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- Tokyo 2020 Olympics: cycling, diving, basketball and more – live!
- Greece fires: 150 houses destroyed by wildfires as monks refuse to leave stricken island
- UK musicians to be able to tour visa-free in 19 EU countries
- Toxic cat food fear as UK vets struggle with mysterious illness
- Israel launches airstrikes in Lebanon in response to rockets
- Mexico sues US gunmakers in unprecedented bid to stop weapons crossing border
- Meghan and Prince Harry discussed moving to New Zealand in 2018, governor general says
- Cargo bikes deliver faster and cleaner than vans, study finds
- Gaza conflict led to record rise in UK antisemitic attacks, charity says
- Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts likely to miss US tour to recover from procedure
- Coronavirus live news: Japan experts urge nationwide state of emergency as Sydney suffers worst pandemic day
- NSW Covid update: Sydney suffers worst day of pandemic with 262 cases and five deaths as Delta spreads north
- US disputes WHO call to delay Covid booster shots to help poorer nations
- ‘They thought Covid only kills white people’: myths and fear hinder jabs in DRC
- Love, courage and solidarity: 20 essential lessons young athletes taught us this summer
- The last humanist: how Paul Gilroy became the most vital guide to our age of crisis
- Fleeing the Taliban: Afghans met with rising anti-refugee hostility in Turkey
- Kitchen nightmares: do we need more celebrity cooking shows?
- Top Republicans move to protect Trump from Capitol attack fallout
- ‘The best summer of my life’ – Kae Tempest takes Sophocles on a gender odyssey
- Two adults and teenager charged after boy’s body found in south Wales river
- ‘The Pied Piper leading us off a cliff’: Florida governor condemned as Covid surges
- Indonesia Covid deaths pass 100,000 as Delta overwhelms hospitals
- Australia Covid live news update: Victoria to go into seven-day lockdown; law change affects Australians living overseas
- ‘No sense of safety’: how the Beirut blast created a mental health crisis
- Colombian top general Mario Montoya faces murder charges in ‘false positives’ scandal
- The Delta variant and ‘breakthrough’ infections: should Americans be worried?
- Vaccine passports look inevitable, so what rights do New Zealanders have? | Claire Breen
- New Zealand farmers have avoided regulation for decades. Now their bill has come due | Baz Macdonald
- With Delta variant spreading is China ‘zero tolerance’ approach over?
- Beirut blast: protests mark one year since deadly port explosion – video report
- Greece: thousands of residents flee as wildfires reach outskirts of Athens – video
| Tokyo 2020 Olympics: cycling, diving, basketball and more – live! Posted: 05 Aug 2021 02:01 AM PDT
Cycling: Brilliant, dominant ride from the Dutch rider, with Ellesse Andrews of New Zealand snatching silver and Canada's Lauriane Genest taking bronze.
Time for a roundup of some of today's main developments: Britain's 4x100m women have set a national record in their heat, with Dina Asher-Smith targeting redemption for her individual sprint disappointments. The men have a glimpse of a medal too, advancing in second behind Jamaica as the USA crashed out. Continue reading... |
| Greece fires: 150 houses destroyed by wildfires as monks refuse to leave stricken island Posted: 04 Aug 2021 06:40 PM PDT Villages on Evia are evacuated as blaze rages across the island, and fires also threaten suburbs of Athens and historic Olympia At least 150 houses have been destroyed by a raging fire that surrounded a monastery and a dozen villages on the Greek island of Evia, one of over 100 blazes burning in the country. Firefighters were also continuing to battle a blaze near Athens on Thursday morning, while the mayor of Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, pleaded for help as flames threatened the site. Continue reading... |
| UK musicians to be able to tour visa-free in 19 EU countries Posted: 05 Aug 2021 12:00 AM PDT UK government says talks with other countries ongoing, after fears artists would incur huge fees post-Brexit UK musicians and performers will be able to tour in a number of European countries without the need for a visa or work permit, the government has announced. Rules that came into force at the beginning of the year do not guarantee visa-free travel for musicians in the EU and have prompted fears that touring artists will incur large fees in many of the countries they visit. Continue reading... |
| Toxic cat food fear as UK vets struggle with mysterious illness Posted: 04 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT As cases of blood condition pancytopenia persist, investigators suggest food fungi could be to blame Cats are still dying in significant numbers from a mystery illness that investigators believe may be linked to widely sold cat food brands, prompting concern that not enough is being done to warn owners about a nationwide product recall. Vets around the UK are understood to have been swamped by cases of pancytopenia, a condition in which the number of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets decreases rapidly, causing serious illness. Continue reading... |
| Israel launches airstrikes in Lebanon in response to rockets Posted: 05 Aug 2021 12:54 AM PDT Israeli military says jets struck rocket launch sites, in a marked escalation of hostilities Israel escalated its response to rocket attacks this week by launching airstrikes on Lebanon, the Israeli military has said. The military said in a statement that jets struck the launch sites from which rockets had been fired over the previous day, as well as an additional target used to attack Israel in the past. Several militant groups operate in Lebanon but none claimed responsibility. Continue reading... |
| Mexico sues US gunmakers in unprecedented bid to stop weapons crossing border Posted: 04 Aug 2021 01:42 PM PDT
The Mexican government has launched legal action against US gunmakers in an unprecedented attempt to halt the flow of guns across the border, where US-made weapons are routinely used in cartel gun-battles, terror attacks on civilians – and increasingly to challenge the state itself. The Mexican government is suing six gunmakers in a Massachusetts court, alleging negligence in their failure to control their distributors and that the illegal market in Mexico "has been their economic lifeblood". Continue reading... |
| Meghan and Prince Harry discussed moving to New Zealand in 2018, governor general says Posted: 04 Aug 2021 06:24 PM PDT Patsy Reddy says couple said they could 'imagine living in a place like this' during their visit The Queen's representative in New Zealand has said Prince Harry and Meghan discussed moving to the South Pacific country during their 2018 visit, more than a year before the couple stepped back from royal duties and moved to the US. Governor general Patsy Reddy said: "I remember they'd just been down to the Abel Tasman national park when we sat down and had a drink, and they said that they could imagine living in a place like this and wondered whether we thought it would be theoretically possible. Even possible for them to have a place in New Zealand. Continue reading... |
| Cargo bikes deliver faster and cleaner than vans, study finds Posted: 04 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT Home deliveries are soaring and cargo bikes cut congestion and pollution in cities, researchers say Electric cargo bikes deliver about 60% faster than vans in city centres, according to a study. It found that bikes had a higher average speed and dropped off 10 parcels an hour, compared with six for vans. The bikes also cut carbon emissions by 90% compared with diesel vans, and by a third compared with electric vans, the report said. Air pollution, which is still at illegal levels in many urban areas, was also significantly reduced. Continue reading... |
| Gaza conflict led to record rise in UK antisemitic attacks, charity says Posted: 04 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT Community Security Trust recorded 639 incidents in May, 49% of the total for the first half of 2021 A charity that monitors antisemitism and provides security for British Jewish groups has said the Gaza conflict that broke out in May resulted in its highest recording of anti-Jewish hate incidents. The Community Security Trust (CST) recorded 1,308 such incidents nationwide between January and June 2021, a 49% increase on the same period in 2020 and the highest recorded in the first half of a year. Continue reading... |
| Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts likely to miss US tour to recover from procedure Posted: 04 Aug 2021 07:56 PM PDT A statement said the 80-year-old drummer accepted he needed more time to recuperate from unspecified medical issue Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts appears likely to miss the band's upcoming US tour to allow him to recover from an unspecified medical procedure. A spokesperson for the musician said on Wednesday night that the procedure was "completely successful" but that the 80-year-old drummer needed time to recuperate. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 05 Aug 2021 02:05 AM PDT Advisers to government in Tokyo say Covid surge requires harsher measures, while Australian state of NSW announces 262 new cases
The Covid-19 death rate for people in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta who were not vaccinated was more than three times higher than those who were, according to new health ministry data. The mortality rate of those who were not vaccinated was 15.5% compared with 4.1% for those who had received two shots of either the Sinovac or AstraZeneca vaccine, according to data from state hospitals and almost 68,000 patients in Jakarta from May to July.
The Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi has slammed the government's decision to keep Pakistan on the red list as "clear and blatant discrimination". In a thread on Twitter, the Bolton South East MP claimed the decision to leave Pakistan on the red list – while moving India and Qatar to amber – was penalising the country "in favour of potential economic benefit". Despite Pakistan not having any variants of concern, it remains on the red list. India, where the Delta variant originated, is now amber. Despite Pakistan not having any variants of concern, it remains on the red list. I have constituents unable to return to university, to see family or attend funerals. This has been the case for months. I have constituents unable to return to university, to see family or attend funerals. This has been the case for months. |
| Posted: 04 Aug 2021 10:27 PM PDT Beach party in Newcastle triggers snap lockdown in Hunter and Upper Hunter, while virus found in sewage puts Armidale and Dubbo on high alert
A beach party in Newcastle attended by young people from western Sydney has triggered a snap lockdown in eight regional local government areas as New South Wales authorities worry that the Delta variant of Covid is now spreading in the regions. NSW recorded 262 coronavirus cases and five deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm Wednesday – its worst day so far in the pandemic. At least 72 cases were in the community for all or part of their infectious period. Continue reading... |
| US disputes WHO call to delay Covid booster shots to help poorer nations Posted: 04 Aug 2021 05:26 PM PDT The World Health Organization wants a moratorium on booster shots in order to vaccinate at least 10% of the world by September The United States has disputed calls by the UN health agency to delay Covid-19 vaccine booster shots, as poorer countries battle with severe supply shortages and rising outbreaks of the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday said halting booster shots until at least the end of September would help ease the drastic inequity in vaccine distribution between rich and poor nations. Continue reading... |
| ‘They thought Covid only kills white people’: myths and fear hinder jabs in DRC Posted: 04 Aug 2021 11:00 PM PDT Mutant strain may emerge amid vaccine hesitancy, experts say, as even medics reject jabs in DR Congo Dr Christian Mayala and Dr Rodin Nzembuni Nduku sit together on a bench outside the Covid ward at Kinshasa's Mama Yemo hospital. They are discussing the health of their father, Noel Kalouda, who contracted coronavirus weeks before, and is now lying in a hospital bed, breathing through an oxygen mask. Continue reading... |
| Love, courage and solidarity: 20 essential lessons young athletes taught us this summer Posted: 04 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT Marcus Rashford, Naomi Osaka, Simone Biles and Tom Daley – from the Euros to Wimbledon to the Olympics, this season's biggest stars have shown success is about much more than trophies The Olympics are racing towards the finishing line; the Euros gave us euphoria and heartbreak; and Wimbledon revealed that the true hero on Centre Court was not an Adonis in crisp tennis whites, but rather a middle-aged vaccine researcher. More than anything, though, this summer has thrown a spotlight on the inspiring and surprising strength and character of young people like never before. We have watched elite athletes behave with the sort of dignity and respect that world leaders would do well to emulate. They have competed under intense global scrutiny at the highest levels and never lost sight of the fact that how you behave matters more than the goals you score or the aces you serve. Here are 20 things we learned about youth politics and culture from an astonishing summer of sport. Continue reading... |
| The last humanist: how Paul Gilroy became the most vital guide to our age of crisis Posted: 04 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT One of Britain's most influential scholars has spent a lifetime trying to convince people to take race and racism seriously. Are we finally ready to listen? In 2000, the race equality thinktank the Runnymede Trust published a report about the "future of multi-ethnic Britain". Launched by the Labour home secretary Jack Straw, it proposed ways to counter racial discrimination and rethink British identity. The report was nuanced and scholarly, the result of two years' deliberation. It was honest about Britain's racial inequalities and the legacy of empire, but also offered hope. It made the case for formally declaring the UK a multicultural society. The newspapers tore it to pieces. The Daily Telegraph ran a front-page article: "Straw wants to rewrite our history: 'British' is a racist word, says report." The Sun and the Daily Mail joined in. The line was clear – a clique of leftwing academics, in cahoots with the government, wanted to make ordinary people feel ashamed of their country. In the Telegraph, Boris Johnson, then editor of the Spectator magazine, wrote that the report represented "a war over culture, which our side could lose". Spooked by the intensity of the reaction, Straw distanced himself from any further debate about Britishness, recommending in his speech at the report's launch that the left swallow some patriotic tonic. Continue reading... |
| Fleeing the Taliban: Afghans met with rising anti-refugee hostility in Turkey Posted: 04 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT As violence causes a fresh wave of desperate journeys, populist politicians claim their country has become a 'dumping ground' It was a journey that had taken weeks, and there were times when the 65-year-old Afghan widow, who walks with the aid of a stick, had to be carried by her son. Their trek, across 15 canyons she says, left Durdana with badly scarred feet. "I have not had a day of peace in over 40 years. I had to come to Turkey, there was no choice." Continue reading... |
| Kitchen nightmares: do we need more celebrity cooking shows? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 11:33 PM PDT The release of Paris Hilton's Netflix series where she semi-cooks semi-dishes is the latest in an increasing trend of stars spending more time in the kitchen To state the obvious, nobody is going to watch Cooking With Paris to sharpen their culinary skills. The new Netflix series piggybacks on last year's bizarre, almost Lynchian YouTube video where Paris Hilton cooked what can only be described an anti-lasagne, and stretches it out to a painful degree. In episode one, Hilton attempts to make marshmallows for Kim Kardashian and grunts with disgust when they make a mess of her lace gloves. In episode two, Hilton takes time out from making a funfetti flan to pose in the photo booth she installed in her living room. If you hang around long enough to find out what happens in episode three, you're a braver soul than me. Related: Cooking With Paris review – Hilton in the kitchen? Prepare to have your mind blown Continue reading... |
| Top Republicans move to protect Trump from Capitol attack fallout Posted: 04 Aug 2021 11:00 PM PDT Some party leaders blamed the former president in the charged moments after the insurrection – but are now embarking on a campaign of revisionism Top Republicans in Congress are embarking on a new campaign of revisionism seven months after the attack on the Capitol, absolving Donald Trump of responsibility and blaming the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, for the 6 January insurrection perpetrated by a mob of Trump supporters. Related: A Trump bombshell quietly dropped last week. And it should shock us all | Robert Reich Continue reading... |
| ‘The best summer of my life’ – Kae Tempest takes Sophocles on a gender odyssey Posted: 04 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT The writer has turned a Greek tragedy about a marooned soldier into an all-women play for the Covid era. They reveal how its creation mirrored their own journey 'These stories can be intimidating for so many reasons," Kae Tempest says of the classical Greek tragedies. "But more than that, they are galvanising. They give you something that was important thousands of years ago that lands you more fully in the now. They have this roaring effect, where we've brought the past with us." Tempest, who uses they/them pronouns, is a revelatory writer and performer, seamlessly blending the ancient and the new. Much of their work is steeped in the history and magic of Greek myths, from the Ted Hughes award-winning Brand New Ancients, which places the gods alongside us modern mortals, to the hypnotic, flesh-filled poetry collection Hold Your Own, based on the story of gender-switching prophet Tiresias. Continue reading... |
| Two adults and teenager charged after boy’s body found in south Wales river Posted: 04 Aug 2021 11:17 PM PDT Charges laid over the death of five-year-old Logan Mwangi, who was found dead in a river in Bridgend last week Police have charged two adults and a 13-year-old boy over the death of five-year-old Logan Mwangi, who was found dead in a river in south Wales last week. John Cole, 39, of Sarn, Bridgend, has been charged with murder, South Wales police said. Continue reading... |
| ‘The Pied Piper leading us off a cliff’: Florida governor condemned as Covid surges Posted: 05 Aug 2021 02:00 AM PDT Ron DeSantis's desire to keep state open amid Delta surge draws criticism from local leaders to the White House Florida governor Ron DeSantis earned a new moniker this week as the resurgent coronavirus continued to wreak havoc on his state: the "Pied Piper of Covid-19, leading everybody off a cliff." The stark assessment of the Republican politician from Dan Gelber, the mayor of Miami Beach, came as Florida continued to set records for new cases and hospitalizations, saw worrying surges in both deaths and rates of positivity, and led the nation in pediatric Covid admissions. Continue reading... |
| Indonesia Covid deaths pass 100,000 as Delta overwhelms hospitals Posted: 05 Aug 2021 02:04 AM PDT Frustrations with government response and anti-vaxxers as country struggles to cope with variant Indonesia's health ministry has recorded 1,747 new deaths of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, pushing the nation's total deaths to 100,636. The south-east Asian country has been struggling to cope with the highly contagious Delta variant since it was first discovered in Indonesia in late June. According to Our World in Data, Indonesia's total number of infections has now reached 3.53 million. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 05 Aug 2021 01:59 AM PDT Hunter and upper Hunter in lockdown from 5pm as NSW records 262 Covid cases and five deaths; Queensland confirms 16 new cases; Scott Morrison gives Closing the Gap statement; Victoria records six new local cases. Plus question time. Follow all the day's news
We'll leave it there after a very busy day. Before that, here are today's main developments.
Newcastle and Hunter residents who had their Covid vaccine appointments cancelled so doses could be redirected to school students in Sydney are furious as they are left unvaccinated and in lockdown as the virus spreads to their region. Elias Visontay has more. Continue reading... |
| ‘No sense of safety’: how the Beirut blast created a mental health crisis Posted: 04 Aug 2021 06:35 AM PDT A year on from the devastating explosion, people are struggling to sleep and PTSD is widespread – amid economic chaos Rayan Khatoun has been dreading 4 August. She has been constantly on edge as the anniversary of the port explosion in Beirut approached. The blast threw Khatoun into a wall as she came home from work and left her with a head injury, a fractured cheekbone and torn tendons. Since then, she has suffered from recurring nightmares, insomnia and anxiety attacks. Continue reading... |
| Colombian top general Mario Montoya faces murder charges in ‘false positives’ scandal Posted: 04 Aug 2021 03:00 AM PDT Uribe's 'hero of the homeland' is alleged to have overseen the abduction and execution of up to 104 civilians – including five children Gen Mario Montoya was the star soldier who oversaw the defeat of Latin America's most powerful insurgency, a US-trained professional hailed for turning around a demoralized army and masterminding a string of brutal strikes against Colombia's leftist guerrillas. After taking command of the South American country's army in 2006, he regularly appeared on television news, the face of a modern military who even spoke the language of human rights. Continue reading... |
| The Delta variant and ‘breakthrough’ infections: should Americans be worried? Posted: 05 Aug 2021 12:30 AM PDT Experts say so-called breakthrough cases remain rare, and deaths among vaccinated people are 'effectively zero' The Delta variant caused an inflection point in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States. So-called "breakthrough" cases, or Covid-19 infections in people who have already been vaccinated, upended the understanding of whether people in America needed to continue wearing masks to prevent spreading the coronavirus. But breakthrough cases remain rare, and hospitalization and death for vaccinated people is "effectively zero" in many US states reporting this data. Continue reading... |
| Vaccine passports look inevitable, so what rights do New Zealanders have? | Claire Breen Posted: 04 Aug 2021 09:23 PM PDT Analysis: Proof of vaccination is nothing new and any requirement that people use a 'health pass' will involve balancing various rights With greater numbers of people being vaccinated and countries looking to reopen borders safely, the introduction of some form of vaccine passport seems increasingly likely. For New Zealand, where the elimination strategy has been largely successful but which remains vulnerable to border breaches, proof of vaccination may well be a condition of entry. Continue reading... |
| New Zealand farmers have avoided regulation for decades. Now their bill has come due | Baz Macdonald Posted: 04 Aug 2021 08:36 PM PDT It's true farmers are facing a lot of regulation but only after decades of fighting off smaller reforms – we need them to change In July, an estimated 60,000, mostly rural New Zealanders took to the streets to protest environmental regulations farmers say are unworkable. Angry and frustrated, they rolled into 57 towns and cities on tractors and trucks to form the country's biggest farmer protest. I grew up in rural New Zealand, and many of my family work in and around the dairy industry – so I have experienced a lot of this frustration first hand. Continue reading... |
| With Delta variant spreading is China ‘zero tolerance’ approach over? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 09:55 AM PDT Now it's clear the virus is not going away debate about what approach the country should adopt next is emerging As the highly transmissible Delta variant continues to spread across at least 17 provinces, China is facing a new dilemma: is its once-successful "zero tolerance" approach to containing the spread of the virus over, and what comes next? Unlike Britain and Singapore, where officials have explicitly encouraged people to "learn to live with the virus", China has yet to officially shift its messaging. Continue reading... |
| Beirut blast: protests mark one year since deadly port explosion – video report Posted: 04 Aug 2021 12:06 PM PDT Thousands of Lebanese people gathered in Beirut to mark the first anniversary of a catastrophic explosion at the port, holding pictures of the dead and demanding justice. No senior official has been held to account for the disaster, caused by a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate stored unsafely at the port for years. infuriating many Lebanese as their country also endures financial collapse. As a memorial service got under way at the port, water cannon and teargas were fired at protesters who had been throwing stones towards security forces near parliament Continue reading... |
| Greece: thousands of residents flee as wildfires reach outskirts of Athens – video Posted: 04 Aug 2021 02:43 AM PDT Thousands of residents in the northern outskirts of Athens have been forced to leave their homes as a forest wildfire reached residential areas. The blaze sent a huge cloud of smoke over Athens and prompted multiple evacuations near Tatoi, 13 miles to the north. It comes as Greece experiences the worst heatwave since 1987, according to local authorities. Temperatures have reached 42C in parts of the Greek capital Continue reading... |
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