Six In The Morning 1 December 2020

 

The Wuhan files

Leaked documents reveal China's mishandling of the early stages of Covid-19

A group of frontline medical workers, likely exhausted, stand huddled together on a video-conference call as China's most powerful man raises his hand in greeting. It is February 10 in Beijing and President Xi Jinping, who for weeks has been absent from public view, is addressing hospital staff in the city of Wuhan as they battle to contain the spread of a still officially unnamed novel coronavirus.

From a secure room about 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) from the epicenter, Xi expressed his condolences to those who have died in the outbreak. He urged greater public communication, as around the world concerns mounted about the potential threat posed by the new disease.

That same day, Chinese authorities reported 2,478 new confirmed cases -- raising the total global number to more than 40,000, with fewer than 400 cases occurring outside of mainland China. Yet CNN can now reveal how official documents circulated internally show that this was only part of the picture. Exclusive by Nick Paton Walsh, CNN

Updated 0839 GMT (1639 HKT) December 1, 2020

Afghans outraged at image of Australian soldier drinking from prosthetic leg

Limb thought to come from dead Taliban fighter as case adds to disgust over recent report detailing ADF abuse

Akhtar Mohammad Makoii

Tue 1 Dec 2020 15.08 GMT

Afghan civil society leaders have reacted with disgust to photographs of an Australian special forces soldier drinking alcohol from the prosthetic leg of a slain Taliban fighter.

Images published by the Guardian on Tuesday showed a senior soldier who is still enlisted in the Australian Defence Force drinking beer from the leg in an unofficial bar on a base in Tarin Kowt, the capital of Uruzgan province, in 2009.

Other pictures show soldiers appearing to dance with the leg, taken from a suspected Taliban fighter killed in a raid the same year, and which the squadron took with them as they were redeployed in Afghanistan, according to a former trooper.

Germany says coronavirus vaccine will be safe

Vaccination will not be mandatory, science minister says

Clea Skopeliti

The same rigorous approval standards are being applied to the coronavirus vaccine candidates as for other medicines, Germany’s science minister has said, adding that any approved jab will be voluntary.  

Anja Karliczek said the key to gaining widespread public support for the immunisation is ensuring the same standards are applied across the board.

Authorities will educate the public about any possible side effects that could occur after vaccination, including headaches, localised pain and fever. Vaccination against the virus will not be mandatory, Ms Karliczek said.

Coronavirus pandemic slows Africa's progress against HIV

HIV infection rates are falling in many African countries, and effective drugs are increasing the life expectancy of patients. But the coronavirus pandemic has meant a major setback in the fight against AIDS.

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, more than half of the people under Gilbert Tene's care have stopped coming in for their regular checkups, the doctor, who works with AIDS patients at Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services, told DW. "Patients are reluctant to come to the hospital," Tene said. "We need those patients at the hospital to keep on counseling, to provide them with drugs and to provide them with any other support," he said. 

Is China provoking a diplomatic fight with Australia?

China has recently stepped up its aggression towards Australia, from introducing new customs taxes to trolling on Twitter. Relations between the two countries have rarely been so bad and, according to regional experts, the world should be paying attention to the way Beijing is treating Canberra.

When Zhao Lijian, China's foreign ministry spokesperson, posted a photo on Twitter from an official government account on November 30, Australia was aghast. The picture appears to show a grinning Australian soldier holding a bloody knife to the throat of an Afghan child who is holding a lamb.

Zhao posted the image accompanied by a tweet saying he was “shocked by the murder of Afghan civilians and prisoners by Australian soldiers”.

Palestinian student released from Israeli jail after 15 months

Mays Abu Ghosh, a journalism student, says she faced psychological and physical torture under interrogation by Israeli forces.

By 

Linah Alsaafin

Mays Abu Ghosh, a 22-year-old Palestinian student, was released by Israeli forces on Monday, 15 months after she was arrested.

Abu Ghosh, a journalism student at Birzeit University, was arrested in August 2019 and charged with being a member of the Democratic Progressive Student Pole, a student bloc banned by Israeli military orders, and taking part in student activities against Israeli occupation.