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- At least 20 dead as Mexico City metro overpass collapses
- Amazon had sales income of €44bn in Europe in 2020 but paid no corporation tax
- Coronavirus live news: India passes 20m cases; Nepal calls for urgent AstraZeneca doses as cases surge
- Chinese man seeking ‘freedom and equality’ says he travelled to Taiwan in dinghy
- Vital soil organisms being harmed by pesticides, study shows
- Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce after 27 years of marriage
- Biden raises US refugee admissions cap to 62,500 after delay sparks anger
- ‘Out-of-control’ Chinese rocket falling to Earth could partially survive re-entry
- Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial postponed until autumn at her request
- ‘Gamechanger’: Uganda launches drone delivering HIV drugs to remote islands
- Baby born on plane that happened to be carrying doctor and neonatal nurses
- Covid vaccine rollout rapidly gathering pace across Europe
- Hospital staff in Toronto deal with Covid crisis – in pictures
- Cuba hopes to become smallest country to develop Covid vaccines
- UK likely to give green light for travel to fewer than 10 EU countries
- Escape to glory: the intoxicating myth of boxing as ‘a way out’
- Melting ice reveals first world war relics in Italian Alps
- Beyoncé looked glorious on my magazine cover. ‘Are you going to lighten her skin?’ my boss asked
- ‘Decades ahead of his time’: history catches up with visionary Jimmy Carter
- ‘Jaws at 35,000 feet’: the flight attendant whose thriller debut sold for seven figures
- Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez: ‘This is the reality of my life. No boxing, no life’
- New 150-mile Cornish cycle route to open in the autumn
- Hopes raised for two Americans jailed in Tehran being freed
- ‘Your mouth becomes a minefield’: the Americans who can’t afford the dentist
- Mexico City metro overpass collapses – in pictures
- Australian government urged to press Saudis to reveal whereabouts of extradited citizen
- Colombia braces for further unrest after police react violently to mass protests
- Zimdancehall dreams: the back yard studios helping Harare get heard
- New Zealand treats animals inhumanely – but it could become a world leader in their welfare | Philip McKibbin
- Mexico City metro overpass carrying train carriages collapses – video
- Joe Biden: time for corporations and richest Americans to 'start paying their fair share' – video
- 'V is for victory over Covid!': Singapore goes disco in latest vaccination message – video
| At least 20 dead as Mexico City metro overpass collapses Posted: 03 May 2021 09:33 PM PDT Official say 20 dead and 70 injured as videos on Mexican television and social media showed the overpass falling on to cars below A rescue operation was under way after a Mexico City metro overpass partially collapsed on Monday night. At least 20 people died in the incident and about 70 were injured, civil protection authorities in Mexico said. Videos on Mexican television and social media showed train cars hanging in mid-air as sirens blared nearby. Footage on Milenio TV showed the overpass collapsing on to cars on a road below. Continue reading... |
| Amazon had sales income of €44bn in Europe in 2020 but paid no corporation tax Posted: 03 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Despite lockdown surge the firm's Luxembourg unit made a €1.2bn loss and therefore paid zero corporation tax Fresh questions have been raised over Amazon's tax planning after its latest corporate filings in Luxembourg revealed that the company collected record sales income of €44bn (£38bn) in Europe last year but did not have to pay any corporation tax to the Grand Duchy. Accounts for Amazon EU Sarl, through which it sells products to hundreds of millions of households in the UK and across Europe, show that despite collecting record income, the Luxembourg unit made a €1.2bn loss and therefore paid no tax. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 04 May 2021 02:19 AM PDT India records 357,229 new daily cases and 3,449 deaths; IPL cricket tournament postponed; Nepal appeals for AstraZeneca doses to fulfil vaccine programme
Recent data on Covid deaths and rates of infection in the UK are "very encouraging", and though a third wave of infections was possible in late summer it was unlikely to overwhelm the NHS, the leading epidemiologist Neil Ferguson has said. Prof Ferguson, of Imperial College London who advises the government, said he was "feeling fairly optimistic that we will be not completely back to normal, but something which feels a lot more normal by the summer". Related: Covid infection rates in UK 'very encouraging', says Neil Ferguson
Health experts worry that public scepticism about taking the relatively small number of doses African countries have battled to procure could prolong the pandemic on the continent. Experts say a combination of warnings about possible rare blood clots, the rubbishing of vaccines by some leaders and mixed messages over expiry dates have all contributed to the slow rollout across the continent. |
| Chinese man seeking ‘freedom and equality’ says he travelled to Taiwan in dinghy Posted: 03 May 2021 10:09 PM PDT The man told police he arrived in a 2.6m rubber dinghy he bought online A Chinese man seeking "freedom and equality" has said he travelled undetected to Taiwan in a dinghy through the heavily patrolled Taiwan strait, according to authorities. Taichung Port police officers detained the man, surnamed Zhou, after they received reports of a man behaving suspiciously near the docks. A police spokesperson said Zhou told officers he had travelled from Quanzhou in Fujian province, in a 2.6m long rubber dinghy he'd bought online, powered by an outboard motor. Continue reading... |
| Vital soil organisms being harmed by pesticides, study shows Posted: 03 May 2021 09:00 PM PDT The tiny creatures are the 'unsung heroes' that keep soils healthy and underpin all life on land Pesticides are causing widespread damage to the tiny creatures that keep soils healthy and underpin all life on land, according to the first comprehensive review of the issue. The researchers found the measured impacts of farm chemicals on earthworms, beetles, springtails and other organisms were overwhelmingly negative. Other scientists said the findings were alarming, given the importance of these "unsung heroes". Continue reading... |
| Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce after 27 years of marriage Posted: 03 May 2021 11:18 PM PDT Pair say in statement 'we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple' but will continue to run foundation together Bill and Melinda Gates have announced they are to divorce after 27 years of marriage, saying they "no longer believe we can grow together as a couple". The Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist and his wife have built up a combined $124bn (£89bn) fortune, making them among the five richest couples in the world. Continue reading... |
| Biden raises US refugee admissions cap to 62,500 after delay sparks anger Posted: 03 May 2021 03:47 PM PDT President said last month he would leave Trump-era figure of 15,000 in place this year Joe Biden has formally raised the US cap on refugee admissions to 62,500 this year, weeks after facing bipartisan blowback for his delay in replacing the record-low ceiling set by Donald Trump. Refugee resettlement agencies have waited for Biden to quadruple the number of refugees allowed into the United States this year since 12 February, when a presidential proposal was submitted to Congress saying he planned to do so. Continue reading... |
| ‘Out-of-control’ Chinese rocket falling to Earth could partially survive re-entry Posted: 03 May 2021 07:55 PM PDT Long March 5B is doing 27,600km/h in failing orbit, with eventual crash site unknown, after launching space station hub Part of a huge rocket that launched China's first module for its Tianhe space station is falling back to Earth and could make an uncontrolled re-entry at an unknown landing point. The 30-metre high core of the Long March 5B rocket launched the "Heavenly Harmony" unmanned core module into low Earth orbit on 29 April from Wenchang in China's Hainan province. Continue reading... |
| Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex trafficking trial postponed until autumn at her request Posted: 03 May 2021 04:20 PM PDT Judge agrees to delay amid new charges and planning difficulties related to coronavirus A US judge has granted Ghislaine Maxwell's request to delay her trial on charges she procured teenage girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse, saying the trial will begin in the fall. The US district judge Alison Nathan in Manhattan said on Monday that a "short" postponement of the scheduled 12 July trial was appropriate because federal prosecutors had added new charges to the case, and Covid-19 protocols had made trial preparation harder. Continue reading... |
| ‘Gamechanger’: Uganda launches drone delivering HIV drugs to remote islands Posted: 03 May 2021 11:15 PM PDT Technology could ensure critical medicines reach Lake Victoria communities with country's highest prevalence of HIV/Aids As the bottles of medication are carefully loaded into the body of the drone, a small crowd gathers to watch on the other side of the yellow tape marking out the grassy landing strip. With a gentle buzz the drone rises, a little uncertainly, into the sky, on its 1.5-metre wings. The precious cargo leaving Bufumira health centre III, in Uganda's Kalangala district, is critical drugs for people living in some of the most far-flung communities in the region. Kalangala is made up of 84 islands in Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake, which Uganda shares with Tanzania and Kenya. Continue reading... |
| Baby born on plane that happened to be carrying doctor and neonatal nurses Posted: 03 May 2021 05:40 PM PDT Woman only 29 weeks pregnant delivers son on flight between Salt Lake City and Honolulu after appeal for a doctor on board A woman who went into labour prematurely on a plane was fortunate to have chosen a flight with some highly qualified fellow passengers. Lavinia "Lavi" Mounga was travelling from Salt Lake City to Hawaii on 28 April for a family holiday when she went into labour at 29 weeks with her son, Raymond. Continue reading... |
| Covid vaccine rollout rapidly gathering pace across Europe Posted: 03 May 2021 07:55 AM PDT EU now confident that supply – the biggest problem in early months of year – should not be an obstacle to further acceleration The restaurant and cafe terraces spilling out into the streets of the pretty Dutch medieval town of Sluis were teeming over the weekend with smiling people clinking glasses under the spring sun. The Netherlands reopened alfresco hospitality last Wednesday and Belgians, ignoring official advice, had driven a short distance across the border in huge numbers to enjoy their neighbour's freedom over the long Labour day weekend. "We could have filled 400 tables," said an apologetic waiter at the Resto de Eetboetiek, as he turned away the latest family arriving without a reservation. Continue reading... |
| Hospital staff in Toronto deal with Covid crisis – in pictures Posted: 03 May 2021 11:30 PM PDT Ontario is now the centre of the outbreak in Canada, led by more virulent variants. The latest surge in the number of cases was so big that authorities this week despatched the military and the Red Cross to help care for critical patients Continue reading... |
| Cuba hopes to become smallest country to develop Covid vaccines Posted: 04 May 2021 01:30 AM PDT Island hit by biggest economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union has two vaccines in phase three clinical trials Hit by the double whammy of US sanctions and a pandemic, Cuba is going through its gravest economic crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Pharmacy shelves are barren. People queue for hours to buy chicken. It's hard to find bread. And yet this island under siege could become the smallest country in the world to develop its own coronavirus vaccines. Of the 27 coronavirus vaccines in final stage testing around the world, two are Cuban. Continue reading... |
| UK likely to give green light for travel to fewer than 10 EU countries Posted: 03 May 2021 09:45 AM PDT Traffic light system to be used cautiously despite European plan to let in Covid-vaccinated tourists from June Britons' summer holiday plans were given a major boost on Monday, as the EU confirmed vaccinated travellers will be able to fly to Europe from June, though it's understood the UK could give the green light to travel to fewer than 10 countries. The changing quarantine requirements for popular holiday destinations looks set to make 2021 the year of the last-minute booking. Continue reading... |
| Escape to glory: the intoxicating myth of boxing as ‘a way out’ Posted: 03 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT My Irish father felt a kind of kinship with the black British boxers of the 1980s and 90s. Boxing, like the world of work my father was in, was overseen by self-serving men getting rich off the work of first- and second-generation immigrants When I think of him in my childhood, my father is an evening man: impatient, loud, sporadically gentle. His days were spent outside, in this period uncertainly so, at the disposal of mostly unscrupulous subcontractors, corrupt and flagrantly benevolent to a gang of favourites of which he was never a member. The little I knew about what he did was put together piecemeal, in private. It was rarely discussed, aside from the odd overheard complaint about poor treatment, docked pay, being cleaned out by this latest bunch of cowboys. On the rare evenings when he returned late, his hair plastered to his head with sweat, his face was a red light meaning "don't ask". Nor did many of his colleagues make appearances at home. The only one I can recall now is Peter, site partner from a time spoken of in more glowing terms – a few years in the late 1970s spent working for a man named Gavin. This might have been a forename or surname, especially with my father's Irish pronunciation, an accent I'd come to think of as unreliable, its vowels beyond transcription. Through the tangled cross-connections of the Irish in our patches of north London – Enfield, Edmonton, Tottenham – Peter was married to a friend of my mother's, or at least a fellow traveller from the school gates. I gathered he was possessed of an extraordinary work rate, partly because he was often late on Saturday evenings to pick up his wife and son from our house in between cab fares, his weekend evenings spent on the meter after a six-day concreting job. There were mentions of occasional run-ins with customers – bad luck to them – and something that passed into family myth, and is surely exaggerated in my memory: his falling 30ft to the ground from a scaffolding and walking out of the hospital hours later, affronted by the lost time. Continue reading... |
| Melting ice reveals first world war relics in Italian Alps Posted: 03 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT Accelerating retreat of glaciers in Lombardy and Trentino Alto-Aldige reveals preserved history of 'White War' The soldiers dug the wooden barracks into a cave on the top of Mount Scorluzzo, a 3,095-metre (10154ft) peak overlooking the Stelvio pass. For the next three-and-a-half years, the cramped, humid space was home to about 20 men from the Austro-Hungarian army as they fought against Italian troops in what became known as the White War, a battle waged across treacherous and bitterly cold Alpine terrain during the first world war. Fought mainly in the Alps of the Lombardy region of Italy and the Dolomites in Trentino Alto-Adige, the White War was a period of history frozen in time until the 1990s, when global warming started to reveal an assortment of perfectly preserved relics – weapons, sledges, letters, diaries and, as the retreat of glaciers hastened, the bodies of soldiers. Continue reading... |
| Beyoncé looked glorious on my magazine cover. ‘Are you going to lighten her skin?’ my boss asked Posted: 03 May 2021 10:30 AM PDT Being urged to retouch then re-retouch the singer's photo left Justine Cullen shaken. In this extract from her new book she recalls the 'cookie cutter' cycle her industry was trapped in I stood and knocked tentatively on my publisher's office door, holding a printout of my latest cover gingerly in my fingertips. The cover I held in my sweaty hands this time was Beyoncé, and she looked … well, she looked like Beyoncé. She looked perfect. The publisher held the cover in her hands and looked at it approvingly. "It's wonderful," she said, nodding. I gave a relieved little sigh and turned to leave the room. But, just as I got to the door, she glanced back up from her computer screen and piped up, nonchalantly, as though having an afterthought: "Are you going to make her skin a little lighter?" Continue reading... |
| ‘Decades ahead of his time’: history catches up with visionary Jimmy Carter Posted: 03 May 2021 06:39 AM PDT A new film rejects the popular narrative and recasts the former president, 96, as hugely prescient thinker, particularly on climate change When I reach Jimmy Carter's grandson by Zoom, he answers wearing a Raphael Warnock campaign T-shirt. Jason Carter is a lawyer and politician himself, mid-40s, animated and well-read, with blue eyes reminiscent of his grandfather's. He's just got off the phone with his 93-year-old grandmother, Rosalynn. It's a special day; Joe Biden is on his way to the Carter house in Plains, Georgia. "My grandfather has met nearly everyone in the world he might want to," Jason Carter says. "Right now, he's meeting with the president of the United States. But the person he'd say he learned the most from was Rachel Clark, an illiterate sharecropper who lived on his family's farm. Continue reading... |
| ‘Jaws at 35,000 feet’: the flight attendant whose thriller debut sold for seven figures Posted: 03 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT TJ Newman dreamt up her terror-in-the-skies novel Falling while guarding the cockpit as the pilots took a toilet break. She reveals how she kept going through furlough and 41 rejections Flight attendant Torri Newman was working on the red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York when the idea for her debut novel came to her. To be precise, she was blocking access to the cockpit, a security procedure required when pilots take a toilet break. "I was standing at the front of the airplane," she says, "looking out at the passengers. It was dark and they were all asleep. And I had this thought, 'All of their lives, our lives, are in the hands of the pilots.' That's not exactly new – but the flipside of that also came to mind. With that much power and responsibility, how vulnerable does that make a commercial pilot?" Newman, speaking via Zoom from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, was rattled. "I just couldn't shake the thought. A few days later, I was working a different trip with a different set of pilots, and I said to the captain, 'Hey, what would you do if your family was taken, and you were told that if you didn't crash the plane, they would be killed?" What was his reaction? "He had no clue what he would do – the thought terrified him." Continue reading... |
| Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez: ‘This is the reality of my life. No boxing, no life’ Posted: 03 May 2021 01:00 PM PDT The Mexican fighter talks exclusively about his upcoming bout with Billy Joe Saunders, childhood bullies and the pitfalls of fame "I love this," Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez says as he looks around the scattered debris of his gym in San Diego. His intense gaze scans the heavy bags and speed balls, the hand wraps and water bottles, the gloves and head guards, with an empty ring at its very heart. It's just after 10 in the morning and the familiar clatter and din of his training camp has already begun for the day. Álvarez, the best boxer in the world, turns back to my Zoom screen and then, leaning forward, he speaks in Spanish with surprising ardour for a 30-year-old fighter who has been boxing professionally for more than half his life: "I love it. I'm always motivated because I love boxing." It's strangely moving as we reach the core of a rare one-to-one interview with Álvarez and he switches back to English to say two simple yet compelling sentences. "This is the reality of my life. No boxing, no life." Continue reading... |
| New 150-mile Cornish cycle route to open in the autumn Posted: 03 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT West Kernow Way begins and ends in Penzance and has been developed by Cycling UK A new Cornish cycling route that takes in some of the UK's most spectacular coastal scenery as well as atmospheric old industrial works and bronze age monuments is due to open in the autumn. Called the West Kernow Way, the 150-mile route begins and ends in Penzance and is designed to take four days to complete. Continue reading... |
| Hopes raised for two Americans jailed in Tehran being freed Posted: 03 May 2021 06:08 AM PDT Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi moved to cells where previously prisoners were held before release Two high profile American-Iranian dual nationals detained in Tehran have been moved to a new location inside Evin prison in a procedure that has previously led to the release of detainees, according to sources inside the jail. The moves could add credence to Iranian media reports at the weekend that a prisoner swap involving four unidentified detainees might be, or had been, imminent. Continue reading... |
| ‘Your mouth becomes a minefield’: the Americans who can’t afford the dentist Posted: 04 May 2021 02:00 AM PDT Pandemic job cuts have meant many people have no insurance to pay for dental work – and the poorest are hardest hit Maureen Haley, 66, lost her home in Florida in the wake of the 2008 recession. She now lives in a camper near Greensboro, North Carolina, relying on social security and Medicare to make ends meet and pay for healthcare. But Haley has problems with her teeth, and cannot afford to see a dentist to have them fixed. Continue reading... |
| Mexico City metro overpass collapses – in pictures Posted: 04 May 2021 01:52 AM PDT An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard on Monday night, killing at least 20 people and injuring about 70, city officials said Continue reading... |
| Australian government urged to press Saudis to reveal whereabouts of extradited citizen Posted: 04 May 2021 02:33 AM PDT Fresh doubts have been raised over an alleged criminal case in Saudi Arabia against Osama al-Hasani Saudi Arabian authorities must urgently reveal the location of the Australian citizen who was extradited to the country, human rights advocates say, amid fresh doubts over the alleged criminal case against him. Osama al-Hasani, 42, was transferred from Morocco to Saudi Arabia at 2.45am on 13 March, just hours after United Nations officials sent an urgent letter asking authorities not to deport him over fears he would face torture there, according to Human Rights Watch. Continue reading... |
| Colombia braces for further unrest after police react violently to mass protests Posted: 03 May 2021 01:06 PM PDT At least 16 demonstrators and one officer dead after police fired at protesters and rammed crowds with motorcycles Colombia is bracing for further unrest after a weekend in which largely peaceful nationwide demonstrations were met with a violent police reaction which left at least 16 demonstrators and one police officer dead and hundreds injured. Videos shared on social media over the weekend showed police firing at protesters sometimes from close range, ramming crowds with motorcycles, and bashing demonstrators with their shields. Continue reading... |
| Zimdancehall dreams: the back yard studios helping Harare get heard Posted: 03 May 2021 03:11 AM PDT Infectious hits produced on a shoestring allow Zimbabwe's aspiring musicians to express their struggles and dream big Inside a grimy flat in Mbare, Zimbabwe's oldest township in the capital Harare, about 10 young musicians nervously rehearse their lyrical chants as they wait to be called into the recording booth. Many celebrated musicians in Zimbabwe have been born out of this old flat. For those here now, this is their one shot at stardom, or at least a future in music. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 03 May 2021 01:00 PM PDT Our country has already set examples on issues like women's suffrage and anti-nuclear policy. It can do the same again Aotearoa New Zealand is a pretty good place to live – if you're human, that is. If you happen to be a non-human animal, chances are you're not doing very well. Inhumane treatment of animals is widespread. It is routinely used in farming (the dairy industry is among the worst perpetrators, as forced pregnancies, separation of calves from their mothers, and slaughter are routine practices); conservation (poison and traps are commonly used to control "pests"); scientific research (430,000 animals were used or bred for experiments last year); and entertainment (such as horse racing and rodeo). Continue reading... |
| Mexico City metro overpass carrying train carriages collapses – video Posted: 04 May 2021 12:03 AM PDT A rescue operation was under way after a Mexico City metro overpass partially collapsed on Monday night. More than a dozen people died in the incident and about 70 were injured, civil protection authorities in Mexico said. Videos on Mexican television and social media showed train cars hanging in mid-air as sirens blared nearby after the overpass fell on to cars on a road below. Emergency medical crews and firefighters were at the scene of the accident combing through wreckage looking for survivors Continue reading... |
| Joe Biden: time for corporations and richest Americans to 'start paying their fair share' – video Posted: 03 May 2021 11:46 AM PDT The US president, Joe Biden, has said it is time for corporations and the richest Americans to 'start paying their fair share' as he pitched his $4tn infrastructure and welfare plans at an event in Virginia. Speaking at a community college in Norfolk, Biden made the case for increasing taxes on the wealthiest in the US to fund his $1.8tn American families plan and $2tn infrastructure plan. The packages would provide funds for childcare, invest in free universal pre-schooling and rebuild America's transport and public housing. 'I think it's about time we started giving tax breaks and tax benefits to working class families and middle class families, instead of just the very wealthy,' Biden said. Continue reading... |
| 'V is for victory over Covid!': Singapore goes disco in latest vaccination message – video Posted: 02 May 2021 11:10 PM PDT The city state was recently crowned the best place to be in the pandemic, and reported an average of seven daily cases last week. But its latest public health video - an infectious pop song starring comedian Gurmit Singh as his much-loved character Phua Chu Kang, an eccentric contractor - warns the public not to be complacent. Continue reading... |
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