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Tag Archives: streets
‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning’ Debuts 20-Minute Car Chase With Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell Evading Enemies Through the Streets of Rome – Variety
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- View Full Coverage on Google News
Iranian couple handed prison sentence for dancing in the streets
CNN
—
An Iranian couple, both social media influencers, have been given lengthy prison sentences after a video emerged of them dancing in a main square in the capital Tehran.
In a video shared widely on social media, Astiyazh Haghighi, 21, is seen dancing without a headscarf with her fiancé Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, 22, in Azadi Square. The couple posted the video themselves.
Each was charged with “spreading corruption and vice,” and “assembly and collusion with the intention of disrupting national security,” receiving sentences of ten and a half years, according to activist group Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
However Mizan, a news agency affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, said each individual was sentenced to 5-year prison term on the charges of “assembly and collusion with the intention of disrupting national security.”
The two are accused of encouraging people to assemble and inviting them to riot in an Instagram post made on October 26, Mizan Online also said.
Judge Abolqasem Salavati presided over their case and meted out the sentences, along with a ban on posting videos on social media for two years and a ban on leaving the country for two years, according to HRANA.
Security forces first raided the couple’s home in the early morning hours of October 30, a source told CNN, and took them to interrogation and then later transferred them to prison.
Haghighi was initially sent to Evin prison’s Ward 209 but then transferred to Qarchak women’s prison where she is currently detained, HRANA reports. Both Haghighi and her partner are being denied access to a lawyer, it added.
Haghighi and Ahmadi each has close to a million followers on Instagram and also have separate YouTube channels with a total of more than half a million followers.
This comes after the country has been roiled in nationwide protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman accused of flouting the country’s compulsory hijab laws. Iran has cracked down by executing protesters, accused of killing security forces, which critics say were the result of hasty sham trials.
Their lengthy sentences have been compared by critics to that of Sajjad Heydari, an Iranian man who notoriously beheaded his wife last year. Heydari, who killed his 17-year-old wife in February 2022, was sentenced to just eight years and two months in prison, according to the country’s semi-official Khabar Online website.
Memphis disbands police unit after fatal beating as protesters take to streets
MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan 28 (Reuters) – The specialized police unit that included the five Memphis officers charged with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols was disbanded on Saturday as more protests took place in U.S. cities a day after harrowing video of the attack was released.
The police department said in a statement it was permanently deactivating the SCORPION unit after the police chief spoke with members of Nichols’ family, community leaders and other officers. A police spokesperson confirmed all five officers were members of the unit.
Video recordings from police body-worn cameras and a camera mounted on a utility pole showed Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, repeatedly screaming “Mom!” as officers kicked, punched and struck him with a baton in his mother’s neighborhood after a Jan. 7 traffic stop. He was hospitalized and died of his injuries three days later.
Five officers involved in the beating, all Black, were charged on Thursday with murder, assault, kidnapping and other charges. All have been dismissed from the department.
Nichols’ family and officials expressed outrage and sorrow but urged protesters to remain peaceful. That request was largely heeded on Friday when scattered protests broke out in Memphis – where marchers briefly blocked an interstate highway – and elsewhere.
Cities across the United States saw renewed nonviolent demonstrations on Saturday. In Memphis, protesters chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” angrily catcalled a police car that was monitoring the march, with several making obscene gestures. Some cheered loudly when they learned of the disbandment of SCORPION.
[1/12] People protest next to a police car after the release of the body cam footage showing police officers beating Tyre Nichols, the young Black man who died three days after he was pulled over while driving during a traffic stop by Memphis police officers, in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, U.S., January 28, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Hundreds of protesters gathered in New York’s Washington Square Park before marching through Manhattan, as columns of police officers walked alongside them.
Taken together, the four video clips released Friday showed police pummeling Nichols even though he appeared to pose no threat. The initial traffic stop was for reckless driving, though the police chief has said the cause for the stop has not been substantiated.
The SCORPION unit, short for the Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods, was formed in October 2021 to concentrate on crime hot spots. Critics say such specialized teams can be prone to abusive tactics.
Friends and family say Nichols was an affable, talented skateboarder who grew up in Sacramento, California, and moved to Memphis before the coronavirus pandemic. The father of a 4-year-old child, Nichols worked at FedEx and had recently enrolled in a photography class.
Nate Spates Jr., 42, was part of a circle of friends, including Nichols, who met up at a Starbucks in the area.
“He liked what he liked, and he marched to the beat of his own drum,” Spates said, remembering that Nichols would go to a park called Shelby Farms to watch the sunset when he wasn’t working a late shift.
Nichols’ death is the latest high-profile instance of police using excessive force against Black people and other minorities. The 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, galvanized worldwide protests over racial injustice.
Reporting by Maria Cardona in Memphis, Tennessee, and Diane Bartz in Washington; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Robert Birsel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
S.F. streets, shops flood as historic rain storm approaches records
A strong atmospheric river has landed in California and is bringing heavy rain across the Bay Area on New Year’s Eve. This specific type of atmospheric river is often called a “pineapple express” because of how quickly it helps transport water vapor from Hawaii to the West Coast.
Widespread flooding, mudslides and road closures have already occurred all around region, including water so deep in the Bayshore area south of San Francisco that Highway 101 shut indefinitely in both directions. Wind advisories and ongoing flood watches are in effect as heavy rainfall continues along the coast and snow blankets the Sierra Nevada mountains, according to the NWS.
Latest updates on atmospheric river impact across Northern California:
Oakland’s Lake Merritt overflowing
Stretches of Oakland’s Lake Merritt appeared to be overflowing as the storm continues to batter the Bay Area on Saturday afternoon, according to photos and videos posted on social media. “This is the highest water level I’ve seen at Lake Merritt in years,” tweeted user @bee_oak.
A video posted on Twitter shows portions of the lake’s walking path on the eastern side under water. Other photos show the lake filled to the brim near Harrison Street.
Flooding closes roads in city of Alameda
Crews were setting up barricades Saturday afternoon to close roads due to flooding in the city of Alameda, officials said on Facebook.
The closures affected all of Harbor Bay Parkway, the intersection of Main Street and Willie Stargell Avenue, the intersection of Webster Street and Willie Stargell Avenue, and Brush Street.
Officials urged residents to stay off the roads.
San Francisco rainfall breaks daily all-time record, second-wettest day ever
By noon on Saturday, San Francisco’s rainfall had already broke the daily record for the most ever recorded on New Year’s Eve, the National Weather Service tweeted. The previous record was in 2005, which was 2.12 inches. Saturday had already seen 2.96 inches as of mid-day. Precipitation records in downtown San Francisco go back to 1849. Meteorologist Jan Null tweeted that the rainfall total has now reached the second highest in history for any day. The National Weather Service confirmed that the city has seen 4.78 inches of rain — second only to Nov. 5, 1994, when 5.54 inches were recorded.
Pedestrians with umbrellas cross streets at Columbus Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco on Saturday.
Adam Pardee/Special to The ChronicleHighway 101 expected to reopen Saturday evening, CHP says
California Highway Patrol spokesman Mark Andrews said the southbound and northbound lanes of Highway 101 at Oyster Point are expected to reopen at 5 p.m. Saturday. He said high tides were a possible factor in the flooding, which caused the highway to close at 11 a.m.
Cars attempt to drive through flooding waters as high as three feet along the Northbound 101 in South San Francisco on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022.
Adam Pardee/Special to The ChronicleFlooding affects streets, stores throughout the city
Flooding on streets in San Francisco spilled into buildings on Saturday afternoon. In the Mission, the floor of Gus’s Community Market was covered in water while Cesar Chavez street near Highway 101 was totally flooded, according to CHP. Residents reported flooding all over the city, including in the Embarcadero, the Marina, Diamond Heights, the Sunset, the Mission and SoMa.
Expect system-wide delays on BART
BART said riders should expect up to 20-minute delays system-wide on Saturday because of the rainy conditions. “There is a major delay system wide due to trains with mechanical issues and wet weather conditions,” officials tweeted. “Please watch your step on wet platforms and stairways.”
Residents of Wilton (Sacramento County) urged to evacuate as waters rise
Emergency personnel are “warning residents living in Wilton to leave the area now. Rising water may spill over onto the nearest roadways and cut off access to leave the area,” the Sacramento division of the Office of Emergency Services tweeted. More than 5,000 people live in Wilton.
Ski resort in South Lake Tahoe closes for the day
The Heavenly Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe was closed just before 11 a.m. Saturday because of power outages on the Nevada side of the resort, resort officials said. “Power is also flickering in California, with buried lifts and snow safety work to be done,” officials wrote in a Facebook post.
Resort operations in Nevada will likely be closed Sunday in Nevada as crews work to restore power. Officials said they hope to open a “limited footprint” in California on Sunday if enough repairs are done.
Sonoma County flood warning extended until 2:30 p.m.
A flood warning issued for Sonoma County that was meant to expire at 10:30 a.m. was extended until 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Flooding was already occurring in the area, especially around rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying locations.
“Streams continue to rise due to excess runoff from earlier rainfall,” the warning said. “Low-water crossings are inundated with water and may not be passable.”
Locations affected include Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Novato, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Healdsburg, Sonoma, Cloverdale, Sebastopol, Cotati, Larkfield-Wikiup, Roseland, South Santa Rosa CDP, Boyes Hot Springs, Black Point-Green Point, Forestville, Guerneville, Graton, Occidental and Monte Rio.
Flood advisories — upgraded from flood watches — were also issued for San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and Santa Cruz counties. Flood advisories are issued when flooding is not expected to be bad enough to issue a warning but may cause significant inconvenience.
Highway 101 in South San Francisco closed indefinitely in both directions
Southbound and northbound lanes of Highway 101 in South San Francisco were closed indefinitely Saturday morning due to major flooding that caused a traffic jam near the SFO exit, the California Highway Patrol tweeted.
Drivers were urged to either use I-280 as an alternate route or avoid the area as crews work to clear the highway.
Storm causes road flooding, closures across Bay Area
Rain pounding the Bay Area on Saturday morning has wreaked havoc for travelers across the region, forcing closures on roadways and highways due to flooding and mudslides. Officials said drivers should expect delays and take different routes.
In San Mateo County, flooding at Oyster Point on Highway 101 caused the highway to be shut indefinitely in both directions and unleashed massive traffic backups. Caltrans crews were working to clear the drains, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Mark Andrews.
Several roads in the cities of Belmont, Foster City and San Mateo are flooded, according to the San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department. “Be safe and stay home if you can,” fire officials tweeted.
In the East Bay, a mudslide forced the closure of Niles Canyon Road at 8 a.m. and is not expected to reopen until 12 p.m., the Fremont Police Department tweeted.
The California Highway Patrol’s Traffic Incident Information Page summarizes multiple floods and landslides around the Bay Area.
CHP and CalTrans block off multiple lanes as flooding gets as high as three feet along the Southbound 101 in South San Francisco on Saturday.
Adam Pardee/Special to The ChronicleHighway 1 near Big Sur closed due to rock slides at multiple locations
A large stretch of Highway 1 in Monterey County was indefinitely closed Saturday morning due to rock slides reported at multiple locations along the highway, said Caltrans officials. The highway will be closed from Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County to Big Sur in Monterey County while crews work to clear the debris, officials said. Caltrans officials said they had initially closed the highway on Friday due to a rock slide just south of the Esalen Institute.
Sierra ski lifts closed due to heavy snow and winds
Northstar Ski Resort in Truckee put several lifts on hold Saturday morning, the resort tweeted. Palisades Tahoe said most of its chairs were on hold but some lifts are operating at Alpine Meadows.
Pedestrians walk along a road as a snow plow works in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. on Saturday.
Stephen Lam/The ChronicleMuir Woods, Alcatraz among the outdoor sites closed
Closures Saturday due to the storm include Muir Woods, Point Bonita Lighthouse, Nike Site, Tennessee Valley Beach, the Golden Gate Bridge overlook at the upper end of Conzelman Road, and the Fort Point Historic Site, according to tweets from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Crews “are responding to flooding and downed trees in many Marin County park sites.” The GGNRA also closed Alcatraz Island in the late morning.
Flooding, debris forces closure on highway in Half Moon Bay
Highway 92 is closed between the Lower Lakes area and Main Street in Half Moon Bay due to flooding and debris, according to San Mateo County sheriff’s officials. Motorists were urged to drive safely on roadways and to take alternate routes. It was not immediately known what time the highway will reopen, officials tweeted. Flooding in sections from Skyline Boulevard to Main Street in Half Moon Bay was earlier reported in a tweet from CalFire.
More than 30,000 PG&E customers without power throughout California
Saturday’s storm prompted several power outages across multiple counties in northern California, leaving more than 30,000 customers without power, though power is expected to be restored in many of the larger outages by noon. PG&E officials said Friday that they had been preparing for problems caused by the storm and had extra crews ready to go to the areas most likely to be affected. Check for outages and estimated restoration times here.
Heavy rain floods roadways, car submerged in Belmont
Heavy rain on Saturday morning was causing flooding on several roadways. On Harbor Blvd. in Belmont, a car was submerged in water underneath an underpass at Old County road, police tweeted. While everyone was okay in that incident, police warned that water levels continue to rise. “Please use alternate routes and avoid travel if you can!” officials wrote.
Lake Tahoe remains under winter storm warning
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for the Lake Tahoe area that is set to last through 4 a.m. Sunday. The warning said that heavy snow throughout Saturday would bring an additional 5 to 10 inches to the area, with 1-2 feet for elevations over 7,000 feet and 2 to 3 feet for elevations over 8,000 feet. On top of that, the warning said, wind gusts will be up to 100 miles per hour across the Sierra ridgelines and 35 mph in lower elevations. “Travel could be very difficult to impossible,” the warning said. “Strong winds could cause tree damage and lead to power outages.”
Multiple accidents along Highway 280
The North County Fire Authority, which serves Brisbane, Daly City and Pacifica, tweeted that there had been multiple vehicle accidents along 280 on Saturday morning. Around 6 a.m., all southbound lanes were closed where 280 meets Highway 380 for about a half hour before a tow truck arrived to clear it up, it said. The fire authority asked that people adjust their speed accordingly with the weather conditions.
Wind advisories in effect
Wind advisories were in effect across the Bay Area Saturday morning. The highest wind gusts recorded so far were 63 miles per hour atop Loma Prieta in Santa Clara County, the National Weather service said. Gusts ranging from 44 mph to 62 mph were reported across the Bay Area.
Latest rain totals across Bay Area
The National Weather Service released its 24-hour rain totals for Friday, the first day of the winter storm, and Mt. Tamalpais was the clear standout, having already hit 4.8 inches of rain. The Santa Cruz mountains came close at 3.67 inches, while the more mountainous parts of the East and North Bay areas hovered around 2.5 inches of rain. Most of the more populous parts of the Bay Area remained under or around 1 inch of rain as of 2 a.m. on Saturday, but the heaviest rain had only just started, according to the weather service — the bulk of it is expected this morning.
Longer term forecast shows more rain due next week
The atmospheric river that’s been responsible for this week’s back-to-back winter storms will slowly fizzle out by Sunday, leaving behind a soaked Golden State. But after a brief break from the rain, more wet weather is in store. The European and American weather models signal a strong west-to-east jet stream across the Pacific Ocean with winds that will funnel rounds of moisture from the tropics toward North America. Some of the moisture will break off from the flow and the plumes of moisture will narrow, evolving into atmospheric rivers that will eventually reach the West Coast. This past week’s atmospheric river helped fuel two winter storms. In the coming week, weather models are anticipating a repeat, but with two atmospheric rivers.
Read more about the forecast for the first week of January from meteorologist Gerry Díaz.
When will the rain peak?
This weekend’s storm door is wide open in California, with a rush of moisture from the tropics -often called the pineapple express — expected to take aim at the Bay Area and most of Southern California over the course of New Year’s Eve.
Gerry Díaz / WeatherbellThis week, rain around the Bay Area dropped “1 to 4 inches,” which has saturated the soil, according to NWS meteorologist Brooke Bingaman. “The highest kind of concern for tomorrow is between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. (Saturday), that is when the more organized cold fronts going to move through,” she said. “The good news is that it will move through quickly. The bad news is it is going to pack a little bit of a punch.”
That punch, Bingaman said, will be the winds associated with Saturday morning’s cold front expected to hit 20 to 30 mph with gusts between 40 and 50 mph.
Chronicle newsroom meteorologist Gerry Díaz wrote in his forecast for the weekend that the stage is set for “excessive rainfall on the coast and bays,” and “heavy snowfall in the Sierra Nevada and Southern California mountains,” as well as “a statewide storm system that will wreak havoc on travel plans for New Year’s Eve.”
This map shows where it rained the most this week
Winter storms fueled by an atmospheric river have drenched California this week, adding up to significant rainfall in some areas. From 4 a.m. on Dec. 23 to the same time on Dec. 30, most of San Francisco saw about 3 inches of rain, while about 8 inches fell in Sonoma County, north of the Russian River. Even more rain fell farther north in the state. To see where in California felt the brunt of the storms and find out how much rain fell in your area, see our detailed map.
Entire Bay Area under flood watch ahead of the weekend
A flood watch will be in effect for the Bay Area from Friday evening to Saturday evening as more rain arrives in the region, according to the National Weather Service. Moderate to heavy rain is expected during that time frame, and it could be more than already saturated soils can absorb. Rapid rises of rivers, streams and creeks are expected, the National Weather Service said, and urban areas and roadways with poor drainage may see flooding. Read more about prospects for flood conditions in low-lying areas.
Will crab season begin today?
The winter storms added uncertainty to the launch of the commercial Dungeness crab season, which was due to open early Saturday morning after multiple delays. Many fishers told the Chronicle that they didn’t know if it would be possible to deliver crab in time for New Year’s Eve celebrations due to the poor weather.
Even if the fishers succeed today, many seafood buyers will be closed for the New Year’s holiday. The soonest most people can expect to see local Dungeness crab in stores is early next week, though some bigger boats that can handle the weather and smaller ones that sell directly off of the boat could make it out in time for a New Year’s Eve harvest. Read more about the launch of crab season.
Streets deserted in China’s cities as new COVID surge looms
BEIJING, Dec 18 (Reuters) – Streets in major Chinese cities were eerily quiet on Sunday as people stayed home to protect themselves from a surge in COVID-19 cases that has hit urban centres from north to south.
China is in the first of an expected three waves of COVID cases this winter, according to the country’s chief epidemiologist, Wu Zunyou. Further waves will come as people follow the tradition of returning en masse to their home areas for the Lunar New Year holiday next month, he said.
China has not reported any COVID deaths since Dec. 7, when it abruptly ended most restrictions key to a zero-COVID tolerance policy following unprecedented public protests. The strategy had been championed by President Xi Jinping.
As part of the easing of the zero-COVID curbs, mass testing for the virus has ended, casting doubt on whether official case numbers can capture the full scale of the outbreak. China reported some 2,097 new symptomatic COVID infections on Dec. 17.
In Beijing, the spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has already hit services from catering to parcel deliveries. Funeral homes and crematoriums across the city of 22 million are also struggling to keep up with demand amid staff shortages as workers and drivers call in sick.
At Beijing’s largest funeral parlour in Babaoshan, also known for handling the bodies of top Chinese officials and leaders, several hearses a minute could be seen entering on Sunday, while the parking area for private cars was also full.
“Right now it is difficult to book a hearse so many relatives transport the body with their own vehicles,” said an employee on condition of anonymity.
Smoke billowed out of crematoriums, where groups of people were gathered to collect the ashes of the deceased. It was not immediately clear to what extent a rise in COVID-related deaths was responsible.
Social media posts also showed empty subways in the city of Xian in China’s northwest, while in Shanghai, the country’s commercial hub, there was none of the usual bustle in the run up to the New Year.
“Festive vibes are missing,” said a resident who gave her name as Alice.
In Chengdu, streets were deserted but food delivery times were improving, said a resident surnamed Zhang, after services began to adapt to the recent surge in cases.
Getting hold of antigen test kits was still difficult however, she said, explaining that she had been told the kits she ordered recently had been diverted to hospitals.
‘1 PEAK, 3 WAVES, 3 MONTHS’
In Shanghai, authorities said schools should move most classes online from Monday, and in nearby Hangzhou most school grades were encouraged to finish the winter semester early.
In Guangzhou, those already doing online class as well as pre-schoolers should not prepare for a return to school, said the education bureau.
Speaking at a conference in Beijing on Saturday, chief epidemiologist Wu of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said the current outbreak would peak this winter and run in three waves for about three months, according to a state media report of his speech.
The first wave would run from mid-December through mid-January, largely in cities, before a second wave would start from late January to mid-February next year, triggered by the movement of people ahead of the week-long New Year holiday.
China will celebrate Lunar New Year starting on Jan. 21. The holiday normally sees hundreds of millions of people travelling home to spend time with family.
A third wave of cases would run from late February to mid-March as people returned to work after the holiday, Wu said.
In eastern Zhejiang province, home to many high-tech companies and industry, the first wave is expected to peak around mid-January, though it could be earlier, health officials told a press briefing on Sunday.
“This period coincides with the Lunar New Year, and population movement will speed up the spread of the epidemic,” said Chen Zhong, executive deputy director of the provincial epidemic control taskforce.
A U.S.-based research institute said this week that the country could see an explosion of cases and over a million people in China could die of COVID in 2023.
Wu said severe cases had declined compared with past years and vaccination had offered a certain degree of protection. The vulnerable should be protected, he said, while recommending booster vaccines for the general public.
While China rolled out its first COVID vaccines in 2021, vaccination rates among people aged 60 and above have remained little changed since the summer, according to official figures.
Only 66.4% of people over the age of 80 have completed a full course of vaccination, official news agency Xinhua reported.
Reporting by Siyi Liu, Dominique Patton, Ryan Woo, Eduardo Baptista and Brenda Goh; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Philippa Fletcher
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
China’s zero-Covid easing: Cases explode in Beijing leaving streets empty and daily life disrupted
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in China newsletter, a three-times-a-week update exploring what you need to know about the country’s rise and how it impacts the world. Sign up here.
Beijing
CNN
—
Empty streets, deserted shopping centers, and residents staying away from one another are the new normal in Beijing – but not because the city, like many Chinese ones before it, is under a “zero-Covid” lockdown.
This time, it’s because Beijing has been hit with a significant, and spreading, outbreak – a first for the Chinese capital since the beginning of the pandemic, a week after leaders eased the country’s restrictive Covid policy.
The impact of the outbreak in the city was visible in the upmarket shopping district Sanlitun on Tuesday. There, the usually bustling shops and restaurants were without customers and, in some cases, functioning on skeleton crews or offering takeout only.
Similar scenes are playing out across Beijing, as offices, shops and residential communities report being understaffed or shifting working arrangements as employees fall ill with the virus. Meanwhile, others stay home to avoid being infected.
– Source:
CNN
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Expert: China has failed to prepare residents when zero-Covid policy ends
One community worker told CNN that 21 of the 24 workers on her Beijing neighborhood committee office, tasked with coordinating residential matters and activities, had fallen ill in recent days.
“As our superiors are mostly infected, there’s not much work being given to us,” said the employee, Sylvia Sun. “(The usual) events, lectures, performances, parent-child activities will definitely not be held.”
Beijing, which prior to the new rules was already experiencing a small-scale outbreak, is now on the front lines of a new reality for China: not since the early days of the pandemic in Wuhan have Chinese cities dealt with an outbreak without hefty control measures in place.
But for a place that until earlier this month assiduously tracked every case, there is now no clear data on the extent of the virus’ spread. China’s new Covid rules significantly rolled back the testing requirements that once dominated daily life, and residents have instead shifted to using antigen tests at home, when available, leaving official numbers unreliable.
On Wednesday, China’s National Health Commission (NHC) gave up trying to keep track of all the new Covid cases, announcing it would no longer include asymptomatic infections in its daily count. It had previously reported these cases, albeit in a separate category from “confirmed,” or symptomatic ones.
“It is impossible to accurately grasp the actual number of asymptomatic infections,” the NHC said in a notice, citing reduced levels of official testing.
Authorities on Wednesday morning reported 2,249 symptomatic Covid cases nationally for the previous day, 20% of which were detected in the capital. Those figures are also thought to be impacted by reduced testing. CNN reporting from Beijing indicates the case count overall in the Chinese capital could be many times higher than recorded.
In a Twitter post, Beijing-based lawyer and former American Chamber of Commerce in China chairman James Zimmerman said about 90% of people in his office had Covid, up from around half a few days ago.
“Our ‘work at home’ policy is now ‘work at home if you’re well enough.’ This thing came on like a runaway freight train,” he wrote on Wednesday.
Experts have said the relatively low number of previously infected Covid-19 patients in China and the lower effectiveness of its widely-used inactivated-virus vaccines against Omicron infection – as compared with previous strains and mRNA vaccines – could enable the virus to spread rapidly.
“The current strains will spread faster in China than they have spread in other parts of the world because those other parts of the world have some immunity against infection from previous waves of earlier Omicron strains,” said University of Hong Kong chair professor of epidemiology Ben Cowling.
The extent of severe disease or death in Covid-19 outbreaks typically takes time to become clear, but there are signs of an impact on the health care system – with authorities in Beijing urging patients who are not seriously ill not to seek the help of emergency services.
The city’s major hospitals recorded 19,000 patients with flu symptoms from December 5 to 11 – more than six times that of the previous week, a health official said Monday.
The number of patients visiting fever clinics was 16 times greater on Sunday than a week prior. In China, where there isn’t a strong primary care system, visiting the hospital is common for minor illness.
So far, however, there were only 50 severe and critical cases in hospitals, most of whom had underlying health conditions, Sun Chunlan, China’s top official in charge of managing Covid, said during an inspection of Beijing’s epidemic response on Tuesday.
“At present, the number of newly infected people in Beijing is increasing rapidly, but most of them are asymptomatic and mild cases,” said Sun, who also called for more fever clinics to be set up and made assurances that supply of medicines – which have been hit by a surge in purchases in recent days – was being increased.
Prominent Shanghai physician Zhang Wenhong warned that hospitals should do everything they could to ensure that health workers were not getting infected as quickly as the people in the communities they serve. Such a situation could result in a shortage of medical staff and infections among patients, he said, according to local media reports.
Concerns about scarcity and access to medicines and care have been palpable in public discussion, including on social media. There, a Beijing reporter’s account of her time in a temporary hospital for Covid-19 treatment triggered a firestorm on social media, with a related hashtag getting more than 93 million views on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo since Monday.
Social media users questioned why the reporter, who showed her two-bed room and access to fever medicine in a video interview posted by her employer Beijing Radio and Television Station on Sunday, received such treatment while others were struggling.
“Awesome! A young reporter gets a space in a temporary hospital and takes liquid Ibuprofen for children that is hard-to-find for parents in Beijing,” read one sarcastic comment, which got thousands of likes.
Another popular response complained that “ordinary people” stay at home with kids and elderly with high fevers.
“Could you give (her) bed to me if I called (the hospital)?” the Weibo user asked.
Amid fears of the virus, residents have rushed to buy canned peaches, following rumors the vitamin C-loaded snack could prevent or treat Covid. Chinese state media has since warned people the preserved fruit is not a Covid remedy nor a substitute for medicine.
Wall Street’s 2023 outlook for stocks
This post was originally published on TKer.co
It’s that time of year when Wall Street’s top strategists tell clients where they see the stock market heading in the year ahead.
Typically, the average forecast for the group predicts the S&P 500 climbing by about 10%, which is in line with historical averages.
This time around, the pros are unusually cautious with most expecting the S&P to end 2023 lower than where it is today.
There’s hundreds of pages of research and analysis that come with these strategists’ forecast. The general themes: Most Wall Street firms expect the U.S. economy to go into recession some time in 2023. Many believe forecasts for 2023 earnings have more room to get cut, and some believe those downward revisions mean lots of volatility for stocks in the early part of 2023. At the same time, many also expect an unambiguous drop in inflation, which would give the Federal Reserve the clearance to ease up on its hawkish monetary policy stance. At least some strategists think if economic conditions deteriorate significantly, the Fed may even return to cutting interest rates.
Putting it all together, strategists expect a volatile first half to be followed by an easier second half, which could see stocks climb modestly higher.
Below is a roundup of 16 of these 2023 forecasts for the S&P 500, including highlights from the strategists’ commentary. The targets range from 3,675 to 4,500. The S&P closed on Friday at 4,071, which implies returns between -9.7% and +10.5%.
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Barclays: 3,675, $210 EPS (as of Nov. 21, 2022) “We acknowledge some upside risks to our scenario analysis given post-peak inflation, strong consumer balance sheets and a resilient labor market. However, current multiples are baking in a sharp moderation in inflation and ultimately a soft landing, which we continue to believe is a low probability event.“
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Societe Generale: 3,800 (as of Nov. 30) “Bearish but not as bearish as 2022 as the returns profile should be much better in 2023 as Fed hiking nears an end for this cycle. Our ‘hard soft-landing’ scenario sees EPS growth rebounding to 0% in 2023. We expect the index to trade in a wide range as we see negative profit growth in 1H23, a Fed pivot in June 2023, China re-opening in 3Q23 and a US recession in 1Q24.”
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Capital Economics: 3,800 (as of Oct. 28) “We expect global economic growth to disappoint and the world to slip into a recession, resulting in more pain for global equities and corporate bonds. But we don’t anticipate a particularly prolonged downturn from here: by mid-2023 or so the worst may be behind us and risky assets could, in our view, start to rally again on a more sustained basis.“
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Morgan Stanley: 3,900, $195 EPS (as of Nov. 14) “This leaves us 16% below consensus on ’23 EPS in our base case and down 11% from a year-over-year growth standpoint. After what’s left of this current tactical rally, we see the S&P 500 discounting the ’23 earnings risk sometime in Q123 via a ~3,000-3,300 price trough. We think this occurs in advance of the eventual trough in EPS, which is typical for earnings recessions.“
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UBS: 3,900, $198 EPS (as of Nov. 8) “With UBS economists forecasting a US recession for Q2-Q4 2023, the setup for 2023 is essentially a race between easing inflation and financial conditions versus the coming hit to growth+earnings. History shows that growth and earnings continue to deteriorate into market troughs before financial conditions ease materially.“
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Citi: 3,900, $215 EPS (as of Nov. 18) “ Implicit in our view is that multiples tend to expand coming out of recessions as EPS in the denominator continues to fall while the market begins pricing in recovery on the other side. Part of this multiple expansion, however, has a rates connection. The monetary policy impulse to lower rates lifts multiples as the economy works its way out of the depths of recession.“
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BofA: 4,000, $200 EPS (as of Nov. 28) “But there is a lot of variability here. Our bull case, 4600, is based on our Sell Side Indicator being as close to a ‘Buy’ signal as it was in prior market bottoms – Wall Street is bearish, which is bullish. Our bear case from stressing our signals yields 3000.“
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Goldman Sachs: 4,000, $224 EPS (as of Nov. 21) “The performance of US stocks in 2022 was all about a painful valuation de-rating but the equity story for 2023 will be about the lack of EPS growth. Zero earnings growth will match zero appreciation in the S&P 500.“
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HSBC: 4,000, $225 EPS (as of Oct. 4) “…we think valuation headwinds will persist well into 2023, and most downside in the coming months will come from slowing profitability.“
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Credit Suisse: 4,050, $230 EPS (as of Oct. 3) “2023: A Year of Weak, Non-Recessionary Growth and Falling Inflation”
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RBC: 4,100, $199 EPS (as of Nov. 30) “We think the path to 4,100 is likely to be a choppy one in 2023, with a potential retest of the October lows early in the year as earnings forecasts are cut, Fed policy gets closer to a transition (stocks tend to fall ahead of final cuts), and investors digest the onset of a challenging economy.“
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JPMorgan: 4,200, $205 (as of Dec. 1) “…we expect market volatility to remain elevated (VIX averaging ~25) with another round of declines in equities, especially after the run-up into year-end that we have been calling for and the S&P 500 multiple approaching 20x. More precisely, in 1H23 we expect S&P 500 to re-test this year’s lows as the Fed overtightens into weaker fundamentals. This sell-off combined with disinflation, rising unemployment, and declining corporate sentiment should be enough for the Fed to start signaling a pivot, subsequently driving an asset recovery, and pushing S&P 500 to 4,200 by year-end 2023.“
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Jefferies: 4,200 (as of Nov. 11) “In 2023, we expect bond markets will be probing for the Fed’s terminal rate while equity markets will be in ‘no man’s land’ with earnings still falling as growth and margins disappoint.“
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BMO: 4,300, $220 EPS (as of Nov. 30) “We still expect a December S&P 500 rally even if stocks do not hit our 4,300 2022 year-end target. Unfortunately, we believe it will be difficult for stocks to finish 2023 much higher than current and anticipated levels given the ongoing tug of war between Fed messaging and market expectations.“
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Wells Fargo: 4,300 to 4,500 (as of Aug. 30) “ Our single and consistent message since early 2022 has been to play defense in portfolios, which practically means making patience and quality the daily watchwords. Holding tightly to those words implies that long-term investors, in particular, can use patience to turn time potentially to an advantage. As we await an eventual economic recovery, the long-term investor can use available cash to add incrementally and in a disciplined way to the portfolio.”
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Deutsche Bank: 4,500, $195 EPS (as of Nov. 28) “Equity markets are projected to move higher in the near term, plunge as the US recession hits and then recover fairly quickly. We see the S&P 500 at 4500 in the first half, down more than 25% in Q3, and back to 4500 by year end 2023.“
The range of forecasts is pretty wide this year, and so different surveys are yielding very different results. Bloomberg surveyed 17 strategists who had an average forecast of 4,009. Reuters’ poll of 41 strategists revealed a median forecast of 4,200. (CNBC publishes its survey here, but it’s not yet updated with 2023 targets.)
🙋🏻♂️ I’ll say two things about one-year price targets.
First, don’t obsess over these one-year targets if you don’t have to. Here’s what I wrote last December:
⚠️ It’s incredibly difficult to predict with any accuracy where the stock market will be in a year. In addition to the countless number of variables to consider, there are also the totally unpredictable developments that occur along the way.Strategists will often revise their targets as new information comes in. In fact, some of the numbers you see above represent revisions from prior forecasts.For most of y’all, it’s probably ill-advised to overhaul your entire investment strategy based on a one-year stock market forecast.Nevertheless, it can be fun to follow these targets. It helps you get a sense of the various Wall Street firm’s level of bullishness or bearishness.
Second, most of the equity strategists TKer follows produce incredibly rigorous, high-quality research that reflects a deep understanding of what drives markets. The most valuable things these pros have to offer have little to do with one-year targets. (And in my years of interacting with many of these folks, at least a few of them don’t care for the exercise of publishing one-year targets. They do it because it’s popular with clients.) Don’t dismiss all their work just because their one-year target is off the mark. And don’t be surprised to see me highlighting their views in future newsletters.
Good luck in 2023!
This post was originally published on TKer.co
Sam Ro is the founder of TKer.co. Follow him on Twitter at @SamRo
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China lockdown protests pause as police flood city streets
HONG KONG (AP) — With police out in force, there was no word of additional protests against strict government anti-pandemic measures Tuesday in Beijing, as temperatures fell well below freezing. Shanghai, Nanjing and other cities where online calls to gather had been issued were also reportedly quiet.
Rallies against China’s unusually strict anti-virus measures spread to several cities over the weekend in the biggest show of opposition to the ruling Communist Party in decades. Authorities eased some regulations, apparently to try to quell public anger, but the government showed no sign of backing down on its larger coronavirus strategy, and analysts expect authorities to quickly silence the dissent.
Police were checking making random checks on phones at the People’s Square subway station in Shanghai Monday evening, an eyewitness said. The person declined to give his name out of fear of retribution, as he was en route to a planned protest near the station, which he did not find.
In Hong Kong Monday, about 50 students from mainland China sang at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and some lit candles in a show of support for those in mainland cities who demonstrated against restrictions that have confined millions to their homes. Hiding their faces to avoid official retaliation, the students chanted, “No PCR tests but freedom!” and “Oppose dictatorship, don’t be slaves!”
The gathering and a similar one elsewhere in Hong Kong were the biggest protests there in more than a year under rules imposed to crush a pro-democracy movement in the territory, which is Chinese but has a separate legal system from the mainland.
“I’ve wanted to speak up for a long time, but I did not get the chance to,” said James Cai, a 29-year-old from Shanghai who attended a Hong Kong protest and held up a piece of white paper, a symbol of defiance against the ruling party’s pervasive censorship. ”If people in the mainland can’t tolerate it anymore, then I cannot as well.”
It wasn’t clear how many people have been detained since the protests began in the mainland Friday, sparked by anger over the deaths of 10 people in a fire in the northwestern city of Urumqi. That prompted angry questions online about whether firefighters or victims trying to escape were blocked by locked doors or other anti-virus controls. Authorities denied that, but the incident became a target for public frustration about the controls.
Without mentioning the protests, the criticism of Xi or the fire, some local authorities eased restrictions Monday.
The city government of Beijing announced it would no longer set up gates to block access to apartment compounds where infections are found.
“Passages must remain clear for medical transportation, emergency escapes and rescues,” said Wang Daguang, a city official in charge of epidemic control, according to the official China News Service.
Guangzhou, a manufacturing and trade center that is the biggest hot spot in China’s latest wave of infections, announced some residents will no longer be required to undergo mass testing.
The U.S. Embassy advised citizens to prepare for all eventualities and said Ambassador Nicholas Burns and other American diplomats have “regularly raised our concerns on many of these issues directly.”
“We encourage all U.S. citizens to keep a 14-day supply of medications, bottled water, and food for yourself and any members of your household,” the Embassy said in a statement Monday.
In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby “obviously, there are people in China that — that have — have concerns about that,” referring to lockdowns.
“And they’re protesting that, and we believe they should be able to do that peacefully,” Kirby said at a Monday briefing.
Urumqi, where the fire occurred, and another city in the Xinjiang region in the northwest announced markets and other businesses in areas deemed at low risk of infection would reopen this week and public bus service would resume.
“Zero COVID,” which aims to isolate every infected person, has helped to keep China’s case numbers lower than those of the United States and other major countries. But tolerance for the measures has flagged as people in some areas have been confined at home for up to four months and say they lack reliable access to food and medical supplies.
The ruling party promised last month to reduce disruption by changing quarantine and other rules known as the “20 Guidelines.” But a spike in infections has prompted cities to tighten controls.
On Tuesday, the number of daily cases dipped slightly to 38,421 after setting new records over recent days. Of those, 34,860 were among people who showed no symptoms.
The ruling party newspaper People’s Daily called for its anti-virus strategy to be carried out effectively, indicating Xi’s government has no plans to change course.
“Facts have fully proved that each version of the prevention and control plan has withstood the test of practice,” a People’s Daily commentator wrote.
In Hong Kong, protesters at Chinese University put up posters that said, “Do Not Fear. Do Not Forget. Do Not Forgive,” and sang including “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical “Les Miserables.” Most hid their faces behind blank white sheets of paper.
“I want to show my support,” said a 24-year-old mainland student who would identify herself only as G for fear of retaliation. “I care about things that I couldn’t get to know in the past.”
University security guards videotaped the event but there was no sign of police.
At an event in Central, a business district, about four dozen protesters held up blank sheets of paper and flowers in what they said was mourning for the fire victims in Urumqi and others who have died as a result of “zero COVID” policies.
Police cordoned off an area around protesters, who stood in small, separate groups to avoid violating pandemic rules that bar gatherings of more than 12 people. Police took identity details of participants but there were no arrests.
Hong Kong has tightened security controls and rolled back Western-style civil liberties since China launched a campaign in 2019 to crush a pro-democracy movement. The territory has its own anti-virus strategy that is separate from the mainland.
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee is a law-and-order hardliner who led the crackdown on protesters, including on university campuses.
Both the Hong Kong government and the State Council, China’s Cabinet, issued statements Monday pledging to uphold public order and the authority of the National Security Law, which gives authorities sweeping powers to charge demonstrators with crimes including sedition.
Protests also occurred over the weekend in Guangzhou near Hong Kong, Chengdu and Chongqing in the southwest, and Nanjing in the east, according to witnesses and video on social media. Guangzhou has seen earlier violent confrontations between police and residents protesting quarantines.
Most protesters have complained about excessive restrictions, but some turned their anger at Xi, China’s most powerful leader since at least the 1980s. In a video that was verified by The Associated Press, a crowd in Shanghai on Saturday chanted, “Xi Jinping! Step down! CCP! Step down!”
The British Broadcasting Corp. said one of its reporters was beaten, kicked, handcuffed and detained for several hours by Shanghai police but later released.
The BBC criticized what it said was Chinese authorities’ explanation that its reporter was detained to prevent him from contracting the coronavirus from the crowd. “We do not consider this a credible explanation,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said the BBC reporter failed to identify himself and “didn’t voluntarily present” his press credential.
“Foreign journalists need to consciously follow Chinese laws and regulations,” Zhao said.
Swiss broadcaster RTS said its correspondent and a cameraman were detained while doing a live broadcast but released a few minutes later. An AP journalist was detained but later released.
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Associated Press writer Joe McDonald in Beijing contributed.
Leaked The Sims 5 screenshots show city streets and apartment buildings
Last month, EA Maxis showed a few early images from Project Rene, the in-development Sims 5. They said they were showing the project early because they wanted to involve the community in its development.
Well, now it looks like someone has leaked images from a recent Sims 5 playtest, which seemingly shows a city environment with several apartments to build inside.