-
Brazil binman finds newborn baby on garbage route
-
US senator smashes record with marathon anti-Trump speech
-
Trump advisor Waltz faces new pressure over Gmail usage
-
Niger junta frees ministers of overthrown government
-
Trump set to unleash 'Liberation Day' tariffs
-
Boeing chief to acknowledge 'serious missteps' at US Senate hearing
-
Real Madrid hold Real Sociedad in eight-goal thriller to reach Copa del Rey final
-
Nuno salutes 'special' Elanga after stunning strike fires Forest
-
PSG survive scare against Dunkerque to reach French Cup final
-
Sundowns edge Esperance as crowd violence mars quarter-final
-
Nottingham Forest beat Man Utd, Saka scores on Arsenal return
-
Elanga wonder-goal sinks Man Utd as Forest eye Champions League berth
-
Stock markets mostly advance ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
-
US movie theaters urge 45-day 'baseline' before films hit streaming
-
Saka scores on return as Arsenal beat Fulham
-
Third-division Bielefeld shock holders Leverkusen in German Cup
-
Ball-blasting 'Torpedo bats' making waves across MLB opening weekend
-
Newsmax shares surge more than 2,000% in days after IPO
-
Thousands of Hungarians protest against Pride ban law
-
GM leads first quarter US auto sales as tariffs loom
-
Tesla sales tumble in Europe in the first quarter
-
No 'eye for an eye' approach to US tariffs: Mexico
-
NFL club owners back dynamic kickoffs, delay tush push vote
-
Trump 'perfecting' new tariffs as nervous world braces
-
Trump nominee says to press UK on Israel arms
-
French court says Le Pen appeal ruling could come before presidential vote
-
The battle to control assets behind Bosnia crisis
-
Prabhsimran powers Punjab to IPL win over Lucknow
-
Mass layoffs targeting 10,000 jobs hit US health agencies
-
Tiger's April Foolishness: plan to play Masters just a joke
-
Myanmar quake toll passes 2,700, nation halts to honour victims
-
Turkish fans, artists urge Muse to cancel Istanbul gig
-
US seeks death penalty for accused killer of insurance CEO
-
UK govt moves to block sentencing guidelines for minority defendants
-
Trump puts world on edge as 'Liberation Day' tariffs loom
-
Swedish journalist jailed in Turkey kept 'isolated': employer
-
Stock markets advance ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
-
Gulf between Everton and Liverpool has never been bigger, says Moyes
-
Finland to withdraw from anti-personnel mine ban treaty
-
UK vows £20 million to boost drone and 'flying taxi' services
-
Ford's US auto sales dip in first quarter as tariffs loom
-
Digging for box office gold, 'A Minecraft Movie' hits cinemas
-
Southampton boss Juric desperate to avoid Premier League 'worst team' tag
-
Thailand rescue dogs double as emotional support
-
Five takeaways from Marine Le Pen verdict
-
Stock markets split ahead of Trump tariffs deadline
-
Turkish fans, artists urge Muse to cancel Istanbul gig over protest dispute
-
Former captain Edwards named new England women's cricket coach
-
Haaland ruled out for up to seven weeks: Man City boss Guardiola
-
UK Supreme Court opens car loans hearing as banks risk huge bill
China slams 'unacceptable' Covid curbs on travellers from its territory
China called the mounting international restrictions on travellers from its territory "unacceptable" on Tuesday after over a dozen countries placed fresh Covid curbs on visitors from the world's most populous nation.
The United States, Canada, Japan and France are among the countries insisting all travellers from China provide negative Covid tests before arrival, as concerns grow over a surge in cases.
China's steep rise in infections comes after Beijing abruptly lifted years of hardline restrictions last month, with hospitals and crematoriums quickly overwhelmed.
But Beijing has pushed ahead with a long-awaited re-opening, last week announcing an end to mandatory quarantines on arrival in a move that prompted Chinese people to plan trips abroad.
"Some countries have taken entry restrictions targeting only Chinese travellers," foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular briefing.
"This lacks scientific basis and some practices are unacceptable," she added, warning China could "take countermeasures based on the principle of reciprocity".
Asked about China's reaction, France's Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne defended the new rules.
"I think we're performing our duty in asking for tests," Borne told franceinfo radio.
"We will continue to do it."
The rules imposed affect all travellers coming from China -- not just Chinese nationals -- while Beijing continues to restrict inbound visitors and not issue visas for tourists or international students.
Countries including the United States have also cited Beijing's lack of transparency around infection data and the risk of new variants as a reason to restrict travellers.
China has only recorded 22 Covid deaths since December and has dramatically narrowed the criteria for classifying such deaths -- meaning that Beijing's own statistics about the unprecedented wave are now widely seen as not reflecting reality.
- Shanghai overwhelmed -
As health workers nationwide battle a surge in cases, a senior doctor at one of Shanghai's top hospitals said 70 percent of the megacity's population may now have been infected with Covid-19, state media reported Tuesday.
Chen Erzhen, vice president at Ruijin Hospital and a member of Shanghai's Covid expert advisory panel, estimated that the majority of the city's 25 million people may have been infected.
"Now the spread of the epidemic in Shanghai is very wide, and it may have reached 70 percent of the population, which is 20 to 30 times more than (in April and May)," he told Dajiangdong Studio, owned by the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily.
Shanghai suffered a gruelling two-month lockdown from April, during which over 600,000 residents were infected and many were hauled to mass quarantine centres.
But now the Omicron variant is spreading rampantly across the city.
In other major cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Guangzhou, Chinese health officials have suggested that the wave has already peaked.
In neighbouring Zhejiang province, disease control authorities said Tuesday that there had been one million new Covid infections in recent days and that the province was entering a peak plateau.
Chen added that his Shanghai hospital was seeing 1,600 emergency admissions daily -- double the number prior to restrictions being lifted -- with 80 percent of them Covid patients.
"More than 100 ambulances arrive at the hospital every day," he was quoted as saying, adding that around half of emergency admissions were vulnerable people aged over 65.
At Tongren Hospital in downtown Shanghai, AFP reporters saw patients receiving emergency medical attention outside the entrance of the overcrowded emergency ward on Tuesday.
The corridors overflowed with dozens of elderly patients lying on beds crammed together, hooked up to IV drips.
- 'Enormous challenge' -
Chinese officials are now readying for a virus wave to hit the country's underresourced rural interior, as millions of people prepare to travel to their hometowns for the week-long Lunar New Year public holiday beginning January 21.
National Health Commission (NHC) official Jiao Yahui admitted that dealing with the expected surge in rural areas would be an "enormous challenge".
"What we are most worried about is in the past three years nobody has returned home for Lunar New Year but they finally can this year," Jiao told state broadcaster CCTV on Monday.
"As a result, there may be a retaliatory surge of urban residents into the countryside to visit their relatives, so we are even more worried about the rural epidemic."
P.Stevenson--AMWN