Monday, November 28, 2022

Scientists around the world are urged to develop a new bird flu vaccine to beat the latest deadly mutation

EXCLUSIVE

While risk of a mass outbreak of bird flu among people remains low the 60 per cent fatality rate has led to a global race for a human vaccine

Chief News Correspondent

November 27, 2022

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on its four global vaccine laboratories to develop a human vaccine for the specific strain of avian flu that is rife across the world, i can reveal.

Labs in Australia, Japan, the UK and US are working together to produce a working vaccine 2.3.4.4b strain of the H5N1 virus as concerns grow that it could mutate to become easily transmissible to people and cause a second global pandemic in three years.

While the WHO and the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) do not believe there is a high risk of avian flu mutating to become an airborne virus capable of infecting humans and allowing person-to-person infection, concern remains high due to the high death rate from the virus.

Official figures from the WHO state that 60 per cent of the 868 people infected with avian flu over the past 20 years have died.

UK scientists have tested a human vaccine for bird flu in the event that the deadly virus mutates to infect people on a mass scale, but while it has shown signs of success it would not be a jab specific to the current 2.3.4.4b strain.

The MHRA is a member of one of four international WHO Essential Regulatory Laboratories, namely the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS).

The GISRS continuously monitors influenza viruses that are a risk to public health. In addition to human season influenza, this includes cases of zoonotic influenza virus infections and outbreaks of avian and other animal influenza viruses.

As part of GISRS’s preparedness plans, candidate vaccine viruses (CVVs) are developed against viruses that might pose a public health risk.

These CVVs can be used by vaccine manufacturers to develop and produce influenza vaccines.

An MHRA source said: “While CVVs related to the avian influenza viruses currently circulating in the UK are available, we are working to produce even better-matched CVVs.”

The current outbreak of avian flu has already led to the culling of almost four million birds such as chickens, ducks and turkeys in the UK and almost 100 million birds worldwide.

It is also understood that the UK’s Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) has confirmed cases of bird flu being transmitted to wild mammals, including foxes and sea life such as seals and dolphins in and around the UK, as well as across Europe and in the US.

Leading influenza virologist Professor Wendy Barclay of Imperial College London, who sits on the Government FluMap panel, says ‘a roll of the dice’ will decide if bird flu mutates to become airborne and highly transmissible to humans (Photo: Imperial College London)

Last week i revealed that the Government’s bird flu FluMap taskforce was concerned over mutations to the current strain of the virus due to initial evidence suggesting it may be more stable than previous strains.

Professor Wendy Barclay, who is a member of FluMap, believes its “a roll of the dice” on whether or not the virus mutates to infect humans more easily.

She said: “We are monitoring for signs of the virus mutating and potentially becoming airborne. That’s how pandemics happen.

“One of the things that FluMap is checking out is whether or not this virus is a little bit more stable than previous ones, and that might be why it has been hanging around since the summer and more than we’ve seen before.”

While any mutations that allow airborne transmission of the virus to humans is expected to reduce the potency of the virus, it is likely that it remains considerably higher than the 2 per cent fatality rate that Covid-19 caused at its peak in 2020.

Professor Barclay, who is also head of department of infectious disease at Imperial College London, added: “If the virus underwent the mutations it needs to become transmissible to humans, then that 60 per cent fatality rate might go down because there is a balance with viruses where, in order to become transmissible, they have to change their nature and usually that means the fatality rate goes down, but it doesn’t always.”

Avian flu outbreak wipes out record 50.54

million U.S. birds

The deaths of chickens, turkeys and other birds represent the worst U.S. animal-health disaster to date, topping the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died in an avian-flu outbreak in 2015.

The Powers Farm white turkey flock is seen under shelter as part of an effort to prevent exposure to avian influenza on Nov. 14, 2022 in Townsend, Del.

Nathan Howard / Getty Images

Nov. 25, 2022,
By Reuters

CHICAGO — Avian flu has wiped out 50.54 million birds in the United States this year, making it the country’s deadliest outbreak in history, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed on Thursday.

The deaths of chickens, turkeys and other birds represent the worst U.S. animal-health disaster to date, topping the previous record of 50.5 million birds that died in an avian-flu outbreak in 2015.

Birds often die after becoming infected. Entire flocks, which can top a million birds at egg-laying chicken farms, are also culled to control the spread of the disease after a bird tests positive.

Losses of poultry flocks sent prices for eggs and turkey meat to record highs, worsening economic pain for consumers facing red-hot inflation and making Thursday’s Thanksgiving celebrations more expensive in the United States. Europe and Britain are also suffering their worst avian-flu crises, and some British supermarkets rationed customers’ egg purchases after the outbreak disrupted supplies.

Bill Powers checks on his flock of white turkeys, which have been kept under shelter all year to prevent exposure to avian influenza.

Nathan Howard / Getty Images

The U.S. outbreak, which began in February, infected flocks of poultry and non-poultry birds across 46 states, USDA data show. Wild birds like ducks transmit the virus, known as highly pathogenic avian influenza, through their feces, feathers or direct contact with poultry.

“Wild birds continue to spread HPAI throughout the country as they migrate, so preventing contact between domestic flocks and wild birds is critical to protecting U.S. poultry,” said Rosemary Sifford, the USDA’s chief veterinary officer.

Farmers struggled to keep the disease and wild birds out of their barns after increasing security and cleaning measures following the 2015 outbreak. In 2015, about 30% of the cases were traced directly to wild bird origins, compared to 85% this year, the USDA told Reuters.

Government officials are studying infections at turkey farms, in particular, in hopes of developing new recommendations for preventing infections. Turkey farms account for more than 70% of the commercial poultry farms infected in the outbreak, the USDA said.

People should avoid unprotected contact birds that look sick or have died, though the outbreak poses a low risk to the general public, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

1.8 Million Chickens Slaughtered After Bird Flu Found in Nebraska Farm

The virus is primarily spread by wild birds as they migrate across the country

By Josh Funk

Photo by Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times

Nebraska agriculture officials say another 1.8 million chickens must be killed after bird flu was found on a farm in the latest sign that the outbreak that has already prompted the slaughter of more than 50 million birds nationwide continues to spread.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture said Saturday that the state's 13th case of bird flu was found on an egg-laying farm in northeast Nebraska's Dixon County, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of Omaha, Nebraska.

Just like on other farms where bird flu has been found this year, all the chickens on the Nebraska farm will be killed to limit the spread of the disease. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says more than 52.3 million birds in 46 states — mostly chickens and turkeys on commercial farms — have been slaughtered as part of this year's outbreak.

Nebraska is second only to Iowa’s 15.5 million birds killed with 6.8 million birds now affected at 13 farms.

In most past bird flu outbreaks the virus largely died off during the summer, but this year's version found a way to linger and started to make a resurgence this fall with more than 6 million birds killed in September.

The virus is primarily spread by wild birds as they migrate across the country. Wild birds can often carry the disease without showing symptoms. The virus spreads through droppings or the nasal discharge of an infected bird, which can contaminate dust and soil.

Commercial farms have taken a number of steps to prevent the virus from infecting their flocks, including requiring workers to change clothes before entering barns and sanitizing trucks as they enter the farm, but the disease can be difficult to control. Zoos have also taken precautions and closed some exhibits to protect their birds.

Officials say there is little risk to human health from the virus because human cases are extremely rare and the infected birds aren't allowed to enter the nation's food supply. Plus, any viruses will be killed by properly cooking poultry to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

But the bird flu outbreak has contributed to the rising prices of chicken and turkey along with the soaring cost of feed and fuel.

World's largest active volcano in Hawaii erupts for first time in decades

US authorities say flows of lava remained "contained" within the summit area of Mauna Loa, but the eruption could pose a threat to nearby residents should conditions change.

Lava is erupting from the Mauna Loa summit and overflowing from the caldera.

— Ken Hon/USGS Volcanoes

Emergency crews went on alert as Hawaii's Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, erupted for the first time in nearly 40 years, authorities in the United States have said.

Flows of lava remained "contained" within the summit caldera — the large depression at the mouth of a volcano — of Mauna Loa, but the eruption could pose a threat to nearby residents should conditions change, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported at 11:45 pm local time Sunday (9:45 GMT on Monday), some 15 minutes after the eruption inside the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

"At this time, lava flows are contained within the summit area and are not threatening downslope communities," the USGS said on its website, noting that residents of the area should review preparedness procedures.

Mauna Loa has erupted 33 times since 1843, according to the USGS.

The most recent eruption, in 1984, lasted 22 days and produced lava flows which reached to within about seven kms (four miles) of Hilo, a city which is home to about 44,000 people today.

While the latest eruption on the main island of the remote US state in the Pacific remains confined within the basin at the top of the volcano, called the caldera, "if the eruptive vents migrate outside its walls, lava flows may move rapidly downslope," according to the USGS.

Hours later on Monday morning, the USGS volcano monitoring office tweeted: "Lava does seem to have flowed outside the caldera, but for now the eruptive vents remain confined to the caldera."

The agency said the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was in consultation with emergency management personnel and its staff would conduct an aerial reconnaissance over the 13,674-foot (4,168-metre) volcano as soon as possible.

Hawaii authorities said no evacuation orders have been given, although the summit area and several roads in the region were closed.

A USGS webcam on Mauna Loa summit's north rim showed long bright eruptive fissures within the volcanic crater, contrasted against the dark of night.

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Five tourists rescued from flooded home as storm hits Hawaii

World's largest active volcano in Hawaii erupts for first time in decades

NUKE THE WHALES

Fox hosts triggered by Whole Foods choosing not to sell lobsters and protect the last 340 of a rare whale

Sarah K. Burris
November 27, 2022

Whole Foods has recently decided not to sell lobster from Maine after two sustainability organizations threatened to withdraw their endorsements of the U.S. lobster fishing industry.

Marine Stewardship Council and Seafood Watch are concerned about the impact the fishing gear is having on the rare North Atlantic right whales. There are only 340 of that species of whales left in the world. Whole Foods said that they are monitoring the situation and “committed to working with suppliers, fisheries, and environmental advocacy groups as it develops.”

The Fox network, however, is furious that they can no longer buy their lobster at Whole Foods.

One of the hosts said that he didn't care about lobsters because he is a "carnivore."

The host noted that it's never happened that one of the whales has been killed as a result of lobster fishing in Maine. Because it's nothing more than a "risk," she said that she didn't understand why it mattered. Others will likely sell the Maine lobsters and Caribbean lobsters are still an option as well.

In fact, the New England Aquarium was able to observe a female North Atlantic right whale tangled in fishing lines.

The same aquarium also explained that due to climate change, the whales are moving to different areas in migration, which is why it has become a new problem. They are looking for solutions, a Canadian report explained.

Still, the fact that the Fox host couldn't get them at Whole Foods seemed to be her biggest concern.

"Ugg, I'll take the risk," sneered Sunday stand-in host Lisa Booth.

"HelloFresh, the meal kit company, was among numerous retailers to pledge to stop selling lobster in September after California-based Seafood Watch placed American and Canadian lobster fisheries on its 'red list' of seafoods to avoid," reported the AP.

See the video below:

Lobster freakoutwww.youtube.com

The Simpsons - Nuke The Whales - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5_Sem03i4Q

0:12

Web2020-04-12 · From season 08 episode 07, Lisa's Date With Destiny.Subscribe for more!

Author: Simpsons Clips

UPDATED

Hong Kong protesters call for 'freedom' as anger against China's Xi Jinping spreads

Dake Kang

Nov 29 2022

Chinese police order people to delete content following Covid protests
an hour ago

Barely a month after granting himself new powers as China’s potential leader for life, Xi Jinping is facing a wave of public anger of the kind not seen for decades, sparked by his “zero-Covid” strategy that will soon enter its fourth year.

But it's “unimaginable” the government will back down given it has invested so much political capital in the policy, observers say.

Demonstrators poured into the streets over the weekend in cities including Shanghai and Beijing, criticising the policy, confronting police – and even calling for Xi to step down.

Meanwhile on Monday, demonstrators gathered in the semi-autonomous southern city of Hong Kong, where the pro-democracy movement was all but snuffed out by a harsh crackdown following months-long demonstrations that began in 2019.

Students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong chanted, “Freedom! Freedom!” in their native Cantonese, as well as “We don’t want revolution, we want reform!” in the Mandarin spoken in mainland China. Floral tributes were laid in the Central district that had been the epicentre of previous protests.

The widespread demonstrations are unprecedented since the army crushed the 1989 student-led pro-democracy movement centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Most protesters focused their anger on restrictions that can confine families to their homes for months and have been criticised as neither scientific nor effective. Some complained the system is failing to respond to their needs.

NG HAN GUAN/AP
Protesters hold up blank papers and hold flowers and candles as they march in protest in Beijing.

The cries for the resignation of Xi and the end of the Communist Party that has ruled China for 73 years could be deemed sedition, which is punishable by prison.

In response, police in Shanghai used pepper spray to drive away demonstrators, and dozens were detained in police sweeps and taken away in police vans and buses. China’s vast internal security apparatus is also famed for identifying people it considers troublemakers and picking them up later when few are watching.

The possibility of more protests is unclear. Government censors scrubbed the internet of videos and messages supporting them. And analysts say unless divisions emerge, the Communist Party should be able to contain the dissent.

Play Video 1:50
China eases some COVID-19 measures but affirms zero-tolerance strategy amid anti-lockdown protests

China's stringent measures were originally accepted for minimising deaths while other countries suffered devastating waves of infections, but that consensus has begun to fray in recent weeks.

While the ruling party says anti-coronavirus measures should be “targeted and precise” and cause the least possible disruption to people's lives, local officials are threatened with losing their jobs or other punishments if outbreaks occur. They have responded by imposing quarantines and other restrictions that protesters say exceed what the central government allows.

Xi's unelected government doesn't seem too concerned with the hardships brought by the policy. This spring, millions of Shanghai residents were placed under a strict lockdown that resulted in food shortages, restricted access to medical care and economic pain. Nevertheless, in October, the city's party secretary, a Xi loyalist, was appointed to the Communist Party's No. 2 position.

NG HAN GUAN/AP
Protesters hold candles as they march in Beijing on Sunday.

The party has long imposed surveillance and travel restrictions on minorities including Tibetans and Muslim groups such as Uyghurs, more than 1 million of whom have been detained in camps where they are forced to renounce their traditional culture and religion and swear fealty to Xi.

But this weekend's protests included many members of the educated urban middle class from the ethnic Han majority. The ruling party relies on that group to abide by an unwritten post-Tiananmen agreement to accept autocratic rule in exchange for a better quality of life.

Now, it appears that old arrangement has ended as the party enforces control at the expense of the economy, said Hung Ho-fung of Johns Hopkins University.

“The party and the people are trying to seek a new equilibrium,” he said. “There will be some instability in the process.”

To develop into something on the scale of the 1989 protests would require clear divisions within the leadership that could be leveraged for change, Hung said.

NG HAN GUAN/AP
Chinese policemen form a line to stop protesters marching in Beijing.

Xi all but eliminated such threats at an October party congress. He broke with tradition and awarded himself a third five-year term as party leader and packed the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee with loyalists. Two potential rivals were sent into retirement.

“Without the clear signal of party leader divisions ... I would expect this kind of protest might not last very long,” Hung said.

It's “unimaginable” that Xi would back down, and the party is experienced in handling protests, Hung said.

Video 0:58
China: Anti-Zero COVID Policy Protesters Clash With Police In Shanghai

China is now the only major country still trying to stop transmission of the virus that was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019.

The normally supportive head of the World Health Organisation has called “zero-Covid” unsustainable. Beijing dismissed his remarks as irresponsible, but public acceptance of the restrictions has worn thin.

People who are quarantined at home in some areas say they lack food and medicine. And the ruling party faced anger over the deaths of two children whose parents said antivirus controls hampered efforts to get emergency medical care.

Protests then erupted after a fire on Thursday killed at least 10 people in an apartment building in the city of Urumqi in the northwest, where some residents have been locked in their homes for four months. That prompted an outpouring of angry questions online about whether firefighters or people trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other pandemic restrictions.

ANDY WONG/AP
Chinese President Xi Jinping. (File photo)

Yet Xi, an ardent nationalist, has politicised the issue to the point that exiting the zero-Covid policy could be seen as a loss to his reputation and authority.

Zero-Covid was “supposed to demonstrate the superiority of the ‘Chinese model’, but ended up demonstrating the risk that when authoritarian regimes make mistakes, those mistakes can be colossal”, said Andrew Nathan, a Chinese politics specialist at Columbia University. He edited The Tiananmen Papers, an insider account of the government's response to the 1989 protests.

“But I think the regime has backed itself into a corner and has no way to yield. It has lots of force, and if necessary, it will use it,” Nathan said. “If it could hold onto power in the face of the pro-democracy demonstrations of 1989, it can do so again now."

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/300751324/hong-kong-protesters-call-for-freedom-as-anger-against-chinas-xi-jinping-spreads

NG HAN GUAN/AP
Protesters hold up blank papers and chant slogans as they march in Beijing.

China censors rare, nationwide protests over hardcore Covid-19 restrictions

Demonstrators holding up white pieces of paper during a protest in Beijing on Nov 27, 2022.

REUTERS

SHANGHAI – China’s censors were working on Monday to extinguish signs of rare, social media-driven protests that flared across major cities over the weekend calling for political freedoms and an end to Covid-19 lockdowns.

Sunday saw people take to the streets in several major cities across China to call for an end to lockdowns and greater political freedoms, in a wave of nationwide protests not seen since pro-democracy rallies in 1989 were crushed.

A deadly fire last week in Urumqi, the capital of north-west China’s Xinjiang region, has become a catalyst for public anger, with many blaming Covid-19 lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts.

But they have also featured prominent calls for greater political freedoms – with some even demanding the resignation of China’s President Xi Jinping, recently re-appointed to an unprecedented third term as China’s leader.

Large crowds gathered on Sunday in the capital Beijing and Shanghai, where police clashed with protesters as they tried to stop groups from converging at Wulumuqi street, named after the Mandarin for Urumqi.

Crowds that gathered overnight – some of whom chanted “Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!” – were dispersed by Sunday morning.

But in the afternoon, hundreds rallied in the same area with blank sheets of paper and flowers to hold what appeared to be a silent protest, an eyewitness told Agence France-Presse.

In the capital, at least 400 people gathered on the banks of a river for several hours, with some shouting: “We are all Xinjiang people! Go Chinese people!”

Reporters at the scene described the crowd singing the national anthem and listening to speeches, while on the other side of the canal bank, a line of police cars waited.

State censors appeared to have scrubbed Chinese social media of any news about the rallies, with the search terms “Liangma River”, “Urumqi Road” – sites of protests in Beijing and Shanghai – scrubbed of any references to the rallies on the Twitter-like Weibo platform.

Videos, including those showing university students singing in protest and rallies in other cities have also vanished from WeChat, replaced by notices saying the content was reported for “non-compliant or sensitive content”.

The Weibo search for the hashtag #A4 – a reference to the blank pieces of paper held up at rallies in a symbolic protest against censorship – also appeared to have been manipulated, showing only a handful of posts from the past day.

‘Boiling point’

China’s strict control of information and continued travel curbs tied to the zero-Covid policy make verifying numbers of protesters across the vast country challenging.

But such widespread rallies are exceptionally rare, with the authorities harshly clamping down on any and all opposition to the central government.

Protests also occurred on Sunday in Wuhan, the central city where Covid-19 first emerged, while there were reports of demonstrations in Guangzhou, Chengdu and Hong Kong.

Spreading through social media, they have been fuelled by frustration at the central government’s zero-Covid policy, which sees the authorities impose snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing campaigns over just a handful of cases.

State-run People’s Daily published a commentary on Monday morning warning against “paralysis” and “battle-weariness” in the fight against Covid-19 – but stopped far short of calling for an end to hardline policy.

“People have now reached a boiling point because there has been no clear direction to the path to end the zero-Covid policy,” Mr Alfred Wu Muluan, a Chinese politics expert at the National University of Singapore, said. “The party has underestimated the people’s anger.”

AFP

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Videos Show CCP Forces Violently Crackdown on China Protests Against Xi

BY ANDREW STANTON

NEWSWEEK

ON 11/27/22

VIDEO 00:30 Protesters Clash With Security At Chinese iPhone Factory

Videos posted to social media show Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forces violently crack down on protests against Chinese President Xi Jinping's COVID-19 lockdowns.

Massive protests erupted across China in recent days following an apartment fire in Urumqi, the capital of the northwestern Xinjiang region, that resulted in the deaths of 10 people. Protesters are demanding Xi's resignation in a rare rebuke against his leadership, just weeks after he secured a historic third term.

The apartment fire triggered the protests after video posted to Chinese social media showing rescue efforts led some people to believe Xi's restrictive COVID-19 rules slowed the evacuation, resulting in unnecessary deaths.

Chinese authorities, however, maintained people inside the high-rise were able to go downstairs and escape the building, but their defense has done little to quell discontent among citizens, who still believe the zero-COVID policy prevented residents from fleeing the blaze.

Above, protesters march along a street in Beijing on November 28. Videos posted to social media show Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities clash with protesters who are demanding President Xi Jinping's resignation and a change in the dynamic Zero-COVID policy following a deadly apartment fire.

NOEL CELIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

China implemented the policy to prevent widespread infection within its borders. Nearly three years after the first COVID-19 case was discovered in Wuhan, the CCP says its restrictions prevented a global economic downturn and millions of virus-fueled deaths.

Chinese protesters, however, are illustrating the growing discontent with the rules despite recent clashes with CCP police. Videos emerged on social media on Sunday showing authorities crack down on protesters, with scenes at times turning violent.

"Peaceful Anti Chinese Communist Party Government protests in Shanghai for the second day in a row," tweeted @_Inty_, a Twitter account that frequently tweets about Chinese current affairs. "The CCP began to violently crackdown the Chinese protesters."

NPR journalist Rob Schmitz tweeted a video showing police clearing protesters from the streets of Shanghai.

"It'll be interesting to see how the Chinese government responds in the coming days to crowds of Chinese calling for Xi Jinping and the CCP to step down," he tweeted.

Shows of political defiance are rare in China. Although authorities say they allow free expression, human rights experts have long raised concerns that the CCP stifles dissent among its citizens.

Human Rights Watch researcher Yaqiu Wang tweeted Saturday that the protests are "painful to watch, knowing what is going to happen to those who chanted and knowing the level of control the CCP has over the Chinese society."

Wang's tweet was in response to a video that showed protesters chant, "Down with the party! Down with Xi Jinping!" Other videos posted to Twitter depicted the protesters shouting "End the lockdown."

Xi Under Pressure

Before the protests began, Xi was already facing some political strife after thousands of employees resigned from Foxconn's flagship factory in central China where iPhones are produced.

Workers clashed with riot police, who were wearing hazmat suits, over living conditions inside a strict COVID-19 bubble. Videos showed hundreds of workers storm out of their dormitory building where they were met with a police response.

The protests are the most direct challenge yet to the zero-COVID policy. China has maintained that it has had few infections—and fewer deaths—in the past two years. However, the protests also come as cases are rising throughout the country. From October 26 to November 26, cases increased more than 490 percent, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Xi also continues facing a strained relationship with other global super powers. He has become perhaps Russian President Vladimir Putin's most powerful global ally amid the otherwise-condemned invasion of Ukraine, and tensions with Taiwan have strained in recent months as island leaders rebuke Chinese leadership.

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese government for comment.

China: Two European journalists arrested while covering protests against Covid-19 curbs

One of them, a BBC journalist, was allegedly assaulted by the police in Shanghai.

Scroll Staff

China: Two European journalists arrested while covering protests against Covid-19 curbs — Demonstrators show blank papers in Shanghai on Sunday as a way to protest against the coronavirus curbs in China. | Hector Retamal/ AFP

Two European journalists, who were covering the protests in China against the strict coronavirus measures, were arrested on Sunday.

BBC journalist Ed Lawrence was arrested in Shanghai and was allegedly beaten up by the police, the British public broadcaster said in a statement.

“The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai,” the broadcaster said.

The second arrested journalist is Michael Peuker, the correspondent for Radio Télévision Suisse, the French-language branch of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Both journalists have been released.

The protests had broken out in several Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Beijing and Wuhan, after 10 persons were killed in a fire at a high-rise building in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, on November 24.

The protestors have claimed that the victims could not escape as the building was partially locked down. However, city officials denied the claims and instead blamed the residents for being “too weak” to rescue themselves.

The BBC said on Sunday that it was worrying that Lawrence was attacked while he was doing his job. The statement also said the Chinese authorities did not offer any explanation, just claimed that Lawrence was arrested “for his own good” in case he got infected with Covid-19 from the crowd.

“We do not consider this a credible explanation,” it added.

Lawrence, a senior journalist and camera operator for the BBC’s China Bureau, had been tweeting about the protest on Sunday afternoon. The journalist said that he had seen three protestors being arrested of which two had fought with the police.

Following his arrest and release, Lawrence also said that the police arrested one Chinese citizen who was trying to stop the officials from beating him up.

Meanwhile, Radio Télévision Suisse’s Peuker was arrested after a live broadcast. He knew that he was going to be arrested.

“The tension is at its height here,” he had said during his broadcast. “Proof of this is that I am now surrounded by three police officers, I will be taken on board after this duplex at the police station.”

The correspondent and his cameraman were taken into custody after Peuker went off air. The Swiss broadcaster said that the two were released after minutes of negotiation.

Zero-Covid policy

Several cities across China have imposed lockdowns and other restrictions to curb the spread of the infection, under zero-Covid policy.

Through the “zero-Covid” strategy, China aims to isolate every patient and eliminate the virus entirely to prevent overwhelming healthcare systems. Some of the norms under the policy were relaxed in November. However, the policy, which has been described as unsustainable by the World Health Organization, is seemingly being implemented again.

On Saturday, China had registered a record 39,791 Covid-19 cases, Reuters reported, citing the country’s National Health Commission. Out of these, 3,709 cases were symptomatic infections, whereas 36,082 were asymptomatic.

One person died due to the disease, taking the total number of fatalities to 5,233.

The country had reported its first Covid-related death in six months on November 20.

Royal Mail workers and university lecturers continue industrial action

25 November 2022,

Postal workers on the picket line at the Kilburn Delivery Office in north west London — Royal Mail strike. Picture: PA

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and University and College Union (UCU) walked out on Thursday for 48 hours.

Royal Mail workers and university lecturers will continue with a strike on Friday in long running disputes over pay, pensions, jobs and conditions.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and University and College Union (UCU) walked out on Thursday for 48 hours, with more action planned in the coming weeks.

Picket lines were again mounted outside universities and Royal Mail centres across the country on Black Friday- one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said 70,000 university staff were on strike on Thursday, adding: “They will no longer accept falling pay, pension cuts, brutal workloads and gig-economy working conditions. If vice-chancellors doubted the determination of university staff to save our sector then today has been a rude awakening for them.

‘We have been overwhelmed by the support of thousands of students who have joined us on the picket lines. They recognise that vice-chancellors are wrecking the sector for staff and students alike and are determined to stand with us and fix it.

‘Our members deserve a proper pay rise and the money is there to deliver it. Vice-chancellors now need to urgently address the concerns of staff otherwise our 70,000 members will escalate this dispute into next year”

University employers said they were taking steps to mitigate any disruption adding that the union was seeking an “unrealistic” 13.6% pay rise which would cost institutions around £1.5 billion.

Postal workers from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) on the picket line — Unions say the dispute will carry on ‘until Royal Mail sees some sense’ (Yui Mok/PA)

The CWU has rejected Royal Mail’s final offer and is pressing ahead with more strikes, including today and on Christmas Eve.

A CWU spokesperson said: “Millions of customers and thousands of small businesses rely on the quality services Royal Mail workers provide at Christmas.

“But Royal Mail bosses are ignoring those responsibilities and ploughing ahead with plans that would wreck the livelihoods of their entire workforce.

“We call on the government, media and all small businesses to demand that Royal Mail takes a mature approach to this dispute.

“Thousands of workers aren’t striking at Christmas for fun – they want to reach an agreement.

“But they won’t be walked all over and have their lives ruined by the reckless, careless behaviour of the employer.

“Until Royal Mail sees some sense, this dispute will carry on.”

Responding to CWU claims about how postal workers were being treated, a Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We have a zero tolerance to any form of bullying or harassment.

“Over the last four months we have witnessed some awful behaviours on the picket line, including allegations of racist and sexist behaviour.

“In each instance we have taken swift action to appropriately discipline the individuals involved.

“We encourage anyone with concerns to come forward – we have a confidential whistleblowing process in place and will support any colleague who comes forward.”

Nick Hollamby, a 56-year-old CWU area representative, said he was on a London picket line because management had put forward proposals that were “totally unacceptable”, adding that he understood the public’s frustration at the strikes falling over Black Friday and the run-up to Christmas.

Lloyd Harris, CWU branch secretary for Mount Pleasant Delivery Office in London, said: “At the moment, Royal Mail are trying to drive our terms and conditions down, they are trying to get this work done on the cheap.”

By Press Association

Army would step in to help NHS during winter of strikes under contingency plans

28 November 2022, 03:34

Health and defence officials are drawing up a strategy to tackle a possible wave of industrial action in the health service.

Armed forces personnel could drive ambulances and stand in for frontline hospital roles under emergency plans to deal with a possible winter of strikes.

Health and defence officials are drawing up a contingency strategy as ambulance drivers and paramedics consider joining nurses on the picket lines in the coming months.

As first reported by the Times, the Government could utilise the military aid to the civil authorities protocol (Maca) to keep key services in the NHS running during major walkouts.

Maca was used during the coronavirus pandemic to help struggling health staff with vaccines, testing and the delivery of protective equipment.

No formal request for help has been made by the Department of Health and Social Care to the Ministry of Defence.

A Government spokeswoman said: “We are working with the NHS on a range of options to manage disruption to health and care services during industrial action.

“Hospitals will do everything they can to ensure patients and the public are kept safe, however planned appointments may need to be cancelled and emergency care prioritised to those in need of urgent care only.”

The prospect of strikes being called off ahead of Christmas appeared bleak, as Transport Secretary Mark Harper said public sector pay rises in line with soaring inflation are “unaffordable”.

The Cabinet minister said there “simply isn’t the money” to meet the demands of workers preparing to take industrial action but hinted at progress in talks over rail strikes.

Mr Harper indicated a change in the mandate for negotiations and said pay rises could come if rail workers accept reforms, after holding “positive” talks with Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union general secretary Mick Lynch.

Nurses are set to stage their first UK-wide strike action next month, as they join transport and postal workers on the picket lines in disputes over pay and conditions.

Mr Harper told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “Inflation-matching or inflation-busting pay rises are unaffordable.

“I think we want to try and give all the workers in the public sector who work very hard decent pay rises, but they can’t be inflation-busting pay rises.

“There simply isn’t the money to pay for those given the context, we haven’t seen those in the private sector either, the private sector pay rises have generally been settled below the level of inflation, which I accept is difficult for people.”

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that rail bosses “will have the ability to reach a deal”, when pressed about whether they have the mandate to properly negotiate with the RMT.

“But we have to be able to have that reform package negotiated, because it’s only that that throws up the savings,” Mr Harper said.

“I do not have a bottomless pit of taxpayers’ money to throw at this problem.”

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will walk out on December 15 and 20 if the dispute is not resolved.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has urged the nursing union to “come back to the table” for talks but he is declining to discuss pay, instead wanting to talk about conditions such as pension arrangements, holidays, rosters and the availability of free coffee.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen wrote to Mr Barclay telling him it is “negotiations or nothing”.