Coronavirus live news: Queensland steps up alert; protesters try to storm Reichstag

Demonstrations in Germany and UK against coronavirus restrictions; Australian opposition calls for wider care home inquiry; Turkey sees two-month high in cases. Follow all the developments live

AFP is reporting from Rome:

Three Nigerian migrants attacked staff in a military hospital in Rome after testing positive for Covid-19, the defence ministry said Saturday.

And in Victoria, Australia’s worst-affected state.

#COVID19VicData for 30 August, 2020. There were 114 new cases detected in Victoria yesterday. Sadly we report 11 lives lost - condolences to all affected. More information will be available later today via our media release. pic.twitter.com/4voh37S3oM

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Coronavirus live news: India reports record rise in infections; global cases pass 25m

India records world’s highest single day rise; Latest Johns Hopkins figures show 842,702 people have died; Jacinda Ardern thanks Aucklanders

The coronavirus pandemic has shut down art exhibitions around the globe, but organisers of the RIBOCA2 biennial in Latvia have pushed ahead, reimagining the event to reflect challenging times.

To ensure social distancing, installations by nearly 70 international artists are showcased at the sprawling 20-hectare (50-acre) Soviet-era Andrejsala industrial port in Riga, long abandoned and given up to nature.

Hello, I’m taking over from Amy for the next few hours, as ever please don’t hesitate to share relevant tips and pointers with us, you can get me on Twitter @JedySays or via email.

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UN refugee agency calls on EU nations to let in migrants rescued in Mediterranean

UNHCR and IOM say 200 rescued people urgently need to get off Banksy-funded ship

The UN refugee agency urged European nations on Saturday to let in hundreds of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean by humanitarian boats, including one financed by the British street artist Banksy.

The UNHCR and the International Organization of Migration (IOM) said more than 200 rescued refugees and migrants needed immediately to get off the nonprofit search-and-rescue ship Louise Michel, saying it was far beyond its safe capacity.

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Horses slashed and ears cut off in macabre attacks across France

About 30 incidents have been reported in stables and equine clubs in suspected ritual mutilations

Attackers are targeting horses and ponies in pastures across France armed with knives in what may be ritual mutilations.

Police are baffled by the macabre attacks, which include slashings. Most often, an ear – usually the right one – has been cut off, recalling the matador’s trophy in a bullring.

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Riots rock Malmö after far-right Swedish activists burn Qur’an

Leading imam condemns violence after police battle more than 300 on streets of the city

The disorderly phalanx of young men and teenagers, many wearing face masks and hooded tops, started to accelerate, excitement rising, as it neared the row of police vans blocking off the troubled district of Rosengård in Malmö.

“We’re gonna fuck this system up because they want to let a man burn the Qur’an,” one of them yelled, as the group starts hurling jagged chunks of concrete paving towards the armoured riot police sheltering behind the vans. “And we’re gonna fuck the police.”

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‘Anti-corona’ extremists try to storm German parliament

Police prevent hundreds from entering Reichstag and disband march protesting against Covid protection measures

Far-right extremists tried to storm the German parliament building on Saturday following a protest against the country’s pandemic restrictions, but were intercepted by police and forcibly removed.

The incident occurred after a daylong demonstration by tens of thousands of people opposed to the wearing of masks and other government measures intended to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. Police ordered the protesters to disband halfway through their march around Berlin after participants refused to observe physical distancing rules, but a rally near the capital’s iconic Brandenburg Gate took place as planned.

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Belarus deports Swedish journalist amid media crackdown

Paul Hansen one of 50 reporters, including BBC Moscow’s Steve Rosenberg, detained by police

A Swedish photojournalist has been deported from Belarus, amid a crackdown on local and foreign media and ahead of further mass protests planned for this weekend against the president, Alexander Lukashenko.

Paul Hansen was given 24 hours to leave the country and banned from Belarus for five years. He was one of 50 reporters rounded up by riot police on Thursday and taken into custody, ostensibly so their documents could be checked.

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Armed robbers take £8m after attack on security van in Lyon

Loomis chief executive calls robbery ‘an audacious attack, right in the city centre’

Robbers in the southeastern French city of Lyon have stolen €9m (£8m) in an armed attack on an armoured security vehicle.

It is believed to be the biggest cash heist in France since notorious robber Toni Musulin in 2009 made off with €11.6m, most of which was subsequently recovered.

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Barnier ‘flabbergasted’ at UK attempt to reopen Brexit specialty food debate

Bloc sources say Britain is trying to water down EU geographical protections

The UK government has renewed its attempt to reopen the chapter of the Brexit divorce treaty protecting specialty food and drink, such as Parma ham, roquefort cheese and champagne, in a move that left the EU chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, “a little bit flabbergasted”.

The British proposal on protected status for food and drink was included in a draft free-trade agreement handed to Barnier by his opposite number, David Frost, last week, according to two EU sources.

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Reopening schools: how different countries are tackling Covid dilemma

As schools in England prepare to reopen, we examine the situation around the world

As schools in England and Wales get set to reopen amid continued controversy over safe conditions, attention has focused on potential evidence of coronavirus transmission in the classroom and on the experiences of other countries.

Research on the ability of children of different ages to catch and transmit the virus is contradictory, and differences in education systems and social conventions make comparisons difficult.

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Global report: India sets new national daily case record

Parisian pedestrians must wear face coverings from Friday; Spain says school children over six must wear masks; China goes 12 days without local case

India has set a new national record of daily coronavirus infections, reporting more than 77,000 cases in 24 hours, just shy of the global one-day record tally held by America.

India’s health ministry reported 77, 266 new cases on Friday. The largest ever one day rise is 78,427, reported by the US on 25 July. India also recorded more than 1,000 new deaths taking total fatalities, to 61,529, the fourth highest total in the world, behind the US, Brazil and Mexico.

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Treble Dutch: £13m old master painting stolen for a third time

Two Laughing Boys by Frans Hals seized in overnight raid at museum

It’s nothing to smile about for lovers of Dutch art. Police have reported that Two Laughing Boyswith a Mug of Beer, by the old master Frans Hals, has been stolen for a third time.

The Golden Age work, painted in 1626-7, was snatched from a small museum in the town of Leerdam, near the city of Utrecht, early on Wednesday morning.

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The amphibians of Alhambra – a photo essay

Its stunning Moorish architecture makes the Spanish monument one of the world’s most visited. But photographer Ugo Mellone found the resident frogs, toads and newts just as fascinating

The Alhambra, which sits on a hill in Granada, Andalucía, is the only preserved palatine city of the Islamic period and a Unesco world heritage site. Once the residence of the Nasrid sultans, it is one of the most visited national monuments in the world.

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EU trade commissioner Phil Hogan resigns after flouting Covid rules

Hogan’s resignation comes after Irish government signalled it wanted him to quit or be sacked

The embattled European trade commissioner, Phil Hogan, has resigned his post after an outcry over his breaches of coronavirus rules during a golfing break in Ireland.

Hogan issued a statement on Wednesday night apologising to the Irish people and the EU commission for causing hurt and embarrassment, ending his attempts to ride out the controversy and keep his post as a key player in Brexit talks.

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Coronavirus live news: Lebanon ‘could lose control of outbreak’; Belgium death toll revised down

Caretaker PM warns over state of pandemic following Beirut blast; Belgium deaths slightly lower than thought; Iran’s death toll exceeds 21,000

The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, appears to have employed the services of a celebrity personal trainer after admitting he needed to lose weight after contracting Covid-19.

Harry Jameson, who describes himself as an “elite performance coach”, was snapped running alongside Johnson in central London by a photographer from London’s Evening Standard newspaper today.

Germany will end mandatory coronavirus tests for travellers returning from high-risk areas abroad and again focus its testing strategy on people with symptoms or possible exposure to Covid-19 patients, the country’s health minister said today.

Health minister Jens Spahn said that over the summer vacation period the number of virus tests performed in Germany nearly doubled to 900,000 a week in part to identify people who caught the virus during trips abroad, the Associated Press agency reports.

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Norway plans to drill for oil in untouched Arctic areas

Critics say plan for fields off Svalbard threatens ecosystem and relations with Russia

Norway is planning to expand oil drilling in previously untouched areas of the Arctic, a move campaigners say threatens the fragile ecosystem and could spark a military standoff with Russia.

A public consultation on the opening up of nine new Norwegian oilfields closed on Wednesday. The areas in question are much further north in the Arctic than the concessions the US president, Donald Trump, announced for Alaska this month.

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Spanish fishing boats land only a tenth of normal catch of octopus

Meteorological and environmental reasons cited as reasons for record low catches

Spanish fishing boats are landing only a tenth of their normal summer catch of octopus – an unheard-of drop.

To date, since 1 July they have caught 38 tonnes of octopus, compared with a normal average of 378 tonnes over the same period. Income has slumped by 84%. Catches vary from year to year but such a huge drop is unprecedented.

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EU trade commissioner under pressure to quit over Covid rules breach

Irish government says it has lost confidence in Phil Hogan after he flouted quarantine regulations

The Irish government wants the embattled European trade commissioner, Phil Hogan, to quit or be sacked after concluding he flouted coronavirus regulations during a golfing break in Ireland.

The Green party leader, Eamon Ryan, part of the ruling coalition, on Wednesday said the government had lost confidence in Hogan.

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EU trade chief faces fresh criticism over breaking Covid rules in Ireland

Phil Hogan gave more detail about his trip but said he was exempt from lockdown restrictions

The embattled European trade commissioner Phil Hogan is facing fresh accusations that he flouted coronavirus regulations during a golfing break in Ireland.

Hogan attempted to douse the controversy and save his job in a media interview on Tuesday evening, but ended up tacitly admitting he had violated quarantine rules, triggering more questions and calls for his resignation.

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French minister defends ‘precious’ right to sunbathe topless

Gendarmes’ request for topless sunbathers to cover up on south coast prompts outcry

France’s interior minister has defended the “precious” right to sunbathe topless on beaches, after police asked a group of women to cover up on the southern coast.

French gendarmes patrolling a beach in Mediterranean seaside town Sainte-Marie-la-Mer last week asked a group of topless sunbathers to cover up in response to a complaint from a family, the local gendarmerie said in a statement on Facebook.

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