Tag Archives: shuts
China shuts down 13 cities as virus toll climbs
Chinese authorities rapidly expanded a mammoth quarantine effort aimed at containing a deadly contagion on Friday to 13 cities and a staggering 41 million people, as nervous residents were checked for fevers and the death toll climbed to 26. While the World Health Organization (WHO) held off on declaring a global emergency despite confirmed cases in half a dozen other countries, China expanded its lockdown to cover an area with a total population greater than Canada’s. A range of Lunar New Year festivities have been cancelled, while temporary closures of Beijing’s Forbidden City, Shanghai’s Disneyland and a section of the Great Wall were announced to prevent the disease from spreading further.
Iraq Shuts Southern Oil Field on Concern Over Protesters’ Safety
(Bloomberg) — Iraq, OPEC’s second-biggest producer, halted output from a southern oil field as protesters walked close to installations, according to person with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter.Other southern fields will make up the amount from the shutdown, which won’t affect the country’s output. The halt is temporary until the Nasiriya field, which produces 80,000 to 85,000 barrels a day, is clear of protesters.The closure was a precautionary measure for the safety of the field as well as the nearby protesters, the person said.Protesters have rallied more than once over the past two months near the southern oil fields in Basra and other cities and near refineries, but output hasn’t previously been shut down.Around 500 people have died and more than 22,000 others wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters since Oct. 1. Iraqis, mostly from the Shiite majority population, are protesting against government corruption, poor services, and wide-ranging Iranian political influence, calling for an overhaul of the ruling class.To contact the reporter on this story: Khalid Al-Ansary in Baghdad at kalansary@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Davis at abdavis@bloomberg.net, Sara Marley, James AmottFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Iran shuts down internet again as government protests resume
Iran wants to make sure what happens in its country stays there.As Iranians prepared to launch another round of anti-government protests on Thursday, the government appeared to start shutting down internet and mobile service to seemingly block protesters' messages from reaching the rest of the world. Internet monitoring service NetBlocks reported an internet outage starting at 6:30 a.m., and Reuters reported it "appear[ed] to be spreading."Iranians gathered Thursday to continue protesting rising gas prices, which influence price hikes across the economy. They also commemorated the estimated 1,500 people who had been killed in previous protests against the government. Reuters recently made that estimate via government sources, and it's about five times as high as the toll Amnesty International has predicted. In at least one case, The New York Times' Farna Fassahi reported that a family mourning the death of protester Pouya Bakhtiari was blocked from visiting his grave, and that some of his family members were arrested.> IranProtests > Pouya Bakhtiari's grave is encircled by security forces. Entrance to cemetery blocked, family ordered out & several people arrested. Helicopters hover above. His parents are in jail. pic.twitter.com/cxd5MdeHq8> > — Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) December 26, 2019Reporter Yashar Ali, who has family in Iran, tweeted that he'd messaged several of his relatives to check in, but none of his messages were received. > Iranian authorities have shut down or slowed down internet/mobile services in certain parts of the country. > > None of the messages I've sent to relatives have gone through. > > I tried a younger relative who is always glued to their phone. Messages haven't been delivered. > > pic.twitter.com/aArT36gc6u> > — Yashar Ali (@yashar) December 26, 2019More stories from theweek.com The most consequential politician of the decade The future is so much more housebound than we expected 'Fairytale of New York': How a soused Irish punk band created the greatest Christmas song of all time