Six In The Morning Saturday 8 February 2020

Deadliest day for coronavirus as mainland China records 86 fatalities, while US announces first American death

By Joshua Berlinger, CNN

Updated 1013 GMT (1813 HKT) February 8, 2020

Mainland China had its deadliest day in the coronavirus outbreak Friday, with authorities reporting 86 fatalities from the pneumonia-like illness that is paralyzing much of the country.

A total of 722 people had died from the virus and 34,546 were infected in mainland China by the end of Friday, China's National Health Commission said. The majority of new cases were recorded in Hubei province and its capital, Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. Authorities finished construction on a new hospital in Wuhan last week, and another is due to open in the coming days to treat the growing number of patients.

Meanwhile, it emerged that a 60-year-old United States citizen had died from the virus at Jinyintian Hospital, in Wuhan, on February 6, according to the US Embassy in Beijing, marking the first confirmed death of a foreigner from the virus. Japan also reported its first death of suspected coronavirus in Wuhan on Saturday, according to an announcement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Japanese man in his 60s died of pneumonia. The hospital that treated him was inconclusive on the cause of the pneumonia.

‘We’d been denied a personal life’: Northern Ireland’s long road to equal marriage

As the first weddings take place, the partner of murdered journalist Lyra McKee and others describe the fight for their rights

Colin Crummy

Sat 8 Feb 2020 11.30 GMT

‘After Lyra’s death, I decided to do something worthwhile with my anger’

Sara Canning, nurse and partner of journalist Lyra McKee, Derry

Lyra and I knew early on that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. We met on Plenty Of Fish in March 2018 – super millennial. She messaged me first, with a Harry Potter chat-up line, which worked. Lyra loved happy endings. She was heartbroken when her friend’s relationship broke up. So she said she didn’t care that we’d only been going out one year, we should get married. We had that discussion on a Tuesday; by Thursday she’d bought the ring.

Former US drone operator recalls dropping a missile on Afghanistan children and says military is ‘worse than the Nazis’

‘That image on the screen is still in my head. Whenever I think about it, it still hurts me’, Brandon Bryant says

Graig Graziosi

A former US drone operator is speaking out against the atrocities he says he was forced to inflict during his time in the armed forces and says the American military as ‘worse than the Nazis’. 

Brandon Bryant was enlisted in the US Air Force for six years. During his time with the military, he operated Predator drones, remotely firing missiles at targets more than 7,000 miles away from the small room containing his workspace near Las Vegas, Nevada.

France's ice-sports chief resigns amid sexual abuse scandal in figure skating

The under-fire president of France’s ice skating federation Didier Gailhaguet resigned on Saturday over a damaging sex abuse scandal. 

French sports minister Roxana Maracineanu on Monday asked Gailhaguet to resign after several figure skaters claimed they were raped or sexually assaulted when they were minors by former coaches.

“In the spirit of conciliation I took the sensible decision to resign with philosophy, dignity but no bitterness,” the 66-year-old announced after a meeting of the federation’s federal council in Paris.

On Wednesday, Gailhaguet refused to step down, saying he had made "mistakes" but that he was never "at fault".

Malaysia's anti-FGM advocates: Leave our bodies alone

Advocates for abolition of female circumcision say it has no medical benefit for women nor religious basis.

by Manar Al Adam

Dr Harlina Siraj, an obstetrics and gynaecology specialist, still remembers with dread the day she witnessed her first-born daughter's circumcision at five months old.

As someone who studied reproductive health and the female anatomy in medical school for years, she was also steeped in her family's traditions and beliefs. As a child, the doctor and her four sisters, like most girls from her generation, also went through circumcision, known as khitan in Malaysia.

Brazil's Amazon: Deforestation high in January despite rainy season

Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest doubled in January compared with a year ago, reaching a five-year record for the month, officials say.

Destruction at this time of the year tends to slow down as the rainy season makes access to areas more difficult.

But instead of falling to the same low levels as in the past, deforestation remained high, official data showed.

Critics say far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's policies and rhetoric encourage illegal activities.

Deforestation in the Amazon - a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming - soared last year, the first of President Bolsonaro in office.