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Ángela López hardly fits the profile of a rule-breaker. But the mother of a 7-year-old girl with respiratory problems has found herself among parents ready to challenge Spanish authorities on a blanket order to return to school.  
 
They are wary of safety measures they see as ill-funded as a new wave of coronavirus infections sweeps the country. They fear sick students could infect relatives who are at higher risk of falling ill from COVID-19. And they claim that they have invested in computers and better network connections to prepare for online lessons, even preparing to homeschool their children if necessary.
 
Many of the defiant parents, including López, are also ready to stand up to the country’s rigid, one-size-fits-all rule of mandatory in-school education, even if that means facing charges for truancy, which in Spain can be punished with three to six months in prison.  
 
Her daughter was born with a condition that makes her prone to suffer episodes of bronchial spasms, which can cause difficulty breathing. With COVID-19 affecting the respiratory system, López doesn’t want to take any risks.
 
“We feel helpless and a little offended. It’s like they force us to commit an illegal act because they don’t give us a choice,” said López, who lives in Madrid.
 
“It’s a matter of statistics,” she added. “The more cases there are, the more likely you are to catch it.”
 
More than half a million people have contracted the virus in Spain and at least 29,500 have died with it, although the official record leaves out many who perished in March and April without being previously tested.
 
With an average of 229 new cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks, Spain currently has the highest rate of contagion in western Europe. Within the region, it leads what many experts are already calling a second wave of the pandemic, although the Spanish government insists that it now identifies most of the infections because it’s testing more and better.
 
Officials also say that more than half of those infected now show no symptoms, which explains why hospitals that struggled at the peak of the epidemic in spring are seeing fewer COVID-19 patients this time.
 
As cases continue to go up and fuel debate in parents’ group messaging chats, Spanish authorities last week issued revised guidelines for the reopening. They included mandatory masks for students 6 and older, daily body temperature checks, hand-washing at least five times per day and frequent ventilation of classrooms.
 
The Ministry of Health has also recommended setting up so-called “bubble-classrooms” where a reduced number of students interact only among themselves, and “COVID coordinators” in every school who can react quickly if an outbreak is identified.  
 
But many parents say funding is insufficient to hire more teachers and that some schools just don’t have additional space. They also see an inconsistency in authorities allowing up to 25 children in classrooms while banning large meetings of people or imposing curbs on nightlife in response to surging contagion. In Madrid, those restrictions have been expanded even to private homes, where no gatherings of more than 10 relatives or friends are allowed.
 
Over 8 million students in Spain are beginning the academic year this week or next, with the starting date varying in each of its 17 regions and according to education levels.
 
Although scientists are still studying the role children play in spreading COVID-19, younger children appear less infectious than teenagers. Children mostly suffer only mild infections when they catch the virus, but in rare cases they can get severe illness and studies have shown they can transmit COVID-19 to others in their households, including their parents.
 
Aroha Romero, a mother of two from the eastern region of Valencia, said the lack of clarity increases her anxiety.
 
“I would rather be threatened (to be charged with absenteeism) than have my children be motherless due to the coronavirus,” she said
 
Lorenzo Cotino, a law professor at the University of Valencia who has studied the impact of legislation in education, noted that schooling is widely supported in Spain since a 1970 law made physical attendance mandatory, reducing social divisions.
 
The pandemic has reinforced the idea that “equality and schooling go hand in hand,” Cotino said, because “children in marginalized groups with less internet access received a poorer education at home.”
 
The families contesting the status quo say Spain’s constitution gives them freedom to keep their children away from school. But there is neither a legal umbrella for homeschooling, nor is there a system that sets standards for studying at home.
 
The situation is similar in Germany, where homeschooling is illegal, although there has been enthusiasm there about the return to schools, and in Britain, where very high attendance rates followed last week’s reopening. The British government has pledged to only fine parents not sending their children back as a “last resort.”
 
Even in European countries where homeschooling is allowed, the practice is not as widespread as in the United States. A longstanding distance learning system for all ages exists in France but parents can also choose to privately educate their children.
 
French education authorities say it’s too early in the academic year to identify if the coronavirus is driving a homeschooling trend.
 
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has warned of a “risk of social exclusion for not returning to school.” And although he said there is “no such thing as zero risk,” he said both students and teachers “will be much safer in educational centers than in other places.”
 
His education minister, Isabel Celaá, has acknowledged that a number of students will miss the return to school for medical reasons. But stressing the existing punishment for absenteeism, she said last week that in-school learning “cannot be replaced by homeschooling.”
 
Irene Briones, a law professor at Madrid’s Complutense University, said that “if truancy numbers increase massively, nothing will happen” because “it’s not in the government’s interest” to go against large numbers of parents.
 
When Spain went into a strict three-month lockdown last spring, millions of students were forced to finish school from home and parents suddenly became teachers. Online classes helped a great deal and set the path towards a new way of learning in COVID-19 times, families said.
 
The demand now is that online education becomes standardized with an official digital learning program that will help students keep up with the coursework at least through December, during the first trimester of the academic year. They also say that laptops and other equipment should be handed out to narrow the technology divide between families.
 
“We will defend ourselves using all legal tools and arguments” if authorities and families don’t reach an agreement, says Josu Gómez, whose Safe Return to School association has enlisted nearly 1,500 families in three weeks. A further 250,000 people have signed in two months a Change.org petition to demand safety measures for kids and teachers in classrooms.
 
But some are ready to face whatever consequences may come. Romero, the mother of two from Valencia, insisted her kids will stay home as long as infection numbers don’t go down.
 
“If adults can work from home, kids can study from home,” she said.
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Two Australian journalists left China overnight Monday to Tuesday, fearing they would be arrested, their employers said Tuesday. Bill Birtles, Beijing correspondent for the ABC channel, and Michael Smith, Shanghai correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, took refuge for several days in Australia’s embassy in Beijing, before leaving China accompanied of Australian diplomats. They arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning, according to ABC. The hasty departures come after the arrest last month for undetermined reasons of an Australian business journalist working for the Chinese state-run English-language channel CGTN, Cheng Lei. This arrest greatly strained relations between Beijing and Canberra. According to ABC, Birtles was advised last week to leave the country by the Australian Foreign Office. But shortly before his return to Australia, scheduled for last Thursday, seven Chinese police officers came to his home in the middle of the night and informed him that he was going to be questioned on a “national security matter” and that he had no right to leave the country. After this, the journalist took refuge in his embassy in Beijing. Birtles was subsequently questioned by Chinese police, in the presence of two Australian diplomats, and allowed to leave the country. Smith was also visited by police at his home the same night, according to AFR, which added pressure on the two journalists was linked to the arrest of Cheng last month. Smith took refuge in Australia’s Shanghai consulate. Relations between Australia and China have deteriorated sharply over the past two years. Canberra then decided to act against what was seen as Beijing’s growing interference in the affairs of Australia. Canberra also caused fury in Beijing a few months ago for its requests to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan. China has since taken steps to reduce Australian imports and encouraged its students and tourists to avoid Australia. 
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In April, during the height of the coronavirus lockdown, Trump administration health experts hailed a test that would confirm if someone had already had the virus and therefore couldn’t get sick again. The antibody test would show who might have “the wonderful, beautiful immunity,” President Donald Trump said was needed to get the nation working again. Months later, the tests exist but haven’t fulfilled their promise of allowing Americans to reclaim their lives, said Dr. Jennifer Rakeman of New York City’s Public Health Laboratory. In fighting off the virus, the body makes antibodies, which the tests measure. Unfortunately, scientists are still figuring out how well and for how long antibodies provide the immunity that protects against another infection by the coronavirus.  An Indian girl cries as a medical worker collects her swab sample for a COVID-19 test at a rural health center in Bagli, outskirts of Dharmsala, India, Sept. 7, 2020.In truth, “there’s no easy path to this knowledge” about immunity, Marc Jenkins of the University of Minnesota said. Long-term human or animal studies are usually needed to reach answers about immunity. Much of that work is done by the National Institutes of Health and universities, but they are occupied developing a vaccine against the coronavirus. Until more is known, antibody tests should not be used to determine when it is safe to return to work or school, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association. But the tests are useful in large studies to see how widely the coronavirus has spread and to screen people who have recovered and could donate their blood plasma for use as a treatment for those in the throes of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. WHO: Learn from pandemicEarlier Monday the World Health Organization (WHO) said that countries that built up their health care systems in recent years fared better amid the COVID-19 pandemic. People pack the Ipanema beach amid the new coronavirus pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sept.6, 2020.As of Monday, the United States leads the world with about 6.3 million confirmed cases and more than 189,000 deaths, according to the A nurse prepares an injection for a COVID-19 patient in the ICU of the National Hospital in Itagua, Paraguay, Sept. 7, 2020.The other vaccine is a joint project between AstraZeneca and Oxford University currently in late-stage trials. Morrison said Monday that CSL will manufacture that vaccine as well for distribution in Australia, and that he expects 3.8 million doses to be available in January or February 2021. Israel is beginning partial nighttime lockdowns in 40 cities and towns with the country’s highest infection rates. Schools in those areas will also be closed, and gatherings will be limited to 10 people inside and 20 outdoors. “I know that these restrictions are not easy but in the current situation there is no avoiding them,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. 
 
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Amnesty International condemned Malta on Tuesday for using what it described as “illegal tactics” in the Mediterranean against immigrants making the dangerous crossing from North Africa. The approach taken by the Maltese government might have led to avoidable deaths, it argued, in a report that alleged a string of human rights abuses against illegal immigrants. Amnesty’s report was released hours after U.N. rights agencies on Monday called on Malta and the European Union to end the latest humanitarian crisis on board a cargo ship off the Maltese coast. “The Maltese government has resorted to dangerous and illegal measures for dealing with the arrivals of refugees and migrants at sea,” Amnesty said. “This escalation of tactics included arranging unlawful pushbacks to Libya, diverting boats towards Italy rather than rescuing people in distress and illegally detaining hundreds of people in ill-equipped ferries off Malta’s waters,” Amnesty said. MaltaThe signing of an agreement between Valletta and Tripoli in late May “to prevent people from reaching Malta” further exposed them to brutal treatment upon return to Libyan refugee camps, Amnesty said in the 34-page report. “Some of the actions taken by the Maltese authorities may have involved criminal acts being committed, resulting in avoidable deaths, prolonged arbitrary detention and illegal returns to war-torn Libya,” it said.   Malta PM rejects responsibility Malta and Italy in April closed their ports to migrants as the coronavirus pandemic closed its grip on the two countries, with Malta saying it needed all its resources to fight the disease. Since the start of the year Malta has received 2,161 illegal immigrants “and the resources and efforts necessary to ensure reception, access to protection and protection from COVID-19 are undoubtedly considerable for such a small country,” said Amnesty. That did not however “relieve Malta of the responsibility to indicate a place of safety for the people rescued under its coordination,” Amnesty said. The Amnesty report came as yet another cargo ship carrying rescued migrants was being denied permission to dock, its shipping company said this week. The Maersk Etienne on August 4 rescued the 27 migrants at the request of the Maltese authorities, which has since declined to let it into port. The U.N.’s refugee agency (UNCHR) as well as International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Chamber of Shipping “called for the immediate disembarkation … of the people trapped on board the ship.” The Maltese government did not immediately comment on the Amnesty report, but Prime Minister Robert Abela said Sunday the situation on the Maersk Etienne “was not Malta’s responsibility,” as the ship was sailing under a Danish flag. “While I understand the humanitarian aspect of migration, I have to understand the interests of the Maltese,” Abela told the Malta Today online newspaper. Amnesty’s report is titled “Waves of impunity: Malta’s violations of the rights of refugees and migrants in the Central Mediterranean.” 
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Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan recently directed authorities to release hundreds of female prisoners who are awaiting trial for minor offenses or who have served most of their prison terms.Rights advocates have hailed the move, hoping it will help ease the plight of the country’s female prison population.Khan’s directive last week stemmed from a new, official study that found women’s jails are rife with poor conditions and that authorities often ignore laws meant to protect female inmates.The report by the federal Human Rights Ministry said that of the 1,121 women in prison as of mid-2020, nearly 67% had not been convicted of any offense and were detained while awaiting conclusion of their trial.The government has pledged to pay the financial penalties outstanding against female prisoners whose remaining sentences are less than three years so they could be released immediately.Khan has also asked for “immediate reports on foreign women prisoners and women on death row for humanitarian consideration” and possible release.“Inmates of jails in Pakistan do not often have a reason to collectively rejoice, but a humane decision by the federal government will have many female prisoners doing precisely that,” the English-language daily DAWN wrote in its editorial on Khan’s announcement.Need for reformOn Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW), responding to the official actions, noted that the ministry’s report had highlighted “the massive scale of mistreatment” of women prisoners in Pakistan and the need for broad and sustained prison reform.“While an important step, this report can only bring change if Pakistani authorities follow its recommendations and end widespread abuse,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at the global organization.The official report has found that 134 women had children with them in prison, some as old as 9 and 10, despite the legal limit of 5 years.“A critical lack of funding in the prison health care system has meant that mothers whose children are with them in prison often lack essential health care, leaving both the women and the children at risk of contracting infections,” HRW said.The outbreak of the coronavirus in Pakistan prompted the Supreme Court in April to warn authorities that inmates in the country’s overcrowded prisons could become victims of the pandemic.The court ordered Khan’s government to reduce prison congestion by freeing prisoners suffering from a mental or physical illness, inmates 55 years or older, male prisoners without any past convictions who are awaiting trial, as well as women and juvenile inmates.OvercrowdingPakistan’s overall prison population officially stands at more than 73,000 inmates, with most of them living in cramped conditions. Government estimates put the total capacity of prisons across the country at nearly 58,000.Most of the detainees are said to be awaiting trial and have not been convicted. Critics say court cases in Pakistan can take years, if not decades, to conclude, even ordinary disputes, because of a shortage of judges and lawyers, and rampant corruption, particularly in the lower judiciary.A government study released earlier this year had also highlighted widespread problems in Pakistani prisons. It found that almost 2,400 prisoners at the time suffered from chronic contagious diseases such as HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis.“The Human Rights Ministry report is an opportunity for the Pakistan government to take meaningful steps to improve the treatment of women in prisons in the country and start a much-needed process of systemic, large-scale prison reform,” Adams said. 
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An estimated 45 million people in southern Africa are food insecure, with the number of people without access to adequate, affordable and nutritious food up 10% from last year, the World Food Program said Monday.The coronavirus pandemic, coupled with climate change and the struggling economies of several countries, are the main causes of the food insecurity, said international aid organizations in a webinar organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of Southern Africa.Zimbabwe is the country affected the most, with the number of its food insecure people expected to reach 8.6 million by the end of this year, World Food Program director in southern Africa, Lola Castro, said.”We are going to see levels of food insecurity that we have never seen for many years,” in 13 of the region’s 16 countries, Castro said.”We have chronic underlying causes that we know very well, and they are basically mostly related to climatic shocks … drought, floods or big cyclones,” Castro said.She said COVID-19, the disease caused by the coonavirus, was an additional emergency that has enormously hurt the livelihoods of many poor people in the region. Lockdowns have made large numbers of people unemployed, increasing food insecurity, she said.Many farmers, especially women, had been severely affected by COVID-19 and its impact on food production, ActionAid Africa humanitarian adviser Chikondi Chabvuta said.”Southern Africa has faced impacts of climate change for the past four years nonstop. … I have witnessed the short-lived hope in people’s eyes these past four years when seeds are distributed or exchanged in the hope for a better yield next season, only to be disappointed by more climate disasters,” she said.”COVID-19 is exposing the existing systematic weaknesses of the regional policies meant to develop resilient food security,” Chabvuta said. “This includes reliance on imports for agricultural production for food supply.”  Zimbabwean farmer Juliet Hove said lack of access to water and the markets were also major problems for small-scale farmers in her country.According to Hove, COVID-19 restrictions on movements were preventing small-scale farmers from traveling to marketplaces to sell seeds and produce, reducing their ability to earn an income. 
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday granted an absolute pardon to a U.S. Marine convicted in the 2014 killing of a transgender woman, days after his office blocked a court order for the marine’s early release.Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton was convicted of homicide in December 2015. In October the year before, he met Jennifer Laude at a bar in Olongapo, about 150 kilometers from the capital of Manila. They went to a nearby motel, and just 30 minutes after checking in, staff found Laude dead, slumped over the toilet.Duterte’s spokesman, Harry Roque, said that the pardon didn’t wipe out Pemberton’s conviction.“The president has erased whatever punishment that Pemberton still faced,” he said, according to The New York Times.  “What was never erased in the mind of the president is the conviction of Pemberton, who is a killer.”’
Roque, a former lawyer for Laude’s family, released a harsher statement last week when a trial court ordered Pemberton’s early release.“As former Private Prosecutor for the Laude family, I deplore the short period of imprisonment meted on Pemberton who killed a Filipino under the most gruesome manner,” Roque tweeted. “Laude’s death personifies the death of Philippine sovereignty.”Statement on the early telease of Pemberton: As former Private Prosecutor for the Laude family, I deplore the short period of imprisonment meted on Pemberton who killed a Filipino under the most gruesome manner. Laude’s death personifies the death of Philippine sovereignty— Harry Roque (@attyharryroque) September 2, 2020Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin said the president’s pardon was meant “to do justice.”
“Cutting matters short over what constitutes time served, and since where he was detained was not in the prisoner’s control—and to do justice—the President has granted an absolute pardon to Pemberton,” tweeted Locsin.  Cutting matters short over what constitutes time served, and since where he was detained was not in the prisoner’s control—and to do justice—the President has granted an absolute pardon to Pemberton. Here at the Palace.— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) September 7, 2020 
Lawyers for Laude’s family, alongside human rights advocates, criticized the move as an effort to curry favor with the U.S.“There is so much disrespect in the manner by which Jennifer was killed — reflective of the disrespect the U.S. has for the Philippines’ democracy and sovereignty,” said Virginia Lacsa Suarez, a lawyer for Laude’s family, according to The New York Times.Cristina Palabay, of human rights group Karapatan, told Reuters, “We view this as not only a mockery of justice but also a blatant display of servility to U.S. interest.”  
For his part, Duterte defended the decision as a fair one, in a televised address Monday. 
“If there is a time when you are called upon to be fair, be fair,” he said.
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A social media post by Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman apparently ridiculing Serbia’s president after he signed a U.S.-sponsored agreement between Serbia and Kosovo has triggered a rare spat between traditional allies Moscow and Belgrade.
        
Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova posted a photo showing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic sitting across from U.S. President Donald Trump at his Oval Office in Washington. She posted that along with another photo, the iconic scene from thriller “Basic Instinct” showing Sharon Stone being questioned by police as she sits cross-legged in a chair.
        
Zakharova mocked Vucic in a comment on the Facebook post, saying he was invited to the White House to be interrogated.
        
Vucic and other Serbian officials reacted furiously.
        
“The primitivism and vulgarity she showed speaks about herself, but also about those who have given her the job,” Vucic told the pro-government Pink TV.  
        
Later Sunday, Zakharova apologized on Twitter, saying her post had been misinterpreted. Her boss, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, spoke Sunday with Vucic, stressing the “sincerely close ties” between the two states, the Serbian president’s office said.
        
Vucic said while he was in Washington, he defended Serbia’s close ties with Russia, including an arms purchase, and his refusal to impose Western sanctions against Moscow over its policies in Ukraine.
        
Marko Djuric, an official with Vucic’s ruling party, defended him on Twitter.  
        
“This president did not say a single bad word against Russia, not even in that place (the White House.) … I will not allow you to attack proud Serbia. Shame on you!” Djuric wrote.
        
Although formally seeking membership in the European Union, Serbia under Vucic has been forging close political, economic and military ties with Russia and China.
        
Trump announced Friday that former wartime foes Serbia and Kosovo have agreed to normalize economic ties as part of U.S.-brokered talks that include Belgrade moving its Israeli embassy to Jerusalem, and mutual recognition between Israel and Kosovo.  
        
The announcement provided Trump with a diplomatic win ahead of the November presidential election and furthers his administration’s push to improve Israel’s international standing.
        
The agreement also calls on Serbia to diversify its energy supplies, which are now fully in Russia’s hands – something unlikely to be approved by Moscow.
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Campaigners are urging Australia to restart a refugee program that has left thousands of people stranded overseas.  Australia closed its international borders in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.    The Refugee Council of Australia has estimated that about 4,000 refugees with humanitarian visas allowing entry into Australia are currently stranded overseas.  They are unable to travel because Australia’s international border was closed to foreign nationals in March to curb the spread of COVID-19.       David Odeesh is an Iraqi refugee in Australia.  His sister and her family were granted humanitarian visas in January and had planned to reunite with him in March.     The family had escaped the Islamic State terror group in their home city of Mosul in northern Iraq and fled to Lebanon, where they remain.     Odeesh says his sister is struggling to survive in a small apartment in Beirut and he is pleading with the authorities in Canberra to let the family come.     “They have all the documents ready, all the approval, and, unfortunately, what happened this pandemic — COVID-19 — everything stops, the border closed.  I hope [the] Australian government hear our voice and change this decision,”  he said.   The family has said it has applied twice for special permission from the government in Canberra to fly to Australia. The requests have been denied.  Australia’s international borders are expected to stay closed until 2021.     Campaigners believe refugees should, like citizens and permanent residents, be allowed into the country.     The Department for Home Affairs has appeared unmoved.  It has said the border restrictions “have been successful in slowing the spread of coronavirus in Australia”.
12,700 refugees were resettled in Australia in 2018.  The majority were from Iraq, with others escaping Myanmar, Syria and Afghanistan.       The government has said Australia has one of the world’s “most generous” resettlement programs and has given sanctuary to almost 900,000 refugees since the end of the World War II.     However, its detention of asylum seekers who try to reach Australia by sea in offshore camps in the South Pacific has drawn repeated international condemnation.  In response, Canberra has insisted the policies were a deterrent, and have prevented migrants risking their lives crossing treacherous waters in unseaworthy vessels.    
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The metro system in India’s capital began a phased reopening Monday with only the city’s yellow line up and running. For now, trains will run for four hours in the morning and four hours in the evening.  The New Delhi metro, India’s largest metro system, closed in March, as did all the other metros around the country, when the country went into lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.  That effort, however, has not proved as successful as Indian authorities would like. Only the U.S. has more COVID-19 cases than India’s more than 4.2 million.   All passengers are undergoing thermal screening for high temperatures upon entering Delhi’s metro stations. Travelers are also required to wear face masks and observe social distancing in the stations and on the trains.   Security personnel have been deployed to the stations to ensure that regulations are observed.  Passengers must use a smart card to travel, as no tokens or cash transactions will be permitted.   Officials say the stations will be sanitized every four hours.  
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Typhoon Haishen made landfall on the South Korean coast Monday, a day after battering southern Japan.   Forecasters at the Korea Meteorological Administration say Haishen reached the southern city of Ulsan with maximum sustained winds of 126 kilometers an hour.  The storm has already affected the nearby port city of Busan, cutting off power to thousands of homes, forcing authorities to evacuate nearly 1,000 residents and grounding as many as 300 passenger flights to and from the region.  The weather agency says Haishen is expected to weaken to a tropical storm within the next 24 hours. Haishen, which means “sea god” in Chinese, left nearly 500,000 households without power on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu Sunday. Nearly 2 million people were ordered to evacuate several southern Japanese islands as the typhoon bashed the region.  At least 32 people were injured on Kyushu.   Haishen is the second typhoon to hit southern Japan and the Korean Peninsula in less than a week.  Typhoon Maysak flooded homes and vehicles and knocked down trees and traffic lights after making landfall in Busan last Thursday, leaving at least two people dead.  Maysak was also blamed for the sinking of a cattle ship, which capsized and sank in the East China sea Wednesday. At least two of the 43 crewmen on board were rescued. The ship was also carrying nearly 6,000 cattle, bound for China.  
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson talked tough on Sunday ahead of a crucial round of post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union, saying Britain could walk away from the talks within weeks and insisting that a no-deal exit would be a “good outcome for the U.K.”With talks deadlocked, Johnson said an agreement would only be possible if EU negotiators are prepared to “rethink their current positions.”The EU, in turn, accuses Britain of failing to negotiate seriously.Britain left the now 27-nation EU on Jan. 31, 3½ years after the country narrowly voted to end more than four decades of membership. That political departure will be followed by an economic break when an 11-month transition period ends on Dec. 31 and the U.K. leaves the EU’s single market and customs union.Without a deal, the new year will bring tariffs and other economic barriers between the U.K. and the bloc, its biggest trading partner. Johnson said the country would “prosper mightily” even if Britain had “a trading arrangement with the EU like Australia’s” — the U.K. government’s preferred description of a no-deal Brexit.British chief negotiator David Frost and his counterpart Michel Barnier are to meet in London starting Tuesday for the eighth round of negotiations.The key sticking points are access for European boats to U.K. fishing waters and state aid to industries. The EU is determined to ensure a “level playing field” for competition so British firms can’t undercut the bloc’s environmental or workplace standards or pump public money into U.K. industries.Britain accuses the bloc of making demands that it has not imposed on other countries it has free trade deals with, such as Canada.Frost told the Mail on Sunday newspaper that Britain was “not going to compromise on the fundamentals of having control over our own laws.””We are not going to accept level playing field provisions that lock us in to the way the EU do things,” he said.The EU says a deal has to be struck before November to allow time for parliamentary approval and legal vetting before the transition period expires.Johnson gave an even shorter deadline, saying an agreement needed to be sealed by an EU summit scheduled for Oct. 15.”If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on,” he said.Barnier said last week he was “worried and disappointed” by the lack of progress and said the U.K. had not “engaged constructively.”Without a deal, British freight firms have warned there could be logjams at ports and supplies of key goods in Britain could be “severely disrupted” starting Jan. 1.French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday that talks were “not going well” and dismissed British attempts to drive a wedge between EU nations on issues such as fishing. Le Drian said the 27 nations remained united.”We would prefer a deal, but a deal on the basis of our mandate,” he told France Inter radio. “There is room for action, but the whole package, including the fishing package, needs to be taken up in order to avoid a ‘no deal.'”
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