China

China has stopped publishing daily COVID data amid reports of a huge spike in cases

11:17am December 25, 2022

by Robbie Griffiths

China's National Health Commission said in a statement it would no longer publish daily data and that "from now on, the Chinese CDC will release relevant COVID information for reference and research."

In some hospitals, like this one in Chongqing, one of China's largest cities, patients are lying on gurneys in the lobby because beds have run out.

Fears of a 'dark COVID winter' in rural China grow as the holiday rush begins

5:59pm December 23, 2022

by Emily Feng

Health officials are concerned that people traveling home to their villages for the Lunar New Year could turn celebrations into superspreader events, catching ill-prepared rural systems off guard.

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Bans on the social media app TikTok are beginning to gain momentum in Washington and several states. Experts say there's not much solid evidence that TikTok poses a national security threat.

Why the proposed TikTok ban is more about politics than privacy, according to experts

10:34am December 22, 2022

by Manuela López Restrepo

Digital privacy experts are skeptical of proposed TikTok bans, saying they are more about geopolitical tension than the social media app.

Medical workers in protective gear escort an elderly patient on a wheelchair followed by family members as they leave a fever clinic at a hospital in Beijing on Monday, Dec. 19, 2022.

Health & Safety

China limits how it defines COVID deaths in official count

5:33am December 21, 2022

by The Associated Press

China only counts deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official COVID-19 death toll, a Chinese health official said, in a narrow definition that limits the number of deaths reported.

Thuraya, the female Panda sent by China to Qatar as a gift for the World Cup, walks in a shelter at the Panda House Garden in Al Khor, near Doha, Qatar.

Sports

Two giant pandas have predicted that Argentina will win the World Cup over France

9:05am December 18, 2022

by Mary Yang

The pandas correctly predicted that Argentina would beat Croatia in the first semifinal match last, and they also rightly chose France over Morocco. Now, they predict Argentina will win the final.

Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force disembark from a V-22 Osprey aircraft during a live-fire exercise at East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka prefecture, Japan, on May 28. The annual live-fire drill took place as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to boost defense spending after a summit with U.S. President Biden and other "Quad" leaders.

Eyeing China, Japan lifts longtime restrictions to allow major defense buildup

9:49am December 16, 2022

by Anthony Kuhn

The policy change is widely seen as a major step toward rearming Japan more than seven decades after its demilitarization after World War II.

Travelers at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai, China on Dec. 12. China's public health officials say up to 800 million people could be infected with the coronavirus over the next few months.

Health & Safety

COVID spreading faster than ever in China. 800 million could be infected this winter

12:10pm December 15, 2022

Scientists predict China will see the largest COVID surge of the pandemic this winter, with hundreds of millions of people infected. But some experts say that it could have been even worse.

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From left: Wakil Kohsar/AFP via Getty ImagesAowen Cao/NPRYasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty ImagesMatthew Stockman/Getty Images

Health & Safety

Tots on errands, phone mystery, stinky sweat benefits: Our top non-virus global posts

5:00am December 14, 2022

by Laurel Dalrymple

Can a 4-year-old go out alone? Why did a payphone in China keep ringing? Does stinky sweat have an upside? These are some of our non-pandemic global stories that drew the most readers in 2022.

Residents are reflected on a door panel as they wait in line to buy medicine at a pharmacy in Beijing on Tuesday.

World News

Some Chinese university students to return home to reduce Lunar New Year COVID spread

3:20am December 13, 2022

by The Associated Press

Some Chinese universities say they will allow students to finish the semester from home in hopes of reducing the potential of a bigger COVID-19 outbreak during the January Lunar New Year travel rush.

A billboard in Beijing promotesi vaccination. The problem of under-vaccination is most acute among the elderly. According to the government, around 30% of people aged 60 and up — roughly 80 million people — were not vaccinated and boosted as of Nov. 11.

Why vaccine hesitancy persists in China — and what they're doing about it

8:25am December 09, 2022

by John Ruwitch

The reluctance of many citizens — especially the elderly — to get vaccinated is a problem for a government facing intense pressure to roll back strict COVID policies.