World

Schoolchildren in Shanghai will gradually resume some in-person classes in June with daily Covid-19 tests, the local government said Thursday, as the Chinese metropolis gradually emerges from a lengthy lockdown that brought it to a standstill.

The country has been fighting its worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic, with the epicentre Shanghai banning its 25 million residents from leaving their homes for weeks.

Some of the city’s restrictions have recently eased as cases dwindle, though much of the population is still not allowed to venture outside for more than a few hours a day at most.

Children attending the last two years of high school — who must prepare for the all-important college entrance examinations — will return to schools across the city on June 6, Shanghai education official Yang Zhenfeng said at a press conference on Thursday.

They will be joined a week later by students in the final grade of middle school, while all other students are to remain at home attending online classes, Yang said.

“We will ensure that students get swabbed on campus after school every day,” with results from their PCR tests available by the next morning, Yang said.

Shanghai’s lockdown has taken a heavy toll on business and morale in the economic and cultural hub, pushing city authorities to allow some factories and public transport lines to resume operation in a patchy reopening.

China is hewing to a zero-Covid policy with mass lockdowns, routine tests and movement restrictions whenever infection clusters emerge — the last major economy to do so in a world now living with the coronavirus.

Beijing’s strict approach has been severely challenged by the rise of the Omicron variant, which has caused hundreds of thousands of infections in China this year.

Authorities have turned their attention to the low vaccination rate among China’s elderly population, long a weak point in the country’s defense against the virus.

Officials have ramped up incentives for older people to get jabbed, including one neighbourhood near Beijing’s Temple of Heaven which is dangling as much as 1000 yuan ($149) in gift cards for residents over 80 who get their first shot.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed Thursday that Vladimir Putin will neither win the Ukraine war nor dictate the terms for peace, as Russian troops made fresh attempts to take a key eastern city.

Ukrainian officials said Russian forces had tried to storm the besieged industrial hub of Severodonetsk and nearby Lysychansk, the focal point of Moscow’s renewed offensive in the Donbas region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the West to offer help “without limits”, specifically heavy weaponry for his outgunned troops, and blasted suggestions a negotiated peace could include territorial concessions.

European powerhouse Germany has faced frequent Ukrainian criticism for not doing enough to help, but Scholz underscored the “resolve and strength” of Berlin and Western allies.

“Our goal is crystal clear — Putin must not win this war. And I am convinced that he will not win it,” the German chancellor told the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Putin has “already failed in all his strategic aims” and Russia’s plan to capture all of Ukraine is “further away today than it was at the beginning” of its invasion on February 24.

“It is a matter of making it clear to Putin that there will be no dictated peace,” said Scholz. “Ukraine will not accept that and neither will we.”

– ‘I am not scared’ –

Since failing in its early objective of capturing Ukraine’s capital, Moscow’s army has plotted a slow but steady course deeper into the country’s eastern Donbas region.

Fierce fighting is now centred on Severodonetsk, as Ukrainian forces try to stop Russian troops encircling the city and cutting off the lone road in.

Ukraine’s presidency said in a morning update that “Russian troops tried to storm Severodonetsk and Lysychansk”, with three people killed in Lysychansk.

“It is clear that slowly, slowly, our guys (Ukrainian soldiers) are simply retreating to more fortified positions,” Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said on Telegram Thursday.

“It’s very hard for the guys. Extremely hard. But they are holding on”. 

In the eastern front city of Kramatorsk, children are roaming the rubble as the sound of shellfire booms.

“That was a 22 (122-mm artillery),” said Yevgen, a sombre-looking 13-year-old who moved to Kramatorsk with his mother from the ruins of his village Galyna. 

“I am not scared,” he declared as he sat alone on a slab of a destroyed apartment block. “I got used to the shelling in Galyna.”

Four civilians were killed in shelling in the Donetsk region around Kramatorsk, while two were killed in Kharkiv region in the northeast, the Ukrainian presidency said.

– ‘Without limits’ –

As the fighting raged, Zelensky called out the international community for paying too much attention to Moscow’s interests. 

He took specific aim at former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the New York Times for suggesting territorial sacrifices might be necessary to end the conflict.

Kissinger, the 98-year-old champion of realpolitik, this week told Davos that a return to the “status quo” before Russia’s invasion would could prevent a broader war.

Russia formally annexed Crimea in 2014, while separatist groups aligned with Moscow have controlled parts of Donbas, which comprises Donetsk and Lugansk regions, since the same time.

But Zelensky ruled out any such concessions and urged the West to add to the billions of dollars of weapons it has already poured into Ukraine.

“We need the help of our partners — above all, weapons for Ukraine. Full help, without exceptions, without limits, enough to win,” Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had earlier told Davos that his country “badly” needs multiple-launch rocket systems to match Russian firepower.

Kyiv has also been pushing for a full energy embargo on Russia in addition to the sweeping economic sanctions already imposed on Moscow since the invasion.

– ‘Show me one Nazi!’ –

Russia’s central bank cut its key interest rate Thursday to 11 percent from 14 percent following an emergency meeting, as authorities sought to rein in the ruble which has surged in value despite the conflict in Ukraine.

Moscow slapped strict capital controls to boost the economy after the imposition of the sanctions and since then the ruble has staged a spectacular rebound — but Russia fears a strong ruble can hit budget revenues and exporters. 

Russia has meanwhile called on the West to lift the sanctions in exchange for freeing up grain exports, with fears mounting of a global food crisis, particularly in Africa.

The Kremlin is also seeking to tighten its grip over the parts of Ukraine it occupies, including fast-tracking citizenship for residents of two southern regions that are mostly under Russian control.

The United States branded the plan an “attempt to subjugate the people of Ukraine”.

Even in areas where Ukraine has pushed back Russian forces, such as around the second city of Kharkiv, the shells continue to fall. 

Russia’s rationale of a “special military operation” to “demilitarise and de-Nazify” Ukraine draws a snort of derision in one village near Kharkiv.

“Show me one Nazi in the village! We have our nation, we are nationalists but not Nazis nor fascists,” says retired nurse Larysa Kosynets.

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Eleven newborn babies perished in a hospital blaze in the western Senegalese city of Tivaouane late on Wednesday, president Macky Sall said. 

“I have just learned with pain and dismay about the deaths of 11 newborn babies in the fire at the neonatal department of the public hospital,” Sall wrote on Twitter just before midnight (0000 GMT). 

“To their mothers and their families, I express my deepest sympathy,” he tweeted.

The tragedy occurred at Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital in the transport hub of Tivaouane, and was caused by “a short circuit”, health minister Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr was quoted in media reports as saying.

The maternity unit was equipped to take care of 13 babies. 

“At the time of the fire, there were 11, whom nurses were unable to save,” the minister said.

But according to the city’s mayor, Demba Diop, “three babies were saved”.

“My son was christened yesterday. He was only nine days old. The maternity ward was full and I don’t think there are any survivors,” one unidentified mother told the news website, Dakaractu. 

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that he was “beyond heartbroken with this tragic news.

“I’m sending my deepest condolences to the parents and families of the babies who lost their lives.” 

“It is with horror and great pain that I learned of the death of 11 newborn babies at Tivaouane hospital. Let us pray for these innocent people who have disappeared. My deepest condolences to the bereaved parents,” said former prime minister Abdoul Mbaye.

– Newly inaugurated –

According to local media, the Mame Abdou Aziz Sy Dabakh Hospital was newly inaugurated.

Health minister Sarr, who had been in Geneva attending a meeting with the World Health Organization, said “an investigation is under way to see what happened”.

The tragedy in Tivaouane comes after several other incidents at public health facilities in Senegal, where there is great disparity between urban and rural areas in healthcare services. 

In the northern town of Linguere in late April, a fire broke out at a hospital and four newborn babies were killed. The town’s mayor cited an electrical malfunction in an air conditioning unit in the maternity ward.

The accident on Wednesday comes over a month after the nation mourned the death of a pregnant woman who waited in vain for a Caesarean section.

The woman, named Astou Sokhna, had arrived at a hospital in the northern city of Louga in pain. The staff had refused to accommodate her request for a C-section, saying that it was not scheduled. 

She died April 1, 20 hours after arrival.

Sokhna’s death caused a wave of outrage across the country over the dire state of Senegal’s public health system, and health minister Sarr acknowledged two weeks later that the death could have been avoided. 

Three midwives — on duty the night Sokhna died — were sentenced on May 11 by the High Court of Louga to six months of suspended imprisonment for “failure to assist a person in danger” in connection to her case. 

Amnesty International’s Senegal director Seydi Gassama said his organisation had called for an inspection and upgrade for neonatology services in hospitals across Senegal after the “atrocious” death of the four babies in Linguere.

With the new tragedy, Amnesty “urges the government to set up an independent commission of inquiry to determine responsibility and punish the culprits, no matter the level they are at in the state apparatus”, he tweeted. 

Opposition lawmaker Mamadou Lamine Diallo also responded with outrage to the Tivaouane blaze. 

“More babies burned in a public hospital… this is unacceptable @MackySall,” he said. 

“We suffer with the families to whom we offer our condolences. Enough is enough.”

Ukraine’s foreign minister, lawmakers and mayors made long journeys by car, train and plane to the Swiss Alps to convince global elites to send more help to repel Russian invaders.

As the four-day World Economic Forum in Davos wrapped up on Thursday, they were returning home without the heavy weapons they desperately want or the new sanctions they demand against Moscow.

But while major announcements were not expected in Davos, the summit gave the Ukrainians a chance to press the world’s political and business leaders face-to-face for urgent help after three months of fighting.

Ivan Fedorov, the mayor of the southeastern city of Melitopol, drove from Zaporizhzhia to Warsaw, then by plane to Zurich, and again by car from Zurich to Davos — a two-day trek.

“It’s very important for us (to come to Davos) because for a long time Russian propaganda and diplomacy worked very well,” Fedorov told AFP.

“Civilised countries must be united with Ukraine… not with their words but with their deeds,” said Fedorov, who was held for several days by Russian forces in March.

President Volodymyr Zelensky led the pleas in a headline speech via videolink at the start of the confab, while the Ukrainian delegation included the star power of Kyiv mayor, Vitali Klitschko, and his brother Wladimir, the former heavyweight boxers.

“Usually, Davos is considered a place where people only talk, but we took the opportunity to also discuss and agree on some issues with our counterparts,” said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who travelled by train, car and plane.

– ‘Russian War Crimes House’ –

The gathering was also a chance for Ukraine to push its case to gain candidate status to join the European Union.

Ukrainian officials and lawmakers took the opportunity to meet corporate chief executives as Kyiv seeks help to rebuild the country.

Another major concern raised in Davos was the Russian blockade preventing Ukraine, once the world’s breadbasket, from exporting its wheat to countries that depend on it.

Kuleba said Ukraine was in talks with the United Nations on the idea of opening a safe passage for ships out of the port of Odessa, which would require de-mining the harbour and getting security guarantees from Moscow.

But the main refrain in Davos was Kyiv’s more immediate need for military help to defeat a better-armed Russia. 

To press their case, they reminded the world of the atrocities of conflict.

With Russians banned from attending this year’s meeting, Ukraine took over Moscow’s usual residence in Davos, turning the “Russia House” into the “Russian War Crimes House” and covering its walls with images of dead bodies.

Zelensky used Davos to urge the West to show more unity with Ukraine, singling out Hungary for holding up an EU embargo on Russian oil, while Kuleba lamented that some are “dragging their feet” on providing heavy weapons.

Washington and European countries have poured billions of dollars’ worth of arms into Ukraine, but Kuleba appealed for multiple-launch rocket systems to match Russian firepower.

– ‘Full-court press’ –

The Ukrainians also made it clear that the endgame of the war should be defeating Russia, not ceding territory as former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger suggested in a video appearance at the WEF.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who addressed the forum on its last day, said Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be allowed to dictate peace in Ukraine.

“Our goal is crystal clear — Putin must not win this war. And I am convinced that he will not win it,” Scholz said.

Scholz, however, did not directly address Ukrainian criticism that Berlin was not moving fast enough in supplying tanks and armoured vehicles. 

Alexander Stubb, the former prime minister of Finland, said he had advised Ukrainian delegates that they should use Davos as a “communication exercise”.

“The West is strongly on their side, but there’s always the risk of war fatigue,” Stubb told AFP, adding that the Ukrainians should use a “full-court press”.

“I do think Davos is the right place to communicate,” said Stubb, now the director of the School of Transnational Governance at the European University Institute.

The lobbying may have worked, with Kuleba saying that “some weapons that we discussed here… will be on their way pretty soon.”

He conceded, however, that he “will arrive in Kyiv before new weapons arrive or new sanctions are introduced”.

“But this is the political process,” he said. “It takes time.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will call for China to abide by international rules as he delivers a major speech Thursday on America’s relationship with its rival.

Days after President Joe Biden visited Japan and South Korea to shore up key alliances, Blinken will give a long-awaited speech billed as the most comprehensive statement by the administration yet on China.

In a contrast with the abrasive approach of Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump, Blinken will steer clear of talk of a sweeping global conflict and will not ask nations to shun China, officials said.

“This is not about a new Cold War. This is not about dividing the world into rigid ideological blocs,” a senior official said as he previewed the speech.

“It is not about containing or keeping down any power. It is about upholding and, just as importantly, revitalizing the international order in a way that protects core principles that have enabled peace and prosperity for decades — and, indeed, enabled China’s remarkable rise.”

The White House had long mulled whether Biden should deliver the speech but finally decided it would be given by Blinken, part of the administration’s attempt to compete with China but also lower the temperature.

Blinken had been set to deliver the speech, to take place at George Washington University with the Asia Society as host, in early May but postponed it after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

– Shifting focus from Russia –

Blinken’s speech, Biden’s trip and a first-of-a-kind summit in Washington in early May with Southeast Asian leaders have aimed to show that the United States is still focused on Asia — identified from the start of the administration as a priority — despite months of effort to confront Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin presents an “acute, immediate threat” to the international order and that countering him reinforces the message on upholding rules, the official said on customary condition of anonymity.

“China is the one country that has the intention, as well as the economic, technological, military and diplomatic means, to advance a different vision of international order,” the official said.

The Biden administration has repeatedly spoken of pressing China to abide by established rules, including in its conflicts in the dispute-ridden South China Sea and on trade, in which the United States accuses Beijing of widespread theft.

Biden has been seeking to unite allies in the face of China’s rise, unveiling in Tokyo the Asia Pacific Economic Framework billed as coordinating trade policies around the region.

The Biden administration has similarly launched a forum with the European Union to develop technological standards, hoping to prevent China from dominating the 21st century through its rapid gains in artificial intelligence.

Blinken will also voice support for working with China in limited areas where cooperation is seen as feasible, such as on climate change, after diplomacy between the world’s two largest emitters ahead of last year’s Glasgow summit.

But officials said Blinken would not shy away from human rights and would reiterate the US view that Beijing is carrying out genocide against the mostly Muslim Uyghur minority through the mass incarceration of more than one million people.

The speech comes days after Biden made waves at a Tokyo news conference by saying the United States would militarily defend Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by Beijing.

Officials said Blinken would repeat Biden’s later insistence that he was not deviating from longstanding US policy on Taiwan.

The United States switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. It provides Taiwan weapons for self-defense, all while staying deliberately ambiguous on whether it would intervene militarily in an invasion.