DINNER PARTY INTEL: No vax, no work?

1. Game off

China will restrict the online gaming time of under-18s to just three hours a week during term time, to curb addiction in the gaming-crazy country. Gamers will only be allowed to play online between 8pm and 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and are required to use their ID cards to register to play online, to ensure minors don’t lie about their age. The rule is relaxed to allow for one extra hour of gaming during school holidays. Gaming appears to be just the latest target of Chinese regulators. The industry has been slammed in state media reports that label games "spiritual opium".

2. No vax, no work?

Zimbabwe’s biggest labour union has taken the state and several firms to court for insisting that employees be vaccinated against Covid before reporting for work, saying there is no law under the country’s statutes providing for compulsory vaccination, Bloomberg reports. It accuses the public service, labour & social welfare minister and several state-linked firms of "taking the law into their own hands". The union says thousands of workers were affected by their employers’ decision to bar them from reporting for work. Social gatherings, including church meetings and dining in at restaurants, are open only to vaccinated people. Just 10% of the country’s 15-million people are fully vaccinated.

3. Running on empty

There is now no country in the world that uses leaded petrol for cars and trucks, the UN says. Leaded fuel is toxic and has contaminated air, soil and water since it was first introduced in the 1920s. It can cause heart disease, cancer and strokes, and has been linked to problems with brain development in children.

Countries started phasing out its use in the 1970s, but three decades later, in the early 2000s, there were still 86 nations using leaded petrol. It was only in July that Algeria — the last country still to use leaded petrol — ran out.