Top story: US president says he is taking hydroxychloroquine
Good morning, Warren Murray giving you a push start along the hard shoulder.
Donald Trump has written an incendiary letter to the WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, saying that unless the organisation made “major substantive improvements”, which he did not specify, the US would cut funding permanently and reconsider its membership. The letter alleged the WHO had shown an “alarming lack of independence” from China and accused Tedros of presiding over “repeated missteps … that have been extremely costly for the world”, including Trump said, consistently ignoring “credible reports” of the virus spreading in Wuhan in December.
Trump’s threat came on the day the WHO member states held a virtual assembly and were poised to agree an independent investigation into how the coronavirus was handled. The letter also coincided with Trump announcing that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for a couple of weeks, despite warnings from his administration that it is dangerous. “I think it’s good, I heard a lot of good stories … I take a pill every day,” Trump said.
At home in the UK, evidence is mounting that the under-25s have been hit hardest by the Covid-19 economic fallout. In a report published today ahead of unemployment figures expected to highlight the pandemic’s impact on the labour market, the Resolution Foundation says ministers should be considering job guarantees to prevent young people being permanently scarred by the crisis. “One in three young people have been furloughed or lost their jobs completely, and over one in three have had their pay reduced since the crisis started,” said Maja Gustafsson from the Resolution Foundation. Large numbers of young people are employed in severely affected sectors such as leisure, retail and hospitality. Wage subsidies for disabled and vulnerable workers could fall away from August along with the furlough scheme, employers’ groups have warned. Charities and social enterprise employers have been told by the government that its plan to close the scheme this autumn does not exempt vulnerable workers.
Temporary care workers transmitted Covid-19 between care homes as cases surged, according to an unpublished study by Public Health England. Agency workers – often employed on zero-hours contracts – unwittingly spread the infection after being drafted in to replace existing staff who were self-isolating to protect care home residents. At least 22,000 people are estimated to have died in care homes in England and Wales directly or indirectly from Covid-19.
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There’s more in our Coronavirus Extra section further down … and here’s where you can find all our coverage of the outbreak – from breaking news to factchecks and advice.
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Criminal drinkers tracked and traced – Offenders who commit “alcohol-fuelled” crimes can be required to wear “sobriety tags” and banned from drinking under legislation that comes into force in England and Wales today. The ankle monitors pick up whether there is any alcohol in the wearer’s sweat. The first tags are expected to be fitted this year once probation staff have been trained and the monitoring contract agreed. When up and running as many as 2,300 are likely to be fitted on offenders every year. People found to be breaching an alcohol abstinence order can be brought back before the courts to face further punishment including jail.
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12 die ‘with Malta and Europe watching’ – Further evidence of Malta’s strategy to push people back to the conflict zone of Libya has been revealed by a woman who survived a Mediterranean crossing in which 12 people died. Voice messages obtained by the Guardian confirm the Maltese government’s strategy to use private vessels, directed by its armed forces, to return refugees to Libyan detention centres. The woman said her boat was intercepted and those on board taken back to Tripoli where they have been imprisoned. Two migrants died during the interception, three en route to Libya, and seven while they were all adrift in a dinghy. Lawyers and the Alarm Phone hotline for migrants in distress at sea say Malta is breaching international law. A spokesperson for Alarm Phone said: “Twelve people have died while Malta and Europe were watching.”
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Bill seen as slap in face – The government’s controversial immigration legislation was voted through the Commons last night amid claims from Labour and some Tories that it alienates the very workers risking their lives during the pandemic. Labour’s shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds, said the bill’s salary threshold of £25,600 tells people that anyone earning less is unwelcome. “Those who clapped [for carers] on Thursday are only too happy to vote through a bill today that will send a powerful message to those same people – that they are not considered by this government to be skilled workers.” If it comes into force the bill would repeal EU freedom of movement and introduce a new framework setting out who can come to Britain. The home secretary, Priti Patel, has highlighted the promise of a fast-track NHS visa.
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Buffett ripped off – A German manufacturing company allegedly conned the US investor and world’s fourth-wealthiest person Warren Buffett into overpaying for its business by Photoshopping company orders and invoices. A Buffett company paid €800m (£715m) to buy Wilhelm Schulz, a family-run manufacturer of stainless steel. But it turned out that rather than booming, the company was struggling and at risk of bankruptcy. A New York arbitration court ruled the business was worth no more than €157m and ordered Schulz to make up the difference of €643m. “The evidence strongly points to fraud, and there is little in the record to suggest otherwise,” the panel said. A state prosecutor in Düsseldorf is also investigating the pipe maker for fraud and forgery.
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‘We had to start from scratch’ – Makers of The Archers have binned 12 scripts and five weeks of storylines to bring back the show. Fans have been making do with repeats but next week the Radio 4 soap returns with life in Ambridge under lockdown. Writing in the Radio Times, the show’s editor, Jeremy Howe, says: “We had to start from scratch, and we had to figure out a new way to make The Archers so that everything – absolutely everything – could be done remotely.” Actors have contributed their lines from home via microphone and computer. The show returns properly on 25 May with stories featuring David and Josh Archer, Tracy Horrobin and police officer Harrison Burns.
Coronavirus Extra
China has put the north-eastern city of Shulan into lockdown after an outbreak of coronavirus, imposing measures similar to those used in Wuhan at the end of January. Shulan, with a population of around 700,000, was classified as high risk after a cluster of cases emerged connected to a woman with no known history of travel or exposure to the virus.
The first results from human trials of a vaccine, by Moderna in the US, have shown that each of eight participants produced an antibody response similar to people who have had the disease.
For our science podcast, Ian Sample talks to Prof Kate Jones about whether the coronavirus pandemic is part of a wider picture of increasing animal-to-human virus transmission. As the TV and film industry struggles to safely restart shooting mothballed shows and films in the UK, from Line of Duty to The Batman, the animation and special effects industry – where many creators already work alone – has remained at full capacity with surging demand.
Today in Focus podcast: From sleeping rough to a hotel bed
Amelia Gentleman reports on life inside the hotels that are now housing some of the more than 5,400 homeless people across England and Wales. It is part of an unprecedented emergency operation to get all rough sleepers off the streets.
Lunchtime read: Ikea and the true cost of fast furniture
A Billy bookcase is made every three seconds. But with a third of people admitting to throwing away furniture that they could have sold or donated, does the cheap furniture boom have a heavy environmental price?
Sport
Preparations are under way for England’s behind-closed-doors Test matches, with Ashley Giles seemingly covering all contingencies. Meanwhile, the ICC has handed down a message that sweat is fine but saliva is not when it comes to polishing a cricket ball. Fernando Alonso is ready to return to Formula One, with the former double world champion understood to have had talks with Renault about taking a seat in 2021.
Neil Lennon has vowed to shrug off any attempts to discredit a ninth league title in a row for Celtic, after the Scottish Premiership season was abandoned. One hundred and ninety-seven people will attend each match when Spanish football returns, according to a protocol prepared by La Liga and seen by the Guardian. Dries Martens has agreed a new three-year extension with Napoli, ending Chelsea and Internazionale’s hopes of signing the 33-year-old on a free transfer this summer. And Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps has admitted that the Covid-19 pandemic is taking a toll on his mental health.
Business
The UK has become more attractive to renewable energy investors following the government’s decision to lift its block on financial support for onshore wind and solar projects. Britain has taken sixth spot in EY’s “attractiveness index” for renewable energy ahead of a major clean energy auction in 2021. The UK climbed one rung in the rankings, to just below Germany, Australia, France, China – and the US, which leads the index despite Trump administration support for fossil fuels, in large part due to plans to invest $57bn (£47bn) to install up to 30GW of offshore wind by 2030.
Asian shares jumped on Tuesday and oil extended gains on optimism the global economy would recover quickly following a successful early-stage trial of a coronavirus vaccine. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside of Japan rose 1.5% to two-week highs. Australia’s benchmark and the Hang Seng led the way with a 2% gain in earlier trading, South Korea added 1.8% while China’s blue-chip index climbed 0.8%. Japan’s Nikkei added 2% to the highest since early March. The pound is on $1.219 and €1.117 at time of writing.
The papers
The Times and the Metro have the same front-page picture: two women having outdoor breakfast in a Milan piazza as Italian bars and eateries reopen. They wear latex gloves and have eyes closed – unclear whether savouring the food or squinting at the daylight. The Times splashes with “Air bridges plan revives hope of summer flights” (the Telegraph also likes that story, which we’ve covered here), while the freesheet reports on “The hidden Covid cases”, saying 200,000 may not know they’ve had it. The Guardian reveals “how agency care home staff spread Covid-19”, as a floating workforce moved around to fill shortages.
The i has “Damning verdict: UK missed a ‘critical’ moment to stop virus”, a story also arising from a Public Health England report. “New Britain … new schools” – the Mirror says “Schools are ramping up plans for reopening” with class sizes halved amid concern about the risks. “When will they learn?” – the Mail is angry at “Britain’s militant teaching unions” after “22 EU countries said opening their schools had not been harmful”. Here is the Guardian’s assessment. The Express dares to ask “Has Britain turned a corner on the virus?” after “death toll falls to new low and testing is ramped up”. The FT has “Germany and France join forces to call for €500bn EU recovery fund” – that’s this story. The Sun says “Queen hit by £18m losses” as the shutdown leaves palaces closed to tourists and their ticket money.
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