us

USWNT may have lost the battle over equal pay but they will win the war

The US women’s team have lost their lawsuit over equal pay but they continue to make progress in the court of public opinion

This isn’t how the fight for equal pay is supposed to end for the US women’s national team.

On Friday a US district court judge rejected the USWNT’s allegations of gender discrimination and ruled in favor of the US Soccer Federation, declaring that the team have not been underpaid.

Related: Joe Biden wades into equal pay dispute between USWNT and US Soccer

Continue reading...




us

McIlroy and Johnson to team up in $3m golf event for coronavirus charities

  • Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff the opposition at Seminole
  • Broadcast to be screened live in UK and United States

Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Matthew Wolff are to take part in an event to raise money for coronavirus charities. The foursome will play in the TaylorMade Driving Relief – a two-team skins challenge over 18 holes – at Seminole in Florida on 17 May.

McIlroy, the world No 1, will team up with Johnson against Fowler and Wolff, with up to $3m (£2.38m) going to the American Nurses Foundation and CDC Foundation. All four will follow strict physical-distancing measures and comprehensive testing will be used to protect players, TV staff and others at the course.

Related: Golf must be force for good when it makes long-awaited return | Ewan Murray

Continue reading...




us

NFL moves 2020 London games back to US during Covid-19 pandemic

  • Jaguars, Falcons and Dolphins had been set for London
  • Game set for Mexico City will now be played in United States

The NFL has decided to move its international games back to the US for the 2020 season as the sports world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The league had scheduled four games in London and one in Mexico City, but they will now be moved back to the stadiums of the host teams.

Related: Don Shula, coach who led Dolphins to NFL's only perfect season, dies aged 90

Continue reading...




us

'A year to be better': Abby Gustaitis on lockdown and the lure of Olympic rugby gold

The Eagles sevens captain has seen the Tokyo Games postponed and USA Rugby go bankrupt. She refuses to let her dream die

Abby Gustaitis, co-captain of the USA sevens team, has not heard the latest news from Tokyo.

Related: Tokyo Olympics in 2021 at risk of cancellation admits Japan's PM

Related: Tom Brady seen training in closed Tampa park during Covid-19 shutdown

Recognize these faces? #DontRushChallenge featuring the #USWNT7s has us ready for a party. pic.twitter.com/wvO6kNkKsi

Continue reading...




us

UFC 249: Ferguson faces Gaethje as Dana White touts only game in town

  • Ferguson meets Gaethje for UFC’s interim lightweight title
  • UFC head Dana White eager to reach sports-starved audience

The main event of Saturday’s UFC 249 card in Florida is billed as being for the interim lightweight title but Tony Ferguson says he should be considered the real champion if he beats opponent Justin Gaethje.

Former collegiate wrestler Ferguson, coming into the bout on a 12-fight win streak, was supposed to fight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in Brooklyn on 18 April but that was postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Related: UFC announces three events to be held without fans at Jacksonville arena

Continue reading...




us

Mushroom Burial Suit Creates Life After Death

The Mushroom Burial Suit is designed to give our dead bodies new life by breaking them down and nourishing the soil.




us

How Coronavirus Has Helped to Clear the Air

Satellite data shows just how much air quality has improved during the coronavirus crisis, from China, India, Italy and beyond.




us

Can Mushrooms Actually Help Save the Planet?

Many people think mushrooms have the potential to be environmental game-changers by replacing some plastics, meats and even eating through landfill waste. Could these fungi really help save the planet?




us

Uranus: The Planet on a Very Tilted Axis

Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and sits on an axial plane tilted at a jaw-dropping 97.7-degree angle. And yes, Uranus does actually stink.




us

My streaming gem: why you should watch The Most Dangerous Game

The latest in our series of writers recommending hidden films available to stream is a invite to travel back to 1932 for a brutal thriller

Some film tropes get wheeled out so often they create their own furrow. Perhaps that’s why the timeworn premise of “man hunting man” has evolved into its own disreputable but seemingly indestructible mini-genre. This year has already seen the deferred release of scattershot satire The Hunt, a button-pushing thriller from the Blumhouse production line in which snooty US liberals kidnap and stalk blue-collar “deplorables” in a customised paddock sited far from flyover country.

Related: 'My favourite forgotten film' – you recommend your best streaming gems

Continue reading...




us

The story of Australia’s pandemic can be told through the beaches | Brigid Delaney

First there was crowded Bondi, then the deserted beaches, cordoned off with police tape. If you look closely, a whole nation can be read on the sand

A country reveals itself in a crisis. Americans are buying a record number of guns, in the UK Boris Johnson was reluctant to implement a full lockdown because he baulked at the idea of closing the pubs. In Australia, it is our beaches that are the metaphorical hills that we are metaphorically dying on.

Yeah, we want to beat this virus, but we also want to get a swim in.

Continue reading...




us

Sausage surprise! 10 unexpected ways to cook with bangers and frankfurters

Lockdown Britain has embraced the sausage, with sales up 33%. But there’s much more you can do with them than fry-ups, sandwiches and casseroles

When you Google famous quotes about sausages (say you need an opener for an article), one of the first comes from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who apparently once said: “Sausages are just funny. I don’t know why. I can’t explain it.”

Waller-Bridge is not wrong. Sausages are inherently funny. But their comedic value is also what holds them back. In the kitchen, no one takes sausages seriously. You very rarely see anyone serving sausages on Come Dine With Me; it would be an act of self-sabotage. You cannot win with sausages. They’re a culinary joke, unrefined, a bit naff.

Continue reading...




us

The two Angus Taylor scandals that won't go away

In the past year Australia’s energy minister has been swept up in two scandals. The past week has brought developments in both. Anne Davies explains what questions he has yet to answer

You can read Lisa Cox’s and Anne Davies’ latest updates on the Jamland grass poisoning here and more on the doctored document saga here.

Continue reading...




us

Can you get coronavirus twice? – video explainer

A serious concern since the emergence of Covid-19 has been whether those who have had it can get it a second time – and what that means for exiting this crisis.

The Guardian’s science correspondent, Hannah Devlin, looks at how our bodies fight coronavirus when infected, how we develop immunity and if we can get reinfected with Covid-19

Continue reading...




us

Dharawal elder recounts Captain Cook’s arrival in Australia 250 years ago – video

To mark 250 years since British explorers landed in Australia for the first time, authorities are planning to unveil new memorials at Captain James Cook's landing site in Botany Bay, while a replica Endeavour sailing vessel will circumnavigate Australia – when Covid-19 restrictions allow. But one Aboriginal elder, who grew up on the shores of Botany Bay and has spent years involved in the resurrection of his Indigenous Dharawal culture, explains why Aboriginal people will not be celebrating

• Paul Daley: Commemorating James Cook’s arrival, Australia should not omit his role in the suffering that followed

Continue reading...




us

Rupert Murdoch gives up his bonus as News Corp loses US$1bn in three months

Huge losses driven partly by fall in valuation of Australian pay TV service Foxtel and decline in news advertising revenue

Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire, News Corp, lost US$1bn in the three months to the end of March and is expecting more financial pain as the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis continues.

The chief executive, Robert Thomson, said there was a fresh wave of cost-cutting ahead for the group, including a “strategic review of our Australian newspaper holdings” that could signal further job losses at the company’s smaller mastheads.

Continue reading...




us

Early access to superannuation paused as police freeze $120,000 in allegedly stolen funds

‘Sophisticated’ identity theft attack leads to Australian Tax Office stopping early super withdrawals until Monday

Allegations of identity theft involving 150 Australians have forced the government to pause the early release of superannuation, after police froze $120,000 believed to have been ripped off from retirement savings.

On Friday the assistant treasurer, Michael Sukkar, announced the Australian Tax Office would pause requests for early access of superannuation until Monday “out of an abundance of caution” to consider further anti-fraud protection.

Continue reading...




us

Australian government stops listing major threats to species under environment laws

Exclusive: Documents show department has stopped recommending assessment of ‘key threatening processes’ affecting native wildlife

The federal government has stopped listing major threats to species under national environment laws, and plans to address listed threats are often years out of date or have not been done at all.

Environment department documents released under freedom of information laws show the government has stopped assessing what are known as “key threatening processes”, which are major threats to the survival of native wildlife.

Continue reading...




us

Brian May taken to hospital after tearing buttock muscles while gardening

Queen guitarist says ‘I won’t be able to walk for a while’ after injury during lockdown and lambasts Boris Johnson over coronavirus

Brian May has complained of “relentless pain” after he was taken to hospital following a gardening injury that tore muscles in his buttocks – and, while in recovery, made a sustained attack on Boris Johnson’s preparedness for coronavirus.

Writing on Instagram, the Queen guitarist said: “I managed to rip my gluteus maximus to shreds in a moment of overenthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. Turns out I did a thorough job – this is a couple of days ago – and I won’t be able to walk for a while … or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless.”

Continue reading...




us

Australia We're Full Party or an Independent? Who will win the Eden-Monaro by-election? | First Dog on the Moon

Is it all moot because of the deadly virus infecting Australia and no I don’t mean the National party ahahaha

Continue reading...




us

Sharri Markson's coronavirus 'bombshell' impresses Fox's Tucker Carlson | Weekly Beast

Those less convinced in Australia cast doubt on source of Wuhan lab ‘intelligence’. Plus: Trump and Jennifer Hawkins

The origin of the coronavirus has opened up a new battlefield between the Murdoch press and just about everyone else – and given the Daily Telegraph’s Sharri Markson an international platform on Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News.

Following in the footsteps of her colleague Miranda Devine, who also made it onto Fox News, Markson told Tucker Carlson Tonight the “bombshell dossier” she had uncovered showed some of the world’s foremost intelligence agencies were investigating whether the virus was linked to a lab in Wuhan.

Continue reading...




us

The Murdoch media’s China coronavirus conspiracy has one aim: get Trump re-elected | Kevin Rudd

News Corp is campaigning full-bore for the US president, with reports of a Wuhan lab ‘intelligence’ dossier being seeded across its empire

In liberal democracies, the integrity, impartiality and professionalism of intelligence agencies matters. That’s why it is essential that intelligence agencies remain aloof, not only from the political debates of the day, but also from the policy decisions that individual governments may take. The intelligence community’s core task is to provide brutally realistic analysis on the threat environments we face so that governments can then make the best-informed policy decisions possible to preserve our common security.

The failures of the intelligence community before the Iraq war, the gullibility of much of the western media, as well as the cynical manipulation of both by the political class of the day, provide us with a stark reminder of what can go radically wrong. On 8 September 2002 the New York Times published one of this century’s most consequential news articles. The front-page story, supplied by the Bush administration, claimed that Saddam Hussein had stepped up his quest for weapons of mass destruction by acquiring key components for a nuclear weapon. In the UK, the Blair government’s “dodgy dossier” compounded the error. John Howard did the same in Australia. The problem was that it just wasn’t true. These were over-egged stories designed to soften the public up for what would become a disastrous war.

Continue reading...




us

My favourite game: England v Australia, fifth Ashes Test, 1968 | Stephen Bates

A Derek Underwood-inspired England – assisted by the Oval’s resourceful spectators – beat the final-day flood, clock and Australian resistance to start my lifelong obsession with cricket

I was clearing out some old papers a while back when a small pink slip fell out. Even after 50 years I knew instantly what it was because it had been stuck to my bedroom wall when I was a teenager: indeed the old brown shadows of the tape were still there. It was the ticket for my first day’s Test cricket: the fifth Test against Australia at the Oval on 22 August 1968: Derek Underwood’s match and the game that started a lifelong obsession.

We joined my friend Matthew and his mother – two teenagers, what were we thinking of, taking our mothers? – and caught an early train from deepest Berkshire. London was a big, strange place where we rarely ventured and never as far south as SE11. We were square to the wicket and the players were so distant as to be indistinct, almost lost against the crowd.

Continue reading...




us

Covidsafe app: how to download Australia’s coronavirus contact tracing app, how it works, what it does and problems

The app will ask for your name (or pseudonym), age range, postcode and phone number. Scott Morrison says the Australian government’s covid safe tracking app won’t be mandatory to download and install, but its uptake numbers could play a part in easing Covid-19 restrictions

The Australian government has launched Covidsafe, an app that traces every person running the app who has been in contact with someone else using the app who has tested positive for coronavirus in the previous few weeks, in a bid to automate coronavirus contact tracing, and allow the easing of restrictions.

Here’s what we know about the app so far.

Continue reading...




us

Coronavirus Australia numbers: how many new cases are there? Covid-19 map, statistics and graph

Is Australia flattening the curve? We bring together all the latest Covid-19 confirmed cases, maps, stats and graphs from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response.

Due to the difference in reporting times between states, territories and the federal government, it can be difficult to get a current picture of how many confirmed cases of coronavirus there are in Australia.

Here, we’ve brought together all the figures in one place, along with comparisons with other countries.

Continue reading...




us

The three-step plan for reopening Australia after Covid-19 and what Stage 1, 2 and 3 looks like

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has detailed a gradual opening up of society with the timing the stages to be determined by the states

Scott Morrison and the chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, have laid out a three-step plan to reopen Australia after the coronavirus crisis. Morrison said he hoped step three could be achieved in July, but it would be up to each state and territory when they moved from one step to the next.

Below are some of the areas that will be opened up at each stage, according to the plan – and you can see the timeline for easing restrictions in each state here.

Continue reading...




us

Dying too young: coronavirus, my Māori family and me

Lockdown has granted me the blessing of getting to know my father, but it has also underlined the severe health inequalities we face

I hardly recognise the man in front of me. He staggers on one leg, his eye twitches, his stomach stretches past his waist.

“I got some fry bread for us,” he grins, his toothless smile reminding me he is getting old and so am I.”

Continue reading...




us

‘We shouldn't just be used for charity’: musicians are still getting work – but they’re not being paid

With more Australian artists being asked to play for free in the lockdown, many are asking if it might do more harm than good

If live music died in mid March, it’s sure been noisy at the funeral. On platforms old and new, live gigs performed at home have streamed from trickle to tidal wave, breaking over the mobile devices of captive audiences. Global gig guide aggregator Bands In Town has added a livestream dropdown, and a new Australian state has been ceded by Eventfinda and tucked alphabetically between Victoria and Western Australia: the state of “Virtual”.

For fans it’s been fun. We’re loving seeing musicians’ pets and plants and enormous fingers fumbling for the flip screen button and, unless we’ve bought a URL ticket, there’s scandalously little to lose by dropping into, and out of, a show.

Continue reading...




us

Angie McMahon, Cut Copy, Alex the Astronaut and others: Australian music for isolated times

Each Saturday we add 15 (or so) new songs to a Spotify playlist to soundtrack your physical distancing amid coronavirus – and help artists you love get paid


We’ve published a bunch of articles about how the coronavirus crisis has impacted the Australian arts industry. But there are small things you can do. It’s an imperfect solution, but streaming Australian music can help.

Each week, in partnership with Sounds Australia, Guardian Australia will add some 15 new songs to a playlist for you to put on repeat.

Continue reading...




us

Coronavirus and culture: 'We're waiting it out in paradise'

When the coronavirus crisis hit, Yolngu elders moved back to east Arnhem Land homelands where they found freedom, peace, and power

Adapting to change is something Yolngu are good at, senior Rirratjingu songman Witiyana Marika says.

When the coronavirus first started making news, community leadership met to plan how they would manage if Covid-19 arrived in eastern Arnhem land. Senior men and women met with the emergency taskforce, the local Miwatj health service and the Laynhapuy homelands organisation to take the most vulnerable people further away from risk.

Continue reading...




us

Fear of flying foxes: coronavirus is topping off a bad year for Australia's bats

They’ve faced drought, extreme heat and bushfires, and now they have to deal with a new paranoia courtesy of the pandemic

Australia’s bats are turning up in increasing numbers in city suburbs. But as they search for food, they’re bringing for some a newfound paranoia thanks to a global pandemic that likely sprang from one of their overseas relatives.

In Ingham in far north Queensland, an influx of more than 200,000 little red flying foxes in January was variously described as a “swarm”, a “tornado” and an “infestation”.

Continue reading...




us

Revenge porn in Australia: the law is only as effective as the law enforcement

One study suggests one in three people from 16 to 64 have been victims of image-based abuse. But most will never step foot in a police station

When Laura* was 14, she was convinced that her boyfriend was the love of her life. So, when several girls messaged her to say he had sent them a video of her drunk and engaging in a sexual act, she told herself they were lying.

“I was just like, ‘Oh, you don’t know anything about our relationship. I don’t believe you,’” she says. “But after we broke up, he pretty much sent it to everyone that I knew.

Continue reading...




us

Cedar Meats cluster: why abattoir workers are on the coronavirus frontline

As the US deals with a Covid-19 catastrophe in its meatworks, the Melbourne factory points to the potential for outbreaks in Australia

Working in an abattoir at the best of times is tough. The hours are long, the labour is intensive and, for rank and file labourers, the pay is low.

Now, in the Covid-19 crisis, workers have one more thing to worry about – around the world their factories have proved to be a hotbed of infection. As Australia moves to ease lockdown laws, meat workers may still be at the frontline of exposure and infection.

Continue reading...




us

Covid-19 competence has given Australian governments some political capital. But there's a flipside | Katharine Murphy

Politicians have set a high bar for themselves – success on coronavirus has created community expectations that will be challenging to shift

“Let’s not give everything back, let’s not throw away all the progress we’ve made by letting our frustration get the better of us.” This was Daniel Andrews on Friday afternoon, shortly after national cabinet resolved to gradually restart economic and social activity by July.

The Victorian premier wanted people to understand he’d be hastening slowly – the message being here in the Massachusetts of Australia, we decide how quickly we’ll remove coronavirus restrictions. We don’t apply an arbitrary national average.

Continue reading...





us

Take care with physical distancing on Mother's Day, Australia's deputy chief medical officer says

Paul Kelly warns people over 70 and with existing diseases are at high risk from coronavirus as pandemic restrictions ease

The deputy chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, is warning people to take care if visiting mums on Mother’s Day, as frictions emerge over the lockdown in Victoria.

In some states, authorities are allowing people to pay family visits on Sunday as coronavirus pandemic restrictions are eased, but Kelly has restated warnings that people over 70 and with existing chronic diseases are at high risk from coronavirus.

Continue reading...




us

Thai elephants, out of work due to coronavirus, trudge home

The millions of unemployed in Thailand due to the coronavirus include elephants dependent on tourists to feed their voracious appetites. With scant numbers of foreign visitors, commercial elephant camps and sanctuaries lack funds for their upkeep and have sent more than 100 of the animals trudging back to their natural habitats.




us

Has the new coronavirus mutated to be more contagious? Experts weigh in

Scientists are cautioning that it’s still too early to know how the novel coronavirus mutates after a preliminary study in the U.S. claimed that a new strain of the virus has emerged that is more dominant and contagious than the original.




us

Can the blood of a llama named 'Winter' be used to protect against coronavirus?

What may be the latest hope in the hunt to develop a treatment for COVID-19 comes from an unusual source – a furry, four-year-old llama named 'Winter' that is living on a farm in the Belgium countryside.




us

Paul O'Grady believes he's 'most definitely' had coronavirus

Coronavirus: The symptoms




us

Kate Garraway says husband Derek Draper is 'still very ill' in intensive care as she speaks of 'torture' over 'horrific virus'

"I am very aware that I'm not the only one going through this torture" Read our live coronavirus updates HERE




us

Rochelle Humes announces she is pregnant with husband Marvin in Easter themed Instagram post

Rochelle Humes has revealed that she is expecting her third child with husband Marvin in an Easter themed Instagram post.




us

Tim Brooke-Taylor dead: Goodies co-stars lead tributes as actor dies aged 79 after contracting coronavirus

Bill Oddie hails Brooke-Taylor as 'true visual comic' Stephen Fry, Rob Brydon and Jack Dee also pay tribute Brooke-Taylor joins public figures to have died after contracting Covid-19 Read our live coronavirus updates HERE




us

Dynamo says he's 'definitely through the worst' after coronavirus diagnosis

Coronavirus: the symptoms




us

Rita Wilson details coronavirus ordeal and warns of treatment side effects

The actress and her husband, Tom Hanks, were both hospitalised with the deadly virus