Becoming, which drops in May, follows the former first lady on her 34-city book tour, will offer a ‘rare and up-close’ look at her lifeNetflix has announced a new original documentary focused on former first lady Michelle Obama to be released on 6 May.Becoming will follow Obama on her 34-city tour to promote her book of the same name and will offer an “intimate”, “rare and up-close” look at her life. It’s directed by Nadia Hallgren, who recently made the documentary short After Maria, which looked at the effect of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rican families. Continue reading...

Group says nudity is ‘a symbol of how vulnerable we are without protection’A group of German doctors have posed naked in an attempt to draw attention to shortages of protective clothing and equipment.Calling their protest Blanke Bedenken, or Naked Qualms, members of the group said they felt at risk from coronavirus and claimed their calls for help over several months had gone unheeded. Continue reading...

Boy, 16, evacuated from Libya under EU scheme, alleges incident took place at Gashora transit facility during coronavirus curfew

As the campaign is reshaped by the coronavirus, the president has sought to shift focus away from his erratic responseMeet “Beijing Biden”, also known as “Sleepy Joe”. According to Donald Trump and his allies, he is both a comrade of “Crazy Bernie” and an establishment creature of Washington, whose coziness with China and long history of verbal stumbles make him unfit for the presidency.This emerging, and at times conflicting, portrait of Joe Biden is part of a recent effort by the Trump campaign to define the presumptive Democratic nominee to its advantage, ahead of a general election that has now been thoroughly reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

She-wolf in country’s north is pregnant, and newcomers from France or Italy spotted in southBelgium is becoming “the wolf crossroads of Europe”, a conservation charity has said as it reported new sightings from France and Germany, while Flemish authorities separately announced the imminent arrival of wolf puppies.Flanders’ environment minister, Zuhal Demir, announced that a pair of wolves in the north of the country were expecting cubs, four months after arrival in the area of a female wolf, Noëlla, who was billed as “a potential new love” for a previously lone wolf, August. Continue reading...

Hayden Prince, 24, fell to his death when large rock to which rope was tied became dislodgedA British man fell to his death in the Swiss Alps when a rock holding his abseiling rope toppled over as he descended a mountain, an inquest has heard.L/Cpl Hayden Prince, 24, was on a private trip with two mountaineering friends while on annual leave from the British army. The group set out from the Hornli hut at the base camp of the Matterhorn at 6am on 2 June last year with a plan of turning around and descending by 2pm regardless of whether they had reached the summit. Continue reading...

Zdenêk Hřib says there is ‘risk to my life’ as magazine alleges he was poisoning targetThe mayor of Prague has said he is under police protection from a “risk to my life”, with one Czech investigative outlet reporting he had been targeted in a Russian poisoning plot.Zdeněk Hřib confirmed on Monday that police had placed him under protection several weeks ago after identifying a threat against him, but declined to say whether had been been targeted by Russia or reveal the nature of threat. Continue reading...

‘From Russia with love’ package including doctors and PPE criticised as propaganda to exploit cracks in EU

Southern Transitional Council breaks with wartorn state’s internationally recognised governmentThe Saudi Arabian-backed government in Yemen has warned of a catastrophe if the country’s powerful separatist movement forges ahead with its declaration of self-rule over the key port city of Aden and other southern provinces.The Southern Transitional Council’s armed forces were deploying on Sunday in Aden, the interim seat of the internationally recognised government backed by the Saudi-led military coalition that had until now included the STC. Continue reading...

New Zealand easing Covid-19 restrictions, but Deborah Birx says Americans can expect social distancing measures for months to come. Plus, awkward scenes with the creator of Sex EducationGood morning. Continue reading...

‘Russians, Cubans, Chinese doctors came. Germans and French didn’t’

Much garlanded novelist, playwright, poet and Oscar-winning screenwriter hailed as ‘a giant among European writers’

Amazon’s sales have hit £8,800 a second, while concerns persist about its tax affairs, treatment of staff and effect on small retailers. Here’s how to buy everything from technology to beauty to books without it

Country eases coronavirus measures after quick response helped it limit cases to 7,400

Two months after storms battered south Wales, many are trapped in damp and damaged homesBack in February, the residents of Lewis Street in the village of Pentre, in the Rhondda Valley, were battling flooding as a series of storms battered south Wales.Two months on, many of them are enduring the trauma of being locked down in homes that are still damp and damaged. Continue reading...

The world may be faced with a new foe, but old ones lie in wait if lockdowns disrupt existing vaccination programmes

The probe was launched earlier this month after chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, made the claim to a NZ parliamentary hearing. Follow live

Lockdown rules have been local or national, early or late, partial or total and obligatory or voluntary. The differing impact on traffic flows shows how the restrictions evolved in different cities worldwide, where they’re loosening, and where they’re coming back Continue reading...

More than 500 stranded on trawlers in what UN calls ‘human tragedy of terrible proportions’The Bangladeshi government has been urged to open its ports and allow two boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya refugees to come ashore so that they can be given urgent medical care, food and water.It is believed more than 500 people, including children, are onboard the stranded trawlers, which were recently seen in the Bay of Bengal but have reportedly returned to the high seas.

Curtailing of shipping due to coronavirus allows scientists to study effects of quieter oceans on marine wildlifeIn cities, human lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic have offered some respite to the natural world, with clear skies and the return of wildlife to waterways. Now evidence of a drop in underwater noise pollution has led experts to predict the crisis may also be good news for whales and other sea mammals.Researchers examining real-time underwater sound signals from seabed observatories run by Ocean Networks Canada near the port of Vancouver found a significant drop in low-frequency sound associated with ships. Continue reading...

British government urged to plug shortfall as Oxfam and Christian Aid reveal huge financial impact of Covid-19 outbreakCharities are calling on the UK government for greater support as they report the loss of millions of pounds as a result of Covid-19.Oxfam said it is losing £5m a month from the closure of its shops alone, while Christian Aid last week said it expected a £6m drop in its funds this financial year. Others said they were still calculating the impact. Continue reading...

Moon Chung-in quashes health rumours, saying North Korean leader has been in Wonsan – a resort town in the country’s east – since 13 AprilSouth Korea has said that Kim Jong-un, is “alive and well”, downplaying rumours that that the North Korean leader was seriously ill after undergoing heart surgery.“Our government position is firm,” Moon Chung-in, a special adviser on national security to the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “Kim Jong-un is alive and well.” Continue reading...

Kingdom has one of the world’s highest rates of execution and rights groups have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of trialsSaudi Arabia has ended the death penalty for crimes committed by minors after effectively abolishing floggings, as the kingdom seeks to blunt criticism over its human rights record.The death penalty was eliminated for those convicted of crimes committed while they were minors, Human Rights Commission president Awwad Alawwad said in a statement, citing a royal decree. Continue reading...

From schools to shops, with jobs at risk, the government must balance the interests of economy and public safety

PM back in No 10 as ministers warn physical distancing is here to stay after lockdown

‘More unsettled’ conditions may tempt fewer people outdoors during coronavirus lockdownThe recent run of uninterrupted sunshine and warm weather is to be replaced by wet conditions and falling temperatures across the UK.It will be a “cooler, more unsettled week” for much of the country as temperatures return to average for this time of year, with some downpours expected, according to the Met Office. Continue reading...

Packed pools, beaches and tour buses will not return immediately as country plans for scaled back 2020 season

Police investigate three incidents of Americans driving on wrong side of road near RAF CroughtonThe parents of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn have pleaded with the head of the armed forces to set up a meeting with a US military base after claims of “three near misses” involving their staff.Charlotte Charles and Tim Dunn wrote to Gen Sir Nick Carter on Sunday to say they “bear our American friends no ill will”, but insisted RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire could not “practice splendid isolation” on safety issues. Continue reading...

Independent MP says scheme lacks transparency and government has no authority to introduce itIndependent MP Zali Steggall has asked the auditor general to investigate a Morrison government scheme to underwrite gas, hydro and coal power, saying it lacks transparency and citing legal advice that the Coalition had no constitutional or legislative authority to introduce it.Announced in late 2018 after the government abandoned Malcolm Turnbull’s proposed national energy guarantee, the underwriting new generation investment (Ungi) scheme promises public support for new dispatchable power generation projects to increase competition in the electricity grid. Twelve projects have been shortlisted, including six pumped hydro plants, five gas generators and an upgrade to the Vales Point coal-fired power plant. Continue reading...

Environment secretary George Eustice said that furloughed staff could help with picking fruit in June when the British soft fruit season is at its peak.Eustice said that only around a third of the usual workforce is currently available, as the industry relies on migrant workers.He also said it was too early to talk about easing the lockdown during the UK government briefing, as daily hospital deaths fell to 413, the lowest daily number since March.

With much of the world still in lockdown owing to coronavirus, people are finding new ways to keep each others' spirits up. From Captain Tom Moore becoming the oldest person to score a UK No 1 with his cover of You'll Never Walk Alone to small acts of kindness from the police, these are the week's most uplifting clips.

Poll shows fall in support for confinement as country prepares to slowly lift some measures

Dozens of protesters were arrested in Berlin on Saturday for flouting lockdown rules and staging a demonstration against lockdown measures.About 200 people were involved in the protest, which was shut down by German police. Demonstrators said lockdown measures are an infringement of their constitutional rights

The state has been in retreat since the 80s heyday of Reagan and Thatcher but that could change as coronavirus delivers a shock to the system of historic proportionsRonald Reagan’s 1986 wisecrack – “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help” – would not get a lot of laughs today. In much of the world, people are desperate for the government to show up and rise to the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic.Reagan’s attitude to government solidified into orthodoxy for more than three decades, spreading abroad – particularly in the UK with the help of Margaret Thatcher – and captured the centre ground of politics in both countries. Continue reading...

How and why Ben Warner and Dominic Cummings contributed to Covid-19 meetings is unclear

Trans people fear more discrimination as Orbán pushes through law defining gender based on ‘sex at birth’Hungary’s rightwing government looks likely to push through legislation that will end the legal recognition of trans people by defining gender as “biological sex based on primary sex characteristics and chromosomes” and thus making it impossible for people to legally change their gender.Trans people and rights activists say the law, which has been introduced into parliament as attention is focused on the coronavirus pandemic, will increase discrimination and intolerance towards trans people. Many will try to leave the country, while those who do not have that chance will face daily humiliations. Continue reading...

The Trump-supporting education secretary and her billionaire family have for years promoted rightwing causes and candidatesWhile the anti-coronavirus lockdowns springing up around the US came as a surprise to many, the involvement of the conservative billionaire DeVos family, repeated donors to a slew of dubious rightwing causes, should not.Related: Hydroxychloroquine and coronavirus: a guide to the scientific studies so far Continue reading...

17 Arm, advised by Malcolm Rifkind, Ken Macdonald and others, is financing claim by Alexander TugushevA firm advised by a former Conservative foreign secretary and a former chief prosecutor is funding a large-scale legal action in the English courts by a convicted Russian fraudster once banned from Britain.The firm, 17 Arm, which is advised by Malcolm Rifkind, Ken Macdonald and other establishment figures, is financing the legal claim by Alexander Tugushev against a Russian billionaire in an expensive and lengthy court battle. Continue reading...

The Covidsafe tracking app is part of the government’s strategy to identify, trace and isolate as it looks at life beyond physical distance restrictions

A routine medical brought life-changing news for the comedian and author. And the curious thing was he’d predicted it in the novel he’d just finished writingThere are moments when your life changes over the length of a single word. For example, you might remember that particular time you heard the word “pregnant”. Or maybe “divorce” or “congratulations” or “guilty”. And maybe you remember the silence that followed and how it had a new weight to it. As if the silence were saying: “Look, if I’m expected to follow words like that, I’m going to need a bit more respect around here.” That’s how it was for me last October. I didn’t get to choose my life-changing word, of course. If I had, I doubt I would have gone with “prolapse”.“It looks like a prolapse.” Continue reading...

Health minister Greg Hunt says app ‘will save lives and protect lives’, while Western Australia easing of restrictions to begin tomorrow and Queensland from midnight Friday. Follow live

The president had been intending to campaign on a strong economy and facing a socialist opponent but scapegoating foreigners has worked for him beforeDonald Trump had been intending to run a re-election campaign based on a strong economy and a socialist opponent. Both have vanished in the past month. But the US president still has his ultimate weapon: xenophobia.Related: Debacle of Trump's coronavirus disinfectant comments could be tipping point Continue reading...

UK will need extension to agree Brexit deal as pandemic derails talks

With only one in 400 cups recycled, and even those barely ‘green’, the hunt is on for an alternativeBritain gets through 2.5 billion of them every year, and the number is set to increase. But despite a growing clamour for coffee chains to make their cups more environment-friendly, the vast majority are used only once, which critics say is a considerable waste of natural resources.One company vying to produce a truly recyclable alternative claims that the UK’s caffeine addiction is responsible for the felling of a million trees a year. An independent study it commissioned suggests that almost 1.5 billion litres of water go into making the cups the UK uses annually. Continue reading...

The transition must be extended… even Boris Johnson knows that, although he won’t admit itFor months, Boris Johnson and his band of hard Tory Brexiters talked of virtually nothing else. It was as though the moment on 31 January when Britain left the EU was the only thing in the world that mattered. It marked, for them, the climax of an opportunistic project that shook up Europe’s political landscape, brought a big election victory and confirmed Johnson’s ascendancy.It is now painfully clear, as the government struggles to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic, that Britain is paying a heavy price for the Brexit distraction in the early weeks of 2020. Johnson and senior ministers were simply not paying sufficient attention as the virus rapidly migrated from China to these shores. Continue reading...

As rumours persist that ruler is in poor health, satellite images emerge showing train parked at Wonsan’s ‘leadership station’A special train possibly belonging to the North Korean ruler, Kim Jong-un, has been spotted at a resort town, according to satellite images reviewed by a Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, amid conflicting reports about Kim’s health and whereabouts.The monitoring project, 38 North, said in its report on Saturday that the train was parked at the “leadership station” in Wonsan on 21 April and 23 April. The station is reserved for the use of the Kim family, it said. Continue reading...

Greece prepares to end lockdown; Bill Gates vows to fund vaccine production; Australia and New Zealand mark Anzac Day from driveways

Beijing has drawn accusations it is using the distraction of the coronavirus pandemic to advance regional interests. Here are some examples