Six In The Morning Monday 28 November 2022

At the heart of China’s protests against zero-Covid, young people cry for freedom

By Nectar Gan and Selina Wang and CNN's Beijing bureau

Updated 1:07 PM EST, Mon November 28, 2022

For the first time in decades, thousands of people have defied Chinese authorities to protest at universities and on the streets of major cities, demanding to be freed not only from incessant Covid tests and lockdowns, but strict censorship and the Communist Party’s tightening grip over all aspects of life.

Across the country, “want freedom” has become a rallying cry for a groundswell of protests mainly led by the younger generation, some too young to have taken part in previous acts of open dissent against the government.

“Give me liberty or give me death!” crowds by the hundreds shouted in several cities, according to videos circulating online, as vigils to mark the deaths of at least 10 people in a fire in Xinjiang spiraled into political rallies.

OneLove armband sends ‘very divisive message’, says Qatar official

Head of World Cup organising committee says he sees rainbow armband as protest against Islamic values

Sean Ingle Chief sports reporter in Doha

@seaningle

The head of Qatar’s World Cup organising committee has accused teams who wanted to wear the OneLove armband at the World Cup of sending a “very divisive message” to the Islamic and Arab world.

Hassan al-Thawadi’s comments came as the UK sports minister Stuart Andrew said he would wear the rainbow-coloured armband at the England v Wales match on Tuesday.

The Conservative frontbencher, who is gay, said it was “really unfair” that Fifa had threatened sporting sanctions at the 11th hour against seven European teams who had planned to wear the anti-discrimination symbol in Qatar, forcing them to protest in other ways.

Despite UN sanctions, Germany did research with North Korea

Kim Jong Un wants to modernize his nuclear weapons. To stop him, the UN has banned research collaboration with North Korea. A DW investigation found that one Berlin institute continued without flagging the risks.

The email is only a few sentences long, but it was sent from the most unlikely location: North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. The message came from Im Song Jin, a physicist and expert in laser optics, in response to a DW request. Im is one of a privileged few. To have an email address and be permitted to communicate with the outside world is a sign that he is trusted by the North Korean regime.

Im confirmed to DW that between 2008 and 2010 he was a visiting scientist at the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI) in Berlin. And after that? "I have a business e-mail address in Kim Il Sung University," Im wrote. "By using this e-mail address we communicated and continued collaboration works."

Iran releases more than 700 prisoners following World Cup win

Iran has released more than 700 prisoners after the national team's World Cup football victory over Wales, the judiciary's Mizan Online website said Monday.

It announced that "709 detainees were freed from different prisons in the country" following the 2-0 victory on Friday.

Among those are "some arrested during the recent events," Mizan Online said, making indirect reference to demonstrations which have shaken Iran for more than two months.

It gave no further detail.

Lebanon's Economic CrisisArmed Cash Withdrawals Spread amid Growing Desperation

With their bank accounts frozen and their savings inaccessible, Lebanese depositors are turning to drastic means to withdraw their money. The population hails them as heroes while officials have shied away from prosecuting them.

By Christoph Reuter

Bassam Hussein’s last cash withdrawal for the time being required rather unusual preparations. He shelled out almost half a million Lebanese pounds for 15 liters of gasoline, which he then filled into small bottles. He already had a shotgun and ammunition at home. The 42-year-old fitness trainer took it all with him on the morning of August 11 to his branch of the Federal Bank in Beirut’s central quarter of Hamra. He waited a few minutes outside the bank before marching inside with his equipment past frightened passersby. With one hand on the trigger and using the other to splatter gasoline onto the tables, he yelled: "Either I’ll get my money, or I’ll die trying!"

China Covid protests: Fury and fear of virus puts Xi Jinping in a bind

By Tessa Wong

BBC News

For the past three years, the patience of one billion people in China has been stretched, growing thinner and thinner with every lockdown and round of mass Covid testing.

Now, that patience has snapped.

As thousands took to the streets in cities protesting against Covid restrictions, an exhausted nation has been asking how much longer must they endure Xi Jinping's zero-Covid policy.

In one of President Xi's biggest political tests yet, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) must now negotiate both mounting fury and a deep-rooted fear of Covid, as the country feels its way to an exit from the pandemic.