Category Archives: World News

Botswana says it has solved mystery of mass elephant die-off

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Elephants may have ingested toxins produced by bacteria found in waterholes

Hundreds of elephants died in Botswana earlier this year from ingesting toxins produced by cyanobacteria, according to government officials who say they will be testing waterholes for algal blooms next rainy season to reduce the risk of another mass die-off.

The mysterious death of 350 elephants in the Okavango delta between May and June baffled conservationists, with leading theories suggesting they were killed by a rodent virus known as EMC (encephalomyocarditis) or toxins from algal blooms.

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Coronavirus symptoms: how to tell if you have a common cold, flu or Covid

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Fever, runny nose, headache? Lost your sense of taste or smell? Your guide to differentiating between the three illnesses

With winter approaching, the UK is entering the traditional seasons for colds and flu, with the additional complication this year that symptoms of those two illnesses can be broadly similar to those experienced by people who have caught the coronavirus and may be at risk of spreading it.

The NHS in England has produced a guide to differentiate between the three types of illnesses, which health experts hope will make it clearer to people whether they have an illness they would have most likely brushed aside last year, but which this year might lead them to think they need to self-isolate or seek to have a coronavirus test.

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Coronavirus live news: UK at ‘critical point’ in pandemic as US nears 200,000 deaths

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England’s chief medical officer to warn of a ‘very challenging winter’; more than one in five Covid-19 deaths globally is in US; Lebanon sees record case rise. Follow the latest updates

The UK government has warned of six more months of “very difficult” lockdown restrictions, amid a continuing rise in infections, the Times reports this morning.

According to the paper, the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, is expected to announce new movement curbs in the coming days, although there is said be a split among members of his cabinet over how extensive these should be, with the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is resisting a full shutdown of the hospitality sector.

The Times: Covid curbs will last for six months, No 10 warns pic.twitter.com/tLa5x8Deya

The UK is at a “critical moment” and if people fail to follow coronavirus rules “we’re going to end up back in situations we don’t want to be in,” a senior government minister warned in a broadcast interview this morning.

Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, told Sky News:

We’re certainly at a critical moment this morning.

It is clear we’re just a few weeks behind what we’re seeing elsewhere in Europe.

.@grantshapps says it's important the public adhere to the new social distancing rules as #COVID19 'hospital admissions are creeping up'.

The transport sec says "deaths haven't gone up as yet" but the govt is expecting it to do so like Spain.#KayBurley: https://t.co/smsK11yuT6 pic.twitter.com/tOodnaTlsB

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Coronavirus live news: Iran sees highest daily cases since June; US approaches 200,000 Covid deaths

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177 people died with Covid in Iran yesterday; Czech health minister quits as cases rise; more than one in five Covid deaths globally is in US

A federal judge in South Carolina has struck down a rule requiring mail-in absentee ballots to be signed by witnesses for the upcoming November election, citing the severity of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a ruling on Friday, US district court judge J. Michelle Childs ordered the state Election Commission to immediately inform voters about the removal of the requirement.

The latest Guardian editorial, on the UK facing its second wave of coronavirus:

The United Kingdom is facing a Covid calamity, and it is a situation that was made in Downing Street. Infections and hospital admissions are rising rapidly.

An exponentially growing epidemic is outpacing the rate at which the testing regime is expanding, meaning that it is not possible to properly track the spread of the disease.

Related: The Guardian view on the Covid crisis: Boris Johnson let it happen

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Children urged to strike against lack of action on climate emergency

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Schoolchildren to protest on Friday in first such action since coronavirus pandemic struck

Schoolchildren around the world are being urged to go on strike to protest against a lack of action on the climate crisis.

Children and their supporters are invited to take to the streets on Friday, if it is safe to do so, or to go online with their protests “in whatever way suits you best”, according to the organisers.

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Global report: US Covid deaths near 200,000 as UK ‘heads in wrong direction’

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Israeli protesters return despite lockdown; Australian state of Victoria reports fewest infections in three months; New Zealand eases restrictions

The US is nearing the stark milestone of 200,000 deaths, nine months after the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, as cases in the UK rose to a four-month high and Europe continued to see rising infections.

The number of deaths in the US, the highest in the world, stood at 199,509 on the Johns Hopkins University tracker on Monday morning, roughly a fifth of the global total. Nearly 6.8m of the world’s 30.1m infections are in the US.

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Alex Winter: ‘I had extreme PTSD for many, many years. That will wreak havoc’

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He is starring in a new Bill & Ted movie and releasing a documentary about child actors. The film-maker discusses the abuse he experienced as a young performer, his close friendship with Keanu Reeves – and why he quit acting

By the age of 12, Alex Winter knew both the highs and horrors of life as a child actor. Three years into his career, he was sharing a Broadway stage with Yul Brynner in The King and I. “But at the same time,” he says, “I was dealing with really intense and prolonged abuse.

“There was The King and I – eight shows a week, happy face – feeling genuinely happy in that role. Great relationship with my mom and dad; great relationship with the co-workers around me; doing interviews, signing autographs, living this amazing … and then this nightmarish other existence.” He has not named his abuser, who he says is dead.

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Folkestone charities fear far right will target asylum seeker base

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Refugee groups urge ministers to ensure safety of 400 people housed in barracks

The people of Folkestone have become used to the sound of helicopters buzzing over their heads at night, as authorities scour the waters off the south coast for asylum seekers crossing the Channel on small boats.

September has become the busiest month on record for migrant Channel crossings, while more than 6,500 have made the journey this year – more than three times the total in 2019. The sight of new arrivals, some in flimsy dinghies and using spades as oars, has become an almost daily occurrence.

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Woman, 117, marks becoming Japan’s oldest ever person with cola and boardgames

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Kane Tanaka, who has not been able to see her family due to the pandemic, celebrated with a bottle of Coke

A 117-year-old woman with a weakness for fizzy drinks and chocolate has become Japan’s oldest person on record, as the country marks a public holiday devoted to its senior citizens.

Kane Tanaka, who had already been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest living person in March last year, achieved the all-time Japanese age record on Saturday, when she became 117 years and 261 days old.

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Some wipeout: Hawaii big wave surfer’s board floats 8,000km to Philippines

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More than two years after disappearing in a huge swell at Waimea Bay, Doug Falter’s board was found near the remote island of Sarangani

When big wave surfer Doug Falter lost his board in a wipeout in Hawaii, his best hope was for a local fisherman to pick it up. He never imagined it would be found more than 8,000km (5,000 miles) away in the southern Philippines.

But more than two years after watching his pale blue custom-shaped board disappear in the huge swell of Waimea Bay, Falter was alerted via social media that it had been found near the remote island of Sarangani.

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Australian and British bomb disposal workers killed by blast in Solomon Islands

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NGO workers mapping second world war bomb sites died when ordnance detonated in their home

An Australian man and his British colleague working to map unexploded bombs across Solomon Islands have been killed in an explosion at their home in the capital Honiara.

Australian Trent Lee and Briton Stephen “Luke” Atkinson died when an unexploded ordnance is believed to have detonated shortly after 7.30pm on Sunday.

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‘Quite a year’: couples on being separated by the Covid pandemic

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Guardian readers tell their stories of being kept apart by illness, work and closed borders

The coronavirus pandemic has lead to airport closures, cancelled flights, and some countries not allowing citizens to leave.

For couples used to being apart for short periods the restrictions have meant being apart for much longer. For those from different countries, they may have had to choose between visiting or caring for family and being together. Some have been kept apart by illness or essential work.

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World’s richest 1% cause double CO2 emissions of poorest 50%, says Oxfam

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Charity says world’s fast-shrinking carbon budget should be used to improve lot of poorest

The wealthiest 1% of the world’s population were responsible for the emission of more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the poorer half of the world from 1990 to 2015, according to new research.

Carbon dioxide emissions rose by 60% over the 25-year period, but the increase in emissions from the richest 1% was three times greater than the increase in emissions from the poorest half.

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My country may be swept away by the climate crisis if the rest of the world fails to uphold its promises | President David Kabua

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Now is a time for courage. It will take sacrifices from everyone for us all to survive, the president of the Marshall Islands writes

My country joined the United Nations nearly 30 years ago, in September 1991. But unless my fellow member states take action, we may also be forced from it: the first country to see our land swept away by climate change.

As the UN general assembly meets in New York, celebrating the 75th anniversary of its formation, we must ask: how many of the 193 nations that it brings together will survive to reach its centenary?

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Supreme court: Biden accuses Trump and Republicans of abuse of power

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Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, made an urgent plea on Sunday to the conscience of Senate Republicans, asking them to defy Donald Trump and refuse to ram through his nominee to the supreme court before the November election.

Related: Rushing to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, McConnell shows power trumps principle | Robert Reich

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Leak reveals $2tn of possibly corrupt US financial activity

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Among those named in reports is Paul Manafort, former political strategist for Donald Trump

Thousands of documents detailing $2 trillion (£1.55tn) of potentially corrupt transactions that were washed through the US financial system have been leaked to an international group of investigative journalists.

The leak focuses on more than 2,000 suspicious activity reports (SARs) filed with the US government’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

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Sadiq Khan urged to boycott Saudi-hosted G20 mayors summit

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Rights coalition calls on mayors to withdraw from U20, which coincides with anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder

Mainly leftwing mayors of some of the world’s biggest cities are being urged to boycott a G20 urban summit hosted by Saudi Arabia on the 2nd anniversary of the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Urban 20 (U20) is being held as part of the Saudi Arabian chairmanship of this year’s G20. Among the mayors slated to attend include, Berlin’s Michael Müller, London’s Sadiq Khan, New York’s Bill de Blasio, Paris’s Anne Hidalgo, Rome’s Virginia Raggi as well as the mayors of Los Angeles and Madrid.

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Protests in Madrid over coronavirus lockdown measures

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Protesters call for regional president who blamed ‘way of life of immigrants’ for rise to resign

By midday on Sunday, the chants of “Unity!” and “Healthcare!” that echoed around a busy crossroads in north-east Madrid had given rise to a more specific demand: “Ayuso resign!”

On Friday, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the president of the Madrid region, announced that 850,000 people – many of them living in some of the poorest parts of the city and surrounding area – would be placed in partial lockdown from Monday in an attempt to arrest the second wave of the virus.

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Donald Trump pledges to nominate a ‘very brilliant’ woman to supreme court – video

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Speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina, the US president told supporters he had a duty to nominate a candidate to fill the supreme court vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. 'It will be a woman,' Trump said. 'A very talented, very brilliant woman.'

Democrats including Joe Biden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have said Republicans should follow the precedent that GOP legislators set in 2016 by refusing to consider a supreme court choice in the run-up to an election

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‘We pick your food’: migrant workers speak out from Spain’s ‘Plastic Sea’

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In Almería’s vast farms, migrants pick food destined for UK supermarkets. But these ‘essential workers’ live in shantytowns and lack PPE as Covid cases soar

Photographs and drone footage by Ofelia de Pablo and Javier Zurita

It is the end of another day for Hassan, a migrant worker from Morocco who has spent the past 12 hours under a sweltering late summer sun harvesting vegetables in one of the vast greenhouses of Almería, southern Spain.

The vegetables he has dug from the red dirt are destined for dinner plates all over Europe. UK supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Lidl and Aldi all source fruit and vegetables from Almería. The tens of thousands of migrant workers working in the province are vital to the Spanish economy and pan-European food supply chains. Throughout the pandemic, they have held essential worker status, labouring in the fields while millions across the world sheltered inside.

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