28 articles from SATURDAY 7.8.2021

We’re on the brink of catastrophe, warns Tory climate chief

Cop26 meeting is last chance, says Alok Sharma as he backs UK’s plan for new oil and gas fieldsThe world will soon face “catastrophe” from climate breakdown if urgent action is not taken, the British president of vital UN climate talks has warned.Alok Sharma, the UK minister in charge of the Cop26 talks to be held in Glasgow this November, told the Observer that the consequences of failure...

How my farmer friend Wilf gave me a new perspective

An unexpected friendship was a breath of fresh air after my turbulent city lifeMuch is said about walking the road less travelled. There’s joy in the unexpected and the unravelling of, well, who knows what. Just over a year ago, I left my London life for rural Wales. I saw it as not a desirable but a necessary pause in what had become a turbulent life. The previous six years had been full of...

Prof Francois Balloux: ‘The pandemic has created a market for gloom and doom’

The UCL scientist and ‘militant corona centrist’ on the risk of new variants, psychosomatic long Covid and when he expects the crisis to endCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageProf Francois Balloux is director of the University College London Genetics Institute. His work focuses on the reconstruction of disease outbreaks and epidemics. With his colleague Dr Lucy van...

Republicans treated Covid like a bioweapon. Then it turned against them | Rebecca Solnit

Trump’s team reportedly believed that coronavirus would hurt Democratic states – and Democratic governors – worse. But the virus does not discriminateSome of the most powerful conservatives in the United States have, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, chosen to sow disinformation along with mockery and distrust of proven methods of combating the disease, from masks to vaccines to...

At best, we’re on Earth for around 4,000 weeks – so why do we lose so much time to online distraction?

Silicon Valley makes billions by stealing your attention. No wonder it’s so hard to focus…One Friday in April 2016, as that year’s polarising US presidential race intensified, and more than 30 armed conflicts raged around the globe, approximately 3 million people spent part of their day watching two reporters from BuzzFeed wrap rubber bands around a watermelon. Gradually, over the course of...

Victoria Covid cases spread into public housing tower as Queensland forced to wait on lockdown decision

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews reports 29 new cases while Queensland records 13NSW has worst day of Covid pandemic with 319 new cases, five deaths and lockdown of ArmidaleFollow the Australian coronavirus live blogNSW; Vic; and Qld hotspotsNSW; Vic; and Qld restrictions; bordersVaccine rollout tracker; get our free news app; get our morning email briefingIt is a tale of two lockdowns:...

NSW has worst day of Covid pandemic with 319 new cases, five deaths and lockdown of Armidale

Deaths linked to latest coronavirus outbreak reaches 27 as four new cases recorded in NewcastleFollow the Australian coronavirus live blogAustralians living abroad fear being trapped if they return home to visit familyNSW; Vic; and Qld hotspotsNSW; Vic; and Qld restrictions; bordersVaccine rollout tracker; get our free news app; get our morning email briefingNew South Wales has recorded its worst...

Australia Covid live news update: NSW reports 319 new cases, five deaths and Armidale lockdown; Victoria records 29 cases and Qld 13

None of new Victorian cases in quarantine for infectious period; Queensland won’t make lockdown decision until SundayScott Morrison says mandating vaccines for workers will be left up to businessesAustralians living abroad fear being trapped if they return home to visit familyVaccine rollout tracker; get our free news app; get our morning email briefingNSW; Vic; and Qld hotspotsNSW; Vic; and Qld...