Andreas Geisel condemns ‘shameful’ scenes at rally against Covid restrictions
Berlin’s interior minister has expressed regret over a standoff outside the Reichstag building on Saturday during a rally against coronavirus restrictions.
Speaking to a committee of the city state’s interior ministry on Monday, Andreas Geisel said he was “deeply regretful” about the images from the protest, which were seen around the world.
Continue reading...Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in Germany have been denounced by politicians after an attempt to storm the country’s parliament building. Some of the protestors carried the former imperial flag, which was used up until the end of the first world war, during the rally on Saturday.
Police said about 38,000 people, double the number expected, had gathered in Berlin to protest against restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus, such as the wearing of masks and social distancing. About 300 were arrested after scuffles with police in front of the building.
‘Flags from the Reich and far-right profanity in front of the German parliament are an unacceptable attack on the heart of our democracy,’ the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said. ‘We will never accept this’
Continue reading...Covid could be ‘the straw that breaks the camel’s back’ health workers warn. Photographers Fardosa Hussein and Ismail Taxta captured a country battling seemingly insurmountable odds
Considering the country was in the middle of a pandemic, the silence at the entrance to Mogadishu’s De Martini hospital felt almost numbing, the expected noise replaced by stillness in its deserted, sanitised halls.
It sent a chill through me as I arrived in May to capture the work being done at what was, until recently, the Somali capital’s only hospital taking coronavirus patients. It felt like a prison.
Continue reading...Figure of 41 deaths in Victoria includes 33 people who died in aged care but not reported until yesterday; legislation to extend but reduce jobkeeper and jobseeker payments will be considered by the Senate today. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
This report from AAP earlier today:
NSW deputy premier, John Barilaro, is calling for a national code to allow agricultural workers to cross state borders without permits.
Twenty Victorian aged care providers have been found to be non-compliant with standards under the Aged Care Act since July.
My colleague Melissa Davey has this report:
Related: Twenty Victorian aged care homes ordered to improve 'inadequate' standards after Covid outbreaks
Continue reading...Covid-19 has spread around the planet, sending billions of people into lockdown as health services struggle to cope. Find out where the virus has spread, and where it has been most deadly
Continue reading...Data reveals that three in 10 shops hadn’t reopened after coronavirus restrictions were lifted – with some areas lagging further behind than others
Following the reopening of the UK’s retail and hospitality sectors through June and July, there were hopes that the economic damage of the coronavirus pandemic could be lessened.
But research from the Local Data Company shows that, as of July, 29% of English high street shops hadn’t reopened in the weeks after lockdown relaxation – with that proportion increasing to as much as 54% in some areas.
Continue reading...The government must stop dragging its feet when it comes to encouraging the use of e-scooters, argues Hilary Saunders
Your article about e-scooters (UK rides the wave of micromobility by embracing e-scooters, 25 August) failed to raise some vital questions.
As electric scooters can cost as little as £120, they could provide the ideal transport for low-income commuters, while helping to reduce carbon emissions, especially in cities. It would not cost much to mark out a lane on arterial roads for the use of bicycles and e-scooters.
Continue reading...President condemns ‘attack on heart of our democracy’ during protest against Covid restrictions
German leaders have condemned the “unacceptable” attempt by protesters to storm the Reichstag building during a mass rally against coronavirus restrictions.
Some of the protesters on Saturday carried the former imperial flag, which was used up until the end of the first world war.
Continue reading...Visitors will have to show test results to enter Fernando de Noronha, which has so far suffered no coronavirus deaths
One of Brazil’s most celebrated tourist destinations, the paradisiacal archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, has announced it is reopening to outsiders – as long as they have had Covid-19.
Tourists have been banned from the Unesco World Heritage site, which Charles Darwin visited in 1832, since late March when the pandemic forced many parts of Brazil into partial shutdown.
Continue reading...Scientists worldwide are working against the clock to find a viable coronavirus vaccine – but are corners being cut for the sake of political gain and profit?
To begin with, it felt like a sleek performance from a well-honed relay team. On 11 January, only 10 days after reporting a new respiratory disease, the Chinese published the genome sequence of the virus that causes it. Researchers around the world set to work building vaccines against Covid-19, as the disease became known, and the first candidate entered human trials on 16 March; it was joined, as the months passed, by dozens of others.
Scientists were jubilant, and they had every right to be. They’d broken all vaccinology records to get to that point. But then tensions began to surface among the team members, and lately even the most distracted spectator will have noticed that they appear to be trying to nobble each other openly on the track. With accusations that the Russians and Chinese hacked research groups in other countries, biotech executives criticised for cashing in on their own, as yet unapproved vaccines, and Russia approving a vaccine that is still in clinical trials, the quest for a vaccine seems to have turned sour.
Continue reading...Findings reveal anxiety, inability to concentrate and fears over employment at high levels among young people
Young people have suffered more with mental health issues over the last few months than any other age group, according to a far-reaching study that has scrutinised the effects of the pandemic on the under-25s.
A troubling picture of growing levels of anxiety and an inability to concentrate was reported by those aged between 18 and 24 as part of an extensive survey of more than 6,000 adults carried out by YouGov and designed by the Resolution Foundation, which was subsequently analysed by the independent charity the Health Foundation.
Continue reading...Didier Raoult has touted many dubious treatments but is a hero in France’s second city, which has long railed against Paris
The people of Provence in the south of France have a word for a particularly comic or bizarrely dramatic situation: pagnolesque.
It is a tribute to one of the region’s most famous sons, the author Marcel Pagnol, who declared in his play Les Marchands de Gloire (The Glory Merchants): “In politics everything is a comedy.”
Continue reading...Masks will be compulsory on public transport and strongly encouraged elsewhere, says prime minister, as restrictions wind back on Monday
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has thanked Aucklanders who come out of lockdown after Sunday night for their commitment to suppressing the latest coronavirus flare-up.
Two new cases of Covid-19 have been reported on Sunday, both in the community and linked to the latest Auckland cluster. Ardern thanked the residents of New Zealand’s largest city for their adherence to the stringent lockdown requirements.
Continue reading...India records world’s highest single day rise; Latest Johns Hopkins figures show 842,702 people have died; Jacinda Ardern thanks Aucklanders
The coronavirus pandemic has shut down art exhibitions around the globe, but organisers of the RIBOCA2 biennial in Latvia have pushed ahead, reimagining the event to reflect challenging times.
To ensure social distancing, installations by nearly 70 international artists are showcased at the sprawling 20-hectare (50-acre) Soviet-era Andrejsala industrial port in Riga, long abandoned and given up to nature.
Hello, I’m taking over from Amy for the next few hours, as ever please don’t hesitate to share relevant tips and pointers with us, you can get me on Twitter @JedySays or via email.
Continue reading...Demonstrations in Germany and UK against coronavirus restrictions; Australian opposition calls for wider care home inquiry; Turkey sees two-month high in cases. Follow all the developments live
AFP is reporting from Rome:
Three Nigerian migrants attacked staff in a military hospital in Rome after testing positive for Covid-19, the defence ministry said Saturday.
And in Victoria, Australia’s worst-affected state.
#COVID19VicData for 30 August, 2020. There were 114 new cases detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly we report 11 lives lost - condolences to all affected. More information will be available later today via our media release. pic.twitter.com/4voh37S3oM
Continue reading...Achuar people blame illegal logging for spread and are asking international community for aid
Climate change and multinational corporations have long posed a threat to the people of the Amazon rainforest. Now, however, the region’s indigenous tribes face an even more immediate danger: coronavirus.
Despite living deep in the heartland of Ecuadorian rainforest, the indigenous Achuar tribal people have fallen victim to the pandemic. Over the last several weeks, Covid-19 has struck at the heart of the Achuar community in Ecuador, which is made up of 13,000 people living in 88 groups over 800,000 hectares (3,000 sq miles) along the Pastaza River basin. A further 15,000 Achuar are based in neighbouring Peru.
Continue reading...Party in despair, senior MP says, as Labour draws level in wake of exam chaos and Covid U-turns
Boris Johnson is facing a showdown with furious Conservative MPs over his government’s chaotic handling of Covid-19, as a new poll shows the Tories have surrendered a massive lead over Labour in just five months.
As MPs prepare to return to Westminster on Tuesday, Charles Walker, who is vice-chair of the 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers, told the Observer that a recent string of U-turns had left many colleagues in despair, with some struggling to support and defend their government to constituents. Governing by U-turn in this way, he said, was unsustainable.
Continue reading...Wardens in south Auckland say pensioners living alone are among the most vulnerable to Covid-19, fearful even of leaving their home
Wai Allan was leaning on crutches in front of her government flat when the Māori wardens pulled up in a van loaded with food, hand sanitiser and face masks.
“Oh, fruit and veg! That’s good for you,” the pensioner exclaimed, as two big boxes were unloaded and carried inside.
Continue reading...Police prevent hundreds from entering Reichstag and disband march protesting against Covid protection measures
Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building on Saturday following a protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions, but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed.
The incident occurred after a daylong demonstration by tens of thousands of people opposed to the wearing of masks and other government measures intended to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Police ordered the protesters to disband halfway through their march around Berlin after participants refused to observe physical distancing rules, but a rally near the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate took place as planned.
Continue reading...Figure of 7,379 infections is highest number of new cases in 24 hours since height of epidemic at end of March
France has suffered an “exponential” increase in Covid-19 cases with 7,379 new infections in 24 hours, according to the country’s public health authority.
The number of new cases has been growing steadily throughout August, but jumped from 6,111 positive tests on Thursday and 5,429 on Wednesday.
Continue reading...