Wednesday: How 20% of Victoria’s private aged care homes became infected with Covid-19. Plus, lab-grown meat: environmental fix or food fad?Good morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 29 July. Continue reading...
Romantic seascapes – with political message in washed up life jackets – raise funds for Bethlehem hospitalA Banksy triptych, which aims to make a powerful political statement on the global migrant crisis, sold for £2.2m at an auction in London that also featured works by Rembrandt, Picasso, and Bridget Riley.The three paintings were offered by Banksy to raise money for a hospital in Bethlehem. Continue reading...
by Emma Graham-Harrison and Patrick Wintour on (#568TA)
Decision to fire Benny Tai, a tenured law professor, goes against previous ruling by the university senateA prominent Hong Kong professor and pro-democracy campaigner has been fired by his university, in a move that he and other critics described as a devastating blow to academic freedom in the city.It came amid growing fears that city authorities may try to delay upcoming elections to Hong Kong’s legislative council, where pro-democracy candidates expect a strong showing. The vote could be postponed for up to a year, on grounds of a spike in coronavirus cases, local media reported. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent on (#568RK)
Lord Kerr says extra food-related costs may cause firms like Tesco to abandon regionConcerns that big British businesses, such as Tesco, will be deterred from trading in Northern Ireland after Brexit have been raised in the House of Lords.Lord Kerr, the architect of article 50 which enabled the UK to leave the EU, has said the special arrangements put in place to avoid a border on the island of Ireland may be a fatal trade barrier for some companies. Continue reading...
Geoff Reid on how to give clear and compassionate advice in a crisis. Plus letters from Hugh Darwen, Teresa Heeks and Valerie DavisFor a model of how to give advice and information so that people can “make informed judgments about travelling abroad” (Editorial, 27 July), ministers could do worse than revisit the impressive ITV This Morning interview with the husband and wife team who run the UK’s largest independent travel agency, Hays Travel. They were straightforward in answering questions, avoiding any hint of panic or complacency, and compassionate in their attitude to both customers and employees while explaining what they were doing at short notice in response to a chaotic situation. A credible understanding of risk was underpinned by good humour. Completely unexpected, it felt like an affirmation of human values to treasure as the crisis rolls on.
Appeal for witnesses as victim faces long recovery after car was deliberately driven at himAn NHS worker has been seriously injured in a racially aggravated hit and run close to the hospital in Bristol where he is based, police have said.The 21-year-old man suffered a broken leg, nose and cheekbone and will require reconstructive surgery. Police said the victim, who is facing six months of rehabilitation, could have been killed. Continue reading...
by Jamie Grierson Home affairs correspondent on (#5689H)
The recent arrest of a 12-year-old boy after an air gun was mistaken for a firearm, has put the spotlight on the laws restricting their useA 12-year-old boy was arrested and handcuffed at his north London home on 17 July after he was seen with a toy gun. Kai Agyepong was eventually dearrested after police officers established that it was a plastic pellet gun.Here we look at the legislation behind such weapons. Continue reading...
Ivan Ko hopes to find site between Dublin and Belfast to host 50,000 fellow HongkongersA property tycoon from Hong Kong wants to build a city in Ireland to host 50,000 emigrants from the semi-autonomous region in a plan he likens to the puritans arriving in America.Ivan Ko, founder of the Victoria Harbour Group (VHG), an international charter city investment company, hopes to find a 50 sq km site between Dublin and Belfast to create a new city, named Nextpolis, from scratch. Continue reading...
Tit-for-tat move follows similar measures by Ottawa, Canberra and London over its controversial new security lawChina has suspended Hong Kong’s extradition treaties with Canada, Australia, and the UK, in a tit-for-tat move after similar decisions by those countries over its controversial new security law.On Tuesday, China’s ministry of foreign affairs said Hong Kong was suspending criminal assistance agreements, including extradition, accusing those countries of “politicising judicial cooperation”. Canada, Australia and the UK cancelled extradition agreements with the semi-autonomous territory after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law that critics fear will be used against government critics. Continue reading...
French hillside scene in Tree Roots may have been painted hours before artist’s deathThe exact location from where Vincent van Gogh is likely to have painted his final masterpiece, perhaps just hours before his death, has been discovered with the help of a postcard.The scene in Tree Roots, a painting of trunks and roots growing on a hillside near the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris was first spotted on a card dating from 1900 to 1910 by Wouter van der Veen, the scientific director of the Institut Van Gogh. Continue reading...
by Kate Proctor Political correspondent on (#567YS)
Kemi Badenoch made comments after Mina Agyepong said she feared police would shoot her childrenMinister Kemi Badenoch has blamed the family of a 12-year-old boy arrested over a toy gun for “inflaming tensions” about police behaviour.Mina Agyepong said she feared police would shoot her children when officers raided her home in north London and handcuffed her 12-year-old son Kai. Their search recovered a plastic pellet gun. Continue reading...
by Jason Burke Africa correspondent and Nyasha Chingo on (#567YT)
Ruling Zanu-PF accuses US delegate of fomenting unrest ahead of planned anti-corruption demonstrationsZimbabwe’s ruling party has threatened the US ambassador with expulsion, amid an intensifying crackdown on opposition and union activists ahead of planned anti-corruption demonstrations on Friday.Officials from the Zanu-PF called ambassador Brian Nichols “a thug” who was fomenting unrest by funding protest organisers. Continue reading...
Both Brussels and London have moved in talks, and both grasp the political advantages of even a minimal free trade agreement• Charles Grant is the director of the Centre for European ReformAfter six rounds of talks, the UK and the EU are far from reaching an accord on their future relationship. Both sides are warning that failure – meaning that Britain would leave after the transition period on 31 December without a deal – is a real prospect. Those working for Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, complain that the British have wasted July by refusing to offer meaningful compromises.Failure is certainly possible. But a deal this year is more likely, for several reasons. First, there has been more progress than one might suppose from the public comments of Barnier and David Frost, the UK negotiator. The EU has hinted at a softer line on fisheries and state aid, and agreed that an arbitration mechanism rather than the European court of justice should adjudicate on disputes. Continue reading...
An ACT judge is presiding over a rape trial that has begun in the Northern Territory supreme courtOne of the Northern Territory’s most powerful police officers raped a female colleague after a night out at a ball, a Darwin court has been told.The supreme court jury trial began on Tuesday for the former NT police assistant commissioner Peter Bravos, 53, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of rape. Continue reading...
It is not clear if recent funding changes will encourage students to study science instead of humanities, the Covid-19 parliamentary inquiry hearsEducation department officials have revealed the government has no modelling about whether university funding changes will incentivise students to study science instead of humanities, the rationale for fee hikes provided by Dan Tehan.The department’s deputy secretary of higher education, Rob Heferen, told the Covid-19 inquiry on Tuesday fee changes had produced “muted” results in the past and declined to answer questions about why the price of some courses such as social work will be increased by 113%. Continue reading...
by Lisa O'Carroll Brexit correspondent on (#567WN)
Exclusive: LSE report says even sectors unscathed from coronavirus crisis will be severely impactedA Brexit hit is looming for sectors that have emerged relatively unscathed from the Covid-19 pandemic, new data has showed.A report from the London School of Economics says Brexit will deliver a double shock to the economy – with worsening business conditions for those sectors that have survived the impact of coronavirus and lockdown measures – whether Boris Johnson secures a deal with the EU or not. Continue reading...
Britain made a mistake in slapping a quarantine on people travelling from Spain, the country's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said on Monday. The UK has also extended coronavirus guidance advising against all non-essential travel to the country. The UK government's sudden decision to impose a two-week quarantine on arrivals shocked travellers between the two countries
Police were called to Poplar, east London, after reports a child had fallen from a heightA toddler has been taken to hospital after falling from a block of flats in east London.The Metropolitan police said they were called to East India Dock Road in Poplar shortly after 6.50pm on Monday after reports that a child had fallen from a height. Continue reading...
UN warns coronavirus restrictions prevent access to most vulnerable and rising prices are leaving many going hungryAlmost a quarter of the population of Sudan are going hungry as conflict, rising food prices and the coronavirus take their toll.About 9.6 million people now face severe food shortages, the highest number recorded in the country’s recent history. Continue reading...
The KTK Group is a major supplier of interior fittings to state transport departments including NSW, Queensland and VictoriaA Chinese train company with major government clients in Australia that has been accused of using Uighur labour has engaged lawyers to fight a US blacklisting.Last week, the KTK Group, which has extensive operations in Australia, was one of 11 companies added to a US blacklist over the alleged use of forced Uighur labour in China. Continue reading...
She stole the show in Orange Is the New Black. Now the actor is playing the first black woman to seek the US presidency – and rejecting suggestions she gets a ‘Hollywood smile’Shirley Chisholm was a woman of many firsts. She was the first black woman elected to Congress, the first black candidate to seek the presidency, and the first woman, full-stop, to participate in a US presidential debate. She introduced more than 50 pieces of legislation, most championing racial, economic and gender equality, and is often credited as paving the way for Barack Obama. In doing so, she occupied a space that many black women recognise: the solitary seat as the only such face at the table.Uzo Aduba, who plays Chisholm in the acclaimed new FX series Mrs America, says that this was a key factor in bringing this formidable politician to life. “That feeling of being the ‘only’,” she says, speaking via Zoom with a warm smile on her face. “It was important to get that right.” Continue reading...
Cases have doubled in six weeks, says Tedros; Belgian city of Antwerp brings in night-time curfew; Hong Kong sees triple-digit rise for sixth straight day
by Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington on (#567NX)
Chinese embassy criticises move as ‘gross interference’ and ‘serious violation of international law’New Zealand has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong following China’s imposition of a controversial national security law that gives it sweeping powers over the semi-autonomous region.“New Zealand can no longer trust that Hong Kong’s criminal justice system is sufficiently independent from China,” Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, said in a statement on Tuesday. “If China in future shows adherence to the ‘one country, two systems’ framework then we could reconsider this decision.” Continue reading...
Middle East scholar, who was arrested in 2018, taken to Qarchak women’s jail, one of the most hostile institutions in the country and reportedly stricken with Covid-19A British-Australian academic serving a 10-year-prison sentence in Iran for espionage has been moved to a remote desert prison, notorious for violence and reportedly stricken with coronavirus.Cambridge-educated Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a Middle East scholar, had been held in Tehran’s Evin Prison for nearly two years, before her sudden move three days ago to Qarchak women’s prison, south-east of Tehran. Continue reading...
Study finds men doing more housework since mid-1970s, as women take on more paid workThe gender divide between the amount of paid and unpaid work being carried out has decreased since the mid-1970s, according to a thinktank, but it remains significant.In a study to examine changes in the last 46 years in how people use their time, the Resolution Foundation said men are now doing less paid work, while women are doing more. Continue reading...
The US consulate general in Chengdu was closed on Monday as Chinese authorities entered through the front entrance to take over the premises. China ordered the closure in response to Washington's order for the Chinese consulate in Houston to be shut.
Tuesday: Australians fear shutdowns will spread to other states, poll reveals. Plus, growing up in a white family as a person of colourGood morning, this is Emilie Gramenz bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Tuesday 28 July. Continue reading...
Activists say police ignored gunman’s record of violence and domestic abuse as government plans a closed-door reviewWomen’s rights activists in Canada are demanding a full public inquiry into the Nova Scotia shooting that left 22 dead, after the federal and provincial governments chose a closed-door examination of the crimes.Supporters of an open inquiry gathered on Monday in a Halifax park and on a Facebook livestream, and called on the provincial legislature to mandate the public investigation, four days after the governments announced their intention to hold a review panel instead of an inquiry. Continue reading...
Decision to end case against Vorayuth Yoovidhya to be investigated after public pressureThai police have opened an internal investigation after charges were dropped against the billionaire Red Bull heir in a fatal hit-and-run case amid outrage over a perceived culture of impunity for the rich.Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya, the grandson of the energy drink’s co-founder, had been accused of killing a police officer when he crashed his Ferrari in Bangkok in 2012. Continue reading...
Biography reveals extent of Buckingham palace’s hostility towards Duchess of SussexA new book by the royal reporters Carolyn Durand and Omid Scobie chronicles what the authors’ claim has been a deepening rift between Prince Harry, his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Buckingham Palace – which ultimately led to the couple’s decision to take a step back from public life. The biography has been providing headlines in UK newspapers in recent days after being serialised in the Times and the Sunday Times. So, what have we learned from Finding Freedom? Continue reading...
Bernard Gore was found dead in shopping centre’s fire stairs which stretched for 14kmA police officer has broken down while recalling the fruitless search for a retiree whose body was later discovered in the stairwell of a Sydney shopping centre, while a colleague has suggested they should have searched the stairs themselves.Bernard Gore, 71, was found dead in the fire stairwell at Westfield Bondi Junction in late January 2017 some three weeks after he went missing. Continue reading...
Analysis of fixed-penalty notices found group as a whole were 1.6 times more likely to be fined than white peoplePolice were twice as likely to fine young black and Asian men under the lockdown rules than their white counterparts, according to new figures that underline concerns about racial bias in policing.Analysis of fixed penalty notices issued under the coronavirus regulations by National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) found that black, Asian and minority ethnic people (BAME) were 1.6 times more likely to be fined that white people. Continue reading...
The prime minister has formally launched the UK government’s initiative to reduce obesity levels. In a video released by No 10 with an accompanying soundtrack, Boris Johnson said he had lost more than a stone since recovering from coronavirus, and had started going for a run every day.'When I went into ICU, when I was really ill ... I was way overweight,' he said.New measures will include bans on junk food advertising