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Beijing Urges End to Foreign Deliveries over Covid

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Beijing city officials are recommending people stop ordering items to be delivered from overseas, after saying a local woman may have been infected by Omicron after opening a parcel.

They repeated the theory that COVID-19 could be spread internationally on imports of frozen food, something many scientists have questioned.

Officials said the woman who tested positive had no history of travel.

They added they found traces of the virus on a package she received.

The infection comes less than three weeks before Beijing is set to host the Winter Olympics.

Yesterday, China announced that it would not be selling tickets to members of the public for the Games.

As part of virus control measures, only people invited will be allowed to attend. It is not yet clear how they will be selected or whether they will have to quarantine.

The case is, so far, the only one here to have been recorded with the highly contagious variant of Covid-19, the BBC’s Stephen McDonell reports from the Chinese capital.

Health official Pang Xinghuo told reporters yesterday the virus had been found on the surface of a letter the infected person had received from Canada, as well as inside the unopened letter, the AFP news agency reports.

Dozens of letters from the same batch were tested, and five showed positive traces of COVID-19, Ms Pang said, including samples from inside unopened letters.

Beijing’s Centre for Disease Control said the possibility that the woman was infected by a parcel from another country could not be ruled out.

If deliveries from abroad are opened, it has been suggested that this should be done outside, with the opener wearing gloves and disposing of the packaging.

What Beijing calls its “dynamic zero Covid” strategy combines mass vaccination with a regime of constant testing, nationwide monitoring of people’s movements, temperature-taking and phone apps to prove you don’t pose a threat, says the BBC’s Robin Brant.

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Israel Sends Two Planes to Evacuate Fans after Amsterdam Violence

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Israel has sent two planes to evacuate fans from Amsterdam after violent clashes between Israeli supporter and pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the fringes of Ajax  versus Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa Cup match.

“The Prime Minister has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist our citizens,.

“The harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked’’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office posted on X on Friday morning.

The Israeli leader’s office called the incident horrifying and demanded that the Dutch government and security forces take vigorous and swift action against the rioters, and ensure the safety of our citizens.

This clash was however unclear and yet to be unfolded.

The exact events remain unclear. The violent disturbances occurred around the Europa League football match between Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday evening. Ajax won 5-0.

There were clashes in several locations in the centre of the Dutch capital; though it was not specified which side started the violence.

Around 60 people were detained temporarily on Thursday evening, the police said.

Amsterdam TV station AT5 reported that demonstrators threw chairs at Maccabi fans.

The police’s mobile units reportedly shielded the Israelis and escorted them to their hotels.

There were also clashes in the afternoon between Israeli football fans and security forces in the city centre.

According to police, about a dozen people were arrested for disturbing public order and illegal possession of fireworks.

Even before the match, there were isolated altercations near the stadium in the south-east of the city, the police said.

More than 200 demonstrators attempted to reach the venue, according to the police.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof condemned these “unacceptable antisemitic attacks on Israelis’’ on X and said he had since spoken with Netanyahu.

Far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders called it a pogrom.

“We have become the Gaza of Europe,’’ he said, adding that Muslims with Palestinian flags were hunting down Jews.

Israel’s UN ambassador also referred to the incident on X as a pogrom.

Steffen Seibert, Germany’s ambassador to Israel condemned the incident.

“Chasing and beating up Israeli soccer fans is not anti-war protest.

“It is criminal and intolerable and we must all stand against it. As a European I am ashamed to see such scenes in one of our great cities,’’ he wrote on X.

However the Reaction from the United States (U.S.).

In New York, Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), described itself as the world’s largest anti-hate organisation.

He demanded that the Dutch government ensure the safety of Israeli fans, apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators and apologise for the violence.

“This is exactly what ‘globalise the intifada’ looks like,’’ Greenblatt wrote on X, saying there were mobs of hate-filled people who had attacked Israelis who came to Amsterdam to enjoy a football game.

Even New York Attorney General Letitia James chimed in on X, calling the attacks against Jews in Amsterdam “deeply disturbing and horrifying.’’

New York State, particularly metropolitan New York City, has a large Jewish population.

“We must do everything in our power to protect Jews in America and across the world.

“This anti-Semitism and violence must end now,’’ she wrote. (dpa/NAN)

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Several Israelis Injured, Missing after Violent Clashes in Amsterdam

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Three Israelis are missing following clashes between Israeli football fans and pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the fringes of football club Maccabi Tel Aviv’s match in Amsterdam, according to Israeli authorities.

Ten people were injured in the violence, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Friday morning.

The degree of their injuries was initially unclear.

The ministry urged its citizens to use public transport to travel to the airport, after Israel had announced it was sending two planes to evacuate the fans.

Local security forces had been deployed, the ministry said.

The ministry had initially advised fans not to leave their hotels.

It also advised its citizens not to wear Jewish or Israeli symbols in public.

(dpa/NAN)

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German, French Defence Ministers to Hold Talks Amid Trump Win

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German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is to travel to France for talks with his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu on Wednesday evening, following Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.

The talks are expected to focus on the consequences of Trump’s victory.

In particular for the future support for Ukraine, which has been fighting for more than two and a half years against Russia, as well as for European defence policy?

Washington has been a central provider of military support to Ukraine, which Trump has long criticized.

During his election campaign, Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine in a very short time and has held Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky jointly responsible for the war.

(dpa/NAN)

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