Researchers have identified a coronavirus mutation that has quickly become dominant as Covid-19 spreads around the world, but it is unclear yet whether the strain will prove more contagious or deadly than the original.A study led by Bette Korber, a computational biologist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, found 13 mutations in the spike protein that the coronavirus uses to infect human cells.One of these, known as D614G, was described as being of “urgent concern” because it…

It took just one month for the labour market in the world’s largest economy to capsize. It will take longer for the damage to be fully realised.In the harshest downturn for American workers in history, employers cut an unprecedented 20.5 million jobs in April, tripling the unemployment rate to 14.7 per cent, the highest since the Great Depression era of the 1930s. And it’s only set to worsen in May, as cuts spread further into white-collar work.“It’s devastating,” said Ryan Sweet, head of…

It has not got much attention with the world focused on coronavirus, but deforestation has surged in the Amazon rainforest this year, raising fears of a repeat of last year’s record-breaking devastation – or worse.Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon hit a new high in the first four months of the year, according to data released Friday by Brazil’s National Space Research Institute (INPE), which uses satellite images to track the destruction.A total of 1,202 square kilometres of forest – an…

Japanese exotic dancer Aya Yumiko has been living off her savings since March as she waits for the bars and clubs in Tokyo where she performs in burlesque shows to reopen.But a decision by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week to extend a state of emergency to tackle the coronavirus pandemic until the end of May means Yumiko could use up her last reserves of cash before she can get back to work.“I had enough saved up to last me for two or three months,” said the 40-year-old dancer, who performs…

The Philippines’ top broadcaster ABS-CBN on Tuesday was ordered off the air over a stalled operating licence renewal, drawing fresh charges that authorities were cracking down on press freedom.Since running afoul of President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016, the media powerhouse has seen bills to extend its franchise languish in Congress as the leader repeatedly attacked ABS-CBN in speeches.Duterte is notorious for tangling with media outlets critical of his policies, sparking concern that press…

As governments across the world scramble to roll out containment plans to stem the spread of the coronavirus, a survey has found most people are unimpressed with their leaders’ responses to the pandemic.Political leaders from China, Vietnam and New Zealand were ranked highly by their citizens in the survey of 23 economies, scoring 86, 82 and 67 respectively while those in France, Hong Kong and Japan came in last, scoring 14, 11 and 5.When it came to overall scores – a measure taking into…

Australia’s economy has become too reliant on China as a result of a government push for domestic industry to maximise exports to the world’s second largest economy, industry submissions to a government inquiry say.Business groups also singled out Australian government policies, including management of bilateral relationships with Indonesia and India, as hurting access to alternative markets.While some Australian export industries are not reliant on demand from China, companies like those in…

Signs of a growing split between Australia and the United States over an unproven theory that the coronavirus came from a Wuhan laboratory have emerged, amid claims the US embassy may have leaked a dossier linked to the allegations.The Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday reported that Canberra was increasingly concerned the Trump administration’s promotion of claims that the novel coronavirus began in a lab could undermine its push for an independent inquiry into the origins of the pandemic and a…

Malaysia’s politics took another dramatic turn on Friday ahead of its first parliamentary sitting in months as the speaker of the house accepted a motion by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to launch a no-confidence vote against his replacement, Muhyiddin Yassin.Mahathir, however, has conceded that he does not believe he has the numbers required to command the majority support of parliament, claiming that Muhyiddin had won over supporters by giving them government roles. “Maybe we will…

Malaysia’s on-again-off-again political partners Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim said “it’s time” to restore an election mandate that they won two years ago, issuing a statement together for the first time since internal bickering in February led to the collapse of their ruling coalition. The two leaders – now in the opposition – said the current government led by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin wasn’t the choice of voters at ballot boxes and does not have a mandate to rule. The statement…

Prague Daily Monitor

Strong winds felled trees on to cars and flung loose materials across the city on Tuesday afternoon. The spokesperson for the Prague Firefighter Brigade said that "so far we have responded to 23 incidents related to wind up to 15:00. The most common calls were related to fallen trees, scattered branches and debris."

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Prague Daily Monitor

There are about 90 Czech students studying in China from all over the country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that due to the coronavirus, they will assist students in getting back to the Czech Republic if the students are interested. Students should follow updates from the ministry.

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Prague Daily Monitor

A suspect has been caught on camera during an incident which set ablaze nine cars in Prague 9 on street Na Obratce. The damage is estimated to be about CZK 5 million, four cars being totally gutted. Police are looking for a suspect with serious burns on his/her hands.

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Prague Daily Monitor

Border Police patrolling an area close to Slovakia intercepted four refugees who were walking in the area. Not far from the town of Lanžhot, squeezed between Slovakia and Austria, police noticed four young males walking in a field. The refugees are thought to come from Afghanistan but had no identity documents in their possession.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Czech political parties are promising more efficient offices, mainly through digitalization. The proposed law for a faster and more effective state originally came from the Starostové a nezávislí party (STAN). Since then ANO and ČSSD have pledged to fulfill the goals of the Digital Česko plan. ODS and the Pirates also have digitalization as part of their platform.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The Prince of Lichtenstein Foundation has lost its case concerning ownership of 600 hectares of forest close to the city of Říčany, outside of Prague. The Constitutional Court upheld the prior verdict in the case which was not to return the 600 hectares of forest to the foundation. "The Prince of Lichtenstein will in this case use all possible tools and opportunities to get justice in an international court and international institutio," said the foundation's spokesperson.

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Prague Daily Monitor

The first three cases of people testing positive for the coronavirus in the Czech Republic were confirmed on Sunday evening. All of the infected are in residence at the Na Bulovce hospital in Prague, one patient arriving via special ambulance from Masaryk hospital in Ustí nad Labem. One case is a male who was on a conference in Udine. The second case is a female American citizen visiting Prague while on a study abroad program in Milan. Lastly, a male who was in Italy on ski holidays.

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Virtual learning will leave out a significant proportion of learners.

Davis, 29, has competed against his elder brother Frank, 33, in top flight hockey since 2012.

Ataro is also an assistant coach for multiple Kenyan champions Blazers.

We should come up with innovations that respond to societal needs.

He claims bank accounts were opened unprocedurally with signatories not known

Two of Souza's cornermen also tested positive.

Currently, platform has attracted over 100 million users.

The production of reusable masks for all Hongkongers was not for profit, a government official said as she revealed the manufacturer’s identity and defended the lack of a public tender for the project worth hundreds of millions of dollars.Annie Choi Suk-han, permanent secretary of the Innovation and Technology Bureau, said most of the masks were being made by Crystal International Group at a facility in Vietnam.The rest were assembled, disinfected and packed using three local facilities offered…

Hong Kong recorded four new coronavirus infections on Thursday, all involving returnees from Pakistan the previous night, as the city prepared to bring back more residents stranded in South Asia.The diagnoses ended a two-day streak without any new cases, and takes the city’s total number of confirmed infections to 1,044.Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, head of the communicable diseases branch of the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), said the patients in question, aged between 11 and 47, all returned to…

Professor Samuel Yeung-shan Wong says he loves Canada, and wants it to learn from Hong Kong’s successes in the battle with Covid-19.Wong, director of the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s school of public health, earned his medical degree at the University of Toronto in the 1990s and did his residency in Halifax, Nova Scotia.When he chats with his Canadian cousins they tell him that “they aren’t going out”, he said. Hong Kong, meanwhile, has avoided a Canadian-style lockdown, and on Friday…

Exam authorities will carry out citywide research to develop an alternative student grading system in the event university entrance tests are cancelled because of future pandemics, Hong Kong’s education minister told the Post on Thursday.In an exclusive interview, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung also said his bureau would review with schools how to better prepare for class suspensions, including teacher training and resources for non-traditional instruction methods.Hong Kong…

The commitment of students in bringing people together will be the focus of the 39th annual Student of the Year Awards organised by the South China Morning Post.With the theme “Leading for a better society”, two new awards this year include a special prize for the most nurturing environment, which will go to a school and its students, and another for mentorship.A total of 11 awards in nine categories, including science, maths, languages, sports, and visual and performing arts, will be presented…

The High Court has thrown out a Hong Kong resident’s challenge to his quarantine status, dismissing his application for a writ of habeas corpus over his mandatory isolation at a government-run facility.Accountant Syed Agha Raza Shah, who tested negative for Covid-19 upon his return, was sent to the Chun Yeung Estate in Fo Tan for a 14-day stay after returning from Pakistan via Qatar with about 200 other Hong Kong residents on April 29.On Thursday, he applied for a writ of habeas corpus…

Ocean Park could run out of cash by September, its CEO warned on Friday as he estimated the Hong Kong attraction had missed out on nearly 1 million visitors over three months of its coronavirus shutdown.With the health crisis intensifying the resort’s financial woes, Matthias Li Sing-chung said no decision had been made on when the park would emerge from the shutdown imposed on January 26, but said it could return within two weeks once conditions were deemed suitable, even if some social…

Police dispersed lunchtime protesters with pepper spray in an upscale Hong Kong shopping centre just 12 hours after the government relaxed some coronavirus social-distancing measures and allowed people to gather in groups of eight on Friday.Shortly after dozens of anti-government demonstrators began yelling slogans and belting out their anthem, officers entered the IFC Mall in Central to cordon off their protest site, forcing the Apple store to lower its shutters.Later, police used pepper spray…

Hong Kong lawmakers on Friday rejected a proposal by four international schools seeking a total of HK$1.4 billion (US$180 million) in interest-free loans for campus development as they face financial pressure during the coronavirus pandemic.This came as Harrow International School Hong Kong announced this week it would offer a 20 per cent reduction of the summer term tuition fees to parents, following an earlier petition demanding a fee cut of up to 25 per cent.The proposal, which was tabled by…

After almost three months of hectic preparation, Denis Huen Yin-fan’s Hong Kong factory started delivering masks to customers last week to help protect them against the Covid-19 pandemic.Just as the supplies began reaching his clients, the Hong Kong government announced it will be distributing reusable and disposable masks to all households, free of charge, within weeks.Every household will receive reusable masks that can be washed up to 60 times, as well as a pack of 10 disposable masks.1.5…

Hong Kong recorded zero new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, as a government adviser suggested that border control measures between the city and Macau could be the first to be lifted.It was also the 20th day in a row without any local infections, although a handful of imported cases over the past week had taken Hong Kong’s tally to 1,044 with four related deaths.Health experts earlier raised the prospect of Hong Kong being declared free of local transmission if there were no such cases after 28 days…

A revised bailout plan will be proposed by the Hong Kong government very soon to save Ocean Park from running out of cash as early as in June, the Post has learned.Two sources said that a HK$10.6 billion (US$1.35 billion) proposal tabled in January would not go ahead with officials unveiling an alternative on Monday at the earliest, after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the theme park on Southern district to shut down temporarily.On Friday night, the legislature’s Finance Committee announced that…

Lawmakers on both sides of the political divide are considering whether to report their rivals to police after a row in Hong Kong’s legislature over control of a key committee descended into chaos in the chamber.Two opposition legislators revealed on Saturday they planned to make formal allegations of assault, while the pro-establishment camp was mulling filing complaints of its own to the force.It follows a turbulent meeting of the Legislative Council’s House Committee on Friday, when a pro…

A top police officer told me an interesting story about the siege of Polytechnic University last year, when anti-government protesters of the militant persuasion had occupied the campus. He recalled intercepting and arresting a group of youngsters trying to flee the war zone and how he was struck by the reaction of a petrified teenager among them when she was being booked. “Absolutely terrified, shaking,” was how he remembered her. “She thinks I will take her around the back and shoot her…

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is calling on governments and leaders around the world to ensure that their respective lockdown measurements don’t end up causing harm to people by those enforcing the lockdowns.   “Emergency powers should not be a weapon governments can wield to quash dissent, control the population, and even perpetuate […]

The post Governments Cautioned Not to Use COVID-19 Lockdown to Cause Harm appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Stella Paul is the recipient of the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, a multiple winner of the Asian Environmental Journalism Awards, the Lead Ambassador for World Pulse and a senior IPS correspondent.

The post Protect Journalists’ Rights so We can Stop the COVID-19 Disinfodemic appeared first on Inter Press Service.

This year’s World Press Freedom Day on 3 May falls during COVID-19 lockdowns in many of our countries. Restriction on movement means journalists all over the world are facing obstacles in getting interviews and data, and verifying stories before publishing. In addition, the global pandemic has been used by many governments to control not just […]

The post Journalism is Not a Crime…and Fake News on Social Media is Not Journalism appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Another major aid group is warning Kenya not to close the world's largest refugee camp, saying the move is pressuring tens of thousands of Somali refugees to return to their deeply unstable country.

Bomet Governor, Isaac Ruto was airlifted to Nairobi Hospital on Monday morning after clashing with police officers.

Bomet Governor, Isaac Ruto who was being treated for injuries at Nairobi Hospital after clashes with police will be transferred a hospital in South Africa, a report says..