Footage has emerged of a group of ostriches on the run through the streets of Chongzuo in China. It is believed the ostriches escaped from a farm owing to the gate not being closed properly, according to local media. No injuries were reported and the owner managed to recapture the majority of the ostriches with the help of the police. The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday and no injuries were reported The Guardian
Month: January 2022
Tianjin, a city of 14 million near Beijing, starts testing all residents after Omicron surfaces.
Officials in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin, near Beijing, said on Sunday that its entire population of 14 million would be tested for the coronavirus after it was found in 20 residents, at least two of whom were infected with the fast-moving Omicron variant. The city also announced a raft of restrictions in an effort to contain the outbreak and trace its source. The first infections were confirmed on Saturday, in a 10-year-old girl and a 29-year-old woman who works at an after-school center. Tracing and testing later…
Covid pandemic: Chinese city tests 14m people after cluster
As China pursues a zero-Covid policy, Tianjin aims to test all its residents within 48 hours. BBC
Chinese city of Tianjin to test 14 million people after Covid outbreak
Tianjin, a major Chinese port city near the capital Beijing, has begun mass-testing its 14 million residents after a cluster of 20 children and adults tested positive for Covid-19, including at least two with the Omicron variant. Those infected include 15 students aged between eight and 13, a staff member at an after-school centre and four parents. The citywide testing, begun on Sunday, is to be completed over two days. The first two cases confirmed in Tianjin were a 10-year-old girl and a 29-year-old woman working at the after-school centre.…
As U.S. Figure Skaters Test Positive, New Worries for Winter Olympics
U.S. Figure Skating on Saturday announced the women’s team heading to Beijing for the Winter Olympics next month. It will include a top-ranked competitor who withdrew from the national championships this week in Nashville after a positive coronavirus test, a stark reminder of a resurgent pandemic still capable of disrupting sports events and lifelong dreams. “Things happen unfortunately, but it is what it is,” Alysa Liu wrote on social media after her withdrawal on Friday. A strong showing this past season on the international circuit, in spite of having to…
Chinese Activists Face Subversion Charges for Weekend Gathering
Twenty or so lawyers and activists quietly arrived at a gaudy “Nice Home Party” rental villa near the Chinese seaside. They ate takeout food, sang along to a karaoke machine and played table soccer. But they also had a serious purpose: discussing China’s besieged human rights movement. Two years after that weekend gathering in December 2019, the two best-known attendees — Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi — are awaiting trial on subversion charges related to the gathering, according to indictments. Police and prosecutors have seized on the weekend meeting to…
At least 16 killed after office canteen explosion in China
A lunchtime explosion at an office canteen killed 16 people in southwest China and injured 10 others, authorities said. A gas leak is the suspected cause of the blast on Friday, the Chongqing city government said in an online statement. The canteen collapsed, trapping victims inside. Rescue workers searched the debris into the night and all the bodies were recovered by midnight, the official Xinhua news agency said. The Ministry of Emergency Management dispatched a team to of more than 600 personnel to the scene, state broadcaster CCTV said. Rescuers…
China’s online nationalists turn paranoia into clickbait
Jan 8th 2022 AN ANXIOUS WORLD has long worried that rising nationalism might one day lead ordinary Chinese—especially the young—to outbursts of uncontrollable rage. If recent months are any guide, outsiders missed a more insidious threat: that anti-foreign paranoia would become a nasty but profitable game. Listen to this story Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. These are frightening times for Chinese civil-society activists, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private businesses that see their role as building bridges between China…
China and America prepare for a human-rights showdown at the UN
Jan 8th 2022 LAST YEAR the Human Rights Council in Geneva passed resolutions condemning abuses in Afghanistan, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Sudan and Syria. But as in every other year since its creation in 2006, the United Nations body was silent on China. Fearful of reprisal, and uncertain of victory, member governments have been reluctant even to propose resolutions condemning, say, the erosion of civil liberties in Hong Kong or the harsh repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Listen to this story Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Enjoy…
China crushes Hong Kong’s independent news outlets
Jan 8th 2022 LIFE AS AN independent journalist in Hong Kong, long hard, is becoming impossible. On December 29th Stand News, the territory’s leading pro-democracy news outlet, was forced to shut after hundreds of police raided its office, froze its assets and arrested seven people. The current and former editors were charged with conspiracy to publish seditious content and denied bail. Fearing for their reporters’ safety, two other news sites, Citizen News and Mad Dog Daily, halted operations on January 4th. After the enforced closure in Hong Kong last June…