On Thursday 24 November, a fire broke out on the 15th floor of an apartment block in Urumqi, capital of the western Chinese province of Xinjiang. At least 10 people died, all from the minority Uyghur community. Outrage grew at the fact that the deaths were entirely avoidable, caused by China’s draconian Covid lockdown policy. … Read more
The largest protests in a generation erupted in cities across China over the weekend against the government’s zero-Covid policy. The most widely used symbol in the demonstrations has been a blank sheet of paper. It symbolises censorship, and may also, some Twitter users pointed out, be read as a reference to the deaths last week … Read more
China’s foreign ministry has defended the Communist party’s zero-Covid policy amid rare protests within the country. The foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, paused for a long time when asked by a reporter if China would reconsider the policy given people’s widespread ‘anger and frustration’. He eventually asked for the question to be repeated and then … Read more
Dozens of protesters gathered in Hong Kong in solidarity with anti-lockdown demonstrations in mainland China. The protest was held to commemorate the 10 people who died in a fire in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang region, and show solidarity with the protests that took place over the weekend in cities across China against stringent Covid-19 measures. Hong … Read more
Demonstrations have broken out in cities and university campuses across China amid widespread anger at Covid lockdowns. The wave of civil disobedience was triggered by an apartment fire on Friday in which at least 10 people died in the west Xinjiang region. In an unusually bold act that appeared to indicate the level of people’s … Read more
Protesters poured on to the streets of the southern Chinese city in a rare demonstration against strict Covid-19 restrictions. Video circulating on social media shows crowds of people marching through the Haizhu district, breaking Covid barriers in noisy scenes. Cases have also been rising in other large Chinese cities, including Beijing, Chongqing and Zhengzhou. China … Read more
A 50-year-old woman was shot dead in Vosman near Witbank (Emalahleni) during massive and violent electricity protests in the KwaGuqa Extension, Mpumalanga on Monday night. Protest over power outages Residents embarked on the unrest on Monday morning, barricading the N4 road near KG Mall with stones and burning tires because they have not had electricity … Read more
Dutch border police on Saturday arrested hundreds of climate activists who clambered over fences and gates at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and occupied an apron for private jets, which they said should be banned. The protesters ran onto the tarmac at around 1200 GMT before sitting in front of private planes parked on the apron, including … Read more
Thousands of anti-Rwanda protesters marched through the eastern DR Congo city of Goma on Monday, AFP journalists saw, as M23 rebels tightened their grip on the surrounding countryside. A mostly Congolese Tutsi group, the M23 resumed fighting in late 2021 after lying dormant for years, accusing the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government of failing … Read more
“For the 60,000 students across the UF system and the greater campus community, Sasse’s selection represents a new wave of collegiate leadership that has been shaped by the increased confluence of statewide political and academic sectors,” including DeSantis’s administration, UF student Halima Attah wrote for Teen Vogue last week. In response to intense protests from … Read more