The genius may think we are suckers, but in Iowa we don’t ruin good corn liquor with Clorox
Drake Custer is a union man who, along with about 30 of his buddies, had an Old English “K” tattooed on their chests about 15 years ago. It stands for “Keokuk”, a deflated Mississippi River manufacturing town of 10,000 tucked into the south-east corner of Iowa that Washington and Des Moines forgot.
“We know who we are,” said Custer.
Continue reading...An infectious virus is on the loose and without a vaccine it could smoulder on for years
A sudden rise in infections leads to the temporary closure of nightclubs in Seoul. Lebanon tightens the curfew it had earlier relaxed after cases rebound over the weekend. German leaders wonder if they are easing too fast, as the country’s parks fill up and its infection rate appears to accelerate.
Welcome to the next phase of the coronavirus pandemic. Curves are being flattened in many countries. The harsh lockdowns of the past few months, implemented to prevent healthcare systems from melting down, are gradually being rolled back. The economic and social toll of mass isolation is growing every day.
Continue reading...Outbreak in northern Nigerian city highlights difficulties faced by authorities in detecting and controlling the virus
Musa Abubakar used to dig two or three graves a day at the main cemetery in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. Then overnight it became 40.
“I have never witnessed mass deaths like this,” the 75-year-old said, his white kaftan muddied from his work at the Abbatuwa cemetery, where he has dug graves for 60 years. “From the first day of Ramadan to date, over 300 people have been buried.”
Continue reading...An effective response to the pandemic means tackling the violence and inequality faced by women
After a week in which people in some parts of the world have been given cause for optimism that they may have passed the peak of the pandemic, we have seen how extraordinary actions of individuals can change the trajectory for a whole nation.
Retired doctors putting themselves back on the frontline, nurses making their own face masks, parents voluntarily separated from their children so they can care for the sick.
Continue reading...Deputy CMO says there are ‘very serious risks’ from overcrowding as Victoria plans to lift lockdown rules and another Newmarch resident dies after testing negative. Follow all the latest news and updates, live
Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, says Australia’s relationship with China is “not in a great place”.
Speaking to ABC TV this afternoon, Wong said the relationship would benefit from “consistency and discipline and leadership” from the prime minister and foreign minister rather than backbencher-led commentary.
Some Coalition backbenchers, including George Christensen and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, have been pushing for Australia to take a hard line in its relations with China. Wong also called on the government to provide detailed briefings to parliamentarians on how Australia is handling the China relationship:
I’ve said previously we need to think about the China relationship in 30-year terms, not in three-year terms. Unfortunately, there’s been a little too much from the Morrison government of a reflex to short-term domestic politics on this relationship and more broadly. And we would urge them to take a long-term position and a responsible position, and as much as possible a bipartisan position, when it comes to that relationship that’s in the national interests.
Cafes and restaurants in South Australia were open to sit-down customers today, for the first time in seven weeks. I say sit down, not sit-in, because customers have to dine alfresco. It’s limited to a maximum of 10 customers.
People will not be able to eat indoors at restaurants until June.
It won’t be worth it for many organisations. Some states have told us 10 indoor dining and the industry told us 10 wouldn’t be viable. Even 20 will make it very difficult, so we are trying to work through, with the industry, how we can get them back to being viable as quickly as possible. But we’ve got to do it in a safe way.
Continue reading...UK and WHO to lead global Covid-19 information campaign; Aden declared an ‘infested’ city
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 985 more deaths and 23,792 more confirmed cases since the weekend’s update, taking the overall totals to 79,756 and 1,324,488.
The CDC said the weekend’s numbers were preliminary and had not been confirmed by individual states.
The Guardian has published its editorial on the prime minister’s message to the country as it moves into a dangerous new phase of the epidemic.
For more than 30 years, the term “consensus politics” fell out of fashion in Britain. For generations of Conservative politicians schooled in the dogmas of Thatcherism, the phrase came to connote unpleasant images of sandwiches with union leaders in No 10 and weak government.
Boris Johnson urgently needs to discover the virtues of consensus-building now, after a chaotic few days of mixed messages and confused assertions.
Related: The Guardian view on 'stay alert': a divisive muddle | Editorial
Continue reading...A new generation of poets in Afghanistan is exploring the physical side of love – and isolation is their inspiration
It has been weeks in lockdown for Hoda Khamosh, but the 23-year-old has managed to stick to a routine. This includes sitting down in the afternoons to write poetry, mostly with an erotic spin to it.
In the absence of touch and seeing friends and loved ones, she – along with many others – has turned to erotic poetry, convinced that, “it will help to get through these difficult days”.
Continue reading...The author’s bestselling novel of confinement has gained new resonance during coronavirus
As the author of Room, a story about a mother and child held captive for years in a garden shed, Emma Donoghue mapped the mental toll of extreme confinement long before coronavirus lockdowns.
Her character Ma endured boredom, frustration, anguish and worse – yet somehow created a rich, nurturing environment for her son.
Continue reading...Big Kid Circus has been stranded overlooking the beach and promenade at the Lancashire resort since lockdown began
Continue reading...In an effort to revive the stricken industry plant owners restart production, but labour activists claim safety measures are illusory
Workers in garment factories in Bangladesh, which have reopened despite a nationwide coronavirus lockdown, have said their lives are being put at risk as they are forced to return to work in cramped conditions where mask-wearing and physical distancing are not enforced.
Directives by the Bangladesh government stated that garment factories, which supply some of the biggest brands in the world and produce 84% of the country’s total exports, would be allowed to resume operations, but only if they maintain physical distancing and the ban on public transportation.
Continue reading...Administration is weakening protections ahead of the election, making changes that could take years for a Democratic president to undo
The Trump administration is diligently weakening US environment protections even amid a global pandemic, continuing its rollback as the November election approaches.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, US federal agencies have eased fuel-efficiency standards for new cars; frozen rules for soot air pollution; proposed to drop review requirements for liquefied natural gas terminals; continued to lease public property to oil and gas companies; sought to speed up permitting for offshore fish farms; and advanced a proposal on mercury pollution from power plants that could make it easier for the government to conclude regulations are too costly to justify their benefits.
Continue reading...Last year Barcelona received 30 million visitors – now there are none. Emerging from Europe’s strictest coronavirus lockdown, how do its tourist-weary residents feel about getting their city back?
For six weeks, the streets of Barcelona were deserted. Not a soul except the Deliveroo and Glovo riders and the occasional shopper, masked and gloved, making a foray to the nearest supermarket before scurrying back home. In a city with one of the highest population densities in Europe, there was no one to be seen.
Throughout this time, people here have shown an extraordinary and perhaps unexpected degree of discipline, stoicism and collective spirit in sticking to the rules of one of Europe’s strictest lockdowns.
Continue reading...‘Ticking time bomb’ as contracts aren’t honoured and ports stop crews going ashore even for urgent medical care
Thomas Stapley-Bunten was due to finish his contract aboard the Al Shamal, a huge cargo ship carrying liquid natural gas, early last month. The ship docked at the LNG terminal in Fos Cavaou, southern France, as planned, but by then the world was in coronavirus lockdown. He couldn’t disembark, and international flights were grounded, preventing him from getting home to Newcastle, UK.
So the 27-year-old former Royal Navy warfare officer has been stuck onboard as the Al Shamal criss-crosses the ocean from Qatar to Turkey and France and back. The 34-man crew, from the Philippines, India, Russia and Ireland, have had their pay increased by 50%, but they just want to go home.
Continue reading...Farmers risk losing harvests but populists are seeking to cash in on fears of foreigners taking jobs
The mountain slopes of Aragón, a Spanish region bordering France, are one corner of Europe where there is no ambivalence about migrant farm workers. The humans want them and the sheep want them.
“We’re trying to make sure these people can get here soon because the weather is getting warmer and we need to get the wool off the animals or it’ll be awful,” said Pedro Barato, the president of Spain’s largest farming association, Asaja.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson criticised for vague blueprint; China reports more infections in Wuhan; Belgium and Greece also ease some measures
Millions of people across Europe are set to embrace a relaxation of stay-at-home rules on Monday, as countries around the world plot their way tentatively through the coronavirus crisis.
In France, from Monday members of the public were able to walk outside without filling in a permit for the first time in nearly eight weeks, teachers will start to return to primary schools, and some shops – including hair salons – will reopen. Bars, restaurants, theatres and cinemas will, however, remain closed.
Continue reading...Coronavirus lockdown stays in place but more outdoor activity will be allowed in England
Boris Johnson urged the country to take its first tentative steps out of lockdown this week in an address to the nation that was immediately condemned as being divisive, confusing and vague.
In a speech from Downing Street, Johnson said if the circumstances were right, schools in England and some shops might be able to open next month, and the government was “actively encouraging” people to return to work if they cannot do so from home.
Continue reading...PM attempted to strike a balance, but slogan change and back-to-work pledge will please libertarian right
Boris Johnson famously dislikes disappointing the people around him.
The result is this weekend’s barrage of confused messaging over whether the lockdown is ending, as he tries to please both sides in the battle raging within the Tory party about how to respond to the coronavirus crisis.
Continue reading...Scotland's first minister for Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has rebuffed the UK government's new coronavirus advice, saying that she doesn’t know what it means, and that her country would not use it. She also announced that people in Scotland would be able to exercise more than once a day
Sturgeon says Scots can exercise outside more than once a day and should wear face coverings in shops; all devolved nations reject ‘stay alert’ advice
Sturgeon says communication teams in Scotland and the UK government are liaising over the message at the moment, and she is committed to a four nation approach.
“I am absolutely committed to a four nation approach”, she said, and said that the fact that evidence necessitates the nations following different timetables should not be seen as a break in this.
In Scotland, first minister Nicola Sturgeon has asked people to wear face coverings whilst in shops.
It comes as she announces that people can exercise more than once a day in Scotland.
Continue reading...As schools and businesses get set to reopen some citizens urge caution, wary of a spike in infections
France is set to end eight weeks of strict lockdown as the government urged people to behave responsibly to avoid a sudden spike in coronavirus cases.
Hours before the national déconfinement there were reports of two new Covid-19 clusters in départments designated green – areas where the virus has largely stopped circulating and where most restrictions are being lifted.
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