SHANGHAI: China reported a slight decline in new COVID-19 cases on Saturday as numerous cities battled outbreaks, and as restaurants and other businesses in Beijing shut after authorities urged people to stay home over the weekend.
Authorities have recently sought to ease the impact of their tough zero-COVID policy, which is battering the world’s second-biggest economy and sowing frustration and anger as case numbers have risen to their highest since April.
Numerous businesses in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, the capital’s main business and diplomatic area, have shut or announced only limited services.
One restaurant owner in the nightlife hub of Sanlitun said that authorities had told him and other outlets in the area to close for three days from Saturday.
A major office complex in the nearby Dongcheng district said Chaoyang residents should not come to work from Monday and staffing levels would be reduced by 30 percent.
The outlying Beijing districts of Fangshan and Huairou announced additional testing requirements for people entering from other provinces.
Beijing reported 79 symptomatic and 436 asymptomatic cases for Friday, down from 100 symptomatic and 366 asymptomatic cases the previous day, government data showed.
Beijing authorities are on high alert in the hope of preventing the numerous omicron variant outbreaks in other cities from spreading to the capital.
Liu Xiaofeng, deputy director of Beijing’s municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told a news conference that case counts in each district of the capital continue to trend upward. By 3 p.m. (0700 GMT) on Saturday, the city had confirmed 395 confirmed cases, 56 of which were from people not in quarantine.
Nationwide, the authorities reported 24,263 daily domestically transmitted cases, of which 2,055 were symptomatic and 22,208 were asymptomatic, down from 25,129 the previous day.
That is approaching the highs when the authorities locked down Shanghai, China’s financial hub and most populous city, earlier in the year.
This time, however, the cases are distributed across many cities, where authorities are weighing the costs and benefits of loosening policies that have damaged businesses.
Guangzhou, a city in the south of nearly 19 million people, reported 269 new domestically transmitted symptomatic cases and 8,444 asymptomatic cases, compared with 255 symptomatic and 8,989 asymptomatic cases a day before, authorities said.
Guangzhou authorities recently announced they would build facilities with more than 250,000 hospital beds to cope with the rising cases. This week, residents staged a protest in defiance of strict lockdown policies.
The manufacturing hub of Zhengzhou reported 182 new symptomatic locally transmitted COVID-19 infections and 1,385 asymptomatic cases, compared with 107 symptomatic and 1,556 asymptomatic cases a day before, according to government data.
Lockdowns in the city sent some workers fleeing from a factory operated by Apple iPhone manufacturer Foxconn. Authorities have responded by offering low-level officials and residents cash bonuses on top of wages if they stay on the production lines.
China reports 24,473 new COVID-19 cases
https://arab.news/9jc7n
China reports 24,473 new COVID-19 cases
- Numerous businesses in Beijing’s Chaoyang district have shut or announced only limited services
- Outlying Beijing districts of Fangshan and Huairou announced additional testing requirements for people entering from other provinces
Biden declines to comment on Trump indictment
Biden, who was traveling to Mississippi for the day, deliberately did not answer several questions on the subject from journalists gathered to witness his departure from the White House.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat, confirmed that it had contacted Trump’s lawyers Thursday to “coordinate his surrender” — with the felony charges against him to be revealed at that point.
Trump, who is seen to be the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 election, slammed the indictment as “political persecution and election interference,” raging against prosecutors and his Democratic opponents.
He also vowed that it would backfire on Biden — who is set to run again to stay in the White House.
The impact of an indictment on Trump’s election chances is unpredictable, with critics and adversaries alike voicing concerns about the legal merits of the New York hush-money case.
Detractors worry that if Trump were cleared, it could make it easier to dismiss as a “witch hunt” any future indictment in arguably more serious affairs — such as Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
The Manhattan charges will also likely juice turnout among Trump’s base, boosting his chances in the party primary.
Pope Francis set to leave hospital, attend Easter service, Vatican says
- The pope, 86, was taken to Rome's Gemelli hospital two days ago after complaining of breathing difficulties
- He was diagnosed with bronchitis and has responded well to an infusion of antibiotics
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis is expected to leave hospital on Saturday pending the results of his latest medical tests and is scheduled to take part in a Palm Sunday service the following day, the Vatican said on Friday.
The pope, 86, was taken to Rome’s Gemelli hospital two days ago after complaining of breathing difficulties. He was diagnosed with bronchitis and has responded well to an infusion of antibiotics, the medical team has said.
“His Holiness is expected to return to Santa Marta tomorrow, once the results of the latest tests from this morning are known,” the Vatican said, referring to a residence next to St. Peter’s Basilica where the pope lives.
Highlighting the pope’s improved health, the Vatican said he had pizza on Thursday night in hospital with his doctors, nurses, assistants and security personnel.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni confirmed that if Francis does indeed return home on April 1, he would take part the following day in a service for Palm Sunday — a major event in the Church calendar that kicks off Easter week celebrations.
Holy Week, as it is known, includes a busy schedule of rituals and ceremonies that can be physically exhausting, including a Good Friday nighttime procession by Rome’s Colosseum.
The dean of the college of cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, has said a cardinal would help the pope during the week’s celebrations and take care of altar duties.
A similar arrangement was put in place last year, when the pope sat to one side during some Easter events due to persistent knee pain, leaving it to senior cardinals to lead the Masses.
The pope, who marked the 10th anniversary of his pontificate earlier this month, has suffered a number of ailments in recent years. Francis was last hospitalized in July 2021 when he had part of his colon removed in an operation aimed at addressing a painful bowel condition called diverticulitis.
“When experienced with faith, the trials and difficulties of life serve to purify our hearts, making them humbler and thus more and more open to God,” the pope tweeted on Friday.
Belarus’ Lukashenko says Russian nuclear arms needed to deter threats from West
- Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko also called for immediate ceasefire in Ukraine
BELARUS: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that Russian tactical nuclear weapons set to be deployed in his country would protect it from Western threats, alleging that there were plans to invade Belarus from neighboring Poland.
“Take my word for it, I have never deceived you. They are preparing to invade Belarus, to destroy our country,” Lukashenko said in an annual address to lawmakers and government officials.
President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, its first deployment of nuclear armaments outside its borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Minsk said the missiles would offer protection after what it called a campaign of pressure from the United States and its allies aimed at overthrowing Lukashenko, who has been in power for 28 years.
In Friday’s speech, Lukashenko also called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and for talks to start on a lasting peace settlement, warning that Russia would be forced to use “the most terrible weapon” if it felt threatened.
“It is impossible to defeat a nuclear power. If the Russian leadership understands that the situation threatens to cause Russia’s disintegration, it will use the most terrible weapon. This cannot be allowed,” he said.
NATO chief says Finland to become member ‘in coming days’
- NATO chief says he looks forward to also welcoming Sweden as full member soon
BRUSEELS: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said Friday that Finland would formally become a member within days, as he congratulated its president on clearing the final obstacle to joining.
“I look forward to raising Finland’s flag at NATO HQ in the coming days. Together we are stronger and safer,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
After months of delays, Turkiye’s parliament on Thursday removed the last hurdle for Finland by becoming the last member of the US-led military alliance to ratify its application.
Stoltenberg said in separate statement that “Finland has highly capable forces, advanced capabilities, and strong democratic institutions.”
“So Finland will bring a lot to our alliance,” he said.
NATO foreign ministers are meeting at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels next week, when it is expected the membership could be formalized.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year upended European security and pushed Finland and its neighbor Sweden to drop decades of non-alignment and seek to join NATO’s protective umbrella.
Stockholm application remains stuck, however, because of ongoing resistance from both Turkiye and Hungary.
But Stoltenberg insisted that “all allies agree that a rapid conclusion of the ratification process for Sweden will be in everyone’s interest,“
“I look forward to also welcoming Sweden as a full member of the NATO family as soon as possible,” he said.
Lawyer: Steenkamp’s parents to oppose parole for Oscar Pistorius
- Former Olympic runner was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp
- A decision on Pistorius’ parole could come on Friday but is more likely to take days to finalize
PRETORIA: The parents of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman Oscar Pistorius shot dead 10 years ago, will oppose the former Olympic runner’s application for parole, their lawyer said Friday.
Lawyer Tania Koen said ahead of a scheduled parole hearing for Pistorius that “unless he comes clean, they don’t feel that he is rehabilitated.”
Pistorius, a multiple Paralympic champion who made history by running against able-bodied athletes at the 2012 Olympics, was convicted of murder for the Valentine’s Day 2013 shooting of Reeva Steenkamp at his home.
Pistorius claims he shot Steenkamp by mistake thinking she was an intruder in his home.
He was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison and is eligible for parole under South African law after having served half his sentence.
Koen said Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, would submit written and oral statements at Friday’s hearing opposing Pistorius’ application to be released from prison.
“She doesn’t feel that he must be released,” Koen told reporters outside the Atteridgeville Correctional Center in Pretoria, where Pistorius has been held since 2016 and where his parole hearing is expected to take place.
Submissions from a victim’s relative are just one of the factors a parole board takes into account when deciding if an offender can be released early on parole. The parole board will also consider Pistorius’ behavior in prison and if he would be a threat to society if he were released.
A decision on Pistorius’ parole could come on Friday but is more likely to take days to finalize.
