Lifestyle

Library offers refuge and recovery in war-scarred Ukraine town

Hundreds of laptop-toting professionals and students line up outside the public library in the Ukrainian town of Irpin, desperate to get plugged in and online amid the latest energy blackout. . Yet these high-profile odes to Irpin pale in significance to the daily work of the library in boosting public morale. 

Chinese jubilant, plan trips abroad as inbound Covid quarantine set to end

Chinese reacted with joy and rushed to book flights overseas Tuesday after Beijing said it would scrap mandatory Covid quarantine for overseas arrivals, ending almost three years of self-imposed isolation.. Chinese social media users reacted with joy to the end of restrictions that have kept the country largely closed off to the outside world since March 2020.

Children forced to grow up fast in Ukraine's frontline towns

Lisa Shtanko, 8, stood on the side of a muddy road watching Ukrainian soldiers pass by, one of only a few children left in a town hit hard by Russia's invasion. . Children living on the frontline of Russia's invasion of Ukraine have to learn to manage unceasing stress, with experts warning of long-term disorders.

Xi urges steps to 'protect' lives as China battles Covid wave

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged officials on Monday to take steps to protect lives in his first public remarks on Covid-19 since Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month.. "At present, Covid-19 prevention and control in China are facing a new situation and new tasks," Xi said in a directive, according to state broadcaster CCTV.  "We should launch the patriotic health campaign in a more targeted way... fortify a community line of defence for epidemic prevention and control, and effectively protect people's lives, safety and health," Xi said.

China to stop publishing daily Covid figures: NHC

China will no longer publish daily figures for Covid-19 cases and deaths, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday, ending a practice that began in early 2020. . "From today, we will no longer publish daily information on the epidemic," the NHC said.

Pele's family gather at his hospital bedside on Christmas Eve

Family members visited the legendary Pele on Saturday at the Sao Paulo hospital where he is suffering from worsening cancer as well as kidney and heart problems, according to a social media post by his daughter.. On Wednesday, the Albert Einstein Hospital, where the three-time World Cup winner is staying, announced that his colon cancer was showing "progression" and he needed "more extensive care to treat kidney and heart failure."