Category Archives: World News

Covid-19: Fauci says US life won’t return to normal until deep into 2021

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  • Expert: no return to ‘a degree of normality’ until next year
  • Current American data on virus cases and deaths ‘disturbing’

The White House coronavirus taskforce’s most senior public health expert, Anthony Fauci, said on Friday that it would probably take another year before life returns to a sense of “normality” in the US, even if a successful Covid-19 vaccine is approved in the next few months.

Related: Bob Woodward rejects criticism that he sat on Trump 'deadly' virus remarks

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Coronavirus closures threaten future of Papua New Guinea’s only animal rescue centre

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Port Moresby nature park may not survive the impact of pandemic shutdowns

From the heat and dust of the city’s noisy, crowded streets, the Port Moresby Nature Park is an oasis, for the city’s residents as well as the animals it keeps.

Home to more than 500 creatures and spread over 30 verdant acres, the park has spent years rescuing injured, orphaned or trafficked animals from across the country, and protected and nurtured native species, including the endangered pig-nosed turtle, and the magnificent riflebird.

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Local anger as Greece tries to shelter refugees after Lesbos fire

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Military seen using helicopters to carry equipment as they set up tented area on hilltop

Authorities have rushed to start putting up tents on Lesbos after thousands of men, women and children forced by devastating fires to evacuate Greece’s largest refugee camp spent a second night of sleeping rough.

Faced with intense opposition from local officials who were now demanding that the notoriously overcrowded Moria facility be removed “once and for all” from the island, the Greek government scrambled to break the deadlock.

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Bahrain to normalise ties with Israel, Donald Trump announces

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Arab country is latest to make agreement as part of US president’s diplomatic push

Bahrain has agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, and will join the United Arab Emirates in signing an agreement at the White House on Tuesday.

“Even great warriors get tired of fighting, and they’re tired of fighting,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, portraying the deals as peace agreements, although neither Gulf monarchy has ever been at war with Israel, and both had already established extensive informal ties. Bahrain has long advocated Israel’s integration in the region.

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Bolivia government abusing justice system against Morales and allies – report

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Human Rights Watch report accuses administration of Jeanine Áñez of overseeing legal offensive against people linked to Morales

Bolivia’s rightwing caretaker government is abusing the justice system to wage a politically motivated witch-hunt against former president Evo Morales and his allies, a new report by Human Rights Watch claims.

The report accuses the US-backed administration of Jeanine Áñez – who became interim leader after Morales was forced into exile last November – of overseeing a legal offensive against more than 100 people linked to Bolivia’s first indigenous president.

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Colombia protests against police brutality leave at least 10 dead

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  • Unrest sparked by police killing of lawyer in Bogotá
  • Disturbances spread to Medellín, Cali and Manizales

At least 10 people have been left dead in cities across Colombia after a second night of protests against police brutality.

The unrest was sparked by the killing on Tuesday night in Bogotá of an unarmed lawyer, Javier Ordóñez, by police who pinned him down and repeatedly shocked him with a Taser for over two minutes as he begged “please, no more”.

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Can Belarus protesters topple Europe’s last dictator? – video explainer

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Thousands of Belarusians have defied beatings and arrests to demand the resignation of the country's authoritarian leader, Alexander Lukashenko, after he claimed victory in an election they say was rigged. Protesters have flooded Belarus's capital, Minsk, every week for a month to call for new, free and fair elections, as well as an end to police violence. But Lukashenko has held on with the support of the police and military. Can the protesters topple the man often called Europe's last dictator?

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‘I have never seen anything like this’: Oregon towns emptied and confusion spreads amid fires

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In Molalla and other western towns, fear, uncertainty and disinformation gripped residents as hundreds of thousands in the state evacuate

Hundreds of thousands of people in Oregon were ordered to leave their homes on Thursday as wildfires encroached on their properties. The evacuations clogged highways, emptied entire towns and sparked confusion in a state that has not grappled with wildfires of this size before.

Large-scale evacuations in the state began within the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon’s largest city. Clackamas county, home to some 420,000 people in the metro’s south, was already under varying levels of fire alert when officials on Thursday afternoon told residents of the city of Molalla to leave.

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Brexit: UK negotiators ‘believe brinkmanship will reboot trade talks’

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Plan has enraged EU and many Tories but sources say No 10 thinks it will move talks along

Britain’s Brexit negotiators believe Downing Street’s plan to break international law, pushing the trade and security negotiations to the brink, may have helped reboot the talks by offering Brussels a reality check about the looming danger of a no-deal outcome.

The publication of the internal market bill on Wednesday, under which key parts of the withdrawal agreement agreed last year would be negated, has enraged the EU and prompted an internal rebellion within the Conservative party.

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Officers charged in George Floyd killing seek to place blame on one another

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  • Former police quartet appear in court for special hearing
  • Floyd died after Derek Chauvin held his knee on his neck

Attorneys for four former Minneapolis officers charged in the killing of George Floyd say each should get his own trial, as the officers point fingers at one another.

Related: 9/11 remembered amid raging wildfires and coronavirus recriminations – live

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The Covid-19 vaccine gamble: where bets have been placed and why

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Wealthy nations have ordered millions of doses of unproven candidates, but equal access is the key to beating virus

The UK has ordered a total of 340m doses of potential coronavirus vaccines from six manufacturers.

The EU has done a deal said to be worth €2.4bn (£2.2bn) with one developer, while the US has orders with six companies for 800m doses under Operation Warp Speed, with options on a further 1.6bn.

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‘Moria no more’: the refugees left to sleep in car parks after escaping blaze

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Peaceful protests break out as the fire that destroyed Europe’s largest refugee camp leaves thousands without provisions, shelter or medical help

After days of sleeping on the streets since fleeing a fire which, for many, claimed all of their worldly belongings, Moria camp residents protested in their thousands on Friday. Babies sat on the shoulders of their fathers and small children carried signs bearing the word “freedom,” written on scraps of cardboard.

People clapped, whistled and banged empty water bottles together during a peaceful but noisy protest as frustrations ran high. Camp residents have been stuck on the streets between Moria camp and the main town of Mytilene, blocked in on all sides by police buses. Riot police in helmets and holding shields looked on as the protest passed them.

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German military mulls bringing in feminine form for army ranks

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Under current system a female captain, for example, is called Frau Hauptmann – Mrs Captain

Germany is considering introducing feminine forms for military ranks, according to reports, 20 years after women gained the right to join the Bundeswehr.

The army has resisted using the feminine form even after women gained the right to join in 2000. A female captain in the Bundeswehr is addressed as Frau Hauptmann, the equivalent of “Mrs Captain”.

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Backlash in Pakistan as police appear to blame woman for gang rape

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Investigator says woman raped in front of her children shouldn’t have driven alone

The gang-rape of a woman in front of her children after her car broke down on a motorway has prompted outrage and protests in Pakistan, with anger further fuelled by police, who appeared to blame the victim for travelling alone.

Fifteen people have been arrested in connection with the gang-rape, which happened at about 1.30am by the side of a motorway in Lahore.

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Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive

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Citroën’s ‘urban mobility object’ is classed as a light quadricyle and can be driven without a full licence

The vehicle is cheap and the reactions from the pavement are a bonus, from the disbelieving double-take or uncontrolled giggle to the frankly envious where-do-I-get-one-of-those (plus the odd pitying stare, but then this is Paris).

At first glance, Citroën’s new Ami, a playful polypropylene cube on wheels with an unashamedly Toytown aesthetic, seems hardly the kind of car to excite the passions of France’s drivers. But, perhaps because it is not a car, that is just what it is doing.

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Trump and Biden attend 9/11 memorial ceremonies – US politics live

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In the latest sign of how ugly the presidential race has become, Trump baselessly accused Joe Biden of using performance-enhancing drugs in a new interview.

Fox News released a clip from Trump’s recent interview with host Jeanine Pirro, which will air in full tomorrow night.

"I think there's probably, possibly drugs involved. That's what I hear." -- during interview with Judge Jeanine, Trump casually accuses Joe Biden of using performance enhancing drugs pic.twitter.com/RVWJMqPNhn

Hello everyone, this is Julia Carrie Wong picking up the blog from smoky Oakland, California. I’ll have more news and politics coming your way for the rest of the evening.

First up: QAnon-supporting candidate Marjorie Taylor Greene’s election to Congress is all but assured after her Democratic opponent, Kevin Van Ausdal, abruptly dropped out of the race to represent Georgia’s 14th district.

A message from Kevin Van Ausdal pic.twitter.com/Y5LtVcpK2B

Related: 'Mind-bogglingly irresponsible': meet the Republican donors helping QAnon reach Congress

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Save the Children can resume funding bids following sexual abuse scandal

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Charity has made ‘significant steps’ to improve safeguarding and can now apply for government funds two years on from withdrawal

The charity Save the Children can resume bids for government funding after it withdrew from the process two years ago over a sexual misconduct scandal.

The charity, one of the largest British recipients of government funding, receiving £139m in 2017, had taken “significant steps” to improve safeguarding and now meets government standards, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed on Thursday.

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Belgian king’s daughter fights for right to call herself a princess

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Delphine Boël, whose mother had affair with ex-king Albert II, also wants to take her father’s surname

A woman who successfully fought a seven-year legal battle to prove she was the daughter of the former king of Belgium, Albert II, will learn next month whether, against the wishes of her father, she will be able to use the titles Her Royal Highness and the Princess of Belgium.

Delphine Boël, 52, an artist and sculptor, whose mother had an extra-marital affair with Albert in the 1960s and 70s, argued in the Brussels court of appeal that she should also be able to use her biological father’s surname of Saxe-Coburg. The court will give its judgment on 29 October.

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Cuties controversy sparks #CancelNetflix campaign

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French film Mignonnes sparks 200,000 tweets calling for boycott of streaming service over claims the film sexualises its young stars

A call to boycott Netflix on Thursday over the French film Mignonnes – AKA Cuties – has been launched on social media, over claims that its young stars were portrayed in a sexualised way.

The film is directed by French-Senegalese director Maïmouna Doucouré, and started streaming on 9 September. More than 200,000 tweets with the hashtag #CancelNetflix became the top trending topic one day later.

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UK government hails ‘historic’ trade deal with Japan

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Agreement in principle comes as Britain races to secure deals before Brexit transition ends

Japan and the UK have agreed a “historic” free trade deal, as Britain races to secure easy access to overseas markets as it prepares to leave the European Union.

“This is a historic moment for the UK and Japan as our first major post-Brexit trade deal,” Liz Truss, the international trade secretary, said after a video call on Friday with the Japanese foreign minister, Toshimitsu Motegi.

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