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- Germany faces calls for nationwide approach to Covid restrictions
- Netanyahu in court as Israel’s lawmakers mull over his political fate
- Saudi prince sells Cotswolds estate to king of Bahrain for £120m
- Biden faces Democratic and Republican hurdles over $2tn infrastructure plan – live
- Jordan's Prince Hamzah defiant after being put under house arrest
- Actor Thandiwe Newton reclaims original spelling of her name
- 'Allergic reaction to US religious right' fueling decline of religion, experts say
- Turkish ex-admirals arrested over criticism of Erdoğan's 'crazy' canal scheme
- Soviet TV version of Lord of the Rings rediscovered after 30 years
- Horsing around: Australian man creates paper pony out of lunch bags in hotel quarantine
- Covid live: UK government 'did not change mind' on vaccine passports; Japan fears fourth wave before Olympics
- Nicaraguan ruler Ortega rolls out vaccination campaign amid secrecy and doubt
- ‘I miss school’: 800m children still not fully back in classes
- ‘An escape from dark times’: how ancient history podcasts bring comfort and clarity
- How we met: 'I was terrified my parents would find out I’d been intimate with another girl'
- Beware sugar highs: seven healthy ways to get more energy – from stretching to sourdough
- ‘It was very difficult for Michael’: the Jacksons on fame, family and survival
- Ryley Walker: 'Going two days sober was impossible since I was a kid'
- Let me stop you there: why do Oscar speeches get cut short?
- How a food bank is helping City service workers survive the pandemic
- Covid forces closure of two of Barcelona's oldest restaurants
- Fauci hits back at rightwing criticism and says attacks on him 'bizarre'
- Scores die in flash floods in Indonesia and Timor-Leste
- Senator Jim Molan to take leave from parliament to fight 'aggressive form of cancer'
- 'Every year we dig mass graves': the slaughter of Pakistan’s Hazara
- As a sense of normality returns, we must not forget what this last year has been like for the NHS
- Police break up Good Friday church service in London – video
- Jordan's former crown prince says he's under house arrest – video
| Germany faces calls for nationwide approach to Covid restrictions Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:12 AM PDT Frustration grows over patchwork arrangements across the country as infections rates continue to rise Calls are growing in Germany for the introduction of nationwide coronavirus restrictions amid confusion and frustration over patchwork arrangements across the country as the infection rate continues to rise. The majority of Germans are in favour of a more unified approach to tackling the virus, now in its third wave, according to a poll, ahead of an expected tightening of rules after the holiday weekend. Continue reading... |
| Netanyahu in court as Israel’s lawmakers mull over his political fate Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:23 AM PDT Former head of local news website tells judges he was instructed to skew coverage to favour PM and his family Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to remain in power face a double-pronged challenge, with Israel's prime minister back in a Jerusalem courtroom for his corruption trial while at the same time critical talks on his political future were held following last month's inconclusive election. The witness testimony and evidence stage of a case assessing whether the 71-year-old leader is guilty of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – repeatedly delayed by the pandemic – began on Monday morning. Continue reading... |
| Saudi prince sells Cotswolds estate to king of Bahrain for £120m Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:23 AM PDT Prince Bandar bin Sultan has reportedly sold Glympton Park to family of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa A Saudi prince has sold a large country estate in the Cotswolds to the king of Bahrain for more than £120m. Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a senior Saudi royal as well as former ambassador to the US and former director general of the Saudi intelligence agency, has reportedly sold Glympton Park estate to the family of Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and his son Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. Continue reading... |
| Biden faces Democratic and Republican hurdles over $2tn infrastructure plan – live Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:27 AM PDT
Joe Biden has said his $2tn plan to rebuild America's "crumbling" roads, bridges, railways and other infrastructure would rival the space race in its ambition and deliver economic and social change on a scale as grand as the New Deal. The president has also vowed his "once-in-a-generation" investment will reverse long-standing racial disparities exacerbated by past national mobilizations. Embedded in his sprawling infrastructure agenda, the first part of which Biden unveiled this week, are hundreds of billions of dollars dedicated to projects and investments the administration says will advance racial equity in employment, housing, transportation, healthcare and education, while improving economic outcomes for communities of color. Related: How Biden's $2tn infrastructure plan seeks to achieve racial justice
Greetings from Washington, live blog readers. Joe Biden and his administration are frantically trying to build momentum in Congress to pass the president's $2tn infrastructure plan. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he didn't think paying for the full cost of the plan through tax increases was necessary. Mr. DeFazio said he would support an increase in the gas and diesel tax to pay for the new investments over time, as well as more borrowing to cover part of the cost. ... Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D., N.J.) said he wanted to see the Biden administration consider alternatives to the corporate tax increases to try to court Republican support. 'I think on the corporate piece, if it's a nonstarter for the Republicans and it means we can't get bipartisanship, I'm eager to hear their other ideas,' he said, listing user fees as one possibility. Continue reading... |
| Jordan's Prince Hamzah defiant after being put under house arrest Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:23 AM PDT King Abdullah's half-brother says he will disobey the army's orders not to communicate with outside world Jordan's estranged Prince Hamzah bin Hussein has said in a voice recording that he will disobey orders by the army not to communicate with the outside world after he was put under house arrest. The half-brother of King Abdullah and the former heir to the throne said in the recording released on Monday by the country's opposition that he would not comply after being barred from any activities and told to keep quiet. Continue reading... |
| Actor Thandiwe Newton reclaims original spelling of her name Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:46 AM PDT Westworld actor tells Vogue she is reverting to Shona spelling, saying 'I'm taking back what's mine' Thandie Newton has said she will reclaim the original Zulu spelling of her name for use in her professional career, declaring: "I'm taking back what's mine." For more than 30 years, the actor, born Melanie Thandiwe Newton Parker, has been known by an anglicised version of her name since the "w" was dropped "carelessly" from her first acting credit. Continue reading... |
| 'Allergic reaction to US religious right' fueling decline of religion, experts say Posted: 04 Apr 2021 11:00 PM PDT Percentage of churchgoing Americans is steadily falling, and the swirl of rightwing politics and Christianity is playing a key role Fewer than half of Americans belong to a house of worship, a new study shows, but religion – and Christianity in particular – continues to have an outsize influence in US politics, especially because it is declining faster among Democrats than Republicans. Just 47% of the US population are members of a church, mosque or synagogue, according to a survey by Gallup, down from 70% two decades ago – in part a result of millennials turning away from religion but also, experts say, a reaction to the swirling mix of rightwing politics and Christianity pursued by the Republican party. Continue reading... |
| Turkish ex-admirals arrested over criticism of Erdoğan's 'crazy' canal scheme Posted: 05 Apr 2021 03:48 AM PDT Officials interpret criticism of plans for new Istanbul waterway as direct challenge to civilian government Turkey has detained 10 retired admirals over their public criticism of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's "crazy" Istanbul canal project, which will create a new waterway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean in addition to the existing Bosphorus strait. The arrest warrants issued on Monday came a day after a group of 104 former senior navy officials signed an open letter warning that the proposed canal could harm Turkish security by invalidating an 85-year-old international treaty designed to prevent militarisation of the Black Sea. Continue reading... |
| Soviet TV version of Lord of the Rings rediscovered after 30 years Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:55 AM PDT Film posted on YouTube delights fans with its rudimentary sets and ludicrous green-screen effects A Soviet television adaptation of The Lord of the Rings thought to have been lost to time was rediscovered and posted on YouTube last week, delighting Russian-language fans of JRR Tolkien. The 1991 made-for-TV film, Khraniteli, based on Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, is the only adaptation of his Lord of the Rings trilogy believed to have been made in the Soviet Union. Continue reading... |
| Horsing around: Australian man creates paper pony out of lunch bags in hotel quarantine Posted: 04 Apr 2021 08:49 PM PDT In mandatory Covid isolation, art director David Marriott is making the most of his design skills – and lifting morale at the same time Ten days into his fortnight of mandatory quarantine in a Brisbane hotel, David Marriott sits in his room caressing the mane of his horse, Russell, as he looks out on the overcast city. A used poke bowl sits on Marriott's head, in the style of a cowboy hat. He's also wearing a vest and chaps – attire he fashioned out of the brown paper bags that carried the meals dropped at his door. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:46 AM PDT UK health minister denies government U-turned on vaccine passports; Japan fears variants are behind possible fourth wave
Reuters reports: Oman will only allow citizens and residents to enter the Gulf Arab state from 8 April following an increase in Covid-19 cases that is pressuring the health care system, the country's coronavirus committee said on Monday. The committee also extended an evening ban on all commercial activities until the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which is due to start in mid-April this year, according to a statement on state media.
Calls are growing in Germany for the introduction of nationwide coronavirus restrictions amid confusion and frustration over patchwork arrangements across the country as the infection rate continues to rise, my colleague Kate Connelly writes. The majority of Germans are in favour of a more unified approach to tackling the virus, now in its third wave, according to a poll, ahead of an expected tightening of rules after the holiday weekend. Related: Germany faces calls for nationwide approach to Covid restrictions Continue reading... |
| Nicaraguan ruler Ortega rolls out vaccination campaign amid secrecy and doubt Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:30 AM PDT Doctors say details on strategy are lacking – a lack of clarity that has characterized the authoritarian leader's pandemic response The first person in Nicaragua to receive a coronavirus vaccine was Marco Antonio Aráuz, 62, who was given a dose of the Russian Sputnik V treatment at Managua's Blue Cross hospital. Related: Nicaragua leaders face backlash after forming space agency amid human rights crisis Continue reading... |
| ‘I miss school’: 800m children still not fully back in classes Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:00 AM PDT Rights groups warn that children across the world are being pushed into abusive situations, from early marriage to child labour Across the world 800 million children are still not fully back in school, Unicef is warning, with many at risk of never returning to the classroom the longer closures go on. There are at least 90 countries where schools are either closed or offering a mix of remote and in-person learning. The UN agency's chief of education, Robert Jenkins, told the Guardian that the closures are part of "unimaginable" disruption to children's education. Continue reading... |
| ‘An escape from dark times’: how ancient history podcasts bring comfort and clarity Posted: 05 Apr 2021 04:00 AM PDT I started listening to tales of yore in 2019, when long drives with my infant son became essential. They soothed him to sleep – and transported me to a different world Fans of Paul Cooper's podcast Fall of Civilizations will know that it usually begins in a particular way. A traveller, often far from home, encounters a ruin that hints at a vast and forgotten story of the past. Hiding from bandits in the desert, the Italian nobleman Pietro della Valle takes shelter in the shadow of the crumbling Ziggurat of Ur. Clambering through the rubble of a once magnificent site of Roman Britain, an unknown poet of the eighth or ninth century writes an elegy to the broken "work of giants". Continue reading... |
| How we met: 'I was terrified my parents would find out I’d been intimate with another girl' Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:00 AM PDT Lucy and Hen Staveley-Brown, both 53, met at school in 1979 at a time when same-sex relationships were considered taboo. Years later they reunited and now live together in Devon Lucy Campbell was 11 years old when her parents sent her to an independent Catholic school near their home in North Devon. It was during the entrance exam that Hen Staveley-Brown caught her eye for the first time. "She was one of the least girly girls," remembers Lucy. "A tomboy, like me." When the pair started school in September 1979, they soon became good friends. "Lucy lived three miles from me and we were always round at each other's houses or going out together," says Hen. "There was definitely a connection there that developed into something else later on." Lucy says they were "unhappy teenagers" who were "a bit wild and often in trouble". In 1983, the girls went on a Duke of Edinburgh trip with their classmates. They spent the night together in a tent after getting drunk, and rumours spread quickly. "Everyone knew and I was terrified my parents would find out I'd been intimate with another girl," says Lucy. At the time, same sex relationships were pretty much unheard of, especially at a Catholic school in rural Devon. In private, the pair continued to have a stormy relationship with frequent fallouts, until they left school in 1984. "Our school shut down because it was failing and we lost touch with each other," says Lucy. "I went off to college for a while and then later went to London to work as a nurse. I wanted to forget about it all and just blend in." Hen joined the police and moved to Bristol. "It was a shock for some, because I think the nuns always thought I'd end up in jail," she says, laughing. Continue reading... |
| Beware sugar highs: seven healthy ways to get more energy – from stretching to sourdough Posted: 05 Apr 2021 03:30 AM PDT It's tempting to use coffee and sweet treats as pick-me-ups, but they are only temporary solutions. Here's how to keep yourself going for longer The twin gods of conquering the post-lunch slump are caffeine and sugar. But such pick-me-ups are temporary: while a syrupy latte will help you power through until dinner time, you may well end up lying awake at 3am, staring at the ceiling. What if there were a way to have more energy that wasn't unhealthy, addictive or expensive? (Those takeaway coffees add up.) Here, some experts weigh in. Continue reading... |
| ‘It was very difficult for Michael’: the Jacksons on fame, family and survival Posted: 04 Apr 2021 10:00 PM PDT Back with a political reworking of Can You Feel It, brothers Tito, Marlon and Jackie talk about their legendarily tough father, their memories of Michael and why they always hope for another massive hit Can You Feel It is one of the great disco songs. Now the Jacksons are determined to remind us that it is also one of the great political songs, with its call for "all the colours of the world" to unite and tell the "marching men who are killing their brothers" that we all share the same blood. Forty years after first charting, Can You Feel It has been reworked to include clips from speeches by Martin Luther King and Barack Obama, part of a project to expand the band's six albums for Epic with remixes and bonus tracks. It makes perfect sense to have MLK and Obama guesting on the song, Tito Jackson says today: "They are the two best rappers in the world." Tito and Jackie, the oldest brother, laugh. They are Zooming from Las Vegas, where they both live. Both are youthful and run off high-energy batteries. Tito, whose three sons make up the group 3T, is wearing his customary bowler hat – he says it's the first thing he puts on when he gets up, and the last thing he takes off at night. Jackie, who has been married three times and has four children, is smartly dressed and smiley. It's hard to believe they are approaching 70. Continue reading... |
| Ryley Walker: 'Going two days sober was impossible since I was a kid' Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:30 AM PDT He was hailed as the new Nick Drake, but addiction nearly destroyed him. Now he writes songs 'in a state of joy' and, after stacking shelves for minimum wage, has released his best work yet Speaking on a video call from Massachusetts, Ryley Walker is obscured by a blaze of sunlight coming through a large open window as he filters out the air in his apartment. "I must give up smoking," the singer-songwriter frowns, lighting up his third cigarette. Given how much Walker has had to give up over the last few years – emerging from the drug and alcohol dependency that shaped his adult life – it's hard to begrudge him one last remaining vice. Walker, who attempted suicide as a consequence of his addictions, says that being here today is "a miracle". His career-best new album – the proggy, unexpectedly pretty Course in Fable – is the sound of an artist treating his life as such. Continue reading... |
| Let me stop you there: why do Oscar speeches get cut short? Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:00 AM PDT Even finally winning the most prestigious award in your field can't stop you from being drowned out by pesky time-keepers In the Guide's weekly Solved! column, we look into a crucial pop-culture question you've been burning to know the answer to – and settle it, once and for all Winning an Oscar is the highlight of a career. It's peer validation on the largest possible stage. As your name is called and you approach the podium, your heart bursts and your head spins. You look out and see every famous person on Earth, all staring straight at you. Beyond them, cameras are beaming your face into hundreds of millions of homes. Time to gather your thoughts and articulate exactly what this means to you. Continue reading... |
| How a food bank is helping City service workers survive the pandemic Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:48 AM PDT The Square Mile has the UK's best paid workers, but it's tough for the people whose jobs rely on them Pete Pentecost, who used to hand out the free City AM newspaper to commuters at Bank station in London's Square Mile, found himself placed on furlough when the first coronavirus lockdown was declared a year ago. It got worse: after three months, he lost his job and eventually applied for universal credit, which took seven weeks to arrive. "We thought we were going to go back in September, but they've taken all the racks away; City AM is just online now," said Pentecost, who had done the job through an agency for six-and-a-half years. "I enjoyed the job, even when it was raining." Continue reading... |
| Covid forces closure of two of Barcelona's oldest restaurants Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:39 AM PDT Restrictions in city contrast with those in Spanish capital as Agut and Can Soteras shut for good Two of Barcelona's oldest restaurants have been forced to close after hopes trade would recover over Easter were dashed when the regional government decided to maintain coronavirus restrictions over the holiday weekend. For the past 97 years Agut has been serving traditional dishes in the city's Gothic Quarter while Can Soteras in the Passeig Sant Joan has been in business for 105 years. Continue reading... |
| Fauci hits back at rightwing criticism and says attacks on him 'bizarre' Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:46 AM PDT Scientist forced to defend himself from attacks by Trump allies and says 'I can't be bothered with getting distracted' Anthony Fauci has described attacks on him from Republicans as "bizarre", after a barrage of criticism from senior GOP figures. Related: 'There is a solution': a Covid survivor's life-or-death battle for Medicare for All Continue reading... |
| Scores die in flash floods in Indonesia and Timor-Leste Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:30 AM PDT Death toll may rise further after torrential rain swept Indonesian archipelago and neighbouring Timor-Leste At least 97 people been killed and dozens are missing following Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which triggered devastating flash floods and landslides across eastern Indonesia and neighbouring Timor-Leste on Sunday. Strong winds and torrential overnight rains caused dams to overflow and submerged villages, forcing thousands of people to flee to evacuation shelters. Continue reading... |
| Senator Jim Molan to take leave from parliament to fight 'aggressive form of cancer' Posted: 04 Apr 2021 11:51 PM PDT Liberal senator asks for privacy as he undertakes further testing to confirm prognosis and commence treatment The Liberal senator Jim Molan has announced he has an "aggressive form of cancer" and will be taking leave from parliament immediately to begin treatment. In a message to colleagues and on his public Facebook page on Monday, Molan asked for privacy as he undertook further testing to confirm the prognosis and to commence treatment. Continue reading... |
| 'Every year we dig mass graves': the slaughter of Pakistan’s Hazara Posted: 04 Apr 2021 10:30 PM PDT Decades of persecution has left the Shia minority with little space left in its graveyards but prime minister Imran Khan is in no hurry to listen Ahmed Shah had always dreamed of bigger things. Though just 17, the high school pupil had taken a job in the coalmines of Balochistan, Pakistan's south-western province, one of the harshest, most dangerous working environments in the world. Shah was determined to earn enough to educate himself, so he could escape the tough life of the Hazara Shia community, the most persecuted minority in Pakistan. Related: In Pakistan, tolerant Islamic voices are being silenced | William Dalrymple Continue reading... |
| As a sense of normality returns, we must not forget what this last year has been like for the NHS Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:05 AM PDT I'm an NHS consultant. We barely had the resources to keep people alive – let alone cope with longer effects of Covid One year ago, lockdown had just come in. A creeping sense of dread was spreading across the hospital. We were focused on the first wave of admissions, the peak of which for us occurred in early April. We were desperately learning how to keep people from dying due to this new disease. The longer-term consequences were the last thing on our minds. Now, a year on, there is a superficial sense of normality returning. Our respiratory support unit, for so long hidden behind closed doors with "STOP: CORONAVIRUS" signs and staffed by hooded figures in head-to-toe PPE, has turned back into the bright, airy ward it used to be. Nurses, doctors, porters are back in their usual clothes instead of uniform scrubs; conversation has replaced the incessant hiss of Cpap machines. Our ITU is shrinking back to its normal size. It is easy to forget how things were even a couple of months ago. Continue reading... |
| Police break up Good Friday church service in London – video Posted: 04 Apr 2021 03:26 AM PDT Police broke up a Good Friday service at a Polish church in London after officers said it was violating English coronavirus regulations. People were worshipping at Christ the King church in the south of the capital when police arrived following reports of queues outside the building. The service was being streamed live on social media and footage showed officers addressing those in attendance, telling them the gathering was unlawful. The church defended the service, arguing regulations had been met Continue reading... |
| Jordan's former crown prince says he's under house arrest – video Posted: 04 Apr 2021 03:14 AM PDT The half-brother of Jordan's King Abdullah said on Saturday that he had been placed under house arrest and accused the country's leadership of corruption and incompetence. Prince Hamzah bin Hussein said in a video statement that Jordan's military chief had visited and told him he was not allowed to go out, meet other people or communicate with them. He said his security detail had been removed and his phone and internet service cut Continue reading... |
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