A powerful earthquake has struck off Turkey’s Aegean coast and north of the Greek island of Samos, destroying a number of houses. The 7.0 magnitude tremor was centred off Turkey’s Izmir province, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said.  Turkey put the magnitude lower, at 6.6, saying 12 people had died and 419 were injured in the city of Izmir. On Samos, two teenagers were killed. The shallow tremor triggered a mini-tsunami that flooded Izmir and Samos. The USGS said the quake – which was felt as far away as Athens and Istanbul – struck at a depth of 10km (six miles), although Turkish officials said it was 16km below ground. Turkey and Greece both sit on fault lines and earthquakes are common.In Izmir, Turkey’s third largest city with the population of nearly three million, many people were seen running out into the streets in panic and fear after the quake struck. At least 20 buildings collapsed.(BBC)…[+]

The US saw a record high of 91,000 new Covid-19 cases reported on Thursday, with spikes in dozens of states just days before the presidential election. The same day, over 1,000 Americans died with the virus, as the national death toll and number of patients in hospital continue to trend upward. The US is just shy of nine million total cases, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally. The contest between Donald Trump and Joe Biden comes to a head on Tuesday. This is the third time this month that the US daily death toll has surpassed 1,000, according to Reuters. Twenty-one states are experiencing outbreaks, with some of the most severe in the states that will be key in deciding the 2020 election.(BBC)…[+]

Labour has suspended Jeremy Corbyn from the party over his reaction to a highly critical report on anti-Semitism. The human rights watchdog found Labour responsible for “unlawful” harassment and discrimination during Mr Corbyn’s years in charge of the party. But Mr Corbyn later said the scale of anti-Semitism within Labour had been “dramatically overstated” by opponents. A Labour spokesman said he was being suspended “for a failure to retract” his words. Mr Corbyn reacted by calling the move “political” and promised to “strongly contest” it. The suspension will remain in place while the party carries out an investigation into his remarks.

Three people have died in a knife attack at a church in Nice, in what French President Emmanuel Macron said was an “Islamist terrorist attack”. He said France would not surrender its core values after visiting the Notre-Dame basilica in the southern city. An extra 4,000 troops are being deployed to protect churches and schools. In Nice, one elderly victim was “virtually beheaded”, officials said. Another woman and a man also died.

A male suspect was shot and detained. Anti-terror prosecutors have opened an investigation into the attack and France has raised its national security alert to its highest level. Police sources named the suspect as Brahim Aioussaoi, a 21-year-old Tunisian who arrived by boat on the Italian island of Lampedusa in September. He was placed in coronavirus quarantine there before being released and told to leave Italy. He arrived in France earlier this month. Nice Mayor Christian Estrosi spoke of “Islamo-fascism” and said the suspect had “repeated endlessly ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest)”.(BBC)…[+]

The US economy emerged quickly from the depths of the crisis triggered by coronavirus lockdowns this spring, but full recovery remains out of reach. Official figures show the economy grew at a record 7.4% in the three months to 30 September from the prior quarter, when it suffered a severe decline. But output remained 2.9% lower compared to the same period a year ago. The data comes as analysts warn the rebound may be running out of steam. “Overall, the initial recovery in GDP after the first wave of lockdowns were lifted was stronger than we originally anticipated,” said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics. “But, with coronavirus infections hitting a record high in recent days and any additional fiscal stimulus unlikely to arrive until, at the earliest, the start of next year, further progress will be much slower.”(BBC)…[+]

Boeing is to cut another 7,000 jobs as its losses mount in the pandemic. The US planemaker, which had already announced deep cuts, said its staff would be down to just 130,000 by the end of next year – 20% down on the 160,000 it employed before the crisis. The coronavirus pandemic and safety concerns about its 737 Max jet have contributed to a slump in orders. The firm posted a loss of $466m (£354m) for the three months to 30 September, its fourth straight quarterly decline. However, it reaffirmed its expectation that US deliveries of the 737 Max would resume before the end of the year, albeit at deeply reduced production rates. The fleet has been grounded since March 2019 after 346 people died in two separate air crashes.

The official website of US President Donald Trump has been hacked by an apparent cryptocurrency scam. His re-election campaign team is investigating the security breach. “The world has had enough of the fake news spreaded [sic] daily” by the US president, a message on www.donaldjtrump.com briefly displayed.

The campaign team said there was “no exposure to sensitive data because none of it is actually stored on the site”. The website has now been restored. Screenshots circulating online show the website briefly displayed a fake message, accompanied by the FBI and the US Department of Justice badges. “It is time to allow the world to know the truth,” the text on the website read. “Multiple devices were compromised that gave full access to Trump and relatives.” The hackers also claimed to have proof that the US administration “is involved in the origin of the coronavirus” and interfering in the presidential election, which takes place on 3 November.(BBC)…[+]

Hundreds of protesters marched through the US city of Philadelphia for a second night, demanding racial justice after police fatally shot a black man. The family of Walter Wallace Jr says he was suffering a mental health crisis when officers opened fire on him. Police say they shot him because he would not drop a knife he was holding.

The National Guard as well as police reinforcements have been deployed. Authorities say 30 officers were hurt during Monday night clashes. The city’s police have also accused protesters of looting and ransacking businesses during the unrest. Mr Wallace, 27, had bipolar disorder, and his wife told officers this before they shot him, a lawyer representing his family said. Philadelphia also saw large protests earlier this year over police brutality and racism following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.(BBC)…[+]

Levels of protective antibodies in people wane “quite rapidly” after coronavirus infection, say researchers. Antibodies are a key part of our immune defences and stop the virus from getting inside the body’s cells. The Imperial College London team found the number of people testing positive for antibodies has fallen by 26% between June and September.

They say immunity appears to be fading and there is a risk of catching the virus multiple times. The news comes as figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of Covid-19 deaths in the UK rose by 60% in the week of 16 October. The ONS figures suggest there have now been more than 60,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK. More than 350,000 people in England have taken an antibody test as part of the REACT-2 study so far. In the first round of testing, at the end of June and the beginning of July, about 60 in 1,000 people had detectable antibodies.(BBC)…[+]

A photo of a Komodo dragon facing a truck has raised concerns about a “Jurassic Park” attraction being built on an Indonesian island. The multi-million dollar site is part of the government’s plans to overhaul tourism in Komodo National Park. The viral image has sparked questions about the impact on the conservation of the famed dragons, the world’s largest lizards.

Officials said no dragons had been harmed and their safety was paramount. Komodo dragons are only found in the wild on a handful of Indonesian islands where they are estimated to have roamed for millions of years. They draw visitors from around the world and in recent years authorities have grappled with how to manage conservation and tourism in the national park.(BBC)…[+]