UK front pages, Wednesday 20 May 2020
GUARDIAN: Number 10 retreats as rebellion over schools gathers pace #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/cQ9EyDIl0q THE TIMES: doubt cast over date for school reopening #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/rjuO9E9vzK INDEPENDENT DIGITAL: no quick bounceback for economy admits @RishiSunak #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/JbP5UUFcgB Tomorrow’s Telegraph front page: “BMA drops opposition to schools reopening”#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/PEAQqCFJT1 FT: @RishiSunak dashes bounceback hopes #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/2GTE34m5I6
Neil Henderson
(@hendopolis)
Neil Henderson
(@hendopolis)
Neil Henderson
(@hendopolis)
The Telegraph
(@Telegraph)
Neil Henderson
(@hendopolis)
The global growth of renewable energy will slow for the first time in 20 years due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which will “hurt but not halt” the rise of clean energy.
The world’s energy watchdog has warned that developers will build fewer wind farms and solar energy projects this year compared with a record roll out of renewables in 2019.
But a rebound is possible in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), if critical government decisions made within the next few months support a green economic recovery from the pandemic.
New figures from the IEA predict that the world will grow its capacity of renewable energy by 6% or 167 GW this year. The forecast growth is 13% less than the amount of new capacity which started up in 2019.
The slowdown is likely to be more severe in Europe. The IEA expects the amount of new renewable energy rolling out this year to fall by a third to its lowest annual growth rate since 1996.
They were hailed as stepping up to serve their country, with all the “rigorous” and “detailed” instruction needed for such an important role – but a programme to train thousands of contact-tracers to help control the spread of coronavirus has been described as shambolic and inadequate by recruits.
People hired to contact those exposed to someone with Covid-19 and advise them to self-isolate have reported spending days just trying to log into the online system, and virtual training sessions that left participants unclear about their roles.
New contact tracers have been told to rely on a two-page script and a list of frequently asked questions, both seen by the Guardian. When one taking part in a training session, run by contact centre company Sitel, asked for guidance on how to speak with somebody whose loved one had died of coronavirus, they were reportedly told to look at YouTube videos on the topic.
Lebanon is suffering its worst economic crisis in decades, as well as a coronavirus lockdown.
Some Lebanese families have started paying their home help in the depreciating local currency, while others are now unable to pay them at all, with increasing reports of domestic workers being thrown into the street, AFP reports.
Lebanon is to start repatriation flights from its closed airport on Wednesday, at first for Ethiopians and mostly male migrants from Egypt. Outside the Ethiopian consulate in Beirut on Monday, dozens of Ethiopian women and Lebanese employers tried to secure seats on Wednesday’s flight.
But Lebanese security forces turned them away at the door, telling them to return in nine days and employers that they would have to pay for the flight.
An estimated 250,000 domestic workers live in Lebanon, the large majority Ethiopian, many in conditions condemned by rights groups.
A sponsorship system known as “kafala” excludes maids, nannies and carers from Lebanon’s labour law, and leaves them at the mercy of their employers, who pay wages as low as $150 a month.
With staff obtained at high fees from recruitment agencies even before being paid wages, and unhappy workers unable to resign without their employer’s permission, some have likened the system to slavery.
Activists say calls for help have increased in recent weeks, especially as live-in workers have been in lockdown with families.
China gears up for annual congress
China’s biggest political event of the year opens Friday after months of delay over coronavirus fears, with President Xi Jinping determined to project strength and control over the outbreak despite international criticism and a wounded economy, AFP reports.
The 3,000 members of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s legislature, will gather in Beijing this week. The annual gatherings have been occasions for the Communist Party to tout its achievements, set the country’s economic agenda and consolidate Xi’s power.
But this year’s congress comes on the back of the biggest challenge of Xi’s political life, with a virus that has killed thousands of people, paralysed the world’s second-biggest economy and sparked a bout of online criticism of the government.
The Communist Party put off the “Two Sessions”, originally scheduled for March, for the first time since the Cultural Revolution as the country battled the coronavirus, which surfaced in the central city of Wuhan late last year.
Since then, China’s official case numbers have dwindled even as millions were infected abroad, with Beijing now positioning itself as a success story and potential saviour for the world, offering billions of dollars in aid to fight the virus.
But the atmosphere will continue to be “solemn and tense” amid fears of new infections, Gu Su, a professor of law and philosophy at Nanjing University, said.
The congress is expected to span seven days this year instead of the usual two weeks, state media reported.
Thailand’s film industry has been instructed not to shoot any love scenes, fighting or acts that involve close contact, to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.
As officials continued to relax lockdown measures across Thailand, production companies were told to adapt their work to comply with social distancing rules.
Under guidance issued by Yupha Thawiwattanakit Bowon, deputy permanent secretary of culture, filmmakers must work in well-ventilated spaces, with no more than 50 crew members present. Special effects and camera angles can be used to help depict scenes that would usually require intimacy or contact, and all people off-camera must wear a mask.
Trump says having highest cases is a 'badge of honour'
The US President told reporters at a cabinet meeting that the high number of cases in the US – far higher than any other country – is a “badge of honour”, because it means the US is testing the most.
Trump told reporters: “You know when you say that we lead in cases, that’s because we have more testing than anybody else.”
He said he looks at the number “in a certain respect, as being a good thing because it means our testing is much better.”
The US has 1,527,895 cases. The country with the next-highest number of cases is Russia, with 299,941.
Trump added: “So I view it as a badge of honour. Really, it’s a badge of honour. It’s a great tribute to the testing and all of the work that a lot of professionals have done.”
The US also has the highest number of deaths worldwide, with 91,921. The next worst official death toll, in the UK, is 35,422, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.
The US testing rates are high, but not the highest worldwide.
Its total tests per 1,000 people are the fourteenth-highest worldwide, according to Our World in Data.
Updated
Sweden has taken a soft approach to virus restrictions and although its rules are likely to be in place longer than in other countries, officials are adamant their strategy is a winner in the long term, AFP reports.
“This fight against Covid-19 is a marathon,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said recently, adding that his officials “strongly believe” their measures are viable for the long haul.
While people in other European countries have gradually begun returning to their workplaces in recent weeks, Swedes have been strongly advised to continue working from home, and possibly not just for weeks, but for months to come.
However, Sweden never imposed full lockdown measures – under-16s have continued to go to school, patrons have not been stopped from going to cafes, bars and restaurants.
Sweden has 30,799 confirmed cases and a death toll of 3,743.
Some have accused Sweden of playing Russian roulette with citizens’ lives by allowing the virus to circulate slowly in society, with the main goal being to ensure the public healthcare system can keep pace.
The consequences are difficult to miss - Sweden’s death rate stood at 371 per million inhabitants on Tuesday, roughly eight times the rate in Norway and Finland, according to the Worldometer website.
However, although Sweden’s hospitals have reported strained conditions, they have not been overwhelmed.
Australians in the country’s most populous state will be able to vacation within its borders next month, when art galleries and museums will also reopen, as officials seek to boost an economy hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The move will allow New South Wales state, home to Sydney, to open up tourist regions on its southern coast that were badly damaged by huge bushfires before the virus wreaked further havoc.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said people would still need to adapt to a “new normal” as officials maintain some of the social distancing measures that have been credited with keeping both Covid-19 cases and deaths relatively low.Australia has reported just over 7,000 infections, including 100 deaths, among its population of 25 million.NSW, the hardest hit state, logged just four new cases over the past 24 hours, all international travellers already in quarantine. More than 7,000 test results over the same period showed no community transmission, Berejiklian said.