Cholera has largely been beaten in the west, but it still kills tens of thousands of people in poorer countries every year. As we search for a cure for coronavirus, we have to make sure it will be available to everyone, not just to those in wealthy nations. By Neil SinghWe log in every day at 7.45am. One by one, we join an array of faces on our screens. We doctors aren’t used to video-conferencing like this, and still greet each other with excited waving hands. Since the coronavirus crisis began, these daily virtual meetings have proved an invaluable way to keep up to speed on clinical guidelines, in-house protocols and staff wellbeing – all of which are changing every day.But these meetings also bring us news that we take more personally: how many of our patients have symptoms? How many have tested positive? How many have died? These are important questions, for sure, but my public health training reminds me to think globally. The coming year will see developments that will allow us to bring the virus under control in the west, but what about in other countries? I cannot help but think of my relatives in India, and what this pandemic will mean for them – not just now, but in the future. The really important question is not who will die of coronavirus tomorrow, but in 200 years’ time. Continue reading...

Israel’s foreign ministry reminds Egypt of peace deal after sci-fi drama El-Nehaya airsAn Egyptian science fiction drama that predicts Israel’s destruction has provoked an angry reaction from the Jewish state, including from the country’s foreign ministry, which reminded its neighbour of a decades-old peace deal.Set in the year 2120, the series called El-Nehaya, meaning The End, imagines a bleak future with cloned robots, battered skyscrapers, and relentless violence. Continue reading...

Public Service Commission warned site of possible liability for defamatory content on its public servantsA leading federal government agency sent a legal letter to a volunteer-run transparency website hosting freedom of information documents, warning that “website operators may be liable” for defamatory content published on their website.The Australian Public Service Commission denies it intended to threaten the not-for-profit Right to Know website when its chief legal counsel sent a letter in October, demanding the site remove “defamatory material”. Continue reading...

The euro area is suffering its worst contraction ever, as the French economy suffers its biggest plunge since the second world war

A flypast over Capt Tom Moore’s house by a wartime Spitfire and a Hurricane was broadcast live on BBC Breakfast to mark the second world war veteran’s 100th birthday.The centenarian, who has helped to raise over £30m for the NHS during the coronavirus crisis with a sponsored walk around his garden, has been appointed an honorary colonel

Infections then spread between staff and patients, as some healthcare workers worked six shifts while symptomatic

Graham Walters was almost at coast of Antigua when he called for assistanceA 72-year-old man from Leicester has rowed solo across the Atlantic but may miss out on the record to become the oldest person to do so after he had to be towed in to port at the end of his journey.Graham Walters was just six miles from the coast of Antigua, the end of his journey, when his boat was blown off course by strong winds, and he would have ended up past the island and facing days’ more rowing if he had not accepted the assistance of the local coastguard. Continue reading...

The PM’s partner has been on one emotional rollercoaster, and now faces anotherWhen Carrie Symonds was last seen in public, at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, her arm linked through Boris Johnson’s and beaming a wide smile, no one could have foreseen what drama the next seven weeks would hold.From that day on 9 March to Wednesday’s surprise announcement that she had safely given birth to a “healthy baby boy”, the 32-year-old fiancee of the prime minister has endured an extraordinarily stressful time. Continue reading...

A total of 26,097 patients have died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK, Dominic Raab has said. It was the first time the daily death toll figures have taken into account deaths in care homes and the community as well as those in hospitals between 2 March and 28 April. It marked an increase of 3,811 on the previous figure

New York City's mayor, Bill de Blasio, has apologised for lashing out at the conduct of mourners at a packed funeral for a rabbi who died of Covid-19. In a tweet, the mayor called the large processional 'absolutely unacceptable' and vowed to shut down such gatherings. 'If you saw anger and frustration [in the response] you’re right,' de Blasio said. 'I spoke out of real distress. People’s lives were in danger right before my eyes.'

Nearly 100 cases of the unusual illness linked to Covid-19 have emerged in at least six countries

It’s easy to let standards slip during the lockdown but unlike Will Reeve not all of us see our pantless selves broadcast to the nationAlmost two months into the US shutdown, things are starting to get a little wild in quarantine. Perhaps you’ve stopped brushing your hair or started working in pyjamas. But a Good Morning America reporter took it a step further yesterday – he “went” to work without pants on for a nationally televised broadcast.I have ARRIVED*

Leaked report from stormy visit to Prague tells Andrej Babiš to stamp out ‘oligarchies’The Czech government needs to stamp out “oligarchic structures” in the spending of European funds, a leaked EU report into an alleged conflict of interest centred on the country’s billionaire prime minister, Andrej Babiš, has concluded.The report, by the European parliament’s budgetary control committee, calls on Babiš to stand down as prime minister or sell his business, if a conflict of interest is confirmed. Babiš should also renounce his seat at the table in upcoming negotiations on the European Union’s next seven-year budget “until his potential conflict of interests is fully resolved”, the MEPs say. Continue reading...

More than 40 members of indigenous communities have been killed since 2015, and many say settlers have been responsibleNicaragua’s government is actively promoting illegal land grabs and granting concessions to mining and timber companies in indigenous territories, according to a report released on Wednesday.Related: Massacre leaves six indigenous people dead at Nicaraguan nature reserve Continue reading...

Young people likely to challenge Islam and see themselves as less religious than previous generationsTwenty-two-year old Esra, from Mersin, is even more bored than usual this Ramadan. Universities are shut and Turkey has taken the unusual step of placing under 20s, as well as over 65s, under a nighttime curfew, because many Turkish families live in intergenerational households.

Bill de Blasio expresses regret for tweet after intervening when hundreds gathered for a funeral for a rabbi who died of Covid-19: ‘I spoke out of distress’New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, personally oversaw the dispersal of a large, tightly packed Hasidic Jewish funeral on Wednesday, lashing out at the conduct of mourners, sparking angry counter-criticism from community leaders.In a tweet, the mayor called the large processional “absolutely unacceptable”, and vowed to bring social gatherings such as that event to an end while movements are still restricted by coronavirus measures. Continue reading...

How herd immunity and delayed lockdown hampered efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus

After birth of boy Downing Street says PM intends to take paternity leave later this year

Les Inséparables, which depicts the writer’s passionate friendship with a girl who later died, was withheld during her lifetime

More than 60 objections to regulator about claims by world’s biggest oil companyThe world’s biggest oil company has withdrawn an advertising campaign that boasted it was “powering a more sustainable future”, after dozens of complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency.Saudi Aramco claimed in the advert that “real sustainability doesn’t wait until tomorrow”, adding “this is real energy”. Continue reading...

Economic slump in first quarter is worst since 2008 recession, with GDP predicted to fall at annualized 30% in next quarter

Almost 70 veterans have died in the worst known outbreak at a US long-term care facility. Plus, how Democrats can halt Trump’s takeover of the judiciaryGood morning.The number of Americans who have tested positive for coronavirus is now more than 1 million, while almost 60,000 people are confirmed to have died with the disease in the US. If those statistics are too vast to contemplate, then consider this one: at least 68 people have already died at a veterans’ home in Massachusetts after contracting Covid-19, with dozens more infected – the worst known outbreak in a US long-term care facility. Continue reading...

Crowded office buildings ‘may be a thing of the past’ as staff safety prioritised after Covid-19 crisis

Whitehall auditor warns ‘ambitious aims’ will not be achieved without better oversight, planning and evaluation of programmesEfforts by the UK government to achieve gender equality through its aid programmes need to be better managed and more transparent, according to the financial watchdog.The National Audit Office (NAO) said the Department for International Development’s (DfID) 12-year gender equality strategy was wide-ranging, but did not have a long-term, costed, implementation plan, limiting “its ability to assess progress and consider value for money”. Continue reading...

Everyday hormone-disrupting chemicals could affect our immune system’s defenses against infections

Prime minister and his partner announce birth of ‘healthy baby boy’ at a London hospitalBoris Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, has given birth to their baby boy.A statement released by the couple said they had a “healthy baby boy at a London hospital earlier this morning”. Continue reading...

The Lunchbox star, who has died aged 53, was a vital bridge between Bollywood and Hollywood, and possessed a strong romantic appeal

A summary of the major developments in the coronavirus outbreak across AustraliaGood evening, and welcome to our daily roundup of the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in Australia. This is Calla Wahlquist bringing you the main stories on Wednesday 29 April. Continue reading...

Political activists wait to find out if they will be included in government pardon scheme to stop the spread of Covid-19It has been two months since Andi Rizky last saw her uncle Jimmy, a drug offender in Cilegon Prison, Banten province, in person. Since the middle of March, the prison has banned visitors because of concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.In 10-minute video calls to replace the visits, the pair have discussed the Indonesian government’s plan to release thousands of prisoners. Continue reading...

Trump’s transformation of the federal judiciary means the stakes have never been higher in an election than they are for DemocratsHe is 37 and less than 10 years out of law school. He had never tried a case, nor served as co-counsel at trial, when he was tapped last year for America’s federal bench. But he did go on Fox News to push the cause of Brett Kavanaugh when Trump’s supreme court pick was mired in sexual abuse claims two years ago.And now he is bound for the second highest court in the land. Continue reading...

Khan, who had a string of Anglo-American successes under his belt, including Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi and Jurassic World, has died in Mumbai• A life in picturesIrrfan Khan, the Indian-born actor who achieved considerable success in both Bollywood and the west, has died aged 53. He had been admitted to the intensive care unit of Mumbai’s Kokilaben hospital on Tuesday with a colon infection.In March 2018, he revealed he had been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour, but after extensive treatment he recovered well enough to shoot Angrezi Medium, the film which would turn out to be his last, and whose release this March was cut short because of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

The German Society for Nature Photography (GDT) has selected its Nature Photographer of the Year 2020.The winning image is part of a series of photographs taken in Dortmund’s north by Peter Lindel. Compared with many international nature photography hot spots, this region has little to offer. Lindel spent a lot of time and blood, sweat and tears working on this project on his doorstep. It is a beautiful statement about the long-term exploration of a single species and region. Continue reading...

Exclusion from government Covid-19 relief has left many reliant on private food donations, as fears raised over protection from transmission after lockdown

Impact of pandemic could be felt by world’s poorest for years to come, international development secretary tells MPsThe coronavirus pandemic threatens to undo 30 years of international development work, with a bleak picture for the world’s poorest, the international development secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, told MPs.Giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into the effectiveness of UK aid, Trevelyan said her biggest fear was that the secondary impact of the health crisis would be felt by the world’s poorest for years to come. Continue reading...

Many countries are looking to ease the restrictions brought in to tackle coronavirus Continue reading...

Wharfedale, Yorkshire: There are moments of beauty, but the silence can also be eerie and strange, or mask an underlying hostilityIn Lower Wharfedale, there are new kinds of silences everywhere. Around Beacon Hill, on the Chevin, the seismic roar of aircraft booming off to Edinburgh or Alicante from the airport nearby has given way to the white noise of a sunny heath in April; a silence textured with the bee-charged buzz of a goat willow, the delicate song of a dunnock, or the soft gloops of mating frogs in a pond. Along the verdant stretch of the Wharfe near Otley Mills, where peace is usually eclipsed by the rush of traffic on the A660, birdsong glitters in the fresh green trees like sun in a stream, and a dipper alerts me to its presence with the tiniest of chirps.Related: Name that song - it's the perfect time to learn to identify birds Continue reading...

WHO official warns of fresh outbreaks as jabs for 12 million children are delayed

Despite North Korean leader’s absence from key events, experts in the South say he is most probably at resort town of Wonsan

State Labor leader Jodi McKay says families ‘have been battling’ for 19 days to get adequate care and were not always being given the choice to transfer sick relatives to hospitalFollow the day’s Australian coronavirus news liveSign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus emailDownload the free Guardian app to get the most important news notifications

As medics and carers report widespread shortages of protective equipment, the government is facing pressure to explain why it appears the UK went into a pandemic under-resourced. Daniel Boffey and Rob Davies unpick the strategy and its failuresWith reports of medics using bin bags in place of personal protective equipment (PPE), the government is under growing pressure to explain its preparedness for a pandemic and its efforts since the crisis struck to protect frontline workers.The Guardian’s Brussels bureau chief, Daniel Boffey, describes how the government declined to take part in a joint EU procurement scheme at the same time it was failing to secure enough equipment from other sources. Meanwhile Rob Davies has been investigating how British firms such as Burberry have switched from fashion to the production of PPE. And the government’s attempts to dramatically increase the stockpile of ventilators as manufacturers take up the challenge to produce established and new designs. Continue reading...

As the number of cases rises, so does the number of those who have died. Here is a state-by-state list of virus-related fatalities

For the first time, and only for this year, movies that debuted on a streaming service without a theatrical run will be eligibleThe Academy Awards will for the first time allow films that debuted on a streaming service without a theatrical run to be eligible for nominations, a break with tradition in direct response to the coronavirus pandemic.The Academy announced the new criteria for the Oscars in a statement on Tuesday. The change is not permanent, however, and will only apply to films released this year. Continue reading...

President claims economy will rebound and suggests US, currently testing 200,000 a day, will be testing 5m ‘very soon’

Camilla praises Silver Swans tutorials, while Prince Charles will appear in a Thomas the Tank Engine specialThe Duchess of Cornwall has turned to ballet as part of a keep fit regime, joining lessons with three “ancient friends” that leave them groaning, huffing and grunting, she has said.Camilla, 72, has become a cheerleader for Silver Swans ballet tutorials aimed at the over-55s, designed to improve core strength balance and flexibility. Continue reading...

Dr Sirous Asgari, in Ice detention despite having been exonerated in a sanctions trial, had warned of ‘inhumane’ conditions

Mike Pence triggered a storm of controversy on Tuesday by failing to wear a face mask on a visit to the Mayo Clinic’s facilities in Minnesota. Pence leads the US government’s coronavirus taskforce, but his staff have claimed he does not need to wear the protective covering because he is regularly tested for the coronavirus.

Wednesday: independent schools offered early funding to return to face-to-face teaching. Plus, doctors on alert for rare coronavirus complication in childrenGood morning, this is James Murray bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 29 April. Continue reading...