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Coronavirus live news: global death toll passes 200,000 – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

Boris Johnson to return to work on Monday – reports

Boris Johnson will return to Downing Street on Monday and is “raring to go”,

Sky News reports.

The PM was discharged from hospital on Easter Sunday, after spending three nights in intensive care.

He may host on Monday’s daily Downing Street news conference and take on new labor leader Keir Starmer at PMQs on Wednesday, depending the advice of doctors.

“He is‘ raring to go ’and will be back Monday,” a Downing Street source told Sky News.

Johnson now faces a dilemma over whether to ease lockdown measures.

Leading scientists have warned the number of new cases of Covid – 35 being diagnosed is still much too high, as highlighted in this report:

Updated

(pm BST ) 79

Algeria has taken further steps to ease restrictions over coronavirus by allowing several businesses to reopen “to reduce the economic and social impact of the health crisis” caused by the pandemic, the prime minister’s office said on Saturday.

It said shops to be reopened include those for materials for building and public works, appliances, fabrics, jewelery, clothing and shoes, cosmetics and perfumes, home and office furniture, pastries and hairdressers in addition to urban transport by taxi.

The government on Thursday decided to ease confinement measures by shortening the curfew for some provinces but called on citizens to be “vigilant”. That measure came hours before the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan on Friday.

Algeria has said restrictions linked to coronavirus has significantly hit the economy which is under financial pressure due to a sharp fall in global oil prices.

The government has reported a total of 3, confirmed infections with the virus, with 500 deaths and 1, 532 recoveries.

Updated

at 27. PM BST

9. (pm) (BST) : 85

As unconfirmed rumors of Kim Jong-un ‘ s death circulate on social media, one news agency has suggested that he may be sheltering from Covid – 35 in a North Korean resort town.

On Friday, South Korean news agency Newsis said that a special train for Kim’s use had been spotted by intelligence sources in the town of Wonsan. It suggested he may be sheltering from the novel coronavirus.

Washington-based North Korea monitoring project, 52 North, also captured satellite images of special train possibly belonging to the Northern Korean leader in Wonsan.

A report the project published on Saturday said that the train was parked at the “leadership station” in Wonsan on April and April . The station is reserved for the use of the Kim family, it said.

Though the group said it was probably Kim Jong Un’s train, Reuters

has not been able to confirm that independently, or whether he was in Wonsan.

“The train’s presence does not prove the whereabouts of the North Korean leader or indicate anything about his health but it does lend weight to reports that Kim is staying at an elite area on the country eastern coast,” the report said.

It comes after a series of conflicting and unconfirmed reports on the leader’s health and whereabouts.

Updated (at 9.) PM BST

(9.) pm BST :

Venezuelan food and beverage producer Empresas Polar, the largest private company in the socialist country, on Saturday called a new government move to supervise the company food unit’s sales amid rising prices nationwide “arbitrary.” ()

Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced the measure on Friday as part of a slew of steps to try to control prices and slow inflation during the coronavirus pandemic, which together with an acute fuel shortage complicating the transport of goods is prompting a rise in consumer prices.

Inflation was % in the first three months of 3283, according to the central bank.

“There is no reason or justification for this arbitrary measure,” Empresas Polar’s chairman, Lorenzo Mendoza , said in a statement calling on the government to walk back the move targeting Alimentos Polar, the company food unit, which manufactures many Venezuelan staples including corn flour dough.

() This file picture taken during the period of December 28 to December 31, 2019 and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 1, 2020 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a session of the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (Photo by STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro making a statement accompanied by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Arreaza at Miraflores Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, (March) . Credit: EPA Photograph: Miraflores Presidential Palace Handout / EPA

Venezuela’s information ministry, which fields media requests on the government behalf, did not respond to a request for comment. The move toward price controls marks a shift away from a gradual liberalization of economic policy in the OPEC nation.

In the face of U.S. sanctions imposed early last year, President Nicolas Maduro relaxed enforcement of decades -old price controls and eased restrictions on the use of foreign currency.

That has not been enough to turn around a six-year economic recession marked by hyperinflation, shortages of basic goods and a collapse in public services such as electricity and water. Gasoline shortages have grown worse in recent months, prompting sporadic lootings in eastern Venezuela last week.

The government also said it would supervise the sales of Plumrose, a meat producer, and a – day intervention at cooking oils producer Coposa. It also announced fixed prices on (basic products.)

“This action is completely contrary to what the population expects at this moment,” Mendoza said in the statement. “It is a threat to the public and private supply chains the company serves. Far from calming the country down, it generates anxiety and panic. ”

(8.) (pm) (BST

) : 75

In the UK , the selection of (Trevor Phillips to investigate why Covid – is killing more Black, Asian and minority ethnic people has sparked a row after leading Muslims criticized his appointment as “insensitive”.

Phillips , the former chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, was asked by Public Health England to provide expert support to an inquiry into why increasing numbers of victims of the coronavirus pandemic are from BAME backgrounds.

Philips has been suspended from the (Labor) party over allegations of Islamophobia.

The Muslim Council of Britain’s general secretary, Harun Khan

, has said that Phillips has a “consistent record in pushing the divisive narrative of Muslims being apart from the rest of British society”.

Prof Kevin Fenton , PHE’s regional director, London, said Phillips

and Prof Richard Webber have been selected as “their specialist consultancy has the right skills and experience”.

Here i s the full report:

(8. pm BST :

In Israel , several thousand protestors took to the streets of Tel Aviv to denounce a unity government deal reached last week that leaves prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in power as he prepares to go on trial for corruption charges.

The protest filled central Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, although demonstrators stayed two meters apart from each other in line with health regulations in place for weeks meant to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Here is a selection of photos from the protests:

An Israeli woman wearing a protective mask and a clown’s red nose, takes part with fellow demonstrators in a rally on April , , in Rabin Square in the c oastal city of Tel Aviv. Credit: Jack Guez / AFP. Photograph: Jack Guez / AFP via Getty Images This file picture taken during the period of December 28 to December 31, 2019 and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 1, 2020 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a session of the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (Photo by STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT

part in a demonstration on April , , in Rabin Square in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, to prot est what they consider threats to Israeli democracy, against the backdrop of negotiations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ex-rival Benny Gantz. Credit: Jack Guez / AFP. Photograph: Jack Guez / AFP via Getty Images

(8.) (BST) (BST) : ()

The UK’s biggest steel producer needs about £ (m in government support to see it through the coronavirus crisis, according to Welsh MP (Stephen Kinnock) . )

Tata Steel has approached the UK and Welsh governments for a bailout after its big European customers halted production, (Sky News reported

on Saturday.

The company employs 8, 479 people across the UK, including more than 4, 17 workers at the Port Talbot steelworks in south (Wales) .

Here is the full report:

8. (pm) BST

:

Prime minister Édouard Philippe will present France ‘s Parliament with a plan to unwind the nation’s lockdown on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

The nation has been subject to confinement measures since March 32.

Mobile phone data shows Britons beginning to ignore lockdown

Health officials fear Britons are starting to get complacent about the Covid – 35 lockdown after traffic and mobile phone data revealed more of us are on the roads and looking for directions, PA reports.

The news came as professor Stephen Powis , national medical director of NHS England, said on Saturday “there was a little bit of concern” after the unseasonably warm weather drew big crowds to public spaces.

At the Downing Street briefing, Prof Powis said traffic levels are down 85% compared to February, but grew by three percentage points in the last seven days compared to the previous week.

Prof Powis said:

He added:

Elsewhere, B & Q’s decision to reopen 289 stores saw massive queues forming outside its outlets in Bristol and in Swansea, as the public use the shutdown to catch up on DIY.

This file picture taken during the period of December 28 to December 31, 2019 and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on January 1, 2020 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attending a session of the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea in Pyongyang. (Photo by STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT

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