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Coronavirus outbreak: death toll rises to 56 as US plans to evacuate citizens – updates Authorities in China say infections have risen to more than 1,600 while the US and Australia are pulling people out of stricken city of Wuhan. Follow all the latest developments here Scientists race to discover how Wuhan victims were infected 5.14am GMTWe have a interesting insight into how the outbreak first affected people in Wuhan as a local woman tells us how she contracted the virus after eating near the now infamous market in the city. Related: Coronavirus: from one food market to global panic 5.03am GMTThis liveblog is now moving from Australia (where it’s Australia Day, somewhat controversially) to India, where it’s Republic Day.My colleague in New Delhi, Hannah Ellis-Petersen...

Revealed: the £12bn bill for scrapping high-speed rail link As Boris Johnson assesses project, Tory mayor for West Midlands warns of political cost of scrapping itScrapping the HS2 rail project will cost at least £12 billion in write-offs and compensation and plunge major construction companies into financial peril, ministers are being warned.Sources close to the beleaguered scheme told the Observer that extra costs of £3bn-£4bn would be incurred even if it were scrapped immediately. £9bn has been spent already. With the issue causing tension inside the Conservative party, Whitehall insiders said that Boris Johnson could decide on the fate of the project as soon as this week as concerns grow that costs are spiralling out of control. Billions have already been s...

Grenfell inquiry panellist steps down over cladding company links Benita Mehra had been the target of fury from survivors and bereaved of 2017 tragedyA key member of the Grenfell Tower public inquiry has resigned after fury among survivors and the bereaved at her links to the company that made the combustible cladding.Less than 48 hours before the inquiry is due to start hearing evidence about “decisions which led to the installation of a highly combustible cladding system”, Boris Johnson announced Benita Mehra was standing down from a panel advising the chairman of the inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick. It followed 10 days of rising pressure on the prime minister from the community devastated by the fire on 14 June 2017 – which claimed 72 lives – to reverse her a...

Scientists race to find out how Wuhan victims became ill If this outbreak is still caused mainly by animals, it can be controlled. But all-out human transmission could spell disasterScientists are urgently seeking data to resolve one critically important aspect of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 41 people and infected almost 1,400 since emerging in Wuhan, China.Researchers say they desperately need to find out whether most cases have been caused by repeated spillover of the virus from animals into humans, or whether most cases are now being triggered by secondary human-to-human transmission. Continue reading... Go to Source

Brexit celebrations ‘rub our noses in it’, says Heseltine Commemorative coin, countdown and Downing Street light display to mark departure on FridayThe Tory peer and former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine has accused Boris Johnson of trying to “rub the noses of Remainers in their defeat”, after the prime minister announced events to commemorate the UK’s departure from the EU this coming Friday at 11pm.Downing Street said that 3m special 50p coins bearing the words “Peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations” will enter shops, banks and restaurants from Friday with a further 7m coming into circulation by the end of the year. Union Jack flags will also line Parliament Square and the Mall on Friday and the public will see government buildings in ...

Trump team begins argument president broke no laws at impeachment trial Donald Trump’s lawyers began making their case Saturday, with a longer, more meaningful session expected for MondayDonald Trump’s legal team on Saturday argued that Donald Trump broke no laws and Democrats’ move to impeach him was simply an attempt to delegitimize Trump’s presidency. Related: The key takeaways from day three of the impeachment trial Continue reading... Go to Source

Coronavirus outbreak: Wuhan hospital doctor dies from virus as toll hits 41 – updates More than 1,200 infected and 13 cities in lockdown as authorities scramble to stem the spread infection, which has now reached Europe, the US and Australia. Follow the latest liveAnalysis: Spread of virus shakes people’s belief in governmentFull report: doctor dies after treating infected patients 5.47am GMTSouth Korea’s Yonhap news reports that North Korea has stepped up its efforts to prevent the virus entering the country. A flight from Beijing to Pyongyang has been cancelled, travel to China has been restricted and the North’s cabinet Minju Choson called on people to take extra care of personal hygiene, it said. 5.38am GMTThe alarming spread of coronavirus is on the front pages...

Coronavirus: China extends lockdown as first cases reported in Europe Public transport suspended in at least 13 cities in China as death toll rises and France identifies Europe’s first casesWhat we know so farLessons from Sars outbreak help in race for vaccineChina has expanded an unprecedented lockdown during the country’s most important holiday to 13 cities and at least 36 million people, as efforts to contain the deadly new coronavirus were stepped up around the world and the first cases were reported in Europe.Restrictions on movement were widened on Friday in China in an effort to stop the spread of the disease, which has now killed 26 people, affected almost 900, and been reported across South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the United States, Thai...

Actor Rosie Perez testifies friend told her she was raped by Harvey Weinstein Actor recalls conversation with Annabella Sciorra in 1993 or 94Sciorra called as witness to mogul’s alleged pattern of behaviorUS actor Rosie Perez testified in New York on the third day of the rape trial of Harvey Weinstein on Friday, describing phone calls she had with Annabella Sciorra where she learned Sciorra was allegedly raped.Perez said she called Sciorra on a chilly night in 1993. Perez was in a good mood, saying, “Girl, what’s up? Wanna hang out?” hoping Sciorra was interested in going out that night. Continue reading... Go to Source

Whistleblower tipped off second family over West Suffolk hospital death Pressure builds on hospital as it emerges staff member alerted patient’s relatives to suspected mistakesAn under-fire hospital came under fresh pressure on Friday after it emerged that a second family received a whistleblower tipoff about serious failings in the care of a patient who died, the Guardian can reveal.West Suffolk hospital (WSH), used by Matt Hancock’s constituents, is already facing criticism over its unprecedented demand for doctors to provide fingerprint samples in an attempt to track down an anonymous letter writer who alerted widower Jon Warby to surgical mistakes made before his wife died in August 2018. Continue reading... Go to Source

Outrage at whites-only image as Uganda climate activist cropped from photo Associated Press says Vanessa Nakate was excised ‘purely on composition grounds’ after her video complaint went viralUgandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate has called out racism in media after she was cropped out of a photo featuring prominent climate activists including Greta Thunberg, Loukina Tille, Luisa Neubauer and Isabelle Axelsson.Nakate made the comment in a video which has since gone viral, adding that she now understood “the definition of the word racism” for the first time in her life. Continue reading... Go to Source