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BEIJING, China (AFP) – China on Monday denied responsibility for a rocket set to slam into the Moon, after experts said the piece of space junk likely came from Beijing’s lunar exploration programme. Astronomers initially thought the wayward object was a chunk of a SpaceX rocket that blasted off seven years ago and was abandoned in space after completing its mission. But it is now believed to be the booster for the Chang’e 5-T1, launched […]
by Jerome TAYLOR Agence France Presse HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s foreign domestic workers are being “abandoned” in the current coronavirus wave sweeping the city, with some forced to sleep rough or being denied treatment after testing positive, charities said Friday. The warning came as Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam told residents to encourage helpers to stay indoors and said police would step up social distancing fines. The Chinese financial hub is […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Construction crews from mainland China were helping Hong Kong build two temporary isolation facilities to house thousands of coronavirus patients on Sunday as a senior official declared the city “in full combat mode”. The crowded Chinese financial hub is in the throes of its worst-ever coronavirus outbreak, registering thousands of confirmed cases a day as hospitals reach breaking point. A strict zero-Covid policy like China uses kept infections at […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for Hong Kong to take “all necessary measures” to control an Omicron-fuelled Covid-19 outbreak, Beijing-affiliated newspapers in the city said Wednesday, a day after leader Carrie Lam ruled out a China-style hard lockdown. Hong Kong is currently in the throes of its worst-ever coronavirus outbreak, registering over a thousand confirmed cases a day as hospitals reach their breaking point. Lam this week insisted a […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) – China will help its coal-fired power plants run at full capacity, the government has announced, raising further alarm about the fate of Beijing’s climate pledges. Swathes of the world’s second-biggest economy were paralysed last year because of power shortages, partly caused by a drop in coal supply as global prices of the fossil fuel soared. China is the world’s biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change, and has pledged […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s health facilities have been overloaded by an “onslaught” of Covid-19 infections, its leader said, as a rise in Omicron cases threatens to bring down the city’s “zero-Covid” policy. Authorities have adhered to mainland China’s policy of stamping out the smallest outbreak with mass quarantine, widespread tracking, and prolonged social distancing measures since the start of the pandemic. But the extremely contagious Omicron variant breached the Chinese territory’s defenses […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Saturday said it had given “conditional” approval for Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid to treat adults with mild to moderate illness and a high risk of developing severe disease. The National Medical Products Administration said further research on the drug needed to be undertaken and submitted to the regulator. Paxlovid has so far been authorized in several countries including the United States and Israel, while the European Union […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) – The top diplomats of the United States, Australia, Japan and India opened talks in Melbourne Friday on deepening their Quad alliance, hoping to blunt China’s expanding power across the Asia-Pacific region. “Together we are a vital network of liberal democracies committed to practical cooperation and to ensuring all Indo-Pacific nations, large and small, are able to make their own strategic decisions, free from coercion,” Australia’s Foreign […]
by Rebecca BAILEY Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Nathan Chen smashed a world record held by fierce rival Yuzuru Hanyu as the “shocked” two-time reigning Olympic figure skating champion made a shaky start to leave his title defence in trouble Tuesday. Facing off for the first time at the Beijing Games, Hanyu had to settle for a disappointing eighth in the short programme, with his Japanese teammates Yuma Kagiyama and Shoma Uno […]
ZHANGJIAKOU, China (AFP) — Cancer survivor Max Parrot of Canada capped a remarkable comeback on Monday when he won gold in the men’s snowboard slopestyle at the Beijing Olympics. Parrot, who said chemotherapy left him “at zero percent” when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2018, beat Chinese home favourite Su Yiming to win gold with a score of 90.96. The Canadian took the lead on the second run and held on despite a […]
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told leaders in Beijing he expects them to allow UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet to make a “credible” visit to China including a stop in the troubled Xinjiang region, his spokesman said Saturday. Guterres met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics, according to a readout of their talks. The UN chief “expressed his expectation that the contacts between the […]
Like mainland China and much of East Asia, Hong Kong has long followed a strategy of fighting the virus through contact tracing, targeted lockdowns and lengthy quarantines. And as much of the world has chosen to open up and live with Covid-19, the city has dug in its heels, with Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam insisting she was still committed to achieving “zero-Covid” even as infections mount. On Saturday the city recorded 351 confirmed cases, […]
