China

Understaffed and underfunded clinics stand half-empty in parts of the Chinese countryside even as hospitals in major cities heave under an unprecedented Covid wave -- an illustration of the stark disparities in the country's healthcare system.

Wall Street was set to tap the brakes on Thursday as upbeat jobs data after a firm message from the Fed that it won't be cutting interest rates any time soon offset China's latest reopening plans.

Japan will toughen its COVID-19 border control measures for travellers from China from Sunday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said, in response to a surge of infections.

A growing number of countries are worried about a lack of data and transparency surrounding China's outbreak.

China called the mounting international restrictions on travellers from its territory "unacceptable" on Tuesday after more than a dozen countries placed fresh Covid curbs on visitors from the world's most populous nation.

Oil prices edged lower on Tuesday in volatile trade as weak demand data from China and a gloomy economic outlook weighed.

In rules that come into effect on January 5, all travellers to the UK from China must submit a negative test before boarding.

Thousands of Chinese took to the streets to mark the New Year as authorities and state media sought to reassure the public that the COVID-19 outbreak sweeping across the country was under control and nearing its peak.

China said on Friday all the Covid-19 data it has shared -- including with the World Health Organization -- has been transparent, despite its hospitals being overwhelmed and its official figures on infections and deaths being tiny compared with other countries.

An explosion of Covid-19 cases in China as the country lifts its zero-Covid measures could create a "potential breeding ground" for new variants to emerge, health experts warn.

Italy on Thursday urged the rest of the European Union to follow its lead and test travellers from China for COVID, but others said they saw no need to do so for now or were waiting for a common stance across the largely border-less bloc.

Beginning on Jan. 5, all air passengers 2 years old and older will require a negative result from a test no more than two days before departure from China, Hong Kong or Macao.

Wall Street's main indexes ended weaker on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq hitting a 2022 closing low, as investors grappled with mixed economic data, rising COVID cases in China, and geopolitical tensions heading into 2023.

Doctors working despite being infected, beds filled with dozens of elderly straining to breathe -- on the front lines of China's worst-ever Covid outbreak, hospitals are struggling.

Beijing's sudden pivot away from containing Covid-19 has caused jitters around the world, with the United States saying it may restrict travel from China following its decision to end mandatory quarantine for overseas arrivals.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday as concerns about an upsurge in COVID-19 cases in China, the world's top oil importer, outweighed expectations easing pandemic restrictions would lead to economic recovery and growth in demand for fuel.

The app is considered "high risk due to a number of security issues," the House's Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said.

European shares climbed on Tuesday, tracking a global rally in equities after China further relaxed its COVID-19 curbs, raising hopes of a recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

Taiwan is expected to announce on Tuesday an extension in mandatory military service from four months to one year, citing the threat from an increasingly hostile China, local media reported.

Chinese people, cut off from the rest of the world for three years by stringent COVID-19 curbs, flocked to travel sites on Tuesday ahead of borders reopening next month, even as rising infections strained the health system and roiled the economy.

European and Asian markets advanced on Tuesday after China said it would end quarantines for overseas arrivals, spurring hopes for the revival of the world's second-largest economy.

In more than three decades of emergency medicine, Beijing-based doctor Howard Bernstein said, he has never seen anything like this.

Beijing last week admitted the scale of the outbreak has become "impossible" to track following the end of mandatory mass testing.

Millions of elderly people across China are still not fully vaccinated, raising concerns that the virus may kill the most vulnerable citizens in huge numbers.

A famous Chinese singer deliberately infected herself with Covid-19.

Beijing faces a surge in severe COVID-19 cases over the next two weeks, a respiratory expert said, amid global concerns over possible mutations and knock-on effects for the world economy after the surprise ditching of China's tough virus policies.

The United States hopes that China can address the current COVID-19 outbreak as the toll of the virus is a global concern due to the size of the Chinese economy, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday.

Oil prices reclaimed ground on Monday after tumbling more than $2 a barrel in the previous session as optimism from China's reopening and oil demand recovery outweighed concerns of a global recession.

Britain's top diplomat said London's response demonstrated its "adherence to the rule of law" as well as "the seriousness with which we take these incidents".

An 18-year-old from Hong Kong has been sentenced to three years in detention for making fun of the national flag.