Headline
China Ends Quarantine For Overseas Travellers
Published
1 year agoon
By
EditorChina lifted quarantine requirements for inbound travellers on Sunday, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation even as the country battles a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The first people to arrive expressed relief at not having to undergo the gruelling quarantines that were a fixture of life in zero-Covid China.
And in Hong Kong, where the border with mainland China was re-opened after years of closure, more than 400,000 people were set to travel north in the coming eight weeks.
Beijing last month began a dramatic dismantling of a hardline zero-COVID strategy that had enforced mandatory quarantines and punishing lockdowns.
READ ALSO: China’s Military Drills Around Taiwan Upset US
The policy had a huge impact on the world’s second-biggest economy and generated resentment throughout society that led to nationwide protests just before it was eased.
At Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport, a woman surnamed Pang told AFP Sunday she was thrilled with the ease of travel.
“I think it’s really good that the policy has changed now, it’s really humane,” she told AFP.
“It’s a necessary step I think. Covid has become normalised now and after this hurdle everything will be smooth,” she said.
Chinese people rushed to plan trips abroad after officials last month announced that quarantine would be dropped, sending inquiries on popular travel websites soaring.
But the expected surge in visitors has led more than a dozen countries to impose mandatory Covid tests on travellers from the world’s most populous nation as it battles its worst-ever outbreak.
China has called travel curbs imposed by other countries “unacceptable”, despite it continuing to largely block foreign tourists and international students from travelling to the country.
China’s Covid outbreak is forecast to worsen as it enters the Lunar New Year holiday this month, during which millions are expected to travel from hard-hit megacities to the countryside to visit vulnerable older relatives.
And Beijing has moved to curb criticism of its chaotic path out of zero-Covid, with its Twitter-like Weibo service saying it had recently banned 1,120 accounts for “offences against experts and scholars”.
– ‘We just walked out’ –
At Beijing airport Sunday, barriers that once kept international and domestic arrivals apart were gone, as were the “big whites” – staff in hazmat suits long a fixture of life in zero-Covid China.
One woman, there to greet a friend arriving from Hong Kong, said the first thing they’d do was grab a meal.
“It’s so great, we haven’t seen each other in so long,” Wu, 20, told AFP.
“They are studying over there, and we can meet each other directly in Beijing… It’s been a year,” she added.
At Shanghai airport, one man surnamed Yang who was arriving from the United States said he had not been aware that the rules had changed.
“I had no idea,” he told AFP.
“I’d consider myself extremely lucky if I only need to do quarantine for two days, turned out I don’t have to do quarantine at all, and no paperwork, we just walked out like that, exactly like in the past,” he added.
“I’m quite happy not needing to be in quarantine,” another woman being picked up by her boyfriend who declined to give her name told AFP.
“Who wants to be in quarantine? Nobody.”
– Hong Kong opens –
In China’s southern semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, visitors streamed across the border as travel restrictions with the Chinese mainland were eased.
READ ALSO: China Confirms First Human Case Of H3N8 Bird Flu
Hong Kong’s recession-hit economy is desperate to reconnect with its biggest source of growth, and families are looking forward to reunions over the Lunar New Year.
Official data showed some 410,000 people in Hong Kong planned to travel north in the next two month, while some 7,000 people in the mainland planned to travel south on Sunday.
At the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint near Shenzhen, a postgraduate student from mainland China surnamed Zeng told AFP they were happy to cross with no more restrictions.
“I am happy as long as I don’t have to be quarantined — it was so unbearable,” Zeng told AFP.
AFP
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Headline
Group Of Top Male Footballers ‘Planning To Come Out As Gay Next Month
Published
17 hours agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorA group of top male footballers ‘are planning to come out as gay on May 17.
German outlet Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung claims a group of professionals across the country will declare publicly their sexual orientation.
The date in question is of particular reference as it is the International Day Against Homophobia.
It is believed that all of the clubs the reported players are aware of the planned proposals.
READ ALSO: Saudi Arabia Opens First Alcohol Store, Nigerian Muslims React
However, Preussische Allgemeine Zeitung adds that some players still have reservations about revealing their homosexuality and could still make a U-turn in doing so.
Marcus Urban is a former footballer in Germany who came out as gay in 2007, 16 years after quitting the sport. Urban, now 52, is the co-founder of Diversero, a global community for diversity, and hopes next month’s plans do come to fruition.
‘I think they are respected and celebrated for that. Not by everyone, that’s clear. But hate speech cannot be a criterion for a life,
‘May 17 is an offer,’ he told the Editorial Network Germany (RND). ‘A date that you could use as a guide and get together as a group.
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‘There is controversy there. Do I still want to wait until the world of football becomes the way I want it to be? Why should I wait? An interesting dynamic has come into play, you can see that people’s minds are starting to move and are thinking about whether it really makes sense to continue to hide and deny themselves.
Urban went on to reveal that there are gay couples playing in the Bundesliga too – declaring it would be ‘liberating’ if they came out.
‘There are also gay Bundesliga couples who are in hiding,’ he continued.
‘That would be so liberating. What’s wrong with it.’
Headline
Saudi Arabia Opens First Alcohol Store, Nigerian Muslims React
Published
18 hours agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorNigerian Muslims have gone on X to express outrage after it was announced that Saudi Arabia has opened its first alcohol store in Riyadh.
Alcohol consumption is against the teachings of Islam and Saudi Arabia, a Muslim country, has always obeyed to this law by forbidding the operation of alcohol stores in the country.
However, for the first time, the country opened its first alcohol store in the diplomatic quarter of its capital Riyadh.
READ ALSO: UK Slams Fresh Sanctions On Iran After Israel Attack
After it was announced on X, Nigerian Muslims took to the platform to express their displeasure.
“Disgraceful,” one Nigerian Muslim wrote on X. “They’re slowly turning Saudi Arabia into Las Vegas and it’s making me mad. At the rate they’re going , very soon they’ll legalize prostitution and same sex marriage in our most sacred city.”
Nigerian Muslims read the riot act after Saudi Arabia opened its first alcohol store.
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Another said: “It’s baffling and disgusting to see that Saudi Arabia has opened the first alcohol store in Riyadh.
“I wonder why the current crown prince is going against the teachings of the holy prophet by accommodating western cultures in a country like Saudi Arabia where the two most holy mosque are situated.
“This is an insult to the religion of peace and the entire Muslim ummah. It’s disgraceful.”
Headline
VIDEO: Meet Nigerian Pastor Who Predicted World Will End April 25
Published
20 hours agoon
April 25, 2024By
EditorAn unidentified Nigerian pastor has stirred reactions on social media by following a prophetic revelation that the world would end on the 25th of April 2024.
In a video which has since gone viral, the pastor disclosed that God informed him of the end of the world during a prayer session.
The pastor emphasised that he clearly saw the date and that God mentioned it to him twice.
READ ALSO: UK Slams Fresh Sanctions On Iran After Israel Attack
He said, “By the 25th of April, the world is going to end. If you like take this serious, if you don’t like don’t take it serious.
“But this is real, rapture is coming, on the 25th of April 2024, I saw it very clear, do you understand? I saw the date very clear and the lord ministered to me. He mentioned it twice, it has happened twice.”
Watch video below:
VIDEO: Nigerian Pastor Claims World Will End April 25th
An unidentified Nigerian pastor has stirred reactions on social media by following a prophetic revelation that the world would end on the 25th of April 2024.
In a video which has since gone viral, the pastor disclosed… pic.twitter.com/9xFXAtVCNl
— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) April 25, 2024
Source: PUNCH
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