Wang Quanzhang has been barred from reuniting with his family after serving nearly five years in prison for ‘subversion’
The US has called for Chinese authorities to allow a prominent human rights lawyer to return home, after having spent almost five years in “unjust detention”.
Wang Quanzhang was released two weeks ago after serving four-and-a-half years for “subversion”, but has been barred from reuniting with his family.
Continue reading...‘I kinda got a cure for this,’ says golfer, before grabbing a bottle of vodka and suggesting one a day
As the world scrambles to find a cure to coronavirus, there is one self-administered treatment that is undoubtedly not going to provide the solution: 40% proof alcohol.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that excess alcohol consumption may weaken the body’s immune system and render people vulnerable to contracting Covid-19. So it was surprising that John Daly, the professional golfer from California, should have posted a video earlier this month suggesting vodka could combat the virus.
Continue reading...The World Health Organization has been at the forefront of the global response to new diseases and with differing outcomes. It was hailed for the way it dealt with Sars but pilloried for its handling of Ebola. Now, with its biggest challenge yet, it is in the crosshairs again as Donald Trump threatens to withdraw funding
When Donald Trump announced he was suspending funding to the World Health Organization it immediately put the future of the UN body in jeopardy. The US president accused the WHO of being too close to China and covering up the spread of Covid-19. But as the journalist Stephen Buranyi tells Anushka Asthana, the facts do not tally with the Trump’s version of events. In January, the WHO director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, declared an emergency and has since been urgently telling 194 of its members to “test, test, test” as the only route out of the crisis.
As a body with no formal powers to sanction its members, it relies on the effectiveness of its leader. In the past that has led to mixed results: exemplary in the fight against Sars, heavily criticised for its Ebola response. But as the WHO faces its biggest crisis yet, its future is now as uncertain as ever.
Continue reading...Epidemiologist predicts ‘new epidemic surge’ as protesters across the US flout social distancing measures
As healthcare workers in Colorado and Pennsylvania staged counter-protests against rightwing anti-quarantine rallies that continue to spread across the US, some experts warned such rallies could cause a surge in coronavirus cases.
Several nurses gathered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Monday, where a protest against stay-at-home orders was taking place. The nurses carried signs urging people to go home.
Continue reading...A standout image by photographer Alyson McClaran captures a face-off between a healthcare worker and an angry protester
The weekend has seen a spate of anti-lockdown protests across the US in Ohio, Michigan and Colorado.
But a standout image by photographer Alyson McClaran came on Sunday from Denver, Colorado. As protesters gathered outside the capitol steps and others assembled in their automobiles to ask the city to reopen for business, healthcare workers stood in the middle of the road in their scrubs. After having spent the last weeks treating Covid-19 patients, they staged their own demonstration: they wanted to remind the protestors of why the shutdown measures are important.
Continue reading...Albin Kurti claims Richard Grenell involved in pushing for vote that collapsed government
Kosovo’s caretaker prime minister, Albin Kurti, has launched a stinging attack on Donald Trump’s acting national intelligence director, accusing him of meddling in the country’s politics and helping to bring down his former government with the goal of delivering a quick diplomatic victory for Trump.
Kurti is staying on as PM in an acting capacity after his coalition partners turned against him in a parliamentary vote last month that was egged on by US diplomats. The upheaval was met with disbelief among many Kosovans, who wanted the government to focus on fighting coronavirus.
Continue reading...Hundreds of travelers, motivated in part by low airfares, are riding out the pandemic in Hawaii – but some islanders see it a disregard for their home
A week ago, on the east side of Oahu, Troy Kane spent the day in waist-high water lugging rocks across Pā Honu fishpond. Usually he’d go with a group, but because of social distancing orders, he ventured out alone.
Related: Coronavirus live news: Spain proposes €1.5tn EU Covid-19 fund; US blocks pro-WHO statement by G20
Continue reading...Exclusive: objections leave health ministers unable to agree joint communique on cooperation
US hostility to the World Health Organization scuppered the publication of a communique by G20 health ministers on Sunday that committed to strengthening the WHO’s mandate in coordinating a response to the global coronavirus pandemic.
In place of a lengthy statement with paragraphs of detail, the leaders instead issued a brief statement saying that gaps existed in the way the world handled pandemics.
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New York City mayor Bill de Blasio ramped up the rhetroic in his campaign for increased federal funding for US cities during the coronavirus crisis during his press briefing on Sunday, asking Donald Trump whether his administration was “going to save New York City or are you telling New York City to drop dead?”
As the Guardian’s Edward Helmore reports:
De Blasio’s dramatic language came during his press conference on Sunday, after he warned last week that he planned to cut a further $2bn from the city’s municipal services budget due to the economic downturn. He said the city was likely to lose at least $7.4bn in tax revenue over the current and next fiscal year.
De Blasio has criticized the $2tn coronavirus relief package that Trump signed last month, saying New York only received $1.4bn from the stimulus, compared with around $58bn for the airline industry. He has called for the next package, which congressional and administration leaders say they are “close” to reaching a deal on, to include tens of billions for states, cities and municipalities.
Related: New York mayor De Blasio asks if Trump is telling city to 'drop dead' over Covid-19
A sensational investigation co-published today by ProPublica and the Seattle Times shows how officials in the first US state to be hit by Covid-19 struggled to send the public a clear, consistent message in the early days of the pandemic, bowing to a professional soccer team’s desire to host a game with 33,000 spectators despite urgent warnings from the health department for a ban on large gatherings.
On March 6, at 2:43 p.m., the health officer for Public Health — Seattle & King County, the hardest-hit region in the first state to be slammed by COVID-19, sent an email to a half-dozen colleagues, saying, “I want to cancel large group gatherings now.”
The county’s numbers — 10 known deaths and nearly 60 confirmed cases as of late morning — were bad and getting worse. Many local events had already been called off for fear of spreading the coronavirus. Oyster Fest. The Puget Sound Puppetry Festival. A Women’s Day speaker series at the Gates Foundation. King County had ordered a stop to in-person government meetings unless they were considered essential.
Continue reading...Demonstrations have taken place across the US against orders put in place to limit the spread of coronavirus. The protests were organised by the far-right media site Infowars. Rallies were held in state capitals, with more planned for next week in other states. Hundreds of people stood and chanted for the US to be reopened. Rightwing media and Donald Trump have supported the protests but they appear to represent a minority opinion
Resolution strongly supported by dozens of countries, human rights groups and charities
The Trump administration and Russia are blocking efforts to win binding UN security council backing for a global ceasefire to help fight the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed more than 150,000 lives worldwide.
Related: Coronavirus world map: which countries have the most cases and deaths?
Continue reading...Donald Trump said on Saturday that China should face unspecified consequences if it was 'knowingly responsible' for the Covid-19 pandemic. 'If it was a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. But if they were knowingly responsible, yeah, I mean, then, sure, there should be consequences,' he told reporters at the daily briefing
As Mr ‘Total Authority’ keeps his focus firmly on re-election, he risks lives far beyond the United States
Many had wondered what would happen when Donald Trump, failed salesman and gameshow host, faced a real crisis. Now they know. The man who pledged to stop “American carnage” in his inaugural address now owns it. Covid-19 has crowned him lord of misrule.
That’s fitting for a man who last week claimed to exercise “total authority”. Andrew Cuomo, the New York governor who understands what leadership means, reminded him the US does not do kings. But Trump and America’s last monarch, George III, share much in common, tyranny-wise.
Trump is more instinctive dictator than democrat, in the style of his favourite potentate, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Just look at his recent threat to shut down Congress, and his enthusiasm for suppressing minority voter turnout.
It’s worth recalling that old King George became mentally ill, since Trumpism is clearly dangerous for your health. It’s beyond reasonable dispute that his coronavirus posturing, preening, prevarication and paranoia fatally hindered the early US response.
Saudia Arabia religious body urges all Muslims to pray at home during Ramadan; Spanish PM seeks lockdown extension
Lockdowns across Europe have had a dramatic impact on air traffic, with 90% fewer flights taking off from the continent’s largest airports compared to a year ago
Wearing face masks, waving black flags and keeping two yards apart, thousands of Israelis demonstrated against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu under strict coronavirus restrictions on Sunday.
Netanyahu, who denies any wrongdoing, is under criminal indictment in three corruption cases.
Continue reading...At his latest coronavirus press conference, the president attacked Joe Biden and suggested he might have saved the planet
He bashed “Sleepy Joe” Biden. He railed against the Russia investigation and “fake people” in the media. He predicted that had he not been elected, the world might have ended.
And somewhere along the way, he talked about the coronavirus.
Continue reading...Rightwing media and Donald Trump have supported demonstrators but they appear to represent a minority opinion
A day after Donald Trump encouraged Americans to protest against strict public health measures aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus, rallies were held in state capitals in Maryland, Texas and Ohio, with more planned for next week in other states.
Hundreds of people stood shoulder-to-shoulder at the Texas Capitol on Saturday, chanting “Fire Fauci!” as part of a protest organized by the conspiracy theory site InfoWars. Anthony Fauci is the top public health expert on the White House coronavirus taskforce.
Continue reading...The US president urged supporters to 'liberate' three states led by Democratic governors on Friday, apparently encouraging protests against stay-at-home restrictions. 'These are people expressing their views,' Trump said during his daily White House coronavirus briefing.
Continue reading...US state’s move was part of a temporary ban on non-essential medical procedures
A federal judge has barred the state of Tennessee from preventing abortions during a temporary ban on non-essential medical procedures to slow the spread of Covid-19.
US district judge, Bernard Friedman, said the defendants didn’t show that any appreciable amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) would be saved if the ban was applied to abortions.
Continue reading...China pushes ‘comprehensive’ economic reopening; first virus case in Syria’s northeast; Germany says pandemic ‘under control’. Follow latest updates
For the latest global coronavirus developments, here is our at-a-glance guide:
Related: Coronavirus latest: at a glance
Thailand has reported 33 new coronavirus infections, bringing the country’s total to 2,733 cases.
Eleven of the new cases were in Bangkok and had a history of going to public areas, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government’s Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration.
Some have questioned if the low number of detected cases is down to a lack of testing in the country.
Caught between the US and China, the world health body has been unable to enforce compliance or information sharing
When a pandemic strikes, the world’s leading experts convene – physically or virtually – in a hi-tech chamber in the basement of the Geneva headquarters of the World Health Organization.
It is called the “strategic health operations centre”, or SHOC, an appropriately urgent acronym for a place where life and death decisions are taken, and it is where critical choices were made in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak.
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