Category Archives: World News

Amy Coney Barrett delivers statement on first day of supreme court nomination hearings – live

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Senator Gary Peters of Michigan shared his family’s personal abortion story, with Amy Coney Barrett hearings underway.

Peters, a moderate Democrat locked in a tight reelection race, shared with Elle Magazine that in the 1980s, his first wife Heidi, had her water break when she was only four months pregnant, leaving the fetus without amniotic fluid.

My story is one that’s tragically shared by so many Americans.

It’s a story of gut-wrenching and complicated decisions — but it’s important for folks to understand families face these situations every day.https://t.co/VA3VDbjWrO

The significance is hard to overstate. Barrett represents the culmination of a decades-long project by conservatives to control the high court. Her confirmation would extend the conservative reach into every corner of American life, well beyond the size of their shrinking electorate.

Related: What Amy Coney Barrett's likely confirmation means for America

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Coronavirus live news: Fauci says he did not agree to appear in Trump ad; Italy plans new restrictions

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Top US infectious diseases expert said on Sunday he had not agreed to be featured in Trump ad; Italy moves as daily infections reach highest levels since March

Below are updates of what’s happened in recent hours. I am now handing the blog over to my colleague Archie Bland, who will continue bringing you live updates. Thanks for following.

• Malaysia on Monday announced that it will impose some restrictions on movement in its capital city and in the neighbouring state of Selangor from Wednesday, as the country grapples with a fresh surge of coronavirus cases.

Italy is set to ban private parties and limit the numbers of guests at weddings and funerals among new restrictions aimed at curbing a surge in coronavirus infections, according to a draft decree seen by Reuters.

The decree, which could be issued as early as Monday, prohibits people from hosting more than 10 guests in their homes or in any other private premises.

It also states that no more than 10 guests will be allowed at weddings, and no more than 15 people can be present at funerals.
Italy on Friday topped 5,000 new Covid-19 cases in a single day for the first time since March. Daily infections remained above 5,000 on both Saturday and Sunday.

Deaths linked to Covid-19 are far fewer, normally below 30, compared with peaks above 900 per day around the end of March.

Under the draft decree, amateur contact sports involving more than 6 people, such as soccer, are to be suspended and more severe social distancing is to be imposed in some workplaces.

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‘Every boy’s dream is to be James Bond’: Inside North Korea with ‘Mr James’ and ‘the Mole’

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Danish film-maker Mads Brügger’s latest documentary is an absurdly brave look at Kim Jong-un’s regime that has all the intrigue of a spy thriller

Physically, Ulrich Larsen doesn’t stand out. Polite, unassuming, his unmemorable 44-year-old face is how I imagine an efit template might be, what you start with before you add distinguishing features. You get to decide who he is. Perfect for blending in. Or infiltrating the world’s most secretive regime perhaps, which, as it happens, is what he did. Larsen is “the Mole”.

Jim Latrache-Qvortrup is the opposite. Forty-eight, big, bold, bearded, inked, with an expensive-looking set of teeth and an explosive laugh. Ex-military? Better still, he joined the French Foreign Legion at 19. Crime? Tick; he spent eight years in jail for drug dealing. International arms dealer, buying stinger missiles from North Korea for anyone who will have them? Actually no, but he does a very good job of pretending to be one, hardly has to act at all in fact. Latrache-Qvortrup is “Mr James”.

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Hong Kong chief executive postpones key policy speech

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Carrie Lam to consult Beijing in attempt to protect city’s status as international finance hub

Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, has postponed a key annual policy address scheduled for Wednesday, claiming she must consult Beijing on some of her proposals.

The unprecedented delay to the speech was also attributed to plans by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to visit Shenzhen to mark the 40th anniversary of the special economic zone on Wednesday, which was announced only on Monday and which Lam would also attend.

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Chinese city giving away 10m yuan in lottery trial of digital currency

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Shenzhen residents can win one of 50,000 ‘red packets’ to spend in local shops

Authorities in the Chinese city of Shenzhen have begun giving away more than 10m yuan ($1.49m) in a citizens’ lottery, as part of trials of a new digital currency.

Almost 2 million people applied to be one of 50,000 randomly selected citizens receiving a “red packet” valued at 200 yuan (about US$30) on Sunday, to spend at 3,800 designated outlets in the district of Luohu. Participants must download the official digital Renminbi app, which is not yet publicly available, to receive the currency for purchases within the next week.

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‘Drastic rise’ in Malawi’s suicide rate linked to Covid economic downturn

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Lack of specialist support and growing unemployment are factors in growing mental health crisis, doctors say

One Tuesday morning in March, 48-year-old farmer Lokoliyo Bwanali set off for his maize plot. He never came back. Neighbours discovered his body later in the small field where he had poisoned himself.

“The wife of the deceased said her late husband was under pressure from creditors and was failing to settle his debts,” said Edward Kabango, from Malawi’s Dedza district police department. “The deceased left his home without explaining to his family members where he was heading until he was later found lying dead in a field, a kilometre from his home.”

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Les misérables nouveau: the lives of Filipina workers in the playground of the rich

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Thomas Morel-Fort went undercover to capture the lives of undocumented workers toiling inside the Paris and Côte d’Azur homes of the wealthy

At first glance, French photographer Thomas Morel-Fort’s work has all the trappings of a modern-day fairytale: princesses in lavish Parisian mansions; holidays in hilltop villas on the Côte d’Azur; promises of wealth and prosperity.

But his photographs reveal a grittier reality. Morel-Fort’s lens instead alights on the unseen Cinderellas, the Filipino women hired to cook, clean, iron, babysit and obey any commands that come their way, completely beholden to the whims of their demanding, powerful employers.

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‘We’ve had so many wins’: why the green movement can overcome climate crisis

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Leaded petrol, acid rain, CFCs … the last 50 years of environmental action have shown how civil society can force governments and business to change

Leaflets printed on “rather grotty” blue paper. That is how Janet Alty will always remember one of the most successful environment campaigns of modern times: the movement to ban lead in petrol.

There were the leaflets she wrote to warn parents at school gates of the dangers, leaflets to persuade voters and politicians, leaflets to drown out the industry voices saying – falsely – there was nothing to worry about.

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What Dr Fauci actually said versus how Trump used clip in campaign ad – video

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Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, has criticised Donald Trump’s re-election campaign for using his words out of context to make it appear as if he was praising the president’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. In the video released on Saturday, Fauci can be heard saying: 'I can’t imagine that … anyone could be doing more' as the advert boasts of Trump’s response to Covid-19, which in the US has killed more than 214,000 and infected more than 7.7m. The clip came from an interview Fauci gave to Fox News, in which he was describing the work that he and other members of the White House coronavirus task force undertook to respond to the virus 

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People in Gaza sifting through rubbish for food, UN head says

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Palestinians across Middle East suffering unprecedented poverty, says Philippe Lazzarini

People in Gaza are searching through rubbish to find food as Palestinians battle unprecedented levels of poverty, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has said.

Across Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Gaza and elsewhere, Palestinian refugees are suffering at new depths because of the pandemic, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency chief, Philippe Lazzarini. “There is despair and hopelessness,” he said in an interview.

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Canadian detained in China ‘astonished’ to learn about scale of Covid pandemic

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On Saturday Michael Kovrig had his first contact with diplomats since January, saying he was determined to come home

One of the two Canadians that Ottawa says are held arbitrarily in China was “relieved” to get outside news via a virtual diplomatic visit and astonished to learn of the scale of the Covid pandemic, his wife said on Sunday.

Canada announced on Saturday its first contact since January with Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been imprisoned in China for nearly two years.

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Virus that causes Covid-19 can survive up to 28 days on surfaces, scientists find

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Researchers find Sars-CoV-2 survives longer at lower temperatures and lasts 10 days longer than influenza on some surfaces

Australian scientists have found that the virus that causes Covid-19 can survive for up to 28 days on surfaces such as the glass on mobile phones, stainless steel, vinyl and paper banknotes.

The national science agency, the CSIRO, said the research undertaken at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong also found that Sars-CoV-2 survived longer at lower temperatures.

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Peace hopes at stake as northern Cyprus voters go to the polls

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Unofficial early results show first round voting has narrowed field to leftist incumbent and rightwing nationalist

Voters in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus are to face a stark choice between candidates in a run-off presidential election deemed crucial for the resumption of peace talks that could end 46 years of ethnic division on the Mediterranean island.

Following a campaign fraught with allegations of overt meddling from Ankara, the 200,000-strong electorate cast votes yesterday in a first-round contest that narrowed the field to a pro-reunification moderate and a Turkey-backed nationalist who wants two clear states on the island.

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Tourist returns stolen artefacts from Pompeii ‘after suffering curse’

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Candian woman sends back pilfered ceramics, blaming them for years of bad luck

A tourist who pilfered fragments from the ancient city of Pompeii 15 years ago has returned the artefacts, claiming they were “cursed”.

The Canadian woman, identified only as Nicole, sent a package containing two mosaic tiles, parts of an amphora and a piece of ceramics to a travel agent in Pompeii, in southern Italy, alongside a letter of confession.

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Nigeria to disband Sars police unit accused of killings and brutality

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Announcement comes after growing protests, but critics say it does not go far enough

Nigeria’s government has dissolved an infamous police unit plagued with allegations of extrajudicial killings and abuse after days of protests against police brutality.

A wave of outrage had been fuelled over the last week by the emergence online of graphic footage and shared experiences of abuses by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, commonly called Sars.

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Footballers and fishermen: Italy’s red prawn war with Libya turns ugly

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Libyan forces holding Italian crew demand release of footballers convicted of people smuggling

At two docks on opposite shores of the Mediterranean, two sets of families have been drawn into a small international crisis as the fate of 12 Italian fishermen held in Libya appears to hinge on that of four Libyan footballers jailed in Italy for people smuggling.

In Mazara del Vallo, in Sicily, family members have been calling for the immediate release of 12 men, part of a crew including six Tunisians, whose vessel was seized on 1 September by Libyan patrol boats accusing them of fishing in territorial waters. They were taken to Benghazi, Libya, where the warlord Gen Khalifa Haftar reportedly ordered them detained unless Italy released the four Libyans whose families claim were wrongly convicted.

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Czech Republic goes from model Covid-19 response to brink of second lockdown

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Country lauded as success in managing pandemic on verge of new blanket closures

The Czech Republic could be set for a second lockdown following a dramatic rise in Covid-19 infections that has transformed it into Europe’s fastest growing outbreak just months after being hailed as one of the continent’s success stories in managing the pandemic.

A new peak of 8,618 cases was recorded on Friday in the country of 10.7 million, up more than 3,000 on the previous day and significantly more per capita than any other European state. Spain, with a population of just under 47 million and currently the second worst-affected country, documented 12,788 infections on the same day.

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Home Office may use nets to stop migrant boats crossing Channel

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Nets could be used to clog propellers and halt boats, says former Royal Marine in charge

The Home Office is considering permitting the use of nets to prevent migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats to the UK to claim asylum, according to a former Royal Marine tasked with preventing the journeys.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the Home Office’s clandestine channel threat commander, Dan O’Mahoney, said nets could be used to clog propellers and bring boats to a standstill as they attempt the crossing over the Dover Strait.

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Iain Duncan Smith calls for review of Chinese investment in UK

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Former Conservative leader says government should assess China’s influence in areas from 5G to Covid-19 research

Chinese ownership of British businesses should be subject to a national security review by the UK government to assess the impact of Beijing’s growing economic power, according to the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith.

The senior backbencher – a leading figure in the rebellion that forced Downing Street to introduce tougher controls on Huawei – believes ministers have failed to deal with the scale of China’s influence on strategic industries in the UK.

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Video shows barrage of fireworks going off in Paris police station attack – video

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About 40 unidentified people armed with metal bars and using fireworks as projectiles tried to storm a police station in the Paris suburbs on Saturday night, officials have said. Police posted this video showing a barrage of fireworks going off in the direction of the police station in Champigny-sur-Marne, about nine miles south-east of the city centre.

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