The NHS has been given in excess of £1bn less than it needs to tackle the second wave of Covid-19, deal with the coming winter and restart routine operations, the Guardian has learned.
The disclosure raises questions about the pledge from the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, at the start of the pandemic to give the NHS ?€?whatever resources it needs?€? to cope with the pandemic.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has declared ?€?now is the time to open up?€? as Melbourne?€?s extended lockdown ends, and the state plans to reopen retail, pubs, restaurants and other businesses.
On the day no cases were recorded for the first time in close to 20 weeks, Andrews announced an end to the stay-at-home order from Tuesday midnight.
Hopes are rising that a coronavirus vaccine will be approved by the end of the year, with healthcare workers receiving their first dose in early 2021.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the US?€?s leading expert in infectious diseases, said on Sunday it should be known by the end of November or early December if a vaccine was safe and effective.
Photographer Mattia Croccetti?€?s project COndiVIDendo 19 looks at people living together during the coronavirus crisis, a time when groups have had to isolate and form a variety of family and community units, in Italy and across the world
COndiVIDendo 19 is a photographic and social project about the cohabitation of Italian citizens during the Covid-19 crisis. The title comes from the Italian condividere, which means sharing, and the images show groups of people living together in isolation, whether they are families, single people or mixed groups.
Oh cool! Like tweets with #IVoted and see what happens!
After Donald Trump reportedly told donors it would be ?€?tough?€? for Republicans to hold the Senate, and said he could not and did not want to help some senators, party chair Ronna McDaniel insisted the Senate would stay in GOP hands, saying: ?€?I don?€?t see these senators distancing themselves from the president.?€?
In fact, as the party faces strong headwinds at the polls, senators including Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Martha McSally of Arizona and John Cornyn of Texas have sought to put daylight between themselves and Trump.
Special Boat Service storms vessel after suspected attempt to hijack it
Seven stowaways have been detained after the Special Boat Service stormed a Liberian registered tanker off the Isle of Wight which they are suspected of attempting to hiijack.
The special forces responded to a request for help from Hampshire police in the early evening on Sunday, gaining control of the Nave Andromeda vessel in nine minutes after it was feared that the crew was no longer fully in charge.
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Guardian?€?s live feed on coronavirus where I will update you on all the news as it comes in from across the globe. I hope everyone is well today, please do email me if you want to share any thoughts, news tips or comments. I?€?ve also done a short explainer on liveblogging on my Instagram today for anyone who is interested.
Thousands of free meals will be provided to children in England by businesses, local authorities and community groups on the first day of half-term as the government faces a damaging revolt on the issue.
Dozens of people from a range of organisations have stepped in to help, with health secretary Matt Hancock hailing them as ?€?absolutely wonderful?€? while insisting that millions has already been provided to councils to help their communities.
A plebiscite called in response to street protests in 2019 sees 78% of people back a new charter to replace one imposed by military dictator
Chile has voted overwhelmingly in favor of rewriting the country?€?s constitution to replace guiding principles imposed four decades ago under the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet.
Jubilant pro-reform supporters took to the streets of the capital Santiago and other cities to celebrate on Sunday night after exit polls showed that 78.24% of people had voted to approve a rewrite, while 21.76% rejected the change.
Kim Mills was one of nine women taken off a Qatar Airways flight in Doha, and the only one not to be strip-searched as authorities hunted the mother of an abandoned newborn baby
Kim Mills was one of nine women taken off a Qatar Airways flight bound for Sydney on 2 October and led through the bowels of the Hamad International airport to what appeared to be a dark carpark or turning circle, where three ambulances were waiting to perform medical examinations to determine if any of the women had recently given birth.
Ceasefire deal in Nagorno-Karabakh under threat as both sides allege breaches within hours of it coming into force
Azerbaijan and Armenian have accused each other of violating a new ceasefire in the countries?€? conflict over the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The truce, brokered by the United States and other western powers, had only just come into effect at 8am local time (4am GMT) on Monday when the defence ministry in Baku said Armenian troops had shelled villages in the Terter and Lachin regions.
Yoshihide Suga says dealing with climate change is no longer a constraint on growth as he sets out a bolder approach to the emergency
Japan?€?s prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, has said the country will become carbon neutral by 2050, heralding a bolder approach to tackling the climate emergency by the world?€?s third-biggest economy.
?€?Responding to climate change is no longer a constraint on economic growth,?€? Suga said on Monday in his first policy address to parliament since taking office.
Commander of the ELN guerrillas known for media appearances and online videos is described as criminal by president Iván Duque
Colombian security forces have killed a rebel commander known best by his nom de guerre Uriel, during an operation in the coastal Pacific province of Choco, president Iván Duque has said.
Uriel, whose real name was Andres Felipe Vanegas Londono, was a leader in the National Liberation Army (ELN) and was known for his media appearances, online videos and a Twitter account.
Opposition leader calls for action on Monday as Lukashenko defies demand from 100,000 marchers in Minsk to step down
Belarusian riot police launched another violent crackdown in Minsk on Sunday evening, throwing stun grenades into crowds of peaceful protesters, chasing people through courtyards and making arrests as they attempted to curtail the 11th consecutive Sunday of protest in the country.
At least 100,000 people marched through the centre of the Belarusian capital earlier in the day to give what they called a ?€?people?€?s ultimatum?€? to Alexander Lukashenko: step down, or face a nationwide strike on Monday that could cripple the economy.
Donald Trump Jr posed in front of a ?€?Don Jr 2024?€? sign in Nevada on Saturday, posted the picture online and waited for ?€?the lib heads to explode?€?.
The pop star and actor talks about her third diagnosis of cancer, taking cannabis and ayahuasca, having Karen Carpenter as her spirit guide - and why her hit film Grease shouldn?€?t be accused of sexism
Olivia Newton-John likes to sing to herself. Over and over, she will repeat, ?€?I?€?m healthy, I?€?m strong?€? to a random melody she has picked up. ?€?I think it?€?s very important to keep that positive message in your head,?€? she says cheerfully. ?€?You know, if you have a difficult moment, music is always a great healer.?€? It is something that has kept her going during her darkest days dealing with stage four breast cancer, the third time she has been diagnosed with the illness in the past 28 years.
Sitting in the kitchen of her ranch near Santa Barbara, California, the singer radiates optimism. Her blond hair is cropped above her chin, colourful glasses perched on her nose. Now 72, she looks much younger - just as she did in 1978 when, at the age of 29, she played the high school student Sandy Olsson in the hit musical Grease.
The Special Boat Service that stormed a tanker off the Isle of Wight is closely aligned to the SAS
The secretive Special Boat Service, which stormed a tanker off the coast of the Isle of Wight on Sunday evening and detained seven stowaways suspected of seizing it, is Britain?€?s elite military unit tasked with tackling terrorist and other localised, violent incidents at sea. Its origins date back to the second world war, and the Ministry of Defence refuses to say how many fighters it comprises or give any detail of its operations.
SBS operatives are trained to seize control of ships, tankers or rigs, typically by fast-roping down from helicopters. A similar operation in December 2018 saw the SBS take control of an Italian tanker that was subject to an attempted hijack by four stowaways near Tilbury in Essex, on the orders of then prime minister Theresa May.
Wavel Ramkalawan wins presidency ousting incumbent United Seychelles party leader
An Anglican priest won the Seychelles presidential election on Sunday, marking the first opposition victory since the Indian Ocean archipelago?€?s independence from Britain more than four decades ago.
Wavel Ramkalawan won enough votes in the first round to clinch the presidency on his sixth attempt and called for unity after his victory.
Covid-19 concerns and pessimism that a US fiscal stimulus package can be passed before next week?€?s election drag markets lower
On a more positive note... AstraZeneca said this morning that the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with Oxford University produces an immune response in both elderly and young people, and there were fewer adverse reactions among the elderly.
A spokesman told Reuters:
It is encouraging to see immunogenicity responses were similar between older and younger adults, and that reactogenicity was lower in older adults, where the Covid-19 disease severity is higher.
The UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, has just said that ?€?we?€?re not there yet?€? on a coronavirus vaccine, and that he does not expect hospitals to get it this year.
On my central expectation, I would expect the bulk of the roll-out to be in the first half of next year.
We want to be ready in case everything goes perfectly but it?€?s not my central expectation that we?€?ll be doing that this year but the programme is progressing well, we?€?re not there yet.
That?€?s it for today, thanks for reading all. To recap:
There are reports that a particularly sacred Djap Wurrung tree has been destroyed in Victoria?€?s west.
More than 260 Djap Wurrung trees that are 800 years old are slated to be bulldozed to make way for a 12km duplication of the Western Highway between Buangor and Ararat.
So if you liked the Avatar film, maybe you?€?d appreciate how it feels when your sacred ancestor trees are torn down by the very government who want to Treaty with us. Absolutely gutted and feel the pain of our ancestors right now pic.twitter.com/sWt3k36jb3
Hilsa fishermen must borrow to buy equipment but have to sell their catch at a low price to moneylenders - creating a generational debt trap
Kalam Sheikh?€?s life revolves around the few months when he goes in search of Bangladesh?€?s prized hilsa fish. When he gets a good catch, he can make enough money to live on for the rest of the year. He can pay off some of his debts and even improve his home.
But this fragile annual cycle has been broken this year, with bad catches bookended by months off the water by the coronavirus pandemic and government restrictions to stop overfishing.
Asafoetida is a mainstay of the country?€?s cuisine, but only now are the first saplings being planted on Indian soil
What?€?s in a name? Plenty, when it comes to asafoetida or ?€?devil?€?s dung?€?. The evil-smelling spice is a stink bomb that unquestionably lives up to its moniker. Inhalation at five paces can make someone with a blocked nose stagger back. It has to be stored away from other spices to prevent it overwhelming them. Just a smidgen can cure indigestion. Yet it is a staple in Indian cuisine, adding a certain subtle aroma, pungency and flavour. For the Jain community, whose religion forbids the use of onion and garlic, ?€?hing?€?, as it is called in India, is a lifesaver for the flavour it adds. Hing is India?€?s answer to Japan?€?s umami.
Yet, until now, no one in India has grown the spice.
Campaigners report job losses and jailing of those airing grievances - and urge global fashion brands to stand up for workers?€? rights
On the morningof 4 May, Zar Zar Tun, a Burmese garment worker, led a strike at a factory in the city of Yangon. Within 24 hours she was an inmate at Myanmar?€?s notorious Insein prison.
Zar Zar Tun, 31, was arrested outside the Blue Diamond bag factory in Dagon Seikkan, an industrial district of Yangon, where she and more than 100other garment workers had been protesting over pay, working conditions and the right to strike.
Evidence including footage of Frontex ship making waves near a migrant dinghy appears to contradict agency?€?s denial of involvement in pushbacks
The EU?€?s border agency has been accused of complicity in illegal and often dangerous pushbacks aimed at preventing asylum seekers crossing the Aegean Sea.
Even as evidence of an aggressive maritime campaign by Greece has emerged, Frontex has denied knowledge of, or involvement in, pushbacks. But new evidence, including video footage showing a Frontex ship manoeuvring dangerously near a crowded dinghy full of people and creating waves that drove them back, appears to contradict the EU agency.
Instances of alleged beatings and sexual assaults against asylum seekers continue to blight special units
Croatia has dismissed allegations of violence by its border patrol after new reports emerged this week of border police allegedly beating, robbing and sexually abusing migrants.
On Wednesday the head of home affairs for the European Commission, Ylva Johansson, said that she was taking the allegations ?€?very seriously?€?.
A minor party hasn?€?t won a general electorate seat in well over 20 years. The result shows what is possible when convention is scrapped
I was making toast in my tiny apartment kitchen four weeks ahead of election day. Not that I really had track of the days. They had melded into one ever-extending runway as Auckland went through its second Covid-19 lockdown and New Zealand?€?s election date was pushed back a month.
We were a few months into an insurgent campaign for an electorate seat at the centre of the country?€?s largest city. We?€?d built a team of hundreds of people - particularly young people, some so young they couldn?€?t even vote yet - who, despite their claims to the contrary, were all doing a lot more than the least they could do. They were about to make history.
Australia?€?s un-nuanced support for French dominion is unhelpful in a region where decolonisation is unfinished business
Kicking the can down the road is a time-honoured solution to deadlocks over statehood and identity: hoping time, consultation and money can end up in agreement.
But in New Caledonia, the French territory of 290,000 people in the Melanesian island chain to Australia?€?s north-east, the road is running out after more than two decades of can-kicking.
Confirmation of a sixth conservative on the nine-member court is due on Monday, the result of ruthless Republican politics
The almost certain confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett to the supreme court on Monday represents a ?€?power grab?€? by Republicans facing possible wipeout at the ballot box, activists and analysts say.
The challenger aims to fix the foreign policy upheaval of the Trump years but such an agenda presents many challenges
By any measure, Joe Biden is old in the ways of the world. As Barack Obama?€?s vice-president, he met all the big international actors. As chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, he helped direct US foreign policy.
After four years of Donald Trump?€?s manic leadership, the Democrat offers a steady, dependable hand on the tiller. Biden?€?s grand aim: a glorious American restoration, at home and abroad.
Belarusian police have used stun grenades against protesters as tens of thousands of people headed towards Independence Palace in the capital, Minsk, demanding that President Alexander Lukashenko resign. They were marching to give what they called a 'people?€?s ultimatum' to Lukashenko: step down, or face a nationwide strike that could cripple the economy. Protesters were met with a violent crackdown from riot police as explosions and white smoke filled residential areas. It is the 11th straight weekend of mass protests since a disputed election plunged the country into turmoil
After the Senate voted to move forward with the final vote to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell spoke on the Senate floor, celebrating the lasting influence of the vote for posterity.
'By tomorrow night, we?€?ll have a new member of the United States Supreme Court,' he told the chamber.
The Senate voted 51-48 to move forward with the final vote for Amy Coney Barrett?€?s nomination, and the final vote for her confirmation will take place on Monday
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdo?an suggested Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart needed mental health treatment, the latest sign of a growing backlash in the Islamic world sparked by Macron?€?s claim that Islam is in crisis.
Ankara has been particularly incensed by a campaign championed by Macron to protect France?€?s secular values against radical Islam, a debate given fresh impetus by the murder of a teacher who showed his class a cartoon of the prophet Muhammad
Angry over a newly imposed 11pm to 5am regional curfew, demonstrators in the southern Italian city of Naples threw stones and bottles at police on Friday evening. The authorities responded with teargas. The stricter measures are an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus, which has killed more than 37,000 people in Italy since the start of the pandemic
Police in Warsaw clashed with protesters during demonstrations against a constitutional tribunal ruling that imposes a near-total ban on abortion. Tens of thousands of people rallied across Poland on Friday, defying the country's tight coronavirus restrictions
The World Health Organization has warned of a ?€?critical juncture?€? of the pandemic, particularly in the northern hemisphere, and urged heads of state to take action to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
European leaders have increased restrictions as cases have continued rising. Wales has started a two-week ?€?firebreak?€? lockdown and Portugal?€?s parliament has passed a law making the wearing of masks mandatory in many outdoor situations
Large number of US citizens demonstrated against the war in Iraq (and the possible war in Iran) during this October weekend. Massive turnout in Boston and San Fransisco, and also in Chicago, LA and DC people took to the streets. The message was: NO more war in Iraq! NO to a war with Iran!
