Wednesday, July 21, 2021

Six In The Morning Wednesday 21 July 2021

 

China floods: 12 dead in Zhengzhou train and thousands evacuated in Henan

Twelve people have died after record-breaking rainfall flooded underground railway tunnels in China, leaving passengers trapped in rising waters.

Video shared on social media shows evening commuters just managing to keep their heads above water. Water is seen rushing onto platforms.

More than 500 people were eventually rescued from the tunnels in Henan province, officials said.

Days of rain have caused widespread damage and led to 200,000 evacuations.



Tokyo 2020 social media teams banned from showing athletes taking the knee


  • IOC and Tokyo 2020 organisers gave instructions on Tuesday
  • Reference made to images from Team GB v Chile football match

Exclusive by  in Tokyo

The International Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 organisers have banned their social media teams from posting pictures of athletes taking the knee at these Olympic Games, the Guardian can reveal.

An insider said the message was delivered from on high on Tuesday evening Tokyo time, with a specific reference to Team GB’s women’s first football match against Chile, just hours before it kicked off in Sapporo on Wednesday.

The image of both teams taking the knee beforehand, in a protest against racism and online hate, was seen on live TV and the gesture was then followed by United States and Sweden players as well as those from New Zealand.


Ethiopia: Fear Tigray conflict could trigger all-out war

More regional militias have pledged to march into Tigray. Some fear that this could send Ethiopia into a spiral of ethnic violence. Others see the move as a sign of Ethiopian unity.


Special forces and militias from a number of Ethiopia's regions are mobilizing to back the federal government's military operations in Tigray, signaling a widening of the conflict.

Regular forces from Amhara — a large region abutting the south of Tigray — have been fighting alongside federal troops ever since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched the military offensive in Tigray last November.


Unvaccinated people account for 96% of new Covid-19 cases, says French PM

The Delta variant of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is now the main variant circulating in France, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Wednesday, adding that 96 percent of the 18,000 new cases reported the day before were among the unvaccinated.

"We're in the fourth wave," Castex told TF1 television, stressing that the goal of the health pass, which came into effect Wednesday, was to avoid a fourth nationwide lockdown.

"The Delta variant is the majority one, it is more contagious," Castex said, speaking of the variant first detected in India.

Tokyo reports 1,832 coronavirus cases; nationwide tally 4,943

The Tokyo metropolitan government on Wednesday reported 1,832 new coronavirus cases, up 445 from Tuesday.

The average for Tokyo over the past seven days stands at 1,277.6.

People in their 20s (577 cases), their 30s (410) and their 40s (294) accounted for the highest numbers, while 206 cases were aged under 19.


Violence intensifies in water-crisis protests in Iran’s Khuzestan

Numerous videos and accounts have come out of Khuzestan despite internet restrictions.

Iranian authorities have said one police officer was shot dead by “agitators” in Iran’s Khuzestan province, where six nights of protests over water shortages have turned deadly.

State media reported that another police officer in Bandar Mahshahr was wounded after taking a bullet to his leg on Tuesday night, as videos and reports out of the oil-rich southwestern province indicated that violence had not ceased.

Authorities have so far confirmed that two civilians, 18-year-old Ghasem Khozeiri and 30-year-old Mostafa Naimawi, were shot dead on Friday, but they say the young men were not protesters and were murdered by “opportunists and rioters”.








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