Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Leader says she can feel ‘quite a decent shake here’ as the 5.8 quake strikes during a live interview
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has developed a reputation for keeping her cool in the face of a crisis. But an earthquake first thing on Monday morning as she was interviewed live on television seemed like an unusually trying way to start a week.
“We’re just having a bit of an earthquake here,” Ardern told Ryan Bridge, a host for Newshub’s AM Show, live on air. Casting her eyes to the ceiling of the room she was standing in at New Zealand’s parliament in Wellington, she remained in place as the television camera jolted.
Foreign minister accuses Washington of damaging relationship with Beijing
The prospects of a trade war between China and the western economies ratcheted up on Sunday as Beijing accused the US of pushing relations towards a “new cold war”.
“China has no intention to change, still less replace the United States,” China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said on Sunday in the latest escalation in tensions between the world’s two largest economies. “It’s time for the United States to give up its wishful thinking of changing China and stopping 1.4 billion people in their historic march toward modernisation.”
Hong Kong police used teargas, pepper spray and water cannon on crowds as thousands rallied against Beijing’s declaration that it intends to impose national security laws on the semi-autonomous region – a highly criticised move because of the 'one country, two systems' rule.
At least 120 people were arrested, according to police, in one of the biggest gatherings in the country since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic as the proposed law, banning subversion, separatism, and acts of foreign interference on Hong Kong, is to be approved next week at China’s National People’s Congress
China says it will rush through anti-sedition law as police fire teargas at protesters
Beijing has vowed to force controversial national security laws on Hong Kong “without the slightest delay” as police in the semi-autonomous territory fired teargas at protesters demonstrating against the unprecedented decision.
Speaking in Beijing, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said enacting the proposed anti-sedition law to stop anti-government protests that have persisted for the past year had become a “pressing obligation”.
The Daily Mail - usually one of Boris Johnson’s supporters in the press - has called on the prime minister to sack Dominic Cummings, trailing its headline with the following:
In the clearest way, Dominic Cummings has violated the spirit and letter of the lockdown. Boris Johnson says he ‘totally gets’ how the public feels about this. Clearly he totally doesn’t. Neither man has displayed a scintilla of contrition for this breach of trust. Do they think we are fools? For the good of the government and the nation, Mr Cummings must resign. Or the prime minister must sack him. No ifs. No buts.
The White House has announced it is prohibiting foreigners from traveling to the US if they had been in Brazil in the last two weeks, two days after the South American nation became the world No. 2 hot spot for coronavirus cases.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the new restrictions would help ensure foreign nationals do not bring additional infections to the US, but would not apply to the flow of commerce between the new countries.
Leader makes first appearance in several weeks to talk about ‘considerably increasing the firepower’ of the military, state media reports
North Korea discussed new policies for increasing its “nuclear war deterrence” during a military meeting presided over by leader Kim Jong-un, state news agency KCNA reported on Sunday.
KCNA did not specify what the nuclear deterrence entailed, but said that “crucial measures” were taken at the meeting “for considerably increasing the firepower strike ability of the artillery pieces of the Korean People’s Army”.
PNG police say O’Neill was arrested over the $14m purchase of two generators allegedly without parliamentary approval
Papua New Guinea police have arrested former prime minister Peter O’Neill over the alleged purchase of generators from Israel without parliamentary approval, according to the country’s assistant police commissioner.
O’Neill was arrested on Saturday at the main airport of Port Moresby, PNG’s capital, after returning from Australia, and brought in for questioning, assistant crimes commissioner Hodges Ette said in a statement.
Last governor of former British colony says UK must stand up to Beijing rather than kowtow
China has betrayed the people of Hong Kong and the UK has a moral, economic and legal duty to stand up for them, Chris Patten, the last governor of the former British colony, has said.
Beijing is set to impose new national security legislation on Hong Kong after a sustained campaign of pro-democracy protests last year in the city, which enjoys many freedoms not allowed on mainland China.
The 102-year-old car rental firm Hertz has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US after its business all but vanished during the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters reports.
Hertz said in a US court filing on Friday that it had voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 reorganisation. Its international operating regions including Europe, Australia and New Zealand were not included in the US proceedings.
The 54 countries of the African Union were reporting a total of 103,933 cases of coronavirus on Saturday morning, according the Africa Centres for Disease Control.
So far African nations have reported 3,183 deaths from Covid-19, while 41,473 people have recovered since the virus was first detected on the continent 14 weeks ago.
Case numbers have not grown at the same exponential rate as in other regions and so far Africa has not experienced the high mortality seen in some parts of the world. Today, there are 3,100 confirmed deaths on the continent.
By comparison, when cases reached 100,000 in the World Health Organization (WHO) European region, deaths stood at more than 4,900. Early analysis by WHO suggests that Africa’s lower mortality rate may be the result of demography and other possible factors. Africa is the youngest continent demographically with more than 60% of the population under the age of 25. Older adults have a significantly increased risk of developing a severe illness. In Europe nearly 95% of deaths occurred in those older than 60 years.
Now that countries are starting to ease their confinement measures, there is a possibility that cases could increase significantly, and it is critical that governments remain vigilant and ready to adjust measures in line with epidemiological data and proper risk assessment.
Discussion held this month as way to press Russia and China into agreeing arms control deal, officials say
US officials have debated whether to carry out the first US nuclear tests in 28 years as a way to pressure Russia and China into make a trilateral arms control deal, according congressional aides and former officials.
They said the discussion took place at a “deputies meeting” of senior national security officials at the White House on 15 May, but that the proposal was shelved for the time being.
The new opposition leader must win back centrist voters, just four months out from the election
It was never a foregone conclusion, but with three poll results in the last three weeks putting National’s support at around 30%, the chances of Bridges remaining as leader were increasingly slim. By 1pm on 22 May, the parliamentary National party had sealed his, and deputy Paula Bennett’s, fate.
The new leader, Todd Muller, now faces the unenviable task of clawing back the centre right voters who appear, for now, to have deserted National in droves.
Data breach included names, home addresses and national identification numbers
Indonesia is investigating how 2.3 million voters’ personal information was leaked online, the election commission said.
The data breach, which included names, home addresses and national identification numbers, appeared to be from the 2014 election voter list, the General Election Commission revealed on Friday.
India has reported more than 6,000 new Covid-19 cases, its biggest one-day increase, while Chinahas abandoned setting a GDP growth target because of the “great uncertainty” caused by the pandemic.
The sharp increase in new infections in India came after the government began easing lockdown restrictions and as airlines prepared to reopen selected domestic routes.
Sedition legislation would allow Chinese security forces on to streets and may mean end of city’s autonomy
Around this time last year, criticism was mounting in Hong Kong over a proposed bill that would allow people wanted by the Chinese authorities to be sent to the mainland. Demonstrators marched on the city’s legislature and scuffles broke out between pro-democracy and pro-Beijing lawmakers.
Within a few weeks, more than a million people took to the streets, decrying legislation they believed would mark the end of Hong Kong and the freedoms that set it apart from China. A protest movement was born and for months the city was engulfed in violent street battles, in what has been described as Hong Kong’s worst crisis since the 1997 handover of the former British colony to Chinese control.
Hong Kong officials indicate powers will be used to try to suppress pro-democracy protests
China’s proposed new security law for Hong Kong will allow Beijing’s security forces to operate in the city, where local authorities have indicated the powers will be used to try to suppress the pro-democracy protests that broke out almost a year ago.
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on Friday that the legislation was effectively a “death knell” for Hong Kong’s status as an autonomous city. He urged China to “reconsider its disastrous proposal [and] abide by its international obligations”.
Tony Hadley answers plea for help from quiz player accused of mispronouncing singer’s name
A quiz contestant in Singapore has prevailed in a battle with a radio station that denied him a cash prize over his pronunciation of the Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley’s name – after winning support from the celebrity himself.
Muhammad Shalehan emailed Hadley after being refused the S$10,000 (£5,750) prize on the grounds that he had mispronounced Hadley’s name in a competition in which callers must identify celebrities in a sound clip.
Madrid and Barcelona to ease lockdown as Spain’s death toll stays under 100 again; 660,000 people forced to flee homes during crisis despite UN global ceasefire call
Peru has extended its state of emergency until the end of June with only a very partial lifting of its lockdown as infections continue to climb despite more than two months of confinement.
Peru is the second-worst affected Latin American country, with more than 111,000 cases and a death toll of 3,148, according to official figures.
It’s not just an extension ... there is a strategy to combat the virus. This disease will not beaten in a short time. It’s not a 100m sprint, it’s a marathon.
Over the course of the last 60 days we have made great efforts but we have to make another qualitative jump in the health sector.
France regrets a British decision to impose a quarantine on people arriving from mainland Europe and stands ready to impose reciprocal measures, the Agence France-Presse news agency has quoted the country’s interior ministry as saying.
Millions of people in the Philippine capital, Manila, have spent more than two months under lockdown. The densely populated city, once notorious for its heaving traffic, has been transformed into a ghost town. Residents who do not perform essential work have been asked to stay at home and are barred from leaving their neighbourhoods. Rights groups have warned over the brutal manner in which the restrictions have been enforced. In one instance, curfew violators were put in dog cages, while others have been forced to sit in the midday sun as punishment. President Rodrigo Duterte has told police they can shoot anyone deemed to be causing trouble during the lockdown.
Last week, the government announced an extension of the lockdown until 31 May, making it one of the strictest and longest quarantines in the world.
Details emerge of security laws Beijing wants to impose, overriding territory’s constitution and prompting threat of US retaliation
China’s proposal for imposing new national security laws on Hong Kong would force the territory to quickly enact legislation that would bar subversion, separatism and other acts against the central government, it has emerged one day after Beijing’s surprise announcement.
The Communist party’s efforts to impose a national security law has been widely interpreted as a move to fully take control over the territory, wracked by pro-democracy protests for the last year. Critics say it will effectively erase the “one country, two systems” framework that is meant to grant Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy.
Michael McCormack says trade minister and diplomats are trying to fix the issue
Deputy prime minister Michael McCormack is concerned coal exporters could face a tougher time selling the commodity into China.
There are reports the Chinese government is warning state-owned power plants not to buy new shipments of Australian thermal coal and instead favour domestic products.