First Thing: Shanghai protests over zero-Covid policy spark clashes

Beijing, Chengdu and Wuhan are also rocked by demonstrations as anger over restrictions builds. Plus: could cloud brightening' slow Arctic thawing?

Good morning.

A wave of civil disobedience - to degrees unseen in mainland China through the past decade - is taking root as frustration mounts over Xi Jinping's zero-Covid policy persisting almost three years into the pandemic.

How significant is the unrest? Widespread public protest is rare in China, where room for dissent has been all but eliminated under Xi, writes Helen Davidson, forcing citizens mostly to vent their frustration on social media, where they play cat-and-mouse with censors.

Chinese police assaulted and detained a BBC journalist covering a demonstration in Shanghai, releasing him after several hours, the broadcaster said. Authorities allegedly claimed they had arrested him for his own good in case he caught Covid from the crowd".