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BEIJING, China (AFP) — China reported more cases of the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant on Monday, with authorities on high alert over flare-ups in major cities just weeks ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The emergence of the fast-spreading variant is yet another test of China’s zero Covid strategy, with authorities already battling several outbreaks — including in Xi’an where 13 million city residents were in their third week of lockdown. Fears grew about […]
A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck China’s remote northwestern Qinghai province early Saturday, the US Geological Survey said. The epicentre of the quake, which struck at about 1:45 am (1745 GMT) at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), was located about 140 kilometres north-northwest of the city of Xining, US seismologists said. A 5.1-magnitude aftershock followed about 25 minutes later, USGS said. The China Earthquake Networks Center put the magnitude […]
by Matthew WALSH BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least three people died when an explosion caused a building to collapse Friday in the Chinese city of Chongqing, state media reported. The blast at 12:10pm (0410 GMT) was triggered by a suspected gas leak and brought down a neighbourhood committee building housing a canteen, trapping 27 people, state news agency Xinhua said. As of 6pm, 13 people had been pulled from the rubble, three of whom […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday praised the Kazakhstan government’s deadly crackdown on protesters as “highly responsible” in a message to Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, state media reported. “You decisively took strong measures at critical moments and quickly calmed down the situation, showing your position of responsibility and sense of duty as a politician, and of being highly responsible for your country and your people,” Xi told Tokayev in the message, […]
by Jing Xuan TENG BEIJING, China (AFP) — The distressing case of a pregnant Chinese woman miscarrying after a strict lockdown delayed her access to medical treatment has reignited debate over the limits of China’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19. The country where the coronavirus was first detected in 2019 is now among the last places still hewing to “zero Covid”, placing millions under quarantine even as Beijing prepares to host next month’s Winter Olympics. – […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — At least 20 people were trapped after an explosion Friday at a government office in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, according to state media. The blast occurred soon after midday and was caused by a “suspected gas leak” in an office canteen, the state-run People’s Daily reported, adding that rescue teams are en route to the site. © Agence France-Presse
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese authorities said Thursday they have punished officials after footage went viral of an eight-month pregnant woman miscarrying in the locked-down city of Xi’an when a hospital refused her entry without a Covid test. The historic city of 13 million has been under strict home confinement for two weeks as Beijing sticks to its “zero-Covid” strategy to stamp out all virus cases. The distressing incident was detailed in a social media […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) – Beijing’s air pollution is far below acceptable World Health Organization levels with the Chinese capital a month away from hosting the Winter Olympics –- but environmental data shows its skies have improved dramatically in recent years. The city declared a “war on pollution” after winning the Olympics bid in 2015, shutting down dozens of coal plants and relocating heavy industries in order to shed its status as one of the world’s […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The city of Zhengzhou ordered its 12 million residents to take Covid-19 tests Wednesday after a handful of cases were detected, as China fights to stamp out virus clusters ahead of the Winter Olympics. Everyone in Zhengzhou, which has been placed under a partial lockdown, must be tested to “thoroughly uncover infections hidden among the public”, the city’s government said in a statement Wednesday. Zhengzhou has detected 11 cases in recent […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Covid cases in the locked-down Chinese city of Xi’an fell to their lowest in weeks on Wednesday, as officials said an outbreak there had been largely “brought under control” after two weeks of a stay-at-home order. But other urban hubs where clusters have been detected face restrictions including a new partial lockdown in the city of Zhengzhou. China has stuck to a rigid approach of stamping out Covid cases when they […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A landslide at a construction site in southwest China’s Guizhou province has killed at least 14 people, state media reported Tuesday. Workers were reinforcing a hillside when the landslide happened on Monday evening, the official Xinhua news agency said. Rescuers have found 14 bodies, as well as three injured people, with the cause of the accident “still under investigation”, Xinhua reported. Rescue work is “completed”, with the three injured currently in […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China Tuesday said it will continue to “modernize” its nuclear arsenal and called on the United States and Russia to reduce their stockpiles a day after global powers pledged to prevent such weapons spreading. In a rare joint statement setting aside rising West-East tensions, the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France reaffirmed their goal of creating a world free of atomic weapons and avoiding a nuclear conflict. The five nuclear […]
