Six In The Morning Friday 9 April 2021

 

Prince Philip has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace announces

Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, has died aged 99, Buckingham Palace has announced.

A statement issued by the palace just after midday spoke of the Queen's "deep sorrow" following his death at Windsor Castle on Friday morning.

The Duke of Edinburgh, the longest-serving royal consort in British history, was at the Queen's side for more than her six decades of reign.

Boris Johnson said he "inspired the lives of countless young people".

"It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband," the palace said.

"The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."

Revealed: Republican-led states secretly spending huge sums on execution drugs

Documents obtained by the Guardian show three states paying astronomical amounts to skirt – almost certainly illegally – a ban on pharmaceuticals for lethal injections

Ed Pilkington

@edpilkington

Fri 9 Apr 2021 02.00 EDT

Republican-controlled states are spending astronomical sums of their taxpayers’ money to buy pharmaceutical drugs from illicit dealers in a desperate and almost certainly unlawful attempt to carry out lethal injection executions.

Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal the full extent of the spending blitz that American death penalty states have embarked upon as they try to restart executions delayed by the pandemic. The findings show that Republican leaders are not only willing to run roughshod over their own state and federal laws, but are also prepared to spend lavishly in the process.

The most jaw-dropping outlay has been made by Arizona, a state in which Republicans hold both chambers of the legislature and the governor’s mansion. A single-page heavily redacted document obtained by the Guardian records that last October the department of corrections ordered 1,000 vials of pentobarbital sodium salt, each containing 1g, to be shipped in “unmarked jars and boxes”.

Vladimir Putin hedges his bets on Ukraine

Vladimir Putin is trying to force the United States and the EU to put pressure on Ukraine's government. The Russian strongman's experiences since 2014 make him think he just might succeed, DW's Konstantin Eggert writes.

Vladimir Putin is irritated: There's Joe Biden's recent "Putin is a killer" ABC interview, the painful sanctions imposed on the Russian aerospace industry by the White House in early March and, just as important, the latest moves by the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

These include the closure of the pro-Kremlin media in Ukraine and sanctions on Russian government organizations — including the Rossotrudnichestvo agency, a soft-power vehicle similar to China's Confucius Institute. Zelenskiy's administration also imposed sanctions on Ukraine's main pro-Kremlin politician, Viktor Medvedchuk, whose daughter is Putin's godchild.

‘Law against Islam’: French vote in favour of hijab ban condemned

As part of the ‘anti-separatism’ bill, the French Senate has voted for outlawing the headscarf for minors in public.

A bid by the French Senate to ban girls under 18 from wearing the hijab in public has drawn condemnation, with the hashtag #HandsOffMyHijab circulating widely on social media.

The hijab is a headscarf worn by many Muslim women and has been the subject of a decades-long feud in France.

The French Senate’s move comes as part of Paris’s push to introduce a so-called “anti-separatism” bill which it says aims to bolster the country’s secular system, but critics have denounced, arguing it singles out the minority Muslim population.

Boeing's 737 Max has a new problem that will ground some of the jets again

By Chris Isidore, Gregory Wallace and Pete Muntean, CNN Business

Updated 1445 GMT (2245 HKT) April 9, 2021

Boeing announced a new problem with the troubled 737 Max -- this time, the issue is with its electrical system.

"Boeing has recommended to 16 customers that they address a potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 Max airplanes prior to further operations," the company said.

Airlines need to verify that one of the components of the plane's electrical system is sufficiently grounded, Boeing stated. The company said it is working with the US Federal Aviation Administration to address the problem.

COVID-19 patient in Japan receives world's first lung transplant from living donors

By MARI YAMAGUCHI

Doctors in Japan announced Thursday they have successfully performed the world’s first transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a patient with severe lung damage from COVID-19.

The recipient, identified only as a woman from Japan's western region of Kansai, is recovering after the nearly 11-hour operation on Wednesday, Kyoto University Hospital said in a statement. It said her husband and son, who donated parts of their lungs, are also in stable condition.

The university said it was the world's first transplant of lung tissue from living donors to a person with COVID-19 lung damage. Transplants from brain-dead donors in Japan are still rare, and living donors are considered a more realistic option for patients.