Free Republic

One of the authors of a Senate bill that would enable the US commerce department to ban technologies with links to foreign governments has said the Biden White House is “very in favor” of the measure, but stopped short of saying whether the administration has discussed possibly prohibiting the Chinese-owned platform TikTok in particular.

In the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen, it’s not just the mouths of fishers being swabbed for Covid-19, but also the fish they’ve caught. As China maintains its commitment to zero Covid, city authorities are working to ensure there is no avenue for the virus to enter, ordering all fishers and their catch undergo a daily nucleic acid test. According to the Xiamen Jimei district’s political and legal committee, it was necessary to swab both returning workers and their “materials” immediately upon disembarking each day, because some fishers had made illegal trades or contact with overseas vessels while at sea,...

Two men have been arrested after police said they found them with a car boot-full of Kentucky fried chicken and over $100,000 in cash as they tried to cross the border into Auckland despite New Zealand’s strict Covid-19 lockdown. The men were arrested after allegedly trying to flee from police near the Auckland border. When their car was searched, police said they found a large quantity of KFC, as well as the cash and a number of empty ounce bags. The arrest struck a chord with New Zealanders – especially Aucklanders, who have spent a month in a strict level...