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Abood Hamam: 'A picture can kill you or save your life

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Abood Hamam: 'A picture can kill you or save your life' Image copyright ABOOD HAMAM For years Abood Hamam chronicled the war in Syria for news outlets all over the world without ever revealing his name - and despite being employed by different warring parties. He began as photographer to the presidential couple - Bashar and Asma al-Assad. Later he filmed Islamic State's victory parade. Now, finally, he's broken cover, to encourage exiles to return to his beloved hometown, Raqqa. Abood Hamam laughs when asked - as a professional studier of faces - to describe himself. His looks and his personality, he says, have been shaped by the war in his country that's already lasted nine years. "Whenever I look in the mirror, I'm astonished by how much white hair I have now," he says. "And it's all because of the war and the stress I've been living through." Abood is only 45. But he lives his life on a tightrope, in constant fear, riskin...
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Coronavirus: Majority testing positive have no symptoms

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Coronavirus: Majority testing positive have no symptoms  Related Topi Coronavirus pandemic Image copyright GETTY IMAGES Only 22% of people testing positive for coronavirus reported having symptoms on the day of their test, according to the Office for National Statistics. This hammers home the importance of "asymptomatic transmission" - spread of the virus by people who aren't aware they're carrying it. Health and social care staff appeared to be more likely to test positive. This comes as deaths from all causes in the UK fell to below the average for the second week in a row. Between the end of March and June, there were 59,000 more deaths than the five-year average. While the ONS survey includes relatively small numbers of positive swab tests (120 infections in all) making it hard to make any strong conclusions about who is most likely to be infected, there are some patterns coming through in the data: Those in people-facing health or soci...
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Coronavirus: Are Australia's numbers at risk of escalating?

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Coronavirus: Are Australia's numbers at risk of escalating? DAILY NEWS (MANNAN ALEEM) Image copyright AFP Image caption Officials have urged Australians not to become complacent with social distancing Australia has been hailed as a global success story in suppressing the spread of Covid-19. The virus did not take hold as feared because of quick shutdown measures, including border closures and the mandatory quarantine of travellers. Australia has reported just over 7,400 cases, far fewer than many nations. It has seen 102 deaths - the last was a month ago. Since May, the country has entered a phased exit from lockdown restrictions as the curve flattened. But in the last week there's been a rise in cases in Victoria, mostly in the state capital Melbourne. Concern has crept back into public conversation: Is this a small setback, or could it be something more sustained? What's happened in Victoria? On 13 June, Australia's c...
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