World news

• US sees record coronavirus infections as states face deadline for vaccine orders

  05-12-2020 23:48
  
  More than 14m cases recorded with 2,607 deaths on FridayMore lockdowns in California as Arizona and Idaho reelAs US states faced a deadline to place orders for a coronavirus vaccine, California went back into lockdown and federal authorities advised the wearing of masks indoors, new infections reached a record 227,885 on Friday. Related: 'Ridiculous double standard': LA residents condemn maze of Covid restrictionsContinue reading...
  
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• Military planes to fly vaccines in to Britain to avoid ports hit by Brexit

  05-12-2020 22:35
  
  Officials fear delays even after EU deal as Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen order talks to resumeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTens of millions of doses of the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured in Belgium will be flown to Britain by military aircraft to avoid delays at ports caused by Brexit, under contingency plans being developed by the government.Both the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and senior sources at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) conf
  
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• Italy: Police arrest 19 suspected people smugglers

  05-12-2020 21:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The smugglers allegedly transported migrants from Asia to Italy and then on to northern Europe.
  
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• Jeff Bezos: Blue Origin space company will take first woman to the moon

  05-12-2020 21:39
  
  Amazon owner seeks Nasa lunar lander contract Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Dynetics also in competitionJeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin will take the first woman to the moon, the billionaire said as Nasa nears a decision over who will supply its first privately built lunar landers, meant to be capable of sending astronauts to the moon by 2024. Related: Japan’s Hayabusa2 capsule returns to Earth carrying asteroid samplesContinue reading...
  
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• At least 18 dead after bus plunges off highway in Brazil and lands on train tracks

  05-12-2020 20:24 via independent.co.uk
  
  Three passengers remain in critical condition
  
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• Coronavirus even more deadly for Hispanic and Black Americans than previously thought

  05-12-2020 20:19 via independent.co.uk
  
  CDC had come under fire for ignoring age with  Covid-19 death data, prior to update
  
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• Rescue barge saves two giraffes from flooded island - but six are still stranded there

  05-12-2020 20:02 via independent.co.uk
  
  Two of eight giraffes have been rescued with the remaining animals due to be moved from flooded island in coming months.
  
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• 'Fun, spontaneous and full of love': what three years of same-sex marriages looks like in Australia

  05-12-2020 20:00
  
  In the three years since same-sex marriage was legalised, more than 14,000 couples have taken the plunge. But for some, the struggle for full recognition continuesWhen Cynthia Nelson first heard about same-sex marriage in San Francisco in the 1980s, she wasn’t sure it was achievable in Australia.“I didn’t believe it would become legal in my lifetime. In fact, I thought it was an unworthy goal for the LGBT movement – not only unattainable but too conservative, too mainstre
  
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• Airports are portals to escape, but in New Zealand there is no way out

  05-12-2020 20:00
  
  The lights are on, but the party’s over - in the time of Covid, we can’t even buy duty-freeEverything seemed just the same when I flew into Wellington this week, which is to say the last 10 minutes were a living hell. Hello turbulence, my old friend. The plane sank like a rock, the wind picked it up again and flung it left, then right; down below, the waters of Cook Street boiled and fumed. But it’s a familiar nightmare. It’s just the way it almost always is when you fly
  
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• Huge blaze engulfs New York church housing Liberty Bell – video

  05-12-2020 19:59
  
  Firefighters in New York battled a large blaze in the early hours of Saturday morning that gutted a historic church in lower Manhattan. The Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village caught fire before dawn after a blaze spread from an adjacent five-storey vacant building about 5am. Video posted on Twitter showed flames shooting from the roof and the church’s stately front window glowing from the conflagration inside. The church houses New York’s Liberty Bell and its congregation d
  
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• New York tenants sue Donald Trump for rent fraud scheme affecting up to 14,000 apartments in buildings owned by his father

  05-12-2020 19:53 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Trumps are accused of concocting a scheme which affected up to 14,000 tenants
  
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• Esther Dingley: Search for missing British hiker halted due to bad weather

  05-12-2020 19:52 via independent.co.uk
  
  Police ‘looking at other options beyond a mountain accident’
  
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• US told to brace for Covid death toll to hit 500,000 by April

  05-12-2020 19:02 via independent.co.uk
  
  If mask mandates are relaxed, the total number of deaths predicted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation will rise to 770,000 by 1 April
  
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• Thousands march over police violence and security bill in Paris

  05-12-2020 18:52
  
  Riot officers fire teargas and charge protesters in one incident after fireworks launched at their linesThe French government’s attempts to calm growing public fury over new legislation deemed a danger to civil liberties was challenged with a new wave of protests across the country on Saturday.A largely peaceful march against the contested global security law and police violence in Paris degenerated after hooded and black-clad casseurs – vandals – disrupted the demonstration fo
  
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• VIRUS TODAY: California faces closures; jobless cutoff looms

  05-12-2020 18:49 via independent.co.uk
  
  The coronavirus surge is threatening to overwhelm hospitals in California, where five San Francisco Bay Area counties have new stay-at-home orders that will take effect Sunday
  
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• Oregon doctor’s licence suspended over refusal to wear mask and dismissal of Covid as ‘common cold’

  05-12-2020 18:48 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Oregon Medical Board voted Thursday to suspend Dr Steven LaTulippe’s licence 
  
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• France police security bill: Protests turn violent again

  05-12-2020 18:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Protesters clash with police and vehicles are set alight for a second weekend over a controversial law.
  
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• Vehicles set alight as thousands protest against police violence in Paris – video

  05-12-2020 18:33
  
  Thousands of people protested in Paris on Saturday to denounce police violence and Emmanuel Macron’s security policy plans, which they say would infringe civil liberties. In one incident, police fired teargas and charged after fireworks were launched at their lines. Protesters set cars alight and smashed shop windows. There were violent clashes between protesters and police at a similar protest last weekThousands march over police violence and security bill in Paris Continue read
  
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• 'Buddy the Elf' joke baffles dad in first meeting with son

  05-12-2020 18:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Doug Henning confused his biological father after dressing as Buddy the Elf when they met last week.
  
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• Clashes erupt in occupied West Bank as mourners gather for Palestinian child shot by Israeli forces

  05-12-2020 18:11 via independent.co.uk
  
  13-year-old boy was shot during clashes that broke out between stone-throwing Palestinian residents and Israeli soldiers 
  
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• US breaks another record for daily coronavirus infections, accounting for one-third of global cases

  05-12-2020 17:46 via independent.co.uk
  
  On Friday, the country hit a record number of new coronavirus cases in a single day with 228,767 recorded
  
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• Nathan Law: 'No one knows when I can go back to Hong Kong'

  05-12-2020 17:30
  
  The 27-year-old activist, who was forced to flee the city by Beijing’s crackdown, is determined to continue the fight for freedom‘We need to keep talking about how we’re feeling’: the NHS staff who became social media stars
  See the Observer’s faces of 2020 in fullNathan Law began 2020 planning a new run for office in Hong Kong. He has ended it a political exile in Britain, unsure if he will ever be able to return to the city he calls home, or speak to his family aga
  
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• ‘If you don’t think Covid is real, you’re an idiot,’ says Canadian politician

  05-12-2020 17:26 via independent.co.uk
  
  Manitoba leader was in tears as he said he was 'stealing Christmas’ to curb Covid spread 
  
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• Tunnel protesters sing and drum their way into Stonehenge

  05-12-2020 17:25
  
  Police and officials maintain presence at mass trespass after bypass approvedMore than 100 protesters have staged a trespass at Stonehenge to raise concerns over plans for a two-mile tunnel underneath the world heritage site.Last month the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, approved the £1.7bn project, which will include eight miles of extended dual carriageway along the A303 in Wiltshire. Continue reading...
  
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• A bleak outlook for millions facing cutoff of US jobless aid

  05-12-2020 17:06 via independent.co.uk
  
  Unemployment has forced aching choices on millions of Americans and their families in the face of a rampaging viral epidemic that has closed shops and restaurants, paralyzed travel and left millions jobless for months
  
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• Coronavirus: Mexicans warned not to exchange Christmas gifts to help curb virus

  05-12-2020 17:03 via independent.co.uk
  
  ‘Leave presents for another time,’ says president
  
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• California wildfires: 1,000 firefighters battle to curb blazes as ‘less than third contained’

  05-12-2020 16:43 via independent.co.uk
  
  Around 25,000 people have already been forced from their homes after blaze broke out on Wednesday
  
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• Mysterious brain damage among diplomats in Cuba likely caused by microwaves

  05-12-2020 16:05 via independent.co.uk
  
  The National Academies of Sciences began work in April 2019 and their conclusions have been published
  
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• Coronavirus: Health official claims ‘so-called pandemic’ is Communist plot to hurt US

  05-12-2020 15:40 via independent.co.uk
  
  Comments unearthed as US death toll grows
  
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• Huge fire engulfs historic New York church

  05-12-2020 15:37 via independent.co.uk
  
  Some 200 firefighters were reportedly involved in efforts to save a church in Manhattan’s East Village  
  
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• New York shootings up 112 per cent on same period last year

  05-12-2020 15:35 via independent.co.uk
  
  Although overall crime has flat-lined this year, violent crimes have spiked to ‘unseen levels’, say police 
  
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• Coronavirus South Korea: Seoul sees third wave with new clusters linked to dance class and wine bar

  05-12-2020 14:28 via independent.co.uk
  
  Government considers tightening restrictions to curb spread of infection
  
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• Covid: Moscow clinics begins vaccinations for at-risk groups

  05-12-2020 14:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Russia starts the rollout of its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for high-risk groups in its capital city.
  
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• Coronavirus: Russia begins vaccine programme as Sputnik doses given out in Moscow

  05-12-2020 11:39 via independent.co.uk
  
  Trials show Sputnik V is 92 per cent effective, but final clinical trials yet to be completed
  
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• At least 18 coal miners killed in carbon monoxide disaster in China

  05-12-2020 11:31 via independent.co.uk
  
  A rescue operation is underway in search of five other workers
  
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• Brexit: Final bid to prevent huge new tariffs ruining African farmers amid allegations of UK ‘bullying’

  05-12-2020 11:06 via independent.co.uk
  
  Exclusive: ‘People in Ghana are very angry. They do not understand why Britain is acting like a bully’
  
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• American billionaire outlines plan to give everyone cash from birth to become millionaires

  05-12-2020 10:51 via independent.co.uk
  
  Investment accounts could be worth $1m at age 65 or $2m at 74
  
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• Moscow delivers Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to clinics

  05-12-2020 10:50
  
  Health workers and teachers have priority in first mass immunisation programme Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMoscow’s coronavirus taskforce said on Saturday that it was distributing the Sputnik V vaccine to 70 clinics, marking Russia’s first mass Covid-19 immunisation.The taskforce said the Russian-made vaccine would be made available first to doctors and other medical workers, teachers and social workers because they ran the highest risk of exposu
  
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• Cities can lead a green revolution after Covid. In Barcelona, we're showing how | Ada Colau

  05-12-2020 09:00
  
  From non-polluting transport to sustainable industries, urban areas are perfect for testing radical solutions to global problems• Ada Colau is the mayor of Barcelona
  Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe pandemic will leave behind a very different world from that of a year ago. Thousands of people have died; entire industries have been brought to the brink; welfare states have been shaken. In the coming years, the major challenge facing all public leaders wil
  
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• California on the brink: Virus rages and closures imminent

  05-12-2020 08:30 via independent.co.uk
  
  Much of California is on the brink of sweeping new restrictions on businesses and activities in a desperate attempt to slow a frightening coronavirus surge threatening to overwhelm hospitals
  
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• Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Cutting through the information blackout

  05-12-2020 03:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  "It is really scary. It is really difficult," a resident of the Tigray capital, Mekelle, shouts down the line.
  
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• New Zealand's Stuff news group apologises for anti-Maori bias

  05-12-2020 01:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  After a deep dive into their reporting, Stuff found their coverage of Maori issues had been racist.
  
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• Coronavirus: Defiant ski nations bid to save winter season

  05-12-2020 01:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Many of Europe's ski slopes will be closed, but the Swiss and Austrians have made their own plans.
  
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• Fighting air pollution: 'Without solidarity the world will be doomed'

  05-12-2020 01:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Nineteen-year-old Abhiir Bhalla has campaigned against air pollution in Delhi most of his life.
  
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• Beirut explosion: The abandoned ship in the blast 'war zone'

  05-12-2020 01:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  This is what happened to Lebanon's only cruise ship, which was docked in the explosion's epicentre.
  
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• Brexit news: Talks paused over ‘significant divergences’ with plans to discuss ‘state of play’ tomorrow

  05-12-2020 00:58 via independent.co.uk
  
  Follow events as they happened
  
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• The Latest: Northern California under new stay-at-home order

  05-12-2020 00:02 via article.wn.com
  SAN FRANCISCO — The health officers in six San Francisco Bay Area regions issued a new stay-at-home order Friday as the number of virus cases surge and hospitals fill. ......
  
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• Hotel lets couple stay for free on Valentine's Day for 18 years after they conceived ...

  05-12-2020 00:02 via article.wn.com
  British Columbia hotel chain, Hotel Zed, has given a couple one free stay every year for the next 18 years. ......
  
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• France struggles with systemic racism and new security law as protests rock country

  05-12-2020 00:02 via article.wn.com
  France has been roiled for days, with...
  
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• Canada's COVID-19 cases surpass 400,000

  05-12-2020 00:02 via article.wn.com
  
  OTTAWA, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Canada reported 3,763 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the national total to 400,031, according to CTV. The COVID-19 death toll rose to 12,470 as of Friday afternoon. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across...
  
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