South Africa passes one million cases of coronavirus

South Africa has become the first country on the continent to register more than one million Covid-19 cases.

It comes just days after authorities confirmed that a new, faster-spreading, coronavirus variant had been detected.

Some hospitals and medical centres have reported a huge rise in admissions, putting a heavy strain on resources.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is widely expected to announce tougher restrictions to prevent the virus from spreading further.

The latest milestone was announced on Sunday by South Africa’s Health Minister, Zweli Mkhize. The country has now confirmed 1,004,413 Covid-19 infections and 26,735 deaths since the outbreak began in March.

Last week, South Africa recorded a daily average of 11,700 new infections – a rise of 39% on the previous week – and from Wednesday to Friday, the daily number of new cases was above 14,000.

A new coronavirus variant – known as 501.V2 – is believed to be driving the surge in infections. It was identified by a network of South African scientists in the Eastern Cape province and then rapidly spread to other parts of the country.

Earlier this week, the UK banned travel from South Africa because of the new variant. Another new Covid variant has already been detected in the UK, although they have evolved separately.

Both have a mutation – called N501Y – which is in a crucial part of the virus that it uses to infect the body’s cells, but appear unrelated to each other.

After South Africa, the worst hit country on the African continent is Morocco, which has seen 432,079 cases and 7,240 deaths. They are followed by Egypt with 131,315 cases and 7,352 deaths and Tunisia with 130,230 infections and 4,426 deaths

US President Donald Trump has signed into law a coronavirus relief and spending package bill, averting a partial government shutdown.

Mr Trump had initially refused to sign the bill, saying he wanted to give people bigger one-off payments.

The delay meant that millions of Americans temporarily lost unemployment benefits.

The relief package worth $900bn (£665bn) was approved by Congress after months of negotiation.

It is part of a $2.3tn spending package that includes $1.4tn for normal federal government spending.

Had Mr Trump not signed the bill into law by midnight on Monday, a partial government shutdown would have begun unless legislators passed a stopgap bill.

About 14 million Americans faced a lapse in unemployment benefit payments and new stimulus cheques. Unemployment benefits will now be restored.

It was not immediately clear why Mr Trump – who is in Florida – finally decided to sign the bill into law. He had been under growing pressure from both sides of Congress.

Mr Trump said he was signing the bill with “a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed”.

He leaves office on 20 January after losing November’s election to Mr Biden, although he has refused to admit defeat.

Republican Senator Mitt Romney said he was “relieved” that the legislation had at last become law.

Central African Republic election held amid violence

People in the Central African Republic (CAR) have voted in an election overshadowed by violence between government and rebel forces.

President Faustin-Archange Touadéra is seeking a second term and has accused his predecessor, François Bozizé, of fomenting a coup with rebel groups.

The government rejected calls from the opposition to postpone the vote because of the insecurity.

In the run-up, three UN peacekeepers were killed by unidentified assailants.

The CAR, which is resource-rich but sparsely populated, is deeply unstable, having seen several coups and rebellions since independence from France 60 years ago.

Despite efforts by rebels to scare away voters in some towns on Sunday, there was a large turnout in many other areas, said the head of the UN mission in the country.

The government has denied allegations of election rigging by the Coal kiition of Patriots for Change (CPC) – a recently created alliance of the country’s most powerful rebel groups.G

Ballots were cast in presidential and legislative races, with UN peacekeepers patrolling the streets in the capital, Bangui, and armoured vehicles posted outside some polling stations.

The rebel groups have seized several towns close to Bangui, clashing with government forces and looting property.

Mr Bozizé, who is barred from running in the election and is under UN sanctions, denies government claims that he is plotting a coup by backing the rebels’ advance.

But shortly after voting started, he expressed support for the rebels, urging people not to vote.

The UN on Friday condemned the killing of three of its peacekeepers, hailing from Burundi, as a possible war crime. It said two other peacekeepers were injured in the attacks, which took place in southern Bakouma and in Dekoa, in the centre of the country.

The CAR is one of Africa’s poorest countries, even though it is rich in resources like diamonds and uranium. The UN, which has nearly 13,000 peacekeepers on the ground, estimates that half of the population are dependent on humanitarian assistance and up to a fifth have been displaced.

On 3 December the Constitutional Court ruled that Mr Bozizé did not satisfy the “good morality” requirement for candidates because of an international warrant and UN sanctions against him for alleged assassinations, torture and other crimes during his rule.

Mr Bozizé, a Christian, came to power after a coup in 2003 and subsequently won two elections that were widely seen as fraudulent. He was ousted in 2013 by the Séléka – a rebel coalition drawn largely from the Muslim minority – which accused him of breaking peace agreements.

The country has been wracked by waves of violence since then that President Touadéra, elected in 2016, has been unable to control.

Russia is allied with President Touadéra and this week said it had sent 300 military instructors to CAR, following a request for help from the government. Russia insists it is not involved in the fighting

US wrestler Jon Huber, better known to fans as Brodie Lee or Luke Harper, has died aged 41.

Huber’s wife Amanda said in a post on Instagram: “He passed surrounded by loved ones after a hard fought battle with a non Covid related lung issue.”

He competed as Luke Harper for WWE, before leaving in 2019 and joining All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as Brodie Lee.

AEW said it was “heartbroken” at news of the death of Harper, who stopped competing in October.

Famous wrestlers have few things to say about the deceased.

Wrestling legend Hulk Hogan said he was “totally devastated” over the loss of “a great talent and awesome human being”.

Triple H also called Jon Huber an “amazing talent”, but a “better human being, husband and father”

Amanda Huber, who also performed under the name Synndy Synn, described her husband as “the greatest father” to their two children.

“I never wanted to write out those words. My heart is broken.

“The world saw him as the amazing @brodielee (aka Luke Harper) but he was my best friend, my husband, and the greatest father you would ever meet.

“No words can express the love I feel or how broken I am right now.

Cody Rhodes has been in the ring with Brodie Lee, and posted on Twitter saying he was “honoured and privileged” to have Brodie’s “last match”.

Matt Hardy posted: “I’m shattered over Brodie’s passing. He was full of life with a wife and young children he loved.

“A devastating reminder of how fragile life is. Rest well, friend.”

What a loss.

Covid: Trump fails to sign economic relief bill into law

Millions of Americans have temporarily lost their unemployment benefits after President Donald Trump failed to sign the Covid relief bill into law.

US President-elect Joe Biden had warned of “devastating consequences” if Mr Trump continued to delay signing but the Saturday deadline has now passed.

Unemployment benefits and a ban on evictions will be affected.

The package worth $900bn (£665bn) was approved by Congress after months of difficult negotiations and compromises.

Mr Trump says he wants to give people bigger one-off payments.

The bill includes the payment of $600 to Americans earning less than $75,000 a year. Mr Trump says he wants Americans to receive $2,000 but Republicans in Congress refused to agree to the change.

In a tweet late on Saturday evening local time, Mr Trump again defended his position on the issue, blaming China for the coronavirus outbreak.

The coronavirus economic relief is part of a $2.3tn spending package that includes $1.4tn for normal federal government spending. A partial government shutdown will begin on Tuesday unless legislators pass a stopgap bill before then – but this would not include coronavirus aid and Mr Trump would still have to sign it.

About 14 million Americans would be affected by a lapse in unemployment benefit payments and new stimulus cheques.

In a strongly worded statement published on the transition website on Saturday, Mr Biden described Mr Trump’s refusal to sign the bill as an “abdication of responsibility”.

“It is the day after Christmas, and millions of families don’t know if they’ll be able to make ends meet because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to sign an economic relief bill approved by Congress with an overwhelming and bipartisan majority,” Mr Biden said.

He praised the example of members of Congress in compromising and reaching a bipartisan agreement, adding: “President Trump should join them, and make sure millions of Americans can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads in this holiday season.”

On Twitter earlier, the president had reiterated his objection to the bill, saying: “I simply want to get our great people $2000, rather than the measly $600 that is now in the bill.”

The coronavirus aid relief bill – with the larger budget bill rolled in – overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives and Senate on Monday but, a day later, Mr Trump issued an implied veto threat, describing the package as a “disgrace” full of “wasteful” items.

He baulked at the annual aid money for other countries in the federal budget, arguing that those funds should instead go to struggling Americans.

Mr Trump’s decision to bat the measure back to Capitol Hill stunned lawmakers since he has largely stayed out of negotiations for a coronavirus aid bill that had stalled since last July.

His top economic adviser, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, had proposed the $600 payments early this month, and many have questioned why the president waited until now to object.

The fate of the spending package remains in the balance while Mr Trump refuses to sign it.

He spent Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida with his family, where he held “many meetings and calls”, according to his schedule.

The White House said it had no update on the prospect of Mr Trump signing the bill by Monday, an official quoted by Reuters news agency said.

Because it includes money to fund the federal government through to September 2021, a government shutdown looms on Tuesday unless a stopgap bill is passed and signed by the president.

But that would not cover the coronavirus aid package, leaving millions of families in peril.

The House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats, plans to vote on Monday on a standalone bill that would provide the $2,000 cheques to Americans.

On the same day, the House is also expected to vote on an unrelated, $740bn defence spending bill, which Mr Trump vetoed on Wednesday instead of signing into law. Lawmakers plan to override the president’s veto and enact the legislation anyway, but to do so they need two-thirds of votes in both the House and Senate

 A black physician in Indianapolis has died with Covid-19 weeks after she accused a doctor of denying her proper medical care because of her race.

In a video from her bed at Indiana University Hospital North, Susan Moore said she had to “beg” for treatment.

Offering its condolences, the hospital said it took accusations of discrimination very seriously but could not comment on specific patients.

Black people are at greater risk from Covid than white people, studies show.

Dr Moore, 52, passed away at another local hospital on Sunday.

In her 4 December post on Facebook, she described how her pain had been downplayed by the doctor, whom she said was white, though she had been crying and having difficulty breathing.

“He did not even listen to my lungs, he didn’t touch me in any way. He performed no physical exam. I told him you cannot tell me how I feel,” she wrote.

A statement from the hospital said “as an organisation committed to equity and reducing racial disparities in healthcare, we take accusations of discrimination very seriously and investigate every allegation”.

“We stand by the commitment and expertise of our caregivers and the quality of care delivered to our patients every day,” it added.

Dr Moore is survived by her 19-year-old son, Henry, and her parents, who suffer from dementia, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help cover the family’s expenses. The page has already raised more than $102,000 (£75,000).

Dr Moore tested positive for Covid-19 on 29 November and was admitted with a high fever while she coughed up blood and struggled to breathe. But even as a physician herself, she said she had struggled with getting care.

Dr Moore said she had had to plead for antiviral Remdesivir doses and request a scan of her chest. The doctor at one point reportedly told her she did not qualify for the drug and that she should go home.

“He made me feel like I was a drug addict,” Dr Moore said in a Facebook video. “And he knew I was a physician. I don’t take narcotics. I was hurting.”

Dr Moore wrote she had requested a medical advocate and had asked to be transferred elsewhere. She was eventually discharged but had to return hours later after experiencing a drop in blood pressure and fever.

“This is how black people get killed,” Dr Moore said. “When you send them home and they don’t know how to fight for themselves.”

Her post later included an update saying the hospital’s chief medical officer had said staff would receive diversity training. But a promise for an apology from the doctor she accused of discrimination fell through.

“I put forward and I maintain, if I was white, I wouldn’t have to go through that,” she said.

Dr Moore’s experience and death has sparked an outcry over US healthcare disparities faced by black Americans.

The virus has disproportionately affected black and other minority communities in the US. Black Americans are three times more likely to die from the virus than white Americans.

An analysis by the Brookings Institution reported “in every age category, black people are dying from Covid at roughly the same rate as white people more than a decade older

The Queen will reflect on the hardships of the pandemic as she spends the Christmas at Windsor Castle.

They will celebrate Christmas at Windsor Castle and not Sandringham, as is their usual tradition.

The Royal Family usually spends the day together, but will not visit each other this year because of restrictions.

The Queen will also forgo her usual church service and worship privately to avoid crowds, it is understood.

Her Christmas Day speech will be broadcast at 15:00 GMT.

The Queen, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, have been living at Windsor Castle during the pandemic with a small household staff.

It is thought to be the first time the couple have not spent Christmas at their Sandringham home since the mid-1980s

At least 20 migrants have died after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean off the coast of Tunisia, officials say.

Tunisian coastguard boats retrieved the bodies off the coastal city of Sfax in central Tunisia on Thursday.

A search is continuing for at least 20 more people who are still missing.

Five survivors were rescued. The boat, with an estimated 45 people on board said to be from sub-Saharan Africa, was attempting to reach Italy.

Overloaded and in poor condition, the vessel faced strong winds that may have contributed to the sinking, National Guard spokesman Ali Ayari told the Associated Press.

Thousands of migrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean to Europe every year, with parts of Tunisia and Libya key departure points.

Many of the migrants are from sub-Saharan African countries fleeing economic hardship and crisis at home.

The number of migrant journeys from Tunisia has declined since 2011, when a revolution overthrew the country’s former leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

But illegal crossings from Tunisia to Europe increased by more than 150% in the first four months of the year, compared with the same period in 2019, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Tunisia’s interior ministry said 8,581 migrants were intercepted attempting to cross the Mediterranean between January and mid-September this year.

Italy has been struggling to deal with daily arrivals of hundreds of migrants to its southern shores, a task complicated by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The Neverland ranch of the late pop star Michael Jackson has reportedly been sold to a billionaire investor for a quarter of its initial asking price.

Ron Burkle, a former friend of Jackson, recently bought the estate in Los Olivos, California, his spokesman said.

He paid $22m (£16.2m) for Neverland, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing public records and three people familiar with the deal.

The 2,700-acre (1,100 hectare) compound was first listed for $100m in 2015.

Since then Neverland, north of Santa Barbara city, has been on and off the market, listed most recently last year for the lower price of $31m.

Jackson originally paid about $19.5m for Neverland, which he named after a fictional island where children never grow up in ‎JM Barrie’s Peter Pan story.

The Thriller singer bought Neverland in 1987, making it his home during the height of his fame.

He turned the ranch into an entertainment complex, building a zoo and fairground on site, where he regularly entertained children and their families.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Neverland became the centre of various investigations into child sexual assault allegations against Jackson.

Jackson denied allegations by Santa Barbara prosecutors that he had used Neverland as a fantasy world to groom young boys.

In 2005, Jackson was tried and acquitted of allegations he abused a 13-year-old boy at the ranch.

Jackson never returned to Neverland. Four years later, in June 2009, Jackson died at another home in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest induced by a drug overdose.

Since his death Jackson has been the subject of further abuse allegations, including those made in a documentary called Leaving Neverland in 2019.

Neverland has been rebranded as Sycamore Valley Ranch and has undergone extensive redevelopment since Jackson’s death.

Mr Burkle’s spokesman said the businessman saw the investment as a land banking opportunity.

He spotted the estate from the air while looking at another location and contacted Tom Barrack, the founder of real-estate investment company Colony Capital LLC, to seal the sale.

Mr Burkle, 68, is co-founder and managing partner of Yucaipa Companies, LLC, a private investment firm. His net worth as of 24 December 2020 was estimated to be $1.4bn

More than 100 people have been killed by unknown attackers in a village in western Ethiopia, the country’s human rights commission has said.

A nurse at a local clinic told the BBC that more than 30 people had been admitted to the facility, including some in a critical condition.

Some of the victims were shot, while others were stabbed, the nurse added.

Wednesday’s attack in the Benishangul-Gumuz region came a day after a visit by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In a statement, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said the attack took place in the village of Bekoji, which lies in an area home to multiple ethnic groups.

“More than 100 people have been killed in fires and shooting perpetrated by armed men” during the pre-dawn attack, the commission said.

Beyene Melese, a spokesperson for the state government, blamed what he called “anti-peace elements” for the attack.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Abiy travelled to the region to discuss the recurrence of ethnic-based violence in recent months.

“The desire by enemies to divide Ethiopia along ethnic & religious lines still exists,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter after his visit. “This desire will remain unfulfilled.”

Benishangul-Gumuz has witnessed at least four deadly attacks since September, including a gun attack on a passenger bus in November that killed 34 people.

The violence in the area is not thought to be related to a ground and air offensive launched by the government in the northern Tigray region last month.

Hundreds, or even thousands, of people are thought to have been killed in that conflict, while about 50,000 have fled to neighbouring Sudan.

Over half of Chinese adults overweight

Over half of adults in China, or more than half a billion people, are now overweight, an official report has found.

The figures have risen significantly since 2002, when 29% of adults were overweight.

The country’s rapid economic growth in recent decades has led to major changes to lifestyle, diet and exercise habits.

In October, the Chinese government unveiled plans to tackle rising levels of obesity.

A higher body mass increases the risk for a number of diseases including heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The issue of obesity has come under renewed focus during the pandemic as studies showed that overweight or obese individuals are more likely to suffer severe complications or death from Covid-19.

The National Health Commission report, released on Wednesday, found that more than 50% of adults are classified as overweight, of whom 16.4% are obese.

The report blamed decreasing levels of physical activity for the country’s expanding waistlines, with less than a quarter of the adult population exercising at least once a week.

A growing appetite for meat and a low consumption of fruit were also identified as factors behind the rise.

Wang Dan, a nutritionist in the city of Harbin, told the AFP news agency that many adults in the country now “exercise too little, are under too much pressure, and have an unhealthy work schedule”.

China is not the only country to have seen an increase in the number of overweight or obese people in recent years.

Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that levels of obesity across the world had tripled since 1975, including in low and middle-income countries.

Almost 40% of adults were overweight in 2016 and around 13% were obese, according to the WHO’s own estimates.

The tiny Gulf state of Qatar is one of the worst-affected countries, with more than 70% of people overweight or obese.