The Guardian

Pride march follows national success story in curbing Covid-19 pandemicAt the entrance to Taipei’s Pride march on Saturday, Pearl Jain and Lance Xie held up a sign offering free hugs. Similar placards were waved above the pulsating crowd of 100,000 sweaty and bedazzled party goers crushedalong the parade route.Xie had recently returned from Melbourne, where 5 million people have just emerged from one of the toughest lockdowns in the world and everyone is trying not to touch each other. It was good to be home. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/hugs-sequins-and-rainbows-as-taiwan-enjoys-victory-over-virus

Author : Helen Davidson in Taipei

Publish date : 2020-10-31 17:27:17

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Follow the latest on the virus in the UK as the PM is expected to set out plans for a month-long lockdown in England amid warnings that infections are ‘running riot’ 4.10pm GMT Sky’s Beth Rigby has also been given a briefing on what to expect. She said:I’ve been told that all of England is into tier four. It will mean that all pubs and restaurants have to close. All shops will close apart from non-essential retail, but as I understand it supermarkets will still be able to sell nonessential goods. There will be no mixing inside homes. In terms of what can continue: schools and universities and colleges all will remain open. Courts will remain open and parliament will remain open.The idea would be that while we all go into tier 4 for a period of a few weeks. Then we come out of it back into other [existing] tiering system. So different parts of the country will be released from this tier 4 at different periods depending on where they are with the virus. 3.49pm GMT The lockdown sceptic Tory MP Steve Baker has just emerged from a meeting in Downing Street.Baker just out of No 10. The PM has difficult choices to make and I would ask all people in the country and MPs to listen very carefully to what the PM has to sayThere is “more nuance” to the new measures than a new national lockdown, says Steve Baker. He’s just been with the PM. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/oct/31/uk-coronavirus-boris-johnson-to-give-press-conference-on-new-lockdown-live-news

Author : Matthew Weaver

Publish date : 2020-10-31 16:10:26

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Multiple award-winning Scottish actor best known for 007 role in seven spy films
Sean Connery, the Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of James Bond, has died aged 90. His son, Jason, said he had died peacefully in his sleep, having been “unwell for some time”.He was admired by generations of film fans as the original and best 007, and went on to create a distinguished body of work in films such as The Man Who Would Be King, The Name of the Rose and The Untouchables. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/31/sean-connery-james-bond-actor-dies-aged-90

Author : Andrew Pulver and Mattha Busby

Publish date : 2020-10-31 14:02:25

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Hong Kong media tycoon says he was not personally involved but that his firm’s funds paid for the researchThe Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai has said he personally had “nothing to do with” a report on Hunter Biden’s alleged Chinese business links, but admitted funds from his private firm had been used to pay for it.Lai, a prominent democracy advocate in Hong Kong and a staunch critic of China, said on Twitter he was sorry his flagship newspaper, Apple Daily, had been implicated in an article by the US media outlet NBC. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/31/jimmy-lai-distances-himself-from-report-on-hunter-bidens-alleged-china-links

Author : Reuters

Publish date : 2020-10-31 12:54:55

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Scientist says young women particularly affected as PM set to announce new restrictionsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCoronavirus is “running riot” across all age groups, a government scientific adviser has said ahead of an expected announcement by the prime minister that England will go into lockdown next week.Boris Johnson is expected to impose stringent new national lockdown restrictions after scientists on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) told him Covid-19 was spreading significantly faster than their worst-case scenarios and could kill 85,000 people this winter. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/covid-running-riot-in-england-as-lockdown-looms-scientist-says

Author : Molly Blackall and Michael Savage

Publish date : 2020-10-31 09:31:55

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Sales of medicinal plants such as echinacea have risen by almost 3,000% at some outletsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAs winter approaches, the pandemic continues and spending time outdoors seems less appealing, how can you still get your fix of nature? By bringing the outdoors inside, or at least that’s what soaring plant sales seem to suggest.Latest figures show there has been a huge increase in the number of people buying plants and bulbs during lockdown, and medicinal plants have proven particularly popular. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/flower-power-covid-restrictions-fuel-boom-in-plant-and-bulb-sales

Author : Sarah Marsh

Publish date : 2020-10-31 10:00:48

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Trump falsely says ‘doctors get more money if someone dies from Covid’Final push to unleash power of poor and low-income voters‘Red mirage’: the ‘insidious’ scenario if Trump declares an early victorySign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter 9.08am GMT One of the medical professionals to respond was Dr. Ashish Jha, who was asked about Trump’s comments on MSNBC. After being played the clip of what the president had said, Dr. Jha replied.I don’t know where to begin. First of all it’s offensive. Second, attacking frontline health workers who have been saving American lives, despite this botched public health response, is doubly offensive. And then it’s just wrong. Right, doctors don’t get a single extra cent.Now, hospitals do get reimbursed a little bit more if it’s a Covid pneumonia versus a non-Covid pneumonia, but they don’t go around committing large scale fraud. You have to test people, you have to show it. 9.02am GMT Hi, and welcome to our live coverage as the election campaign enters its last weekend. Here’s a quick catch-up on where we are, and what we might see today. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2020/oct/31/us-election-2020-donald-trump-coronavirus-covid-19-joe-biden-kamala-harris-live-updates

Author : Martin Belam

Publish date : 2020-10-31 09:08:46

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His books were a hit long before he took office, and some Christians see his presidency as a blessing The pursed, stony expression is familiar in Peter Odoakang’s striking oil painting of Donald Trump, but not the outfit. The US president is portrayed wearing a wine- and peach-coloured agbada and cap, traditional Yoruba attire, fitting him into the mould of a south-western Nigerian leader or “big man”, as Odoakang says.“People see him in agbada and say wow, it fits him. People really laugh about it and react to it,” says Odoakang, 23, of the portrait commissioned by a company in Lagos, which he says brings Trump’s “personality into our setting”. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/he-just-says-it-as-it-is-why-many-nigerians-support-donald-trump

Author : Emmanuel Akinwotu

Publish date : 2020-10-31 07:00:44

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Polls suggest narrow Labor win over Liberal National party but neither side willing to predict result. Follow live 6.24am GMT Both leaders cast their vote mid-morning – when the skies were blue.Just voted in my electorate of Inala, with my friend @MiltonDickMP and my number one supporter @HenryPalaszczuk

Polls are open until 6pm if you haven’t already voted! #democracysausage #QLDvotes2020 pic.twitter.com/Lj2UoWiVg01️⃣A vote for the @LNPQLD = a stronger economy, more jobs, no new taxes, less crime, $300 car rego rebate, more infrastructure, better health and education. #qldpol pic.twitter.com/MqUmQzUnL7 6.18am GMT Given there are very serious storm warnings for most of the south-east at the moment, I am not sure how many more people will be venturing out.The hail pictures have been insane. Cricket ball size (all hail must be described in sport ball terms. It’s the rules.)Only 2 hours left until polling booths close!

Polling booths for the State general election close at 6pm. If you are still in line at 6pm, stay in line! You will be able to vote if you are in the queue by 6pm.

Find your closest polling booth here: https://t.co/gIvgiz2BMi Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2020/oct/31/queensland-election-2020-annastacia-palaszczuk-faces-off-against-deb-frecklington-as-labor-seeks-third-term

Author : Amy Remeikis

Publish date : 2020-10-31 06:24:55

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At least 26 deaths reported after quake strikes İzmir in Turkey and Greek island of Samos
At least 26 people have been killed and hundreds injured after a powerful earthquake in the Aegean Sea toppled buildings in the Turkish city of İzmir and created sea surges on at least two Greek islands. Turkey’s disaster and emergency authority (Afad) said the quake, measuring about 7.0 in magnitude, struck at 2.51pm local time (11.51am GMT) on Friday. One of the dead had drowned, Afad said. 709 people were injured, Afad said. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/30/powerful-earthquake-rocks-turkish-coast-and-greek-islands-izmir

Author : Bethan McKernan Turkey correspondent

Publish date : 2020-10-31 04:53:17

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System with 265km/h winds is expected to make landfall on Sunday on main island of Luzon, home to Manila Philippine officials have ordered evacuation of thousands of residents in the southern part of the main Luzon island as a category-5 storm that is the world’s strongest this year approaches.Typhoon Goni, with 215km/h (133 mph) sustained winds and gusts of up to 265km/h (164 mph), will make landfall on Sunday as the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines since Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people in 2013. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/31/typhoon-goni-philippines-orders-thousands-of-evacuations-ahead-of-2020s-strongest-storm

Author : Reuters

Publish date : 2020-10-31 03:36:20

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England lockdown expected early next week; US passes 9m infections; New South Wales records four new infections, Victoria one. Follow the latest:Belgium facing new lockdown as Germany takes in patientsEuropeans seek ways to ride out Covid winter‘An operational tsunami’: preparing for a winter surge of Covid Paris sees record traffic jams before lockdownSee all our coronavirus coverage 1.57am GMT Colombia has recorded more than 10,000 new cases, as it surpassed more than 31,000 deaths. The country reported 10,029 new cases and 209 deaths in the past 24 hours, according the country’s ministry of health. 1.48am GMT Mainland China reported 33 new Covid-19 cases on 30 October, up from 25 a day earlier, the country’s national health authority said on Saturday.Of the new cases, 27 were imported infections originating from overseas, reports Reuters. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/oct/31/coronavirus-live-news-europe-passes-10m-cases-australian-cases-rise-amid-border-fight

Author : Luke Henriques-Gomes

Publish date : 2020-10-31 01:58:41

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Boris Johnson bows to pressure from experts who warned worst-case scenario could soon be surpassed Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson has bowed to pressure from his scientific advisers for new national lockdown restrictions, which are expected to be announced early next week, the Guardian has been told.Sir Patrick Vallance and Prof Chris Whitty, who head the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), are understood to have warned the prime minister that the time has come for national action across England. Sage scientists presented Johnson with evidence at a meeting in Downing Street, where they explained that Covid-19 is spreading significantly faster than their worst-case scenarios. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/30/save-christmas-with-covid-lockdown-in-england-experts-say

Author : Sarah Boseley, Helen Pidd, Linda Geddes and Nazia Parveen

Publish date : 2020-10-30 23:41:40

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About 100,00o people take to the streets of Warsaw to oppose tightened abortion lawAbout one hundred thousand protesters took to the streets of the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Friday, in the largest demonstration of popular anger directed against Poland’s ruling rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS) since it assumed office in 2015.Protests have been held across the country since Poland’s constitutional tribunal declared earlier this month that abortions in instances where a foetus is diagnosed with a serious and irreversible birth defect were unconstitutional. Such procedures constitute about 96% of legal abortions in Poland, which already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/30/pro-choice-supporters-hold-biggest-ever-protest-against-polish-government

Author : Christian Davies in Warsaw

Publish date : 2020-10-30 22:15:33

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Father identifies former football player, apparently shot while talking on the phoneProtesters gathered in Washington state on Friday morning after sheriff’s deputies shot a young Black man on Thursday evening in a bank parking lot in the south of the state.Law enforcement remained tight-lipped about the Thursday night shooting in Hazel Dell, but Kevin E Peterson Sr told the Oregonian/OregonLive the person killed was his son. Continue reading…



Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/30/kevin-peterson-police-shooting-washington-hazel-dell

Author : Guardian staff and agencies

Publish date : 2020-10-30 21:43:24

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