Thursday, 10 September
- Boris pinning hopes on £100bn ‘moonshot’ to avoid a second wave.
- WestJet cancels flight because of mask dispute with child.
- Trump intentionally downplayed virus despite knowing the dangers, new book claims.
- Morocco extends health emergency as virus cases spike.
- Coronavirus ‘emergency’ puts Jakarta back in lockdown.
- Tokyo to end shorter hours for bars as it plans to lower coronavirus alert.
Boris pinning hopes on £100bn ‘moonshot’ to avoid a second wave
The Guardian says PM Boris Johnson believes a mass testing programme is “our only hope for avoiding a second national lockdown before a vaccine”, according to leaked official documents setting out plans for “Operation Moonshot”.
He is said to be pinning his hopes on a project that would deliver up to 10m tests a day – even though the current testing regime is struggling to deliver a fraction of that number and is beset by problems.
Read the full story on The Guardian
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WestJet cancels flight because of mask dispute with child
BBC News says a Canadian flight was cancelled and police were called because a child was not wearing a mask.
Safwan Choudhry says WestJet wanted his 19-month-old to wear a mask, but the baby girl would not stop crying.
The airline says the issue was not with the infant, who is below the age required to wear a mask, but with Mr Choudhry’s three-year-old.
Read the full story on BBC News
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Trump intentionally downplayed virus despite knowing the dangers, new book claims
France24 says Donald Trump talked privately about the severity of the coronavirus threat even as he was telling the nation the virus was no worse than seasonal flu and insisting it was under control, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.
“You just breathe the air and that’s how it’s passed,” Trump said in a Feb. 7 call with Woodward. “And so that’s a very tricky one. That’s a very delicate one. It’s also more deadly than even your strenuous flus.”
Read the full story on France24
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Morocco extends health emergency as virus cases spike
Arab News says Morocco’s government extended a medical state of emergency until next month after a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
“Today, the cabinet approved a project for a decree extending until October 10 the duration of the medical state of emergency to combat Covid-19,” Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El-Othmani tweeted.
Read the full story on Arab News
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Coronavirus ‘emergency’ puts Jakarta back in lockdown
Aljazeera says Jakarta’s governor says the Indonesian capital will head back into lockdown as it steps up efforts to tackle what he said was an “emergency – more pressing than the start of the pandemic.”
From Monday, all offices will be closed except for businesses in 11 “essential” fields. Entertainment venues will be shut down and all gatherings banned. Religious events will only be allowed at the village level for people who live in the area, he added.
Read the full story on Aljazeera
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Tokyo to end shorter hours for bars as it plans to lower coronavirus alert
Japan Times says Tokyo plans to end its policy of asking bars in the capital’s central 23 wards to close by 10 p.m., as the number of coronavirus cases has been trending downward in recent days, a source said Wednesday.
The removal of the request could take place next Tuesday, and the metropolitan government is expected to lower its virus alert by one notch from the highest of four levels, which means “infections are spreading,” to “caution needed for resurgence of infections.”
Read the full story on Japan Times
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A quick look at the other big headlines
Wildfires turn San Fran bay into mars
CNN says The Bay Area in California awoke Wednesday to a scene straight out of Mars.
Orange and even red skies blanketed San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, and ash rained down, with wildfires raging far in the distance.
Read on
How does Boris Johnson’s new Brexit bill violate international law
Euronews says a new law proposed by the British government would directly violate the Brexit deal it signed with the EU last year, legal experts have said.
The bill gives ministers powers to “disapply” parts of the rules agreed in October 2019 for goods that cross in and out of Northern Ireland.
The reason behind this year’s massive floods of the Niger
Africanews says The Niger River is overflowing in exceptional proportions, following days of heavy rain.
Niger’s western region has been hardest hit by the floods, which have effectively shut down the capital, Niamey and destroyed local rice cultures.
At least 45 people had died as of August 28th, and the water has forced more than 226,000 residents from their homes.
Thousands homeless after Sudan floods
Aljazeera says wading through waist-deep water, residents of the al-Shigla neighbourhood in Omdurman, twin city of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, tried to rescue what was left of their possessions as they floated by.
Others stood by in despair, observing the aftermath of days of torrential rains that brought record-breaking flash floods to the country where the Blue and White Niles join to become the Nile River.
India reports record daily jump of 95,735 cases
CNA says India reported record jumps in new COVID-19 cases and deaths on Thursday, taking its tally of cases past 4.4 million, health ministry figures showed.
In the last 24 hours, 95,735 new infections were detected, with 1,172 deaths accounting for the highest single-day mortality figures in more than a month, to push the toll beyond 75,000.
