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- Thousands flee Greek island as wildfires raze forest and homes
- Eight-year-old becomes youngest person charged with blasphemy in Pakistan
- Major coup for Taliban as fighters take Afghan city of Kunduz
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide resigns amid sexual harassment scandal
- Police launch investigation into Alibaba sexual assault allegations
- Woman who survived Manchester Arena bombing found dead in bedroom
- Belarus regime steps up ‘purge’ of activists and media
- Rice, rice baby: Japanese parents send relatives rice to hug in lieu of newborns
- UN condemns child marriage in Zimbabwe as girl dies after giving birth
- China’s herd of wandering elephants finally heads for home
- Manila in lockdown as Delta cases soar in Philippines
- Coronavirus live news: Wuhan finishes testing 11 million; nightclubs reopen in Scotland
- UK set to ‘hoard’ up to 210m doses of Covid vaccine, research suggests
- ‘A great blow to Uganda’: surgeon John Baptist Mukasa dies of Covid
- Alexandra Burke: ‘I got asked to bleach my skin after X Factor’
- ‘I wouldn’t be alive without it’: wild mustangs and veterans find healing together
- Rhik Samadder tries … backflipping: ‘My shorts are too tight – being upside down doesn’t help’
- Jonathan Steele: ‘I came to Russia a political correspondent and left a crime reporter’
- Unspeakable grief: breaking the silence around terminations for medical reasons
- My journey to Albania in search of Europe’s Muslim heritage
- Angkar review – sublime documentary contends with legacy of Khmer Rouge
- DezNats: religious extremists push ultra-conservative Mormon vision
- True Stories: Spaces review – impressive short docs from folk horror to a Lebanese marvel
- TGA approves Moderna vaccine – as it happened
- The infrastructure bill is being lauded as a victory for bipartisanship – but is it?
- Britain’s Covid experts Neil Ferguson Sage are under attack, but they are just doing their jobs
- Burning villages, orange skies: Greece fires – in pictures
- Sky glows red over ferry evacuating people from Greek island fire – video
- Republicans join Democrats to advance $1tn infrastructure bill – video
| Thousands flee Greek island as wildfires raze forest and homes Posted: 08 Aug 2021 10:50 AM PDT Firefighters tackle blazes on two fronts on Evia as heatwave-driven devastation across southern Europe continues Thousands of people have fled wildfires that are destroying vast swathes of pine forest and razing homes on Greece's second-largest island, Evia, as devastating summer blazes rage from southern Europe to Siberia. "We have ahead of us another difficult evening, another difficult night," Greece's deputy civil protection minister, Nikos Hardalias, said on Sunday, adding that nearly a week after the blazes started, strong winds were driving two major fire fronts in the north and south of the island. Continue reading... |
| Eight-year-old becomes youngest person charged with blasphemy in Pakistan Posted: 08 Aug 2021 09:00 PM PDT Hindu boy faces possible death penalty after being accused of intentionally urinating in a madrassa library An eight-year-old Hindu boy is being held in protective police custody in east Pakistan after becoming the youngest person ever to be charged with blasphemy in the country. The boy's family is in hiding and many of the Hindu community in the conservative district of Rahim Yar Khan, in Punjab, have fled their homes after a Muslim crowd attacked a Hindu temple after the boy's release on bail last week. Troops were deployed to the area to quell any further unrest. Continue reading... |
| Major coup for Taliban as fighters take Afghan city of Kunduz Posted: 08 Aug 2021 02:49 PM PDT Insurgent group seizes important political and military hub as pro-government forces retreat The Taliban have claimed a huge symbolic victory after their fighters seized a large city for the first time in northern Afghanistan as part of a seemingly unstoppable offensive in which they have captured five provincial capitals in just three days. Armed men swept into Kunduz on Sunday, a strategic city close to the border with Tajikistan and an important political and military hub. By mid-morning they controlled the city centre while pro-government forces retreated to the nearby airport. Residents fled as smoke from the city's burning market engulfed the sky. Continue reading... |
| New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aide resigns amid sexual harassment scandal Posted: 08 Aug 2021 10:53 PM PDT Melissa DeRosa was linked in the state attorney general's report to efforts to cover up the governor's actions and retaliate against one of his accusers A senior aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo resigned on Sunday in the wake of a state attorney general's report that the governor sexually harassed 11 women. Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor, was linked in the report to efforts to cover up the governor's actions and retaliate against one of his accusers. Continue reading... |
| Police launch investigation into Alibaba sexual assault allegations Posted: 08 Aug 2021 05:37 PM PDT Chinese e-commerce company says it is cooperating with the investigation Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has announced that it is cooperating with a police investigation into sexual assault allegations aired by a company employee. A statement on Sunday by the company said it had also had suspended "relevant parties suspected of violating our policies and values," asserting that it had a "zero-tolerance policy against sexual misconduct." Continue reading... |
| Woman who survived Manchester Arena bombing found dead in bedroom Posted: 09 Aug 2021 12:23 AM PDT Eve Aston, 20, had experienced depression and PTSD after 2017 attack at Ariana Grande concert An Ariana Grande fan who attended the Manchester Arena concert in 2017 has been found dead in her bedroom after experiencing depression and PTSD following the bombing. The parents of Eve Aston, 20, are fundraising for her funeral after her father found her dead in her bedroom in Finchfield, Wolverhampton, last month. Although the cause of her death remains unknown, the family said she had struggled with loud noises and sleeping since the concert. Continue reading... |
| Belarus regime steps up ‘purge’ of activists and media Posted: 08 Aug 2021 10:01 PM PDT Alexander Lukashenko leading 'vicious operation to eviscerate critical voices' and civil society, rights groups warn Aleysa Ivanova wakes up each morning wondering when the knock on her door will come. "You understand you can be next. Every day I wake up, I think 'maybe it'll be tomorrow, maybe today. Maybe they'll come for me this evening'," said Ivanova (not her real name). Continue reading... |
| Rice, rice baby: Japanese parents send relatives rice to hug in lieu of newborns Posted: 08 Aug 2021 03:20 PM PDT Each bag matches birth weight and features baby's face, so new arrival can be hugged in pandemic Parents in Japan are sending bags of rice that weigh the same as their newborn babies to relatives who are unable to visit them due to the pandemic. The bags come in a wide range of designs, with some shaped like a baby wrapped in a blanket so that relatives can feel as though they are hugging the new arrival while looking at a picture of their face, which is attached to the front. Continue reading... |
| UN condemns child marriage in Zimbabwe as girl dies after giving birth Posted: 08 Aug 2021 04:08 AM PDT Death of Memory Machaya, 14, who gave birth at church shrine, prompts outrage among citizens and activists The United Nations has condemned the practice of child marriage in Zimbabwe following the death of a 14-year-old girl after she gave birth at a church shrine, an incident that caused outrage among citizens and rights activists. The case has brought to the fore the practice of child marriage within Zimbabwe's apostolic churches, which also allow polygamy. Continue reading... |
| China’s herd of wandering elephants finally heads for home Posted: 08 Aug 2021 10:24 PM PDT Fourteen wild Asian elephants have been guided across the Yuanjiang river in Yunnan, and a path leading back to their nature reserve is being made After an epic 17-month journey that made international headlines, China's famous herd of wandering elephants appears to finally be heading home. The 14 Asian elephants of various sizes and ages were guided across the Yuanjiang river in Yunnan on Sunday night and a path was being made for them to return to the nature reserve in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, the Associated Press reported. Continue reading... |
| Manila in lockdown as Delta cases soar in Philippines Posted: 09 Aug 2021 02:06 AM PDT Covid death toll hits four-month high amid record case numbers in countries across south-east Asia The more aggressive Delta variant of Covid-19, detected in the Philippines in mid-July, has spread across much of the country, reaching 13 of 17 regions, health officials have said. On Sunday, the Philippines reported a sharp rise in daily Covid fatalities, with 287 deaths, the highest daily increase in four months. A further 9,671 new infections were also confirmed. Continue reading... |
| Coronavirus live news: Wuhan finishes testing 11 million; nightclubs reopen in Scotland Posted: 09 Aug 2021 01:59 AM PDT China reports 125 new cases for Sunday; Scotland nightclubs reopen for first time in over a year; Australian PM's public approval rating at pandemic low
Here's an explainer from Guardian Australia of the new Sydney and regional New South Wales coronavirus rules: Related: NSW Covid lockdown restrictions: update to Sydney and regional NSW coronavirus rules explained
The day after the 2020 Olympics came to a close, Tokyo on Monday reported 2,884 new coronavirus cases. It comes after Tokyo Olympics organisers earlier reported 28 new Games-related cases, bringing the total to 458 since 1 July. Continue reading... |
| UK set to ‘hoard’ up to 210m doses of Covid vaccine, research suggests Posted: 08 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT Exclusive: Pressure grows on government to do more to help poorer countries left 'fighting for scraps' The UK is on course to "hoard" up to 210m spare coronavirus vaccines by the end of the year, research suggests, as ministers were accused of leaving poorer countries "fighting for scraps". Pressure is growing on the government to do more to help nations where tiny proportions of their population have had a first jab given that the UK is opposing a temporary waiver to intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines that would allow more companies abroad to manufacture the doses themselves. Continue reading... |
| ‘A great blow to Uganda’: surgeon John Baptist Mukasa dies of Covid Posted: 08 Aug 2021 11:01 PM PDT One of the few neurosurgeons in the country, Mukasa declined lucrative opportunities to work overseas, dedicating himself to training a new generation and going the 'extra mile' for patients Kennedy Owuor first fell over in his hotel room in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital, before headaches followed. He initially brushed the symptoms off as a minor problem, but soon he started having difficulties speaking and moving. A trip in August 2020 to northern Uganda, as part of his duties working for the UN's food agency, had to be interrupted. He was instead driven for 12 hours to UMC Victoria hospital in Kampala. Continue reading... |
| Alexandra Burke: ‘I got asked to bleach my skin after X Factor’ Posted: 08 Aug 2021 10:00 PM PDT Her career has taken her from pop success to Strictly and the stage. She discusses the pain of racist comments, the joy of duetting with Beyoncé – and the enduring influence of her late mother Alexandra Burke has come out of the pandemic running. Since lockdown eased, the singer has taken part in a reality TV series (she can't say which) that left her with broken bones and hypothermia, acted in her first film, Pretty Red Dress, and segued to a starring role in the West End musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. What makes this surprising is that Burke describes the enforced stillness of the past year as "the best thing that ever happened to me". After 12 years of almost unstoppable hard graft since winning The X Factor, she decided to take six months out in 2020 even before lockdown was announced, after the suicide of a close friend. "I hadn't seen him in a long time and I meant to reach out to him. Instead, I was running on stage thinking I'd talk to him next week and then he was gone. My mental health was really struggling with not putting friends and family first." She took on a life coach, bubbled with her close friend and assistant Nalini, and switched to a plant-based diet. It all left her feeling fitter, happier and calmer. Continue reading... |
| ‘I wouldn’t be alive without it’: wild mustangs and veterans find healing together Posted: 09 Aug 2021 02:00 AM PDT At a stable in rural New York, traumatized soldiers and horses teach each other to leave the past behind Sierra doesn't trust humans. She is quick to jump back in fear at loud noises or sudden movements. A bright sorrel color – much like the red rocks of the desert canyons in her home state of Nevada – Sierra grew up as one of the tens of thousands of wild horses that roam 10 western states in the US. Captured from Nevada and shipped to the opposite side of the country by the Bureau of Land Management, she has never experienced human contact. Her mane is matted down, as no one has been able to groom her since she first arrived here in rural Monroe County, New York, 10 months ago. Continue reading... |
| Rhik Samadder tries … backflipping: ‘My shorts are too tight – being upside down doesn’t help’ Posted: 08 Aug 2021 11:00 PM PDT Inspired by a YouTube video and high on a dose of Olympic spirit, this week the activity is gymnastic. But will the results be fantastic? I once saw an inspirational video of a man teaching himself to backflip in a park, with a mattress behind to break his fall. He got closer and closer, but kept landing on his knees. The breakthrough moment came when he realised the 20cm mattress was taking up space. The cushion that kept him safe was also keeping him from his dream. He removed it and completed the flip. I wept. It's not about jumping, OK? It's profoundly existential. The jumping did suggest an urgent question, though: could I do a backflip? Do you have to be Superman, or one of seven lords-a-leaping? I never dared to learn. The optics of dragging a mattress into a park – especially when some people are already confused about how you earn a living – are not good. Yet, with Olympic spirit still hanging in the air, the timing is right. Continue reading... |
| Jonathan Steele: ‘I came to Russia a political correspondent and left a crime reporter’ Posted: 08 Aug 2021 11:00 PM PDT The veteran journalist, who moved to Moscow in 1988, charted the collapse of a superpower. But, he tells his successor, the Gorbachev revolution has been poisoned When Jonathan Steele moved to Moscow for the Guardian in 1988, the story of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms was getting "hotter and hotter". But with all the restrictions on foreign journalists in the Soviet Union, the question was how to report it. The sources were mainly local journalists authorised to speak to foreigners or dissidents. The phones were likely to have been bugged. You could not travel more than 25 miles out of Moscow without permission and travel plans needed to be sent to the foreign ministry in advance by Telex. "It was very annoying because you wanted to go to someplace because there was a story, but because there was a story they didn't want to give you permission," Steele recalled. Continue reading... |
| Unspeakable grief: breaking the silence around terminations for medical reasons Posted: 09 Aug 2021 02:00 AM PDT In the UK, at least 5,000 pregnancies a year are terminated after a scan for foetal anomalies. The grief and guilt of parents can endure for years - and they often feel unable to openly discuss their experience Silma and Binit had been married for two years when they found out they were expecting a "planned, unplanned" baby in December 2019. "We weren't actively trying, but we knew we wanted to have a baby the following year," says Silma, sitting in her garden in London. "So we were ecstatic. Really, really happy." Everything was normal at the 12-week scan in January, and they felt ready to tell their friends, family and colleagues. Silma is a pharmacist at a busy London hospital; Binit works in finance. Fast forward to March 2020; the day before the couple's 20-week scan was scheduled, lockdown was announced. The local hospital they had booked in with had already been badly hit by Covid admissions, as well as staff shortages as medics were redeployed or self-isolating. "It was all a bit of a panic," says Silma, "so I went in on my own, thinking – how naive it was of me to think this – I was there to find out if it was a boy or a girl. I didn't even want to know, particularly. I had just always thought that's what the 20-week scan was about." Binit, who was not allowed to accompany Silma, was waiting outside. He is a softly spoken man who says as much about his feelings with his eyes and his silences as with his voice; he is clearly still traumatised by the memory of that wait. Continue reading... |
| My journey to Albania in search of Europe’s Muslim heritage Posted: 08 Aug 2021 11:00 PM PDT In this adapted extract from his new book, Minarets in the Mountains, Tharik Hussain discovers a historic centre of Islamic learning in the country's scenic southern hills The silhouette of Gjirokastër began to emerge in the distance. This city is in the country's mountainous south, overlooked by its ancient fort, with 17th- and 18th-century stone Ottoman houses cascading down the slopes like a medieval mirage. We turned off the highway on to a road dominated by an eight-storey concrete building with pink balconies, beneath which locals sat in the sun sipping coffee on lime-coloured patio furniture. Continue reading... |
| Angkar review – sublime documentary contends with legacy of Khmer Rouge Posted: 09 Aug 2021 02:00 AM PDT Neary Adeline Hay's film follows her father back to Cambodia and the sites of appalling abuse in a painful struggle to come to terms with atrocious memories The collective trauma inflicted by the Khmer Rouge regime is so momentous that it seems to exceed whatever medium that tries to retell its stories. At the centre of the horrors is an incomprehensible level of evil that neither words nor visual arts can effectively grasp. And yet, Neary Adeline Hay's sublime Angkar, which begins in darkness and gently, achingly feels its way around the weight of this historical chapter, manages to arrive at a place of stability, and perhaps even emotional resolution. The film follows the return of Hay's father, Khonsaly Hay, to Cambodia after fleeing for France 40 years ago, and captures his confrontations with his former torturers in detention camps. Its concerns, however, move beyond these strangely low-key encounters and instead revolve around the fragility of memory and the act of remembering itself. Considering that almost all of Khonsaly's family were executed under the Khmer Rouge, it is shocking how some of his tormenters think of their victims' experiences as better than their own. Continue reading... |
| DezNats: religious extremists push ultra-conservative Mormon vision Posted: 09 Aug 2021 02:00 AM PDT Members of 'Deseret nationalist' movement accused of harassing other Mormons and posting racist material on social media A new group of religious extremists in the United States is seeking to promote and defend an ultra-conservative vision of Mormon belief and harass perceived opponents of those beliefs, which are often racist and bigoted or promote violence. The conduct of so-called "Deseret nationalists" or "DezNats" has raised questions about how the Mormon Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is responding to the movement, whose members direct harassment at other Mormons, including those working in church-sponsored institutions such as Brigham Young University (BYU). Continue reading... |
| True Stories: Spaces review – impressive short docs from folk horror to a Lebanese marvel Posted: 08 Aug 2021 05:54 AM PDT This short film collection from the True Story platform ranges across continents to look at how we interact with our environments Deeply psychogeographical, this collection of documentary shorts from the streaming platform True Story roams among spaces old and new, and across continents. Personal and public memories are intertwined, creating portraits of how human beings interact with their environments, and vice versa. Paul Heintz's nocturnal Shānzhài Screens is a meditative study of liminal urban spaces, shot in a Chinese district that specialises in fine-art reproductions. Rectangular frames populate the screen, from flickering apartment windows, hurried video calls, to endless replicas of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Authenticity is elusive, and loneliness reigns. Continue reading... |
| TGA approves Moderna vaccine – as it happened Posted: 09 Aug 2021 01:43 AM PDT Victoria expands access to AstraZeneca; Business Council of Australia says vaccinations should be highly targeted. This blog is now closed
We will leave it there for today. Here's what made the news for today:
And some responses to the IPCC report from Save the Children and School Strike 4 Climate: Paul Mitchell, principal climate change advisor, Save the Children: Today's report really should shock everyone, and particularly the Australian government. If this damning indictment isn't the catalyst for a fundamental shift in Australia, I truly dread to think what it might take. Australian children, just like millions around the world, are already living with the consequences of too little action over too many years. Children are already suffering the shocking impacts – bushfires, floods, drought – of the climate crisis. We need climate action, and we need it now. That is the message young people and marginalised voices at the front line of the climate crisis have been preaching for many years. Now, the IPCC report has clarified the detrimental climate position the world is currently in, and the crucial need for action. We need this report to be heard, understood and recognised by politicians and people in power with the sense of urgency it desperately deserves. Continue reading... |
| The infrastructure bill is being lauded as a victory for bipartisanship – but is it? Posted: 09 Aug 2021 02:00 AM PDT The truth of how the bill – which is not yet finished – has come to be is a little more self-interest than national interest The Biden administration's infrastructure proposal is still making its way through the congressional sausage making process but it has already been lauded as a rare victory for bipartisanship in a divided America. Pledging to unify America after his 2020 election win, Biden and his top supporters see the roughly $1tn package not just as a chance to repair America's tattered and torn infrastructure but also as a model for reaching across the US's political divide and getting things done. Continue reading... |
| Britain’s Covid experts Neil Ferguson Sage are under attack, but they are just doing their jobs Posted: 08 Aug 2021 01:00 AM PDT Those who attack Neil Ferguson and Sage's pandemic predictions only expose their ignorance about science • Coronavirus – latest updates • See all our coronavirus coverage It feels like open season on Professor Neil Ferguson right now. Sections of the media and several columnists delight in castigating the epidemiologist, or "Professor Lockdown", for being "doomster in chief", constantly predicting catastrophe and then back-pedalling when the worst numbers don't materialise. Opponents of Covid restrictions blame Ferguson and his team at Imperial College London for persuading Boris Johnson to shake off his libertarian instincts and take us into lockdown. One presenter on new channel GB News described Ferguson as a "numpty" on air, and the very mention of his name attracts groans in some circles. Continue reading... |
| Burning villages, orange skies: Greece fires – in pictures Posted: 08 Aug 2021 07:21 PM PDT The wildfires that broke out in Attica and Evia this week have burned more than 25,000 hectares Continue reading... |
| Sky glows red over ferry evacuating people from Greek island fire – video Posted: 08 Aug 2021 10:00 AM PDT The sky over the island of Evia turned red and orange as people boarded an evacuation ferry after days of fires in the area. Dozens of wildfires have burned in Greece after the longest heatwave in 30 years, which sent temperatures soaring to 45C. The Greek coastguard said three patrol boats, four navy vessels, one ferry and various tourist, fishing and private boats were on standby to carry out more potential evacuations from villages on the island's northern tip. Continue reading... |
| Republicans join Democrats to advance $1tn infrastructure bill – video Posted: 08 Aug 2021 09:40 AM PDT Chuck Schumer warned that coming to a bipartisan compromise could be 'hard' as Republicans joined Democrats to advance a $1tn infrastructure bill in the US Senate, remaining in session over the weekend. The bill represents the biggest spending in decades on American infrastructure including roads, bridges, airports and waterways, in what Joe Biden has called a 'historic investment' in public works Continue reading... |
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