BEIJING/HONG KONG, Jan 3 (Reuters) – State media in China performed down the severity of a surge of COVID-19 infections forward of an anticipated briefing on Tuesday by its scientists to the World Health Organization, which is hoping for detailed knowledge on the evolution of the virus.

China’s abrupt U-turn on COVID controls on Dec. 7, in addition to the accuracy of its case and mortality knowledge, have come beneath growing scrutiny at residence and overseas.

China’s international ministry labelled journey entry curbs imposed by some nations as “simply unreasonable”, saying they “lacked scientific basis”.

“We are willing to improve communication with the world,” international ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning advised reporters in Beijing.

“But…we are firmly opposed to attempts to manipulate the epidemic prevention and control measures for political purposes, and will take corresponding measures in different situations according to the principle of reciprocity.”

China’s shift away from a “zero-COVID” coverage that had been championed by President Xi Jinping adopted protests that had marked the strongest present of public defiance throughout his decade in energy and had coincided with the financial system’s slowest progress in almost half a century.

As the virus spreads unchecked, funeral parlours have reported a spike in demand for his or her companies and worldwide well being specialists predict no less than a million deaths in China this yr.

China reported three new COVID deaths for Monday, taking its official loss of life toll for the reason that pandemic started to five,253.

On Tuesday, the People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, cited Chinese specialists as saying the sickness brought on by the virus was comparatively delicate for most individuals.

“Severe and critical illnesses account for 3% to 4% of infected patients currently admitted to designated hospitals in Beijing,” Tong Zhaohui, vp of the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, advised the newspaper.

Kang Yan, head of West China Tianfu Hospital of Sichuan University, stated that previously three weeks, a complete of 46 sufferers had been admitted to intensive care items, or about 1% of symptomatic infections.

The emergencies space on the Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai was filled with sufferers on Tuesday, a Reuters witness stated.

Some had been in beds within the hall, lined with blankets and receiving IV remedy, whereas dozens had been queuing round them, ready to be seen by a health care provider. It was unclear what number of had been there with COVID.

WHO MEETING

The World Health Organization has urged Chinese well being officers to commonly share particular and real-time data on the outbreak.

The WHO has invited Chinese scientists to current detailed knowledge on viral sequencing at a technical advisory group meeting on Tuesday. It has additionally requested China to share knowledge on hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations.

“I don’t think China will be very sincere in disclosing information,” stated Alfred Wu, affiliate professor on the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore.

“They would rather just keep it to themselves or they would say nothing happened, nothing is new. My own sense is that we could assume that there is nothing new … but the problem is China’s transparency issue is always there.”

The United States, France, and others would require COVID exams on travellers from China, whereas Belgium stated it could take a look at wastewater from planes for brand new variants.

European Union well being officers will meet on Wednesday on a coordinated response.

China will cease requiring inbound travellers to enter quarantine from Jan. 8. But it should nonetheless demand a pre-departure take a look at.

‘DANGEROUS WEEKS’

As Chinese employees and buyers fall sick, considerations mount about near-term progress prospects on the planet’s second-largest financial system, inflicting volatility in international monetary markets.

A survey launched on Tuesday confirmed China’s manufacturing unit exercise shrank final month.

December shipments from Foxconn’s (2317.TW) Zhengzhou iPhone plant, disrupted by employee departures and unrest amid a COVID outbreak, had been 90% of the agency’s preliminary plans.

A “bushfire” of infections in China in coming months is more likely to damage its financial system this yr and drag international progress decrease, stated the top of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva.

“China is entering the most dangerous weeks of the pandemic,” warned Capital Economics analysts.

Mobility knowledge recommended that financial exercise was depressed nationwide and would seemingly stay so till infections subside, they added.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism stated the 52.71 million home journeys in the course of the New Year vacation generated 26.52 billion yuan ($3.84 billion), up 4% year-on-year however had been solely about 35% of the final pre-pandemic yr in 2019.

Expectations are increased for China’s greatest vacation, the Lunar New Year, later this month, when some specialists predict infections could have peaked in lots of locations.

Reporting by Beijing and Shanghai bureaus; extra reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan, Robert Birsel & Simon Cameron-Moore

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BEIJING/WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) – Cities throughout China scrambled to install hospital beds and construct fever screening clinics on Tuesday as the United States mentioned Beijing’s shock determination to let the virus run free was a concern for the world.

China this month started dismantling its stringent “zero-COVID” regime of mass lockdowns after protests in opposition to curbs that had largely saved the virus at bay for 3 years however at important prices to society and the world’s second-largest financial system.

Now, as the virus sweeps by a rustic of 1.4 billion individuals who lack pure immunity having been shielded for therefore lengthy, there’s rising concern about doable deaths, virus mutations and the impression on the financial system and commerce.

“We know that any time the virus is spreading, that it is in the wild, that it has the potential to mutate and to pose a threat to people everywhere,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price mentioned on Monday, including that the virus outbreak in China was additionally a concern for world progress.

Beijing reported 5 COVID-related deaths on Tuesday, following two on Monday, which have been the primary fatalities reported in weeks. In whole, China has reported simply 5,242 COVID deaths for the reason that pandemic emerged within the central metropolis of Wuhan in late 2019, a really low toll by world requirements.

But there are rising doubts that the statistics are capturing the total impression of a illness ripping by cities after China dropped curbs together with most necessary testing on Dec. 7.

Since then, some hospitals have turn into inundated, pharmacies emptied of medicines, whereas many individuals have gone into self-imposed lockdowns, straining supply companies.

“It’s a bit of a burden to suddenly reopen when the supply of medications was not sufficiently prepared,” mentioned Zhang, a 31-year-old supply employee in Beijing who declined to give his full title. “But I assist the reopening.”

Some well being specialists estimate 60% of individuals in China – equal to 10% of the world’s inhabitants – could possibly be contaminated over coming months, and that greater than 2 million might die.

In the capital, Beijing, security guards patrolled the entrance of a designated COVID-19 crematorium where Reuters journalists on Saturday saw a long line of hearses and workers in hazmat suits carrying the dead inside. Reuters could not establish if the deaths were due to COVID.

‘GETTING SICK’

In Beijing, which has emerged as the main infection hot spot, commuters, many coughing into their masks, were back on the trains to work and streets were coming back to life after being largely deserted last week.

Streets in Shanghai, the place COVID transmission charges are catching up with Beijing’s, have been emptier, and subway trains have been solely half-full.

“People are staying away as a result of they’re sick or they’re petrified of getting sick, however principally now, I believe it’s as a result of they’re really sick,” mentioned Yang, a coach at an almost empty Shanghai health club.

Top well being officers have softened their tone on the risk posed by the illness in latest weeks, a U-turn from earlier messaging that the virus had to be eradicated to save lives even as the remainder of the world opened up.

They have additionally been taking part in down the likelihood that the now predominant Omicron pressure might turn into extra virulent.

“The probability of a sudden large mutation … is very low,” Zhang Wenhong, a distinguished infectious illness specialist, instructed a discussion board on Sunday in feedback reported by state media.

Nevertheless, there are mounting indicators the virus is buffeting China’s fragile well being system.

Cities are ramping up efforts to broaden intensive care models and different services for extreme COVID circumstances, the state-run Global Times reported on Monday.

Authorities have additionally been racing to construct so-called fever clinics, services the place medical workers examine sufferers’ signs and administer remedy. Often hooked up to hospitals, the clinics are widespread in mainland China and are designed to forestall the broader unfold of contagious illness in hospitals.

In the previous week, main cities together with Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Wenzhou introduced they’d added a whole bunch of fever clinics, some in transformed sports activities services.

The virus can also be hammering China’s financial system, anticipated to develop 3% this 12 months, its worst efficiency in practically half a century. Workers and truck drivers falling in poor health are slowing down output and disrupting logistics, economists say.

A World Economics survey confirmed on Monday China’s enterprise confidence fell in December to its lowest since January 2013.

Weaker industrial exercise on the earth’s prime oil importer has capped positive aspects for crude costs and pushed copper decrease.

China saved benchmark lending rates of interest unchanged for the fourth consecutive month on Tuesday.

Reporting by Bernard Orr and Xiaoyu Yin in Beijing, David Stanway in Shanghai and Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Writing by John Geddie and Marius Zaharia; Editing by Robert Birsel

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

HONG KONG/BEIJING, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping, his ruling Politburo and senior authorities officers will meet over the following two days to plot a restoration for China’s battered financial system simply as the nation faces a surge in COVID-19 infections.

The key annual economic coverage convention takes place as virus infections spike within the capital Beijing per week after the leadership deserted its powerful “zero-COVID” controls.

The coverage had been championed by Xi however final month sparked essentially the most intensive protests below his 10-year presidency.

The closed-door annual Central Economic Work Conference will run from Thursday to Friday, in accordance to three sources with direct information of the matter.

Policy insiders and enterprise analysts are watching carefully, saying the leadership was possible to chart additional stimulus steps and focus on development targets.

Global traders, already caught off guard by the virus-policy U-turn, now discover themselves flying blind right into a chaotic post-pandemic transition, missing correct knowledge to monitor rising infections and potential threats to the financial system within the months forward.

Economists estimate that China’s development has slowed to round 3% this yr, far beneath the official goal of round 5.5%, marking considered one of China’s worst performances in virtually half a century.

State media reported late on Tuesday that some 50 individuals are critically or critically in poor health in hospitals in Beijing, whereas infections are additionally rising within the cities of Wuhan and Chengdu as properly as Hebei province, in accordance to medical workers, social media posts and state press studies.

But actual case numbers have turn into unimaginable to monitor due to lessened testing, and the National Health Commission (NHC) stated from Wednesday it might not report new asymptomatic COVID-19 infections as it was exhausting to precisely tally the overall depend, breaking with a apply it has held for a lot of the previous three years.

China’s yuan, on monitor for its worst yr since 1994, when China unified the official and market change charges, eased towards the greenback on Wednesday with merchants additionally citing worries a couple of contemporary surge of infections.

The enhance within the variety of circumstances comes per week after Chinese authorities overturned beforehand intensive testing and quarantine guidelines, aligning with a world that has largely reopened three years after COVID emerged.

The elation that met these modifications has rapidly pale amid mounting indicators that China might pay a value for shielding a inhabitants that lacks “herd immunity” and has low vaccination charges among the many aged.

‘PRICE WE PAY’

The World Health Organization warned of “very tough” occasions forward, highlighting wider fears of a wave of infections throughout a 1.4 billion inhabitants.

“It’s always very difficult for any country coming out of a situation where you’ve had very, very tight controls,” WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris stated in Geneva, including that China confronted a “very tough and difficult time.”

Official COVID case counts in China have been trending decrease in current weeks, however that has coincided with a drop in testing and is more and more at odds with the state of affairs on the bottom.

China has not reported any COVID-related deaths since Dec. 3, earlier than the nation began the loosening of curbs.

In the three years for the reason that pandemic erupted within the central Chinese metropolis of Wuhan, China has reported simply 5,235 COVID-related deaths – a tiny fraction of its inhabitants, and extraordinarily low by international requirements.

Long queues exterior fever clinics, buildings hooked up to hospitals that display for infectious illnesses in mainland China, have been a typical sight in Beijing and different cities in current days. National well being authorities stated that as of Wednesday they’ve opened over 47,000 fever clinics.

“This is the price we pay for being freer,” a 26-year-old surnamed Liu who works in advertising informed Reuters on the streets of the capital.

“Now it is essential that we improve our awareness in self-protection. I think now the risk depends on individuals,” she added, requesting anonymity.

In Shanghai, China’s most populous metropolis, a minimum of seven faculties have stated they are going to cease in-person educating due to COVID circumstances, with lessons going surfing, in accordance to mother and father and notices seen by Reuters.

Infections are anticipated to unfold throughout the nation in coming weeks, as some individuals who haven’t been in a position to journey return to dwelling cities and villages.

State media studies on Wednesday stated every day visitors flows on the important railway station within the tech hub of Hangzhou had greater than doubled to 128,000 as younger individuals headed dwelling.

The mass motion of individuals will peak going into the Lunar New Year holidays which begin on Jan 22, after restrictions on home journey for the earlier three years.

Already highway and air visitors in China, the world’s second-biggest oil client, has rebounded sharply after the easing, boosting the outlook for gas demand and supporting crude costs.

Top Chinese well being officers have downplayed the specter of the illness and pushed the thought of self-care in current weeks, a dramatic u-turn from earlier messages that the virus had to be eradicated.

The National Health Commission stated it might roll out the second COVID-19 vaccine booster photographs for high-risk teams and aged individuals over 60 years previous.

Reporting by Bernard Orr and Liz Lee in Beijing and Brenda Goh, Casey Hall, Winni Zhou, David Stanway and Shen Yiming in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Xu Jing in Beijing; Writing by John Geddie and Greg Torode; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Raju Gopalakrishnan

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BENGALURU, Nov 26 (Reuters) – The startup behind India’s first private house launch plans to put a satellite into orbit in 2023 and expects to give you the chance to accomplish that at half of the price of established launch corporations, the founders of Skyroot Aerospace informed Reuters in an interview.

The Hyderabad-based company, backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, says the $68 million it has raised will fund its subsequent two launches. Skyroot has been involved with greater than 400 potential prospects, it says.

Thousands of small satellite launches are deliberate in coming years as corporations construct out networks to ship broadband providers like SpaceX’s Starlink and to energy functions like monitoring provide chains or monitoring offshore oil rigs.

Skyroot faces each established and up-and-coming rocket launch rivals that additionally promise to carry down costs. In China, startup Galactic Energy put 5 satellites into orbit final week in its fourth profitable launch.

In Japan, Space One, backed by Canon Electronics (7739.T) and IHI Corp (7013.T), plans to launch 20 small rockets per yr by the center of the last decade.

But Skyroot, which launched a take a look at rocket final week, expects to lower the price of a launch by 50% in contrast with present pricing for established rivals like Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit and California-based Rocket Lab USA Inc (RKLB.O).

Pawan Chandana, one in every of Skyroot’s two co-founders, informed Reuters he anticipated a surge in demand for the company’s launch providers if it proves itself with launches set for subsequent yr.

“Most of these customers have been building constellations and will be launching them in the next five years,” he stated.

The Modi authorities’s push to improve India’s share of the worldwide house launch market from simply 1% has given traders confidence that Skyroot and different startups have authorities backing for his or her efforts, Skyroot says.

“Three or four months back when we were talking to investors, one of the biggest questions they asked was if the government was supporting us,” Skyroot co-founder Bharath Daka informed Reuters.

India opened the door to private house corporations in 2020 with a regulatory overhaul and a brand new company to increase private-sector launches.

Before that, corporations may solely act as contractors to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), a authorities house company with a repute of its personal for frugal engineering. The nation’s Mars mission in 2014 value solely $74 million, lower than the price range of the Hollywood house film “Gravity”.

Building on India’s report for value effectivity shall be key, stated Chandana. Skyroot, based in 2018 when Chandana and Daka stop jobs at ISRO, has set a goal to develop rockets for one-fifth of the present trade costs.

The Skyroot rocket that reached 89.5 kilometers altitude in final week’s take a look at launch used carbon-fibre parts and 3D-printed elements, together with the thrusters. That boosted effectivity by 30%, the company says, chopping weight and procurement costs, though it meant Skryoot engineers had to write the machine code for distributors who fabricated the rocket as a result of few had expertise working with carbon fibre.

With 3D printing, Skyroot believes it might probably construct a brand new rocket in simply two days as it really works in the direction of reusable rockets, a expertise pioneered by SpaceX.

Chandana and Daka consider the per-kilogram launch value for a satellite could be introduced down to practically $10, from 1000’s of {dollars} at present, a stretch goal that might upend the economics of house commerce and one that attracts inspiration from their idol: Elon Musk.

“SpaceX is a symbol of great innovation and great market validation,” stated Chandana, who added they haven’t had the possibility to converse to Musk.

“Right now, we think he’s probably busy running Twitter.”

Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ashish Chandra; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Edmund Klamann

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SHANGHAI/TAIPEI, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Hundreds of employees joined protests at Foxconn’s (2317.TW) flagship iPhone plant in China, with some males smashing surveillance cameras and home windows, footage uploaded on social media confirmed.

The uncommon scenes of open dissent in China mark an escalation of unrest on the large manufacturing facility in Zhengzhou metropolis that has come to symbolise a harmful build-up in frustration with the nation’s ultra-harsh COVID guidelines in addition to inept dealing with of the state of affairs by the world’s largest contract producer.

The set off for the protests, which started early on Wednesday, gave the impression to be a plan to delay bonus funds, lots of the demonstrators mentioned on livestream feeds. The movies couldn’t be instantly verified by Reuters.

“Give us our pay!”, chanted employees who have been surrounded by individuals in full hazmat fits, some carrying batons, based on footage from one video. Other footage confirmed tear gasoline being deployed and employees taking down quarantine boundaries. Some employees had complained they have been pressured to share dormitories with colleagues who had examined optimistic for COVID-19.

Foxconn mentioned in an announcement it had fulfilled its cost contracts and that experiences of contaminated workers residing on campus with new recruits have been “untrue.”

“Regarding any violence, the company will continue to communicate with employees and the government to prevent similar incidents from happening again,” the corporate added.

A supply accustomed to the state of affairs in Zhengzhou mentioned manufacturing on the plant was unaffected by the worker unrest and output remained “normal”.

Reuters has beforehand reported that Foxconn aimed to renew full manufacturing on the Zhengzhou iPhone plant by the second half of November.

While the newest unrest has added “uncertainties” to the goal, the supply mentioned the corporate was nonetheless working onerous to hit it, including that “only a portion” of the brand new recruits took half in the unrest.

A second supply accustomed to the matter, nonetheless, mentioned Foxconn was unlikely to hit the goal, pointing to disruptions triggered by the unrest, impacting significantly new recruits who have been employed to bridge the hole in the workforce.

“Originally, we were trying to see if the new recruits could go online by the end of November. But with the unrest, it’s certain that we can’t resume normal production by the month-end.”

RECRUITMENT DRIVE

Discontent over strict quarantine guidelines, the corporate’s lack of ability to stamp out outbreaks and poor circumstances together with shortages of meals had triggered employees to flee the manufacturing facility campus because the Apple Inc (AAPL.O) provider imposed a so-called closed loop system on the world’s largest iPhone plant in late October.

Under closed-loop operations, workers dwell and work on web site, remoted from the broader world.

Former employees have estimated that hundreds fled the manufacturing facility campus. Before the unrest, the Zhengzhou plant employed some 200,000 individuals. To retain workers and lure extra employees Foxconn has needed to supply bonuses and better salaries.

Local authorities additionally stepped in to assist, with some urging retired troopers and authorities employees to tackle stints, based on native media experiences.

The first supply mentioned that the eagerness of native authorities to recruit employees could have performed a task in inflicting “miscommunication” with the brand new hires on points together with allowance and lodging.

The Zhengzhou authorities didn’t instantly reply to a faxed request for remark.

WORKER WOES

In the movies, employees vented about how they have been by no means positive if they might get meals whereas in quarantine or over insufficient curbs to include an outbreak.

“Foxconn never treats humans as humans,” mentioned one individual.

Apple didn’t reply to requests for remark.

“It’s now evident that closed-loop production in Foxconn only helps in preventing COVID from spreading to the city, but does nothing (if not make it even worse) for the workers in the factory,” Aiden Chau of China Labour Bulletin, a Hong Kong-based advocacy group, mentioned in an electronic mail.

As of Wednesday afternoon, a lot of the footage on Kuaishou, a social media platform the place Reuters reviewed lots of the movies, had been taken down. Kuaishou didn’t reply to a request for remark.

The protest photographs come at a time when buyers are involved about escalating international supply-chain points, due in half to China’s zero-COVID insurance policies that purpose to stamp out each outbreak.

The curbs and discontent have hit manufacturing. Reuters final month reported that iPhone output on the Zhengzhou manufacturing facility might droop by as a lot as 30% in November resulting from COVID restrictions. learn extra

Foxconn is Apple’s largest iPhone maker, accounting for 70% of iPhone shipments globally. It makes a lot of the telephones on the Zhengzhou plant, although it has different smaller manufacturing websites in India and southern China.

Shares of Foxconn, formally referred to as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, have slipped 2% because the unrest emerged in late October.

Reporting by Brenda Goh and Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen, Yimou Lee in Taipei and Yew Lun Tian ; Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Edwina Gibbs, Louise Heavens and Bernadette Baum

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

OSLO, June 25 (Reuters) – Terrified revellers at a gay bar in Oslo hid in a basement and desperately known as family members as a gunman went on the rampage, killing two folks and injuring 21 on the day town was because of have fun its annual Pride parade.

Authorities mentioned the suspect, a 42-year-old Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin, was believed to be a radicalised Islamist with a historical past of psychological sickness who had been recognized to intelligence providers since 2015. learn extra

The suspect shall be subjected to a psychiatric analysis within the coming days as a part of the investigation, police mentioned.

The assault passed off within the early hours of Saturday, with victims shot inside and out of doors the London Pub, a longstanding hub of Oslo’s LGBTQ scene, as nicely as within the surrounding streets and at one different bar within the centre of the Norwegian capital.

The deceased had been two males of their 50s and 60s, police mentioned.

“Everything indicates that this has been an attack by an Islamist extremist,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere informed a information convention.

“We don’t (yet) know if the queer community was the intended target, but we know it is a victim.”

Bili Blum-Jansen, who was within the London Pub, mentioned he fled to the basement to flee the hail of bullets and hid there together with 80 to 100 different folks.

“Many called their partners and family, it felt almost as if they were saying goodbye. Others helped calm down those who were extremely terrified,” he informed TV2.

“I had a bit of panic and thought that if the shooter or shooters were to arrive, we’d all be dead. There was no way out.”

Rainbow flags symbolising the Pride group had been on distinguished show throughout Oslo this week, however Saturday’s deliberate parade was cancelled at the recommendation of police.

“Last night the rainbow was coloured black,” mentioned Anette Trettebergstuen, Norway’s minister of tradition and equality and herself a distinguished campaigner for LGBTQ rights.

‘CRYING AND SCREAMING’

While the official parade was known as off, a number of thousand folks held a spontaneous march in central Oslo, waving rainbow flags and chanting in English: “We’re here, we’re queer, we won’t disappear.”

Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon, his spouse Crown Princess Mette-Marit and their youngest youngster, 16-year-old Prince Sverre Magnus, later joined the prime minister and different officers to put pink and white roses close to the London Pub.

“We must protect the right in Norway to love whomever we want,” Haakon informed reporters.

The suspect was detained minutes after embarking on the taking pictures spree, in line with police, who mentioned they believed he acted alone. Two weapons, together with a completely computerized gun, had been retrieved from the crime scene, they added.

The man has declined to be interrogated by police, his lawyer John Christian Elden informed public broadcaster NRK.

Witnesses described the chaos that erupted inside and out of doors the London Pub, which has been open since 1979.

“Many people were crying and screaming, the injured were screaming, people were distressed and scared – very, very scared,” mentioned Marcus Nybakken, 46, who had left the bar shortly earlier than the taking pictures and returned later to assist.

“My first thought was that Pride was the target, so that’s frightening.”

Journalist Olav Roenneberg of broadcaster NRK mentioned he was within the space at the time and noticed a person arrive with a bag, take out a gun and begin to shoot: “Then I saw windows breaking and understood that I had to take cover.”

WIDESPREAD CONDEMNATION

European leaders condemned the taking pictures, as did the White House.

“I am shocked by the heinous attack on innocent people in Oslo,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted.

“No-one should have to fear for their life or well-being simply for who they are.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, writing in each French and Norwegian on his official Twitter account, expressed his sympathies. “We stand stronger against hate if we stand together,” he mentioned.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, informed reporters on board Air Force One the Biden administration had been in contact with Norway to supply condolences and help.

“We’re all horrified by the mass shooting in Oslo today targeting the LGBTQI+ community there and our hearts obviously go out to the all the families of the victims, the people of Norway, which is a tremendous ally, and of course the LGBTQI+ community there and around the world,” he mentioned.

Norwegian safety authorities raised the nation’s terrorism risk evaluation to its highest degree following the assault, wherein 21 folks had been additionally wounded, 10 of them severely.

The police, who aren’t usually armed, will carry weapons till additional discover, it mentioned.

Other main occasions within the capital went forward as deliberate on Saturday, police and organisers mentioned, together with a big outside music competition and a soccer match between the ladies’s groups of Norway and New Zealand.

The taking pictures passed off simply months after Norway marked 50 years for the reason that abolition of a legislation that criminalised gay intercourse.

The Nordic nation of 5.4 million has decrease crime charges than many Western international locations, although it has skilled hate-motivated shootings, together with when far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik killed 77 folks in 2011.

Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo, further reporting by Andrea Shalal aboard Air Force One, Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen and Foo Yun Chee in Brussels; Editing by Pravin Char, Frank Jack Daniel, Peter Graff

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.