Party that switched recognition from Taiwan to China last year lost majority in elections this week over handling of the moveChina’s diplomatic ambitions in the Pacific suffered a setback on Wednesday when the party that switched recognition from Taiwan to China last year lost its majority in parliament over its handling of the move.In the second round of parliamentary elections, the governing party and allies won 22 seats out of 45, dealing a blow to President Taneti Maamau, who previously enjoyed a comfortable majority of 31. Continue reading...

Eight-year-old Corona De Vries wrote to the Hollywood star after the actor and his wife Rita Wilson tested positive for Covid-19Tom Hanks has sent a letter and a Corona brand typewriter to an Australian boy who wrote to him about being bullied about his name, Corona.Corona De Vries, an eight-year-old from the Gold Coast in Queensland, wrote to the Hollywood star after the actor and his wife, Rita Wilson, spent more than two weeks in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19. Continue reading...

Jenny McGee says British PM ‘absolutely’ needed to be in intensive care and tells of surreal experience of swapping emojis with Jacinda Ardern

Ski resort that became European coronavirus hotspot plans to switch to a more ‘upmarket apres-ski culture’

The pair’s blog about their enforced stay at an Auckland hotel, featuring high-class food and a mini-fridge full of treats, has caused envy worldwide

For the fifth week running, people across the UK came to their doorsteps, balconies, windows and gardens to clap for frontline workers

Broadcast on 16 May, music will build from solo in John o’Groats into quintet in CornwallThe National Trust has invited the public to experience dawn together next month with an original live music score.Musicians across the country will perform from their homes at sunrise on Saturday 16 May. Broadcast of the performance commences from 3.43am. Continue reading...

Company has struggled to meet security needs as user base has risen sharply amid coronavirus lockdownThe video-conferencing platform Zoom has released a new update this week in an effort to address an onslaught of security concerns surrounding the service.Zoom says the newest version of its app, Zoom 5.0, includes encryption and new privacy controls, updates that are part of a 90-day plan to improve security and privacy on the platform. Continue reading...

New details have emerged in Canada’s worst mass shooting, raising fresh questions about the attack and authorities’ responseEmergency crews rushing to respond after reports of gunfire in a quiet Nova Scotia town were taken aback when they encountered thick clouds of smoke at the scene.“Is there also a structure fire out this way?” one first responder asked his dispatcher. “We’re seeing huge flames and smoke.” Continue reading...

Nicolae Budurus punched Audrius Lapinskas over car mirror damage in Peterborough

Investigation to conclude in July, and Starmer says disciplinary action could be takenAn investigation into a leaked Labour document which made explosive allegations about the party’s handling of anti-Semitism claims is aiming for a swift conclusion, Labour has said.On Thursday, a meeting of Labour’s ruling body set out a timescale, with the investigation aiming to conclude in July, and drew up its terms of reference. The inquiry will look into the leaking of the 860-page report that reignited divisions as the new leader, Sir Keir Starmer, tries to unite the party. Continue reading...

Senate leader suggested states struggling to cope with coronavirus should be able to file for bankruptcy rather than seek federal aid

The New York governor on Thursday fiercely criticised Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for suggesting states should declare bankruptcy instead of receiving more federal aid. Andrew Cuomo described McConnell’s suggestion as 'one of the really dumb ideas of all time' and said the warning against 'bailouts' for Democrat states was 'irresponsible and reckless'

Fewer than three out of 15 families in NSW far west have broadband, making digital classrooms unviableTeachers in far western NSW say they have been hand-delivering lessons to Aboriginal students at home because families don’t have reliable access the internet and many don’t have computers for their children to work on.To allow children to keep learning, Wilcannia central school teachers have been making lesson packs for their students and delivering them in person every few days, on a 9km round trip in the school minibus. Continue reading...

UK death toll rises by 616; Scotland reveals lockdown exit plan; UK ministers under pressure to offer ‘hope’ about return to normality

Virtual summit debates rescue package to protect single market from depressionEuropean Union leaders are meeting to debate a variety of trillion-euro proposals to resuscitate the single market, as they stand on the precipice of an economic slump unparalleled since the 1930’s Great Depression.Clashes over the size and scope of a coronavirus recovery fund were anticipated at the video-conference summit, which is taking place amid a global pandemic that so far has claimed more than 108,000 lives in the European Economic Area and UK. Continue reading...

Government and operators thought to be aiming to increase services by as early as 18 May

Don Reed Herring, a Vietnam war veteran, died on Tuesday evening in OklahomaThe Massachusetts senator and former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren made public the news on Thursday that one of her brothers died of coronavirus earlier this week.Warren made the announcement on Twitter, saying: “My oldest brother, Don Reed, died from coronavirus on Tuesday evening. He joined the Air Force at 19 and spent his career in the military, including five and a half years off and on in combat in Vietnam. He was charming and funny, a natural leader.” Continue reading...

Mick Jagger says new single will ‘resonate through the times we’re living in’ and references coronavirus with the lyric: ‘Life was so beautiful, then we all got locked down’The Rolling Stones have released their first original music since 2012, a new – and rather apocalyptic – single called Living in a Ghost Town.Mick Jagger said the band were “recording some new material before the lockdown and there was one song we thought would resonate through the times that we’re living in right now. We’ve worked on it in isolation. And here it is.” Continue reading...

UK is suffering fastest and deepest slump in “possibly several centuries”, warns BoE policy maker Jan Vlieghe

Countries discuss Europe-wide recovery fund while German chancellor urges caution

Deaths in sub-Saharan African countries could double to more than 700,000 this year if Covid-19 crisis disrupts programmesDeaths from malaria could double across sub-Saharan Africa this year if work to prevent the disease is disrupted by Covid-19, the World Health Organization has warned.The UN’s global health agency said that if countries failed to maintain delivery of insecticide-treated nets and access to antimalarial medicines, up to 769,000 people could die of malaria this year. That figure, which would be more than double the number of deaths in 2018, would mark a return to mortality levels last seen 20 years ago. Continue reading...

Politicians say expected announcement of $12m must not have conditions attachedGreenlanders have welcomed reports that the US wants to invest in their island, but said the money had to come without conditions.The US administration is expected to announce the opening of an Agency for International Development office at the new US consulate in the capital, Nuuk, and at least $12m (£9.7m) in aid projects. Continue reading...

Car hits wall close to where car driven by US diplomat’s wife collided with 19-year-oldA car with diplomatic licence plates has crashed close to the scene of the death of Harry Dunn, the 19-year-old motorcyclist who died after a collision with a car driven on the wrong side of the road by the wife of a US diplomat.The report of the new crash highlights concerns that overseas diplomats are not trained sufficiently about UK driving laws, especially driving on the left. Continue reading...

Men fled country while on bail after their arrest in 2001 and a highly-publicised trial

Vaccine expert Rick Bright claims he was fired after resisting the president’s push for an unproven Covid-19 treatment. Plus, why Bad Education is Hugh Jackman’s best ever roleGood morning. A top US government doctor has turned whistleblower after he says he was pushed out of his role in the search for a coronavirus vaccine. Rick Bright told the New York Times he believed he was dismissed as director of the US health department’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority because he resisted Donald Trump’s push to use an unproven malaria drug, hydroxychloroquine, as a treatment for Covid-19:Contrary to misguided directives, I limited the broad use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, promoted by the administration as a panacea, but which clearly lack scientific merit. Continue reading...

Doctors and nurses have been assaulted, thrown off buses and barred from their homes, accused of spreading coronavirusJovanna was walking home after a morning of hospital consultations when she heard a shout behind her. As she turned to look, she felt something wet in her face. Within seconds, her vision went cloudy and she smelled bleach.“They picked me out because I was wearing scrubs,” said the ear, nose and throat doctor from the Mexican city of Guadalajara, as she described the attack which left her with conjunctivitis and burns on her skin. “I didn’t see anything – I don’t know who it was, but I know they attacked another doctor on the same day.” Continue reading...

Families prepare for online prayers and virtual gatherings in a month of fasting typically marked by human connection

Police recorded 45,267 crimes, concentrated in big cities, 49% higher than in 2011The number of offences involving knives recorded by police in England and Wales in 2019 was the highest on record, official statistics have revealed, with big cities driving up the numbers.There were 45,627 offences involving knives or sharp instruments recorded by police in 2019, a 7% rise year on year, and 49% higher than 2011 when comparable records began, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Continue reading...

A summary of the major developments in the coronavirus outbreak across Australia

The British government’s refusal even to discuss its exit strategy contrasts with the approach in EU countries

Sales figures comes as publisher Hardie Grant furious at Morrison government for not taking copyright seriouslyThe former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s memoir, A Bigger Picture, has already been branded a bestseller by his publisher as a furious book industry demands Scott Morison reaffirm his commitment to copyright protection after its pirating by a prime ministerial adviser.The book has dominated the non-coronavirus news for the last week with Turnbull’s account of his life, and his time in politics up to the point of what he calls the 2018 coup that saw him removed from the office of prime minister. Continue reading...

Richard Pusey allegedly posted images to social media and fled after truck ploughed into four officers on Eastern FreewayA Porsche driver who allegedly fled the scene of a horrific accident that killed four Victoria police officers in Melbourne has been identified as Richard Pusey.The 41-year-old is alleged to have taken pictures of the crash and posted images to social media before leaving the scene of the accident which happened on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway at Kew about 5.40pm on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Despite Egypt’s fears of ‘hydro hegemony’ and concerns it will worsen water shortages in Sudan, Ethiopia’s controversial dam project is close to fruition

More than 232,000 could have been infected in first wave, compared with then-official total of 55,000, as US envoy calls for rethink of US-China relationship

In securing PPE for NHS staff working on coronavirus frontline, government must not ignore abuse of factory workers, warn activistsThe government must not ignore the “slave-like” conditions of migrant workers making rubber medical gloves in Malaysia in its rush to source protective equipment to keep frontline NHS staff safe from coronavirus, human rights groups say.Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of rubber gloves, but the industry has been accused of grossly exploiting its workforce, mostly impoverished migrants from Bangladesh and Nepal. Continue reading...

In a pandemic, the best we can do to take care of one another is to stay away from one another. Even Freud at his most misanthropic could never have come up with that. By Gary Greenberg

Residents say emergency alert during shooting spree could have saved lives as gunman drove around the province for over 12 hoursAs Canada reels from mass shooting that killed at least 22 people, residents in Nova Scotia have asked why authorities failed to send an emergency alert as a gunman posing as a police officer drove around the province for more than 12 hours.A week before Canada’s worst-ever mass shooting, all residents of the province received a mobile phone alert asking them to remain at home due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many argue that a similar warning during the shooting spree could have saved lives. Continue reading...

New information casts doubt on claims about environmental merit and commercial viability of Collinsville stationCarbon emissions from a new coal-fired power station at Collinsville in north Queensland would be comparable to generators built in the state 15 to 20 years ago, according to sources familiar with the proponent’s submissions to the federal government.Guardian Australia has learned the company behind the proposal, Shine Energy, has held discussions about obtaining a concessional infrastructure loan from the federal government via the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. Continue reading...

New research finds 147 million will be hit by floods by the end of the decade – ‘the numbers will be catastrophic’The number of people harmed by floods will double worldwide by 2030, according to a new analysis.The World Resources Institute, a global research group, found that 147 million people will be hit by floods from rivers and coasts annually by the end of the decade, compared with 72 million people just 10 years ago. Continue reading...

Dutch opposition to recovery spending has overtones of British disillusionmentIsolated in a recent European Union council of ministers, with attitudes described by European leaders past and present as “repugnant”.It sounds like an old script of Britain in the EU. Yet it is the Netherlands that has found itself at the heart of the union’s most bitter row during the coronavirus pandemic. As EU leaders meet on Thursday for their fourth virtual crisis summit in seven weeks, the Dutch will once again be in the vanguard of opposition to plans for big spending on the recovery. Continue reading...

As life begins to return to something like normality in Seoul and beyond, other countries are asking what lessons can be learnedLate last week millions of South Koreans queued patiently at polling stations to cast their votes for a new national assembly. If any uttered words of frustration from behind their masks, they were out of earshot of their fellow voters, kept at a distance by duct tape marking appropriate intervals.As they waited to wash their hands and pull on disposable plastic gloves before entering the booths, some may have allowed themselves to contemplate life beyond exercising their democratic right: an imminent return to work, a round of golf or, at last, a chance to shop for something more indulgent than food and hand sanitiser. Continue reading...

​On 29 February​, South Korea reported a peak of 909 new Covid-19 cases and was suffering one of the worst outbreaks outside of China. But this week, the government announced a single-digit number of new cases for the first time in almost two months. As of 22 April, there were 238 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths in South Korea.Experts say that the country is one of few to succeed in 'flattening the curve' despite never having a formal lockdown in place​. And with life slowly beginning to return to something like normality, Seoul-based journalist Nemo Kim has been looking at what lessons can be learned

The Opera House, ferry terminals, parks and squares – all the city's most popular spaces have been nearly cleared of people. Central Sydney experienced a dramatic drop in workers and shoppers as the government ordered pubs and restaurants to close, and businesses asked their staff to work from home as part of efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19 Continue reading...

The two victims were taken to hospital, police said, after the incident at the overcrowded Moria campTwo asylum-seekers have been hospitalised with light injuries after gunshots were fired into Greece’s largest migrant camp on the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos.The unknown assailant or assailants evaded arrest, while the two injured migrants were taken to the island’s hospital as a precaution, police said on Wednesday. No further detail was provided. Continue reading...

New Zealand climate minister says governments must not just return to the way things were, and instead plot a new course to ease climate changeJames Shaw, New Zealand’s climate change minister, has asked the country’s independent climate change commission to check whether its emissions targets under the Paris agreement are enough to limit global heating to 1.5C. He explains why he’s prioritising the issue during a strict national lockdown to stop the spread of Covid-19, which could send New Zealand’s unemployment rate soaring.To say that we find ourselves in an unprecedented moment is so obvious and has been so often repeated it’s almost become white noise. What is less obvious, however, is where we go from here. Continue reading...

Andrew Cuomo has said he would not allow political pressure to determine the timetable on when to lift the state's lockdown. The New York governor acknowledged the current situation is 'unsustainable', but added: 'I also know more people will die if we are not smart.'