officials in the city of xi'an reported 175 new infections on monday. while small compared to other countries, that's the highest daily count in any chinese city since march of 2020. cnn's steven jiang has been following all of this and he joins us now from beijing. this is where all of this started, right? china with their strict lockdowns. at this point, it's 175 cases, but is this worrying authorities at this point because the case count for china is quite high? >> reporter: for china for sure but they're also pointing to the fast spread of the omicron variant outside of chinese borders to further justify their continued insistence on sticking to the zero covid policy, which is why authorities in xi'an are doing what their counterparts in other regions of this country have done in the past whenever a new locally transmitted cases emerge. in xi'an, of course, that means mass testing, mass quarantine, and extensive contact tracing. and authorities are really at least publicly putting on a very brave face. everything is very much under control despite t

out of europe, in china the northern city of xi'an has ordered all 13 million residents to stay at homen, after 52 covid cases were reported on wednesday — bringing the total to 143 since 9th december. in the uk, the welsh government has announced groups of no more than six people will be allowed to meet in pubs, cinemas and restaurants in wales from 26 december. in england — new rules mean people with covid can now stop self—isolating after a week — following two negative lateral flow tests — effectively opening up christmas for thousands. let's start with more on that with jonathan blake. with hundreds of thousands of people forced to isolate for ten days after testing positive for covid, staff shortages are becoming an issue. it is already affecting train companies, hospitality and, crucially, some hospital trusts. let's notjust measure the pressure on the nhs by looking at the number of hospitalisations in london, because staff absences are likely to be just as great, if not an even more important indicator of how much pressure the nhs is under. now in england at least, the rules ar

these images are from inside xi'an.g and do more to isolate the close contacts of those found to be positive. more than 1,200 cases have been found in the city in the past few weeks. professorjin dong—yan is a virologist based in hong kong and has assessing whether china's vaccines are effective against the omicron variant and whether the country's containment measures will work. i am pretty sure that they will still be very successful because of their execution power, they have actually locked down the city almost like in wuhan two years ago. do they need to do this? yes, they are implementing very, very strict measures in xi'an, but is this also related to concerns over the ability of chinese vaccines to handle the omicron variant? microbiologists from your own university have released recent studies questioning whether chinese vaccines like sinovac are able to handle the omicron variant. the new data suggests that three injections of sinovac is not sufficient. however, if you are injected with two injections of sinov

in china, 13 million people in the city of xi'an have now been put into a full lockdown.ty reported 52 cases of covid—i9 on tuesday. that's a small number compared to many other countries, but china has a strict zero—covid strategy, using mass testing and lockdown to try to stop outbreaks. the country is on high alert for covid as it gears up to host the winter olympics in beijing in february. earlier, i asked yanzhong wong who is a senior fellow of global health at the council on foreign relations, for his reaction to a full lockdown on 13 million people with only 52 covid cases. i think 52 cases here in the us or uk, we might think this isjust no big deal, but to china, this is indeed a major concern here because in the west, we are concerned mainly about risk of severe cases and deaths, but in china, under zero covid policy, the concern about any infections, no matter if it is mild or not. even a single digit number of cases would be big news in the country. you mentioned the zero covid strategy, and china compared to many other countries has kept a tight lid on its co

these images are from inside xi'an.g and do more to isolate the close contacts of those found to be positive. more than 1,200 cases have been found in the city in the past few weeks. dr xi chen from yale university is an expert on health policy and explained why china is continuing to pursue a strategic of �*zero covid'. china has been maintaining a zero tolerance policy for a long time, almost two years, so it is ramping up mass testing, quarantine, and the strict border controls, and although the case numbers are low, china has been worried about once it is opening up it will make the health system a very stressful. there is a concern about the ageing population and underlying and chronic conditions. it is higher stakes now, with the high transmissibility of the delta and omicron variants, the worry is, if they open up, especially before the spring festival, before the major event, the winter olympics, it may get worse, so that is why the stakes are higher but they still think it is in the interests at least for the n

these images are from inside xi'an.ere to speed up testing and do more to isolate the close contacts of those found to be positive. more than 1,200 cases have been found in the city in the past few weeks. to tell us about whether this strategy is the best way to keep omicron at bay, i am joined now by dr xi chen, an expert in health policy at yale university. thanks forjoining us. by comparison with some of the numbers we have seenin with some of the numbers we have seen in other countries, china's infection numbers are quite small, so why are they taking this rather tough approach?— so why are they taking this rather tough approach? thanks for having me. china tough approach? thanks for having me- china has— tough approach? thanks for having me. china has been _ tough approach? thanks for having me. china has been maintaining i tough approach? thanks for having me. china has been maintaining a| me. china has been maintaining a zero tolerance policy for a long time, almost two years, so it is ramping up mass testing, qu

us insight into what it is like to be in that city right now. >> reporter: paula, the situation in xi'anhat we saw in wuhan two years ago with a growing amount of frustration and even anger being vented online by people in xi'an who have difficulty accessing food items. that in sharp contrast to officials and state media portrayal of smooth and orderly deliveries of daily necessity items throughout the city by the government. now, this situation obviously has been made worse because of tightened regulations. last week, each household was still being allowed to send out one representative every other day to do the grocery shopping. that privilege has been suspended as authorities try to further restrict the movement of people to curb the community spread of the virus. that policy from chinese government's perspective has been working well for them when officials point to the fast spread of omicron outside of chinese borders. but that also cleans in xi'an, authorities are doubling down on their strategy, mass testing and quarantining and now harsher lockdown measures. the numbers are still

they've longed down xi'an, a city of 13 million people. but given what we know about omicron and how transmissible it is, is it realistic to maintain this zero-covid strategy? >> china has been incredibly successful over two years. you know, they have developed a playbook that has allowed them to squash out any localized outbreaks, and they're trying that again now. i th-- we've never tested it wi these more virulent strains like omicron, so it's unclear how successful it will be. i think there's still a possibility that the things they're putting into place will get this under control. the longer term question is how long do they want to maintain this zero-covid strategy. it's really not clear and i think it's an open question how long any country could sustain this over the long run. >> it's great to get your insight and perspective from hong kong. dr. karen grepin joining us from hong kong u., many thanks. >> thank you. >>> the world mourns the passing of a human rights icon. south african archbishop desmond tutu. we'll take a closer lo

for the moment, if you are living in xi'an, you are staying at home. >> in israel, a panel of governmentts have recommended people over 60 should now get a fourth dose of a vaccine. if the health ministry gives the green light, israel would become the first country in the world to introduce a fourth shot. there are questions about whether there is enough data proving the extra dose is safe and effective. >> this was immediately welcomed by the prime minister. he had previously said he was impatient for the green light to be given for this. he described it as wonderful news and immediately started preparations for the fourth shot to be given. ere is still rubberstamping to be done, but it looks like it will go ahead. the issue is very much about data. what is the data behind this? we do not know. the committee has not published the evidential basis for this. one of the experts involved in the decision was on the rio in israel saying they simply do not have the information. they do not have the numbers yet for whether or not immunity wanes after the third vaccine. and if it does, how long

the northern chinese city of xi'an has gone into strict lockdown.lympics in february, china is on high alert as it fights local outbreaks in several cities. xi'an reported 52 new coronavirus cases on wednesday, bringing the total to 143 since december 9. there've only been dozens of cases, new cases today, but as an indication of the preparedness of the authorities to stamp out any outbreak, we are seeing a citywide strict lockdown in xi'an, 13 million people told to stay at home. the way it's going to work is that each household will be allowed to have one person go outside every two days to buy essential supplies, long—distance bus stations, in fact, all nonessential services have been closed. nobody�*s being allowed to leave that city without special permission from officials. and it's interesting, because, until recently, chinese officials have been able to control these outbreaks of the coronavirus with quite targeted lockdowns — so neighbourhoods and the like — and we haven't seen an entire large city lock down for quite some time here in chin

the northern chinese city of xi'an has ordered all 13 million residents, to stay at home, in a strictnd one household member outside once every two days to purchase necessities, with all others ordered to remain indoors except for emergencies, the city government said in a statement. 0ur china correspondent steve mcdonnell has more. there have only been dozens of new cases today but as an indication of the preparedness of the authorities to stamp out any outbreak, we are seeing a citywide lockdown in xi'an, 13 million people told to stay home. the way it's going to work is that each household will be allowed one person go outside every two days to buy essential supplies. distance bus stations... all nonessential services have been closed and nobody is allowed to leave the city without special permission from officials. interesting, because until recently, chinese officials have been able control the outbreaks with quite targeted lockdowns. so, neighbourhoods and the like. we haven't seen an entire large city lockdown for quite some time in china. i think the proximity of the olympics

the next level is called "controlled," and that's where xi'an is right now. it allows one household member to leave every other day to get food in the neighborhood. and the least serious category is prevention, which advises people to work from home and avoid public transportation. more now from sulalina wang. >> reporter: the city has recorded over 200 covid-19 cases since december 9th. one designated person from each household will be allowed to leave every two days to buy groceries. otherwise residents are only allowed to leave in the case of a medical emergency or for, quote, urgent or necessary works. that's according to the local government. it's also shutdown all schools, public and transport facilities except for essential service providers. this is the fourth time a major chinese city has been placed under strict lockdown. the first was back in early 2020 when wuhan, ground zero of the pandemic wept into lock down. with the games now less than 45 days away the country is doubling down on its zero covid strategy. cities are locking down a mass testing

the pfizer booster shot in the coming days. >>> local officials, meantime, in the chinese city of xi'an say they are locked in a life and death battle with the coronavirus, and as the strict lockdown drags on into its second week, many say they're unable to get the most basic of necessities. things like food. for more on that we want to bring in cnn's reporter who joins us now from beijing, and this lockdown is severe enough, but in terms of it accomplishing what it needs to accomplish, is it doing that? and are residents really getting wary? especially when they don't even have a reliable source of food? >> reporter: that's right, paula. why even local authorities at least acknowledged the severe impact they're increasingly harsh lockdown measures on the local population. remember, for days we've talked about a growing sense of frustration and anger from residents about the lack of access to groceries and medicines and also a growing problem of their ability to seek medical attention on non-covid-related issues such as pregnant women needing to go to the hospital. that's why, as you me

necessity items by deploying shipments from other provinces, but also coordinating delivery within xi'an. and they have dedicated hundreds of local officials to these tasks. also they have set up more than 1,600 chat groups on social media platforms to improve communication between local officials and citizens, again to ensure availability and distribution of these groceries and medicines. but still we've also seen people who had previously aired their grievances online being targeted or attacked by trolls, who say they should have not really made their personal suffering public because that could smear china's image. so really there is this effort to contain the virus but also to control the narrative, probably not surprisingly, both intensifying in the city of xi'an. paula. >> yeah, and it bears repeating that few of us can really imagine the kind of strict lockdown that those chinese cities have been under on and off for the last two years now. jim, to you now in paris. we are ending 2021 on a somber note. i'll remind you that is the way we ended 2020 as well although we did have the

these images are from inside xi'an.to isolate the close contacts of those found to be positive. more than 1200 cases have been found in the city in the past few weeks. dr xi chen from yale university is an expert on health policy and explained why china is continuing to pursue a strategic of �*zero covid'. china has been maintaining the zero tolerance policy for a long time, almost two years, so basically it's ramping up mass testing, frequent contact tracing, quarantining and strict border control. and although the case numbers are low, china has been worried about the west opening up, it will crowd out and make the system very stressful and there is a larger concern about the aging population and underlying chronic conditions. and it's of higher stakes now, with the higher transmissibility of the delta and 0micron, but they're worried that if they open up, especially before the spring festival and before the major event, the winter olympics, things may get worse, quite much. so, that's why the stakes are higher, but t

they've got two big memory wafe fab plants in xi'an. it is not clear if it will affect shipments the implication is that it could affect shipments why is this important? the rally is based on the idea there won't be a global shutdown occurring again, and if that is a problem it could affect, of course, supply chains and inflation potentially. it disrupts the narrative that things will get better in the first half of 2022 this is very early and it may mean nothing, i'm just saying i'm paying attention samsung has had a tough year, down about 2%, but the semiconductor industry is ending the year just off new highs. back to you. >> interesting there digging through it, and we appreciate it, bob >>> in the meantime investors have been pouring into value stocks, maybe in anticipation of higher rates next year look at the value etf, more than doubling the performance of the growth etf this month. >>> the next guest is going with growth and says the recent dislocation may create great opportunities, particularly in some of the smaller names. j

more than 10 million people in the city of xi'an have been ordered to lock down. 143 infections since the ninth of december. the country high alert ahead of the winter games in february. right around the world, it is clear managing the pandemic remains a difficult task. two years on and the balance is still difficult to strike. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. as you heard in tanya's report, china is gearing up for the winter olympic games in beijing in february. it's likely that many countries will still be dealing with the omicron wave at that point. earlier this year, japan hosted the summer games in tokyo, just as the delta variant was sweeping across the world. so how did the japanese government deal with hosting the games at that time? kentaro iwata is a professor and infectious diseases expert at kobe university and hejoins me now. thank you very much for being with us. 13 million people lockdown into this china centre, japan was hosting the tokyo games as delta was sweeping across the world. is this the right approach of what happened injapan? the this the right

she on -- xi'an, 13 million people back under lockdown. that news we got out overnight. we will continue to monitor the situation in china with the virus and continue to monitor these markets. up about 0.3 percent on s&p 500 futures. 4700 is where we sit on equities. 1.47% on the 10 year. on tv and radio, this is bloomberg. ♪ ritika: with the first word news, i'm ritika gupta. the supreme court will hold a special session in just over two weeks to weigh challenges to faxing requirements for millions of workers. the court will hear arguments in the cases january 7, amid rising coronavirus cases, and it is an expert nearly fast timeline. the court is not scheduled to hear cases again until january 10. also officials say omicron could leave the population almost unprotected against covid infections. that is why they have hunted some people to offer forth -- offer fourth vaccine doses. the chinese city of xi'an has imposed a lockdown on its 13 million residents after testing identified 120 seven covid infections. residents have been told to stay in their homes and designate

china has now basically blocked off xi'an, just as it did with wuhan, the epicenter of the pandemic last year. wuhan is among several major chinese cities that have endured strict lockdowns. some 12 million people there were affected, and more now from saleena wang. >> reporter: the chinese city of xi'an and its 13 million residents put under lockdown. the city has reported over 200 covid cases. one designated person from each household can leave every two days to buy groceries. otherwise, residents are only allowed to leave in the case of a medical emergency or for urgent or necessary work, according to the local government. they have shut down all schools, except for essential service providers. this is the fourth time a chinese city has been placed under strict lockdown. the first was in 2020 when wuhan went into lockdown. with the games now less than 45 days away, the country is doubled down on its zero covid strategy. cities are mass testing residents in response to a handful of cases in the country. olympic athletes, if they are not vaccinated, they'll have to quarantine for 21 day

authorities in xi'an insist everything is very much under control, even though the capital recorded 175new locally transmitted cases on monday, a record for chinese city since march 2020. but officials say this kind of numbers is only to be expected as they continue to conduct citywide mass testing for 13 million residents. state media quoted experts saying this outbreak could be over in a month, with the spread of the virus being stopped as a strict lockdown for xi'an remains firmly in place. >> i'm elliott gotkin in jerusalem, on a day when naftali bennett warned israel is about to be hit by a covid contagion storm, the likes of which it has never seen before. the daily case load hit almost 3,000, the highest level since early october. omicron variant cases doubled over the weekend, which makes a just launched vaccine study more timely. the medical center outside tel aviv claims its first trial of a full dose of covid vaccine on healthy patients, results are expected by the end of the week. >> barbie nadeau, steven jiang and elliott gotkin, thank you for your reporting from around the

. >>> now, the chinese city of xi'an is in its eight day of lockdown.eported 156 new locally transmitted infections on wednesday, and those are significant, because they are locally reported and not from travel. despite everything been ordered to stay home, all by one infections were from xi'an. we want to bring in steven jang who has been following all this for us. we have been tracking disturbing video that shows authorities shaming people who arebreaking those quarantine rules. >> that's right, paula. these disturbing videos depict an incident on tuesday in that a border town in southern china, where four people in full haz/mat suits being paraded, being marched through the streets for allegedly helping others crossing borders into china from vietnam. now, that is considered to be a heinous crime by local place buzz of china's border closure, and increasingly tightened covid rules. there were some recent local outbreaks blamed on illegal immigrants. so officials are facing counting pressure from beijing, especially ahead of the winter olympics. still

and in china, authorities are tightening lockdown rules in the city of xi'an hoping to contain a localovid vaccine outbreak. the city's 13 million residents are under strict stay-at-home orders. they can only go out for testing. cnn's steven zhang is standing by with details. first let's go to melissa in paris. these really are frightening numbers. it's really about the effect on hospitals at this point, isn't it? >> reporter: that's right, max. world health organization is already worried here in europe there are massive rises are quite extraordinary. we haven't seen anything like it in previous waves. will have an impact across the continent, severely tested. i am here in paris where they expect more people. measures were announced monday night. the prime minister stopped short of announcing a curfew or lockdown that would do so much harm to an economy damaged already by this. decisions all aimed at trying to get the numbers down, among them reducing numbers between the next jab. seeing greater numbers of people coming in to get vaccinated. and the figures are astonishing. 179,000 ne

as covid cases rise in china, more than 13 million people in the city of xi'an are told to stay at homee is dismantled. we hear from the work's danish sculptor. and celebrating a break from pandemic gloom in spain as thousands win a share of the world's richest

in xi'an, the aviation hub handling more than 31 million passengers last year.ut since last week, all domestic flights have been canceled, terminals abandoned since then. max? >> steven, thank you. >>> one method being carried out there, other methods elsewhere. the effectiveness of a second round of covid boosters is underway in israel. workers are getting a fourth shot to see if it will help contain the spread of the omicron variant there. a panel of experts recommended the second booster last week. the final approval is still pending. elliott gotkin has the details. >> reporter: it's another shot in the arm. this, says the chief of medical center, is the first time in the world healthy subjects are receiving a fourth shot of covid vaccine. >> i don't feel much as a guinea pig. my own immunity has dropped below the threshold and, therefore, not only am i myself exposed, potentially exposed to the omicron, but more importantly, i might be a potential hazard to my heart transplant patient i take care of. >> reporter: his colleagues, all of whose antibody levels

all but one of those infections was from xi'an. officials are taking drastic measures to stop further spread. on tuesday, police publicly shamed four people for allegedly breaking china's strict covid protocols. let's bring in steven jiang live from beijing. they literally paraded them down the street. this is extreme. >> reporter: that's right, max. the disturbing videos you just mentioned emerged from the border town in southern china where, as you mentioned, four people in full hazmat suits with photos around their necks being marched through the streets for allegedly helping others illegally crossing the borders into china from neighboring vietnam. that's considered a heinous offense by local police because of china's continued border closure and increasingly tightened covid rules. there have been some recent outbreaks blaming illegal immigrants. that's why local officials defended the public shaming tactics saying it is needed as a deterrent. it has stirred many public reactions. this reminded them of one of the most repressiv

that's why authorities in xi'an are doubling down on their strategy of mass testing and mass quarantinekind of alarming numbers is only to be expected as they continue to conduct city wide testing for 13 million residents and a lot of the new infections are close contacts with previously confirmed patients. so these numbers will stabilize and start decreasing. they say this whole outbreak could be over in a month or so with the spread of the virus being stopped as a city wide lockdown remains firmly in place, along with other stringent policies, such as the cancellation of aldo l domestic flights from one of the country's busiest aviation hubs. 31 million passengers passed through the terminal last year. now almost completely abandoned. the city's top official saying that's what the city needs now to come to a complete stand still for the government to focus on its containment efforts. something obviously only possible in a political system like china's. paula? >> not clear it's working. thank you so much, steven, for that report. >>> now to this. the u.n. is calling for an investigatio

as covid cases rise in china, more than 13 million people in the city of xi'an are told to stay at homememorating the tiananmen square massacre is dismantled by china. we speak to the work's danish sculptor. and celebrating a break from pandemic gloom in spain as thousands win a share of the world's richest lottery draw — el gordo, or �*the fat 0ne'.

the northern chinese city of xi'an, in its third day of strict lockdown, had the highest number of flightcellations. the united kingdom reported a record 122,000 new cases yesterday. in london, residents lined up to get vaccinated at centers where health workers sometimes sported christmas costumes. there re estimates that as many as one in 20 londoners had covid-19 infections last week. >> t-minus 30 seconds and counting. >> hill: the world's most powerful and largest space telescope, named for the head of nasa in the 1960s, launched this morning from french guiana on the northeast coast of south america. a joint mission of nasa and the european and canadian space agencies, the james webb telescope will travel one million miles to search for the origins of the universe. itn's robert moore has the story. >> reporter: the world's scientists and astronomers were holding their breath. >> and we have engines start... and, lift off... >> lift off, from a tropical rainforest to the edge of time itself, james webb begins a voyage back to the birth of the universe. >> reporter: this was a christm

how are we getting information about what's happening i guess it's pronounced xi'an. go ahead.se citizen journalists and then there's the social media but for the most part this is an important propaganda initiative, because the communist party sees that the number of covid deaths and the number of infections really is an existential matter because early last year, the regime made the number of infections a matter of regime legitimacy because they were saying well democracy doesn't work because they've got so many covid infections, so those death numbers have not changed for more than a year. 4,636 deaths according to official numbers, that number just hasn't changed because the party feels that it's a life or death matter for the party. david: well, nobody, except the party, i don't even think the party leaders believe in that, but china also has a zero covid policy, something even australia finally gave up on last week. do they really think that it's possible to prevent any covid from spreading in china? >> well they know they've got cases so for instance, in xi'an on monday

in china, the city of xi'an is still under lockdown as the authorities try to stop coronavirus spreading of the worst disruption. with the winter olympics just weeks away, travel restrictions are regarded as crucial to keeping case numbers down. in the wake of omicron, governments across europe are also imposing new restrictions, so airlines there are also reassessing their schedules for the coming weeks. airlines around the world have lost billions through the pandemic, so we'll hope the number of passengers starts to rise again soon. jonathan josephs, bbc news. i think we all know well enough that the pandemic has had a huge impact on social and cultural events as well over the last couple of years, many cancelled or postponed. for some, things are getting back to normal — or near to normal. that's certainly true in colombia, where a very important event has resumed. the bbc�*s tim allman explains. in the south—western city of cali, this is how they do christmas — a spectacle of colour and dance. they call this the salsodromo, the opening of the feria de cali, or cali fair. for more th

more than 13 million people in the city of xi'an have been ordered to lock down, as authorities lookbreak. it has recorded 143 infections since the ninth of december. the country on high alert ahead of the winter games in february. right around the world, it is clear managing the pandemic remains a difficult task. two years on and the balance is still difficult to strike. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. a well—known statue commemorating the deaths of students protesting in beijing's tiananmen square has been removed from a university campus in hong kong. the removal of the eight metre—high copper statue, created by danish sculptorjens galschiot, was ordered back in october. construction workers are said to have laboured overnight to dismantle the piece, known as the pillar of shame. we'll hear from mr galschiot in a moment, but first here's the bbc�*s danny vincent in hong kong. in october, the university contacted the sculptor to declare that, essentially, this statue, following legal advice, needed to be removed. after that, they set a deadline for the removal. the deadline passed and i

the northern chinese city of xi'an has ordered all 13 million residents to stay at home, in a strictak of covid—19. all households may only send one household member outside once every two days to purchase necessities, with all others ordered to remain indoors except for emergencies, the city government said in a statement. this the national hockey league has announced it will not be sending any players to the winter olympics which get under way in beijing in february. the decision comes after the regular season schedule was disrupted due to a surge in covid—19 cases. 50 games have already been postponed in the regular season that the nhl now plans to play at the same time as the olympics. the decision by the nhl means some of the world's top ice hockey players won't be competing at the games. amazon, facebook and twitter are among firms to announce that they will not send teams to the consumer electronics show, due to take place in las vegas injanuary over fears about rising covid—19 cases. the organisers have said the conference will be going ahead, with health precautions. otherfi

the chinese city of xi'an has imposed a lockdown on its 13 million residents after testing discovered00 when he seven covid infections. residents have been told to stay in their homes, and one person can go out every other day for necessities. global news 24 hours a day, on air and on bloomberg quicktake, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm ritika gupta. this is bloomberg. ♪ ♪ kailey: were supposed to be hearing from brian nick. i think we had a little bit of trouble with that sound. what we heard earlier this week is that he does expect the curve to start steepening more materially. that has not been what we have gotten as the market looks at the fed and says is the central bank going to make a policy mistake. guy: this is a huge challenge for equities, isn't it? you think about what is happening here. the tolerance, i would have thought, at the moment for equities in terms of the way they are viewing the central bank story is conditioned by that incredibly flat curve. that is got to be the huge fear. how much can the fed actually raise

i mean, xi'an is not that far to the west of beijing, and they have seen omicron taking off in othercing hunger this winter. the taliban's spokesperson welcomed the move as "a good step" which "can help afghanistan's economic situation". here's our chief international correspondent lyse doucet on how aid will be delivered. the difficulty, the real challenge for those aid agencies, people who want to help afghanistan, is many taliban leaders are under united nations or us sanctions linked to terrorism charges, so if you give money to those individuals or you somehow run afoul of them by giving money to ministries they lead, you could actually face crippling sanctions and penalties, so this move by the united nations and the united states too to clear the way for aids which meets the basic needs, as they call it, other afghans, does not have a day too soon. the un says afghanistan will become its biggest humanitarian operation in the world next year, what a tragic distinction to have. 22 million people will need aid to survive, including 10 million said to be a step away from starvatio

>> reporter: well, john, you know we were talking about how what is happening in xi'an is dÉjÀ vu of in wuhan, but this incident is the worst dÉjÀ vu because it reminds people of the worst, darkest period in the mao revolution in the '60s and '70s, when political enemies were treated in this manner. this took place on tuesday with four suspects in full hazmat shoots with mug shots printed on plaque arlds hanging around their necks marched through the streets of a border town in southern china. their alleged crime was helping others to cross the border, obviously a serious offense by the local authorities as china continues to largely close its borders to the outside world and tightens its covid regulations. now, this incident obviously because of the striking visuals caused quite a stir online and with state media outlets starting to chime in as well. of course, there are supportive voices saying it is needed to act as a deterrence, but growing number of voices of opposition including the state media outlet "the beijing news" saying it is a serious violation of the spirit of the rule

more than 13 million people in the city of xi'an have been ordered to lock down, as authorities lookecember 9th. the country on high alert, ahead of the winter games in february. right around the world, it's clear managing the pandemic remains a difficult task. two years on, and the balance is still difficult to strike. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. dr sean fitzgerald is from the engineering department at the university of cambridge. he sits on the government's sage environmental modelling group. he is speaking to us in a personal capacity. thank you forjoining us. it seems potentially good news if 0micron is a bit less severe. do you think overall, we need more restrictions in england and across the uk? i think overall, we all need to be cautious and do what we can collectively, so it isn'tjust about whatever restrictions may be imposed by the government, it is actually about what we do as individuals. there is a collective responsibility and therefore it is taking precautions. the most important is getting a jab and the practical things like lateral flow testing before you see people,

police say that 44 year old be xi'an. lou was last seen on christmas at her home. near geary and broaddrick streets. she was wearing a burgundy top in yoga pants. police say that lou frequents the target on geary street and the walgreens on to visit aero and o'farrell streets. police say she is considered at risk because of a medical condition. if you see her, please call police. very, very nice people. i mean, always with a smile. the couple who died after driving into deep standing water in millbrae have now been identified up next, how their neighbors are remembering them. also ahead. five people are dead and a police officer is hurt. after a shooting spree in colorado at 10 30 tonight. what we're learning about the series of shootings there and the change. apple is making its stores across the country due to when you have xfinity xfi, you have peace of mind built in at no extra cost. advanced security helps keep your family protected online. pause wifi whenever for ultimate control with the xfinity app. and family-safe browsing gives parents one less thing to w

>> it seems like there's one major city xi'an that is locking down because of a rise in covid cases ands is where there are chip facilities. i think in we take a step back, this is also a reminder that despite efforts by this administration and the private sector to diversify their footprint away from china to other countries like vietnam and india and also bring some of that manufacturing here to the u.s., a bunch of press eleases on that this year. it takes time building these facilities, getting the quality, the talent up to speed, and clearly here one city is locking down and two major companies are feeling it >> bob, what would you add >> well, look at the differences how the world is diverging in their policy response. china's policy response to omicron, they go into a quasilockdown. that's what's going on here. the united states' response to omicron, we shorten the quarantine time. we do exactly the opposite think about that how crazy that is there's not a universal -- >> here we are in 2021, almost '22, and we still have part of the world that pursues an elimination strategy and

but in china where they are pursuing this zero-covid strategy, they are responding by locking down xi'an and residents. they are largely leaving their homes, but one person, designated person from each household can go out once every two days to get groceries. and local authorities are saying the only other time they can leave is for medical emergencies or what they're calling, quote, urgent and necessary works. this is the fourth time a major chinese city has gone into lockdown. the first one was back in early 2020 when wuhan, ground zero of the pandemic went into lockdown. it is not xian we are seeing extreme measures. cities across china in response to a handful of cases are using lockdowns and mass testing to try to contain those localized flare-ups. and, of course, isa, with the beijing olympics less than 45 days away, the stakes here are heightened. china's borders have been largely closed off since early on in the pandemic, and soon they will be dealing with thousands of athletes and participants coming into beijing from all around the world. at a press conference just today, the

two major manufactures are warning a lockdown in the city of xi'an could affect their area they are ins it could lead to a delay of chips widely used in data centres samsung said it would temporarily adjust the reason, the manufacturer/memory chips smartphones and other technology gadgets. will, i don't know if you saw the footage over the week or any of the coverage of it. just some of the shaming that they were doing in china of people who had broken covid rules, kind of marching them around in full-on head gear and full body suits to try to shame them into behavior it does leave a lot of questions what will happen when the olympics are out there in less than two months. >> yes what will happen to their economy. one imagines the olympics is why they are taking a heavy-handed approach despite the data everywhere else being fairly encouraging about this variant and okay here in the u.s. halfing the u.s. incubation period whether it's the china internet names, there are pains in the stockmarket in china and in year-to-date that stock market hardly posted but for year as a whole. covid c

situation, we have decided to temporarily adjust our operations at our manufacturing facilities in xi'ana " it implies an impacts on shipments. it's down about 2% but the key point is we're basing this theory on no mask l lockdowns occurring. and remember, samsung, one of the ones who's been a beneficiary. >>> and finally, the big question everybody's been asking me why don't we have a day off on new year's it's a very simple one all thex changes have a similar rule when a holiday falls on a saturday, the market closes on a preceding saturday unless unusual business conditions exist the end of a monthly or yearly accounting period. that's what december 31st is the end of a yearly and monthly accounting period. so, because it occurs on the friday, you don't get a day off. the good news is we have j juneteenth off this year it's going to be observed on monday, june 20th. but this particular year, the calendar doesn't work for a day off. >> got to wait six months for that maybe they need a rule 7.2 a and amend those rules. maybe they're outdated, bob. thanks, bob. rng mcdonald's among young

more than 13 million people in the city of xi'an have been ordered to lock down, as authorities looktry on high alert, ahead of the winter games in february. right around the world, it's clear managing the pandemic remains a difficult task. two years on, and the balance is still difficult to strike. tanya dendrinos, bbc news. our europe correspondent nick beake is in brussels, and is following developments as omicron spreads across the continent. i think probably the most striking change is in spain where, once again, people will have to wear a face covering outside. that is something we saw quite a lot of during previous waves in mainland europe, but now it's back in for the spanish. and pedro sanchez, the prime minister, talking about bringing this in before christmas. of course, in the netherlands, they are already in this strict lockdown. they've been in it for four or five days now. and that will continue over the festive period. other places, though, are delaying measures until after christmas and after boxing day. portugal, for example, is bringing forward something that they