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China Covid lockdowns shut delivery workers out of their homes
China Covid lockdowns shut delivery workers out of their homes

Overworked, underpaid and thoroughly fed up, Wang's troubles deepened even further when authorities abruptly locked down the delivery driver's Beijing apartment block earlier this month. "Lots of delivery guys don't have anywhere to live at the moment," he told AFP outside a deserted office block on a cold winter afternoon last week.

Asian markets, crude drop on China Covid unrest
Asian markets, crude drop on China Covid unrest

Stocks and oil prices sank Monday on concerns about protests across China at the government's hardline zero-Covid policy, fuelling uncertainty in the world's number two economy. The prospect of a hit to demand in the world's biggest crude importer hammered oil prices, with both main contracts down more than two percent.

China censors rare, nationwide protests
China censors rare, nationwide protests

China's censors were working Monday to extinguish signs of rare, social media-driven protests that flared across major cities over the weekend calling for political freedoms and an end to Covid lockdowns.

Uyghur man's agony after five relatives died in Urumqi fire
Uyghur man's agony after five relatives died in Urumqi fire

When a deadly fire broke out in China's northwest Xinjiang region, triggering a wave of public anger over the country's zero-Covid policy, Abdulhafiz Maimaitimin initially could not believe that it claimed five of his relatives' lives. Much of Xinjiang has been locked down for three months, as the remote region battles an uptick in Covid cases that have also surged nationwide.

'It's not over': Iranian Kurds in Iraq in Tehran's crosshairs
'It's not over': Iranian Kurds in Iraq in Tehran's crosshairs

The roof is caved in, a wall has exploded and broken glass litters the floor at a base of the exiled Kurdish-Iranian opposition in mountainous northern Iraq. As Iranians have vented their anger at the regime, Tehran has blamed outside forces, and exiled Kurdish groups on whose bases it has rained down missiles and so-called suicide drones.

China arrests BBC journalist covering Covid protests
China arrests BBC journalist covering Covid protests

The BBC said on Sunday one of its journalists in China had been arrested and beaten by police while covering protests against the country's zero-Covid policy. "The BBC is extremely concerned about the treatment of our journalist Ed Lawrence, who was arrested and handcuffed while covering the protests in Shanghai," the broadcaster said in a statement.

Landslide in Cameroon kills at least 11
Landslide in Cameroon kills at least 11

A landslide in Cameroon's capital Yaounde killed at least 11 people attending a funeral on Sunday, a local official told state media. "Some were sitting in a tent where there was a landslide early this evening," Paul Bea, governor of the Centre region that includes Yaounde, told state radio.