Tony Chung, 19, was on bail on suspected national security offences when he was reportedly ‘snatched away’
Tony Chung, a 19-year-old Hong Kong activist on bail after his arrest on suspected national security offences, has been detained by authorities while attempting to seek asylum at the US consulate.
Two other members of Chung’s now-disbanded activism group, Yanni Ho and William Chan, were also arrested later on Tuesday.
Continue reading...People in most of 25 countries think governments failed to act well or quickly
People in most of 25 countries around the world think governments and leaders failed to respond either well or fast enough to the coronavirus crisis, a new global survey shows.
YouGov’s globalism survey of about 26,000 people in countries from Australia to Sweden, designed with the Guardian and carried out by the YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project between July and August, before the second wave hit in Europe and elsewhere, showed striking variations in approval for governments’ handling of the pandemic, which has killed nearly 1.1 million people.
Continue reading...At least three senior Colombian lawmakers have been accused of acting as surrogates for Donald Trump in Florida
The American embassy in Bogotá has warned Colombian politicians to “avoid getting involved” in the US election, amid a growing row over allegations that far-right lawmakers from the South American country are campaigning in support of Donald Trump.
At least three senior Colombian politicians have been accused of acting as Trump surrogates in Florida, a pivotal battleground state which has been flooded with political advertising and fake news aimed at Latino voters.
Continue reading...Opposition and rights groups criticise John Magufuli, who looks on course for second term
Opposition leaders in Tanzania have accused the government of undermining democracy and curtailing fundamental freedoms on the eve of elections in which John Magufuli, one of Africa’s most controversial leaders, could win a second term as president.
Magufuli, whose forthright style has earned him the nickname “the bulldozer”, won praise when he came to power in 2015 for his high-profile efforts to crack down on corruption and government spending, but he has since been accused of mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic and repression of dissent.
Continue reading...Children among those killed after explosives hidden in bag detonate
An explosion at a religious seminary in Pakistan’s northern city of Peshawar has killed at least eight people and injured 110 others.
The deadly blast took place at about 8.30am at the Jamia Zuberia religious school in Dir Colony, where about 500 students were gathered to hear a lecture by influential cleric Rahimullah Haqqani. Most of them were between 20 and 30 years old and from the Khyber Pakthunkwa and Balochistan regions of Pakistan, as well as some from Afghanistan.
Continue reading...Doctors say cases and dozens of deaths from the disease have occurred since August floods, with cases of malaria and cholera also on the rise
An outbreak of Rift Valley fever has killed dozens of people and infected more than 1,000 in Sudan’s Northern state, according to local doctors.
Doctors told the Guardian the disease has spread across the towns of Merowe, Al Dabbah and Karima, mainly among cattle herders.
Continue reading...Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense, Space & Security and Raytheon named along with US officials who played a role in weapons sales
China will sanction several major defence companies in retaliation for multibillion dollar US arms sales to Taiwan, the foreign ministry has announced.
Lockheed Martin, Boeing Defense, Space & Security and Raytheon were named as targets of the sanctions, as well as “the US individuals and entities who played an egregious role”, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press briefing on Monday, but did not provide further details.
Continue reading...German minister warns about exponential rise in new cases; protests against Covid restrictions turn violent in Milan and Turin
One of the world’s leading Covid-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in older adults as well as the young, its developers say, raising hopes of protection for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus that has caused social and economic chaos around the world.
Neither Oxford University nor its commercial partner AstraZeneca would release the data from the early trials showing the positive effects, which are being submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. But AstraZeneca confirmed the basic findings about the vaccine it calls AZD1222, which were shared at a closed academic meeting.
Related: Oxford Covid vaccine works in all ages, trials suggest
Structural racism led to the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus pandemic on black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities in the UK, a review by Dame Doreen Lawrence has concluded.
The report, commissioned by Labour, contradicts the government’s adviser on ethnicity, Dr Raghib Ali, who last week dismissed claims that inequalities within government, health, employment and the education system help to explain why Covid-19 killed disproportionately more people from minority ethnic communities.
Related: Structural racism led to worse Covid impact on BAME groups – report
Continue reading...Zeta, the earliest ever 27th named storm of the Atlantic season, is expected to head to Gulf of Mexico and then the US by Wednesday
Storm Zeta has strengthened into a hurricane as it churned towards beach resorts on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, which it is expected to rake with strong winds and heavy rain before making possible landfall in the US later this week.
Zeta – the earliest ever 27th named storm of the Atlantic season – was centered about 90 miles (145km) south-east of Cozumel island Monday afternoon, the US National Hurricane Center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 80mph (130kph).
Continue reading...Investors’ summer optimism gives way to insecurity as curfews and lockdowns return
Stock markets in the US and Europe fell sharply oas investors focused on signs that rich countries’ efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic were foundering.
In Europe, the Stoxx 600 index lost 1.8% after heavy falls in German blue-chip stocks. In the US the Dow Jones industrial average closed 2.3% down at 27685.38, while the benchmark S&P 500 fell 1.9% to 3400.97.
Continue reading...Sotheby’s in London had been due to sell more than 200 items from cash-strapped museum
Among the hundreds of precious items at Jerusalem’s Museum for Islamic Art is an ostentatious helmet that may have belonged to an Ottoman sultan, a page from a nearly millennium-old Qur’an, and a 13th-century Mamluk glass bowl.
While no doubt treasured, these artefacts can no longer be considered priceless. In a controversial Sotheby’s auction previously set to take place in London on Tuesday, the bowl was estimated at £60,000-£80,000 and the helmet and Qur’an leaf at £200,000-£300,000 each.
Continue reading...Thousands march in opposition to ruling that could lead to near total ban on abortions
Thousands of protesters turned out in towns and cities across Poland on Monday as a political crisis sparked by an impending near total ban on abortion showed no sign of abating.
Drivers created a series of blockades in city centres and thousands of people marched to express their anger at a ruling by Poland’s constitutional tribunal that, if implemented, would ban terminations even in instances where a foetus is diagnosed with a serious and irreversible birth defect.
Continue reading...Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was ‘king of clubs’ in US wanted list and had $10m bounty on his head
Saddam Hussein’s right-hand man, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a longtime fugitive, has died, according to the late Iraqi dictator’s daughter and his Ba’ath party.
After Saddam’s capture following the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, the wiry, red-haired general remained the “king of clubs” in Washington’s deck of cards of wanted regime figures, with a $10m bounty on his head.
Continue reading...Virginia Raggi says she was told organised crime groups planned to kill her and her family
The mayor of Rome has said organised crime groups planned to kill her and her family because she was taking them on in parts of the Italian capital where they hold sway.
Virginia Raggi became the Eternal City’s first female mayor when she was elected in 2016 in a breakthrough for her party, the Five Star Movement, which now governs nationally. She is running for re-election next year.
Continue reading...Financial technology firm will list on Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets in snub to US
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma’s financial technology firm is aiming to raise more than $34bn (£26.15bn) in the world’s biggest initial public offering, valuing the business at more than $313bn.
Ant Group, which on Monday set the price for its much anticipated flotation and is expected to start trading early next month, will beat the record $25.6bn sold by state-backed oil giant Saudi Aramco in its flotation last December.
Continue reading...Chancellor says country is on verge of losing control as Europe death toll passes 250k
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has said her country is on the verge of losing control of its fight against the coronavirus pandemic, telling colleagues from her Christian Democratic Union party “the situation is threatening” and “every day counts”.
In leaked comments to an internal party meeting, she told those attending of “very, very difficult months ahead” and added that “every day [would] count” in tackling the virus’s spread.
Continue reading...Strike was called after ultimatum to president to step down by Sunday was ignored
Workers and students across Belarus have launched strikes in a further show of defiance at the regime of Alexander Lukashenko, who continues to hold on to power despite two months of mass protests since he declared victory in the presidential election in August.
The strike was called by Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the united opposition candidate who took on Lukashenko in August after her husband and other would-be candidates were either jailed or forced to flee. She left for Lithuania the night after the vote after receiving threats and called the strike after an ultimatum for Lukashenko to step down by Sunday night unsurprisingly fell on deaf ears.
Continue reading...Disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people compared with official toll of 88,924
Mexico’s government has admitted its Covid-19 death toll is dramatically higher than official figures have suggested, with the disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people.
The official coronavirus death toll of Latin America’s second largest economy stands at 88,924 – the fourth highest number in the world after the US, Brazil and India. But on Sunday night officials conceded the true number of Covid-19 deaths was likely to be at least 50,000 higher.
Continue reading...Distressed patients flood support services after hack of private firm Vastaamo
The confidential treatment records of tens of thousands of psychotherapy patients in Finland have been hacked and some leaked online, in what the interior minister described as “a shocking act”.
Distressed patients flooded victim support services over the weekend as Finnish police revealed that hackers had accessed records belonging to the private company Vastaamo, which runs 25 therapy centres across Finland. Thousands have reportedly filed police complaints over the breach.
Continue reading...Many firms may not last to see a promised ‘serene Christmas’, as pandemic bites across Europe
From ski resorts in the north to restaurants in the south, many Italians have been making their objections heard to the government’s latest measures to combat escalating coronavirus infections.
The prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said the restrictions, which include the 6pm closure of bars and restaurants and complete closure of gyms, swimming pools, cinemas, theatres and ski stations, were needed so that people could enjoy a “serene Christmas”.
Continue reading...