What Happens After ‘Zero-COVID’?

Start your day smarter with the most important world news, plus intriguing and offbeat stories. www.ozy.com [OZY]( [OZY]() Your World. Bold & Bright [Presidential Daily Brief]( Sponsored by [Cariuma]( Start your day smarter with a dossier on the most important world news, rounded off with a shot of intriguing and offbeat stories. Like the president, you deserve no less. Dec 05, 2022 Today China’s showing signs of backtracking on “zero-COVID” — but don’t expect a complete abandonment till at least March. South Africa’s President Ramaphosa looks likely to fight another day. It’s still anyone’s race in tomorrow’s Georgia senate runoff. And the Iranian government appears to be contemplating concessions — but protesters want more. All this and more in today’s PDB. [Our Favorite Gift To Give]( [Cariuma]( Winter is here and the festivities have begun. From caroling at your neighbor’s door to building snowmen in the front yard, [these sneakers](have to be in your lineup. 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While changes vary from city to city, and restrictions remain much more onerous than those in almost any other country, this marks the biggest shift yet in President Xi Jinping’s “zero-COVID” policy. But reports of its death may be premature. Goldman Sachs sees the changes as “clear evidence of the Chinese government preparing for an exit, and trying to minimize the economic and social cost of COVID control in the meantime.” (Source: [Reuters]() Back From the Brink After Penning Resignation Speech, Ramaphosa Vows to Fight Back After a report on the [Farmgate scandal]( was released Thursday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa decided to resign. Apparently he’d even written his speech. But he was dissuaded by allies who argued that the report was flawed, and the initial allegations were politically motivated and came from a [deeply dubious source](. After a weekend of frenzied meetings, today the ruling party’s national executive committee is expected to vote to set the report aside. While Farmgate hasn’t been a good look for a leader who campaigned on an anti-corruption ticket, all those fighting to usurp him are accused of far worse. (Sources: [Times Live](, [Mail & Guardian]() Walker v. Warnock Georgia Senate Runoff Enters Final Stretch Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker will hold their last campaign events today. A record 1.8 million Georgians have already cast ballots, but the result will likely depend on who turns out to vote tomorrow. While both candidates are African American, an AP poll showed that Warnock won 90% of the Black vote in November — and Walker claimed 68% of the white vote. While [Savannah police]( have said there’s no indication the shooting of a 15-year-old boy who was canvassing for Warnock was politically motivated, the contest has laid bare the deep racial division in the state. (Sources: [NYT](, [AP]() Giving Ground Iran Might Disband Morality Police — but Will It Be Enough? Iran’s Attorney General Mohamed Jafar Montazeri said yesterday that the country’s notorious morality police “have been shut down” — and he told Parliament Saturday that the law that requires women to wear hijabs would be looked at. Even if the government does end up making these concessions — and state media’s already poured water on Montazeri’s comments — they may not appease protesters. “We, the protesters, don’t care about no hijab no more. We’ve been going out without it for the past 70 days,” said one woman. “We don’t want anything ... but death for the dictator and a regime change.” (Source: [BBC]() Briefly Here are some things you should know about today: Tragic. Fourteen bodies, including that of a toddler, have been recovered from a river north of Johannesburg, South Africa, after a baptism went horribly wrong. (Source: [News 24]() O Rei. Brazilian soccer star Pele is being treated for a post-COVID lung infection, his daughters say — in contrast to news reports suggesting he’d been moved to end-of-life care after cancer treatment failed. (Source: [Goal.com]() Ukraine war. U.S. director of intelligence Avril Haines predicts a winter slowdown. “We’re seeing a kind of a reduced tempo already of the conflict,” she said. “And we expect that's likely to be what we see in the coming months.” (Source: [BBC]() [FORTUNE TELLER SAYS…GRAB ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HERE!]( [Cariuma]( Just like you have a knack for knowing when something’s the right fit for you, OZY has a knack for guessing what the next big thing in names, trends, and ideas is going to be. 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[SHOP HERE]( //link.ozy.com/click/29888179.89103/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub3p5LmNvbS90cnVlLWFuZC1zdG9yaWVzL3JpY2stcm9zcy10aGUtYm9zcy10aGUtaHVzdGxlLWRvbnQtc3RvcC80NTM0NDgvP3V0bV90ZXJtPU9aWSZ1dG1fY2FtcGFpZ249cGRiJnV0bV9jb250ZW50PU1vbmRheV8xMi4wNS4yMg/5cc372683f92a4331dae6934B78878de9 [WATCH NOW]( INTRIGUING Missing Link The Tiny Strip of Land That Could Save Florida’s Panthers Only 11 miles long and one mile wide, Chaparral Slough doesn’t look like much. But its location between two large areas of preserved land makes it a vital link in the conservation chain. “It’s important for panthers and other wildlife to have a protected corridor so that they can move and have genetic diversity to ensure the long-term survival and health of their species,” said the Nature Conservancy’s Lindsay Stevens. It took eight years to secure protected status for Chaparral — but new federal legislation currently making its way through Congress with bipartisan support should make achieving future triumphs much easier. (Source: [The Guardian]() Ohio’s Mystery Mounds The 2,000-Year-Old Archaeological Wonder No One’s Heard Of The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks — built between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D. with mathematical precision and complex astronomical alignment — are the largest non-defensive geometrical earthworks in the world. But few folks outside Ohio even know they exist — and one section is currently being used as a golf course. “You could put four Roman Colosseums inside just The Octagon,” said archaeologist Brad Lepper, adding that Stonehenge would fit into a small circle that’s now a putting green. Hopefully [Hopewell Culture]( earthworks will soon get broader recognition: Eight sites in Ohio have been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage status in 2023. (Source: [BBC]() Got Milk? Scientists Just Figured Out That Ants Make Milk — and Drink It Too No one ever took much notice of ant pupae. “The pupae were considered useless,” said ethologist Patrizia d’Ettorre. “They are immobile … they don’t eat, they’re just moved around by the workers, so they [wouldn’t] contribute anything to ant society.” Now a [new paper’s]( thrown that thinking out the window. Orli Sner and colleagues at The Rockefeller University discovered that pupae secrete a nutrient-rich milk-like fluid that’s eaten by both adults and larvae. “We identified a mechanism that unites the colony, binding ants across developmental stages — adults, larvae and pupae — into a coherent entity, the superorganism,” said Sner. (Source: [Nature]() Snowed Under UK Navy Comes to the Rescue of World’s Most Remote Post Office The [four women were still settling into their new workplace]( in Port Lockroy, Antarctica, when snow buried the building that houses Goudier Island’s museum, gift shop and post office. Luckily the Royal Navy ship HMS Protector was nearby and crew rushed to help. After two days of digging they then had to fix the hut’s roof. Warrant Officer First Class Lee “Rattler” Morgan was only too happy to “step ashore and help out.” And he noted that Port Lockroy was far less stinky than usual, as the snow had buried the mess caused by the island’s 1,500 gentoo penguins. (Sources: [Sky News](, [BBC]() Karma? Alleged Sex Offender Deshaun Watson Disappoints in NFL Comeback The QB’s first game in 700 days was punctuated by loud and frequent boos. Watson claimed the frosty treatment was because he was playing his former team, the Texans, in Houston. “They’re supposed to boo,” he said. “I’m a Cleveland Brown now.” But many fans were more concerned with his off-field behavior. Watson served an 11-game ban after being accused of sexual harassment and assault by more than two dozen women. “I’m cheering for the jersey and the team but it’s hard to accept him as my quarterback,” said Cleveland fan Brandon Collins. The Browns won 27-14 despite a rusty performance from Watson. (Source: [AP]() COMMUNITY What else are you curious about? Share your questions or thoughts with us at OzyCommunity@Ozy.com EPISODE 3 NOW STREAMING! Featuring Genevieve Channelle & Keia Kodama [WATCH HERE]( ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on “the New and the Next.” OZY creates space for fresh perspectives, and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. [www.ozy.com]( / #OZY Curiosity. Enthusiasm. Action. That’s OZY! 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