Your Wednesday Press Conference – The New York Times

China’s hospitals are overloaded

China’s hospitals were overcrowded, underfunded and understaffed in their best times. But with Covid now spreading freely in China, The health system is being pushed to its limitswith patients lined up along the walls of the corridors and exhausted emergency departments.

Healthcare workers on the front lines are also battling the spread of infection within their ranks. In some hospitals, so many people have tested positive for the virus that the few remaining do not say they are forced to do the work of five or more colleagues.

To make sure there are enough staff to work, some facilities have waived the requirement that doctors and nurses conduct self-tests before work. A doctor in downtown Wuhan said her hospital staff were so exhausted that a neurosurgeon in her department recently had to perform two surgeries in one day while fighting. Coping with the symptoms of Covid.

Numbers: The actual scale of China’s health emergency is difficult to gauge. But data released by local authorities shows that the virus is rampant, with reports from several cities and provinces of hundreds of thousands of infections being recorded daily. In Shanghai, a hospital guess that half of the city’s 25 million residents will eventually become infected.

Russia reacts to oil price ceiling

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that starting February 1, his government will ban the export of Russian oil to any country agreed to the Western price ceiling introduced earlier this month. The impact of the move is likely to be limited as the EU, the region most dependent on Russian oil, has banned most Russian oil imports.

After months of negotiations, the G7 nations – the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US – and the EU this month agreed to limit the price of Russian crude oil to a level $60 a barrel. The move is intended to undermine Kremlin revenue and reduce funding for the war in Ukraine without completely disrupting global oil supplies.

The cap is set close to Russia’s current selling prices, and some countries – like Ukraine’s neighbor Poland – argue that it doesn’t make much of a difference to the Kremlin. This limit will be reviewed every two months. The Kremlin’s defiant response was somewhat predictable, as Moscow has insisted it will not sell capped oil.

In other news from the war:

‘A day of crying’

In western New York, death toll from a punitive winter storm continued climbing four days after the snow began on Friday; Nearly 30 people are reported dead after the mayor of Buffalo reported eight more deaths yesterday morning. Some were found in stuck vehicles or in the snow; others die after being without power for several days.

Even as the rescue effort continued, officials and emergency workers were reeling from what they said was the extraordinary ordeal of saving lives in the blizzard, which set a time record – 36 continuous hours – and winds of 79 miles per hour.

Thousands of US flights were damaged canceled yesterday afternoon as airlines struggled to recover from a holiday storm that left passengers stranded. Many people have been booked on Southwest Airlines flights, which have suffered from what executives and analysts describe as the biggest operational crisis in the company’s five-decade history. company.

First Person: Anndel Nicole Taylor, a nursing assistant, was among those killed in the storm. On Christmas Day, her family gathers, mourning what should have been a celebration. Her gifts are still wrapped under the tree. “It was just a day of crying,” her sister said. “All day long, we just cried.”

A repeat of Mickey Mouse that appeared in the 1928 short film “Steamboat Willie” will enter the public domain in 2024. But those trying to take advantage may be able to. ends up in a legit mousetrap.

“They won’t be able to go after everyone,” one copyright expert said of the famous Disney litigation. “The front lines will have to be drawn.”

SPORTS NEWS FROM Ethics

What Liverpool can expect from Cody Gakpo: Jürgen Klopp’s side reached an agreement to sign the Dutchman in January – So what exactly are they getting?

Premier League is back: Top football in the UK is back on entertaining-style Gifting Day. Here’s what we learned after the World Cup break.

Erling Haaland’s link to Leeds: As the Manchester City forward prepares to face Leeds, those who know his father, Alfie, recall family links to the Yorkshire club.

ARTS AND IDEAS

Taste of 2023

Kim Severson, a food reporter for The Times, combed through dozens of reports and newsletters, and interviewed the best food forecasters in the game for a look at the 2023 food crystal ball. Here are some outstanding trends:

• Take salt water. Fresh sea flavors have created a craze for coastal cocktails garnished with crab claws and oysters.

• Japanese food is what all other cuisines want to share most: Chefs around the world are combining Japanese flavors with dishes from elsewhere.

• Ube, a vanilla-scented, slightly fatty purple sweet potato from the Philippines, is popping up in all sorts of foods and drinks, from pies and waffles to lattes and ube coladas.

• Nigerian food, with its rich and varied layers, will be a breakout star in the US, as chefs and diners unfamiliar with West African cooking begin to understand the dish from a different perspective. area.

• Avocados will be used to bake bread and be used in cocktails and desserts, and avocado oil will be a favorite cooking medium. And in the binge trends, look out for the Mexican spirit called sotol and the classic preference for Galliano liqueur.