World news

• Hunger spikes, demand rises for US food banks

  14-12-2020 23:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Amid the pandemic, one in eight Americans say their household has experienced a food shortage.
  
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• Stargazers watch the total eclipse in Argentina's Neuquen province

  14-12-2020 22:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Tourists and scientists gathered at an observation site in Argentina to witness the total eclipse.
  
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• Virginia woman does 53 acts of kindness for 53rd birthday

  14-12-2020 20:44 via independent.co.uk
  
  The pandemic didn’t allow Debra Ferrell to reunite with her whole family to celebrate her birthday
  
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• Disney World to stop Photoshopping masks onto visitors who aren’t wearing them

  14-12-2020 20:31 via independent.co.uk
  
  ‘In response to guest requests, we tested modifying some ride photos,’ says Disney spokesperson
  
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• ‘Huge sense of relief’: nurse one of first in US to get Covid vaccine – video

  14-12-2020 20:21
  
  An intensive care unit nurse is believed to have become the first person in the US to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Monday. Sandra Lindsay, who has treated some of the sickest coronavirus patients for months, was given the vaccine at Long Island Jewish medical centre in New York City, receiving applause on a livestream with the New York governor, Andrew CuomoUS news - live updates Continue reading...
  
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• Fauci says he could receive Covid vaccine ‘within a week’ on camera

  14-12-2020 20:15 via independent.co.uk
  
  Doctor hopes receiving shot ‘will encourage many more people to get vaccinated’
  
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• US Covid death toll hits 300k as vaccine rollout begins

  14-12-2020 20:14 via independent.co.uk
  
  The number of dead from the coronavirus pandemic in the US has topped 300,000 on the day that the first Covid-19 vaccines were administered.
  
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• Top US officials expected to get COVID-19 vaccine this week

  14-12-2020 20:12 via independent.co.uk
  
  Senior U.S. officials will begin receiving coronavirus vaccines this week as part of updated federal continuity of government plans that now include terrorism and pandemics as threats to the nation and its leaders
  
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• Pfizer CEO says executives will not ‘cut the queue’ to be vaccinated

  14-12-2020 19:39 via independent.co.uk
  
  ‘They will take it as their age and occupation type is,' Albert Bourla says
  
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• Nigeria's Katsina school abduction: 'How I escaped my kidnappers'

  14-12-2020 19:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A student who escaped after gunmen raided an all-boys school in Nigeria speaks to the BBC.
  
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• Booze for breakfast: How Portuguese restaurants are trying to get round their Covid curfew

  14-12-2020 19:17 via independent.co.uk
  
  If you want to dine out in the Portuguese capital during the current pandemic, you really have to start early, reports Jorge Branco in Lisbon
  
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• Jesy Nelson leaves Little Mix: 'The constant pressure is very hard'

  14-12-2020 19:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Jesy Nelson says being in the chart-topping girl group has "taken a toll on my mental health".
  
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• Covid-19: First vaccine given in US as roll-out begins

  14-12-2020 18:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The first dose was given in New York, kicking off the largest vaccination drive in US history.
  
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• Israel killed nuclear scientist to start war, claims Iran president

  14-12-2020 18:50 via independent.co.uk
  
  Accusation comes as reports emerge of widespread alleged Iranian cyberattack against Israel
  
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• Electoral college begins casting votes that will cement Biden victory

  14-12-2020 18:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The process will formally acknowledge the win, ending Donald Trump's hope of overturning the result.
  
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• Booze for breakfast: How Portuguese restaurants are trying to get round Covid restrictions

  14-12-2020 18:31 via independent.co.uk
  
  If you want to dine out in the Portuguese capital during the current pandemic, you really have to start early, reports Jorge Branco in Lisbon
  
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• South Korea balloons: Seoul to ban people sending cross-border messages

  14-12-2020 18:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Human rights activists oppose the new ban on sending anti-North Korea leaflets over the border.
  
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• Dramatic video shows concert-goers taking shelter as NYPD kill cathedral gunman in shootout

  14-12-2020 18:14 via independent.co.uk
  
  Pictures showed concertgoers fleeing and taking shelter behind trees
  
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• Oil tanker 'attacked by bomb-laden boat' in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia says

  14-12-2020 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The incident at Jeddah's fuel terminal resulted in a small fire on board the ship, Saudi Arabia says.
  
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• Alexei Navalny: Report names 'Russian agents' in poisoning case

  14-12-2020 18:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  News site Bellingcat unveils evidence implicating a Russian unit in the case of the Putin critic.
  
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• Christmas lockdown looms for the Netherlands

  14-12-2020 17:55 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Dutch prime minister will give a rare television address at 1900 local time (1800GMT) 
  
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• New variant of coronavirus identified in UK, Matt Hancock says – video

  14-12-2020 17:51
  
  Health secretary suggests that variant could be linked with the rapid spread of the virus in south-east England, although it was highly unlikely a vaccine would not work against it
  New strain of Covid-19 may be cause of rise in cases, Hancock tells MPs
  UK coronavirus news - live updates Continue reading...
  
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• Bungling Russian FSB agents poisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, claims new report

  14-12-2020 17:42 via independent.co.uk
  
  Schoolboy spy errors left a trail of clues for investigators to outline chain of command rising to the top of Russia’s security agency  
  
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• New York City should prepare for possible ‘full shutdown’, de Blasio says

  14-12-2020 17:27 via independent.co.uk
  
  Indoor dining ended on Monday but the mayor of New York City says further measures may be necessary 
  
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• Belgian police break up 52 person orgy in a house next door to a Covid clinic

  14-12-2020 17:12 via independent.co.uk
  
  All the people taking part in the sex party were French
  
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• New York City should prepare for possible ‘full lockdown’, de Blasio says

  14-12-2020 17:01 via independent.co.uk
  
  Indoor dining ended on Monday but the mayor of New York City says further measures may be necessary 
  
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• Boat adrift since tsunami in 2011 found off island near Tokyo

  14-12-2020 16:57 via independent.co.uk
  
  Coral-encrusted fishing vessel found washed up on Hachijo Island
  
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• 75 infected with Covid after Santa Claus visits nursing home in Belgium

  14-12-2020 16:53 via independent.co.uk
  
  ‘It is a very great mental strain to bear for the man that played Saint Nicholas,’ mayor says
  
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• Facebook did not ban violent extremist group in India over fears of damage to business prospects, report says

  14-12-2020 16:49 via independent.co.uk
  
  India is Facebook’s biggest market in terms of numbers of users   
  
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• Orion hack exposed vast number of targets – impact may not be known for a while

  14-12-2020 16:41
  
  Analysis: eavesdropping on high-value targets is labour intensive so hackers may not have made most of accessIf there is one silver lining to the months-long global cyber-espionage campaign discovered when a prominent cybersecurity firm learned it had been breached, it might be that the sheer numbers of potentially compromised entities offers them some protection.By compromising one piece of security software – a security tool called Orion developed by the Texan company SolarWinds –
  
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• Pornhub removes all user-uploaded videos amid legality row

  14-12-2020 16:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The adult site has removed all unverified uploads as it battles accusations of illegal content.
  
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• Google outage: YouTube, Docs and Gmail knocked offline

  14-12-2020 16:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Users around the world were unable to access applications including YouTube, Gmail and Docs.
  
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• Coronavirus ‘out of control’ in Germany, minister warns

  14-12-2020 16:20 via independent.co.uk
  
  Hard lockdown from Wednesday means all schools and shops must shut for six weeks
  
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• New York nurse becomes first American to publicly receive Covid vaccine

  14-12-2020 16:01 via independent.co.uk
  
  A nurse in Queens was vaccinated on Monday morning
  
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• 'I've become hopeful today': New York nurse speaks out about becoming first American to receive Covid vaccine

  14-12-2020 16:00 via independent.co.uk
  
  New York Governor Andrew Cuomo livestreamed a video of the nurse receiving the injection
  
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• China arrests Bloomberg assistant news editor on charge of ‘endangering national security’

  14-12-2020 15:36 via independent.co.uk
  
  Arrest of Bloomberg journalist comes a month after the arrest of an Australian TV news anchor by Beijing on similar national security charges
  
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• ‘Major winter storm’ to cause power outages in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic this week, says National Weather Service

  14-12-2020 15:33 via independent.co.uk
  
  Travel disruption also expected, says weather service
  
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• UAW, US Attorney reach deal to reform union after scandal

  14-12-2020 15:07 via independent.co.uk
  The United Auto Workers and the US attorney’s office have reached a settlement to reform the union in the wake of a wide-ranging bribery and embezzlement scandal
  
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• Timnit Gebru: Google and big tech are 'institutionally racist'

  14-12-2020 14:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The AI academic at the centre of a race row at Google speaks to BBC News.
  
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• Netanyahu drops Trump from his Twitter photo

  14-12-2020 14:51 via independent.co.uk
  
  Israeli and US leaders have been extremely close allies 
  
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• Euro 2016: Russian men jailed over England fan attack

  14-12-2020 14:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An England fan was left "disabled for life" following clashes with Russian supporters in Marseille.
  
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• Celebrity birthdays for the week of Dec. 20-26

  14-12-2020 14:48 via independent.co.uk
  
  Celebrities having birthdays during the week of Dec. 20-26 include actors Jonah Hill and Jane Fonda as well as singer Meghan Trainor
  
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• Worker dies of Covid at world’s largest rubber glove maker in Malaysia

  14-12-2020 14:42 via independent.co.uk
  
  The man was a 29-year-old from Nepal 
  
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• Former gang member named Missouri’s teacher of the year

  14-12-2020 14:41 via independent.co.uk
  
   'If it were not for those educators who helped me along the way, I wouldn't be where I am today,' says Darrion Cockrell
  
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• Celebrity chef arrested in India for ‘swindling business partner for $200,000’

  14-12-2020 14:31 via independent.co.uk
  
  Chinese-Canadian chef arrived in Mumbai in 2012 and rose to recognition among celebrities for his culinary skills
  
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• Trump complains that Cleveland Indians replacing racist name is ‘cancel culture at work’

  14-12-2020 14:30 via independent.co.uk
  
  Trump earlier criticised the Washington NFL franchise for dropping ‘Redskins’ from its name
  
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• Mother plunges to death in front of family after attempting photo at edge of 262ft cliff in Australia

  14-12-2020 14:28 via independent.co.uk
  
  Rosy Loomba, 38, ignored safety barriers to pose at edge of Boroka Lookout
  
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• Bill Gates says next four to six months of Covid-19 pandemic could be the worst yet

  14-12-2020 14:07 via independent.co.uk
  
  During a TED talk in 2015, the billionaire predicted that millions would be killed with 'microbes, not missiles’ during a future pandemic
  
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• Dog rescued from sea foam on Australian beach as storms batter east coast

  14-12-2020 13:57 via independent.co.uk
  
  Cyclonic conditions generate huge seas along New South Wales and Queensland shorelines
  
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• Jacinda Ardern defends environment policies after Greta Thunberg criticises New Zealand’s ‘so-called climate emergency declaration’

  14-12-2020 13:39 via independent.co.uk
  
  Activist retweets analysis suggesting initiative to cut government agencies’ climate impact will only deal with 1 per cent of annual emissions
  
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