Beijing (AP): Employees at the world's biggest Apple iPhone factory have been beaten and detained in protests over contract disputes amid anti-virus controls, according to employees and videos posted on social media Wednesday.

Videos on Chinese social media that said they were filmed at the factory in the central city of Zhengzhou showed thousands of people in masks facing rows of police in white protective suits with plastic riot shields. One person was hit in the head with a club and another was taken away with his arms held behind his back.

Postings on social media said they were protesting unspecified contract violations.

The factory operator, Foxconn Technology Group, said earlier it was using "closed-loop management," which refers to employees living at their workplace with no outside contact. That followed a walk-out last month by thousands of employees over complaints about inadequate anti-virus protection and a lack of help for coworkers who fell ill.

Apple Inc. warned earlier that deliveries of its new iPhone 14 model would be delayed due to anti-disease controls imposed on the Zhengzhou factory. The city government suspended access to an industrial zone that surrounds the factory, which Foxconn has said employs 200,000 people.

Foxconn, headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, didn't immediately respond to a request for information about the situation.

New reports earlier said the ruling Communist Party ordered "grassroots cadres" to fill in for Foxconn employees in Zhengzhou who left. The company didn't respond to requests for confirmation and details about that arrangement.

 

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New Delhi: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states that have captured the attention of people across the country.

The counting of votes for the Assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry will begin simultaneously at 8 am, and the fate of candidates in a total of 824 constituencies will be decided shortly.

The counting of postal ballots will take place first, followed by the counting of EVM votes in several rounds.

  • BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is leading in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituencyFive-state elections: Postal vote counting begins

  • TMC, BJP lead in one seat each in West Bengal

  • In Tamil Nadu, DMK leads in 3 constituencies, while TVK leads in 1

  • UDF leads in 5 seats in Kerala, BJP in 1, LDF in 1

  • BJP leads in 2 seats, AIUDF in 1 in Assam

  • AINRC leads in 1 constituency in Puducherry

  • TMC leads in 5 seats in West Bengal; Mamata Banerjee’s party maintains initial lead

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin leads in Kolathur

  • BJP takes early lead in Assam

  • Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala

  • In Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay leads in the Perambur constituency, lags in Tiruchirappalli South

  • BJP leads in 10 seats in Assam

  • LDF candidate V.P.P. Mustafa leads in the Thrikkaripur Assembly constituency

  • Out of 294 seats in West Bengal, BJP is leading in 14 seats, TMC in 12 seats, Congress in 2 seats

  • Out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK is leading in 15 seats, AIADMK is leading in 5 seats, TVK is leading in 2 seats

  • Out of 126 seats in Assam, BJP is leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4 seats, AIUDF in 2 seats.

  • Out of 30 seats in Puducherry, NRC+ is leading in 3 seats, Congress in 2 seats, TVK in 1 seat.

  • Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffers a setback in theBerhampore constituency in West Bengal.