World news
EntertainmentThe GuardianTV tonight: behind the scenes on a Covid ward in Coventry
TV tonight: behind the scenes on a Covid ward in CoventryThe docuseries Hospital takes its cameras into a critical care unit. Plus: the Brit awards. Here’s what to watch this evening On the frontline ... Aoife Abbey, a critical care consultant at University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire trust. Photograph: Ryan McNamara/BBC
PoliticsThe Daily BeastStephen Colbert Rails Against ‘Insane’ Arizona Election Auditors
Scott Kowalchyk/CBSStephen Colbert on Monday addressed the conspiracy theory-fueled audit of presidential election ballots in Maricopa County, Arizona, saying those who support it are “thinking outside the box—and the brain.”Initiated by the state’s Republican-controlled Senate, the audit is being carried out by a private security firm (with no experience in election audits) called Cyber Ninjas—“also the name of a knock-off Luke Skywalker toy,” Colbert joked.Cyber Ninjas is led by a CEO who has promoted claims of fraud in last year’s election and has approved dubious methodology for determining the authenticity of paper ballots. For instance, ballot counters have used ultraviolet light to check for watermarks, which matches up with a popular QAnon theory that then-President Donald Trump had mail-in ballots secretly watermarked to catch cheating. Workers have also been examining ballots for any bamboo particles, because that would supposedly be evidence that they were fraudulently planted by China.“That’s insane,” Colbert exclaimed. “Bamboo literally grows everywhere in the world. If you want to prove the ballots were from China, you’ve got to look for little bits of panda fur or traces of Ivanka [Trump] handbags.”Elon Musk’s Deceptive and Deeply Awkward SNL MonologueThe host of The Late Show also mentioned a story noting how the CEO, Doug Logan, retweeted messages predicting that an audit would reveal “hundreds of thousands” of uncounted votes for Donald Trump.“I question the neutrality of that ‘prediction,’” Colbert said. “That would be like saying, ‘I predict that someone’s going to break into my neighbor Glen’s house when he’s in Boca Raton this weekend. And my powerful sixth sense is also telling me that his flatscreen is going to look great in my den.’”The 2.1 million ballots in Arizona’s most populous county were audited twice after being certified by Gov. Doug Ducey in November. No issues were found. Still, the state’s GOP senators pursued a controversial measure that would have allowed contractors to show up at voters’ residences and interrogate them.“Because that’s what ninjas are best known for: knocking on people’s doors in broad daylight,” Colbert joked.The Justice Department shut this plan down last week. Interestingly, Republicans responded that if canvassers were, in fact, sent out, they wouldn’t be armed.“How is that a thing you have to promise?” Colbert asked. “That’s like finding a flyer in your mailbox that says, ‘Troop 167 will be out this weekend selling cookies… without machetes!’”Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
NewsReutersExplainer: Why all the fuss over falling debris from China's most powerful rocket?
China launched into orbit last month the first piece of a permanent space station using its most powerful rocket, but international focus has fallen instead on the re-entry of debris which critics say has been shrouded in secrecy. The Long March 5B rocket successfully delivered its payload into orbit on April 29, in the first of 11 missions needed to complete China's first permanent space station by 2022. Media reports warned of an "uncontrolled" re-entry of the rocket's core stage, rekindling memories of debris from the flight of the first Long March 5B in May 2020, which damaged buildings when it landed in Ivory Coast.
NewsHuffPostFisherman Quits On The Spot When An Absolute Nightmare Emerges From The Water
"And I am out of here," he said. "Screw that."
NewsAssociated PressFamily to see more footage of North Carolina deputy shooting
The family of a Black man who was fatally shot by sheriff's deputies in North Carolina is expected to view more than 18 minutes of body camera video of the incident on Tuesday. The footage will to be shown to family members of Andrew Brown Jr. at 3 p.m., according to county officials. Family attorney Chantel Cherry-Lassiter said a news conference will likely follow the viewing.
NewsAssociated PressNeighbors mourn victims of Colorado shooting that killed 7
Residents of a tight-knit trailer park in Colorado Springs tried to make sense of a weekend shooting at a birthday party that killed six people before the gunman, described as a boyfriend of one of the victims, took his own life. Police promised to release details Tuesday on the latest mass shooting to rock Colorado — and the U.S. Six adults were killed early Sunday at a home at the Canterbury Mobile Home Park on the east side of Colorado’s second-largest city, and a seventh died at a hospital.
NewsThe GuardianMyanmar journalists and activists arrested in Thailand after fleeing across border
Myanmar journalists and activists arrested in Thailand after fleeing across border. Thai foreign correspondents club says the reporters face ‘certain arrest and persecution’ if deported back to Myanmar
SportAssociated PressWeaver has best start in month, D-backs beat Marlins 5-2
Luke Weaver pitched scoreless ball into the seventh inning for his best outing in nearly a month, which helped the Arizona Diamondbacks snap a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over the Miami Marlins on Monday night. Weaver (2-3) cruised though 6 1/3 innings, giving up four hits, striking out six and dominating a team that beat him a week ago in Miami. One of Weaver's biggest problems has been high pitch counts, which meant early exits and extra work for the bullpen.
NewsThe IndependentJerusalem protests – latest: 20 killed in Gaza and 520 injured in clashes, as UK condemns attack on Israel
Latest developments as unrest escalates after days of mounting tensions
NewsReutersPalestinian rocket fire, Israeli strikes in Gaza run into second day
Palestinians fired uninterrupted barrages of rockets into Israel, as its military pounded Gaza with air strikes through the early hours of Tuesday, in a dramatic escalation of clashes in Jerusalem. Explosions shook buildings throughout Gaza and rocket sirens sent Israelis in many southern towns scurrying for shelter overnight. Two Palestinians were killed and more than 100 wounded in air strikes, Palestinian officials said.
NewsINSIDERThe bloated, decaying bodies of COVID victims are washing up on the banks of India's Ganges River
Local officials believe the bodies are COVID victims who were immersed in the river, as India faces a shortage of wood for funeral pyres.
NewsThe GuardianCountry diary: we are down to our last male nightingale
Country diary: we are down to our last male nightingale. Billingshurst, West Sussex: Last year the nightingales were a lockdown highlight. Now there is just a solitary, defiant song
SportAssociated PressWalsh's big night helps Angels rally for 5-4 win over Astros
Jared Walsh had another big game Monday night in what has become his breakout season with the Los Angeles Angels. Walsh homered and matched a career high with four hits, Justin Upton also connected and the Los Angeles Angels rallied in the sixth inning to beat the Houston Astros 5-4. Walsh also doubled and had two RBIs as the Angels got their third win in four games.
NewsAssociated PressPipeline officials hope most service will be back by weekend
Hit by a cyberattack, the operator of a major U.S. fuel pipeline said it hopes to have services mostly restored by the end of the week as the FBI and administration officials identified the culprits as a gang of criminal hackers. U.S. officials sought to soothe concerns about price spikes or damage to the economy by stressing that the fuel supply had so far not experienced widespread disruptions, and the company said Monday that it was working toward “substantially restoring operational service” by the weekend. The White House said in a statement late Monday that it was monitoring supply shortages in parts of the Southeast and that President Joe Biden had directed federal agencies to bring their resources to bear.
NewsAssociated PressAP PHOTOS: 100 days of force and resistance in Myanmar
The military takeover of Myanmar early in the morning of Feb. 1 reversed the country's slow climb toward democracy after five decades of army rule. With a partial understanding of the situation, they tried to block social media platforms, which they knew could be used for organizing protests. In the 100 days since its takeover, the military has failed to secure its position and faces battles on more fronts, as armed ethnic minority groups seeking more autonomy join their struggle to that of the democracy activists.
HealthFrance 24WHO says Covid-19 virus variant in India 'of global concern'
A Covid-19 variant spreading in India, which is facing an explosive outbreak, appears to be more contagious and has been classified as being "of concern", the World Health Organization said Monday. The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19 first found in India last October seemed to be transmitting more easily."There is some available information to suggest increased transmissibility of the B.1.617," Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's lead on Covid-19, told reporters."As such, we are classifying this as a variant of concern at the global level," she said. She also pointed to early studies "suggesting that there is some reduced neutralisation", meaning that antibodies appeared to have less impact on the variant in small-sample lab studies.The WHO insisted though that it was far too early to interpret this to mean that the variant might have more resistance to vaccine protections."Based on current data, the COVID-19 vaccines remain effective at preventing disease and death in people infected with this variant," it said in a statement.More details would be provided about the variant in the WHO's weekly epidemiological update on Tuesday, Van Kerkhove said.India, suffering from one of the worst outbreaks in the world, reported nearly 370,000 fresh infections and more than 3,700 new deaths on Monday.The devastating wave has overwhelmed India's healthcare system, and experts have said the official figures for cases and fatalities are much lower than the actual numbers.It has for some time been feared that B.1.617 -- which counts several sub-lineages with slightly different mutations and characteristics -- might be contributing to the alarming spread.But until now, WHO has listed it merely as a "variant of interest".'Balanced approach' Now it will be added to the list containing three other variants of Covid-19 -- those first detected in Britain, Brazil and South Africa -- which the WHO has classified as being "of concern".They are seen as more dangerous than the original version of the virus by either being more transmissible, deadly or able to get past some vaccine protections.Even if vaccine efficacy may be diminished against some variants of Covid-19, the jabs can still provide protection against serious illness and death.And Van Kerkhove stressed that when it comes to the B.1.617 variant, for the time being "we don't have anything to suggest that our diagnostics or therapeutics and our vaccines don't work".The WHO's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan agreed, urging a "balanced approach."What we know now is that the vaccines work, the diagnostics work, the same treatments that are used for the regular virus work," she told journalists."So there's really no need to change any of those, and in fact... people should go ahead and get whatever vaccine is available to them and that they are eligible for."Experts highlight that the more the virus spreads, the bigger the risk it will find ideal conditions to mutate in concerning ways, stressing that everything must be done to rein in transmission."We will continue to see variants of concern around the world, and we must do everything that we can to really limit the spread," Van Kerkhove said.(AFP)
PoliticsAssociated PressGOP readies blitz against Democrats' voting rights bill
Republicans are preparing to launch an all-out assault on sweeping voting rights legislation, forcing Democrats to take dozens of politically difficult votes during a committee hearing that will spotlight the increasingly charged national debate over access to the ballot. The bill, as written, would bring about the largest overhaul of U.S. elections in a generation, touching on almost every aspect of the electoral process. Democrats say the changes are even more important now as Republican-controlled states impose new voting restrictions after the divisive 2020 election.
NewsAssociated Press100 days in power, Myanmar junta holds pretense of control
After Myanmar’s military seized power by ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, they couldn’t even make the trains run on time: State railway workers were among the earliest organized opponents of the February takeover, and they went on strike. Health workers who founded the civil disobedience movement against military rule stopped staffing government medical facilities. Many civil servants were no-shows at work, along with employees of government and private banks.
NewsThe GuardianAboriginal boy, 13, dies after bin he was sleeping in emptied into garbage truck in South Australia
Aboriginal boy, 13, dies after bin he was sleeping in emptied into garbage truck in South AustraliaTown of Port Lincoln in shock after accident involving industrial bin in the carpark of the local Repco store Police said a 13-year-old boy along with two others, aged 11 and 12, were sleeping in an industrial bin in Port Lincoln, South Australia when it was emptied about 5.20am. Two of the boys were not injured and the 13-year-old died at the scene. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
NewsThe GuardianEscape tunnel found under Western Australia immigration detention centre
Escape tunnel found under Western Australia immigration detention centreTwenty-metre-long unfinished tunnel beneath Yongah Hill detention centre had been dug ‘over several months’ Detainees of a Western Australia immigration centre at Yongah Hill dig a tunnel underneath the centre.
NewsAssociated PressArmy of fake fans online boosts China’s global messaging
China’s ruling Communist Party has opened a new front in its long, ambitious war to shape global public opinion: Western social media. Liu Xiaoming, who recently stepped down as China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, is one of the party’s most successful foot soldiers on this evolving online battlefield.
BusinessThe GuardianProposed merger of Crown and Star to renew scrutiny of Australian casino industry
Proposed merger of Crown and Star to renew scrutiny of Australian casino industryRecommendations of Bergin gambling inquiry likely to be revisited as Star chief says ‘the junket business is dead’ Proposed merger of Crown with Star will renew the focus on broader reforms for the casino industry in Australia, recommended by commissioner Patricia Bergin SC. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
NewsAssociated PressAcross faiths, US volunteers mobilize for India crisis
Volunteers at Hindu temples, Muslim groups and Sikh relief organizations across the United States are mobilizing to support India as the world's second most populous country struggles to handle a devastating surge of the coronavirus. From coast to coast, faith groups tied to the Indian diaspora have collected hundreds of oxygen concentrators and electrical transformers to ship to overwhelmed hospitals, raised millions for everything from food to firewood for funeral pyres and gathered in prayer for spiritual support for the Asian nation. Ghori said he has had five loved ones, including two nephews, die in India from COVID-19 — “so, it is a personal tragedy” as well.
NewsAssociated PressArmy of fake fans boosts China’s messaging on Twitter
China’s ruling Communist Party has opened a new front in its long, ambitious war to shape global public opinion: Western social media. Liu Xiaoming, who recently stepped down as China’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, is one of the party’s most successful foot soldiers on this evolving online battlefield.
HealthAssociated PressIn Argentina, doctors adapt as COVID-19 strains hospitals
Verónica Verdino, an Argentine doctor, helped a therapist insert a tube into the trachea of a COVID-19 patient during another hectic day in a hospital emergency room. Verdino, 31, has become adept at the delicate procedure during the current outbreak of coronavirus cases that has filled clinics in Buenos Aires and nearby towns with patients. A little over a year ago, before the pandemic hit Argentina, Verdino did not imagine that she would be performing so many intubations, and helping others with the same procedure, at the Llavallol Dr. Norberto Raúl Piacentini Hospital in the town of Lomas de Zamora, outside Buenos Aires.