China Covid: Record number of cases as virus surges nationwide
China has recorded its highest number of daily Covid cases since the pandemic began, despite stringent measures designed to eliminate the virus.
There are outbreaks in several major cities including the capital Beijing and southern trade hub Guangzhou.
On Wednesday, the country recorded 31,527 cases – higher than the about 28,000 peak recorded in April, when its largest city Shanghai was locked down.
It comes as strict lockdowns continue to spark episodes of unrest.
Indonesia quake: Five-year-old rescued after two days trapped in rubble
Five-year-old Azka Maulana Malik has been rescued from the rubble of his family home in Cianjur, West Java, two days after an 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia.
More than 250 people were killed and some 1,000 injured as a result of the quake, with around 151 people still missing.
Germany players cover mouths in protest against FIFA clampdown on free speech in ‘OneLove’ armband row
It was a moment so brief that the thousands of fans inside the Khalifa International Stadium on Wednesday could easily have missed it.
But a moment, the time it took for the photographers amassed in front of Germany’s World Cup team to snap a picture, was all it needed for the four-time winners to send a message to soccer’s world governing body.
Germany’s starting 11 all posed with their right hands in front of their mouths, and within minutes, the image was circulating widely on social media.
And as Germany kicked off their World Cup campaign against Japan in Group E, the team’s social media feed confirmed that the gesture was designed as a protest to FIFA’s decision to ban the “OneLove” armband that many European captains had been hoping to wear in Qatar.
It was a game that produced another World Cup shock as Japan came from behind to win 2-1.
Before the tournament, captains from England, Wales, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark had planned to wear the armbands at the World Cup – – which features a striped heart in different colors to represent all heritages, backgrounds, genders and sexual identities – before FIFA made it clear on Monday players would be yellow carded.
AI robot Kashef with today’s World Cup 2022 predictions
Kashef has not had the best few days in the office. Unfortunately for our artificial intelligence (AI) predictor, the adrenaline-fuelled, high-octane football being played in the opening set of fixtures has resulted in several major upsets.
The good news for us sentient beings is that every time Kashef has got it wrong, we have been treated to a veritable feast of World Cup magic. Just take Saudi Arabia’s historic victory over Argentina as a case in point.
