Zhang Yongzhen stages protest, as government attempts to avoid scrutiny over handling of outbreak

The first scientist to publish a sequence of the Covid-19 virus in China was staging a sit-in protest after authorities locked him out of his laboratory.

Zhang Yongzhen, a virologist, wrote in an online post on Monday that he and his team were suddenly notified they were being evicted from their lab, the latest in a series of setbacks, demotions and ousters since he published the sequence in early January 2020.

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Six people have been killed and more than 200 injured in attacks by bears over the past year

Japan is to trial an AI bear-warning system after a record number of attacks on humans over the past year as the animals struggle to find their staple foods.

A pilot system in Toyama prefecture, central Japan, will monitor live feeds from government, municipal and private security cameras to identify bears on the move in areas close to people, and send instant warnings to relevant local authorities, police and hunters. AI will also be used to monitor bears movement patterns and try to predict their future whereabouts.

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Leader says ‘it’s not been easy’ as he stands aside five years after controversially realigning the country with China

The Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, has announced he will not stand as a candidate when lawmakers vote this week for a new leader, and his political party would instead back former foreign minister Jeremiah Manele.

The two major opposition parties in the Solomon Islands struck a coalition deal on Saturday as they vie with Sogavare’s party to form a government after an election delivered no clear winner.

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Despite talk of a Nobel peace prize, Japan’s leader is facing a backlash among voters as key byelection approaches

In the past fortnight Fumio Kishida has been mentioned as a possible recipient of the Nobel peace prize and praised for a speech to congress in which he urged the US not to retreat into isolation.

But since his return to Tokyo after a successful summit with Joe Biden, Japan ’s prime minister has been buffeted by domestic political headwinds that this weekend could spell the beginning of the end of his administration.

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Four buildings destroyed in blast that also damaged homes in nearby villages

An ammunition explosion at a base in south-western Cambodia has killed 20 soldiers and wounded several others, the prime minister has said.

Hun Manet said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply shocked” when he received the news of Saturday afternoon’s blast at the base in Kampong Speu province. The cause was not immediately clear.

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End of secretary of state Antony Blinken’s three-day visit marks upsurge in military activity after period of relative calm

Taiwan has reported that a dozen Chinese warplanes flew sorties close to the island on Saturday, in a sudden surge of military activity just hours after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, left Beijing following talks with President Xi Jinping and top Chinese officials.

Before Blinken’s three-day visit to China , US officials had pointed to a period of relative calm in the Taiwan strait over the past few months, after years of aggressive Chinese military manoeuvres and threats, as a factor in improving US-Chinese relations since Joe Biden held a summit meeting with Xi in November.

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Joint UK-French investigation alleges group advertised small-boat crossings of Channel on social media

Four Vietnamese nationals have been arrested in London after an investigation into alleged people smugglers advertising small-boat crossings of the Channel on Facebook.

The joint UK-French investigation alleges the group shared posts aimed at the Vietnamese community and charged migrants thousands of pounds to make the crossing.

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EV sales have plateaued economic headwinds and weaker state subsidies but the glut might just be a temporary rut

Elon Musk became the world’s richest man by evangelising about electric cars – and delivering them by the million. Yet in recent months his company, Tesla, has struggled to maintain its momentum: sales have dropped this year, and so has its share price.

Those struggles have become emblematic of a broader reckoning facing the electric vehicle (EV) industry. After the soaring demand and valuations of the coronavirus pandemic years, the pace of sales growth has slowed. The industry has entered a new phase, with questions over whether the switch from petrol and diesel to cleaner electric is facing a troublesome stall or a temporary speed bump.

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Speaking to experts and people on the ground in Pas de Calais reveals a different narrative to that told by Rishi Sunak

The people from Vietnam trying to get to England on small boats across the Channel stand out from the rest of those drawn to the Pas de Calais coastline.

They are notably young, many just teenagers. They tend to stick together and eschew the attention of the aid workers offering food and water down at the beach or in the forests where they sleep at night.

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