Police clash with anti-lockdown protesters in London – as it happened

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• Coronavirus cases in Colombia, which is nearly a month into a national reopening after a long lockdown, surpassed 800,000. The country has 806,038 confirmed cases of the virus according to the health ministry, with 25,296 reported deaths. Active cases number 78,956. Colombia is now in a much-looser “selective” quarantine phase which allows dining at restaurants and international flights. Concerts and other large events remain banned and land and water borders are closed.
  
• The work of hundreds of doctors, nurses, fundraisers and volunteers will be recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. The list was postponed in June in order to add nominations for people playing key roles in the early months of the pandemic in the UK. It will be released on 10 October.
• Crowds protested outside the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Saturday demanding he quit over his handling of Covid-19. Netanyahu’s government decided this week to tighten a three-week lockdown imposed on 18 September, hoping to keep Israelis at home, shutting down many businesses and limiting group prayers during the ongoing Jewish high-holiday season. Infections have surged since measures were relaxed in May, reaching daily highs of more than 7,000 among the population of nine million.
• Saudi Arabia plans to resume tourist visas by early 2021 after months of suspension amid strict measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. In late-February the kingdom closed its borders to foreign pilgrims and to tourists from at least 25 countries. In March, it barred all travel in and out of the country. The tourism sector has been hit hard and is expected to see a 35%-45% decline by year end.
• Sixteen people were arrested and nine police officers were injured following clashes at anti-lockdown demonstrations in central London. Thousands of people defied the advice of the Metropolitan Police and demonstrated against lockdowns, mass vaccinations, mandatory wearing of face masks and other coronavirus restrictions. The Met said the demonstrators had not “complied with the conditions of their risk assessment and are putting people in danger of transmitting the virus” and ordered crowds to disperse.
• A Brazilian judge called off Palmeiras and Flamengo’s league match due to be played on Sunday after at least 16 players from the club as well as the team’s coach tested positive for Covid-19. The decision followed an appeal by the union of football club employees, who said they and their families would be at risk if the game went ahead. Both the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and the country’s sports tribunal had rejected Flamengo’s request to halt the game.
• Argentina’s coronavirus cases are poised to top 700,000 as new daily infections and deaths hit the top five globally, despite seven months of lockdown that have ravaged the frail economy. Argentina reported a rolling seven-day average of 11,082 new cases daily, behind only India, the United States, France and Brazil, all countries with far larger populations than the South American nation. A gradual loosening of its strict lockdown over time and the spread of cases from the capital to the provinces have seen cases skyrocket.
• France registered another 14,412 confirmed coronavirus cases, not far from a daily record of 16,096 set earlier this week, bringing the nation’s tally to 527,446.

Coronavirus cases in Colombia, which is nearly a month into a national reopening after a long lockdown, surpassed 800,000 on Saturday, a day after deaths from Covid-19 climbed above 25,000.

The country has 806,038 confirmed cases of the virus according to the health ministry, with 25,296 reported deaths. Active cases number 78,956.

Colombia began more than five months of lockdown in March. It is now in a much-looser “selective” quarantine phase which allows dining at restaurants and international flights.

Concerts and other large events remain banned and land and water borders are closed.

Intensive care units in Bogota, home to a third of Colombia’s cases, are at about 50% capacity according to local health authorities.

Queen Elizabeth II will recognise the work of hundreds of doctors, nurses, fundraisers and volunteers during the pandemic when the her annual birthday honours list is published next month.

The list, which was due to be published in June, was postponed in order to add nominations for people playing key roles in the early months of the outbreak. It will be released on 10 October.

The UK has recorded the worst death toll in Europe and one of the worst economic contractions of any leading nation since the pandemic took hold in March.

The Queen has made very few public appearances during that time but she has delivered a number of rallying messages to the nation and appeared in video conference calls with care workers and members of the military.

In July, she knighted Captain Tom Moore, recognising the 100-year-old’s efforts in lifting the nation’s spirits during the pandemic by raising over £39 million for health workers by walking laps of his garden with the aid of a walking frame.

The prime minister Boris Johnson said the pandemic was the greatest health challenge in our lifetime.

We all have to play our part, but the dedication, courage and compassion seen from these recipients, be it responding on the frontline or out in their communities providing support to the most vulnerable, is an inspiration to us all.

We owe them a debt of gratitude and the 2020 Queen’s Birthday honours will be the first of many occasions where we can thank them as a nation.

Saudi Arabia plans to resume tourist visas by early 2021 after months of suspension amid strict government measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the kingdom’s tourism minister told Reuters.

Tourism is a key pillar of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s reform strategy to reduce the economy’s dependence on oil.

The kingdom, which opened its doors to foreign tourists in September 2019 by launching a new visa regime for 49 countries, wants the sector to contribute 10% of gross domestic product by 2030.

“For tourist visa, until now we are talking about early next year. If things get better or if any positive developments happen with regards to the vaccine, we might accelerate and have it earlier,” Ahmed al-Khateeb said in a virtual interview.

In late-February the kingdom closed its borders to foreign pilgrims and to tourists from at least 25 countries. In March, it barred all travel in and out of the country.

Khateeb said the tourism sector has been hit hard and is expected to see a 35%-45% decline by year end. The focus on domestic tourism during the summer has cushioned the blow, however.

This pandemic is a systematic risk that has hit everyone; however, we have seen a very strong summer after the January-May lockup period.

We have noticed a growth of 30% year on year in domestic tourism which is beyond our expectations.

The Saudi Summer campaign, which promoted 10 tourist destinations – from beaches and forests to mountain peaks and historic areas – for citizens and residents to visit in lieu of holidaying abroad, helped boost average occupancy ratio at hotels to 80%.

Saudi Arabia has reported 332,790 Covid-19 cases and 4655 deaths so far. Infection rates have seen a steady decline over the past few weeks.

The Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin concluded a private visit to Mount Athos, a venerated male-only centre of Orthodox Christianity in Greece where eight monks have tested positive for coronavirus, on Saturday, AFP reports.

Commonly known as the Holy Mountain, Mount Athos is the spiritual capital of the Orthodox Christian world, consisting of 20 monasteries and about 700 houses, cells or hermitages housing approximately 1,700 monks.

The Russian premier arrived Thursday in the male-only preserve and stayed for two nights at the Filotheou monastery, the Athens News Agency reported.

On Saturday morning, Mishustin visited the Panteleimon monastery where almost all monks are Russian.

In 2016, Russian president Vladimir Putin made a private visit to Mount Athos during a two-day visit to Greece.

Mishutsin donated a large amount of medical supplies including masks, disinfectants and other means of protection from Covid-19.

Eight monks have tested positive for coronavirus and their monastery in Mount Athos was quarantined on Monday. One of the monks has been taken to hospital in Thessaloniki in a serious condition.

It is not the first outbreak on Mount Athos. Four monks tested positive in March after travelling to the UK but recovered quickly.

The community, known for its austere rules, is almost completely isolated in a mountainous nature reserve in the Macedonia region.

Greece’s lockdown from March to May hit the Church hard, wrecking its Easter celebrations.

Church leaders disputed some of the science behind the confinement rules, agreeing to halt masses but refusing to ban communion.

Greece has so far registered 376 deaths and more than 17,000 infections from the virus.

Crowds protested outside the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home on Saturday demanding he quit over his handling of Covid-19, Reuters reports. Many were angered by what they said were government attempts to use lockdown measures to stifle demonstrations.

Long lines of cars drove along the main highway to Jerusalem in a protest convoy and groups gathered on bridges and junctions in other cities, also demonstrating over corruption charges against Netanyahu – charges he denies.

The protests came a day after the government tightened Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, though parliament failed to pass one measure to restrict citizens’ protests to within 1 km (0.6 miles) of their homes.

That measure would have effectively halted the weekly demonstrations outside Netanyahu’s residence which have built up over the summer.

“I’m here to stop the destruction of Israel, to stop democracy dying,” said Amit Tirosh, 42, a doctor from central Israel.

Luckily parliament managed to stop the demonstrations’ halt at the last minute. Everyone should be here. We are at the edge of an abyss.

Netanyahu has rejected allegations that the tougher lockdown rules were in part intended to quash the protests, which he has often called “anarchist” and “ludicrous”. He said on Thursday:

We need the lockdown in order to save lives.

There was no official figure for the number of protesters on Saturday but Israel’s N12 News said thousands took part. Police said most of them complied with social distancing and face mask rules.

Netanyahu’s government decided this week to tighten a three-week lockdown imposed on 18 September, hoping to keep Israelis at home, shutting down many businesses and limiting group prayers during the ongoing Jewish high-holiday season.

On Saturday, Netanyahu urged Israelis in a video message on Twitter to pray in the open air rather than inside synagogues on Yom Kippur, the upcoming Jewish day of atonement and the holiest day in the Jewish calendar which begins on Sunday.

Only 27% of Israelis trust Netanyahu’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, according to a survey published by the non-partisan Israel Democracy Institute on Wednesday.

Israel imposed its first lockdown in March and then relaxed it in May as new cases tapered off. But infections have since surged, reaching daily highs of more than 7,000 among the population of nine million. The country is in recession with unemployment above 11%.

26 Sept 202015.35 EDT

Damien Gayle

An update from London’s Metropolitan Police on anti-lockdown demonstrations that took place in central London today.

The Met said 16 people were arrested “for a variety of offences including breaching coronavirus regulations, assaulting a police officer, public order offences and violent disorder.” Nine police officers were injured.

Commander Ade Adelekan, who was in charge of policing the protest, said a failure by protest organisers to “engage with crowds and keep those assembling safe from transmitting the virus” had voided their risk assessment.

Therefore, today’s demonstration was no longer exempt from the coronavirus regulations. In the interest of public safety, officers then worked quickly to disperse crowds.

A Brazilian judge called off Palmeiras and Flamengo’s league match due to be played on Sunday after at least 16 players from the Rio club as well as the team’s coach tested positive for Covid-19, Reuters reports.

Flamengo said it only had nine outfield players and three goalkeepers available for the match, which will pit last year’s champions against home club Palmeiras, the only team in the Serie A to remain unbeaten after 10 games.

The decision, taken by a Rio de Janeiro labour court and reported by Brazilian news sites, followed an appeal by the union of football club employees, who said they and their families would be at risk if the game went ahead.

Both the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and the country’s sports tribunal had rejected Flamengo’s request to halt the game.

The CBF said clubs had the right to register 40 players and so Flamengo should have enough players available. It has not yet responded to the court decision.

Football restarted in the country in June with Flamengo kicking off the Rio de Janeiro state championship.

Brazil has recorded the second-highest number of coronavirus deaths after the United States. More than 140,000 Brazilians have died from the virus.

Here is my colleagues’ report from central London, where 10 people have been arrested and four police officers injured as police broke up a protest after thousands of people defied their advice and demonstrated against lockdowns, mass vaccinations, mandatory wearing of face masks and other coronavirus restrictions.

Argentina’s coronavirus infections were poised to top 700,000 on Saturday as new daily infections and deaths hit the top five globally, Reuters data showed, despite seven months of lockdown that have ravaged the frail economy.

Argentina reported a rolling seven-day average of 11,082 new cases daily, behind only India, the United States, France and Brazil, all countries with far larger populations than the South American nation. Argentina’s average daily death toll this week hit 365.

Health officials on Friday reported 691,235 total infections since March and 15,208 deaths. Earlier in the day, the province of Buenos Aires announced it had underestimated the death toll from Covid-19 by 3,523, outraging many Argentines already weary from months of lockdown that had failed to slam the breaks on the pandemic.

The additional deaths from Buenos Aires province were not incorporated in those figures, the health ministry said.

Argentina, which was already in the grip of a devastating economic crisis, was among the first countries in Latin America to implement a strict lockdown. But a gradual loosening over time and the spread of cases from the capital to the provinces have seen cases skyrocket.

Carlos Landa, a 45-year-old archaeologist from Buenos Aires who contracted the virus said he and his partner, who was also infected, had seen their lives turned upside down. Different health care coverage meant one was immediately tested, and the other was not.

The virus had exposed once again the perils of the ailing economy and health care systems, he told Reuters, saying:

Everything is uncertain.