Sunday, January 3, 2021

Six In The Morning Sunday 3 January 2021

 

2020's alternative universe is not going away

Updated 0502 GMT (1302 HKT) January 3, 2021


At a recent Saturday protest outside London's Stratford train station -- comprised of bindi-wearing hippies, conspiracy theorists in balaclavas, and middle-aged men in waterproof jackets -- a protester with the grassroots, anti-lockdown group StandUpX yelled into a megaphone.

"The vaccine is there to make you infertile... that vaccine is just going to make them able to control you," they shouted.
Listening to the dangerously false spiel was 24-year-old Rebekah, who we are only identifying by her first name. A survivor of domestic abuse, Rebekah said she was living in a Manchester safe house when the first UK-wide lockdown began in March. "If I was still living at home [with her abuser] in lockdown, I probably would have died," she told CNN.



Iran steps up nuclear plans as tensions rise on anniversary of Suleimani’s killing

As Tehran moves on uranium enrichment, Washington braces for retaliation a year after the Quds Force commander’s assassination


 and agencies
Sun 3 Jan 2021 08.00 GMT

Iran has announced plans to enrich uranium up to 20% purity, just a step away from weapons-grade levels, as tensions with the US ratchet up during the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed it had been notified of Iran’s decision to increase enrichment at the Fordow facility, buried in a mountainside to protect it from military strikes, although Tehran did not say when the process would begin.

The weekend also marks the first anniversary of a US drone strike that killed top general Qassem Suleimani, with Washington apparently bracing for possible retaliation.

The Dawn of the DragonHow Xi Jinping Has Transformed Chin

In 2012, Xi Jinping took office as the head of the Communist Party at the same time Bernhard Zand become DER SPIEGEL's correspondent in Beijing. Before leaving the country, he traveled all across the nation to measure how the Chinese people are faring today.

By Bernhard Zand


Deep in Siberia, at the same latitude as Hamburg, China begins. It only comes to an end some 4,000 kilometers away, on the beaches of the tropical island Hainan. Both are places of great beauty.

In the north, the Heilongjiang, the Black Dragon river, winds silently eastward. It marks the border to Russia, where it is known as the Amur. The pine forests of the Taiga stretch out behind it.


Nations introduce lockdowns, curfews and school closures to fight Covid-19 resurgence

Countries across the world tightened restrictions on their populations Saturday to fight a resurgence in the coronavirus, as the European Union offered to help drug companies expand vaccine production to improve distribution "bottlenecks".

From local curfews to alcohol bans and complete lockdowns, governments are trying to tackle a surge in cases.

The coronavirus has killed more than 1.8 million people globally since emerging in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.

India’s approval of own COVID vaccine criticised for lack of data

Opposition politicians and former ministers warn approval may be premature and risky after government fast-tracks Covaxin.

India on Sunday granted emergency approval to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin but faced questions after taking the step without publishing efficacy data for the homegrown coronavirus vaccine.

The news, announced by the drugs controller general of India (DCGI) who did not take questions, was hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministers as a success in India’s self-reliance push.



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