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- Biden hails 'giant step' as Senate passes $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill
- Pope Francis visits churches destroyed by Isis in northern Iraq
- Afghans dread the ‘danger hours’ as fragile gains of 20 years slip away
- Harry and Meghan stir public debate ahead of Oprah interview
- Food scarcity fears prompt plan to ease post-Brexit checks on EU imports
- Myanmar: Tens of thousands turn out for Sunday protests despite overnight raids
- Irish dissident republican urges armed groups to forgo violence
- Most Scots would back remaining in UK, new poll suggests
- US students accused of killing Italian policeman should be 'sentenced to life'
- Sir Alex Ferguson: 'I feared I would never speak again'
- How early humans' quest for food stoked the flames of evolution
- Coronavirus live news: Auckland finishes week of lockdown, England prepares to reopen schools
- Covid data show sewage monitoring could be vital in infection control
- 'Here fire, you hungry?' Idaho Covid protesters burn masks in front of capitol
- 'A lot of uncertainty': imams fighting Covid misinformation in Australia's Muslim community
- The lockdown generation: 16 young people on spending a year at home
- What do near-death experiences mean, and why do they fascinate us?
- How Marco Pierre White’s White Heat launched a culinary revolution
- 'Magic happens, often': Christine and the Queens, Haim, Nile Rodgers and more on the joy of live music
- David Miliband: 'Global Britain? That phrase rings hollow'
- My partner wants her ex to stay over, and it makes me worry | Dear Mariella
- Ikea to Lulu via John Lewis: The short shelf life of interior design at No 10
- Bloom time: my day picking daffodils against the clock
- Leak reveals UK Foreign Office discussing aid cuts of more than 50%
- Top House Democrat Jim Clyburn: 'No way we'd let filibuster deny voting rights'
- Mexico's president defends decision to barricade palace ahead of women's march
- Women more likely to lose jobs and do more unpaid work during Covid recession, report finds
- Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2021 – in pictures
- Pope Francis gives speech on first papal visit to Iraq – video
| Biden hails 'giant step' as Senate passes $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill Posted: 06 Mar 2021 01:32 PM PST
Joe Biden hailed "one more giant step forward on delivering on that promise that help is on the way", after Democrats took a critical step towards a first major legislative victory since assuming control of Congress and the White House, with a party-line vote in the Senate to approve a $1.9tn coronavirus relief bill. Related: Biden urged to 'go big' on New Deal-like economic plan – but can he bridge left-right gap? Continue reading... |
| Pope Francis visits churches destroyed by Isis in northern Iraq Posted: 07 Mar 2021 12:46 AM PST Pontiff travels to northern city of Mosul to pray for war victims on last day of historic visit Pope Francis arrived in northern Iraq on Sunday, to pray in the ruins of churches damaged or destroyed by Islamic State extremists and celebrate an open-air mass on the last day of the first-ever papal visit to the country. The Vatican hopes that the landmark visit will rally the country's Christian communities and encourage them to stay despite decades of war and instability. Francis has also delivered a message of tolerance and fraternity between religions to Muslim leaders, including in a historic meeting Saturday with Iraq's top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. Continue reading... |
| Afghans dread the ‘danger hours’ as fragile gains of 20 years slip away Posted: 07 Mar 2021 01:30 AM PST As the deadline for US withdrawal looms, the Taliban are seizing their chance and the death toll rises daily Ghazaal Habibyar's trembling hand hovered over her mobile phone, unable to type the numbers. "I was afraid to hear bad news," she recalls of that morning in Kabul when she heard there'd been an explosion close to her young son's school. "Why should we have to choose between educating or protecting our children?" asks the 38-year-old mother of two – a former Afghan deputy minister of mines and petroleum. That day, her six-year-old son was sitting safely in class. Continue reading... |
| Harry and Meghan stir public debate ahead of Oprah interview Posted: 06 Mar 2021 12:38 PM PST Vehement reactions to upcoming TV exclusive suggest royals still have power to inflame opinion The anger of public responses in the buildup to Oprah Winfrey's interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is a sign of the growing chasm between the generations, say expert royal watchers and social analysts. Rarely have divisions inside the royal family engaged such a cross-section of society, or range of ages, inflaming opinion among those who normally pay little heed to dramas played out at Buckingham Palace. Continue reading... |
| Food scarcity fears prompt plan to ease post-Brexit checks on EU imports Posted: 06 Mar 2021 06:41 PM PST Ministers considering 'lighter touch' regime to avoid disruption to supplies from bloc Ministers are preparing to relax post-Brexit plans for border checks on food and other imports from the European Union because of fears that they will further damage trade and could lead to severe shortages in UK supermarkets. The Observer has been told by multiple industry sources that Boris Johnson's new Brexit minister, Lord Frost, is considering allowing "lighter touch" controls on imports from 1 April than are currently planned, and scaling back plans for full customs checks, including physical inspections, which are due to begin on 1 July. Continue reading... |
| Myanmar: Tens of thousands turn out for Sunday protests despite overnight raids Posted: 06 Mar 2021 10:01 PM PST Demonstrations held in more than half a dozen cities after soldiers and police moved in on several districts in Yangon Tens of thousands of people came out in Myanmar on Sunday in one of the biggest days of protest against the coup, despite overnight raids by security forces in the main city, Yangon, on campaign leaders and opposition activists. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades in Lashio town in the country's northern Shan region, according to live video posted on Facebook. A witness said police opened fire to break up a protest in the historic temple town of Bagan, but it was not clear if they were using rubber bullets or live ammunition. Continue reading... |
| Irish dissident republican urges armed groups to forgo violence Posted: 06 Mar 2021 10:15 PM PST Killings turn people away from cause, says former hardline leader Des Dalton A leading political voice in Irish dissident republicanism has urged all the armed paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland to call ceasefires and end their violence. Des Dalton, the former president of the ideologically hardline Republican Sinn Féin, has become the first figure to emerge from dissident republican groups to advise those like him opposed to the Good Friday agreement that "armed struggle" should be suspended. His call for a dissident republican ceasefire comes at a time of increasing tension within Northern Ireland, particularly inside Ulster loyalist paramilitary factions. Continue reading... |
| Most Scots would back remaining in UK, new poll suggests Posted: 06 Mar 2021 04:18 PM PST Respondents say their trust in both Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond dented by Holyrood inquiry Most Scots would vote to remain in the UK if an independence referendum were held tomorrow, a new poll has found. The survey of 1,015 Scots suggests that 46% would vote against Scottish independence, compared with 43% in favour. Continue reading... |
| US students accused of killing Italian policeman should be 'sentenced to life' Posted: 06 Mar 2021 08:44 AM PST Prosecutor says Finnegan Lee Elder and Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth should also be put in solitary confinement A Rome prosecutor has called for two American students accused of murdering an Italian police officer to be sentenced to life in prison. In her indictment, prosecutor Maria Sabina Calabretta told a court on Saturday that the pair, Finnegan Lee Elder, 21, and Gabriel Christian Natale-Hjorth, 19, should also be put in solitary confinement during the day. Continue reading... |
| Sir Alex Ferguson: 'I feared I would never speak again' Posted: 06 Mar 2021 11:30 AM PST Former Manchester United manager tells of brain surgery worries ahead of documentary about his life Sir Alex Ferguson has said he feared he would never be able to speak again after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2018. The former Manchester United manager told a Q&A at Glasgow film festival he was worried that he could lose his voice and memory after undergoing emergency surgery. A new documentary about the two-time Champions League-winning manager premiered at the the film festival on Saturday. Continue reading... |
| How early humans' quest for food stoked the flames of evolution Posted: 06 Mar 2021 10:16 PM PST A love of complex smells and flavours gave our ancestors an edge and stopped hangovers Human evolution and exploration of the world were shaped by a hunger for tasty food – "a quest for deliciousness" – according to two leading academics. Ancient humans who had the ability to smell and desire more complex aromas, and enjoy food and drink with a sour taste, gained evolutionary advantages over their less-discerning rivals, argue the authors of a new book about the part played by flavour in our development. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus live news: Auckland finishes week of lockdown, England prepares to reopen schools Posted: 07 Mar 2021 02:13 AM PST France reports 23,306 new cases as Pas-de-Calais locked down, US Senate passes $1.9tn pandemic economic relief plan, arrests during Vienna protests
The emergence of new Covid variants should not derail England's lockdown easing plan over the coming weeks, according to Dr Susan Hopkins, Public Health England's strategic response director. Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, Hopkins said: I think it won't change it for the next three to five weeks, that would be highly unlikely. We will need to watch it carefully as new strains come into the country from around the world and we will need to be very ready for autumn.
Click through to read a concise explanation on how new Covid variants are tracked and measured: Today, @d_spiegel and I write about tracking variants: |
| Covid data show sewage monitoring could be vital in infection control Posted: 07 Mar 2021 12:15 AM PST A pilot study's analysis of schools' wastewater shows its potential as an early warning system for public health teams Schools may have had more Covid-19 infections before Christmas than previous research showed, according to data from a pilot study that senior public health experts believe could provide a crucial early warning system against future outbreaks. Covid was present in the sewage of 80% of 16 primary and secondary schools in England during December, and researchers detected the virus about a week before community testing, according to Mariachiara Di Cesare, a senior lecturer in public health at Middlesex University who led the study. Continue reading... |
| 'Here fire, you hungry?' Idaho Covid protesters burn masks in front of capitol Posted: 06 Mar 2021 03:20 PM PST
A least 100 people gathered in front of the Idaho state capitol on Saturday to burn masks, in a protest against measures to limit infections and deaths caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading... |
| 'A lot of uncertainty': imams fighting Covid misinformation in Australia's Muslim community Posted: 06 Mar 2021 11:00 AM PST A fatwa pronounces both the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines as halal for Muslims Whenever imam Alaa Elzokm comes across conspiracy theories – whether in person or online – he bridles at their poor sourcing. "It['s] always from people who say 'people say this, people say that', but never from an actual expert," he says. Continue reading... |
| The lockdown generation: 16 young people on spending a year at home Posted: 07 Mar 2021 12:00 AM PST Missing friends, learning new skills, playing online in lessons. On the eve of returning to school, we talk to children and teens and ask how they've fared during the pandemic I'm a very overthinking person. When I first heard about a virus it made me really shaky. It set my anxiety to a nine or a 10. When they shut school, I thought it might be five or six weeks at the most. I didn't think it would span months. Continue reading... |
| What do near-death experiences mean, and why do they fascinate us? Posted: 07 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST Psychiatrist Bruce Greyson has spent decades talking to people about near-death experiences. His work raises questions about what happens when we die, and how we ought to choose to live When Gregg Nome was 24 years old, he slipped into the churn beneath a waterfall and began to drown, his body pummelled against the sandy riverbed. What he saw there surprised him. Suddenly, his vision filled with crystal-clear scenes from his childhood, events he had mostly forgotten, and then moments from early adulthood. The memories, if that's what they were, were vivid and crisp. Was he reliving them? Not quite. They came at high speed, almost all at once, in a wave. And yet he could process each one individually. In fact, he was able to perceive everything around him: the rush of the water, the sandy bed, all of it brilliantly distinct. He could "hear and see as never before," he recalled later. And, despite being trapped underwater, he felt calm and at ease. He remembered thinking that prior to this moment his senses must have been dulled somehow, because only now could he fully understand the world, perhaps even the true meaning of the universe. Eventually, the imagery faded. Next, "There was only darkness," he said, "and a feeling of a short pause, like something was about to happen." Nome recounted this story at a support group in Connecticut, in 1985, four years after the experience. He had survived, but now he hoped to understand why, during a moment of extreme mortal crisis, his mind had behaved the way it did. The meeting had been organised by Bruce Greyson, now a professor emeritus in psychiatry at the University of Virginia. (Some of the group's members had responded to an ad Greyson placed in a local newspaper.) As Nome spoke, Greyson sat in a circle of 30 or so others, as if at an AA meeting, listening intently, nodding along. Continue reading... |
| How Marco Pierre White’s White Heat launched a culinary revolution Posted: 06 Mar 2021 10:00 PM PST MPW was the first of the rock 'n' roll chefs, and many followed in his flaming footsteps Matt Tebbutt remembers exactly where he got his copy. "I found it in Whiteleys in Bayswater," the chef and TV presenter says. "I was 17 years old, and it just resonated. It was cool and sexy. It was all about the glamour and excess." Sat Bains, of the eponymous Michelin two-star in Nottingham, found his in a charity shop in the mid-90s. "I read the whole book in an hour and my head exploded. Who was this guy? He had this rock'n'roll attitude." Chef Marianne Lumb says it's her "bible"; Tom Kerridge describes it as a huge influence. The message is clear. For legions of chefs White Heat by Marco Pierre White isn't a cookbook, though it does contain recipes. It's a sacred text, only with added knives, flame and caviar. For legions of chefs it's a sacred text, only with added knives, flame and caviar Continue reading... |
| Posted: 06 Mar 2021 10:44 PM PST Musicians recall the thrill of playing live – and what we can expect when gigs return The stage is an outlet for me, emotionally, physically – it's a catharsis I need. I picture the live performance right away: it's in the writing of the record itself. Before I was a musician I wanted to be a stage director, and the main thing in theatre is sharing a present moment with people gathered in a room. The audience is the last writer of the show – they finish it with their imagination. Continue reading... |
| David Miliband: 'Global Britain? That phrase rings hollow' Posted: 07 Mar 2021 01:00 AM PST Populist politics are creating a generational crisis in compassion, says the Labour leader-that-never-was, now head of a global refugee charity Political life is full of "sliding doors" moments, but few what-ifs are as resonant as David Miliband's. A little more than a decade ago, for a report in the Observer, I went out on the road with him and his brother – up to Gateshead and Glasgow – as they campaigned against each other for the Labour leadership. If you'd have asked me at the end of that fortnight who would be prime minister in March 2021, I'd have given you short odds that Miliband, D, would just be entering his second term. That alternative history would have avoided not only bacon-sarnie etiquette and the Ed Stone, but also Jeremy Corbyn and Brexit. Historians will no doubt come to argue that the first decades of the 21st century in Britain were shaped by the EU referendum, but they might also pay close attention to that previous 51-49 contest when, having won every round of the election, with big majorities among Labour MPs and members, David – long the opposition politician most feared by David Cameron's Tories – was squeezed out at the last by the affiliate votes of Len McCluskey's Unite union, intent on revenge against Blairites. In person, Miliband, whip thin, hardly greying, has changed not much at all in that decade – on the surface at least. Grinning on my laptop screen from New York, where he has been based for the past seven years as CEO of the International Rescue Committee, the global refugee charity, he maintains the same geeky charisma – Alastair Campbell used to call him "Brains" as much for the Thunderbirds puppet as his intellect – that made him foreign secretary and Gordon Brown's heir apparent at 42. Three years younger than Keir Starmer, the eternal centrist "king across the water" has the grown-up policy focus of the Labour leader, with an edge more wattage and wit. Continue reading... |
| My partner wants her ex to stay over, and it makes me worry | Dear Mariella Posted: 06 Mar 2021 10:00 PM PST It's your insecurities that need attending to here, says Mariella Frostrup. Think of this visitor as an old friend and don't police your relationship The dilemma I'm in a wonderful relationship with a lovely woman. She's always been very open and honest, and early on she revealed that she keeps in touch with an ex-boyfriend and would like him to stay over at times. I'm assured it's platonic and I do trust her. We both keep in touch with our exes in a friendly, casual way. However, the thought of having an ex sleep over makes me very uncomfortable. I expressed my worries a couple of years ago when the subject was first raised, and we agreed to put it on the back burner. Continue reading... |
| Ikea to Lulu via John Lewis: The short shelf life of interior design at No 10 Posted: 07 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST Decorating the PM's flat is always a costly affair, but Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds are moving up to a new luxury price point The Wallfashion Bureau, a group representing the British wallpaper industry, declared itself insulted. Derry Irvine, the first of Tony Blair's lord chancellors, had defended the expenditure of £59,000 on handmade wallpaper on the grounds that "you are talking about quality materials which are capable of lasting for 60 or 70 years. You are not talking about something down at the DIY store that might collapse after a year or so." "As an industry," riposted the bureau's Terry Langstroth, "we produce top quality products which can cost a fraction of the price he is paying." Continue reading... |
| Bloom time: my day picking daffodils against the clock Posted: 07 Mar 2021 01:45 AM PST Joining the workforce in Cornwall's flower fields, I struggled to keep up in the rush to bring in a fragile crop post-Brexit It's the kind of day when the cloud is so thick that a heavy greyness hangs in the air. But not in the fields of Fentongollan Farm in Cornwall, where swathes of yellow roll down the hillside, brightening the dull sky with spring cheer. Fentongollan is one of the world's leading daffodil farms, growing globally renowned varieties that are a dazzling sight in full bloom. "Yes, they do look nice, the yellow fields," says Frances Hosking, 22, showing me around the land her family has farmed for generations. "But yellow fields are not good for us growers – they are a sign the crop hasn't been picked. The flowers should be harvested before they have opened up – we want the fields to stay green." Continue reading... |
| Leak reveals UK Foreign Office discussing aid cuts of more than 50% Posted: 06 Mar 2021 02:15 AM PST Internal reports show projected cuts including 59% in South Sudan, 60% in Somalia and 67% in Syria Some of the poorest and most conflict-ridden countries in the world will have their UK aid programmes cut by more than half, according to a leaked report of discussions held in the last three weeks among Foreign Office officials. The cuts include slashing the aid programme to Somalia by 60% and to South Sudan by 59%. The planned cut for Syria is reported at 67% and for Libya it is 63%. Nigeria's aid programme would be cut by 58%. Continue reading... |
| Top House Democrat Jim Clyburn: 'No way we'd let filibuster deny voting rights' Posted: 07 Mar 2021 01:00 AM PST In an interview with the Guardian, the House majority whip calls for a way around the legislative roadblock One of the most powerful Democrats in Washington has issued a frank warning to members of his own party, saying they need to find a way to pass major voting rights legislation or they will lose control of Congress. The comments from Jim Clyburn, the House majority whip, came days after the House of Representatives approved a sweeping voting rights bill that would enact some of the most dramatic expansions of the right to vote since the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Even though Democrats also control the US Senate, the bill is unlikely to pass the chamber because of a procedural rule, the filibuster, that requires 60 votes to advance legislation. Continue reading... |
| Mexico's president defends decision to barricade palace ahead of women's march Posted: 06 Mar 2021 11:10 AM PST Andrés Manuel López Obrado claims the measure is only intended to avoid provocation The Mexican president has claimed that a metallic barrier to wall off the presidential palace ahead of a planned women's march is intended to avoid provocation and protect historic buildings from vandalism. In a country where femicides rose nearly 130% between 2015 and 2020, critics said the decision to erect the three-metre-high (10ft) barriers was symptomatic of Andrés Manuel López Obrador's apathy toward the crisis of violence against women. Continue reading... |
| Women more likely to lose jobs and do more unpaid work during Covid recession, report finds Posted: 07 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST Covid recession hit women hardest, but women also began the crisis on an uneven footing, the Grattan Institute reports Australian women were hit by a "triple whammy" during the Covid-19 induced recession, with a new report from the Grattan Institute finding women were more likely to lose their jobs and do a lot more unpaid work, and less likely to get government support. The report notes during the peak of the economic shock last April, almost 8% of Australian women lost their jobs, and the total hours worked by women went down by 12%. Male employment went down 4% and hours worked by 7%. Continue reading... |
| Sydney's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras 2021 – in pictures Posted: 06 Mar 2021 07:44 AM PST Rita Ora is among the performers at the 43rd annual parade, held at the Sydney Cricket Ground Continue reading... |
| Pope Francis gives speech on first papal visit to Iraq – video Posted: 06 Mar 2021 05:43 AM PST Pope Francis urges Iraq's Muslim and Christian religious leaders to put aside animosities and work together for peace during an interfaith meeting on Saturday in the traditional birthplace of the Prophet Abraham, the patriarch of both faiths. The pope met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, 90, spiritual leader of most of the world's Shia Muslims, and travelled to the ruins of Ur in southern Iraq Continue reading... |
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