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- Biden expresses support for Israel-Gaza ceasefire as pressure on US rises
- ‘A new Chile’: political elite rejected in vote for constitutional assembly
- Twenty firms produce 55% of world’s plastic waste, report reveals
- Coronavirus live news: India suffers record daily deathss; Tokyo doctors call for Japan Olympics to be cancelled
- UK climate champion ‘stubbornly optimistic’ about net zero deal at UN talks
- Cyclone Tauktae: Indian navy rescues crew from stricken vessels
- China divorces drop 70% after controversial ‘cooling off’ law
- Petra Diamonds pays £4.3m to Tanzanians ‘abused’ by its contractors
- Leonardo DiCaprio pledges $43m to restore the Galápagos Islands
- Surfer dies after being bitten by 4.5m great white shark on NSW mid-north coast
- ‘Urgent. Oxygen needed’: Nepalis mobilise to take charge in Covid crisis
- Covid vaccine: 96% of Britons develop antibodies after one jab, study finds
- Long Covid symptoms ease after vaccination, survey finds
- Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine has approved storage period extended
- A Jewish case for Palestinian refugee return
- Parent trap: why the cult of the perfect mother has to end
- Stage Struck: Gloria Swanson before the pictures got small
- ‘I can’t believe someone’s written this’: the Muslim punk sitcom breaking new ground
- Locked out of school: Pakistan’s digital divide has students struggling
- Securing a swift return: how a simple brick can help migratory birds
- Fred West: police find ‘possible evidence’ that body of girl is buried in Gloucester cafe
- Arizona’s political odd couple reveals two distinct paths for Democrats
- Furious Crown executive threatened to go to minister over regulator’s high-roller concerns, inquiry told
- Merrick Garland puts domestic terror and civil rights at top of justice agenda
- EU sidelined and divided as war rages again in Middle East
- Caution and confusion mark PM’s approach to lifting Covid lockdown
- Drone footage shows fire and scale of massive train derailment in US – video
- How worrying is the India coronavirus variant for UK plans to unlock this summer?
- Palestinian girl, six, pulled alive from rubble after airstrike demolishes her home – video
| Biden expresses support for Israel-Gaza ceasefire as pressure on US rises Posted: 18 May 2021 01:05 AM PDT
Joe Biden has issued a statement for the first time expressing support for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza's militant rulers, Hamas, after a phone conversation with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. However, the US president stopped short of calling for an immediate halt to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, the vast majority of them Palestinian. Continue reading... |
| ‘A new Chile’: political elite rejected in vote for constitutional assembly Posted: 18 May 2021 01:00 AM PDT Victories for leftist and independent candidates over rightwingers paves the way for a long-awaited progressive settlement Chile's established political elite has been roundly rejected at the polls six months ahead of a pivotal presidential election, as the country turned to a progressive new generation to write the next chapter in its history. Resounding victories for leftist and independent candidates saw rightwing politicians crash to a dismal electoral defeats alongside those with links to Chile's transition to democracy. Continue reading... |
| Twenty firms produce 55% of world’s plastic waste, report reveals Posted: 17 May 2021 05:00 PM PDT Plastic Waste Makers index identifies those driving climate crisis with virgin polymer production Twenty companies are responsible for producing more than half of all the single-use plastic waste in the world, fuelling the climate crisis and creating an environmental catastrophe, new research reveals. Among the global businesses responsible for 55% of the world's plastic packaging waste are both state-owned and multinational corporations, including oil and gas giants and chemical companies, according to a comprehensive new analysis. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 18 May 2021 01:54 AM PDT India deaths rise by record 4,329 in 24 hours; Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association warns Tokyo hospitals 'have almost no spare capacity'; strikes destroy Gaza's only Covid testing laboratory
Russia's incredibly consistent official coronavirus case figures continue. Reuters report that there were 8,183 new Covid-19 cases, including 2,430 in Moscow, taking the official national tally since the pandemic began to 4,957,756. The government coronavirus task force said 364 people had died of coronavirus-linked causes in the past 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 116,575.
Andrew Sparrow has launched our UK Covid live blog for today. He writes: There are concerns that the Covid variant first detected in India is set to be the dominant strain in the UK within days. Some experts think it was a mistake for Boris Johnson to go ahead with the easing of lockdown restrictions implemented yesterday, and there is increasing doubt about whether the further lifting of lockdown measures will be able to go ahead as planned next month. George Eustice, the environment secretary, was speaking for the government on the morning news programmes, and he confirmed that local lockdowns might be needed if the situation were to deteriorate in some areas. Continue reading... |
| UK climate champion ‘stubbornly optimistic’ about net zero deal at UN talks Posted: 18 May 2021 01:19 AM PDT Nigel Topping acknowledges world is running out of time as he lobbies businesses and lawmakers in lead-up to Cop26 summit The UK's climate champion, Nigel Topping, says he is stubbornly optimistic that the world will converge on an agreement to forge a transition to a net zero future at the UN climate talks later this year. Topping's role in the run-up to the UN Cop26 climate summit, to be held in Glasgow in November, is to drive and encourage action from businesses, civil society, and local and regional government on climate change. Continue reading... |
| Cyclone Tauktae: Indian navy rescues crew from stricken vessels Posted: 17 May 2021 11:47 PM PDT Most powerful storm in two decades forces thousands to flee and hampers Covid-tackling efforts The Indian navy is working to rescue crew members from a sunken barge and a second cargo vessel adrift off the coast of Mumbai after a deadly cyclone struck the western coast. The navy said it had rescued 177 of the 400 people onboard the two barges in the Arabia Sea. Three frontline warships had jointed the rescue operations, the navy said. Continue reading... |
| China divorces drop 70% after controversial ‘cooling off’ law Posted: 17 May 2021 10:03 PM PDT Law requires couples to wait 30 days before formalising divorce – but some say it has made young people more likely to avoid marriage The number of divorces in China dropped more than 70% in the first quarter of this year, after a controversial law forcing a "cooling-off period" for couples came into effect. According to data published by the ministry of civil affairs, 296,000 divorces were registered during the first three months of 2021, down from 1.05m in the previous quarter, and 1.06m in the same time period the year before, according to state media. Continue reading... |
| Petra Diamonds pays £4.3m to Tanzanians ‘abused’ by its contractors Posted: 17 May 2021 10:30 PM PDT Firm settles over allegations claimants were shot, stabbed and beaten by guards at mine that produced one of Queen's favourite gems The British mining company Petra Diamonds has agreed to pay £4.3m in compensation to dozens of Tanzanians who allegedly suffered serious human rights abuses at a mine famed for producing a flawless pink diamond for one of the Queen's favourite brooches. The 71 Tanzanian claimants, represented in the London high court by the British law firm Leigh Day, alleged grave violations by the company, among them being shot, beaten, stabbed, assaulted, detained in cramped and filthy holding cells, and handcuffed to hospital beds. Continue reading... |
| Leonardo DiCaprio pledges $43m to restore the Galápagos Islands Posted: 17 May 2021 11:55 PM PDT Environmentalist actor, with other conservation groups, aims to rewild the entire archipelago and other Pacific islands in Latin America Leonardo DiCaprio has announced a $43m (£30.4m) pledge to enact sweeping conservation operations across the Galápagos Islands, with his social media accounts taken over by a wildlife veterinarian and island restoration specialist. The initiative, in partnership with Re:wild, an organisation founded this year by a group of renowned conservation scientists and DiCaprio, the Galápagos National Park Directorate, Island Conservation, and local communities, aims to rewild the entire Galápagos Islands, as well as all of Latin America's Pacific archipelagos. Continue reading... |
| Surfer dies after being bitten by 4.5m great white shark on NSW mid-north coast Posted: 17 May 2021 11:18 PM PDT Police say man in his 50s suffered critical injuries to his upper thigh during attack at Tuncurry beach, near Forster A surfer has died after he was mauled by a 4.5m great white shark off Tuncurry Beach on the New South Wales mid-north coast. It's the first confirmed fatal shark attack in Australian waters this year, though it's believed another man was killed by a shark off South Australia in January. Continue reading... |
| ‘Urgent. Oxygen needed’: Nepalis mobilise to take charge in Covid crisis Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Amid political turmoil and an overwhelmed health system, young activists are stepping up in response to the pandemic A ping and: "ICU bed needed. Please it's urgent." Another ping: "Where can I find Remdesivir. EMERGENCY." Ping: "Very urgent oxygen cylinder needed, patient at last stage." The messages never let up; a constant stream of posts pleading for hospital beds, oxygen, plasma and medicine. It's not Nepal's government helpline, but an online group set up by a 24-year-old public health graduate. Continue reading... |
| Covid vaccine: 96% of Britons develop antibodies after one jab, study finds Posted: 18 May 2021 12:49 AM PDT Results show Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs are proving highly effective More than 90% of Britons develop antibodies to coronavirus after having one dose of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines, and almost 100% do so after their second jab, research shows. The findings, based on a study of 8,517 people in England and Wales, are the latest evidence to show that the two mainstays of Britain's vaccine drive are proving highly effective. Continue reading... |
| Long Covid symptoms ease after vaccination, survey finds Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Exclusive: Fifty-seven per cent of people with illness say they were better overall after jab Covid-19 vaccines tend to alleviate the symptoms of long Covid, according to a large survey of more than 800 people that suggests mRNA vaccines, in particular, are beneficial. Though Covid-19 was initially understood to be a largely respiratory illness from which most would recover within a few weeks, as the pandemic wore on increasing numbers of people reported experiencing symptoms for months on end. There is no consensus definition of the condition of these people who have symptoms ranging from chronic fatigue to organ damage, let alone a standardised treatment plan. Continue reading... |
| Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine has approved storage period extended Posted: 17 May 2021 11:22 PM PDT Increased flexibility of vaccine expected to have 'significant impact' on rollout in EU member states The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine can be stored at fridge temperature for much longer than previously recommended, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The previous advice was the vaccine needed to be kept at an ultra-low temperature, between -70C and -80C, until a few days before use when it could be transferred to a standard medical fridge. Continue reading... |
| A Jewish case for Palestinian refugee return Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT As fraught and imperfect as efforts at historical justice can be, consider what happens when they do not occur. The crimes of the past, when left unaddressed, do not remain in the past Last Saturday was Nakba Day, which commemorates the 700,000 Palestinians who were expelled by Israel – or who fled in fear – during the country's founding in 1948. The commemoration had special resonance this year, since it was Israel's impending expulsion of six Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah that helped trigger the violent struggle currently engulfing Israel-Palestine. For many Palestinians, that imminent expulsion was evidence that the Nakba has still not come to an end. Every year, commemorating the Nakba represents a kind of mental struggle to remember the past and sustain the hope that it can be overcome – by ensuring that Palestinian refugees and their descendants can return home. In my own community, by contrast, Jewish leaders in Israel and the diaspora demand that Palestinians forget the past and move on. In 2011, Israel's parliament passed a law that could deny government funds to any institution that commemorates the Nakba. Israeli teachers who mention it in their classes have been reprimanded by Israel's Ministry of Education. Last year, two Israeli writers, Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf, published an influential book, The War of Return, which criticised the Palestinian desire for refugee return as emblematic of a "backward-facing mode" and an "inability to reconcile with the past". Continue reading... |
| Parent trap: why the cult of the perfect mother has to end Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Worldwide, mothers are overworked, underpaid, often lonely and made to feel guilty about everything from epidurals to bottle feeding. Fixing this is the unfinished work of feminism It's the middle of a dark, November night, and I'm about to have my first baby. But instead of the joyful experience I'd hoped for, I am being rushed into the operating theatre to have an emergency caesarean under general anaesthetic. I have a dangerous complication and my son's life is at risk. Four hours earlier, I'd been sent home by a midwife who told me I couldn't stay in hospital and have an epidural because labour wasn't properly "established". It's a week later and I'm back home with my son who, thankfully, made it. But I'm struggling. If someone asks me how I am, in a kindly voice, my voice cracks. I'm spending a lot of time sitting on the bed in a milk-stained dressing gown. In a few days, my partner will go back to work. Continue reading... |
| Stage Struck: Gloria Swanson before the pictures got small Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Twenty-five years before the hard-bitten Hollywood tale Sunset Boulevard, Swanson played a small-town waitress with a dream to act Gloria Swanson's most enduring role is the imperious, bitterly eclipsed screen queen Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. But to fully appreciate Desmond's faded glory in Billy Wilder's 1950 noir classic, you need to see Swanson's silent films. Stage Struck – directed 25 years earlier by Allan Dwan – both revels in and pastiches the visual opulence of the silent era, with a plot that reflects on the adulation of glamorous actresses. It also features a brief chance to see Swanson as a glittering Salome, the role coveted by Desmond for her misbegotten comeback. The Salome sequence comes in Stage Struck's tongue-in-cheek prologue, filmed in an entrancing early version of Technicolor, offering assorted scenes from the life of "the greatest actress of all time". On stage, we see Swanson bombarded with bouquets by ecstatic audiences; on the street she is mobbed by an adoring public desperate for a brush with stardom. At a lavish banquet, she suddenly steps into the role of Salome and ascends the stairs of a temple, returning with a platter bearing the head of John the Baptist. Continue reading... |
| ‘I can’t believe someone’s written this’: the Muslim punk sitcom breaking new ground Posted: 18 May 2021 01:00 AM PDT Raucous comedy We Are Lady Parts follows an all-female group's journey on to the toilet circuit. Its cast believe it's time for new voices to be heard It is loud when I enter the virtual room. Raucous laughter and excited chatter fill the air, and for a moment I feel like a teacher quieting an unruly class. It is a fitting start, given that I'm here to interview the cast of Channel 4's new musical comedy, a six-part series following the exploits of an anarchic all-female, all-Muslim punk band setting out to make some noise. Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading... |
| Locked out of school: Pakistan’s digital divide has students struggling Posted: 17 May 2021 11:30 PM PDT When Covid shut schools, fees still had to be paid even if rural pupils could not access online lessons Iqbal Khan works as a chauffeur in Lahore. His children are in his home village in a rural area north of Peshawar. Both of these very different areas of Pakistan have the same problem for many of their young people: no means of getting access to an education. Online learning was not an option for Khan's children as the pandemic locked down schools across cities and countryside. Even as he worked to pay the school fees, his two sons, aged 16 and 13, were unable to access any lessons as their schools went digital. Continue reading... |
| Securing a swift return: how a simple brick can help migratory birds Posted: 17 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT Many swifts flying back to Britain will find their summer nests lost to building renovations. But bird bricks are offering them an alternative home Eagerly anticipated by many, it is a thrilling moment when you first hear the distinctive screech or catch sight of the long, tapered wings of the first swifts arriving for the summer. For thousands of years they have looped to the British Isles from Africa to raise the next generation, taking advantage of the long daylight hours in the north and the opportunity to scour the skies for insects from dawn to dusk. Since they left Britain's shores in August last year, these remarkable birds will have flown some 14,000 miles without stopping; feeding, sleeping, drinking and preening themselves on the wing. The birds returning now are likely to be at least four years old – the breeders. They head straight back to their nesting holes under eaves or gaps in stone and brickwork that they claimed and defended last summer. Within a few days their mate will arrive and, having spent nine months living independently, they will start to preen each other's feathers within the nesting hole, crooning softly and bonding once again. Continue reading... |
| Fred West: police find ‘possible evidence’ that body of girl is buried in Gloucester cafe Posted: 17 May 2021 02:49 PM PDT Excavation work will go ahead where missing 15-year-old Mary Bastholm worked, police have said Excavation work will go ahead in a cafe in Gloucester where missing 15-year-old Mary Bastholm worked and the serial killer Fred West was a customer, after "possible evidence" to suggest a body could be buried there, police have said. Forensic archaeologists have been undertaking exploratory work at the Clean Plate cafe in Southgate Street in connection with the disappearance of the girl who was last seen alive in January 1968. Continue reading... |
| Arizona’s political odd couple reveals two distinct paths for Democrats Posted: 18 May 2021 02:00 AM PDT Despite being from the same party and same state, Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly give differing answers as to how party might keep power When Democrat Mark Kelly was sworn in to office late last year it marked the end of a nearly 70-year drought of Arizona being represented by two Democrats. But since then Kelly, a former astronaut, and his counterpart senator, Kyrsten Sinema, have plotted decidedly different paths in the Senate. Despite being from the same party and the same state and representing the same electorate, the pair of Arizona Democrats have become a sort of political odd couple. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 18 May 2021 01:55 AM PDT Crown Resorts responded 'pretty aggressively' to a letter from the acting head of Victoria's gambling regulator A furious Crown Resorts executive threatened to go to Victoria's gaming minister after the state's gambling regulator raised concerns about the company's reluctance to take action on high-rolling gamblers, an inquiry has been told. The Victorian royal commission into Crown was told on Tuesday that the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation had advised the company to increase scrutiny of individual gamblers who were part of junket groups in 2018 to limit the risk of money laundering. Continue reading... |
| Merrick Garland puts domestic terror and civil rights at top of justice agenda Posted: 17 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT Analysis: Biden's attorney general has made a clean break with Bill Barr, making domestic terrorism his 'top priority' winning won praise for his moves on civil and voting rights The new attorney general, Merrick Garland, has signaled an ambitious agenda to fight domestic terrorism in America including white supremacists and hate crimes, while bolstering civil rights and voting rights, critical areas that got short shrift from the Trump administration, say ex-federal prosecutors and members of Congress. The shift at the Department of Justice represents one of the most stark turnarounds under Joe Biden from the Trump era. Under the previous attorney general, Bill Barr, the justice department was often seen as at Trump's beck and call, the former president accused of treating it as virtually his own legal service. Continue reading... |
| EU sidelined and divided as war rages again in Middle East Posted: 17 May 2021 09:00 PM PDT Analysis: internal tensions and differences with the US have left the bloc unable to take a clear position on Israel-Palestine If the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, wanted to symbolise the Joe Biden administration's determination not to become embroiled in the Israel-Palestine issue, he could not have timed better his current trip to Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Important discussions on the Arctic and the climate crisis may be on the agenda, but the chilly north is a distance from the tunnels, rocket fire and screams of those suffering in the latest war in the Middle East. It may well be that in his numerous calls to key regional actors on the plane to Denmark Blinken made more progress in inching Israel, and Hamas, towards a ceasefire the US had been reluctant to demand in public. Continue reading... |
| Caution and confusion mark PM’s approach to lifting Covid lockdown Posted: 17 May 2021 09:53 AM PDT Analysis: loosening of measures in England and Wales hedged with contradictory advice – but Boris Johnson sticks to plans On what should have been a day of celebration, cabinet ministers have come across distinctly uneasy at the latest phase of the lifting of lockdown in England, Wales and parts of Scotland, which allows the reopening of indoor hospitality, hugging, overnight stays with other households and foreign travel. Related: 17 May reopening: how Covid measures across Britain are changing Continue reading... |
| Drone footage shows fire and scale of massive train derailment in US – video Posted: 17 May 2021 11:07 PM PDT A Union Pacific train hauling hazardous materials derailed and caught fire near the city of Sibley, Iowa, forcing the evacuation of 80 people. Drone footage shows 47 train carriages strewn across the track with some parts on fire. Emergency officials told local radio the train was carrying fertiliser and ammonium Continue reading... |
| How worrying is the India coronavirus variant for UK plans to unlock this summer? Posted: 17 May 2021 07:00 PM PDT Monday's change in the rules was supposed to be a moment of celebration – but the new variant spreading in the UK meant it came with a cautionary note. Can the next stage of the government's 'irreversible' plan go ahead? This time last week, most of us were feeling optimistic about the next step in the government's "irreversible" plan to end lockdown. Then scientists started to warn that the accelerating spread of the India variant of coronavirus meant that we should proceed carefully – and even consider slowing down. While the plans went ahead on Monday, they came with a heavy dose of caution and warnings that the last stage of the relaxation set for 21 June could be delayed. The Guardian's science correspondent Nicola Davis tells Anushka Asthana about the latest setback in the fight against Covid – and what it means for what happens next. Continue reading... |
| Palestinian girl, six, pulled alive from rubble after airstrike demolishes her home – video Posted: 17 May 2021 10:45 AM PDT A six-year-old Palestinian girl was found deep inside a pile of rubble after her home was destroyed by an Israeli strike in Gaza that killed her mother and all four of her siblings. Suzy Eshkuntana, trapped for seven hours under the debris, was reunited in Shifa hospital with her father, who was also being treated for his wounds. The family's home was hit by Israeli air strikes early on Sunday in Gaza City, a wave of attacks that Gaza health officials said killed 42 people including 10 children and raised the death toll in Gaza after a week of bombardment to more than 200. Israel says it is attacking the militant Islamist Hamas movement that controls the densely populated Gaza Strip and that - along with Islamic Jihad and other militant groups - has fired more than 3,000 rockets towards Israeli towns and cities, killing 10 people, including two children Continue reading... |
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