The author of a viral video about Shanghai’s COVID-19 lockdown that sparked a rare show of defiance on China’s social media has urged users to stop sharing it, saying he is worried about his work being taken in directions he did not wish to see.The creator, who goes by his online moniker Strawberry Fields Forever, said in a post on Saturday that the quick spread of the video, titled, “Voices of April”, was “unexpected” to him, and he was “touched” by messages received from fellow internet use

Shanghai reported 39 COVID deaths on Sunday, official data showed, its highest daily toll since a weeks-long lockdown started, while China's capital Beijing warned of a "grim" situation with rising infections.The world's second-largest economy has been struggling to stamp out its worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years with a playbook of harsh lockdowns and mass testing as it sticks to a strict zero-COVID policy, taking a heavy toll on businesses and public morale.The cosmopo

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:11 Killed In Strikes A Russian strike kills at least five people, including a baby, and wounds 18 others in Ukraine's Black Sea city of Odessa, Kyiv says.Separate strikes in Girske, a village in the eastern Lugansk region, kill six civilians, says governor Sergiy Gayday.Fighting In The East Authorities in two eastern Ukrainian regions report "fierce" fighting with Russian forces as hope fades for a truce o

Russia’s war in Ukraine is not going according to plan. The sinking of the Moskva – the flagship of the Black Sea fleet – is the latest major military setback. In the course of almost two months, Russia has lost six major generals and between 15,000 - 20,000 troops, all the while failing to secure any appreciable gains.Reports of low morale and defection, coupled with sightings of mercenaries deployed by the Kremlin, hint at recruitment problems.

United Kingdom (UK) doctors believe they have documented the longest COVID infection on record – a patient they treated who had detectable levels of the virus for more than 16 months, or 505 days, in total.The unnamed individual had other underlying medical conditions and died in hospital in 2021.Persistent infections such as this are still rare, say the London medics.Most people naturally clear the virus, but the patient in question had a severely weakened immune system.Chronic infections li

United States (US) officials visiting the strategic Solomon Islands on Friday warned of serious repercussions if China were to establish a permanent military presence there after the Pacific nation signed a defence pact with Beijing.A White House delegation in the capital Honiara delivered the stern warning on the same day that China's ambassador attended an event with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare – a sign of the importance both nations are according to the small island state.The US

Thailand on Friday announced the end of compulsory COVID-19 tests for vaccinated travellers, as the country steps up efforts to revive its pandemic-thumped tourism industry.Tight border restrictions helped the kingdom limit infections and deaths in 2020 but brought the tourism sector – which had accounted for about a fifth of the country's economy – to its knees.Thailand's COVID-19 taskforce said that from 1 May, fully vaccinated visitors would no longer have to take a test on arriv

The cause of China's deadliest air crash in decades remains a mystery, with authorities giving few details in a preliminary report on Wednesday while enforcing strict censorship one month after the disaster.In the immediate aftermath of the crash, China's ruling Communist Party moved quickly to control information, revving up its censorship machine as media outlets and local residents raced to the crash site.It has maintained its tight grip over the narrative, with the preliminary p

Not for the first time, China once again dominated the news this week.The release of new economic data provided a temperature check of the world’s second-largest economy, while dubious COVID-19 death rates focused attention on Beijing’s reputation for secrecy and narrative control at all costs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday it "strongly recommended" Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid for patients with milder forms of the disease who were still at a high risk of hospitalisation.However, the United Nations (UN) agency warned it was "extremely concerned" that the inequality in access seen with COVID vaccines would again leave low- and middle-income countries "pushed to the end of the queue".United States (US) pharma giant Pfiz