UK updates travel advice and US urges citizens to ‘reconsider travel’ to Hong Kong
The US and the UK have warned of a risk of arbitrary arrest in China and Hong Kong in updates to their travel advice for citizens.
The US advice urged citizens to “reconsider travel” to Hong Kong, citing an environment in which the central Chinese government “unilaterally and arbitrarily exercises police and security power” in the semi-autonomous city.
Continue reading...Alexei Navalny says he can breathe independently in Instagram post sent from hospital in Berlin
The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has said he is nowable to breathe without any external support, in his first public statement since he was poisoned last month.
Navalny, who German authorities said was poisoned with the nerve agent novichok, posted a photograph on Instagram of himself sitting up in a hospital bed surrounded by his wife and their two children.
Continue reading...Critics say advice should have been sought from lawyers without views on EU debate
The government is facing increasing scrutiny over its decision to use “committed Brexiteer” lawyers to provide advice on the legality of breaching the EU withdrawal agreement.
On Saturday, the attorney general, Suella Braverman QC, who chaired the annual general meeting of the Bar Council that represents barristers in England and Wales, faced repeated criticism over her role as the government’s chief legal adviser, according to those present.
Continue reading...Óscar Denis was taken by Paraguayan People’s Army days after military killed two 11-year-old girls in unclear circumstances
Violence has intensified in Paraguay in the conflict between security forces and the Paraguayan People’s Army (EPP) – a communist guerrilla movement active in the country’s north-east.
A former vice-president was kidnapped by rebels days after the military killed two 11-year-old girls in unclear circumstances during an operation against the EPP, which human rights organisations described as a possible “state crime”.
Continue reading...Coronavirus deaths pass 925,000; biosafety head at Chinese CDC says vaccine progress ‘very smooth’; South Korea to secure early vaccines for 30 million
As global coronavirus cases neared 30 million on Tuesday, a senior health official in China said she expected a vaccine to be publicly available as early as November this year.
According to the Johns Hopkins University Covid-19 tracker, which relies on official government data, there are 29,190,588 confirmed infections worldwide. Deaths stand at 927,245 and are expected to pass 1 million by October.
Continue reading...Pandemic could result in a ‘lost decade’ for developing countries says co-chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in stark report
The world’s poorest countries risk a lost decade of development unless leaders move quickly to help them recover from the fallout of Covid-19, Melinda Gates told the Guardian.
The co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which has committed $350m (£270m) to support the global response to the pandemic, said it was in the hands of the global community to decide the long-term impact.
Continue reading...New Zealand’s national language week will have little or no impact on most Kiwis, but we must protect te reo as a national treasure
I can already feel my heart begin to race when I know I am expected to speak te reo Māori, the Indigenous tongue of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Where I am from, people know me as this confident, fluent speaker of the Māori language. But here I am today, sweaty-palmed at the mere thought of saying a simple greeting and introduction in my mother tongue.
It is a far cry from the old me, who would win back-to-back Māori language speech competitions at a school where we learned everything in total immersion te reo Māori.
Continue reading...The sprawling grounds of Canada’s largest cemetery have long offered visitors a respite from the bustle of downtown Montreal.
But in recent weeks, those in search of a peaceful walk have instead made a series of grisly discoveries among the graves of Notre Dame des Neiges: splintered pieces of caskets and human bones scattered throughout the grass.
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Trump has landed in California, where he will receive a briefing on the west coast wildfires, which have already claimed at least 35 lives.
“There has to be good, strong forest management, which I’ve been talking about for three years with the states, so hopefully they’ll start doing that,” Trump said.
Trump is in California mispronouncing "Oregon" and insisting that wildfires are caused be poor forest management pic.twitter.com/zydXDoe3DT
Joe Biden closed his climate speech by noting he continues to pray for Americans on the west coast who have been affected by the wildfires.
“We see the light through the dark smoke. We never give up. Always,” Biden said.
Continue reading...New measures to limit public gatherings come as number of cases surges
Authorities in Bordeaux and Marseille have announced strict new measures to limit public gatherings in an effort to rein in a rapid surge in Covid-19 cases that risks overwhelming the two French cities’ hospitals.
“The virus has accelerated despite the obligation to wear a mask introduced earlier this summer,” Christophe Mirmand, the government’s top official in greater Marseille area, said on Monday. “We need to take action to ensure health services can cope.”
Continue reading...This summer was the hottest ever recorded in the northern hemisphere, according to US government scientists.
Related: Bigger than London, bigger than New York City: visualizing the size of fires in the US
Continue reading...Amiram Ben-Uliel murdered Saad Dawabsheh, his wife and child in a 2015 arson attack
A court in Israel has ruled a Jewish extremist will serve three life sentences for killing a Palestinian couple and their toddler in a 2015 firebomb attack in the occupied West Bank, murders that contributed to surging violence at the time.
In handing out the sentence, the Lod district court said Amiram Ben-Uliel, 26, an Israeli settler, had meticulously planned the arson attack, which “stemmed from the radical ideology he held, and racism”. The punishment was close to the maximum penalty, it said.
Continue reading...Seven cases linked to Club Paradise, which had been attended by hundreds of patrons in recent weeks
Officials in Canada’s largest city are calling for strip clubs to be shut down after a second Covid-19 outbreak linked to such an establishment in less than a month.
Over the weekend, Toronto’s public health unit identified seven cases linked to Club Paradise, a venue which had been attended by hundreds of patrons in recent weeks.
Continue reading...Greek authorities struggle to persuade former camp residents to move to a new temporary site as protests continue
Greece is facing mounting demands from refugees displaced by the devastating Moria refugee camp fire to either let them leave Lesbos or deport them.
The Greek authorities are struggling to persuade former residents of the camp to move to a new temporary site, and many people continue to sleep on the streets of the island.
Continue reading...Belarusian president flies to Sochi for talks with Russian leader after month of protests
The embattled Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko is holding talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, a meeting seen as crucial to determining whether or not Lukashenko can survive a protest movement against him.
The pair met at Putin’s residence in Sochi, the first foreign trip Lukashenko has made since protests began a month ago.
Continue reading...Prosecutors allege Paul Rusesabagina was leader of rebel group responsible for deadly attacks
Paul Rusesabagina, a businessman whose role in saving more than 1,000 lives inspired the film Hotel Rwanda, has appeared in court in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, facing charges of terrorism and murder.
Rwandan authorities have accused Rusesabagina of being “the founder, leader, sponsor and member of violent, armed, extremist terror outfits … operating out of various places in the region and abroad”. The dissident faces a lengthy prison sentence, potentially for life.
Continue reading...Russian opposition leader taken off ventilator and can leave his bed, hospital reports
The Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been taken off a ventilator and is able to leave his bed for short periods of time, German doctors who have been treating him for novichok poisoning have said.
In a significant update, the Charité hospital in Berlin said Navalny’s condition “continues to improve” and hinted that he was able to talk. It said latest news of his health was made public after consultation with Navalny and his wife.
Continue reading...An estimated 100,000 people took to the streets of Belarus's capital, Minsk, as protests against the president, Alexander Lukashenko, continued for the fifth weekend. The large demonstrations come as Lukashenko is set to meet with Vladimir Putin for the first time since the presidential election on 9 August. Lukashenko’s claim that he won a landslide victory triggered the growing uprising against his 26-year reign
Continue reading...Of island’s nearly 1,900 cases, 70% were diagnosed in August and September, with one in 10 tests positive
A 10-year-old boy has become Covid-19’s latest fatality on Guam, as the island struggles to rein in an outbreak that threatens to overwhelm its public health system.
The boy, who had underlying health conditions, died on Sunday night at the US Naval Hospital, 10 days after contracting the virus. He is the 26th person to die from Covid on Guam.
Continue reading...Cost would be billions, but represents a huge saving on $11tn response to Covid-19, estimates show
Spending $5 (£3.90) per person annually on global health security over the next five years could prevent a future “catastrophic” pandemic, according to a former head of the World Health Organization (WHO).
It would cost the world billions of dollars, but that amount would be a huge saving on the $11tn response to Covid-19, said Gro Harlem Brundtland, who, with other prominent international experts, sounded the alarm over the threat of a fast-spreading deadly pandemic last September.
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