Trending in China: Anxious parents check on children in school | South China Morning Post
Parents at a school were seen climbing onto a fence to check on their children on the first day of class. That, and more trending videos from China this week.
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Relaunch of quarantine-free ‘Return2HK’ scheme for Hongkongers arriving from mainland China, Macau | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has announced the resumption of the city’s quarantine-free “Return2HK” scheme. Hong Kong residents who have a negative Covid-19 test at least 72 hours before arrival will be able to return home from mainland China and Macau, without being quarantined, from Septemb…
Curtains divide female, male students as Afghan universities reopen under Taliban rule | South China Morning Post
As the new school year begins under the Taliban’s rule, many female and male students in Afghanistan are separated from each other by curtains or boards in class. The hard-line Islamist group has announced a series of strict classroom measures at private colleges. Many universities in Kabul were empty on the first d…
Afghan student in Hong Kong fears for family caught up in ‘heartbreaking’ crisis back home | South China Morning Post
Afghan nationals living abroad have been closely following developments in the country as the Taliban consolidates power after the final US withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 30, 2021. Among them is Hong Kong-based Sitara, who’s a member of the Hazara minority in Ghazni province and studying in the city since 201…
Anxious parents in China climb fence to check on children in school | South China Morning Post
Parents at a school in Beijing, China, were seen climbing onto a fence to check on their children on the first day of class.
Mongolian students return to school after a year of remote learning because of Covid-19 | South China Morning Post
Mongolian pupils returned to class for the first time on September 1, 2021, after a year of mostly online remote learning. Forced to set up virtual classrooms in early 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic started, most schools struggled in Mongolia, where access to the internet and computer hardware is patchy. As the new…
India reaches vaccination milestone as Covid-19 fight picks up pace in rural areas | South China Morning Post
India is ramping up its vaccination drive to stave off a third wave of infections, after managing to get at least a first dose of Covid-19 shots to over half of the nation’s eligible population. Indian officials said about 500 million people had received at least one jab as of August 26, 2021. Nationwide, the number…
Xi Jinping Thought to be introduced in China’s classrooms | South China Morning Post
China’s schoolchildren starting the new school year on September 1, 2021, will be using updated textbooks containing Xi Jinping Thought. As part of an ongoing party campaign to extend President Xi Jinping’s influence and reinforce national patriotism, his political ideology is being introduced in the national curric…
COVID Concerns Lead Thousands of Zimbabwean Teachers Refusing to Return to School
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· Columbus Mavhunga
Single father in China drives taxi with daughter in backseat | South China Morning Post
A single father in China’s Shenzhen takes his four-year-old daughter with him as he earns a living as a taxi driver. The man, surnamed Wang, was diagnosed with polio when he was a child. He now drives 14 hours a day, earning 200 yuan (US$30) on average. His daughter has not yet attended school, as he cannot afford k…
South African University Embraces Virtual Reality for Distance Learning
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· Linda Givetash, Zaheer Cassim
Afghanistan’s renowned female robotics team arrives in Mexico after fleeing Taliban rule | South China Morning Post
Five members of a female Afghan robotics team arrived in Mexico on August 24, 2021, to apply for humanitarian protection after fleeing Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The hardline group banned girls from education and women from the workplace, during its initial rule in the late 1990s. Although the Taliban has vowed to…
Somalia Reopens Schools Despite Continued COVID Threat
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· Mohamed Sheikh Nor
China administers nearly 2 billion Covid-19 vaccine doses as Delta variant appears under control | South China Morning Post
According to China’s National Health Commission, more than 1.94 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered as of August 22, 2021. The country has reported no local infections for the first time since the start of the latest outbreak in mid-July, sparked by the Delta variant in multiple provinces. Wi…
Reviving a remote Hong Kong village through growing coffee | South China Morning Post
The remote Hong Kong village of Lai Chi Wo was the traditional home of the Hakka people for centuries. Located in the northeastern valley of the New Territories, the village has been deserted for decades after most of the local residents moved to the city or abroad for work. In a bid to revive the village, a group o…
Malala voices fear for ‘Afghan sisters’ as women and girls face uncertainty under Taliban rule | South China Morning Post
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has expressed concern for her “Afghan sisters” after Taliban militants took control of Afghanistan. She survived being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012 for defying the militant group’s ban on girls attending school in the Swat district of her native Pakistan. S…
Will COVID Delta Variant Change Back-To-School Policies in US?
No media source currently available
· Daria Dieguts
New Zealand implements national lockdown over one Covid-19 case | South China Morning Post
New Zealand entered a national lockdown on August 18, 2021, after a man in Auckland tested positive for Covid-19. It was the country’s first new case in six months. Schools, offices and all businesses other than essential services are shut across the country for an initial period of three days, while Auckland itself…
Taliban declares ‘amnesty’ after seizing Afghanistan, says women are welcome to work and study | South China Morning Post
In a TV interview on August 17, 2021, the Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and said the group is ready to provide women with an environment in which they can work and study. The statement stood in contrast to the Taliban movement's rule from 1996 to 2001, when women were deprived of many basic rights…
Haiti earthquake death toll nears 1,300 as rescuers search for survivors ahead of tropical storm | South China Morning Post
The number of confirmed deaths from a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Haiti on August 14, 2021, has soared to at least 1,297. More than 5,700 other people are now known to have been injured by the tremor that crumbled homes and schools. With hundreds of people feared trapped under the rubble, rescue crews ar…
Chinese man becomes internet star for impressive tricking skills | South China Morning Post
A 22-year-old from China's Henan province can do a double flip while holding both of his legs. With a martial arts background, Tian Xinxin started practising tricking skills 3 years ago. He also worked as a television stuntman for a year and now runs a school that trains students in the art of tricking.
Indonesian city turns household trash into a cheerful Covid-19 robot helper | South China Morning Post
The Indonesian city of Surabaya has a new volunteer on the streets to help with the Covid-19 pandemic – a robotic helper made from discarded household appliances. The “Delta Robot” was the brainchild of a local official and university professors, who envisioned it as a way to entertain residents of Tembok Gede, a su…
Hong Kong’s largest teachers’ union to disband after pressure from pro-establishment media | South China Morning Post
The Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union has announced it is disbanding after pro-establishment and state-owned media accused the group of “hijacking the education sector”. Hong Kong’s biggest teachers’ union was founded in 1974 and currently has 95,000 members. One day after the organisation announced its decisio…
Taliban seizes Kunduz, 4 other provincial capitals as fighting escalates with Afghan forces | South China Morning Post
Taliban fighters have seized five provincial capitals, including the key city of Kunduz, as of August 6, 2021. Afghan forces have vowed to retake the fallen cities, which include Zaranj, Sheberghan, Taloqan and Sar-e-Pul. Government forces have countered with help from US air strikes, but one operation ended hitting…
Man with India’s ‘longest tongue’ wants a taste of Guinness World Record fame | South China Morning Post
A 20-year-old student from India’s Tamil Nadu state has set the national record for the longest tongue. The Indian Book of Records now lists K Praveen’s tongue as measuring 10.8cm (4.25 inches). He hopes to break the Guinness World Record and take the “world’s longest tongue” title from Nick “the lick” Stoeberl from…
Crackdown on private tutoring leaves industry, students and parents drawing a blank | South China Morning Post
Tutors, parents and students are bearing the brunt of China’s crackdown on private tutoring that put the brakes on a once-bustling industry offering off-campus classes. On July 24, 2021, China’s State Council announced a new set of guidelines meant to “ease the burden of young students” as they go through mandatory …
Why Afghanistan matters to China as US withdraws from war-torn country | South China Morning Post
China is strategically positioning itself in Afghanistan as the US withdraws from the war-torn country, but Beijing’s moves do not come without risks, according to Michael Kugelman with the Washington-based think tank Wilson Centre. The deputy director for the centre’s Asia programme and its senior associate for Sou…
Maryland Promises Full Scholarship to Teenagers Who Get Vaccinated
No media source currently available
· Maxim Moskalkov
Pop star Kris Wu detained by police in China over rape allegations | South China Morning Post
Chinese-born Canadian pop star Kris Wu was detained by police in Beijing on July 31, 2021, a few weeks after student Du Meizhu said he got her drunk to lure her into having sex when she was 17. More than 20 women have since come forward to also accuse Wu of inappropriate behaviour. Wu has denied all allegations and …
China keen to position itself for influence in a post-US Afghanistan | South China Morning Post
China has been closely watching the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and is positioning itself to exert influence in the war-torn nation according to foreign policy experts. Beijing has pledged support for the Taliban to play a role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, but also demanded that the insurgent group cut ties w…
‘Amazing journey’ for Olympic swimmers Siobhan Haughey, Maggie MacNeil, says coach | South China Morning Post
On the final day of the swimming competition in Tokyo 2020, coach Rick Bishop says he could not be more proud of Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey and Canada’s Maggie MacNeil, who he has coached for six and three years respectively. Haughey took home two silver medals, becoming Hong Kong’s most decorated Olympian, while M…
Sponge-like Canadian fossils believed to be earliest sign of animal life | South China Morning Post
Scientists have identified what they believe to be the world's oldest animal fossils. They are ancient sea sponges that inhabited primordial reefs built by bacteria roughly 890 million years ago. They were discovered two decades ago in the Mackenzie Mountains in northwest Canada by Dr Elizabeth Turner, who's now bas…
China pledges to support Taliban role in restoring peace in Afghanistan after US withdrawal | South China Morning Post
China’s foreign minister said Beijing expects the Taliban to play an important role in the Afghanistan peace, reconciliation and reconstruction process. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian also quoted Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi as describing the withdrawal of US and NATO troops as a policy fail…
Malaysian contract doctors stage walkout in push for better job security | South China Morning Post
Contract doctors in Malaysia staged a walkout on July 26, 2021, to demand permanent positions along with better pay and benefits. Since 2016, medical school graduates have struggled to find permanent posts within the country’s health care system despite a scheme offering new graduates temporary contracts. Police say…
Tokyo Olympics 'No Spectator' Policy Disappoints Many
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· Steve Ross
Malawi Begins Classes in World's First 3D-Printed School
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· Lameck Masina
Mascot mania endures in Japan where schools train characters for ‘cute’ roles at Olympics and more | South China Morning Post
Mascots representing the Tokyo Olympics are only the latest in a cast of cute characters that have long made their mark in Japan. The cartoonish creatures have found a marketing role, in part because they connect with many fans in a nation where there are underlying cultural factors such as animist religious beliefs…
Seven students achieve perfect scores in Hong Kong's university entrance exams | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong secondary school students received the results of their university entrance exams on July 21, 2021. Seven of the 49,976 students who sat this year’s Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams achieved perfect scores. This is the first year the test results were sent to students via SMS.
Student Athletes Balance Books With Olympic Training
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· Connor Smith
Hong Kong, Australia’s goal to eliminate Covid-19 ‘not sustainable’, says infectious disease expert | South China Morning Post
Officials in “zero-Covid” economies such as Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand have resisted being drawn on specifics about when their communities can return to pre-pandemic life. But Roberto Bruzzone, co-director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, warns that eliminating Covid-19 is an unrealistic goal. The infecti…
National security police raid university student union over support of man who stabbed officer | South China Morning Post
Hong Kong’s national security police raided the student union office at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on July 16, 2021, as part of an investigation into a now-withdrawn motion “appreciating the sacrifice” of a man who stabbed an officer before killing himself. The controversial motion, passed by 30 representativ…