China vows crackdown on 'hostile forces'

China’s ruling Communist Party has vowed to “resolutely crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces.” [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Take part in #GivingNewsDay! We are so grateful to everyone who donated on #GivingNewsDay. There is still time to support The World! On Nov. 29, #GivingTuesday, we received an outpouring of support from our listeners. But we still need 491 listeners to donate $100 to unlock the $67,000 challenge match. Can we count on you? --------------------------------------------------------------- What The World is following China vows crackdown on 'hostile forces' as public tests Xi A delivery rider stands near a policeman monitoring inside a police vehicle parked near the site of last weekend's protest in Beijing, Nov. 30, 2022 (Andy Wong/AP) China China’s ruling Communist Party has vowed to “resolutely crack down on infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces,” following the largest street demonstrations in decades by citizens fed up with strict anti-virus restrictions. A massive show of force by the security services Wednesday sought to deter further protests. The statement from the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission released late Tuesday followed protests that broke out over the weekend in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and several other cities. While it did not directly address the protests, the statement was a reminder of the party’s determination to enforce its rule. Brazil Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon slowed slightly last year, a year after a 15-year high, according to closely watched numbers published Wednesday. The data was released by the National Institute for Space Research. The agency’s Prodes monitoring system shows the rainforest lost an area roughly the size of Qatar, some 11,600 square kilometers (4,500 square miles) in the 12 months from August 2021 to July 2022. That is down 11% compared to the previous year, when over 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) were destroyed. World Cup When Belgium’s “Golden Generation” meets Croatia’s accomplished veterans in a decisive World Cup match on Thursday, there won’t be much room on the field for younger players. Croatia, which reached the final four years ago, and Belgium, which finished third in 2018, each rely on a vast array of experienced players. --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [Land issues at the heart of Uganda’s oil showdown]( [Justine Dupont, from France, rides a wave before being engulfed by it and breaking her ankle during a big wave surfing session at Praia do Norte, or North Beach, in Nazaré, Portugal, Jan. 8, 2022.] [Demonstrators show "stop oil in Africa" written on their hands during a protest with Stop Pipelines coalition against pipelines in East Africa at the COP27 UN climate summit, Nov. 11, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (Nariman El-Mofty/AP)]( Residents in Uganda's oil-rich Hoima district say their land is up for grabs as an ambitious oil pipeline project plans to run more than 800 miles from the western part of the country all the way to neighboring Tanzania. --------------------------------------------------------------- Bright Spot Hubble has sonified the stars. The stars of the Pismis 24 cluster are assigned to musical pitches played on a classical guitar (brighter stars are louder and higher pitched), and the nebula uses a continuous range of frequencies (brighter regions are louder and higher pitched). In case you missed it on The World --------------------------------------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. [The World]( is produced by [PRX]( and [GBH](.