International

World News 4^th December
The crackdown on people continues in Hong Kong.  There is a newspaper which supports democracy.  That means they want to have free speech.  Now the owners have been arrested because the Chinese have set up a new law for national security.  But the first charge is about not using the their building for the correct purpose.  It seems an odd idea.  They are put in prison even though they cannot have a trial until April next year.  It really looks like they are trying to stop all people who might criticise the Government.
In Italy, people are banned from travelling between cities during Christmas, except in emergency or for work.  This applies from 20^th December to 6^th January.
USA and Russia seem to be both in deep trouble with the virus.  Nearly 14 million people in the USA and hospitals almost at their limit, and already 270 thousand deaths.  Although it is hard to get accurate figures from Russia, it looks as if it is the same with shocking numbers of deaths possibly ten times what the Government there is reporting.
Here is a good idea.  In India, on the railways, they are bringing back “kulhads”.  You may not know what they are? In India, it is common on railway station platforms, to serve tea.  The kulhad is a clay pot with no handles, not painted and not glazed.  This was how they served the tea in the past and people would cup their hands around it to keep warm.  Now the railways have banned plastic cups to help the environment.  The kulhads will give work to hundreds of thousands of people in pottery and the kulhads are environmentally friendly.  And the tea tastes better.