on Wednesday, while the number of deaths rose to eight, and the World Health Organization officially called the spread of Covid – a pandemic. The the latest developments are at our live blog .
The actor couple Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have announced they have tested positive to coronavirus while on the Gold Coast in Australia, where Hanks is due to film a Baz Luhrmann movie about Elvis. Hanks wrote: “Well, now. What to do next? The medical officials have protocols that must be followed. We Hanks ’will be tested, observed, and isolated for as long as public health and safety requires. Not much more to it than a one-day-at-a-time approach, no? ”
Those are the big developments – let’s plunge into some other news for the moment. More on the Covid – pandemic further down … and here’s where you can find all our coverage of the coronavirus outbreak – from breaking news to fact checks
Women and girls ‘still at risk online’ – Women and girls face a growing crisis of online harms with sexual harassment, threatening messages and discrimination making the web an unsafe place to be, the web’s founder, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has warned. A year ago he launched the Contract for the Web, a global action plan to clean up the web, but now warns that without tackling misogynistic abuse the aims of the contract cannot be achieved. “That requires the attention of all those who shape technology, from CEOs and engineers to academics and public officials.” Berners-Lee is calling on companies and governments to strengthen laws and tackle online abuse as a top priority this year, and for the public to speak up if they witness abuse online.
Dom’s new toy – An £ m “blue skies ”science research agency has been announced as part of Rishi Sunak’s first budget as chancellor. The , brainchild of Boris Johnson’s closest political adviser, Dominic Cummings , it will fund “high-risk, high-reward science” and model itself on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) in the US. In other help for business, Sunak will expand a tax allowance on new structures and buildings; cut business rates; and increase employment allowance to reduce employers ’national insurance bills. To save money the Treasury has scrapped plans to cut corporation tax. The national living wage will rise to more than £ an hour in (compared with £ 8.) at present. On coronavirus, Sunak promised to do “whatever it takes” to support households and businesses. Treasury is making £ bn of emergency spending firepower available , with Sunak warning the virus will have a dramatic short-term impact on families, jobs and growth. There is an initial £ 5bn to help the NHS, local authorities and the public sector cope with the outbreak.
Courts not done with Weinstein – After Harvey Weinstein was handed a – year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault , details from unsealed court papers reveal how he He wrote in an email that Jennifer Aniston “should be killed” after a reporter asked him about her allegations of sexual assault. The documents also revealed that actor-director Ben Affleck was one of many industry figures on a “red flag list” compiled by Weinstein . Harvey Weinstein: how a Hollywood mogul was undone – video explainer (When it became clear in October) that the board of the Weinstein Company was about to fire him, Weinstein sent a string of emails to powerful corporate figures, including Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos and Apple’s Tim Cook, asking for their intervention and “a private letter of support”. Weinstein, who throughout has appeared bewildered at his downfall , has been hit with a further blow: the district attorney in Los Angeles has announced extradition proceedings on two charges relating to two more west coast accusers.
Coronavirus extra
Our Science Weekly team received a great response to their Covid – 30 episode last week – and they’re back with another special, this time exploring what exactly happens once someone is infected. While scientists are racing to figure that out, insights can be gleaned from other viruses like influenza .
Science Weekly
What happens when someone gets coronavirus?
Sorry your browser does not support audio – but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/ / / – – gnl.scie. . ms.covid 47 _ once_infected.mp3
:
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings