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Halloween revellers throng Shanghai, some wearing costumes seen as a protest to China policies

Halloween revellers throng Shanghai, some wearing costumes seen as a protest to China policies

HALLOWEEN revellers thronged central Shanghai late at night, with some dressed in costumes that poked fun at China's strict COVID-19 curbs in a rare showcase of free expression as police looked on. Celebrations in the Chinese financial hub began on the weekend, culminating on Tuesday in a large crowd of mostly young people that gathered around a popular bar area, according to onlookers and social media posts. While most attendees did not dress up and many of those who did wore outfits like monsters and superheroes, some attracted attention on social media for costumes such as blue and white hazmat…
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Seek post-COVID renewal, Holy Land archbishop urges on Easter Sunday

Seek post-COVID renewal, Holy Land archbishop urges on Easter Sunday

DAN WILLIAMS  WITH Jerusalem emerging from COVID-19 curbs and the faithful flocking there again, Easter Sunday brought a message of renewal from the traditional site of Jesus' death and resurrection. Deserted a year ago after the pandemic hit, the Church of the Holy Sephulchre was attended by dozens of clergymen and worshippers, a turnout enabled by an Israeli vaccination campaign - the fastest in the world - that has driven down infections. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, voiced hope in his homily for a post-coronavirus world of greater substance and spirituality. "(We are) tempted to run backward,…
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Spanish women fight for control of childbirth as COVID-19 curbs rights

Spanish women fight for control of childbirth as COVID-19 curbs rights

LAURA MANNERING AS she struggled through painful labour contractions, Spanish nurse Teresa pleaded with doctors not to perform a caesarean section on her. But offering no explanation, they did it anyway. Teresa, 40, who asked not to give her real name, found out later they had operated because she had COVID-19 - triggering a hospital protocol that said most women who had tested positive for the disease should have caesareans. Traumatised and suffering nightmares, Teresa has sought psychological help and feels unable to return to her job at the public hospital in northern Spain where she gave birth seven months…
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