Late last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for more efforts to continue modernising the country’s army, which he stressed is key to China’s national rejuvenation.
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ANKARA (Sputnik) – The number of deaths from the recent earthquake in western Turkey has climbed to 28, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said Saturday.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will gather his ministers for an emergency meeting on Saturday after the media found out that a new lockdown in England was under consideration amid a deteriorating situation with Covid-19.
An unnamed government official earlier told the Times that month-long restrictions were still under discussion, but if agreed they would be announced by Johnson during a press conference on Monday.
Under the new lockdown, people would again be asked to stay at home as they were during the first wave of the coronavirus. But essential shops, schools, nurseries, universities would be allowed to remain open.
The restrictions would only affect England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will separately decide how to tackle the rapid spread of the virus.
The prime minister’s office declined to comment on the report when approached by Reuters.
The introduction of the lockdown would mark a drastic change in Johnson’s policy, as he had earlier insisted that such a move would be a “disaster” and said that a patchwork of local restrictions would be enough.
However, the coronavirus has been rampant the UK in recent weeks, with more than 20,000 people getting infected every day. Britain has so far registered 46,229 deaths from Covid-19 – more than any other nation in Europe – and over 990,000 confirmed cases.
The government’s scientific advisers have warned that the virus is spreading so fast that the “reasonable worst case” scenario of 80,000 fatalities may be well surpassed if measures to reduce the number of infected are not implemented.
It wouldn’t be Halloween without a little blood and guts, and that was certainly provided in Friday’s fight between boxers Jaime Munguia and Tureano Johnson as the latter suffered a grotesque injury to his lip.
Combat sports has given us an array of eye-watering clips over the years, with the split lip suffered by UFC star Alistair Overeem in his defeat to Jairzinho Rozestruik late last year a particularly fine example, and the latest offering from Friday’s fight between Munguia and Johnson just as cringe-inducing.
Undefeated Mexican middleweight Munguia (36-0) was up on the scorecards in the sixth round of his fight with the 21-3-1 Johnson but he certainly didn’t have to rely upon the favor of the ringside officials after he connected with an uppercut which immediately sent blood spurting from Johnson’s mouth.
Now, boxers are no strangers to a little claret in the ring but it soon became clear that this was no ordinary cut when the cameras focused on the injury to reveal the upper left of Johnson’s lip had been savagely split open.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, Johnson was declared unfit to continue by ringside medics and the knockout victory was awarded to Munguia as a result.
Johnson’s corner had initially questioned the method of victory, alleging that the injury was the result of an errant headbutt but replays soon showed that a perfectly timed short uppercut was the shot which caused the Bahamian’s lip to explode.
Munguia UPPERCUT. did this ? Ive never seen the likes of this before. ! Maximum violence. pic.twitter.com/KrwGQ07KMv
The win – and in particular the vicious nature of it – sees the 24-year-old Munguia deliver another warning to the rest of the middleweight fold and improves his record to 34 straight wins without defeat.
“I want any of the 160-pound champs,” Munguia said afterwards. “Any (of them) would be great for me.”
And judging by the reaction online, many fight fans are endorsing this idea – but they could maybe do without his fights being quite so x-rated.
The ten-time Grammy winner previously refrained from expressing her political views, saying she didn’t know enough about life to tell people who to vote for. But now it appears that Swift, 30, has gained a lot of experience as she recently endorsed Democrat Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris.
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Fans have heaped more praise on Arsenal outcast Mesut Ozil after he spoke about his efforts to provide 1,400 meals to children across north London each day during the October half-term.
Ozil, who began the scheme of providing meals to impoverished families, homeless shelters and refugee charities back in March, has ramped up the output after the UK government last week voted against a Labour bill to extend free school meals throughout the holidays.
He told Sky Sports: “This week, during the half-term, lots of kids are facing a tough situation with regards to food. No child should go hungry. That’s the most important thing and wherever I can help I will.
“Healthy meals for children should be a given, and not a privilege.”
Aided by Sunday League players from Enfield United, Ozil’s team packaged meals through the night to be distributed to schools each morning.
Huge respect for Team @MesutOzil1088 and @ChefsGerman Chef Stefan who’ve been making meals for London families for months. This week they’re joined by ‘dinner ladies’ courtesy of @EnfieldUnitedFC all working through the night to make half-term meals for children in north London. pic.twitter.com/XHSzAFpVLa
Tony Lewis, chief executive of Unitas Youth Zone in Barnet, said: “Burnt Oak and nearby Colindale have the two highest rates of child poverty in Barnet.
“Since lockdown, Unitas has supported over 100 families with [Ozil’s] team donating 50 meals a week to Unitas, as well as 50 each to two other local charities.
“On top of that, Mesut’s team has donated 200 meals a day to the Youth Zone for its October half-term holiday club provision.”
The meals provided – made by German chef Stefan Pappert, who once cooked for the Queen – were made using fresh produce and organic pasta, described by the footballer as “healthy, nutritious and also filling.”
Fans reserved plenty of praise for the 32-year-old, with a flood of Twitter users telling him “well done” and “fair play” in response to the news.
“Class from Mesut again,” one fan gushed, while another described him as “a man with a big heart.”
“From feeding average footballers at Arsenal to feeding kids,” a Chelsea fan quipped. “Total respect to Mesut.”
Another Twitter user replied with a shaking hands emoji and “Ozil and Rashford king behavior.”
From feeding average footballers at Arsenal to feeding kids. Total respect to Mesut. ???
Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford has also led a high-profile campaign in recent months for the government to extend free school meals. He began a petition on the matter, which has almost 1.1 million signatures.
Ozil recently impressed fans with another charitable gesture when he offered to pay the salary of Jerry Quy, who played Arsenal mascot Gunnersaurus for 27 years, when he was let go by the club.
The No. 10 last played for Arsenal on March 7, and he has not made a single matchday squad for the Gunners this season. Earlier in October the club left him out of their Premier League and UEFA Europa League squads for this campaign, making him ineligible to play for them in either competition in the coming months.
After a decade of delays and a massive budget overspend, Berlin’s Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport finally welcomed its first airplanes on Saturday as Easyjet and Lufthansa flights safely touched down in the German capital.
Almost 30 years after plans for the airport were first devised, the two jets touched down within minutes of each other on Saturday afternoon. The airport’s operators will hope this finally draws a line under the facility’s lengthy period of turbulence.
It had been hoped that the planes would complete a parallel landing, however that had to be scrapped shortly before touchdown due to the weather.
The airport is named after the former West Germany Chancellor Willy Brandt. It will replace the city’s smaller Schoenefeld and Tegel airports. Schoenefeld will be used as a third terminal for the new airport, while Tegel will be shut down for good, after 60 years of service.
The first planned opening of the project was delayed in 2010, when the construction planning company overseeing the build went bankrupt and new European safety regulations were introduced.
The costs of the project spiraled from an original budget of €2.7 billion to almost €6 billion when it was finally completed.
The chief executive of the Berlin airport authority, Engelbert Luetke Daldrup, said it was decided to make the airport’s opening a muted affair because the long-running fiasco had made Berlin and Germany “a laughing stock.” “There will be no big party. We’re simply going to open,” Luetke Daldrup said.
Extinction Rebellion activists didn’t go along with this desire for a low-key opening as they staged a climate protest at the airport to coincide with the plane’s landings.
In a free-wheeling interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan shared his views on the upcoming US elections, apprehensions vis-a-vis India’s greater involvement in Afghanistan and Islamabad’s warm ties with Beijing, among several other issues.
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South Korea has reported that 83 people have died after receiving flu shots, a week after Seoul said it would probe its mass vaccination program. The government continues to insist the deaths aren’t linked to the jab.
The country’s public health agency, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), announced on Saturday that 83 people in total have died after participating in a free vaccination initiative billed as a way to offset potential complications from Covid-19.
Most of the deaths involved the elderly, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, citing figures provided by the KDCA. Of the total number of fatalities, 37 people were in their 70s, followed by 34 people aged 80 or older. Four deaths involved people in their 60s, while eight individuals who passed away were under 60.
Health officials have repeatedly insisted that there is no evidence pointing to a direct link between the flu shots and the deaths. However, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun called for an investigation into potential safety issues last week, when the number of people who died shortly after receiving flu shots reached 30. Earlier, the Korean Medical Association had called on Seoul to halt the program pending a full review.
Concerns about the vaccination drive first emerged after it was revealed that some of the doses were exposed to room temperature while being administered to the public. However, the vaccines in question have not been linked to any of the deaths.
To date, more than 11.5 million South Koreans have received a free jab under the program.
The legendary Scottish actor starred in innumerable films, including The Hunt for Red October, The Rock, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Untouchables, The Name of The Rose, and many others.
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