Fears more victims could be found after experienced group caught in heavy seas and thick sea foam off coast of The Hague
At least five experienced surfers have drowned after going out in stormy weather off the coast of The Hague, Dutch authorities have said.
The group of men, aged between 22 and 38, were among 10 surfers and swimmers who took to the water in Scheveningen on Monday evening in heavy weather that generated a thick layer of sea foam and hampered rescue efforts.
Continue reading...UN has asked the government to investigate latest allegations of abuse against migrants crossing on Balkan route from Bosnia
Croatian police are allegedly spray-painting the heads of asylum seekers with crosses when they attempt to cross the border from Bosnia.
The Guardian has obtained a number of photographs of what has been described by charities as the “latest humiliation’’ perpetrated by the Croatian authorities against migrants travelling along the Balkan route.
Continue reading...Joint statement urges US to remain in Open Skies Treaty, designed to reduce risk of war breaking out through miscalculation
A group of retired Nato generals and defence officials have urged the US to stay in a 1992 treaty with Russia on mutual reconnaissance flights, but also warned European capitals to prepare for a US exit.
The US defence secretary, Mark Esper, and the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, are said by US sources to be determined to leave the Open Skies Treaty (OST), which European leaders and arms control advocates believe reduces the risk of a war breaking out through miscalculation by adding to mutual transparency.
Continue reading...Lockdowns are starting to ease but travel and migration will be disrupted for longer
Our globalised world has been brought to a crashing halt by coronavirus.
By April, over 90% of the world’s population – 7.1 billion people – lived in countries with coronavirus-related travel restrictions on people arriving from abroad, a Pew study found.
Continue reading...Trump walks out of press conference; White House staff ordered to wear masks; WHO urges ‘extreme vigilance’ as lockdowns end
Taiwan confirmed no new Covid-19 cases for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday, keeping the country’s total at 440, according to the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC).
At a daily press briefing, the health minister and head of the CECC, Chen Shih-chung, said it was also the 30th straight day that no domestically transmitted infections had been recorded in Taiwan, CNA reports.
The United Kingdom’s Covid-19 death toll topped 38,000 at the start of the month, including suspected cases, by far the worst official toll yet in Europe, according to official data published on Tuesday.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said it recorded 34,978 Covid-19 related deaths as of 1 May in England and Wales.
Continue reading...Spain to quarantine overseas travellers; Trump walks out of press conference; White House staff ordered to wear masks
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that another 1,064 people have died and 18,106 new infections have been detected, taking the totals to 80,820 and 1,342,594, respectively.
Parts of Mexico that have been spared the worst of the epidemic could reopen as soon as 17 May – a date some health experts worry is too ambitious as the country still hasn’t carried out widespread testing or enforced strict quarantine.
Jorge Alcocer told reporters that roughly 300 of Mexico’s more than 2,400 municipalities would likely to be reopened, depending on assessments from the health authorities. The rest of the country is projected to reopen at the end of month – with school returning 1 June – according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who will unveil plans on Wednesday for “returning to a new normalcy”.
They cannot know [which cities to open] because if a sample is not representative at the state level, would it be much less representative at the municipal level … It’s a national sample. Nothing more.
Continue reading...Five people have died and 150 evacuated after blaze at St George hospital in St Petersburg
A fire at a hospital in St Petersburg has killed coronavirus patients who had been attached to ventilators.
A source in Russia’s emergencies ministry source said five patients had died and 150 were evacuated after the blaze broke out early on Tuesday morning on the sixth floor of St George hospital.
Continue reading...Backseat president announces easing of lockdown on day of record high infection numbers
A day of record high coronavirus infection numbers is an odd time to announce a route out of lockdown, but that is what Vladimir Putin did on Monday as he announced that the “non-working days” imposed by the Kremlin at the end of March would come to an end from Tuesday.
“We have a long and difficult process ahead of us with no room for mistakes,” said Putin by video link from his residence outside Moscow on a day when the country registered more than 11,000 new infections. Russia now has the second fastest rate of infections in the world after the US. The prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, is among those in hospital with the virus.
Continue reading...Vulnerable people from Greek refugee camps reunited with close family at Heathrow
Some 47 highly vulnerable migrants have arrived in the UK on an “unprecedented” family reunion flight from Greece.
British refugees travelled to Heathrow to greet nephews, brothers, husbands and wives after Monday’s flight brought people from Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan to join close family in the UK. The reunion was the result of two months of intense lobbying by the campaign group Safe Passage and the British peer Alf Dubs.
Continue reading...Guardian writers report on how various European countries have managed the process
Boris Johnson has been heavily criticised for failing to show Britain a clear route out of lockdown. Easing a nation out of two months of confinement is a complicated business, and some degree of confusion is almost inevitable. Here, Guardian correspondents look at how other European leaders have managed the process.
Spain’s lockdown exit strategy – known formally as the Plan for the Transition Towards the New Normality – was outlined by the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, during a televised press conference on the evening of 28 April. Sánchez said the country’s four-phase de-escalation initiative would be “gradual and asymmetric”, adding that the first stage – dubbed phase 0 – would come into effect on 4 May.
Continue reading...European commission has warned of possible legal action over constitutional court ruling
Angela Merkel has stepped in to try to find a way out of a damaging clash between Germany and Brussels after the EU threatened to bring infringement proceedings over a ruling by the country’s constitutional court.
The German chancellor stressed that the dispute was solvable, after the European commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, issued an unusual statement on Sunday warning of possible legal action against Berlin.
Continue reading...The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world
Continue reading...Presidential election was not officially cancelled but polling stations stayed closed
Sunday’s presidential election in Poland had a record low turnout of 0%.
The vote was not officially cancelled but polling stations stayed closed, leading to a strange ghost election after weeks of legal wrangling over whether or not it should go ahead.
Continue reading...Group including teenagers Walid and Mustafa will be reunited with relatives after grim odyssey
Until last week, Walid and Mustafa had never met. Owing to their disparate backgrounds, they might not have had anything in common, bar their age: both turned 18 this year.
But the fresh-faced, bright-eyed teenagers have been brought together by a common desire to escape danger in their respective homelands – Syria and Somalia – and rebuild lives shattered by war.
Continue reading...Photographs of an unusual situation by Roland Schmid. Switzerland and Germany have been divided by the coronavirus pandemic. Fences, concrete obstacles or barrier tapes separate them after the borders were closed to slow the spread of the virus. But love cannot be locked away
“Look, we even marked the border on our blanket,” laughs Sabrina. And indeed; just below the barrier tape a black line divides the cloth in half. Lying on one half is Sabrina, from Basel; on the other, Davor from Wiesbaden. We are in Riehen, the rich suburban community of Basel.
Continue reading...Farmers risk losing harvests but populists are seeking to cash in on fears of foreigners taking jobs
The mountain slopes of Aragón, a Spanish region bordering France, are one corner of Europe where there is no ambivalence about migrant farm workers. The humans want them and the sheep want them.
“We’re trying to make sure these people can get here soon because the weather is getting warmer and we need to get the wool off the animals or it’ll be awful,” said Pedro Barato, the president of Spain’s largest farming association, Asaja.
Continue reading...Campaigners ‘overjoyed’ at landmark ruling but say review of planning laws still needed
A battle over the right to enjoy uninterrupted views of the Acropolis has resulted in a five-star hotel being ordered to demolish its top two floors, in a landmark ruling hailed by residents of Athens.
Owned by Coco-Mat, the Greece-based mattress maker, the hotel — whose “breathtaking terrace” had been its selling point — opened its doors barely a year ago. Citizens enraged about the ten-storey establishment blocking their own views of the citadel took the case to the highest court in the land.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson criticised for vague blueprint; China reports more infections in Wuhan; Belgium and Greece also ease some measures
Millions of people across Europe are set to embrace a relaxation of stay-at-home rules on Monday, as countries around the world plot their way tentatively through the coronavirus crisis.
In France, from Monday members of the public were able to walk outside without filling in a permit for the first time in nearly eight weeks, teachers will start to return to primary schools, and some shops – including hair salons – will reopen. Bars, restaurants, theatres and cinemas will, however, remain closed.
Continue reading...As schools and businesses get set to reopen some citizens urge caution, wary of a spike in infections
France is set to end eight weeks of strict lockdown as the government urged people to behave responsibly to avoid a sudden spike in coronavirus cases.
Hours before the national déconfinement there were reports of two new Covid-19 clusters in départments designated green – areas where the virus has largely stopped circulating and where most restrictions are being lifted.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Greek PM intervenes to help 50 asylum seekers reach UK despite ban on direct flights
An unprecedented family reunion rescue flight is due to leave Athens, bringing 52 vulnerable migrants, including several minors, to join family in the UK.
The flight on Monday is the result of intense efforts by refugee families in the UK with the support of campaign group Safe Passage and the peer Alf Dubs. It was organised with collaboration from the UK and Greek governments after direct flights between Greece and the UK were suspended in March.
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