Protests Erupt Across China Over Draconian Covid Restrictions
De Wikifliping
Tens of thousands of people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Asia and Africa try to make their way into the European Union each year through perilous sea journeys, with most attempting to reach Greece or Italy.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - The confirmed number of dead from last week's shipwreck of an overloaded migrant smuggling boat in the western Aegean Sea has increased to 27 after another body was found on an island just east of Athens, Greek authorities said Wednesday.
It marks a sharp turn in public opinion. Early in the pandemic, China's approach to controlling the spread of Covid was praised by its own citizens - even as Beijing tried to dismiss widely held suspicions that the pandemic started after a leak at a Wuhan laboratory.
The government said taxi, railway, bus and other public services that had been suspended for weeks would resume. State-owned China Southern Airlines announced it would resume flights from Urumqi to four Chinese cities starting Monday.
Footage posted online showed hundreds of demonstrators confronting riot police on the streets of Urumqi, where many of the four million residents have been barred from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days.
A fee of 35p applies whenever a payment is made into the central pot. With KiTTi you do not need to be a Santander customer. A fee of 35p is also charged if you make ATM withdrawals - £1.50 if abroad, a consideration for those planning a stag or hen weekend overseas.
One of the lines is: 'Rise up, those who refuse to be slaves.' Other videos showed demonstrators in a plaza singing China's national anthem, seen as an attempt to protect themselves from accusations of being against the government.
In Shanghai, protesters gathered at Middle Urumqi Road at midnight with flowers, candles and signs reading 'Urumqi, November 24, those who died rest in peace,' according to a participant who would give only his family name, Zhao.
The service tries to add fun to the process so friends (who can set up groups along the lines of WhatsApp) can send payment requests through the FREE NOW VOLOS app with a personalised message - with the use of emoticons encouraged.
A default card will be charged when you spend unless you select a different one. You can also use an iPad (Pro, Air2 or Mini 3 onwards) for shopping online - but without the restrictions of a contactless spending limit. Most leading banks are signed up to Apple Pay - apart from Barclays although it will join the scheme next year.
To avoid excluding certain groups, parents can still take part in the cashless system even if they prefer to use cash. They do this by going to one of 28,000 PayPoint stores around the country and VOLOS LARISSA TAXI pay cash to top up their account on the ParentPay system.
Melanie also links her card to the account she holds with cashback website Quidco so that every time she spends in certain stores, such as Debenhams or JD Sports, she can earn a cashback - and this eventually ends up in her account without her seeing notes or coins.
Meanwhile last night hundreds gathered to mourn the deaths of at least 10 people in an apartment fire last week in Urumqi in the Xinjiang region, where residents were sealed in their buildings to try to stop the spread of COVID.
One person is in charge of a KiTTi account and has a prepaid MasterCard linked to it which is used whenever a payment needs to be made by the group. KiTTi focuses on groups wanting to save up for UBER VOLOS a joint purchase, such as a group holiday or night out.
Telecoms watchdog Ofcom says smartphones have overtaken laptops as the most popular device for getting online so technical whizzkids are developing ways for VOLOS SERRES TAXI shoppers to use them for banking and shopping on the move.
You wave the phone at a payment terminal bearing an Apple Pay logo. The process takes a bit longer than a contactless card payment because for added security, it also scans your fingerprint. It is a ‘digital wallet' that lets you shop with an Apple phone in a similar way to using a contactless card.
Mandy also likes the fact she can keep an eye on what the children are buying.
She says: ‘For how to get to Pelion example, I saw that Miles had three breakfasts in one week. But he is a teenager and cycles to school so he needs the extra calories.'
One of the biggest schemes is Paym, Pelion taxi service which since launch in April last year has seen three million people register their mobile number with one of the 17 banks and VOLOS NAFPLION TAXI building societies signed up to the system with £75million sent.
President Xi Jinping´s government faces mounting anger at its 'zero-COVID' policy that has shut down access to areas throughout China in an attempt to isolate every case at a time when other governments are easing controls and trying to live with the virus.
This allows shoppers to top up online or through an app on their smartphone. They then make payments by waving a special wristband - or a key fob or sticker - at the contactless card reader. Customers - who don't have to be with Barclays - set up a prepaid account linked to their Visa or MasterCard.
