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Life expectancy in the U.S. varies by more than 20 years depending on an individual's race and ethnicity and where they live. These widespread and persistent life expectancy disparities have divided the country into "ten Americas," according to new research examining inequities in US life expectancy between 2000 and 2021, published in The Lancet.

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The Trump administration has named three cities that are slated to lose federal funding after the White House accused them of tolerating crime.

New York City, Portland and Seattle are on the list of "anarchist cities" that Trump officials say have failed to stem crime linked to a summer of protests.

It follows a memo from Mr Trump earlier this month, threatening the move.

The mayors of the cities have promised to sue, calling Mr Trump's move a political stunt.

A statement from the Justice Department on Monday laid out recent crime rates in the cities and how their police responded.

"We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance," Attorney General William Barr said in the statement.

He also called on Portland, Seattle and New York City to "reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens".

All three cities have seen major protests since the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in May.

It remains unclear what federal funding may be cut from the cities.

In a joint statement, the mayors of Portland, Seattle, New York and Washington DC - which was on a shortlist of "anarchist cities" but was not included in Monday's decision - accused Mr Trump of "playing cheap political games with congressionally directed funds".

The mayors called the decision "thoroughly political and unconstitutional" and accused the Trump White House of "shirking responsibility and placing blame elsewhere to cover its failure".

Violent crimes have generally declined in US cities since the 1990s, but have risen steeply in the past year in several cities including Philadelphia, Chicago and New York.

What is happening in those cities?

The move comes amid a summer of unrest sparked by protests against the police killing of black Americans. Some of the protests have led to major police reforms around the country.

In New York City, the rate of shootings and murders have skyrocketed as youth programmes and other social organisations have been placed on hold due to the pandemic. Cases of looting and vandalism have also made national news as protests for racial justice have sometimes turned violent.

Reacting to the Justice department announcement on Monday, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio called the decision "another one of President Trump's games," adding: "It's insulting to the people of New York City and his [Mr Trump's] effort to withhold our funding is unconstitutional."

Seattle permitted the establishment of a so-called "autonomous zone," where protesters forbade police from entering six square blocks of the downtown part of the city for nearly a month. The area was taken down in early July after several shootings. Nightly protests have continued since.

Portland, Oregon, has often been invoked by Mr Trump as a "Democrat-run" city that has supposedly allowed violence. Protests have continued nightly there for over 100 consecutive days, sometimes devolving to violence and vandalism as protesters fight with police.
Trump's crackdown on Portland protests explained

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'Anarchist' New York among cities to lose funding

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The Trump administration has named three cities that are slated to lose federal funding after the White House accused them of tolerating crime. New York City, Portland and Seattle are on the list of "anarchist cities" that Trump officials say have failed to stem crime linked to a summer of protests.

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Following the coup d'état in Mali one month ago (18th August), an agreement has yet to be made regarding the new leadership nor the duration of the power transition period. However, ECOWAS is hoping that a civilian-led government will be installed in the next few days (https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/africa/ECOWAS-hopes-for-civilian-rule-in-Mali-within-days-1060753).

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West African mediators have failed to persuade leaders of a military coup in Mali to immediately hand over power to a civilian government.

On Tuesday, leaders of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met the heads of a military government that, on August 18, overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in the bloc's latest attempt to quicken the transition from military leadership.

ECOWAS imposed economic sanctions after the coup, and said a new president should be appointed by Tuesday.

But those actions, and multiple diplomatic interventions, appear to have had little effect, reinforcing the difficulty regional powers face in shaping events inside the turbulent country.

"We have not reached any agreement with the military junta," said Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo, acting ECOWAS chair, after the talks.

He said that a mediating mission would return to Mali next week to try to resolve outstanding issues.

"We need a civilian leadership of the transition and we have also made it clear that the minute that leadership input is in place ... the sanctions ... would be lifted," he said.

Regional leaders fear the coup could set a dangerous precedent in West Africa and undermine a fight in Mali and neighbouring countries in the Sahel region against armed fighters with links to al Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

On Saturday, the military governors pushed through a charter that said the interim president can be a soldier or a civilian and has not yet indicated when the new government would be named.

West African leaders have not said what the consequences would be for failing to meet the deadline. The sanctions include border closures and the suspension of financial flows, though these were eased so they did not hit civilians.

The leaders said they would be willing to allow a transitional government to stand for 18 months, longer than the original year it asked for, Akufo-Addo said.

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West Africa bloc fails to reach agreement with Mali military

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West African mediators have failed to persuade leaders of a military coup in Mali to immediately hand over power to a civilian government. On Tuesday, leaders of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met the heads of a military government that, on August 18, overthrew President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, in the bloc's latest attempt to quicken the transition from military leadership.

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There was an 4.6-magnitude earthquake which hit North Iceland on Tuesday (15th Sept.). It was followed by a second 4.0-magnitude earthquake. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but "many [were] shaken".

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The green stars denote earthquakes of M3.0 or more. Map/The Icelandic Met Office

An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 hit North Iceland yesterday at 2:52 pm. It was followed by another one, measuring 4.0 at 5:07 pm, according to the Icelandic Met Office. The source of both earthquakes was nearly 6 km southeast of Flatey island in Skjálfandi bay. Both of them were felt in North Iceland, especially in Húsavík and Akureyri.

The stronger of the two left many people shaken. Kristján Þór Magnúson, director of the local council in Norðurþing, was at a grocery store in Húsavík when the quake hit. "I was picking up lunch...and was holding the door of the cooler when this hit," he tells K100 radio.

"I must admit I was quite shocked and didn't know if the door was being slammed in my face," he relates. "This happened very suddenly, and it didn't seem to last long. Clearly, it was a very uncomfortable experience. People may not be frightened, but everyone had a very unpleasant experience."

From Húsavík. mbl.is/Helgi Bjarnason

Kristján doesn't expect major property damage to have resulted, but that remains to be assessed.

In recent weeks, North Iceland has experienced a swarm of seismic activity. "Once in a while, we have felt this series of tremors that has been ongoing north of the country," Kristján states, "but it has originated at a greater depth than the one we just felt. This one was uncomfortably close, and one hopes a larger event is not imminent," he states.

Einar Hjörleifsson, natural hazard expert at the Icelandic Met Office, does not rule out that yet another large quake - larger than the previous ones or of a similar magnitude - will hit the area.

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iceland weather forecast and information

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Earthquake in North Iceland Leaves People Shaken

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The green stars denote earthquakes of M3.0 or more. Map/The Icelandic Met Office An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 hit North Iceland yesterday at 2:52 pm. It was followed by another one, measuring 4.0 at 5:07 pm, according to the Icelandic Met Office. The source of both earthquakes was nearly 6 km southeast of Flatey island in Skjálfandi bay.

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Brazil forest fires.

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Estonia is considering cancelling flights to Norway and Sweden from tomorrow (Saturday 18th Sept.)

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According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Norway has a two-week average infection rate of 28.6 per 100,000 inhabitants and Sweden 29.4.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Economic Affairs will update their lists on Friday.

To the ERR's knowledge, the government has proposed to add Oslo and Stockholm to the list of destinations with exceptions, which include Frankfurt, London, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Riga and Helsinki by the end of August.

Minister of Social Affairs Tanel Kiik (Center) said the government will not be able to discuss travel exceptions on Friday.

"No such discussions are planned today. Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes on its website a list of countries where the requirement for self-isolation applies and where it does not. Next time we will discuss COVID-19 issues is on Tuesday," Kiik told ERR.

It is likely that if the government cannot discuss the introduction of exemptions on Friday, a flight ban for both Oslo and Stockholm will apply from Saturday.

--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Helen Wright

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Flights to Norway, Sweden could be canceled from Saturday

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The coronavirus rate in Norway and Sweden has passed 25 per 100,000 - the cut off point for direct flights to and from Estonia. If the government does not add both countries to the list of exceptions flights will be suspended from Saturday.

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Finally, someone tells Trump "No!"

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The US is dropping plans for a 10% tariff on certain types of Canadian aluminium that President Donald Trump announced just last month.

The US said it was backing off after determining that imports were likely to decline after an earlier surge.

If the shipments do not fall as expected, officials said they would apply tariffs to the excess.

The reversal comes the same day that Canada was expected to unveil its plans for retaliation.

Canadian leaders said they welcomed the US decision and that, in response, they would suspend the plans to impose tariffs on C$3.6bn ($2.7bn, £2.1bn) in US aluminium products.

"These measures were an error from the very beginning," said Chrystia Freeland, Canada's finance minister. "This is really a day when common sense has prevailed and that's good news."

Ms Freeland described the US move as "unilateral" and Canada had not agreed to abide by any import thresholds. The government remains prepared to retaliate should the US decide to act on its tariff threat, she added.

"After four years of working with this American administration, we have understood that we have to be ready for anything," Ms Freeland said. "We have to expect any possibility and we will continue being ready for any possibility."

US-Canada trade tensions

The US first imposed tariffs on foreign steel and aluminium in 2018, citing national security concerns. The move caused furore, especially among the country's traditional allies in Europe and Canada. The Trump administration later exempted certain countries, including Canada, from the levies, which were also controversial within the US.

But at an event in Ohio last month, President Trump announced that he was re-imposing border taxes on certain types of Canadian aluminium, citing a flood of under-priced metal into the country.

The step was "absolutely necessary to defend our aluminium industry," he said.

Canada called the move "unjustified and unacceptable", but the US said the 2019 agreement that exempted Canada from the duties provided for monitoring of the imports and allowed tariffs to be re-imposed should volumes surge.

In Tuesday's announcement that the 10% tariff would be dropped, retroactive to 1 September, the office of the US Trade Representative said it expected imports over the rest of 2020 to decline by 50% from the monthly average in the first seven months of the year.

"If imports exceed 105 percent of the expected volume in any month the United States may re-impose the 10% tariff going forward," the office said, adding that it would review the state of the market with Canadian officials at the end of 2020.

Ms Freeland did not respond directly when asked if Canada was at risk of butting up against the limits outlined by the US. But she noted that the US has said it does not expect to review the decision before November.

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The US is dropping plans for a 10% tariff on certain types of Canadian aluminium that President Donald Trump announced just last month. The US said it was backing off after determining that imports were likely to decline after an earlier surge.

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New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia have agreed to allow more people into hotel quarantine as part of a national cabinet plan to boost the cap on arrivals to Australia from 4,000 to 6,000 a week.

On Friday Scott Morrison met with state and territory leaders, who agreed to a phased increase in their share of arrivals in a bid to help 24,000 Australians still stranded overseas who want to return.

Morrison also signalled that capacity for arrivals could soon be bolstered by charter flights to smaller states and territories, the use of Howard Springs as a quarantine facility and a plan to allow New Zealanders to travel to Australia without compulsory hotel quarantine.

New South Wales will take an extra 500 arrivals from 27 September. Queensland and Western Australia will start with 200 each from that date, before increasing to up to 500 arrivals on 4 and 11 October respectively.
The long shadow of the virus means there is no easy path back to prosperity | George Megalogenis
The resolution with a longer lead time for Western Australia follows a week of tense public negotiations about the plan between Morrison and WA premier Mark McGowan.

McGowan told reporters in Perth the WA government had resisted the commonwealth's attempt to "unilaterally double" arrivals and "secured a new way forward" with a delayed start that was "more appropriate and far more manageable".

In Sydney on Friday, the prime minister thanked NSW for "their very quick and prompt response to support those liftings of the cap" on arrivals, but explained Queensland and Western Australia had been given "additional time to get the quarantine arrangements in place".

The commonwealth will support hotel quarantine with more Australian Defence Force personnel but will not otherwise make a financial contribution because returned travellers pay for quarantine, Morrison said.

Earlier, the former health secretary, Jane Halton, briefed national cabinet on the conclusion of her snap review of hotel quarantine.

Morrison summarised the report as a "very positive" assessment of quarantine capacity, citing New South Wales in particular as a "very good" example.

Morrison said the report concluded there had been "a lot of lessons learned" in Victoria, where hotel quarantine has been suspended due to failures that directly caused its second wave of coronavirus infections.

In addition to disseminating lessons on contact tracing shared by New South Wales with Victoria, the commonwealth will lead an initiative to connect all the digital systems used by states and territories.

"If there were to be an outbreak in a particular place, "we would be able to swarm [and] harness the tracing capabilities of more states and territories, to plug in to the tracing work that is being done in that particular jurisdiction," Morrison said.

There was no updated advice from chief medical officers about a common definition of a hotspot, an issue Morrison had driven in a bid to force states to reopen their borders.

But on Friday Queensland announced that it will allow travellers by plane from the Australian Capital Territory from 25 September, reflecting the territory's two month stretch without any coronavirus cases despite its open borders with New South Wales. South Australia will review its border ban on NSW residents next week.

Morrison said national cabinet had adopted advice from chief medical officers that would allow children to come home in the school holidays, preventing boarding school students being blocked from their families by state borders.

Morrison said that smaller states and territories - the ACT, South Australia, Tasmania, and the Northern Territory - have agreed to work with the commonwealth to receive charter or emergency flights from overseas because commercial operators are not flying to those places.

Morrison said the Howard Springs facility - which hosted emergency evacuees from Wuhan in February - will be able to be used for evacuation charters "if they become necessary" although none are currently planned.

States and territories also agreed to more mandatory data collection on domestic flights to assist with contact tracing. From 1 October, passengers will share their name, email address, mobile contact number and state of residence when flying.

Morrison also confirmed Australia is negotiating with New Zealand to ensure New Zealanders can come to Australia and vice versa "without the need to go through quarantine if they're not coming from an area where there is an outbreak of Covid-19".

Allowing New Zealanders into Australia without hotel quarantine, or allowing them to quarantine at home instead in a "worst case scenario", is "another way of enabling more Australians to come home", he said.

Labor believes that given 18,000 Australians were granted permission to leave Australia in August the backlog of 24,000 wanting to return home will not be quickly solved by a modest increase in the cap.

Labor has pressured the government over the issue by arguing it should use RAAF VIP aircraft - including planes reserved for the prime minister and governor general - to speed up Australians' return.
Victoria's former police chief denies pushing use of private guards for hotel quarantine
Before national cabinet, Labor leader Anthony Albanese accused the Morrison government of "failure to look after" Australians stranded overseas.

"Quarantine and our national borders are the responsibility of the federal government," he said, calling on it to make a "substantial financial contribution" to quarantine if necessary to increase the cap.

As reported on Friday ahead of the meeting, national cabinet agreed to a $2bn extension of telehealth services for six months, until the end of March 2021.

Morrison announced that the commonwealth scheme to co-fund $1,500 "disaster payments" to pay for workers to self-isolate had now been taken up by Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and New South Wales.

The scheme "ensures that, when someone has a positive Covid test, they can get access to those payments", he said, expressing hope that Queensland will also join shortly.

Labor has derided the scheme as an effort to rebadge and change funding arrangements for existing state programs rather than offering genuine paid pandemic leave.

National cabinet will next meet on 16 October, following the federal budget on 6 October.
Topics

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Flight caps on Australian arrivals to be raised after agreement at national cabinet

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New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia have agreed to allow more people into hotel quarantine as part of a national cabinet plan to boost the cap on arrivals to Australia from 4,000 to 6,000 a week.

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Last month, Moldova celebrated twenty-nine years of independence from the USSR/CCCP.

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This year, Moldova celebrates 29 years of independence, along with other post-Soviet countries that have proclaimed their independence as a result of the Soviet Union dissolution in 1991. This was a historical day when the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova was adopted - the founding act of the Moldovan state identity.

August 27 was chosen on purpose, to correspond to August 27, 1989 - the day when the Great National Assembly of Moldova was held. It was the very first moment when the goal of secession from the USSR and the declaration of having own history, culture and language was publicly asserted.

Nowadays, the Republic of Moldova is officially an independent state, but also a relatively young state that still has to get rid of corruption, abuse of power, fraud schemes, internal and external political manipulation, dependence on other states' willing - a very doubtful independence, one could say.

Two years ago, Moldova was qualified as a "state captured by oligarchic interests" by the European Union institutions. Then, the participants of two contradictory interest rallies were just about to collide in the city centre of Chisinau. The opposition parties supporters, who were seeking for a better life without oligarchic powers, were openly defied by demonstrators, brought in an organised way, who were looking forward to a grill party with dances.

The next morning, the police used excessive force when urging all people who protested overnight to leave, so that officials could lay flowers at the Stephen the Great monument. Throughout the day, police cordons separated protesters from officials and, as it turned out, their own celebration of Independence Day.

People used to ask themselves back then: was keeping with a tradition more important than the demands of protesters for authorities? Nobody answered that question.

In 2019, the opposition leaders became state officials, as they formed a temporary coalition with socialists in power. Full of hope after the withdrawal of Plahotniuc's oligarchic regime in June 2019, former Prime Minister Maia Sandu declared: "Free citizens can come today to celebrate Independence Day as it should be in a democratic society. We have a lot of work, but we are now enjoying freedom and I congratulate all the citizens on this occasion," the official said.

Still, the government coalition didn't last for too long as socialists brought a no-confidence motion in the Parliament criticising the Government handling of the judicial reform. A new Cabinet of Ministers was voted surprisingly fast. International partners were sending "worrying signals" but couldn't really do anything about it. On October 12, the Government led by Maia Sandu collapsed, being replaced by that of Ion Chicu.

In fact, not so many things have changed since the independence celebration in 2018 - opposition is almost the same, oligarchs serving their own interests as well. People are still waiting for better days.

The judiciary reform didn't really help to hold accountable the beneficiaries of the bank fraud scandal, as Vladimir Plahotniuc, who was declared one of them by the General Prosecutions Office, is still peacefully living abroad in one of his villas.

Moldova is still a country that has a foreign army on its territory and an unsettled conflict that lasts for 28 years.

Moldova is a country where farmers have to face the full spectrum of difficulties due to hail fall and drought; culture, tourism or catering sectors became almost non-existent due to the lack of support from the authorities; healthcare system is fighting for each person during the pandemic, using very limited resources that are mainly obtained from donations; infrastructure is still underdeveloped and the state budget is still very much dependant on international funding.

There will be presidential elections in Moldova soon. A lot of Moldovans will go there thinking they should elect a "father of society" or a "saviour of the nation", whereas they should elect just a president, a state official who must be held accountable for his every misconduct. Some people will have their vote 'stolen' through manipulation or bribery. There are chances that the current president of Moldova, a dubious personality with a special affection for Russia and a strong belief that people in power are allowed to do anything, will be re-elected.

Until then, "Happy birthday, Moldova!" Let's hope that more Moldovans will be able to learn from their past in the future.

Photo: Miroslav Rotari| Sputnik

Jurnalistă that speaks English very well. De aia Maria are grijă că prietenii noștri străini să nu piardă nicio informație valoroasă despre actualitatea din Moldova.

On August 25, the pre-election period has started in the Republic of Moldova, as being announced by the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). From that date onwards, 90 days are to be counted until the confirmation and validation of the presidential election results by the Constitutional Court, according to the legal provisions. The elections of the President of the Republic of Moldova were scheduled for November 1, 2020.

During the pre-election period, initiative groups and candidates can be officially registered, polling stations are set up, voters' lists can be updated, voters are informed regarding the election procedure and election supervisors are trained, etc.

Even though the election campaign hasn't started yet, as it begins only when the official list of candidates is published, campaigning activities seem to be initiated long before the official terms.

Electoral fraud and violations began to be reported

"The current pre-election period is characterised by an evident impact of the pandemic on the efficiency of the governmental policies and such socio-political trends as frequent change of political affiliation, especially within parliamentary parties, and return of geopolitical issues to electoral agenda appeared," is stated in the first report of the Promo-LEX Association Observation Mission (OM) on the 2020 presidential elections. The report refers to the situation from May 21 to August 25.

In this regard, the Observation Mission underlined several phenomena that manifested in the past pre-election periods and seem to repeat during the current one as well. The association warned about the fact that the number of voters on the election lists increases, despite the negative rate of natural increase of population (RNI) that was recorded in the last years. "The increase in the total number of voters is mainly due to the growth of the number of voters with no residence and voters registered in the Transnistrian region," is mentioned in the report.

According to a recent press release of the CEC, the State Register includes a number of 3 285 874 voters, out of which 15% are represented by voters from the Transnistrian region and people with no residence, including those who have officially emigrated abroad.

Promo-LEX monitors stated that some parties nominated their candidates before the official terms, while others took credit for activities carried out at public expense. The association also warned the CEC regarding the lack of explicit regulations when pre-registering as a voter, as this year procedure "requires a more nuanced and systematic approach", given the pandemic conditions.

Additionally, the necessity to adjust the normative framework for election campaign funding was mentioned, especially when it comes to including the initiative groups as subjects to sanctions, as well as taking into account the guidelines of the Venice Commission when aligning sanctions described in the Contravention Code with those of the Criminal Code.

Another phenomenon described in the Promo-LEX OM report is that hate speech becomes increasingly popular in the electoral context.

"Currently, there is no relevant legal framework or mechanisms to combat this phenomenon, and the authorities do not have a response to hate speech."

The results of previous monitoring of the Promo-LEX Association showed that, on average, 54% of the 835 recorded cases of hate speech and incitement to discrimination took place in a political context, and 190 cases occurred in the context of electoral campaigns in 2019.

Old electoral tricks still work

Geopolitical issues and country's dependence on 'major regional forces' have always been exploited before elections in Moldova.

After one of his multiple visits to Russia, President of Moldova, Igor Dodon, declared that Russia is ready to renew negotiations regarding the 200 million Euro loan. The agreement between Russia and Moldova was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Moldova (CC) in May 2020. Also, Dodon claimed that farmers would receive and aid of 40-50 thousand tons of diesel from the Russian government. Would it be electoral promises or speculations with the donated goods? There is still time to see.

See also: The Russian loan agreement declared unconstitutional - escaping the trap of excessive debt or missing a chance to overcome the crisis?

"Almost 17 years after the failure of the Kozak plan [a proposal promoted by Dmitry Kozak for a united asymmetric federal Moldavian state], Russia has a chance to return. The autumn presidential elections are high stakes now. The victory of the current president would ensure them another 3 years of PSRM-DPM rule, during which there is time to prepare the ground for the next parliamentary term (2023-2027). In this regard, the Russian credit, but also 'humanitarian aid' represent the Russian 'Trojan horse'," said the former MP Iurie Tap.

About a month and a half ago, Igor Dodon made a statement regarding opening polling stations abroad, saying that the coronavirus pandemic could be a major impediment, as "many countries will not allow the opening of polling stations". In reality, that is more of an excuse to justify the opening of a small number of polling stations abroad. "Igor Dodon understands that in case fewer people vote abroad, he will have a better chance of winning," the WatchDog.MD expert, Valeriu Pasa, said.

"No state can prohibit the conduct of elections inside embassies and consulates on its territory. There may be some restrictions, prohibitions or limitations on the additional polling stations. At least at the diplomatic missions, the voting process must be implemented," stated Pavel Postica, director of the Promo-LEX Association.

Same candidates - same results?

The survey conducted by the Association of Sociologists and Demographers of the Republic of Moldova displayed that the current president Igor Dodon and his main rival Maia Sandu would have to compete for the presidential term, just as 4 years ago. Igor Dodon would get the most votes (43.3%), whereas the Party of Action and Solidarity leader, Maia Sandu, would still be on the second place (26,9% of respondents who were decided whom to vote for).

The survey was conducted between 5- 20 August on a sample of 1191 respondents from 83 localities, excluding the Transnistrian region. Speaking of Transnistria, the votes coming from the region turned out to be decisive in the 2016 presidential elections, as most of residents voted for the socialist candidate who became later the president of the Republic of Moldova. At the same time, numerous violations, including mass transportation of voters to Moldovan polling stations and falsification of voter lists, have been reported back then.

Therefore, clear signs regarding possible electoral fraud, violations, manipulation are already sent to the society. People already know it can happen just as previously. A lot of them are sure they can't do anything about it. But is that so?

See also: The state of emergency 'side effects' or what is the proper moment to start the presidential election campaign

Photo: Element5 Digital| Unsplash

The National Administration of Penitentiaries (NAP) informed recently that 20 active and 14 recovered cases among the detained people in the Moldovan prisons were reported, as of August 25. Out of active cases, 19 persons have mild symptoms of coronavirus and 1 patient progressed to the medium severity of the disease. Officially, no death due to coronavirus were recorded in the Moldovan prisons.

At the same time, 18 active cases were recorded among prison staff, the total number of prisons' employees who were infected with COVID-19 reaching 68 cases.

Prisoners who tested positive were transferred to the Infectious Diseases Section of the Penitentiary no. 16 from the capital city. There, they receive treatment in isolation, according to the national clinical protocol, as NAP specified. To date, only 93 tests have been performed in the Moldovan prisons, following a special procedure approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection.

The NAP claimed that, at the moment, the supply of drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, as well as protective equipment, disinfectants for staff and detainees is sufficient.

There is no official information regarding the number of confirmed cases or health condition of the detainees who are in custody of Transnistrian prisons. Still, information about COVID-19 contagion of detainees from several Transnistrian prisons appeared on social media, these facts being also reflected in a Promo-LEX report on human rights in the Transnistrian region during the pandemic period. In this regard, Promo-LEX expressed its concern about the lack of reaction and debate on the issue of insurance access to medical care in penitentiary institutions of the Transnistrian region.

At the beginning of 2019, there were 2202 people detained in the prisons of the Transnistrian region, as a Promo-LEX retrospective report presented. The association underlined, back then, the high incarceration rate, as compared to the population of the region - about 550 people per hundred thousand inhabitants. That is while there were 197 detainees per hundred thousand population in the Republic of Moldova and the European average was 106.

Additionally, Promo-LEX drew attention to the problem of overcrowded prisons in Transnistria, due to a large number of prisoners.

Until June 26, the ECtHR issued 17 decisions in 37 cases related to torture and ill-treatment and 20 decisions in 37 cases where the right to liberty and security was violated.

Promo-LEX experts mentioned that the human rights situation in Transnistria is one of the greatest challenges, as the region remains closed and inaccessible to real human rights monitoring institutions or missions.

See also: Human rights violation in the Transnistrian region during the COVID-19 pandemic - new reported cases

Photo: Ye Jinghan| Unsplash

Officially, there are 33 082 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Moldova at the moment, out of which 588 cases were recorded today only. 69.41% (22 958 persons) of them are represented by people considered recovered. 2.82% (935 persons) have died. It doesn't seem a huge number, especially when compared to other countries' reported data. However, when analysed more carefully, it can be observed that Moldova's figures are actually far worse than those of other European countries. Here is more about it:

Active cases in the Republic of Moldova (27.77%) have a doubling interval of 54 days, according to the ADEPT association report.

Out of the total number of active cases - 9179 cases - 554 are serious or critical, that means 6.03%.

Nowadays, the Republic of Moldova has reached the 5th position in the list of the European countries with the highest incidence of coronavirus cases, after Armenia, Luxembourg, Sweden and Spain. The country reached an incidence of 776.97 per 100 000 people, also recording the highest rate of cases per 100 000 in the last week , as of August 21, according to statista.com.

See also: COVID-19 statistics: Moldova's harmful figures that still can break the European records

The numbers regarding the incidence of coronavirus cases in Moldova are comparable to those of Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Dominican Republic, even though the overall evolution of the pandemic is slightly different.

On the other hand, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases per one million people is really contrasting from those of neighbouring countries - Romania and Ukraine, according to OurWorldInData - a platform developed by the University of Oxford researchers and Global Change Data Lab Organisation. Moreover, the incidence of coronavirus cases in Moldova is higher than in Russia, a country that is officially known as being one of the most affected in the world (951 897 confirmed cases and 16 310 deaths).

As of August 22, Moldova had a total of 8 052.63 cases per one million people, Romania - 3 969.03, Ukraine - 2 301.27, whereas Russia - 6489.05 cases per one million people, as being reported by OurWorldInData.

An important aspect to be considered when comparing the figures regarding the overall incidence of coronavirus cases is the rate of tests performed relative to the size of population. Such neighbouring countries as Romania and Ukraine have performed 82.7 and 31.52 tests per one thousand people respectively. In the Republic of Moldova, there were 149 375 tests performed since February 26. That means 56.57 tests per one thousand people, considering a total resident population of 2 640.4 thousand, as per the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.

New measures for people entering the country will be introduced by the Moldovan authorities from September 1. According to the National Extraordinary Public Health Commission (NEPHC) decision, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Protection (MHLSP) is about to make a list of countries at high or low risk of COVID-19 transmission, classified in red and green areas. The list will be published on the official pages of the MHLSP, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, as well as the National Agency for Public Health. The list of countries will be updated every 14 days.

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Moldova celebrates 29 years of independence - past mistakes and future hopes

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This year, Moldova celebrates 29 years of independence, along with other post-Soviet countries that have proclaimed their independence as a result of the Soviet Union dissolution in 1991. This was a historical day when the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of Moldova was adopted - the founding act of the Moldovan state identity.

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a white police chief lays out why blm protests matter in small towns - cnn

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A White police chief lays out why BLM protests matter in small towns

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Even though there hasn't been a single Black Lives Matter protest in the predominantly White city of Canal Fulton, Ohio, their White police chief wrote an article welcoming them, saying "the Black community needs us."

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Finding Nemo causes fish theft from reefs

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LGBT Free Zones have no place in the EU

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In her first 'state of union' speech, the European commission president said Poland's LGBT-free zones were 'humanity-free zones' that had no place in the EU in her strongest criticism yet of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party.

It comes amid a dispute between the EU and Poland over the rule of law, since the country embarked on policies that weaken independent courts.

Von der Leyen said the EU was 'a union where you can be who you are and love who you want to without fear and recrimination'

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'No place in EU': Ursula von der Leyen speaks out against Poland's LGBT-free zones - video

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In her first 'state of union' speech, the European commission president said Poland's LGBT-free zones were 'humanity-free zones' that had no place in the EU in her strongest criticism yet of Poland's ruling Law and Justice party. It comes amid a dispute between the EU and Poland over the rule of law, since the country embarked on policies that weaken independent courts.

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Storm Sally floods and destruction in Carolinas and Georgia
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54196240

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Ice sheet splitting off from land

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Lamine Diack, the ex-head of athletics' governing body, has been jailed after being found guilty of corruption.

The Senegalese, 87, faced corruption and money-laundering charges linked to the Russian doping scandal.

Diack was convicted of accepting bribes from athletes suspected of doping to cover up test results and letting them continue competing, including in the 2012 London Olympics.

He was sentenced to four years in prison, two of them suspended.

Diack's lawyers said he would be appealing against the judgement, which they called "unfair and inhumane".

Diack, who was also given a maximum fine of 500,000 euros (£456,928), was investigated by French authorities for four years over claims he took payments of more than 3m euros to cover up cheating.

The judge said his actions had "undermined the values of athletics and the fight against doping".

Diack has been under house arrest in Paris since November 2015.

Previously one of the most influential figures in world sport, Diack was president of the International Association of Athletics' Federations - now World Athletics - for 16 years until he was replaced by Britain's Lord Coe in August 2015.

Diack's son Papa Massata Diack - who was banned for life from athletics in 2016 - was sentenced to five years in prison and a given a 1m euros fine (£913,850).

After the ruling, World Athletics released a statement in which it said it was "disappointed this happened in our sport" but "grateful for the strong and clear decisions that have been taken against the individuals involved".

Athletics' governing body added that it would like to "reassure everyone that the reforms our congress approved in 2016 will ensure that similar actions by individuals can never happen again in our sport".

"We are grateful for the damages awarded by the Paris Criminal Court totalling 16m euros for embezzled funds and for reputational damage suffered as a direct consequence of these crimes and the resulting media coverage," it added.

"As the court acknowledged, this damage has impacted World Athletics' finances and had a negative impact on World Athletics' image and reputation in a deep and lasting way. We will do everything we can to recover the monies awarded, and return them to the organisation for the development of athletics globally."

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Lamine Diack, the ex-head of athletics' governing body, has been jailed after being found guilty of corruption. The Senegalese, 87, faced corruption and money-laundering charges linked to the Russian doping scandal. Diack was convicted of accepting bribes from athletes suspected of doping to cover up test results and letting them continue competing, including in the 2012 London Olympics.

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Hurricane Sally has crashed into the southern US in slow motion, bringing torrential rain and storm surges, smashing boats and breaking bridges.

It made landfall as a Category 2 and although now a tropical storm, its glacial pace means there are still warnings of danger to life.

Pensacola, Florida, was badly hit, with a loose barge bringing down part of the Bay Bridge.

There are also storm surge warnings for Alabama as Sally heads north.

At 16:00 local time (21:00 GMT), Sally was 55 miles (88km) north of Pensacola and close to the Alabama border. Its 7mph speed in a north-easterly direction is almost a sprint - at one point it was 3mph.

Sally made landfall at Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 04:45 local time on Wednesday, with maximum wind speeds of 105mph.

The latest speeds are put at about 60mph, but it has been the torrents of rainfall and high storm surges that have been its most damaging factors.

Hurricane Sally is one of several storms in the Atlantic Ocean, with officials running out of letters to name the hurricanes as they near the end of their annual alphabetic list.

What's the latest on damage?

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) reports that "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding continues over portions of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama".

Rainfall is being measured in feet rather than inches in some places, but 18in (45cm) has been recorded across many areas.

Flooding to a depth of 5ft hit central Pensacola. The storm surge was the third worst ever to hit the city. Police there told people not to go out to look at the damage, saying: "It's slowing our progress down. Please stay at home!"

Although the winds did not have the devastating power of the deadly Hurricane Laura, which struck last month, they still ripped boats from moorings and sent one barge careering into the under-construction Bay Bridge. They were certainly high enough to topple high-sided vehicles.

Another barge got loose and headed for the Escambia Bay Bridge but luckily ran ashore.

The sheriff of Escambia County said it had not been expecting the devastation wrought by Sally.

Cavin Hollyhand, 50, who lives in Mobile, Alabama, told Reuters: "The rain is what stands out with this one: It's unreal."

There remains "a danger of life-threatening inundation" on the Florida-Alabama border, the NHC said.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said many areas around Mobile were seeing historic flood levels and urged people to heed warnings.

The pier at Gulf State Park in Alabama suffered significant damage.

The latest on power cuts from the poweroutage.us website lists some 290,000 customers without electricity in Alabama and 253,000 more in Florida.

As well as pylons being brought down, many trees were uprooted.

Rain appeared to fall sideways in Alabama, which led to submerged roads as the storm inched ashore. Other areas along the coast were also affected, with beaches and highways swamped in Mississippi and low-lying properties in Louisiana covered by the rising waters.

Alabama, Florida and Mississippi all declared states of emergency ahead of the storm.

Why the slow pace and what's next?

John De Block, at the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama, told the New York Times that Sally was drifting "at the speed of a child in a candy shop".

Sally's pace may be linked to climate change, according to experts. A 2018 study in Nature magazine found that the speed at which hurricanes and tropical storms move over an area had decreased by 10% between 1949 and 2016, a drop that was linked to an increase in total rainfall.

"Sally has a characteristic that isn't often seen, and that's a slow forward speed and that's going to exacerbate the flooding," NHC deputy director Ed Rappaport told the Associated Press.

In addition to Sally, there are four other tropical cyclones - Paulette, Rene, Teddy and Vicky - swirling in the Atlantic Ocean basin.

If only one more storm is officially named - Wilfred has already been chosen - meteorologists will run out of preselected names for the rest of the year and so will begin naming new storms after the Greek alphabet.

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Slow-moving storm Sally batters boats and bridges

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Hurricane Sally has crashed into the southern US in slow motion, bringing torrential rain and storm surges, smashing boats and breaking bridges. It made landfall as a Category 2 and although now a tropical storm, its glacial pace means there are still warnings of danger to life.

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The reopening of cafes has been one of the highlights of relaxed COVID-19 restrictions for many Australians. During lockdowns, long queues for takeaway coffee were testimony to caffeine's relevance to our lives.

Yet the precarious employment of so many hospitality workers meant hundreds of thousands of casual café workers and café owners lost work. Rents and mortgages were suspended or lost, upturning countless lives. At the other end of the coffee supply chain, many coffee farmers in poorer countries, who were already struggling to make a living, are doing it even tougher.

Read more: A tale of two coffee farmers: how they are surviving the pandemic in Honduras

The pandemic has exposed the widening wealth gap in our global economy, and nowhere is this better illustrated than by our daily coffee fix. The multi-billion-dollar global coffee industry relies on vulnerable workers at both ends of the supply chain: the café worker serving your coffee and the struggling farmer who grew your coffee beans.

It's an industry steeped in its colonial past, whose massive profits were built on the back of African slave labour.

An unequal business

Coffee is big business, mostly for coffee merchants in affluent countries. It's among the world's most-traded commodities and we consume nearly 10 million tons of coffee a year. That's about 2.25 billion cups a day worldwide. Since 2000 global consumption has increased by 38%.

Over 80% of the world's coffee comes from 25 million small-scale farmers and 60% is produced by farmers on less than 5 hectares. Many of them struggle to make a decent living.

Read more: Sustainable shopping: here's how to find coffee that doesn't cost the Earth

Coffee's production and consumption echo its 18th-century origins as a global industry. It's mostly consumed by people in affluent countries and produced by agricultural workers in the poorer global south.

The coffee industry's business model is based on a type of neo-colonialism, dominated by a handful of transnational coffee merchants whose profits are bountiful. Plantation economies in developing countries were established by colonial empires whose use of slavery spearheaded the rapid growth of the industry.

The Spanish introduced the use of slaves from Africa in the Caribbean and Latin America. They were quickly followed by the Portuguese in Brazil, then British and French colonialists in the West Indies. African slaves were considered " robust, disease resistant and productive " - physically superior to the local indigenous populations of the Americas, many of whom died from diseases such as cholera and smallpox.

Producers live with poverty and hunger

While the type of slavery that launched the coffee industry no longer exists, other inequities remain. Coffee producers are among the most vulnerable members of the supply chain. When we buy our coffee, most of us are unaware of the bean's provenance and the arduous labour of workers in small-scale plantations.

It's estimated almost half of the world's smallholder coffee producers live in poverty. Most of them are in East Africa, but others are in Latin America and Asia.

Many coffee farmers suffer chronic seasonal hunger. Unlike famine, this occurs between harvest seasons, when the previous year's food stocks have dwindled, food prices are high and income is scarce.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the scarcity of food supplies that were already sporadic. The closure of national borders has further reduced access.

Trying to make the coffee trade fairer

In response to the industry's inequities, many initiatives are seeking fairer and sustainable outcomes for coffee farmers and for the environment. Some have been in place for decades. Of the programs established by NGOs, governments, multinational companies and other organisations, Fair Trade and Direct Trade are among the better-known ones.

More recently, the 2007 International Coffee Agreement is designed to promote a more equitable coffee trade to support smallholder farmers throughout the world. To overcome problems such as very low wages, poor housing and gender inequality, to name a few, these schemes are by necessity site-specific. Despite some success stories, the complexity of the industry and the wide variety of contexts presents barriers to consistent equitable outcomes and results are mixed.

Read more: Nine myths about Indonesian specialty coffee farmers and development

Another approach in the growing speciality coffee sector - independent cafes serving high-quality coffee - is upending traditional business models. An increasing number of entrepreneurs in affluent countries are forming direct partnerships with coffee farmers. The aim here is both ethical and business-focused: to ensure consistent bean quality and provide a fairer income for coffee producers through direct trade.

The supply chain of coffee and cafes is a complex network of producers, distributors and services. Like all industries affected by the pandemic, some operators will survive and others will go to the wall.

While the pandemic's impact is an unfolding story, it has brought into sharper focus inequalities in a thriving industry. Fault lines are evident across both producing and consuming nations, with many of those who work in the plantations and in our cafes on the wrong side of the divide.

It might give us something to think about as we enjoy our next coffee from our local café.

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A dark brew: coffee, COVID and colonialism have left millions struggling to make a living

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The reopening of cafes has been one of the highlights of relaxed COVID-19 restrictions for many Australians. During lockdowns, long queues for takeaway coffee were testimony to caffeine's relevance to our lives. Yet the precarious employment of so many hospitality workers meant hundreds of thousands of casual café workers and café owners lost work.

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Another trip to Bankwest Stadium, another set of battle scars for the Brisbane Broncos.

This time last year it was the site of the club's then all-time record loss - a 58-0 defeat to the Eels.

What followed was pokies-gate and questions over the leadership of Anthony Seibold and the direction of the whole club.

Twelve months later and with Seibold gone there would be more relenting in the painful memories for Brisbane at this ground.
Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand with no-ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
This was where they said goodbye to David Fifita as a Bronco and, unless they defeat the Cowboys next week, this side is destined for its first wooden spoon following a 26-12 loss.

Even then that might not be enough given Canterbury's superior points differential.

Just three wins all year, and starting prop Joe Ofahengaue has yet to feature in any of them.

There were more painful memories none more so than for the unfortunate Tyson Gamble.
Broncos' poaching raid on Storm continues as shock favourite emerges for CEO role 'On report for that?': Joey stunned as Eel PENALISED for basic tackle
Fifita may have played his last game for Brisbane... but could he also miss Origin?
Brisbane's halves crisis deepens as Croft replacement is brutally KO'd by Sivo
In just his first club start Gamble, who was replacing Brodie Croft after he was concussed in training, had his night ended within 60 seconds.

Gamble attempted to tackle Maika Sivo as he returned the ball, with the young Bronco being knocked out cold and failing to return.

Kotoni Staggs shifted to five-eighth and Xavier Coates filled in at centre.

Parramatta's attack, however, has been clunky for weeks and it wasn't until later in the first half that they began to find some rhythm.

Blake Ferguson was the first to score - just his second of the season - and his effort was matched by Maika Sivo over on Parra's left.

They were still struggling to wear Brisbane down and when they got a sniff the Broncos didn't let up.
MATCH CENTRE: Eels vs Broncos, teams, stats, scores, SuperCoach
Fifita - in his penultimate game for the club before he heads for the riches of the Gold Coast - ran through Mitchell Moses as if he was a turnstile.

But Parra struck back instantly with Clint Gutherson sliding his way over on the slippy Bankwest turf twice to put the game beyond the Broncos by the time the game reached its 40-minute mark.

Fifita, however, would have his night and presumably his Broncos career ended when he got caught awkwardly in a tackle which saw Parramatta prop Junior Paulo put on report.

With their interchange options down to just two, the Broncos rallied through Herbie Farnworth, but any confidence quickly dissipated when Jai Field pounced on a loose ball to score a breakaway try.

Of concern, however, will have been a moment late in the second half when a perfectly legal try from the Eels was chalked off.

Ferguson touched down after Henry Perenara had blown his whistle, with the referee stating that the tip from Gutherson went forward.

Replays from the bunker showed the opposite but given Perenara had stopped play he was unable to award the try.

It is the latest officiating blunder after a clear no try wasn't checked in the Rabbitohs' loss to the Bulldogs.
Relive all the action in our live blog below. Can't see the blog? Click here.

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More Bankwest misery for battered Broncos as Eels seal ugly victory

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This time last year it was the site of the club's then all-time record loss - a 58-0 defeat to the Eels. What followed was pokies-gate and questions over the leadership of Anthony Seibold and the direction of the whole club.

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Hawaii to allow visitors to skip quarantine with coronavirus test

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nation-and-world/hawaii-to-allow-visitors-to-skip-quarantine-with-coronavirus-test-2123887/

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Kenyan authorities have ordered the closure of a tourist camp built in the Masai Mara that blocked wildebeests from their annual migration to Serengeti park in Tanzania.

Kenyas National Environment Management Authority said the camp had not complied with environmental requirements.

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Indigenous Heritage Month in full (virtual) swing!

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Amerindian Heritage Month 2020 celebration will be held virtually under theme "Fostering traditional practices for a safe environment" for the entire month of September.

Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, during a virtual press conference on Friday, announced that the annual Amerindian heritage celebrations would abide by COVID-19 guidelines. She said that in keeping the nation safe, all are invited to be a part of the online activities which will be used to promote knowledge about the indigenous peoples' culture including their art, craft and produce.

By sticking to a budget below $15 million, the Minister said that the observance which brings recognition and honour to Guyana's Indigenous people will feature productions that will be accessible for television broadcast.

The indigenous people will be able to showcase their talents and be appreciated for it with the use of an online marketplace for craft, art and other items where they will be advertised for sale, Sukhai informed. She said that these items will be indigenous-owned and will be advertised on the Ministry's Facebook page.

Indigenous cuisine will also be made available and all those interested are encouraged to get on board and participate in the celebrations.

The schedule of events is yet to be confirmed, however, Sukhai disclosed that pre-recorded cultural presentations will be aired on NCN every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 11am, 8pm and 4pm, respectively. An art exhibition will commence virtually from the 7th and will continue until the 30th of September. Cuisine day will be on Wednesdays and for persons interested in sampling the indigenous cuisines, they will have to contact the Ministry as a venue for pick up is yet to be decided.

To facilitate a better understanding of the Indigenous culture, Zoom lectures will be broadcast on television starting from September 10. And so as not to forget Stephen Campbell, the first Indigenous Member of Parliament, there will be documentary programmes aired in his honour.

According to the Amerindian Affairs Minister, these activities will honour the indigenous people and the theme used this year is significant because the traditional practices maintained by the Indigenous peoples of Guyana is one pathway which the indigenous people can use to continue to secure their customs and traditional practices that are manifested in the talent and the cultural heritage displayed by them.

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Amerindian heritage celebrations to be held virtually this year - Stabroek News

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Amerindian Heritage Month 2020 celebration will be held virtually under theme "Fostering traditional practices for a safe environment" for the entire month of September. Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai, during a virtual press conference on Friday, announced that the annual Amerindian heritage celebrations would abide by COVID-19 guidelines.

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Storm Sally is bringing torrential rain and flooding to the Carolinas and Georgia, as it continues its path of destruction north from the US Gulf Coast.

It has already battered Florida and Alabama with rain and storm surges, downing power lines, turning roads into rivers and leaving homes submerged.

Coastal communities are now taking stock of the damage.

One person was killed, and hundreds of thousands are without power.

Besides the fatality reported in Orange Beach, Alabama, one person is also missing from the small coastal city in southwest Alabama, according to Mayor Tony Kennon.

"It was an unbelievably freaky right turn of a storm that none of us ever expected," he told the Washington Post.

Pensacola, Florida, 30m (48 km) east of Orange Beach, was also badly hit, with a loose barge bringing down part of the city's Bay Bridge.

Downtown Pensacola was hit with up to 5ft of flooding and saw the highest storm surge on record. The storm brought "four months of rain in four hours" to the city, Pensacola fire chief Ginny Cranor told CNN.

Pictures show residents wading through waist-deep water, cars stranded in flooded streets, and homes entirely swamped by Wednesday's deluge.

In Gulf Shores, Alabama - near where Sandy first made landfall as a hurricane on Wednesday - the storm sheared off the face of a beachside apartment complex. And 50mi (80km) northwest in Mobile, Alabama, photos show the large steeple of El-Bethel Primitive Baptist Church toppled after the storm.

Sally hit Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 04:45 local time on Wednesday, with maximum wind speeds of 105mph (169 km/h).

According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Category 2 hurricanes have sustained winds of 96 to 110 mph. The NHC says a Category 2 storm's "extremely dangerous winds" usually cause damage to homes and shallowly rooted trees.

As the storm moved north from the coast, some 550,000 residents in affected areas were left in the dark on Wednesday night, according to local reports.

Now a post-tropical cyclone, the storm is expected to deposit up to 10in (25cm) of rain in Virginia and the Carolinas. It will likely cause widespread flash flooding, the NHC said on Thursday.

Maximum wind speeds have decreased to 30mph (45 km/h) as the storm moves northeast at a speed of about 21mph (33km/h).

Scattered tornadoes are also possible from Georgia into South and North Carolina into Thursday evening.

Sally is one of at least five storms in the Atlantic Ocean. Officials are running out of letters to name the hurricanes as they near the end of their annual alphabetic list.
Have you been affected by Hurricane Sally? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:

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Floods and destruction as storm Sally moves north

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Storm Sally is bringing torrential rain and flooding to the Carolinas and Georgia, as it continues its path of destruction north from the US Gulf Coast. It has already battered Florida and Alabama with rain and storm surges, downing power lines, turning roads into rivers and leaving homes submerged.

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54180049
Wild fires

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https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/sep/08/palau-against-china-the-tiny-island-defying-the-worlds-biggest-country

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Siberia's forests are currently on fire, and the climate crisis has also caused ice to thaw, revealing bizarre bumps.

(https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-54126762; https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-54195656)

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Wildfires in Siberia have been releasing record amounts of greenhouse gases, scientists say, contributing to global warming. The fires, fuelled by abnormally high temperatures, have been burning as far north as the Arctic Circle.

BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg travelled to the remote Yakutia region, in northeastern Russia, to gauge the effects of climate change, both on local communities and on the planet.
Producer: Will Vernon Camera and editing: Matthew Goddard

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Wildfires in Siberia have been releasing record amounts of greenhouse gases, scientists say, contributing to global warming. The fires, fuelled by abnormally high temperatures, have been burning as far north as the Arctic Circle. BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg travelled to the remote Yakutia region, in northeastern Russia, to gauge the effects of climate change, both on local communities and on the planet.

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China says it is conducting military exercises near the Taiwan Strait to "protect its sovereignty" as a top US official visits Taiwan.

The live-fire drills take place amid rising tensions between Beijing and Washington, and as the US moves to shore up its support of the island.

China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province.

Keith Krach is the highest-level official from the US State Department to visit the island in decades.

On Friday, China's defence ministry spokesman Ren Guoqiang accused the US and Taiwan of "stepping up collusion, frequently causing disturbances", although he did not make any reference to the visit.

He told reporters that "using Taiwan to control China" or "rely on foreigners to build oneself up" was wishful thinking.

The military exercise was "legitimate and necessary for the mainland to protect its sovereignty and integrity", he said.

Mr Krach, who is the US undersecretary of economic affairs, is scheduled to meet Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen later on Friday.

Although the US does not have a formal diplomatic relationship with Taiwan, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act allows it to sell arms to the island, and commits it to "close relations".

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China military drill as US envoy visits Taiwan

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China says it is conducting military exercises near the Taiwan Strait to "protect its sovereignty" as a top US official visits Taiwan. The live-fire drills take place as relations between Beijing and Washington sour and the US shores up its support of Taiwan. China regards self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province.

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https://news.sky.com/story/rapists-to-be-surgically-castrated-under-new-law-in-nigerian-state-12074477

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has pledged 10.5 billion rand ($650 million) to South African Airways (SAA), one of the administrators of the ailing state-owned airline said on Friday.

The administrators took control of SAA in December after almost a decade of financial losses and have been trying to keep it afloat as the coronavirus pandemic compounds its longstanding problems.

Administrators published a restructuring plan in June, but the more than 10 billion rand required for it to work has not materialised since the airline's creditors approved it in July.

Administrator Siviwe Dongwana told a creditor meeting called to discuss the funding issue on Friday: "We have since received a further communication from government with the support of the National Treasury that indicate that there is a very clear cabinet commitment to provide funding to SAA to the tune of 10 and a half billion."

"The letter also articulates that the mechanisms and the timelines are yet to be finalised," he added.

Dongwana added that next week the administrators would advise creditors and other affected parties about the outcomes of further talks with the government on the time frame for the SAA funding.

Based on those talks, the administrators would assess whether there was still a possibility of SAA being wound down or liquidated. "If the funds flow early enough, then they eliminate the need to deal with the issue of a wind-down or a liquidation," Dongwana said.

The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), the ministry responsible for SAA, said on Friday that it was finalising funding for the airline and an announcement would be made in an Adjustments Appropriation Bill that would be introduced to parliament soon.

"The national carrier will not be liquidated," the DPE said, adding lenders would also be approached to finance the restructuring and layoffs.

The National Treasury acknowledged a Reuters request for comment and said it would respond.

Separately, two of SAA's biggest unions organised a picket outside SAA offices on Friday, demanding the government make available rescue funds.

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passenger transportation services (trbc level 3)

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South Africa commits $650 million to airline SAA, administrator says

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa has pledged 10.5 billion rand ($650 million) to South African Airways (SAA), one of the administrators of the ailing state-owned airline said on Friday.

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City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, South Africa

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South Africa commits $650 million to airline SAA

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South Africa commits $650 million to airline SAA

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https://uk.reuters.com/article/safrica-saa/update-3-south-africa-commits-650-mln-to-airline-saa-administrator-says-idUKL8N2GF26W

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https://www.aninews.in/news/national/general-news/youth-wings-of-congress-bjp-stage-protest-in-kerala-demanding-kt-jaleels-arrest20200918183808

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The reopening of cafes has been one of the highlights of relaxed COVID-19 restrictions for many Australians. During lockdowns, long queues for takeaway coffee were testimony to caffeine's relevance to our lives.

Yet the precarious employment of so many hospitality workers meant hundreds of thousands of casual café workers and café owners lost work. Rents and mortgages were suspended or lost, upturning countless lives. At the other end of the coffee supply chain, many coffee farmers in poorer countries, who were already struggling to make a living, are doing it even tougher.

Read more: A tale of two coffee farmers: how they are surviving the pandemic in Honduras

The pandemic has exposed the widening wealth gap in our global economy, and nowhere is this better illustrated than by our daily coffee fix. The multi-billion-dollar global coffee industry relies on vulnerable workers at both ends of the supply chain: the café worker serving your coffee and the struggling farmer who grew your coffee beans.

It's an industry steeped in its colonial past, whose massive profits were built on the back of African slave labour.

An unequal business

Coffee is big business, mostly for coffee merchants in affluent countries. It's among the world's most-traded commodities and we consume nearly 10 million tons of coffee a year. That's about 2.25 billion cups a day worldwide. Since 2000 global consumption has increased by 38%.

Over 80% of the world's coffee comes from 25 million small-scale farmers and 60% is produced by farmers on less than 5 hectares. Many of them struggle to make a decent living.

Read more: Sustainable shopping: here's how to find coffee that doesn't cost the Earth

Coffee's production and consumption echo its 18th-century origins as a global industry. It's mostly consumed by people in affluent countries and produced by agricultural workers in the poorer global south.

The coffee industry's business model is based on a type of neo-colonialism, dominated by a handful of transnational coffee merchants whose profits are bountiful. Plantation economies in developing countries were established by colonial empires whose use of slavery spearheaded the rapid growth of the industry.

The Spanish introduced the use of slaves from Africa in the Caribbean and Latin America. They were quickly followed by the Portuguese in Brazil, then British and French colonialists in the West Indies. African slaves were considered " robust, disease resistant and productive " - physically superior to the local indigenous populations of the Americas, many of whom died from diseases such as cholera and smallpox.

Producers live with poverty and hunger

While the type of slavery that launched the coffee industry no longer exists, other inequities remain. Coffee producers are among the most vulnerable members of the supply chain. When we buy our coffee, most of us are unaware of the bean's provenance and the arduous labour of workers in small-scale plantations.

It's estimated almost half of the world's smallholder coffee producers live in poverty. Most of them are in East Africa, but others are in Latin America and Asia.

Many coffee farmers suffer chronic seasonal hunger. Unlike famine, this occurs between harvest seasons, when the previous year's food stocks have dwindled, food prices are high and income is scarce.

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the scarcity of food supplies that were already sporadic. The closure of national borders has further reduced access.

Trying to make the coffee trade fairer

In response to the industry's inequities, many initiatives are seeking fairer and sustainable outcomes for coffee farmers and for the environment. Some have been in place for decades. Of the programs established by NGOs, governments, multinational companies and other organisations, Fair Trade and Direct Trade are among the better-known ones.

More recently, the 2007 International Coffee Agreement is designed to promote a more equitable coffee trade to support smallholder farmers throughout the world. To overcome problems such as very low wages, poor housing and gender inequality, to name a few, these schemes are by necessity site-specific. Despite some success stories, the complexity of the industry and the wide variety of contexts presents barriers to consistent equitable outcomes and results are mixed.

Read more: Nine myths about Indonesian specialty coffee farmers and development

Another approach in the growing speciality coffee sector - independent cafes serving high-quality coffee - is upending traditional business models. An increasing number of entrepreneurs in affluent countries are forming direct partnerships with coffee farmers. The aim here is both ethical and business-focused: to ensure consistent bean quality and provide a fairer income for coffee producers through direct trade.

The supply chain of coffee and cafes is a complex network of producers, distributors and services. Like all industries affected by the pandemic, some operators will survive and others will go to the wall.

While the pandemic's impact is an unfolding story, it has brought into sharper focus inequalities in a thriving industry. Fault lines are evident across both producing and consuming nations, with many of those who work in the plantations and in our cafes on the wrong side of the divide.

It might give us something to think about as we enjoy our next coffee from our local café.

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A dark brew: coffee, COVID and colonialism have left millions struggling to make a living

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The reopening of cafes has been one of the highlights of relaxed COVID-19 restrictions for many Australians. During lockdowns, long queues for takeaway coffee were testimony to caffeine's relevance to our lives. Yet the precarious employment of so many hospitality workers meant hundreds of thousands of casual café workers and café owners lost work.

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The late Rwandan gospel singer Kizito Mihigo has been feted posthumously after he was found dead in a police cell in February in the capital, Kigali.

He has been named this year's winner of the Havel International Prize, that celebrates 2activists who exhibit artistic innovation in standing up against dictatorships", the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) said.

Mihigo is the first posthumous awardee since the inception of the prize in 2012.

Omar Abdulaziz - an exiled Saudi political satirist based in Canada, and Badiucao - an exiled Chinese dissident artist based in Australia, are the other laureates of 2020, the foundation said in a statement.

"It was a big surprise and happiness for us as KMP to learn this news", said Delphine Uwituze, the leader of Kizito Mihigo Foundation (KMP).

"We are happy that the world is now recognising Kizito's efforts to peace and reconciliation in Rwanda," Mrs Uwituze told the BBC.

HRF said Kizito - a Rwandan genocide survivor - had "showed tremendous courage in a 2014 song" in which he presented his compassion to "those who were killed by Rwanda Patriotic Forces (RPF) forces after the 1994 genocide".

"[He] released the song with full knowledge that it would lead to terrible consequences," the foundation said.

Havel International Prize laureates receive a bronze sculpture depicting the "Goddess of Democracy", and share a $38,000 (£29,000) prize.
More on this topic:

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Africa Live: Rwandan singer feted for 'stand against dictatorship' - BBC News

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The late Rwandan gospel singer Kizito Mihigo has been feted posthumously after he was found dead in a police cell in February in the capital, Kigali. He has been named this year's winner of the Havel International Prize, that celebrates 2activists who exhibit artistic innovation in standing up against dictatorships", the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) said.

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Barbados to remove Queen as head of state next year

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Barbados to remove Queen as head of state next year

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Barbados has announced its intention to remove the Queen as its head of state and become a republic next year.

The Caribbean island said it wants "full sovereignty" by the time it celebrates its 55th anniversary of independence from the UK in November 2021.

A speech written by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley quoted its first premier Errol Barrow who warned against "loitering on colonial premises".

Reading the speech, Barbados' governor-general Dame Sandra Mason said: "The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind.

"Barbadians want a Barbadian head of state.

"This is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving.

"Hence, Barbados will take the next logical step toward full sovereignty and become a republic by the time we celebrate our 55th anniversary of independence."

The country gained its independence from Britain in 1966, though the Queen remains its constitutional monarch.

In 1998, a Barbados constitutional review commission recommended republican status, and in 2015 Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said "we have to move from a monarchical system to a republican form of government in the very near future".

Most Caribbean countries have kept formal links with the monarchy after achieving independence.

Barbados would join Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica and Guyana if it proceeds with its plan to become a republic.

Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness has also said it is a priority of his government, but he has yet to achieve it.

Barbados took another step towards independence from the UK in 2003 when it replaced the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice, located in Trinidad and Tobago's Port of Spain, as its final appeals court.

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Barbados to remove Queen as head of state next year

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Barbados has announced its intention to remove the Queen as its head of state and become a republic next year. The Caribbean island said it wants "full sovereignty" by the time it celebrates its 55th anniversary of independence from the UK in November 2021.

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Australia Stinging Trees

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Impact of storm Sally

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Storm Sally is bringing torrential rain and flooding to the Carolinas and Georgia, as it continues its path of destruction north from the US Gulf Coast.

It has already battered Florida and Alabama with rain and storm surges, downing power lines, turning roads into rivers and leaving homes submerged.

Coastal communities are now taking stock of the damage.

One person was killed, and hundreds of thousands are without power.

Besides the fatality reported in Orange Beach, Alabama, one person is also missing from the small coastal city in southwest Alabama, according to Mayor Tony Kennon.

"It was an unbelievably freaky right turn of a storm that none of us ever expected," he told the Washington Post.

Pensacola, Florida, 30m (48 km) east of Orange Beach, was also badly hit, with a loose barge bringing down part of the city's Bay Bridge.

Downtown Pensacola was hit with up to 5ft of flooding and saw the highest storm surge on record. The storm brought "four months of rain in four hours" to the city, Pensacola fire chief Ginny Cranor told CNN.

Pictures show residents wading through waist-deep water, cars stranded in flooded streets, and homes entirely swamped by Wednesday's deluge.

In Gulf Shores, Alabama - near where Sandy first made landfall as a hurricane on Wednesday - the storm sheared off the face of a beachside apartment complex. And 50mi (80km) northwest in Mobile, Alabama, photos show the large steeple of El-Bethel Primitive Baptist Church toppled after the storm.

Sally hit Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 04:45 local time on Wednesday, with maximum wind speeds of 105mph (169 km/h).

According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Category 2 hurricanes have sustained winds of 96 to 110 mph. The NHC says a Category 2 storm's "extremely dangerous winds" usually cause damage to homes and shallowly rooted trees.

As the storm moved north from the coast, some 550,000 residents in affected areas were left in the dark on Wednesday night, according to local reports.

Now a post-tropical cyclone, the storm is expected to deposit up to 10in (25cm) of rain in Virginia and the Carolinas. It will likely cause widespread flash flooding, the NHC said on Thursday.

Maximum wind speeds have decreased to 30mph (45 km/h) as the storm moves northeast at a speed of about 21mph (33km/h).

Scattered tornadoes are also possible from Georgia into South and North Carolina into Thursday evening.

Sally is one of at least five storms in the Atlantic Ocean. Officials are running out of letters to name the hurricanes as they near the end of their annual alphabetic list.
Have you been affected by Hurricane Sally? Share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk .
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Floods and destruction as storm Sally moves north

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Storm Sally is bringing torrential rain and flooding to the Carolinas and Georgia, as it continues its path of destruction north from the US Gulf Coast. It has already battered Florida and Alabama with rain and storm surges, downing power lines, turning roads into rivers and leaving homes submerged.

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Two Antarctic glaciers  breaking could lead  to rise in sea levels - the affects of Global Warming!

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two antarctic glaciers are breaking up and it could have major consequences for sea level rise - cnn

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Extensive damage at two huge Antarctic glaciers could have major consequences for sea level rise

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Satellite images show that two important glaciers in the Antarctic are sustaining rapid damage at their most vulnerable points, leading to the breaking up of vital ice shelves with major consequences for global sea level rise.

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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/09/fires-help-endangered-woodpeckers/

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Storm sally: Flood and destruction https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54196240

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Hurricane causes flooding in the north-central Gulf coast

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c302m85q147t/north-macedonia

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Francisca and Constanza Torres and their three dogs, are planting seeds in areas of Chile devastated by wildfires. The project, which uses dog backpacks, is done in their own time and has already gained international recognition.
Video produced by Daniel South and Simon Diaz

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Francisca and Constanza Torres and their three dogs, are planting seeds in areas of Chile devastated by wildfires. The project, which uses dog backpacks, is done in their own time and has already gained international recognition. Video produced by Daniel South and Simon Diaz

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-54200843

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People in the Northwest of China test positive for bacterial leak

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Thousands of people in northwest China have tested positive for a bacterial disease after a leak from a state-owned biopharmaceutical plant making animal vaccines last year.

Health officials in Lanzhou city said 3,245 people had contracted brucellosis, a disease often caused by close contact with infected animals or animal products that can bring about fevers, joint pain and headaches.

Another 1,401 people tested as an early positive for the disease, and health authorities said there was no evidence of person-to-person transmission so far.

Chinese authorities found a biopharmaceutical plant had used expired disinfectant in its production of Brucella vaccines for animals between July and August last year -- meaning the bacteria was not eradicated in its factory exhaust.

Contaminated gas from the China Animal Husbandry Lanzhou Biopharmaceutical Factory in Lanzhou formed aerosols containing the bacteria, and this was then carried by wind to the Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, infecting nearly 200 people there as of December last year.

More than 20 students and faculty members of Lanzhou University, some of whom had been to the institute, subsequently tested positive as well, according to Xinhua news agency.

Lanzhou's health commission said Friday that sheep, cattle and pigs were most commonly involved in the spread of the bacteria.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, person-to-person transmission of brucellosis is "extremely rare" but some symptoms may reoccur or never go away.

These include recurrent fevers, chronic fatigue, swelling of the heart or arthritis.

The factory -- which apologised earlier this year -- has had its brucellosis vaccine production licence revoked, Lanzhou authorities said.

Compensation for patients would start in batches from October, according to local authorities.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Thousands In China Contract Bacterial Disease After Biopharma Plant Leak

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Thousands of people in northwest China have tested positive for a bacterial disease after a leak from a state-owned biopharmaceutical plant making animal vaccines last year. Health officials in Lanzhou city said 3,245 people had contracted brucellosis, a disease often caused by close contact with infected animals or animal products that can bring about fevers, joint pain and headaches.

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https://japantoday.com/category/national/japan's-tallest-skyscraper-torch-tower-to-be-built-in-tokyo

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Two Antarctic Glaciers breaking up could lead to rise in sea levels - the effects of global warming !

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two antarctic glaciers are breaking up and it could have major consequences for sea level rise - cnn

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Extensive damage at two huge Antarctic glaciers could have major consequences for sea level rise

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Satellite images show that two important glaciers in the Antarctic are sustaining rapid damage at their most vulnerable points, leading to the breaking up of vital ice shelves with major consequences for global sea level rise.

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-47639452?ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_live&ns_linkname=5f645ec1b3b2c202d36186a0%26Kenyan%20camp%20that%20blocked%20wildebeest%20migration%20closed%262020-09-18T07%3A50%3A26.654Z&ns_fee=0&pinned_post_locator=urn:asset:44104924-b00c-4dca-952e-1c79e28cceed&pinned_post_asset_id=5f645ec1b3b2c202d36186a0&pinned_post_type=share

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Olga Robinson

Disinformation specialist, BBC Monitoring

Sir Van Morrison refers to a debunked Covid-19 conspiracy theory in one of his new anti-lockdown songs.

The track As I Walked Out includes the lyrics "Well on the government website from the 21 March 2020 / It said Covid-19 was no longer high risk".

It's a reference to a UK government page that stated "Covid-19 is no longer considered to be a high consequence infectious disease (HCID) in the UK".

That much is true - but that doesn't mean that coronavirus is harmless.

The HCID designation is given for very fatal diseases: for example Ebola, which kills more than 50% of infected people.

Covid-19 was initially classified as HCID in January - when little was known about it.

By March, more information and testing prompted authorities to revise the classification.

It's now thought the Covid-19 fatality rate is closer to 1%. The danger, scientists say, is that it is also highly infectious, and there is no proven vaccine or treatment.

The government message was widely shared on social media, largely by coronavirus denialists and opponents of restrictions, who have cited it as "evidence" that the lockdown was based on a "hoax".

The government has released some details of how far people are having to travel to get tested in England, following complaints that politicians were using the figures without publishing them.

The headline figure is that the median distance people had to travel to get a test (which means half the trips were shorter and half the trips were longer than this figure) was 6.4 miles in the first week in September and 5.8 miles in the second week. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has used both these figures. That's distance one way, so presumably they had to travel back afterwards.

That includes people who registered for a test and didn't turn up, but not those who were offered a test but turned it down because it was too far away. It covers regional, local and mobile testing sites.

Also, using the median reduces the effect of people who travelled extraordinary distances. We know in the second week in September that 5% of people travelled more than 47 miles to get a test. That's a 94-mile round trip.

We don't know exactly how many people that is (and some people will have needed more than one test) but from the most recent week we do have figures for we can estimate that that is about 18,000 people who had to travel more than 94 miles for a test.

Read more: Coronavirus testing - what is going wrong?

And colds, flu and Covid-19 are caused by different viruses, but can have similar symptoms - so how can you tell which one you may have?

Robert Cuffe

BBC head of statistics

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey estimates that 59,800 people in homes in England had coronavirus in the week to 10 September.

This (roughly 1 in 900 people) is up by about half on the figure reported the week before.

They say there is clear evidence of an increase in people under the age of 35 testing positive - particularly those aged two to 11 and 17-34 - and of higher infection rates in the North West and London.

The infection rate they see equates to about 6,000 new cases each day in England.

The figures for Wales are about one in 2,000 people with coronavirus in the week to 10 September.

The government says there has been "major increases" in Covid-19 cases in "large areas" of north-west England, Yorkshire and "small parts of the Midlands".

In Merseyside, Warrington, Halton and Lancashire (excluding Blackpool and Greater Manchester), from Tuesday 22 September:

Residents must not socialise with other people outside of their own households or support bubble in private homes and gardens

Hospitality for food and drink will be restricted to table service only

Late night operating hours will be restricted, with leisure and entertainment venues including restaurants, pubs, and cinemas, required to close between 22:00 BST to 05:00.

A statement says residents in these areas should only use public transport for "essential purposes" such as travelling to school or work and avoid attending amateur and semi-professional sporting events as spectators.

Separate restrictions are already in place in Bolton and Greater Manchester.

Those who are shielding in parts of north-east Blackburn will no longer need to from 5 October, the statement says.

The UK government has just announced there will be further restrictions in place for more areas in north-west England, West Yorkshire and the Midlands to tackle rising infection rates.

These will come into force from Tuesday.

We will bring you more details on here.

James Gallagher

Health and science correspondent, BBC News

Basic maths shows us how quickly coronavirus cases can, theoretically, soar.

Around 4,000 infections a day, doubling every eight days, would be nearly 130,000 new daily cases by the end of October.

That is not guaranteed to happen but it gives a sense of how quickly a small problem can become a big one.

And a change in our behaviour, the "rule of six" or restrictions like those in north-east England could improve the situation.

The point of a national "circuit break" would be to achieve a controlled drop in the levels of coronavirus without needing a full lockdown.

This does two things - obviously it helps avoid having very high levels of the virus that could overwhelm hospitals.

But it also gives us more options. Any contact tracing programme or system of local lockdowns is far easier to implement when levels of the virus are low.

The higher the number of cases, the fewer targeted measures the government has to use.

The problem is once the circuit break is over, cases would begin to rise again and it may take multiple circuit breaks to get us through winter.

It is only September and Spring is still a very long way away.

If you are just joining us here are the main coronavirus headlines you need to know so far on Friday:

The traditional New Year's Eve fireworks display in London will not take place this year.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan confirmed the move in an interview with LBC. He said it was decided it would be too risky to have people gathering in the city centre in big numbers.

He said there would be an alternative televised event people could enjoy from their own homes, wherever they are in the UK.

Details are still being worked out, Mr Khan added.

Read more here.

James Badcock

Madrid-based journalist

While Spain suffers the highest levels of Covid-19 transmission in Europe, its capital Madrid is the sickest city in Spain.

The regional government, which manages public healthcare, is poised to introduce draconian restrictions on social activity - possibly confining the capital's worst-hit areas, three months after Spain's national lockdown ended.

Accounting for a third of the new cases detected in Spain in recent weeks, Madrid's cumulative number of Covid-19 cases over two weeks has now reached 659 confirmed positives per 100,000 inhabitants. Some of the most crowded neighbourhoods in the city's poor south are double that. The Spanish national average is 260. In the UK the number is 59, according to the European CDC.

Madrid's hospitals are approaching the levels of saturation that saw disastrous scenes in the spring, when ambulances were not sent to care homes and a massive field hospital was set up in the capital's main conference centre.

Health workers' representatives say some intensive care units have already reached capacity. Of 500 intensive care beds available in public hospitals across the region, 400 are now occupied by Covid patients. But the regional government points to plans to extend that capacity to more than 900.

Robert Cuffe

BBC head of statistics

People with health conditions that limit their activities count for nearly 60% of Covid-19 deaths - but just 16% of the population.

That's according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics covering deaths in England and Wales between March and July.

That definition of disability is based on responses to the 2011 census. People under the age of nine or those who have entered the country since 2011 were excluded from the analysis.

The ONS estimates that people whose daily activities are limited a lot or a little by health problems, which are expected to last for at least a year, accounted for almost six in 10 (59%) coronavirus deaths.

Analyses that adjusted for age, region and some measures of wealth/poverty showed that women whose activities are limited a lot by health conditions were 2.4 times more likely to die with Covid in the time period.

For men, the data suggested they were two times more likely to die.

For men and women whose daily activities are limited a little by a health condition, their risk was 1.6 times that of men and women without any such limitations.

For a more in-depth look at coronavirus and disabilities, read our feature here.

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Covid updates: More curbs for north-west England, West Yorkshire and the Midlands. - BBC News

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Olga Robinson Disinformation specialist, BBC Monitoring Sir Van Morrison refers to a debunked Covid-19 conspiracy theory in one of his new anti-lockdown songs. The track As I Walked Out includes the lyrics "Well on the government website from the 21 March 2020 / It said Covid-19 was no longer high risk".

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Forest fires devastated Brazil’s tropical wetland

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Forest fires devastate Brazil's Pantanal tropical wetlands

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A huge number of fires has devastated the Pantanal, with fears of huge animal losses too.

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Several African countries hit by devastating floods

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Several African countries hit by devastating floods - BBC Weather

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Millions of people have been affected by floods in sub-Saharan Africa; in Senegal a year's worth of rain fell in just 24 hours.

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54183948

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Storm destroys homes
https://apnews.com/0a234124e80d9eb384a6a288657cebab

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cdl8n2edee0t/bolivia

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Sierra Leone women's footballers welcome life-changing equal pay

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-54186047

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Storm Sally: Floods and destruction as weather system moves north!

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A "bullseye" of cold weather could be about to bring an entire season's worth of rain in just a few hours to some parts of Australia, forecasters have warned.

Up to 50mm of moisture is due to fall on some inland areas this weekend, where 200mm is the annual average. That could be bring flash flooding to some of the driest parts of the continent including the Red Centre which is forecast to see a soaking.

Some of that moisture will make it to the capitals, but the heavy falls may run out of steam before they reach the east coast.

"A big weekend of weather awaits most regions of the country with outback rain, humidity across the south east and tropics and a showery change for the south west," said Sky News Weather Meteorologist Alison Osborne on Friday.

The focus is on a swirling cut-off low-pressure system that is tracking across the Nullarbor.

"An area like a bullseye is an upper level cold pool that enhances rainfall and thunderstorms at the surface."

At the same time a humid tropical air mass is working its way down towards the south east from inland areas of Queensland that will bring muggy conditions. Severe weather warnings are already in place for Queensland and South Australia.

On Friday, central South Australia including areas such as Coober Pedy could see severe storms and rain as the system passes through with the possibility of dust storms as well. Alice Springs could also experience a storm.

"Some of Australia's driest regions see only around 100 to 200mm annually, about half that could fall in just a few hours today," said Ms Osborne.

"It could be the heaviest falls in a couple of years."

Into Saturday, that rain band will move east bringing heavy rain to Broken Hill, Mildura and then towards Dubbo, Griffith, Wagga Wagga and Forbes as the weekend progresses.
WEATHER IN THE CAPITALS
On Saturday, Adelaide is likely to see some solid downpours with up to 20mm in the gauge and possible thunderstorms. Temperatures are forecast to top out a 21C. Intermittent showers could continue throughout the weekend and into next week with the mercury fluctuating between 25C on Sunday and 17C on Tuesday with overnight lows just moving into double digits.

Some rain in Melbourne today with heavier showers on Saturday and the chance of a storm. It could be a humid day with highs of 25C. Showers will ease on Sunday but they could come back again on Monday. Minimums in the mid teens.

Mostly dry in Hobart this weekend with highs in the low twenties. Some rain could pass through Tasmania early next week.

Canberra is forecast to get caught up in the rain band as it heads east. Just a scattered shower or two on Saturday but there will be more substantial falls, of up to 10mm, on Sunday. Monday will be potentially wetter still with the chance of a storm. Maximums of 19-23C.

"By the end of the Sunday the system runs out of energy and very little rainfall is expected to make it to the New South Wales coast with those showers backing up against the Great Dividing Range," said Ms Osborne.

Mostly sunny but with the odd shower here and there for Sydney on the weekend. Temperatures will reach around 23C, and as high as 27C on Monday when a storm could rumble through the city's west. Lows in the mid-teens.

A shower or two could dampen Brisbane but not much rain will get in the gauge. A maximum of 27C on Sunday which will set the tone for next week's temperatures.

A sunny Friday in Perth will give way to rain and possible storms on the weekend. More than 10mm of moisture could fall between Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures will struggle to get into the twenties until Tuesday. Chilly nights of around 8C.

Tropical moisture and humidity will be a feature of the Top End. In Darwin, a smattering of rain on Saturday and then some heavier falls on Sunday. Highs of 33C will give away to nights in the mid twenties.

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sky news weather meteorologist alison osborne

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Season's worth of rain in hours on wet, humid weekend

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A "bullseye" of cold weather could be about to bring an entire season's worth of rain in just a few hours to some parts of Australia, forecasters have warned. Up to 50mm of moisture is due to fall on some inland areas this weekend, where 200mm is the annual average.

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Sierra Leone women's international Rashidatu Kamara says she can now achieve her dream of getting a college degree following a pay boost.

Kamara and her international team-mates will now be paid the same as players in the men's national team.

The commitment to equality has been made by the Sierra Leone government and covers appearance fees and winning bonuses.

The new measures have even been backdated for the women's team who have been paid $2,000 each for participating in this year's maiden West African Football union (Wafu) Zone A tournament on home soil.

"I didn't believe when I received it, It was indeed unbelievable. I have never before received such amount of money in my life," she enthused to BBC Sport Africa.

Life changing

The 21-year-old, considered as one of the star players of Sierra Leone women's senior national team, already has plans for her first payment.

"I'm delighted that we're now having equal pay with our male counterparts," the converted left back who won the 2019 Liberia top flight league and FA Cup with Earth Angels told BBC Sport Africa.

"I have diploma in banking and finance and I'm hopeful that I'll now earn more money to achieve my dream of having a college degree which will help me to plan my life after football.

"Having equal pay is what we've been hoping for, this is welcoming news and I want say thanks to our government and the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA).

"I believe it will motivate all female players in the country to do more. It'll also encourage parents to allow their girls to play football.

Her sentiments were echoed by Martha Conteh, who captained Sierra Queens at the Wafu Cup

"It was unbelievable (to get the $2,000). I have never before received such amount of money in my life," she explained.

"This is a welcoming news. I'm happy and I want to say thanks to the government and SLFA."

"It will motivate all female players in the country to do more. It will also encourage parents to allow their girls to play football."

Government backing

Sports minister Ibrahim Nyelenkeh says his government's decision to harmonise payment for senior national teams is to improve the women's game, and give equal treatment to all.

"We decided to harmonise match appearance fee so that we can see how best we can motivate the female footballers to develop the women's game," he told BBC Sport Africa.

"The female footballers have been left out for far too long.

"The male and female teams are serving the same purpose so I don't see any reason for us to pay the female team less.

"It's never too late because we've been working on it, the policy doesn't have to come within twinkle of an eye, and it's a process, that's why we're here today."

"The SLFA played great role in putting together the policy because they've been dealing with these players.

"We as a ministry are responsible to pay the players, but we don't work in isolation. We sat down with the SLFA and worked out the whole policy."

The minister also hopes the move to equal pay will serve as an incentive to develop women's football and see a growth in the number of players.

"This is a huge boost and motivation for female football in Sierra Leone," he insisted.

"In fact this a challenge we've thrown to the female footballers - you must prove yourself before you're called up to the senior national team.

"I know players will now put more efforts in their game to fight for place in the national team, they'll have to prove their mettle to be called upon."

"For now the policy is only meant for the two senior national teams. We're on it for the other categories of national teams when once we complete we'll make it known."

The Sierra Leone Football Association's head of media and marketing Ibrahim Kamara says the policy is a step in the right direction

"This is a welcoming news and a step in the right direction," he told BBC African Sport.

"It'll help a lot to inspire the girls. This is a clear indication that the Sierra Leone government is not only determined to improve sports in country, but also determined to uplift the female category of the game to be at par with men's football."

The Sierra Leone women's team will now be hoping that they can continue to play regular international football.

This year's Wafu tournament was their first competitive match for ten years and it saw them exit in the group stage on home soil after three draws with Cape Verde, Guinea and Senegal.

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Sierra Leone women welcome life-changing equal pay

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Sierra Leone women's international Rashidatu Kamara says she can now achieve her dream of getting a college degree following a pay boost. Kamara and her international team-mates will now be paid the same as players in the men's national team. The commitment to equality has been made by the Sierra Leone government and covers appearance fees and winning bonuses.

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The Kenyan authorities have order the closure of a tourist camp that blocked wildebeests from their annual migration to Serengeti park in Tanzania.

Kenya's National Environment Management Authority said the
Mara Ngenche camp had not complied with the environmental requirements.

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South Africa eases strict lockdown as cases drop https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-africa-54186040

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NASA shows the smoke from the wildfires can be seen from space

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https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uganda-tanzania-oil-pipeline-threatens-150400598.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANlqvX8X2ZgDYIGBQdHUCR4R9LTygM2FvfjzG3NCLRkAUCmBoM_w8oBv5vqSrvcvIzfVWekXnaYjZ4enmeUFcOZXHAPW5sPN3pAc3S74yVdkSjoQSjT85ojtyWBP_oCC9mc9HiGGt2EkFKRgaJBlUp_hdNaRfgzwp_NCILob3MYX

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Deadly ‘superfungus’ found in Central America could destroy entire population of poisonous frogs already critically endangered
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8735811/Deadly-superfungus-Central-America-destroy-entire-population-poisonous-frogs.html

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Khao Yai National Park, Hin Tung, Mueang Nakhon Nayok District, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand

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Khao Yai National Park, Hin Tung, Mueang Nakhon Nayok District, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand

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Khao Yai National Park, Hin Tung, Mueang Nakhon Nayok District, Nakhon Nayok, Thailand

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If you litter in this Thai national park, your trash may just come back to haunt you.

Well, not exactly haunt, but it'll be shipped to your home as a pointed reminder that when out in nature, you better clean up after yourself.

Authorities in the popular Khao Yai National Park near Bangkok will start sending rubbish back to litterers, Thailand's environment minister said.

Offenders will also be registered with the police.

Visitors to the park have to register with their addresses, making it easy for rangers to track them down if they leave rubbish behind.

Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa posted pictures of trash collected in cardboard parcels ready to be shipped on his Facebook account.

"Your trash - we'll send it back to you" the post warns, reminding people that littering in a national park is an offence and punishable with up to five years in prison and hefty fines.

Along with empty plastic bottles, cans and chips wrappings, the box in the Facebook post contains a polite note saying: "You forgot these things at Khao Yai National Park".

Park authorities say the trash left behind can be particularly dangerous for animals who may try to eat it.

Khao Yai National Park which is north-east of the Thai capital Bangkok stretches across more than 2,000 sq km (770 sq miles) and is very popular with hikers.

It's the oldest national park in Thailand and known for its waterfalls, animals and scenery.

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Thai national park mails trash back to tourists

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If you litter in this Thai national park, your trash may just come back to haunt you. Well, not exactly haunt, but it'll be shipped to your home as a pointed reminder that when out in nature, you better clean up after yourself.

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Remote Puffin!

Britain is a brilliant place to take a gap year!

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Environment

Several of the new colonies are on areas of offshore sea ice vulnerable to warming temperatures

Satellite mapping technology has located 11 previously unknown emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica based on mapping the brown-red guano stains the birds leave on the ice.

The new colonies represent a 20 per cent rise in the number of known emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica, and provide a new and important benchmark for scientists studying the impacts of the climate crisis on the world's most southerly continent.

Of the 11 new colonies, three had previously been identified, but had not been confirmed. There are now known to be 61 emperor penguin colonies scattered around the continent.

"This is an exciting discovery," said Dr Peter Fretwell, a geographer at the British Antarctic Survey who led the satellite mapping study.

"The new satellite images of Antarctica's coastline have enabled us to find these new colonies. And whilst this is good news, the colonies are small and so only take the overall population count up by 5-10 per cent to just over half a million penguins or around 265,500 - 278,500 breeding pairs".

Read more

Emperor penguins need sea ice to breed and are located in areas that are very difficult to reach and study because they are remote and often inaccessible with temperatures as low as −50C (−58F).

For the last 10 years, British Antarctic Survey scientists have been looking for new colonies by searching for their guano stains on the ice.

Emperor penguins are known to be vulnerable to loss of sea ice, their favoured breeding habitat.

With current projections of climate change, this habitat is likely to decline. Most of the newly found colonies are situated at the margins of the emperors' breeding range. Therefore, these locations are likely to be lost as the climate warms.

Dr Phil Trathan, head of conservation biology at the British Antarctic Survey, has been studying penguins for the last three decades. He said: "Whilst it's good news that we've found these new colonies, the breeding sites are all in locations where recent model projections suggest emperors will decline. Birds in these sites are therefore probably the 'canaries in the coalmine' - we need to watch these sites carefully as climate change will affect this region."

The study found a number of colonies located far offshore on areas of sea ice which had formed around icebergs that had grounded in shallow water.

These colonies, up to 180 km (110 miles) offshore, are a surprising new finding in the behaviour of this increasingly well-known species.

The research is published in the journal Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation.

More about

1/3 Penguin poo seen by satellites reveals new colonies of emperors

Penguin poo seen by satellites reveals new colonies of emperors

Penguin poo seen by satellites leads to discovery of previously unknown emperor colonies in Antarctica

Several of the new colonies are on areas of offshore sea ice vulnerable to warming temperatures

Penguin poo seen by satellites reveals new colonies of emperors

penguin-poo-1.jpg

A satellite image showing stained patches of ice - evidence of a penguin colony

British Antarctic Survey/Copernicus Sentinel-2

Penguin poo seen by satellites reveals new colonies of emperors

Penguin poo from space

The guano is clearly visible in satellite images

British Antarctic Survey/Copernicus Sentinel-2

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Penguin poo seen by satellites leads to discovery of previously unknown emperor colonies in Antarctica

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Environment Several of the new colonies are on areas of offshore sea ice vulnerable to warming temperatures Satellite mapping technology has located 11 previously unknown emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica based on mapping the brown-red guano stains the birds leave on the ice.

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COVID-19 brings risk to South America's wilderness areas

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
s a military helicopter circled overhead, a volunteer clown in a red rubber nose sang a nonsense song to laughing children outside a public theatre.

Volunteers inside handed juice and sandwiches to members of the Shuar people newly arrived from the Amazon rainforest. Some had black face paint and hand-carved wooden spears that poked above the indigenous demonstrators who've taken over the sprawling state-run complex known as the Casa de la Cultura.

A few blocks away, groups of young, stone-throwing protesters battled police with rocks. On Friday afternoon, the street fighters reached the main entrance of the National Assembly before they were driven back by tear gas in the fifth consecutive day of clashes in the heart of Quito, Ecuador's capital.

This is the main field of battle for control of the economic future of Ecuador, a former member of the Order of Petroleum Exporting Countries left deeply in debt by a decade of high-spending governance and the oil price drop. Faced with a $64bn (£54.6bn) debt and a $10bn (£7.9bn) annual deficit, President Lenin Moreno is raising taxes, liberalising labour laws and cutting public spending in order to win more than $4bn (£3.2bn) in emergency financing from the International Monetary Fund.

As part of that plan, Mr Moreno eliminated a subsidy on the price of fuel on 2 October, driving the most popular variety of gasoline from $1.85 (£1.46) to $2.39 (£1.89) a gallon and diesel from $1.03 (81p) to $2.30 (£1.82). Panic and speculation sent prices soaring, with costs of some products - papayas, rural bus fares - doubling or more.

Ecuador's indigenous people, wracked by poverty and underserved by government programmes, were infuriated. Over the last week, thousands of Shuar, Saraguro, Quechua and other indigenous people streamed into Quito from deep in the Amazon rainforest and high in the towns and villages of the Ecuadorian Andes. They have set up camp in the Casa de la Cultura, the neighbouring park known as El Arbolito and three universities, supported by thousands of protesters from Quito and surrounding areas.

At least once a day, young men with sticks and rocks surge towards the legislature and try to take it over, which they have managed to do at least once this week before being driven out with tear gas.

The protests have halted activity in much of the southern end of the capital and prompted Mr Moreno to temporarily move the seat of government to the Pacific port city of Guayaquil. Indigenous protesters also launched attacks on Amazon oil wells that have paralysed production, the country's main export, by cutting off generators and forcing essential staff to leave.

Despite the dire situation, Mr Moreno has said he cannot restore the fuel subsidies. The country is broke and backing down to protesters would be a defeat for the president's effort to undo the policies of his predecessor and former mentor, Rafael Correa.

Mr Moreno called on Friday for negotiation.

"The country must recover its calm," he said on national television. "Let's sit down and talk."

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities, the umbrella group leading the protesters, issued a response that appeared to drop the demand for restoring subsidies before any talks take place.

"We insist on the necessity of direct and public dialogue in order to end or revise" the economic reform measures, a statement said.

Meanwhile, the protest base was functioning as a miniature town, with playrooms for older children, nurseries for babies and separate sleeping areas for men and women, designed to protect the female protesters and their children.

Care was provided by medical school students and volunteers brought donations of food, beverages, clothes and basic products like toilet paper. Rubbish was separated into categories for recycling.

On Friday afternoon, the park had a festival atmosphere. Families sprawled on the grass and vendors sold roast pork and skewers of chicken and sausages. Inside the Casa de la Cultura, exhausted protesters sprawled on blankets or beds of eucalyptus branches.

Mariana Yumbay, a 46-year-old law professor from Bolivar province, wore two swabs of white cotton in her nose to block tear gas drifting from the front line.

The country is in economic trouble, she acknowledged. The solution, she said, was forcing the wealthy to pay more taxes, instead of raising prices that affect the poor.

Indigenous farmers in Bolivar have no irrigation networks to nourish crops of corn and potato or herds of cattle, pigs and sheep, she said. More than 40 per cent of children are malnourished and many people live on about $30 (£24) a month.

When fuel subsidies were removed, bus drivers doubled the price of trips from the countryside into the provincial capital, Guaranda, from $2 to $4, she said.

"Unfortunately the state hasn't had a policy of steering economic resources to pull indigenous people and farmers out of poverty," she said.

On the floor of the complex's largest theatre, Quechua people burned eucalyptus leaves in a memorial for protesters killed during demonstrations. An indigenous leader and four other people have died in Ecuador's violence since last week, according to the public defender's office.

The president's office has reported two deaths. Hundreds of protesters have been injured and hundreds more briefly detained.

Mr Moreno has received statements of support from the Organisation of American States and individual Latin American countries that emphasise he took office as Ecuador's constitutionally elected president in 2017.

"We recognise the difficult decisions that the government of Ecuador has taken to advance good governance and promote sustainable economic growth" US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Friday. "We will continue to work in partnership with President Moreno in support of democracy, prosperity, and security."

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Clowns, recycling and tear gas on site of clash over Ecuador's economic future

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s a military helicopter circled overhead, a volunteer clown in a red rubber nose sang a nonsense song to laughing children outside a public theatre. Volunteers inside handed juice and sandwiches to members of the Shuar people newly arrived from the Amazon rainforest.

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https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-glacier-melting-antarctica-thwaites-doomsday-warm-water-b421022.html

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Jewish pilgrims trying to enter Ukraine are being held at the Belarus border due to COVID-19 fears. As such, these Jews cannot complete their annual pilgrimage to an important rabbi's grave.

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Sierra Leone women's international Rashidatu Kamara says she can now achieve her dream of getting a college degree following a pay boost.

Kamara and her international team-mates will now be paid the same as players in the men's national team.

The commitment to equality has been made by the Sierra Leone government and covers appearance fees and winning bonuses.

The new measures have even been backdated for the women's team who have been paid $2,000 each for participating in this year's maiden West African Football union (Wafu) Zone A tournament on home soil.

"I didn't believe when I received it, It was indeed unbelievable. I have never before received such amount of money in my life," she enthused to BBC Sport Africa.

Life changing

The 21-year-old, considered as one of the star players of Sierra Leone women's senior national team, already has plans for her first payment.

"I'm delighted that we're now having equal pay with our male counterparts," the converted left back who won the 2019 Liberia top flight league and FA Cup with Earth Angels told BBC Sport Africa.

"I have diploma in banking and finance and I'm hopeful that I'll now earn more money to achieve my dream of having a college degree which will help me to plan my life after football.

"Having equal pay is what we've been hoping for, this is welcoming news and I want say thanks to our government and the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA).

"I believe it will motivate all female players in the country to do more. It'll also encourage parents to allow their girls to play football.

Her sentiments were echoed by Martha Conteh, who captained Sierra Queens at the Wafu Cup

"It was unbelievable (to get the $2,000). I have never before received such amount of money in my life," she explained.

"This is a welcoming news. I'm happy and I want to say thanks to the government and SLFA."

"It will motivate all female players in the country to do more. It will also encourage parents to allow their girls to play football."

Government backing

Sports minister Ibrahim Nyelenkeh says his government's decision to harmonise payment for senior national teams is to improve the women's game, and give equal treatment to all.

"We decided to harmonise match appearance fee so that we can see how best we can motivate the female footballers to develop the women's game," he told BBC Sport Africa.

"The female footballers have been left out for far too long.

"The male and female teams are serving the same purpose so I don't see any reason for us to pay the female team less.

"It's never too late because we've been working on it, the policy doesn't have to come within twinkle of an eye, and it's a process, that's why we're here today."

"The SLFA played great role in putting together the policy because they've been dealing with these players.

"We as a ministry are responsible to pay the players, but we don't work in isolation. We sat down with the SLFA and worked out the whole policy."

The minister also hopes the move to equal pay will serve as an incentive to develop women's football and see a growth in the number of players.

"This is a huge boost and motivation for female football in Sierra Leone," he insisted.

"In fact this a challenge we've thrown to the female footballers - you must prove yourself before you're called up to the senior national team.

"I know players will now put more efforts in their game to fight for place in the national team, they'll have to prove their mettle to be called upon."

"For now the policy is only meant for the two senior national teams. We're on it for the other categories of national teams when once we complete we'll make it known."

The Sierra Leone Football Association's head of media and marketing Ibrahim Kamara says the policy is a step in the right direction

"This is a welcoming news and a step in the right direction," he told BBC African Sport.

"It'll help a lot to inspire the girls. This is a clear indication that the Sierra Leone government is not only determined to improve sports in country, but also determined to uplift the female category of the game to be at par with men's football."

The Sierra Leone women's team will now be hoping that they can continue to play regular international football.

This year's Wafu tournament was their first competitive match for ten years and it saw them exit in the group stage on home soil after three draws with Cape Verde, Guinea and Senegal.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sierra Leone women welcome life-changing equal pay

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sierra Leone women's international Rashidatu Kamara says she can now achieve her dream of getting a college degree following a pay boost. Kamara and her international team-mates will now be paid the same as players in the men's national team. The commitment to equality has been made by the Sierra Leone government and covers appearance fees and winning bonuses.

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Madagascar president's herbal tonic

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53756752

Health and Safety
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-53484298

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54079587?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c207p54m4qet/antarctic&link_location=live-reporting-story

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Four hikers ambushed by fast moving Californian wild fires!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-54169561

# data[].attributes.body
Recently, over the summer, dolphins have been migrating to Weymouth beach. This occurrence has been happening more over the last couple of years (could discuss global warming with the children here, or other reasons for the dolphins leaving their natural habitat), but is a rare and beautiful sight to see at a UK based landmark beach.
https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/18375519.fishermen-incredibly-lucky-rare-sighting-dolphin-chesil-beach/#:~:text=A%20RARE%20sighting%20of%20a,based%20whelk%20fisherman%20Ryan%20Casey.

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Dolphin at Weymouth beach - location task

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-54200833
'Thai national park sends rubbish back to tourists'

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Covid cases in Prague

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A medicane called Storm Ianos is currently hitting a lot of western greece, similar to a tropical typhoon

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Fires across the world's largest wetland.

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Forest fires devastate Brazil's Pantanal tropical wetlands

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A huge number of fires has devastated the Pantanal, with fears of huge animal losses too.

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Thai National Park Sends Rubbish Back to Tourists

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The Nigerian filmmakers risking jail with lesbian movie 'Ife'

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The Nigerian filmmakers risking jail with lesbian movie 'Ife'

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54070446

Producer Pamela Adie and director Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim are determined that Ife (meaning "love" in the Yoruba language) reaches a Nigerian audience, but the NFVCB says it will not be approved as it violates the country's strict laws on homosexuality.

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Coral discovered in unchartered Danish Waters

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Coral discovered in uncharted Danish waters - in pictures

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A mapping project led by the conservationist Klaus Thymann has revealed a rich, varied habitat off the coast of Jutland

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Sierra Leone women's footballers welcome life-changing equal pay. Kamara and her international team-mates will now be paid the same as players in the men's national team.

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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cjyq4rd3x3zt/california-wildfires

Here is my news article on The wildfire's spreading across California.

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Spooky
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-glacier-melting-antarctica-thwaites-doomsday-warm-water-b421022.html