Is coronavirus mutating into a more deadly strain? Covid-19 myths busted
The truth about the protective value of face masks and whether it’s easy to catch Covid-19
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Claim: it is mutating into a more deadly strain
All viruses accumulate mutations over time and the virus that causes Covid-19 is no different. How widespread different strains of a virus become depends on natural selection – the versions that can propagate quickest and replicate effectively in the body will be the most “successful”. This doesn’t necessarily mean most dangerous for people though, as viruses that kill people rapidly or make them so sick that they are incapacitated may be less likely to be transmitted.
Genetic analysis by Chinese scientists of 103 samples of the virus, taken from patients in Wuhan and other cities, suggests that early on two main strains emerged, designated L and S. Although the L strain appeared to be more prevalent than the S strain (about 70% of the samples belonged to the former), the S branch of the virus was found to be the ancestral version.
Saudi Arabia ‘arrests royal family members’
Those detained reportedly include a brother of King SalmanJon Sharman
Saudi Arabia has detained at least two members of the country’s royal family, according to reports.
The arrests included Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, a younger full brother of King Salman and uncle of the de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Prince Ahmed was one of only three people on the Allegiance Council, made up of the ruling family’s senior members, who opposed the 34-year-old becoming crown prince in 2017, sources have previously said.
Erdogan orders Turkish coastguard to block migrants crossing Aegean Sea
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has ordered the Turkish coastguard to prevent migrants from crossing the Aegean Sea because of the risks, state media reported.
"On the orders of the president ... permission will not be given for migrants to cross the Aegean Sea because it is dangerous," the coastguard was quoted as saying by Anadolu news agency late Friday.
On Saturday tensions flared on the Greek-Turkey border where tear gas and smoke bombs were fired at thousands of migrants amassed at a makeshift camp waiting to cross into Europe.
'In Search': A victim's story of female genital mutilation
Despite bans against female genital mutilation, the practice still continues in some parts of the world. Filmmaker Beryl Magoko goes back to Kenya to reflect on her own experience in her documentary "In Search."
Beryl Magoko was 10 years old when she was circumcised in her native Kenya. It is a day she has never forgotten: "If I were a painter, I could depict everything precisely," Magoko told DW. "I remember everything: the colors, the smells. I can see the colors, the clothes, the dirty hands," she says of the traumatic images and unbearable pain.
For a long time, she was not able to talk about what she had experienced. Genital mutilation is a taboo topic in Kenyan villages.
The young conservatives who believe Greta Thunberg and want to bring Republicans with them
Updated 1536 GMT (2336 HKT) March 6, 2020
Something was different at CPAC 2020.
Sure, Fox News and the NRA were in their regular spots between booths full of "deplorable" hammocks, Donald Trump nutcrackers and a life-size statue of the President, made of nails and posed as Superman.
But in the middle of this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, the booth cocking the most eyebrows was focused on climate change -- not as something to deny or mock -- but as a crisis to fight. With taxes!
Woody Allen book pulped after walkout at publisher
A US publishing house has cancelled plans to publish a memoir by Woody Allen, the award-winning film director who has been accused of sexual abuse.
Hachette Book Group (HBG) acted on Friday a day after its employees staged a walkout in New York and Boston to protest against the publication.
Allen's son and daughter, Ronan and Dylan Farrow, had condemned the deal.
Mr Farrow, a journalist, wrote a book for HBG last year about how powerful men avoid punishment for misconduct.
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