The Chinese government has pledged to improve pre- and post-natal services to encourage more people to have children and reiterated its intent to “discourage” abortions as it seeks to turn around a declining birth rate. The measures announced by the country’s national health commission include a pledge to make fertility treatments more accessible. For several years authorities have flagged expanding IVF access to single women but it remains available only to married couples. A court challenge by a woman was recently struck down. The commission said it would guide local…
Tag: Health
Live news: Australia and New Zealand to coordinate on electric vehicle fleet; danger from NSW floods continues
From 54m ago Australia and NZ to coordinate on electric vehicle fleet Royce Kurmelovs Australia will coordinate with New Zealand when it comes to procuring electric vehicles for its government fleet. Prime minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement on Friday when discussing opportunities for trans-Tasman collaboration in the area of renewable energy. Albanese said: If we are all competing against each other for procurement at the same time, we will end up paying more for it but not if there is cooperation between Australia and New Zealand. The PM went…
Australia news live: NSW flood warnings; Sydney train strike delays; at least 27 Covid deaths recorded
From 5h ago NSW rail union pushes ahead with industrial action Sydney commuters are in for a “very messy day” as the NSW rail union pushes ahead with industrial action that will take out 70% of the train fleet, AAP reports. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has been locked in long-running stoush with the Perrottet government over a new Korean-made Intercity fleet, which it says is unsafe. While the government has signalled it could be prepared to spend $264m to modify the fleet, the union says it has refused…
Heaven Supermarket: the Beijing bar at centre of Covid outbreak
Heaven Supermarket’s ability to attract young Chinese customers and foreigners has always been viewed with envy by its competitor bars in the Chinese capital. Located in one of the busiest nightlife districts in Beijing, the bar is modelled as a large self-service liquor store with chairs, sofas and tables. It is not the fanciest in its presentation, but on Chinese review websites, patrons highlight its affordability and down-to-earth attitude. Bono Lee, a Hong Kong culture critic who lived in the area between 2008 and 2012, once wrote of Heaven Supermarket:…
Car T-cell therapy shows early promise in treating gastric cancers
An experimental cancer therapy that infuses designer immune cells into patients has shown early promise in a clinical trial by shrinking tumours in the digestive system. Interim results from the first phase of the clinical trial found that nearly half, or 48.6%, of the 37 patients treated so far responded to the infusions with their tumours reducing in size after the therapy. While the findings come from an initial safety assessment of the approach, researchers running the trial in Beijing believe it demonstrates the potential for genetically-altered immune cells to…
China mobilises to control latest Covid outbreak – in pictures
Country steps up efforts to control a surge in coronavirus cases as it tries to maintain its zero Covid policy. Major cities such as Shenzhen and Changchun have been locked down as Covid cases hit a two-year high. Nearly 90% of new infections are in Jilin province, while tens of millions of people across the country remain confined to their homes The Guardian
China shuts down city of 17.5m people in bid to halt Covid outbreak
China’s government has locked down Shenzhen, a city of 17.5 million people, as it tries to contain its worst ever Covid-19 outbreak across multiple provinces, with case numbers tripling from Saturday to Sunday. All businesses in the finance and technology hub, which borders Hong Kong, were ordered to close or work from home unless they supplied food, utilities, or other necessities, according to a government notice on Sunday. It said all residential communities were now under “closed management”, meaning they would be locked down. Every resident would undergo three rounds…
‘It’s like we are being left to die’: Hong Kong tackles deadliest Covid wave
Staff meetings are often mundane affairs and rarely end in tears. But on Wednesday Ho Hiu-fai, the accident and emergency chief at Hong Kong’s Queen Elizabeth hospital, broke down in front of his team. “It has been so hard for our colleagues to hold up this past month,” he could be heard saying in a video, shortly after the hospital was converted into a Covid treatment facility and 400 non-Covid patients were transferred elsewhere. <gu-island name="EmbedBlockComponent" deferuntil="visible" props="{"html":"","isTracking":true,"isMainMedia":false,"source":"Facebook","sourceDomain":"facebook.com"}” readability=”3″> Allow Facebook content? This article includes content provided by Facebook. We…
Nearly 30% think China likely to have spread Covid on purpose, UK poll finds
More than a quarter of people believe Covid-19 was likely to have been a biological weapon intentionally spread by the Chinese state, according to a new UK poll highlighting the spread of conspiracy theories. The findings are contained in a major report by the campaign group Hope Not Hate (HNH) warning that the rise of Covid conspiracy theories and the antilockdown movement are recruiting young people to far-right ideas and movements. It also says the economic hardship of the past year and worries about the future have created an environment…
Video of woman chained to wall in shack causes outcry in China
A video of a woman apparently locked against her will in a filthy shack has gone viral in China, prompting an investigation as well as a conversation about the country’s treatment of people with mental illness. The footage, taken on 26 January, was posted to the video-sharing site Douyin the following day by a man who was shocked to find the woman locked in the rubbish-filled building in a village in Jiangsu province in the east of the country. Standing in freezing conditions, the woman appeared to be chained by…