Bishops turn on Boris Johnson for defending his chief aide, Dominic Cummings

Bishops turn on Boris Johnson for defending his chief aide, Dominic Cummings

The Guardian reports: Church of England bishops have fired a volley of unprecedented criticism at Boris Johnson over his defence of actions taken by his chief aide, Dominic Cummings. One suggested the church could decline to work with the government during the coronavirus crisis “unless we see clear repentance, including the sacking of Cummings”. More than a dozen bishops questioned the integrity of the prime minister following his press conference on Sunday, in which he refused to acknowledge that Cummings…

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A Covid-19 vaccine hasn’t even been developed and yet the conspiracy theories are already here

A Covid-19 vaccine hasn’t even been developed and yet the conspiracy theories are already here

The Atlantic reports: In March, when a woman in Seattle volunteered for a COVID-19 vaccine trial, rumors immediately began circulating that she was a crisis actor who had received a fake vaccine. She is, in fact, real, and so is the prospective vaccine she got, as the Associated Press asserted in a follow-up story. In Oxford, England, another volunteer for a separate COVID-19 vaccine trial became the subject of a fake news story that purported she had died after a…

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What happens if Trump refuses to accept defeat?

What happens if Trump refuses to accept defeat?

The New York Times reports: In October, President Trump declares a state of emergency in major cities in battleground states, like Milwaukee and Detroit, banning polling places from opening. A week before the election, Attorney General William P. Barr announces a criminal investigation into the Democratic presidential nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr. After Mr. Biden wins a narrow Electoral College victory, Mr. Trump refuses to accept the results, won’t leave the White House and declines to allow the Biden transition…

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On the front lines of the pandemic, grocery workers are in the dark about risks

On the front lines of the pandemic, grocery workers are in the dark about risks

The Washington Post reports: By the end of April, employees at a Walmart in Quincy, Mass., were panicking: Sick colleagues kept showing up at work. Other employees disappeared without explanation. The store’s longtime greeter was in the hospital and on a ventilator, dying from covid-19. Local health officials grew alarmed as employees and their relatives reported sick co-workers. Shoppers called to complain about crowded conditions. “We have had consistent problems with Walmart,” wrote Ruth Jones, Quincy’s health commissioner, in an…

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Billions are going to zillionaires under the guise of pandemic relief

Billions are going to zillionaires under the guise of pandemic relief

Nicholas Kristof writes: While President Trump and his allies in Congress seek to tighten access to food stamps, they are showing compassion for one group: zillionaires. Their economic rescue package quietly allocated $135 billion — yes, that’s “billion” with a “b” — for the likes of wealthy real estate developers. My Times colleague Jesse Drucker notes that Trump himself, along with his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may benefit financially from this provision. The fine print was mysteriously slipped into the March…

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We don’t need to open churches to practice our faith

We don’t need to open churches to practice our faith

Father Edward L. Beck writes: President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he considers houses of worship and their religious services essential. I won’t argue that point. Although obviously not essential for all, they are deemed so by some. Fair enough. He went on: “The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important essential places of faith to open right now, this weekend. If they don’t do it, I will override the governors.” But who says…

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China’s move to rein in Hong Kong is just the start

China’s move to rein in Hong Kong is just the start

The New York Times reports: China’s move to strip away another layer of Hong Kong’s autonomy was not a rash impulse. It was a deliberate act, months in the making. It took into account the risks of international umbrage and reached the reasonable assumption that there would not be a significant geopolitical price to pay. As a provocative move, it is just the latest. With the world distracted by the pandemic’s devastating toll, China has taken a series of aggressive…

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Parts of Siberia are hotter than Washington, with temperatures nearly 40 degrees above average

Parts of Siberia are hotter than Washington, with temperatures nearly 40 degrees above average

The Washington Post reports: Siberia is in the throes of a heat wave that would be considered warm even by the standards of those living outside the Arctic Circle. In Washington, for example, the temperature has been stuck in the 60s all week, reaching a maximum of 73 degrees Thursday. Yet several stations in North Central Siberia, including areas near or above the Arctic Circle, are seeing temperatures climb well into the 80s. On Friday, the town of Khatanga, Siberia,…

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East Africa facing ‘triple threat’ from coronavirus, locusts and flooding

East Africa facing ‘triple threat’ from coronavirus, locusts and flooding

The Independent reports: The impact of three separate crises affecting swathes of east Africa at the same time has left hundreds of thousands of people at risk of hunger and sickness, aid workers operating in the region have warned. Like much of the world, countries in the Horn of Africa and other eastern states have been forced to introduce lockdown measures to limit the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus. However the virus has arrived in the region at the same…

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In a ‘strategic miscalculation,’ Trump kept foreigners out of the U.S. while helping spread the virus across the nation

In a ‘strategic miscalculation,’ Trump kept foreigners out of the U.S. while helping spread the virus across the nation

The Washington Post reports: In the final days before the United States faced a full-blown epidemic, President Trump made a last-ditch attempt to prevent people infected with the coronavirus from reaching the country. “To keep new cases from entering our shores,” Trump said in an Oval Office address on March 11, “we will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days.” Across the Atlantic, Jack Siebert, an American college student spending a semester…

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Uncontrolled coronavirus spread continuing in 24 states, study estimates

Uncontrolled coronavirus spread continuing in 24 states, study estimates

The Washington Post reports: The coronavirus may still be spreading at epidemic rates in 24 states, particularly in the South and Midwest, according to new research that highlights the risk of a second wave of infections in places that reopen too quickly or without sufficient precautions. Researchers at Imperial College London created a model that incorporates cellphone data showing that people sharply reduced their movements after stay-at-home orders were broadly imposed in March. With restrictions now easing and mobility increasing…

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Why we can’t be sure we’ll get a coronavirus vaccine

Why we can’t be sure we’ll get a coronavirus vaccine

Ian Sample reports: Earlier this week, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said the words nobody wanted to hear: “We can’t be sure we will get a vaccine.” But he was right to be circumspect. Vaccines are simple in principle but complex in practice. The ideal vaccine protects against infection, prevents its spread, and does so safely. But none of this is easily achieved, as vaccine timelines show. More than 30 years after scientists isolated HIV, the virus that…

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China is using coronavirus crisis as a distraction to push through its geopolitical aims, says former governor of Hong Kong

China is using coronavirus crisis as a distraction to push through its geopolitical aims, says former governor of Hong Kong

The Guardian reports: China has betrayed the people of Hong Kong and the UK has a moral, economic and legal duty to stand up for them, Chris Patten, the last governor of the former British colony, has said. Beijing is set to impose new national security legislation on Hong Kong after a sustained campaign of pro-democracy protests last year in the city, which enjoys many freedoms not allowed on mainland China. “The Hong Kong people have been betrayed by China,”…

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Brazil minister calls for environmental deregulation while public distracted by Covid-19

Brazil minister calls for environmental deregulation while public distracted by Covid-19

Reuters reports: Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles called on the government to push through further deregulation of environmental policy while people are distracted by the coronavirus pandemic, in a video the Supreme Court ordered released on Friday. The video of a ministers’ meeting surfaced in an investigation of whether President Jair Bolsonaro interfered in appointing leaders of the federal police for personal gain. During the meeting, other ministers spoke, including Salles, with environmental groups saying his remarks prove that the…

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The links between ecological degradation and emerging infectious diseases

The links between ecological degradation and emerging infectious diseases

Wildlife Conservation Society: A WCS special report shows how degradation of ecological systems has significantly increased the overall risk of zoonotic disease outbreaks and has other complex effects on human health. You can read the full report here. The authors are WCS’s Tom Evans, Sarah Olson, James Watson, Kim Gruetzmacher, Mathieu Pruvot, Stacy Jupiter, Stephanie Wang, Tom Clements, and Katie Jung. The report, which draws on detailed case studies, global analyses, modelling, and broad expert consensus, notes that the majority…

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