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People arriving in England from mainland China will have to provide a negative COVID test before flying, the government has said.

A growing list of countries, including the US, have announced similar rules in recent days.

The Department of Health and Social Care said the “precautionary and temporary” measure would take effect from 5 January.

The negative test must have been done no more than two days before departure.

Some arrivals will also be tested for potential new COVID variants, although it’s believed those circulating in China are the same as in the UK and the rest of Europe.

The government said it was working with the administrations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to get the same rules in place there.

However, there are no direct flights to those nations from China.

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There has been a surge in infections in China after it rowed back some of its notoriously tough coronavirus rules, such as regular PCR testing.

With its border controls also being eased next week and more people set to travel abroad, there are worries it could lead to an increase in global cases.

Officials estimated 250 million people are likely to have contracted the virus in the first 20 days of December, according to leaked notes.

Shanghai last week had 5.43 million positive cases but the true number may be much higher as asymptomatic cases are no longer recorded.

China has been hit with the new rules because of “a lack of comprehensive health information”, the Department of Health said.

It added: “The situation remains under review and the UK is working with China on next steps. If there are improvements in information sharing and greater transparency then temporary measures will be reviewed.”

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the country was taking a “balanced and precautionary approach”.

Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at the UK Health Security Agency, said the rise in cases in China was believed to be “due to low natural immunity and lower vaccine uptake including boosters rather than the emergence of new COVID-19 variants”.

Spain, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the US and India are among those to have recently introduced new rules on arrivals from the country.

On Friday, France’s transport minister said it would also bring in changes from 1 January.

Negative tests will be needed before flying from China, masks must be worn on the plane and tests will be carried out on arrival in France.

COVID regulations for different countries

US: Starting on 5 January, the US will bring in mandatory COVID-19 tests on travellers from China. All plane passengers aged two and above will have to have a negative result no more than two days before leaving from the mainland, Hong Kong or Macau. The US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention said Americans should also reconsider travel to those places.

JAPAN: The country will require a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival for travellers from mainland China. Those who test positive will be required to quarantine for seven days. New border measures for China will come into effect at midnight on 30 December. The government will also limit requests from airlines to increase flights to China.

INDIA: From 1 January, people travelling to India from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand must have a negative COVID before their departure and upload it on an Indian government website.

ITALY: The nation has ordered COVID-19 antigen swabs and virus sequencing for all travellers coming from China. Milan’s main airport, Malpensa, has started testing passengers arriving from Beijing and Shanghai.

TAIWAN: Beginning on 1 January, all passengers on direct flights from China, as well as by boat at two offshore islands, will have to take PCR tests upon arrival.

SOUTH KOREA: The nation will require travellers from China to provide a negative COVID test result before departure.

SPAIN: People travelling from China to Spain will be required to test negative for COVID or prove they have been fully vaccinated against the disease.

MALAYSIA: The country will screen body temperatures of all inbound travellers, including those from China, and those detected with fever or other symptoms will be tested for COVID. It will also sample wastewater from aircraft arriving from China for coronavirus and will conduct tests to detect the entry of any new variants.

FRANCE: Negative tests will be needed before flying from China from 1 January, masks must be worn on the plane and tests will also be carried out on arrival in France.

COUNTRIES MONITORING THE SITUATION

AUSTRALIA: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia was continuing to monitor the situation in respect of China “as we continue to monitor the impact of COVID here in Australia as well as around the world”.

PHILIPPINES: The country is being “very cautious” and could impose measures such as testing requirements on visitors from China, but not an outright ban, transportation secretary Jaime Bautista said.

The European Union’s health agency has said the introduction of mandatory COVID screenings of travellers from China is “unjustified”.

Reacting to the UK government announcement, Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said he was “opposed to new, creeping moves towards restrictions and lockdowns” but “preventing entry to positive cases is a sensible move”.

Read more:
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China has rejected criticism of its COVID data and said it expects future mutations to be potentially more transmissible but less severe.

The country’s own requirement for international travellers to quarantine is ending on 8 January. It’s thought to no longer be effective given the high number of infections now circulating within the country.

However, incoming travellers will still need to show a negative test before departure.

China’s loosening of the rules followed a rare wave of protests over the country’s Draconian COVID laws that appeared to surprise its leaders.

There are fears the increase in cases there could lead to many deaths because of the relatively low percentage of elderly and vulnerable people who are fully vaccinated.

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Israel warns Gaza City residents to flee south to ‘humanitarian area’

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Israel warns Gaza City residents to flee south to 'humanitarian area'

Any remaining residents in Gaza’s largest city should leave for a designated area in the south, Israel’s military has warned.

Israeli forces are carrying out an offensive on suburbs of Gaza City, in the territory’s north, as part of plans to capture it – raising concern over an already-devastating humanitarian crisis.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced pressure to stop the attack and allow more aid in, the military has announced a new humanitarian zone in the south.

Spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Gaza City residents should head to a designated coastal area of Khan Younis.

There, he said they would be able to receive food, medical care and shelter.

On Thursday, Israel said it has control of around 40% of Gaza City and 75% of the entire territory of Gaza.

Many of the city’s residents had already been displaced earlier in the war, only to return later. Some of them have said they will refuse to move again.

That’s despite the military claiming it is within a few kilometres of the city centre, coming after weeks of heavy strikes.

But the war in Gaza has left Israel increasingly isolated in the diplomatic sphere, with some of its closest allies condemning the campaign that’s devastated the territory.

Just two weeks ago, a famine was declared in Gaza City and surrounding areas by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a globally recognised system for classifying the severity of food insecurity.

A resident runs with his belongings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A resident runs with his belongings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters

There is also concern within Israel, where calls have grown to stop the war and secure the release of the remaining 48 hostages.

Israel believes 20 of those hostages are still alive.

Even as relatives of those hostages lead protests, Mr Netanyahu continues to push for an all-or-nothing deal to release all hostages and defeat Hamas.

Read more:
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West Bank family describe daily harassment

On Friday, Donald Trump said Washington is in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas to release the captives.

“We said let them all out, right now let them all out. And much better things will happen for them but if you don’t let them all out, it’s going to be a tough situation, it’s going to be nasty,” he added.

Hamas is “asking for some things that are fine”, he said, without elaborating.

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‘Don’t bite me’: Man heard screaming moments before fatal shark attack in Sydney

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'Don't bite me': Man heard screaming moments before fatal shark attack in Sydney

A man was heard screaming in the water moments before he died after a shark attack in Sydney, witnesses have said.

Emergency services responded to reports that a man in his 50s had suffered critical injuries at Long Reef Beach shortly after 10am (1am in the UK) on Saturday.

The man, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, was brought to shore but died at the scene, authorities have said.

Two sections of a surfboard have been recovered and taken for examination, and beaches near the area are closed as drones search for the animal.

Police are liaising with wildlife experts to determine the species of shark involved.

Pic: Sky News Australia
Image:
Pic: Sky News Australia

Surfer screamed ‘don’t bite me’

Speaking to Sky News Australia, witness Mark Morgenthal said he saw the attack and that the shark was one of the biggest he had ever seen.

“There was a guy screaming, ‘I don’t want to get bitten, I don’t want to get bitten, don’t bite me,’ and I saw the dorsal fin of the shark come up, and it was huge,” Mr Morgenthal said.

“Then I saw the tail fin come up and start kicking, and the distance between the dorsal fin and the tail fin looked to be about four metres, so it actually looked like a six-metre shark.”

Mark Morgenthal said it 'looked like a six metre shark' in the attack. Pic: Sky News Australia
Image:
Mark Morgenthal said it ‘looked like a six metre shark’ in the attack. Pic: Sky News Australia

Victim was a father and experienced surfer

New South Wales Police Superintendent John Duncan said at a press conference that the victim was 57 years old, calling the incident a “terrible tragedy”.

“The gentleman had gone out about 9.30 this morning with some of his friends, about five or six of his mates,” he added. “He’s an experienced surfer that we understand.

“Unfortunately, it would appear that a large, what we believe to be a shark, has attacked him. And as a result of that, he lost a number of limbs.

“His colleagues managed to make it back to the beach safely, and a short time later, his body was found floating in the surf, and a couple of other people went out and recovered it.”

Mr Duncan added that officers “understand he leaves behind a wife and a young daughter… and obviously tomorrow being Father’s Day is particularly critical and particularly tragic”.

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Local surfer and eyewitness Bill Sakula also told reporters at the beach: “It’s going to send shockwaves through the community.

“Everyone is going to be a little bit nervous for a while.”

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Surf Life Saving NSW has deployed a drone to search for further shark activity.

Its chief executive Steve Pearce said: “Our deepest condolences go to the family of the man involved in this terrible tragedy.”

Shark attacks are very rare, with this incident widely thought to be the first in New South Wales this year.

The last time a person in Sydney was killed in a shark attack was in February 2022 – the city’s first fatal shark attack since 1963.

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British couple killed in Lisbon funicular crash named

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British couple killed in Lisbon funicular crash named

Two of the three Britons killed in the Lisbon funicular crash have been named.

Kayleigh Smith, 36, and William Nelson, 44, were a couple and died alongside 14 others in Wednesday’s incident.

Ms Smith graduated from the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester, where Mr Nelson ran the master’s degree in directing.

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Lisbon crash: What happened?

The identity of the third British victim has not yet been confirmed.

MADS theatre in Macclesfield, Cheshire, said Ms Smith was a “valued member of our society” who will be “greatly missed”.

It said she was an award-winning director and actress, who had also done multiple crew and front-of-house roles.

Five Portuguese citizens died when the packed carriage plummeted out of control – four of them workers at a charity on the hill – but most victims were foreigners.

Police said the other fatalities were two Canadians, two South Koreans, one American, one French citizen, one Swiss and one Ukrainian.

All but one were declared dead at the scene – and 21 others in the packed carriage were injured.

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‘We felt no brakes anymore’

The yellow carriages of the Gloria funicular are a big draw for tourists, as well as a proud symbol of the Portuguese capital.

The journey is just 265m (870ft) up a steep hill and takes three minutes, with two carriages travelling in opposite directions on a linked cable.

Read more:
Everything we know about the Lisbon crash

Witnesses reported seeing one of the carriages hurtle down the hill before derailing and crashing 30m from the bottom.

The aftermath shows it crumpled and twisted against the side of a building.

People who were in the bottom carriage said they were a few metres into the climb when it started going backwards.

When they saw the other car speeding towards them, many jumped through the windows to escape.

The crash happened around 6pm on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
Image:
The crash happened around 6pm on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters

Prime Minister Luis Montenegro called the crash “one of the biggest tragedies of our recent past” and authorities are under intense pressure to quickly identifying the cause.

One witness who was in the lower carriage told Sky’s Europe correspondent Alistair Bunkall that the brakes appeared to fail.

The carriage’s brakeman, Andre Marques, has also been confirmed among the dead.

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‘I screamed, we’re all going to die’

Officials said the streetcar, which has been running since 1914, had a half-hour visual inspection every day and underwent full maintenance last year.

The line links the downtown area near Restauradores Square with Lisbon’s Bairro Alto neighbourhood.

A preliminary technical report due on Friday has now been delayed until Saturday. Another report with a broader scope is expected within 45 days.

Three other funicular lines in Lisbon have been suspended.

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