South African medics moved to calm a wave of panic over a new ultra-infectious and vaccine resistant Covid strain today as its arrival in Europe sparked fears of a new Christmas shutdown.
Belgium revealed a case of the Botswana variant – named ‘Omicron’ by the World Health Organization tonight – prompting EU chiefs to call for an ’emergency brake’ on all travel from southern Africa after it was also found in Israel.
The Belgian health ministry said a case of
Belgium today became the first European country to confirm a case of the super mutant Botswana Covid variant as it spreads to three continents in just a fortnight.
Ursula von der Leyen called for the EU to activate the ’emergency brake’ on travel from southern Africa on the back of the announcement, warning that the strain could be world-dominant in months.
Belgium’s health ministry said the infection was spotted in an unvaccinated young woman who had returned from Egypt 11
A core member of Hong Kong’s prodemocracy camp stood on the balcony of the city’s legislature a quarter century ago, his fist raised in the air, and promised to continue to fight for universal suffrage. Today, he promotes the destruction of what limited voting freedoms Hong Kong has.
Among the loudest present-day advocates for the national-security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong last year is a high-profile lawyer who took up politics explicitly to fight against such legislation.
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Cathay Pacific has put in a good shift and it’s still going strong, as these fascinating images show.
They chart how the Hong Kong-based airline has been transformed over the decades as it celebrates its 75th anniversary.
They document how its operation began in 1946 with a DC3 propeller plane, its first physical reservation office in 1948 in the iconic Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong – and then how it became a pioneer of the jet age, flying Convair 880s, 747s
On the morning of July 1, 2020, newsstands across Hong Kong had a conspicuously uniform appearance. At least eight major papers carried identical front-page advertisements: a cerulean-shaded photo of uniformed officials standing below the Chinese and Hong Kong flags with the city’s harbor in the background. The image was overlaid with lines of white text triumphantly welcoming the arrival of a sweeping national-security law enacted the night before. Just one paper looked different, breaking from the monotonous propaganda. Apple Daily
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As the coronavirus paralyzed politics across Europe, one group gained more power: EU ambassadors.
The envoys who represent the EU’s 27 member countries in Brussels kept meeting in person throughout the pandemic even as leaders, ministers and lawmakers were forced online.
Even more than usual, it fell to their committee, Coreper — an acronym of its French name, Comité des représentants permanents — to thrash out the differences between national governments on issues
