
-
Four days left to square the circle on global plastic pollution treaty
-
'My boss raped me': Japanese prosecutor's fight for justice
-
Asian markets waver to start key week for trade, US data
-
Marcos says Philippines would be dragged 'kicking and screaming' into Taiwan war
-
China's Gen Z women embrace centuries-old script
-
With poetry and chants, Omanis strive to preserve ancient language
-
Australia women's rugby team lose trump card Caslick for World Cup
-
New tensions trouble small town America in Trump's second term
-
Al Jazeera says 5 journalists killed in Israeli strike in Gaza
-
Rose tops Spaun in playoff to win PGA St. Jude as Fleetwood falters again
-
Pioneering MLB umpire Pawol debuts behind plate in Braves win
-
West Indies level ODI series with Pakistan as Chase stars
-
Spain's Alex Palou wins third consecutive IndyCar season title
-
Barcelona look smooth in Como demolition as Ter Stegen buries hatchet
-
Erratic Alcaraz battles through in Cincinnati opening match
-
One killed, dozens injured, as quake hits western Turkey
-
Burmester wins playoff to capture LIV Golf Chicago crown
-
Course owner Trump hails Forrest's 'brilliant' Scottish Championship win
-
Eight dead in shooting outside Ecuador nightclub: police
-
NASCAR driver breaks collarbone in fall as he celebrates win
-
Swiatek advances by walkover into Cincinnati fourth round
-
Hundreds march in London against UK recognising a Palestinian state
-
Moscow strikes kill six in Ukraine; refineries hit in Russia
-
Firefighters bring huge blaze in France under control
-
Swiss pilot takes big step closer to solar plane altitude record
-
Slot seeks Liverpool balance for Premier League defence
-
Mali arrests dozens of soldiers over alleged bid to topple junta
-
After busy first 100 days, Germany's Merz faces discord at home
-
'Weapons' battles to top of North American box office
-
Local hero Forrest wins Scottish Championship golf
-
Trump says to move homeless people 'far' from Washington
-
New-look Liverpool humbled by Crystal Palace in Community Shield
-
Italy's Mount Vesuvius closed to tourists over wildfire
-
Europe pushes for Ukraine role in Trump-Putin talks
-
Israel's Gaza plan risks 'another calamity': UN official
-
Israel PM says new plan for Gaza 'best way to end the war'
-
Indigenous communities plead for action at plastic pollution talks
-
Power-packed David slams 83 as Australia beat South Africa in 1st T20
-
Italy's Mount Vesuvius closed to tourists as wildfire rages
-
'Challenging day' for firefighters battling huge blaze in France
-
Antonio Banderas rules out retirement as he turns 65
-
Israel far right presses Netanyahu for decisive win against Hamas
-
Salah criticises UEFA for 'Palestinian Pele' tribute: 'Tell us how he died'
-
Italian Brainrot: the AI memes only kids know
-
Son Heung-min makes instant impact in LAFC debut
-
Armenians caught between hope and distrust after accord with Azerbaijan
-
Dropped Australian Test star Labuschagne plots Ashes return
-
Teen darts sensation Littler wins first World Series crown of year
-
Saudi Electricity Company Reports 22% Net Profit Growth in Q2 2025
-
Fleetwood clings to one-stroke PGA St. Jude lead over Rose
RIO | 1.76% | 61.86 | $ | |
RBGPF | 1.7% | 73.08 | $ | |
NGG | -1.51% | 71.01 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.39% | 23.05 | $ | |
GSK | 0.58% | 37.8 | $ | |
BTI | 0.96% | 57.24 | $ | |
SCU | 0% | 12.72 | $ | |
SCS | -0.76% | 15.88 | $ | |
BP | -0.15% | 34.14 | $ | |
JRI | 0.19% | 13.435 | $ | |
BCC | -1.34% | 82.09 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.14% | 14.42 | $ | |
RELX | -2.2% | 48 | $ | |
AZN | -0.71% | 73.535 | $ | |
BCE | 2.34% | 24.35 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.25% | 23.58 | $ | |
VOD | 0.88% | 11.36 | $ |

Virus disinformation drives anti-China sentiment, lockdown fears
A deluge of disinformation about a flu-like virus called HMPV is stoking anti-China sentiment across Asia and spurring unfounded concerns of renewed lockdowns, despite experts dismissing comparisons with the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago.
AFP's fact-checkers have debunked a slew of social media posts about the usually non-fatal respiratory disease human metapneumovirus after cases rose in China. Many of these posts claimed that people were dying and that a national emergency had been declared.
Garnering tens of thousands of views, some posts recycled old footage from China's draconian lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, which originated in the country in late 2019, as well as of crowded hospitals and medics in hazmat suits.
The falsehoods and fearmongering, which researchers warn could jeopardise the public response to a future pandemic, surged even as the World Health Organization said China's HMPV outbreak was "within the expected range" for this season.
Philip Mai, co-director of the Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, told AFP that the authors of some of these posts were "trying to scare people".
Mai said there was "an uptick in anti-Chinese rhetoric", with many on online platforms unfairly trying to blame HMPV cases "on an entire community or culture".
One video, shared by hundreds of users, showed a confrontation between Chinese citizens and police in medical suits, claiming that the country had begun to isolate the population to tackle HMPV.
AFP fact-checkers found that the sequence portrayed an unrelated altercation that occurred in 2022 in Shanghai.
- 'Monetising panic' -
Other posts claimed that HMPV and Covid-19 had "cross-mutated" into a more severe disease. But multiple virologists told AFP the viruses are from different families and impossible to merge.
Adding to the wave of disinformation were sensational, "clickbait" headlines in some mainstream media outlets that described HMPV as a "mystery illness" overpowering the Chinese healthcare system.
In reality, it is a known pathogen that has circulated for decades and generally causes only a mild infection of the upper respiratory tract.
"It's an example of monetising panic in an already bewildered public right on the heels of the Covid-19 pandemic," Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago, told AFP.
"The truth is that the HMPV is not a mystery illness."
- 'Fearmongering' -
Such posts have led to a surge in anti-China commentary across Southeast Asia, with one Facebook user going as far as saying that Chinese people "shouldn't be allowed to enter the Philippines anymore".
One TikTok video shared an Indian TV news report on the virus but with an overlaid message: "China has done it again".
"Because of the psychological trauma inflicted by Covid-19 -- and by draconian lockdown policies -- citizens around the world react anxiously to the possibility of another pandemic emerging from China," Isaac Stone Fish, chief executive of the China-focused business intelligence firm Strategy Risks, told AFP.
"The right response is to distrust what Beijing says about public health, but not assume that means the (Chinese Communist) Party is covering up another pandemic, and certainly not to insult Chinese people," he added.
Much of the disinformation about HMPV in early January came from social media accounts with an Indian focus, before spreading to others with audiences in Africa, Indonesia and Japan, Mai said.
In an apparent bid to ramp up the anti-China sentiment, many of them peddled HMPV falsehoods alongside videos of people eating food that may seem strange or exotic to outsiders.
Others used spooky music and old images to sensationalise routine cautions issued by Chinese health authorities.
Many such posts on X reached millions of viewers without a Community Note, a crowd-sourced tool to debunk false information.
"My concern is that all of the fear-mongering about HMPV now will make it harder for public health officials to raise the alarm about future pandemics," Mai said.
burs-ac/dhw/stu/lb
F.Fehr--VB