Category Archives: World News

‘Why so fast?’: world experts react to England ending Covid curbs

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Political rather than scientific choices lie behind UK decision to be first nation to lift restrictions, say specialists

The UK’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced this week that he aimed to abolish all Covid regulations, including the requirement to isolate after testing positive, in England from 24 February. Here’s what experts around the world think of that plan, which would make Britain something of an outlier when it comes to coronavirus precautions.

Jon Henley in Paris

Philip Oltermann in Berlin

Sam Jones in Madrid

Angela Giuffrida in Rome

Helena Smith in Athens

Vincent Ni

Tess McClure in Auckland

Melissa Davey in Sydney

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‘Disgusting’: Republican Senate hopeful condemned over ‘showdown’ TV ad

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Jim Lamon’s ad depicts ‘shootout’ with Democrats including Mark Kelly, senator whose wife Gabby Giffords was shot in deadly attack

A Republican Senate primary candidate in Arizona has been condemned for a “disgusting” campaign ad in which he shoots at lookalike actors portraying Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and the incumbent Arizona senator Mark Kelly.

Jim Lamon, an energy executive, shared the ad on Twitter, saying it would be aired at this year’s Super Bowl.

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French ‘freedom convoys’ head towards Paris to protest against Covid rules – video

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Despite an order not to enter Paris, motorists protesting against coronavirus restrictions are converging on the capital from cities across France, inspired by the horn-blaring demonstrations taking place in Canada. Whereas in Canada the protests have united truckers angered by a vaccine mandate for crossing borders, in France it is over vaccine pass rules, which require people to show proof of inoculation against Covid to enter bars, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces

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Indian supplier to UK fashion brands agrees to pay £3m in unpaid wages

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Shahi Exports, which makes clothes for the UK high street, has agreed to pay staff minimum wage and arrears

India’s largest garment company has paid out an estimated £3m in unpaid wages to tens of thousands of workers, after two years of refusing to pay the legal minimum wage.

Last month Shahi Exports, which supplies dozens of international brands, agreed to pay nine months of back pay to about 80,000 workers, with further payments expected in the coming months that will increase the total paid back to workers to £7m.

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‘No sport has had such success in so short a time’: padel takes off in Italy

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When Covid stopped contact sports, Italians took to padel, a sport popular in Spain, similar to tennis with a dash of squash

At one of Italy’s darkest moments in the pandemic, the government introduced a list of draconian rules to halt the outbreak of Covid, including which sports Italians would be allowed to practise.

Among the activities the authorities considered safe were a few Italians barely knew. One was padel, a fast-paced racket sport popular in Spain, similar to tennis but with a dash of squash thrown in. For Italians, it was love at first smash.

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Greta Thunberg condemns UK firm’s plans for iron mine on Sami land

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Beowulf Mining ‘hopeful’ for decision on mine in Sápmi despite opposition from activist, UN and Swedish church

A British company has fallen foul of Greta Thunberg, Unesco, Sweden’s national church, and the indigenous people in the north of the country over plans for an open-pit mine on historical Sami reindeer-herding lands.

The clamour of opposition was voiced as Beowulf Mining, headquartered in the City of London, suggested it was “hopeful” of a decision within weeks of a 5 sq mile iron-ore mine in an area where Sami communities have lived for thousands of years.

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Gordon Brown calls for ‘extraordinary measures’ to tackle Covid inequalities

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The former PM says wealthy nations must coordinate resources to accelerate access to vaccines and testing for developing nations

Gordon Brown has urged rich countries to consider “extraordinary measures” similar to those taken during the global financial crisis to increase developing nations’ access to Covid vaccines, calling on governments to fill a $16bn (£11.8bn) funding gap within weeks.

The former British prime minister, who hosted the 2009 G20 summit credited with having staved off a second Great Depression and as chancellor helped unveil a landmark debt relief package at the 2005 G8 summit in Gleneagles, said a similar act of international coordination was urgently required on Covid.

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‘Anything to stop the massacres’: peace still eludes DRC as armed groups proliferate

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After years of conflict between the DR Congo’s ineffective army, rebel forces and local militias, can Uganda’s entry into the war bring peace?

For the past three months, Ugandan forces have been bombarding Islamist rebels in its border region with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The offensive, in the Rwenzori mountain range that straddles both countries, has forced many Congolese to leave their homes and move to the cities for shelter.

Sarah Kasanga* is one. The Allied Democratic Force (ADF) militia stormed Kalingathe, her village north of Beni, in December 2019. People were made to lie on the floor while rebels searched homes for food, pots, money or clothes.

DRC soldiers overlook Virunga national park at a military base on the outskirts of Beni

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Johnson receives ‘partygate’ police questionnaire – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

The Novavax Covid vaccine is available for Australians to receive, with the first person in the country getting the jab today.

Health minister Greg Hunt, giving a press conference at a medical centre in Melbourne, said with the new availability of Novavax there were “no excuses for anybody” not to get a Covid jab – alluding to people who had chosen to wait for this vaccine.

There are those that, for their own personal circumstances, have awaited or been unable to take the other vaccines. This is a new choice. It’s a protein vaccine ... a tried and tested vaccine platform.

I have preferred a traditional vaccine to be introduced into myself. I’m not anti-vax, I’m pro-choice, and this was my choice.

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Panguna mine at centre of bloody Bougainville conflict set to reopen after 30 years

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Local government hopes reopening of mine – once world’s most profitable – will support bid for independence from Papua New Guinea

The mine at the centre of the decade-long civil war between rebels in Bougainville and Papua New Guinea security forces is set to reopen 30 years after it was forced to close, following an agreement between local landowners.

Panguna was once one of the world’s largest and most profitable copper and goldmines and still contains an estimated 5.3m tons of copper and 19.3m ounces of gold, which would make the reserves worth about $60bn at today’s prices.

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Saved: the Wordle clue that helped rescue 80-year-old woman from hostage ordeal

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Daughters of Denyse Holt from Illinois grew concerned after she failed to send them a text containing her daily Wordle score

The wildly popular online puzzle Wordle has been credited with keeping people across the world sane amid the ravages of the pandemic. But now it has been hailed as a potential life saver, by providing the clue that helped rescue an 80-year-old woman from a 20-hour home invasion hostage ordeal.

Denyse Holt, a retired teacher, found herself locked in her basement in her home in Illinois after being woken up by a naked, knife-wielding intruder in the middle of the night.

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Havana syndrome has ‘dramatically hurt’ morale, US diplomats say

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American Foreign Service Association chief Eric Rubin says syndrome, which remains a mystery, has affected recruitment

The spread of Havana syndrome has “dramatically hurt” morale in the US diplomatic corps and affected recruitment, according to the head of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA).

Eric Rubin, whose association represents nearly 17,000 current and former diplomats and foreign aid workers, said it was getting harder to find young people to work abroad, because of concerns about Havana syndrome – and about whether the government would look after them if they got sick.

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Macron was kept away from Putin in Kremlin for ‘refusing Russian Covid test’

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‘We could not accept that they get their hands on the president’s DNA’ a member of Macron’s entourage said

Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian Covid-19 test when he arrived to see Vladimir Putin this week, and was therefore kept at a distance from the Russian leader, two sources in Macron’s entourage told Reuters.

Observers were struck by images of Macron and Putin sitting at opposite ends of 4-metre-long (13 ft) table to discuss the Ukraine crisis on Monday, with some diplomats and others suggesting Putin might have wanted to send a diplomatic message.

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Libya has two prime ministers as political divisions deepen

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Eastern-based parliament appoints former interior minister, but interim PM refuses to step aside

Libya’s political turmoil is set to worsen after its eastern-based parliament appointed a new prime minister and the interim incumbent refused to step aside.

A spokesperson for the parliament said it had chosen the former interior minister Fathi Bashagha by acclamation after the only other candidate withdrew. However, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads the internationally recognised Government of National Accord, has rejected the parliament’s moves, saying he will only hand over power after a national election.

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Covid live: Queen ‘not displaying symptoms’ after recent meeting with Prince Charles, who has tested positive

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Prince Charles, who has tested positive for Covid for the second time, met recently with the Queen but monarch not displaying symptoms

The Paris police authority said it had decided to ban the so-called motorists’ “freedom convoy” from holding protests in the French capital, due to begin tomorrow and last four days, Reuters reports.

Protesters had set out from southern France yesterday with plans to converge on Paris and Brussels to demand an end to Covid-19 restrictions, inspired by demonstrators who have blocked a Canadian border crossing.

Health minister, Saia Piukala, told reporters that 31 more people had tested positive for the virus, nearly doubling Tonga’s active cases for the second day in a row to a total of 64, the online Matangi Tonga news portal and other media reported.

While the number may seem small, the nation of 105,000 had managed to escape thus far without any infections aside from a single case brought in from a missionary returning to Tonga from Africa last October, which was successfully isolated.

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Fears for Democrats’ midterm hopes as US inflation hits 40-year high – live

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Joe Biden acknowledged that rising prices in the US are having a significant impact on families’ budgets, even as the American economy more broadly continues to recover from the effect of the coronavirus pandemic.

“On higher prices, we have been using every tool at our disposal, and while today is a reminder that Americans’ budgets are being stretched in ways that create real stress at the kitchen table, there are also signs that we will make it through this challenge,” Biden said in a new statement.

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Russian teenager jailed over ‘Minecraft plot to blow up virtual spy HQ’

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Boy of 16 sentenced to five years for alleged plan to target FSB building created in computer game

A Russian teenager has been sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly planning to blow up a virtual FSB security service building in the video game Minecraft.

The ruling falls into a broader pattern under President Vladimir Putin in which young Russians are put behind bars on controversial and preemptive terrorism charges.

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‘Mercenaries have skills armies lack’: former Wagner operative opens up

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Marat Gabidullin has written memoir about fighting for Wagner because Russians should know ‘mercenaries exist’

Sitting in a cafe in an upmarket Moscow suburb, the former mercenary Marat Gabidullin looked a long way from the battlefields of Syria where he fought half a decade ago.

Gripping his recently finished memoir, In the Same River Twice, the first published account of fighting for the secretive Russian mercenary outfit Wagner, Gabidullin said: “I wrote this because I realised it’s time for our country to face the truth: mercenaries exist.”

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Mauritius warns UK firm over coins amid Chagos Islands dispute

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Surrey-based Pobjoy Mint accused of violating international law by producing fish-decorated currency

The directors of a British firm producing tropical fish-themed coins for the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) are being threatened with prosecution by Mauritius as the net tightens around the UK’s claim to sovereignty over the Chagos Islands.

The family-owned Pobjoy Mint, based in Kingswood, Surrey, has received a formal letter from Mauritius’s attorney general, Maneesh Gobin, telling its owners they are violating international law by manufacturing the currency without the correct legal permission.

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