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newstfionline · 3 years

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Thursday, February 11, 2021

Arab spacecraft enters orbit around Mars in historic flight (AP) A spacecraft from the United Arab Emirates swung into orbit around Mars on Tuesday in a triumph for the Arab world’s first interplanetary mission. Ground controllers at the UAE’s space center in Dubai rose to their feet and broke into applause when word came that the craft, called Amal, Arabic for Hope, had reached the end of its seven-month, 300-million-mile journey and had begun circling the red planet, where it will gather data on Mars’ atmosphere. The orbiter fired its main engines for 27 minutes in an intricate, high-stakes maneuver that slowed the craft enough for it to be captured by Mars’ gravity.

Chinese spacecraft enters Mars’ orbit, joining Arab ship (AP) A Chinese spacecraft went into orbit around Mars on Wednesday on an expedition to land a rover on the surface and scout for signs of ancient life, authorities announced in a landmark step in the country’s most ambitious deep-space mission yet. China’s space agency said the five-ton combination orbiter and rover fired its engine to reduce its speed, allowing it to be captured by Mars’ gravity. If all goes as planned, the rover will separate from the spacecraft in a few months and touch down safely on Mars, making China only the second nation to pull off such a feat. The rover, a solar-powered vehicle about the size of a golf cart, will collect data on underground water and look for evidence that the planet may have once harbored microscopic life. Landing a spacecraft on Mars is notoriously difficult. Smashed Russian and European spacecraft litter the landscape along with a failed U.S. lander.

World’s second-oldest person survives COVID-19 at age 116 (AP) A 116-year-old French nun who is believed to be the world’s second-oldest person has survived COVID-19 and is looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday. The Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people thought to be 110 or older, lists Frenchwoman Lucile Randon—Sister André’s birth name—as the second-oldest known living person in the world. French media report that Sister André tested positive for the virus in mid-January in the southern French city of Toulon. But just three weeks later, the nun is considered recovered. “I didn’t even realize I had it,” she told French newspaper Var-Matin.

Canada beckons again for some Hong Kongers (Reuters) A second generation of Hong Kongers is heading to Canada for refuge from political uncertainty, but unlike their parents in the 1980s and 1990s, this time seems for good. Cities such as Vancouver and Toronto are a magnet for those looking to escape as China tightens its grip on the territory of 7.5 million people. Some 300,000 already have Canadian citizenship after many families initially moved there ahead of Hong Kong’s return from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Back then, many families separated, with one parent staying in Hong Kong for work, usually fathers who were dubbed “astronauts” as they soared through the sky on visits. Among those who went to Canada, many eventually returned, lured by the booming economy and what still seemed to be a relatively free environment. With recent pro-democracy protests virtually snuffed out and Beijing enshrining control last year via a national security law, bags are being packed once more. “Staying in Hong Kong is not an option anymore,” said Maria Law, 39, who moved to Vancouver last year with her two girls ahead of her husband. “I’d rather have a free future for my daughters instead of making money while they have to keep their mouths shut.”

US pandemic surge weakens (WSJ) The most severe surge of the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. has weakened significantly, according to key metrics, though public-health experts and epidemiologists urge caution, given the spread of highly contagious new variants. Newly reported cases have dropped 56% over the past month, based on a seven-day average, marking a significantly steeper fall than the U.S. saw after the spring and summer surges. Hospitalizations have declined 38% since Jan 6. The seven-day average of Covid-19 tests returning positive fell over the past week to 6.93%, the lowest since Oct. 31.

Poll: A third of US adults skeptical of COVID shots (AP) About 1 in 3 Americans say they definitely or probably won’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a new poll that some experts say is discouraging news if the U.S. hopes to achieve herd immunity and vanquish the outbreak. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that while 67% of Americans plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, 15% are certain they won’t and 17% say probably not. Many expressed doubts about the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness. The poll suggests that substantial skepticism persists more than a month and a half into a U.S. vaccination drive that has encountered few if any serious side effects. It found that resistance runs higher among younger people, people without college degrees, Black Americans and Republicans. Of those who said they definitely will not get the vaccine, 65% cited worries about side effects, despite the shots’ safety record over the past months. About the same percentage said they don’t trust COVID-19 vaccines. And 38% said they don’t believe they need a vaccine, with a similar share saying that they don’t know if a COVID-19 vaccine will work and that they don’t trust the government.

Facebook to temporarily reduce political content for some users (Reuters) Facebook Inc said on Wednesday it would temporarily reduce political content appearing on New Feeds for some users in Canada, Brazil and Indonesia this week and in the United States within the coming weeks. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in January that he wanted to “turn down the temperature” of political conversations on the social networking site because “people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services.” The world’s largest social network, which has received flack for not doing enough to remove hateful content from the platform, last month said it would stop recommending civic and political groups to users. Reducing the frequency of political content will mark initials steps to explore different ways to rank such content in people’s feeds using different signals. Facebook will exempt content from official government agencies and services, as well as COVID-19 information from health organizations from the drill.

For Hungary’s poor it’s wood or food (Reuters) Zoltan Berki usually wakes up before dawn, as his five small children sleep next door, to feed the old iron furnace that stands in a wall cavity to warm up both rooms. This is the only part of his house that he can afford to heat during winter. Come rain or shine, Berki, a stocky 28-year-old Roma man, cycles an hour to work to save on the bus fare, so he is up anyway. But he also has to burn some materials before daylight, to conceal the thick black smoke that billows from his chimney when he uses plastic or rubber. Such household pollution is illegal in Hungary, including in this town near the Slovakian border. People do it anyway. “Firewood is expensive,” Berki said one recent afternoon, as his family played around him, crammed into a small room. “Either I buy wood or food. So I go to the forest, or the junkyard, and if we find plastic or rubber we burn that.” Scavenging for material to burn is common for the poorest people in the small, run-down town of Sajonemeti and those nearby, among the most destitute communities in Europe since Communist-era heavy industry vanished 30 years ago, leaving thousands jobless.

Russia’s vaccine (Washington Post) Not long ago, talk of the Russian-made coronavirus vaccine provoked mockery. “There’s no way in hell the U.S. tries this on monkeys, let alone people,” a Trump administration official told CNN in August, referring to initial reports about Russia’s development of the Sputnik V drug—which bypassed traditional steps in testing before its release. Even at home, where a history of political opacity and bureaucratic incompetence has left a lingering distrust of authority, many ordinary Russians shied away from getting the jab once it was made available to the public in December. But now, Sputnik V—named after the world’s first satellite that saw the Soviets initially outpace the Americans in the space race—is starting to look like it could be a global success story. It got a boost last week after the respected British medical journal the Lancet published a peer-reviewed paper that found the vaccine had 91.6 percent efficacy 21 days after the first shot and 91.8 percent for those over 60 years old, placing it on par with the celebrated Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. Sputnik V is considerably cheaper than its Western competitors and does not require the same sort of ultracold storage infrastructure that would complicate distribution of the Pfizer vaccine in much of the developing world. “It does say something about the quality and integrity of the scientific enterprise within Russia, which a lot of people disparage or dismiss as decayed and obsolete and underfinanced and underpowered,” said Stephen Morrison, director of the Global Health Policy Center at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Russia detains Jehovah’s Witnesses, searches properties in new criminal case (Reuters) Russian law enforcement detained a number of Jehovah’s Witnesses and conducted searches at 16 different addresses in Moscow on Wednesday as part of a new criminal investigation against the group, state investigators said. The Investigative Committee, which handles probes into major crimes, said the people had been detained for organising and taking part in the activities of a banned religious group. It said they had met in a flat in northern Moscow and studied the teachings of the religion despite being aware of the ban on the group’s activities. Russia’s Supreme Court branded the Jehovah’s Witnesses an “extremist” organisation in 2017 and ordered it to disband. Since then the authorities have detained dozens of Jehovah’s Witnesses and convicted them on extremism charges.

What quarantine is like in Olympic-host Japan (AP) What’s it like traveling to Japan, six months ahead of the Olympics? Almost impossible, unless you’re a Japanese national or a foreigner with resident status. A state of emergency for a large part of the country means that even those special cases who are allowed in have to take multiple coronavirus tests and stay holed up in quarantine. And what could the entry process be like for thousands of Olympic athletes scheduled to show up ahead of the July games? Plans now call for the athletes to be tested 72 hours before they leave home; then again when they arrive, and then frequently when they are closed off in a “bubble” in the Athletes’ Village alongside Tokyo Bay. All athletes are being asked to arrive only five days before their first competition and leave two days after. They are being told there will be no tourism and little social contact—even in the Athletes’ Village. These will be an Olympics like no other.

Myanmar protesters back on streets despite police violence (AP) Crowds demonstrating against the military takeover in Myanmar again defied a ban on protests Wednesday, even after security forces ratcheted up the use of force against them and raided the headquarters of the political party of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Fresh protests were reported in Yangon and Mandalay, the country’s two biggest cities, as well as the capital Naypyitaw and elsewhere. The growing protests and the junta’s latest raid suggest there is little room for reconciliation. The military, which held power directly for five decades after a 1962 coup, used deadly force to quash a massive 1988 uprising and a 2007 revolt led by Buddhist monks. In Naypyitaw and Mandalay on Tuesday, police sprayed water cannons and fired warning shots to try to clear away protesters. In Naypyitaw, they shot rubber bullets and apparently live rounds, wounding a woman protester.

More on COVID-19 (Worldcrunch) Ghana parliament shuts down over outbreak that leaves 17 MPs and 151 support staff ill. The U.K. releases new quarantine guidelines that includes possible £10,000 fine or 10 years in prison for unauthorized travelers. South Africa cuts distribution of AstraZeneca after research shows its lack of efficacy on the South African variant. Healthcare workers in Bolivia go on strike to demand stricter lockdown measures, facing an average of 1,000 daily COVID-19 deaths.

Ultrawealthy givers (AP) As the world grappled with COVID-19, a recession and a racial reckoning, the ultrawealthy gave to a broader set of causes than ever before—bestowing multimillion-dollar gifts on food pantries, historically Black colleges and universities and organizations that serve the poor and the homeless, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual rankings of the 50 Americans who gave the most to charity last year. “When I look at the events of the last year, there was an awakening for the philanthropic sector,” says Nick Tedesco, president of the National Center for Family Philanthropy. “Donors supported community-led efforts of recovery and resiliency, particularly those led by people of color.” Giving experts say they think the trend toward broader giving is likely to persist. “I don’t think this approach is just a 12-month moment that started with COVID and continued following George Floyd and is going to recede,” says Melissa Berman, president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, which counsels donors around the world. “There has been change building among private donors.”

#headlines #news

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thehistoricalrevolution · 7 years

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Attention to anyone taking an AP History Class this year!!!!!!

Hi everyone I wanted to make a post about AP History classes because I feel that most people think they know what they’re getting into but they are so wrong, so I will clear up some things that you may of heard.

Let start off with me, I’m a going to be a junior this upcoming school year, so I stressed af but its all okay. This upcoming school year I am taking four AP classes, AP Chemistry, AP US History, AP Human Geography, and AP Economics. Sophomore year I took AP World History, but I learned so much about AP History classes that I would like to share with you all.

DO THE SUMMER ASSIGNMENTS

Some school, I know mine does, gives AP students a summer assignments, some are worth grades. They mostly consist or either reading a book and answering question, or an essay, writing multiple essays, or doing some introductory practice problems from the text book(this last one is normally for STEM AP’s). For my AP World Class last year, we had to read a book, and answer question on the book, as well as take notes on the first chapter. But this summer assignment was so useful to the class because the book we read was an overview of everything we learned freshman year in World History, and the notes were a kick starter to the class and all of the information we would have to know. This summer for APUSH we had to write three essay, two SAQ’s and one LEQ, this is meant for us to learn how to write the essay for the exam. So from my experience summer assignments have been so critical to the class.

When you learn how to write the essay PAY ATTENTION!!!!!!!!

This is so important to AP History classes. MORE THAN HALF YOUR GRADE ON THE EXAM IS ESSAY BASED. Did you not get that, let me repeat. MORE THAN HALF YOUR GRADE ON THE EXAM IS ESSAY BASED. I think you got it now. The essay you write in AP History classes are so important, because of not only the exam, but I know in the past AP History class I took, and the upcoming AP History class I am taking, essay grade are a large portion of your quarter and year end grade, while at your school/class this maybe different this is just how my classes have been. Secondly, AP History classes have a smilier formatting to how you should be writing essay in college, if your unaware AP History classes have straight to the point essay format. So I mention formatting this is the most important part of paying attention. The formatting of AP History classes is different than MLA, there is a very strict formula that you need to follow, and if you don't follow it than you can lose multiple points on your essay. So while your learning the essay pay attention then, because it will make your life so much easier.

TAKE NOTES

This is also super important to your essay, exam, and test in class. Let me tell you the more information you know about a topic the easier it is to write an essay, and if it is easier it is to write an essay you’ll get a better grade. When it come to the time of the exam the better your not are the easier it is to study, and to learn. I’m not going to stay on this for too long as if you have taken any class, even non-honors, college prep, basic classes, you know that notes are super important to test, and your grades.

TIP: Take more detailed notes, on topics your more unfamiliar with, and the earlier periods. This helps on test, and on the exam.

USE YOUR RESOURCES

USE YOUR TEACHERS, they are there to help you most AP teachers are the sweetest people, my AP World History teacher last year was my best friend for the entire year.

USE GOOGLE, if your confused about topics and your teacher is not readily available, google it, you’ll find articles, videos and other things to use if your confused.

USE VIDEOS, Crash Course videos will be your best friend, they have a playlist for every AP History class. This videos give a really good overview of a topic in about 12-15 minutes. This is a really good way to cram before the exam. (This is what I did two days before the exam and I got a four)

USE YOUR PEERS, there has been countless times were I have used my peers and they have used me to clear up things we were confused on.

I know I definitely missed things, so I will update this a much as possible. I also hope that other will add things as well, to help you all.

#AP history classes #studyblr #ap world history #ap us history #ap european history #ap euro #APUSH #ap world #history

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shut-it-tinman · 7 years

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Before You Go (bucky barnes x reader)

no i did sO not name it after chris’s directed movie.

warnings: a bit angsty & elements of unrequited love. also an male oc

word count: 1,038

this in the now masterlist

“I think I got asked out,” Y/N mumbled, as Natasha stormed into her room. Y/N wasn’t so sure what to do, so she had texted her.

“By who?” Nat said, launching herself onto Y/N’s bed. “Sam.” They both sighed collectively. “Wilson?” “Hell no, and I’d reject him,” Y/N scoffed. “It’s Hernandez.” “Agent Hernandez?” Nat questioned, leaning her head on her hand. “Yeah, but his first name is Adrian,“ she replied, “it kinda felt like it came out of nowhere.” She collapsed on the floor, facing the bed. “So what did you say?” Nat said, tugging on her curls as she lounged on Y/N’s bed. “I don’t know, what should I say?” Y/N said, folding the pile of unkempt clothes on the floor. “What did he ask?” Nat said, sitting up and crossing her legs. Y/N shrugged, setting down a purple shirt in a pile next to her. “Sam and I were talking after his mission, and he mentioned a restaurant that I would like. Then, later he suggested that we go together.” “Like a date?” Nat said, her eyes raised. “I don’t know,” Y/N groaned, knocking over a pile of cardigans in front of her. “Oh, dammit.” Nat snickered at her grievance. “Well, there’s an answer.” “Nat, I’m serious,” she whined, clutching her tan cardigan. “Okay, well what did you say after he suggested that you two go together?” “Well…” Y/N said, busying herself with the task of reorganizing her cardigans. “What is it?” She sighed, setting the folded sweaters to the side. “He said he’ll pick me up at 8.” Nat looked at her with wide eyes, saying nothing. Y/N breathed out heavily, then picked up the stack of cardigans to put in the drawer. “I didn’t have the chance to say anything back, not even have an attempt of an excuse before he walked away.” Nat chuckled at her despair. “To me, it seems as if you have a date tonight,” Nat said with a smirk. Y/N groaned, shutting the drawer closed. “Okay,” she sighed deeply, Can you help me choose an outfit?”

“Hello?” Y/N said, raising her phone to her ear. “Hey Y/N,” he said smoothly, with an audible grin. Y/N raised her eyebrows to Nat, glancing in the mirror to Nat’s reflection. Natasha shrugged her shoulders, before continuing to fix Y/N’s hair. “Sorry, who is this?” He chuckled, making a clicking noise with his mouth. “It’s Adrian,” he said, and she grinned slightly as if it was peeking through her face. “Hey,” she said softly, “are you almost here? Is traffic in the city a mess? Can I have seven more minutes?” Nat chuckled in the background, tapping Y/N’s shoulder, signaling her that she was done with her hair. “Thanks,” she whispered back, as she moved her phone away for a second before tucking it under her ear. “Woah girl, one question at a time. And I’m almost here, about ten more minutes, and traffic was a mess, but it’s clearing up,” he replied candidly. Y/N got up from where she was sitting in front of the mirror, turning to check her hair in the mirror. “Okay, see you soon. In about ten minutes?” she replied, adjusting her cardigan over her outfit. “Yes ma’am, about ten minutes,” Adrian replied, then hung up. She set down her phone on the vanity, playing with a button, thinking. Y/N paused, before taking the cardigan off at setting it on her bed. She deeply sighed, staring at herself in the mirror. “You can do this.”

Bucky squinted at the flat screen glowing in front of him, as he was slowly falling asleep. He shot up, hearing the sound of footsteps into the lounge. He looked up to see Y/N, dressed beautifully, in which he stared at her for a few seconds in awe. “You going somewhere?” he said, after a few seconds. She looked up from her phone, with a grin. “Yeah, on a casual thing.” she said with a shrug. “Like a date?” he said, slightly nervous inside. Bucky leaned back on the couch, raising his arm over the ledge of the couch. “To be honest, I’m not really sure. I think he called it a casual date of sorts, though.” Bucky nodded slowly, as his interest peaked but his heart dropped. “Well, I hope you have fun,” he said, his voice faltering, although he hoped that she hadn’t heard. “Thanks Buck,” she said sweetly. Y/N turned, clicking on her phone to check the time. “I think I should get going. He should be here any time now.” “Oh, uh okay,” he said, nodding his head. She smiled dimly, awkwardly shuffling her feet. “Uh hey,” Bucky said, suddenly getting up. “Take my jacket, it’s cold outside,” Bucky said, reaching out his arm to hand her his jacket. “T-thanks James,” she said, “I’m truly grateful to have you in my life.” She tucked the jacket under her arm, before heading out to her date.

The way she stated her last words before she left made Bucky think as if she was internally telling him to stop her. To stop her from going on this date, to proclaim that he was in love with her, that she shouldn’t go on this date because he loves her. Or maybe, Bucky’s just grasping straws and he’s been watching too many rom-coms with Steve and Wanda.

He glanced at the clock, adding the hours in his head, figuring out when she would be back home.

If she’ll come home right away.

His mind drifted, thinking about any missions coming up, before the searing white-hot pain of the past started creeping into his mind.

For Bucky, it was always hard when they went on a mission. Bucky’s pain of the war always resurfaced, as those memories could never truly be suppressed.

He missed those nights, looking into the faded light of the city along with the smoke of the factories tinting the sky. Steve would eventually wake up, mumbling that Bucky should go to bed, as he had work the next day.

It hit him, the very thought of her. Bucky shook his head squeezing his eyes shut. He wouldn’t let that pile of rocks avalanche on him, not yet. Maybe, not ever.

Tell me what you think! :)

A/N and update: [poor buck, lamenting his loss :(( ] [also, i hope i didn’t culturally appropriate agent adrian hernandez; i tried to write him to the best of my ability]

hELLO I’M BACK FROM THE DEAD. well, not really. but essentially.

I continually meant to write, but life didn’t really like that.

Over spring break, I broke my arm (left one, thank god) ironically on the monday of that week, which was then filled with an emergency room visit, a shortened vacation, and a rush to see an orthopedic surgeon once i’d come home.

That next week, it was my first SAT. yep. i was an anxious mess. Following that was surgery, then another week of a sleep-deprived painful recovery filled with unproductivity and watching films.

Next, it was the dreaded AP exam season aka the-mad-dash-to-cram-everything-into-my-head-oh-god-how-many-presidents-named-john-were-there?????? aka me stressed to max extreme. also I totally didn’t binge watch the first seasons of brooklyn nine nine and sense8 in those two weeks nope, totally not me also never try to memorize 500 or so years of US History in a week, you’ll regret not starting at least two weeks prior to the test. also writing three essays in two hours straight is both mentally and physically exhausting. my hand ached for a while afterwards..

Finals are in two weeks, so it may be a few weeks until I post again. :/

Much to say, my life was very chaotic and intense, but I’m glad that the death year™ of high school is nearly over. so how was your april/may? I hope it was much better than mine!

#this in the now #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes drabble #bucky barnes/reader #bucky x reader #bucky imagine #bucky oneshot #bucky drabble

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positivity-studies · 7 years

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This is going to be my second year taking AP tests; I took one last year and I’m taking three this year. I definitely learned a lot last year about how to study for them, so I’m sharing my tips and strategies with you all! Hopefully this will help make the process easier because I’m going to warn you all now, it’s rough. And for all of you non-American studyblrs, I’m guessing you guys have similar tests at some point so hopefully this post will help you guys too!

How I’m Studying

1. If you can afford it, buy a review book for each subject. I can’t emphasize enough how much having the review book helped me last year! Most books include a review of all of the information that you could possibly be tested on, tips and strategies for studying and for the test itself, practice questions, and full practice exams. I used an All Access book for the AP US History test last year and did pretty well, and this year I’m using an All Access book for AP Calculus BC (the book has AB and BC), a Barron’s book for AP Music Theory, and a Princeton Review book for AP Physics 1. I bought my books at Barnes and Noble, but I’m sure you can also find them at Target or on Amazon. If for some reason you can’t get review books, don’t stress! The College Board website has review resources that you can use, and at my school, my teachers gave out resources to help us study, so ask your teacher! IMPORTANT NOTE: If you do buy a review book, triple check that it’s the most updated version (2017 for this year) because the content and format of many AP tests have changed recently and you need to make sure you’re prepared for that!

2. Make a schedule and START EARLY! My biggest mistake last year was not starting early enough, and I ended up burning myself out for the rest of the year. It was AWFUL. So this year, I made a study schedule for myself. Excel / Numbers / Google Sheets are good for this, or you can use a paper calendar! I personally used Numbers and I love how my calendar turned out (pictures)! I assigned myself one chapter of a review book to review or one practice test to take a day, giving myself one “day off” from studying a week and taking into account my birthday (who wants to study on their birthday?? I sure don’t that’s for sure) and other plans I have between now and the AP tests in May. If you would rather schedule your studying differently, go for it! This is just what works best for me. Make sure you know when your test is (date and time)! Here is the official schedule for 2017. Also, if you’re taking multiple tests, make sure you schedule adequate time to study for each of them! I started studying this past Tuesday (February 21st), and it’s been great so far!

3. Use any and all methods that usually help you study in school! I like to use flashcards to help with vocabulary, and I’m also highlighting important information in my review books. I’m not big on mindmaps at all, but if you like those, by all means, use them! Also, make sure you take breaks and take care of yourself when you’re studying!

Some Dos and Don’ts of Studying for APs

DO: Study with friends and classmates! You’re all in this together, so why not help each other out while you’re at it? DO: Go to any and all review sessions that your teachers offer! Seriously, go to every single one that you can. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions and review material. DON’T: Try and cram the week or night before. Take my advice and start early! You’ll feel so much better and it will all be way less overwhelming. DON’T: Stress yourself out. I know these tests seem terrifying, but I promise, you will be just fine. Take deep breaths!!

I hope this helped you guys! I’d love to see photos of your study schedules and pretty flashcards, mindmaps, notes, etc, so tag them with #hiya melanie so I’ll see them and reblog them! Good luck you guys! Remember, YOU GOT THIS and we’re in this together :1

[more original posts!] • how to catch up on homework • how to create an icon for your studyblr • plan with me 2017 ~ 1 2 3 • bullet journal page ideas • tips for focusing on homework

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itsfinancethings · 4 years

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(BEIJING) – When police arrested the middle-aged Uighur woman at the height of China’s coronavirus outbreak, she was crammed into a cell with dozens of other women in a detention center.

There, she said, she was forced to drink a medicine that made her feel weak and nauseous, guards watching as she gulped. She and the others also had to strip naked once a week and cover their faces as guards hosed them and their cells down with disinfectant “like firemen,” she said.

“It was scalding,” recounted the woman by phone from Xinjiang, declining to be named out of fear of retribution. “My hands were ruined, my skin was peeling.”

The government in China’s far northwest Xinjiang region is resorting to draconian measures to combat the coronavirus, including physically locking residents in homes, imposing quarantines of more than 40 days and arresting those who do not comply. Furthermore, in what experts call a breach of medical ethics, some residents are being coerced into swallowing traditional Chinese medicine, according to government notices, social media posts and interviews with three people in quarantine in Xinjiang.

There is a lack of rigorous clinical data showing traditional Chinese medicine works against the virus, and one of the herbal remedies used in Xinjiang, Qingfei Paidu, includes ingredients banned in Germany, Switzerland, the U.S. and other countries for high levels of toxins and carcinogens.

The latest grueling lockdown, now in its 45th day, comes in response to 826 cases reported in Xinjiang since mid-July, China’s largest caseload since the initial outbreak. But the Xinjiang lockdown is especially striking because of its severity, and because there hasn’t been a single new case of local transmission in over a week.

Harsh lockdowns have been imposed elsewhere in China, most notably in Wuhan in Hubei province, where the virus was first detected. But though Wuhan grappled with over 50,000 cases and Hubei with 68,000 in all, many more than in Xinjiang, residents there weren’t forced to take traditional medicine and were generally allowed outdoors within their compounds for exercise or grocery deliveries.

The response to an outbreak of more than 300 cases in Beijing in early June was milder still, with a few select neighborhoods locked down for a few weeks. In contrast, more than half of Xinjiang’s 25 million people are under a lockdown that extends hundreds of miles from the center of the outbreak in the capital, Urumqi, according to an AP review of government notices and state media reports.

Even as Wuhan and the rest of China has mostly returned to ordinary life, Xinjiang’s lockdown is backed by a vast surveillance apparatus that has turned the region into a digital police state. Over the past three years, Xinjiang authorities have swept a million or more Uighurs, Kazakhs and other ethnic minorities into various forms of detention, including extrajudicial internment camps, under a widespread security crackdown.

After being detained for over a month, the Uighur woman was released and locked into her home. Conditions are now better, she told the AP, but she is still under lockdown, despite regular tests showing she is free of the virus.

Once a day, she says, community workers force traditional medicine in white unmarked bottles on her, saying she’ll be detained if she doesn’t drink them. The AP saw photos of the bottles, which match those in images from another Xinjiang resident and others circulating on Chinese social media.

Authorities say the measures taken are for the well-being of all residents, though they haven’t commented on why they are harsher than those taken elsewhere. The Chinese government has struggled for decades to control Xinjiang, at times clashing violently with many of the region’s native Uighurs, who resent Beijing’s heavy-handed rule.

“The Xinjiang Autonomous Region upheld the principle of people and life first….and guaranteed the safety and health of local people of all ethnic groups,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press briefing Friday.

Xinjiang authorities can carry out the harsh measures, experts say, because of its lavishly funded security apparatus, which by some estimates deploys the most police per capita of anywhere on the planet.

“Xinjiang is a police state, so it’s basically martial law,” says Darren Byler, a researcher on the Uighurs at the University of Colorado. “They think Uighurs can’t really police themselves, they have to be forced to comply in order for a quarantine to be effective.”

Not all the recent outbreak measures in Xinjiang are targeted at the Uighurs and other largely Muslim minorities. Some are being enforced on China’s majority Han residents in Xinjiang as well, though they are generally spared the extrajudicial detention used against minorities. This month, thousands of Xinjiang residents took to social media to complain about what they called excessive measures against the virus in posts that are often censored, some with images of residents handcuffed to railings and front doors sealed with metal bars.

One Han Chinese woman with the last name of Wang posted photos of herself drinking traditional Chinese medicine in front of a medical worker in full protective gear.

“Why are you forcing us to drink medicine when we’re not sick!” she asked in a Aug. 18 post that was swiftly deleted. “Who will take responsibility if there’s problems after drinking so much medicine? Why don’t we even have the right to protect our own health?”

A few days later she simply wrote: “I’ve lost all hope. I cry when I think about it.”

After the heavy criticism, the authorities eased some restrictions last week, now allowing some residents to walk in their compounds, and a limited few to leave the region after a bureaucratic approval process.

Wang did not respond to a request for interviews. But her account is in line with many others posted on social media, as well as those interviewed by the AP.

One Han businessman working between Urumqi and Beijing told the AP he was put in quarantine in mid-July. Despite having taken coronavirus tests five times and testing negative each time, he said, the authorities still haven’t let him out – not for so much as a walk. When he’s complained about his condition online, he said, he’s had his posts deleted and been told to stay silent.

“The most terrible thing is silence,” he wrote on Chinese social media site Weibo in mid-August. “After a long silence, you will fall into the abyss of hopelessness.”

“I’ve been in this room for so long, I don’t remember how long. I just want to forget,” he wrote again, days later. “I’m writing out my feelings to reassure myself I still exist. I fear I’ll be forgotten by the world.”

“I’m falling apart,” he told the AP more recently, declining to be named out of fear of retribution.

He, too, is being forced to take Chinese traditional medicine, he said, including liquid from the same unmarked white bottles as the Uighur woman. He is also forced to take Lianhua Qingwen, a herbal remedy seized regularly by U.S. Customs and Border patrol for violating FDA laws by falsely claiming to be effective against COVID-19.

Since the start of the outbreak, the Chinese government has pushed traditional medicine on its population. The remedies are touted by President Xi Jinping, China’s nationalist, authoritarian leader, who has advocated a revival of traditional Chinese culture. Although some state-backed doctors say they have conducted trials showing the medicine works against the virus, no rigorous clinical data supporting that claim has been published in international scientific journals.

“None of these medicines have been scientifically proven to be effective and safe,” said Fang Shimin, a former biochemist and writer known for his investigations of scientific fraud in China who now lives in the United States. “It’s unethical to force people, sick or healthy, to take unproven medicines.”

When the virus first started spreading, thousands flooded pharmacies in Hubei province searching for traditional remedies after state media promoted their effectiveness against the virus. Packs of pills were tucked into care packages sent to Chinese workers and students overseas, some emblazoned with the Chinese flag, others reading: “The motherland will forever firmly back you up”.

But the new measures in Xinjiang forcing some residents to take the medicine is unprecedented, experts say. The government says that the participation rate in traditional Chinese medicine treatment in the region has “reached 100%”, according to a state media report. When asked about resident complaints that they were being forced to take Chinese medicine, one local official said it was being done “according to expert opinion.”

“We’re helping resolve the problems of ordinary people,” said Liu Haijiang, the head of Dabancheng district in Urumqi, “like getting their children to school, delivering them medicine or getting them a doctor.”

With Xi’s ascent, critics of Chinese traditional medicine have fallen silent. In April, an influential Hubei doctor, Yu Xiangdong, was removed from a hospital management position for questioning the efficacy of the remedies, an acquittance confirmed. A government notice online said Yu “openly published inappropriate remarks slandering the nation’s epidemic prevention policy and traditional Chinese medicine.”

In March, the World Health Organization removed guidance on its site saying that herbal remedies were not effective against the virus and could be harmful, saying it was “too broad”. And in May, the Beijing city government announced a draft law that would criminalize speech “defaming or slandering” traditional Chinese medicine. Now, the government is pushing traditional Chinese remedies as a treatment for COVID-19 overseas, sending pills and specialists to countries such as Iran, Italy, and the Philippines.

Other leaders have also spearheaded unproven and potentially risky remedies – notably U.S. President Donald Trump, who stumped for the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which can cause heart rhythm problems, despite no evidence that it’s effective against COVID-19. But China appears to be the first to force citizens – at least in Xinjiang – to take them.

The Chinese government’s push for traditional medicine is bolstering the fortunes of billionaires and padding state coffers. The family of Wu Yiling, the founder of the company that makes Lianhua Qingwen, has seen the value of their stake more than double in the past six months, netting them over a billion dollars. Also profiting: the Guangdong government, which owns a stake in Wu’s company.

“It’s a huge waste of money, these companies are making millions,” said a public health expert who works closely with the Chinese government, declining to be identified out of fear of retribution. “But then again – why not take it? There’s a placebo effect, it’s not that harmful. Why bother? There’s no point in fighting on this.”

Measures vary widely by city and neighborhood, and not all residents are taking the medication. The Uighur woman says that despite the threats against her, she’s flushing the liquid and pills down the toilet. A Han man whose parents are in Xinjiang told the AP that for them, the remedies are voluntary.

Though the measures are “extreme,” he says, they’re understandable.

“There’s no other way if the government wants to control this epidemic,” he said, declining to be named to avoid retribution. “We don’t want our outbreak to become like Europe or America.”

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