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BEIJING — China's western Xinjiang region eased some COVID restrictions in its capital Urumqi on Monday, after a deadly fire in the city blamed on virus controls sparked protests across the country.

People in the city of four million, some of whom have been confined to their homes for weeks on end, can travel around on buses to run errands within their home districts starting Tuesday, officials said at a press conference Monday.

Certain essential businesses in "low-risk" areas could also apply to restart operations, at 50 per cent capacity, while public transport and flights will start "resuming in an orderly manner", officials said a day earlier.

Ten people were killed when a blaze ripped through a residential building in Urumqi on Thursday night, spurring crowds to take to the streets in multiple Chinese cities this weekend to protest against the country's strict zero-COVID policy.

Many social media users blamed COVID lockdowns in Urumqi for hampering rescue efforts, but officials have instead said private cars obstructed firefighters.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Monday lashed out at "forces with ulterior motives" for linking the fire with COVID.

But in the wake of the protests, officials on Saturday said the city "had basically reduced social transmissions to zero" and they would "restore the normal order of life for residents in low-risk areas in a staged and orderly manner".

Officials at the press conference on Monday said Urumqi would also resume parcel delivery services, but logistics workers would have to stay in a "closed loop" at company dormitories.

China's unrelenting zero-COVID push has sparked protests and hit productivity in the world's second-largest economy, as the public grows weary of snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing campaigns.

A series of new rules announced by Beijing earlier this month appeared to signal a shift away from the strategy, easing quarantine requirements for entering the country and simplifying a system for designating high-risk areas.

But officials have instead dug in their heels, even shutting down large parts of China’s capital as national case numbers shot past the 30,000 mark in recent days to record highs.

Public anger boiled over on the weekend when hundreds gathered on university campuses and cities around the country demanding an end to the zero-COVID policy.

In Beijing, the city government said on Sunday afternoon it will not allow snap lockdowns of residential areas to be in place for more than 24 hours.

BEIJING — Hundreds of people took to the streets in Beijing and Shanghai on Sunday to protest against China's zero-COVID policy in a rare outpouring of public anger against the state.

China's hardline virus strategy is stoking public frustration, with many growing weary of snap lockdowns, lengthy quarantines and mass testing campaigns.

A deadly fire on Thursday in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang region, has become a fresh catalyst for public anger, with many blaming lengthy COVID lockdowns for hampering rescue efforts. Authorities deny the claims.

Hundreds rallied at Beijing's elite Tsinghua University to protest against lockdowns on Sunday, one witness who wished to remain anonymous told AFP.

"At 11:30 am students started holding up signs at the entrance of the canteen, then more and more people joined. Now there are 200 to 300 people," they said.

Participants sang the national anthem and “the Internationale” — a standard of the international communist movement — and chanted “freedom will prevail”, “no nucleic acid tests, we want food”, and “no to lockdowns, we want freedom”, they said.

They described students holding up blank pieces of paper, a symbolic protest against censorship.

Corresponding videos shared online showed a crowd in the same location, gathered around a speaker shouting: “This is not normal life, we’ve had enough. Our lives were not like this before!”

In the early hours of Sunday on central Shanghai’s Wulumuqi street — named for Urumqi in Mandarin — video showed protesters chanting “Xi Jinping, step down! CCP, step down!” in a rare display of public opposition to the Chinese Communist Party’s top leadership. The video was widely shared on social media and geolocated by AFP.

A person who attended the Shanghai protests but who asked not to be identified told AFP they arrived at the rally at 2:00am (1800 GMT) to see one group of people putting flowers on the sidewalk to mourn the 10 people killed in the Urumqi fire, while another group chanted slogans.

Video taken by an eyewitness showed a large crowd shouting and holding up blank pieces of paper as they faced several lines of police.

The attendee said there were minor clashes but that overall the police were “civilised”.

“It’s shocking to know that, under today’s circumstances, there are still many brave people standing out,” they said.

Multiple witnesses said several people were taken away by the police.

Authorities were swift to curb online discussion of the protest, with related phrases scrubbed from the Twitter-like Weibo platform almost immediately after footage of the rallies emerged.

University vigils 

Other vigils took place overnight at universities across China, including one at Tsinghua’s neighbour Peking University, an undergraduate participant told AFP.

Speaking anonymously for fear of repercussions, he said some anti-COVID slogans had been graffitied on a wall in the university. Some of the words echoed a banner that was hung over a Beijing bridge just before the Communist Party Congress in October.

People had started gathering from around midnight local time, but he hadn’t dared join initially.

“When I arrived [two hours later], I think there were at least 100 people there, maybe 200,” the undergraduate said.

“People weren’t really sure what they should shout. But I heard people yelling: ‘No to COVID tests, yes to freedom!’,” he said.

Photos and videos he showed AFP corroborated his account.

The students were communicating with security guards and teachers, he said, but it was unclear if they faced punishment for taking part.

The graffiti had already been covered up when he arrived, he said.

Videos on social media also showed a mass vigil at Nanjing Institute of Communications, with people holding lights and white sheets of paper.

Hashtags relating to the protest were censored on Weibo, and video platforms Duoyin and Kuaishou were scrubbed of any videos.

Videos from Xi’an, Guangzhou and Wuhan showing similar small protests also spread on social media. AFP was unable to verify the footage independently.

‘Lift lockdowns!’ 

China reported 39,506 domestic COVID-19 cases Sunday, a record high but small compared to caseloads in the West at the height of the pandemic.

The protests come against a backdrop of mounting public frustration over China’s zero-tolerance approach to the virus and follow sporadic rallies in other cities.

A number of high-profile cases in which emergency services have been allegedly slowed down by COVID lockdowns, leading to deaths, have catalysed public opposition.

Hundreds of people massed outside Urumqi’s government offices after the deadly fire, chanting: “Lift lockdowns!”, footage partially verified by AFP shows.

AFP was able to verify the video by geolocating local landmarks but was unable to specify exactly when the protests occurred.

ROME — One woman died and other people were still missing on Saturday after heavy rains caused a landslide on the Italian island of Ischia, a local official said.

A wave of mud and debris swept through the small town of Casamicciola Terme in the early hours of the morning, engulfing at least one house and sweeping cars down to the sea, media reports and emergency services said.

The first victim was confirmed to be a woman whose body was found by rescuers, according to a media briefing by the prefect of Naples, Claudio Palomba.

He said some of those reported missing earlier were later found safe, including one family with a newborn baby, but around 10 other people were still unaccounted for mid-afternoon.

The rescue effort was hampered by continued rain and high winds, which also delayed ferries bringing reinforcements from the mainland.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi had earlier warned there were people trapped in the mud, saying it was a "very serious" situation.

However, he denied a statement by his colleague Matteo Salvini, the deputy prime minister and infrastructure minister, that eight people had died, saying this had not been confirmed.

Complex rescue operation 

The heavy rain sent torrents of mud through the streets of Casamicciola Terme, on the north of Ischia, a lush island located near Capri that is thronged with tourists in the summer months.

Trees were upturned and cars left battered on the side of the road or in the water, according to images published by emergency services and local media.

The fire service earlier said one house had been overwhelmed by the mud and that two people had been rescued from a car swept into the sea.

In the worst affected area of Casamicciola Terme, at least 30 families were trapped in their homes without water or electricity, with mud and debris blocking the road, the ANSA news agency reported.

Officials later said they expected to evacuate and find temporary homes for between 150 and 200 people by Saturday evening.

“The rescue effort remains complex due to the weather conditions,” said the department for civil protection, but stressed teams would keep working through the night using headlights.

Local authorities have called on residents of Ischia to stay inside so as not to hinder the rescue operation.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she was following the situation, offering her thoughts to those affected.

Casamicciola Terme was hit by an earthquake in 2017, in which two people died.

The devastation in Ischia came just weeks after 11 people died in heavy rain and flooding in central eastern Italy.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan told tens of thousands of supporters on Saturday he would fight with his "last drop of blood" in a first public address since being shot in an assassination attempt earlier this month.

The shooting was the latest twist in months of political turmoil that began in April when Khan was ousted by a vote of no confidence in parliament.

Saturday's rally was the climax of a so-called "long march" by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to press the government to call a snap election before parliament's term expires in October next year.

"I have seen death from up close," said Khan, who hobbled to the stage with a walking frame to speak to supporters from a plush seat behind a panel of bulletproof glass.

"I'm more worried about the freedom of Pakistan than my life," he told the crowd. "I will fight for this country until my last drop of blood."

The rally was squeezed onto a motorway in Rawalpindi, a garrison city neighbouring the capital Islamabad and home to the headquarters of the country's powerful military.

'Imported government' 

Saghir Ahmed, a 32-year-old tailor, was among thousands arriving in the long build-up to Khan's speech atop a platform draped with banners depicting a clenched fist breaking shackles.

Having shut his shop to attend, Ahmed said Pakistan's dire economic situation, with galloping inflation and a nosediving rupee, has made life "unbearable".

"We hope Khan will introduce some reforms and the situation will improve," he told AFP.

Khan attracts cultish devotion from supporters, but on Saturday made his speech hundreds of metres from the bulk of the crowd of around 25,000 to 30,000, separated by coils of barbed wire and a buffer of police officers.

In the November 3 assassination attempt, a gunman opened fire from close range as Khan's open-top container truck made its way through a crowded street.

Buildings overlooking the site of the rally were searched overnight, a police official told AFP, while snipers were perched on rooftops surveying the mostly male supporters whipping red and green flags back and forth.

Khan himself was surrounded by a crush of bodyguards at all times, while mobile phone signals were jammed in the vicinity.

Authorities threw a ring of steel around Islamabad to prevent his supporters from marching on government buildings, with thousands of security personnel deployed and roads blocked by shipping containers.

Khan-led protests in May spiralled into 24 hours of chaos, with the capital blockaded and running clashes across Pakistan between police and protesters.

Khan told Saturday’s rally that he would not be calling on supporters to enter the capital.

‘Red alert’ 

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, who Khan accuses of being involved in the assassination plot, issued a “red alert” Friday, warning of security threats to the rally.

He listed Pakistan’s Taliban and Al Qaeda among the extremist groups that could harm Khan.

The government says the assassination attempt was the work of a lone wolf now in custody, with police leaking a “confession” video by the junk-shop owner saying he acted because Khan was against Islam.

But Khan, a former international cricket player with a playboy reputation before he married, said he has long warned that the government would blame a religious fanatic for any attempt to kill him.

Without offering evidence, Khan has named Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, interior minister Sanaullah, and a senior military officer of being the architects of the assassination attempt — charges they have all dismissed as lies.

Saturday’s rally took place two days after the government named a former spymaster as the next military chief.

General Syed Asim Munir’s appointment ended months of speculation over a position long considered the real power in the nuclear-armed Islamic nation of 220 million people.

Munir served as chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence agency under Khan, but his stint ended after just eight months following a reported falling out.

Pakistan’s military, the world’s sixth-largest, is hugely influential in the country and has staged at least three coups since independence in 1947, ruling for more than three decades.

WASHINGTON — A small group of Republicans never supported Donald Trump, but in post-election America the group has grown to include those who see Trump as unable to steer the party back to election victories.

These Republicans initially backed Trump, turning a blind eye to his antics as long as he cut taxes, appointed conservative judges and, most importantly, won elections.

But the Republican Party seriously underperformed in midterm elections this month, and more Republican politicians are laying the blame at Trump's feet.

Anti-Trump Republicans once called themselves Never Trumpers. The newer, broader group has embraced the name Never Again Trumpers — and they may have considerable clout.

"I'm proud of the accomplishments — of the tax reform, the deregulation and criminal justice reform," Paul Ryan, the last Republican House speaker and the man who gave the name to the new movement, told ABC.

"I'm really excited about the judges we got on the bench, not just the Supreme Court, but throughout the judiciary. But I am a Never Again Trumper. Why? Because I want to win, and we lose with Trump. It was really clear to us in '18, in '20 and now in 2022."

Never Trumpers figured prominently in the coalition that returned Democrat Nancy Pelosi to the speakership in 2018 and elected President Joe Biden in 2020.

But they wielded little influence within their own Republican ranks, seen as apostates who had lost touch with the raucous, insurgent direction of the increasingly populist movement.

'Trump could well lose' 

Integral to the party machine, Never Again Trumpers are not "recovered Republicans" griping from outside a tent they have departed, but rather powerful voices with enormous sway over its future direction.

The group includes a handful of governors, a number of ex-Trump Cabinet officials, sitting lawmakers — and, perhaps inevitably, figures spoken of as potential leadership material.

Rising Republican star Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and so far the closest thing that Trump has to a 2024 rival, has been notable in his silence on the brash tycoon, as he has quietly closed their polling gap.

In a new Harvard CAPS-Harris survey a plurality of respondents said they believed Trump was the biggest loser in the midterms, while DeSantis — who romped home with a huge victory — was seen as having had the best night.

"Month after month DeSantis has been rising and now, he is cutting significantly into Trump," Mark Penn, the co-director of the poll, told The Hill newspaper.

"If they both run, this will be quite a race and Trump could well lose."

The findings will fuel further speculation about Trump's future as Republicans turn their focus on the December 6 Georgia run-off election where another Trump-backed candidate is in a nail-biting contest he could easily lose.

Republicans gave up both Georgia Senate seats last year in a wipeout that also saw them fumble control of the upper chamber of Congress.

'Three strikes, you're out' 

Trump was blamed for his repeated assertion that the 2020 election was stolen, which opponents said convinced many Republican voters to stay home, believing their ballot would not count.

Former Trump administration and transition officials Chris Christie, Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley have all recently distanced themselves from their one-time boss, with Christie complaining that Republicans "keep losing and losing and losing" thanks to Trump's egocentrism.

The rise of DeSantis has fuelled early speculation that the former president might launch a third-party run if he is defeated in the primary — potentially devastating the Republican ticket.

"The threat is simple: Unless the rest of the party goes along with him, he will burn the whole house down by leading 'his people' out of the GOP," Trump's former attorney general Bill Barr said in The New York Post.

No consideration of Trump's future should ignore that Republicans have abandoned him before — notably through two impeachment and numerous criminal probes — and each time he has emerged as popular as ever.

But that was when his endorsement was considered a rubber-stamp from an undisputed winner.

"It's basically the third election in a row that Donald Trump has cost us the race, and it's like, three strikes, you're out," Maryland Governor Larry Hogan told CNN after the midterms.

"That's the definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, and Donald Trump kept saying 'we're going to be winning so much we'll be tired of winning’. I'm tired of losing. I mean, that's all he's done."