rotterdam has run aground in the Suez canal, blocking other vessels from transiting one of the world's most important waterways. Video posted to social media showed a traffic jam of ships waiting to pass through. The 200,000-tonne ship, the Ever Given, is 400 metres long (1,312ft) and 59 metres wide (193ft). Continue reading... |
| Boris Johnson says UK will be dealing with the fallout of the pandemic for decades – video Posted: 23 Mar 2021 01:24 PM PDT Prime minister Boris Johnson said the coronavirus pandemic 'is something that we will all remember and be dealing with in different ways – certainly in my case – for as long as I live', adding that 'the single biggest false assumption' made early on was misunderstanding the risk of asymptomatic transmission. Speaking during the same briefing, the chief scientific officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, said it was unlikely that Covid-19 would ever be completely eradicated
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| Hundreds of people missing after fire in Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh – video Posted: 23 Mar 2021 10:40 AM PDT At least 15 people have been killed and another 400 are missing after a fire tore through Balukhali camp near Cox's Bazar late on Monday. More than 17,000 shelters were destroyed, leaving 45,000 people displaced. Emergency services, volunteers and Red Cross staff worked for several hours to control the blaze. The camp houses about 124,000 people, although the surrounding area shelters approximately 1 million Rohingya refugees Continue reading... |
| Reflecting on a year since the UK's first lockdown - in pictures Posted: 23 Mar 2021 08:33 AM PDT A day of reflection to mark the anniversary of Britain's first coronavirus lockdown with ceremonies planned around the UK to mark the occasion and a minute's silence at midday to commemorate the 126,000 people who have died Continue reading... |
| Police crack down on Miami partygoers defying spring-break Covid curfew – video Posted: 23 Mar 2021 06:50 AM PDT Miami Beach officials have extended a curfew and state of emergency into April, in response to large spring-break crowds of partygoers defying coronavirus restrictions. Police used pellets and teargas to disperse the revellers Continue reading... |
| 'I couldn't help anybody': customer describes escape from Colorado shooting – video Posted: 23 Mar 2021 04:14 AM PDT A shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado, has left 10 people dead, including one police officer. One witness, Sarah Moonshadow, said she and her son were at the checkout when she heard multiple gunshots. The two ducked for cover and then started running to leave the store. The shaken customer said she took shelter behind a building, but her dog was still at the grocery store
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