Education and public security authorities have reminded parents and students to be wary of fraudulent behavior around refunds for tutoring courses, after many courses were suspended due to the government's efforts to reduce students' excessive academic burden.

Recently, there have been people issuing notices in the name of the Ministry of Education or pretending to be tutoring institution employees in order to swindle parents and students who want to get refunds for tutoring courses, according to a notice issued by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security on Thursday.

Parents and students need to be vigilant when receiving calls from tutoring companies and they can consult authorities if they are not familiar with refund policies, the notice said.

Any requirements for additional payments required to get course refunds are frauds, it said, adding that those affected should call the police immediately.

Last year, the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued the "double reduction"-a shorthand for alleviating the twin burdens of homework and private extracurricular tuition on primary and secondary school students.

The policy banned academic tutoring courses at weekends, during national holidays or winter and summer vacations.

Remaining academic tutoring institutions should transfer to nonprofit organizations and the average tutoring fees have been reduced by more than 40 percent, according to the Ministry of Education.

The number of offline academic tutoring institutions has been slashed by 92 percent and online ones by 87 percent, according to the ministry.

With tutoring institutions shutting down academic courses or their business completely, parents have run into great difficulties in getting refunds. Some have even been tricked into paying money in advance to get refunds.

In one case, a mother surnamed Luo in Zhuhai, Guangdong province was tricked out of more than 330,000 yuan ($49,000) to get refunds for her children's tutoring courses, according to Xiaoxiang Morning Herald.

The institution's "finance personnel" asked Luo to enter a chat group on the social messaging app QQ and buy goods from a disguised e-commerce platform.

Another "parent" sent screenshots of being refunded 10,000 yuan plus a bonus of 1,280 yuan for completing certain tasks.

Southern Metropolis Daily reported that a refund notice issued by so-called government authorities on microblogging platform Sina Weibo had promised to refund parents and students at music tutor VIP Peilian after they joined a QQ chat group.

However, the newspaper said they were then asked to download an app and pay money first to get a refund.

Now that COP 26 is over, the British political spotlight has returned to Brexit, with the likelihood of tensions between the United Kingdom and the European Union turning into an all-out trade war over Northern Ireland.

The province, which is politically a part of the UK but geographically separate, is currently subject to a deal called the Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed as part of last year's Brexit deal.

Unlike the rest of the UK, it remained in the European single market for goods, so as to avoid a hard border with the Republic of Ireland, an EU member state.

This means Northern Ireland avoided problems such as shortages caused by a lack of EU haulage drivers that recently afflicted the rest of the UK. But part of the UK still being subject to EU regulations is unacceptable to many Brexit supporters, hence the desire to change the rules.

Article 16 of the protocol is an emergency brake, allowing either side, unilaterally, to implement "safeguards" if the protocol leads to persistent "serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties" or to "diversion of trade".

That is what David Frost, the British minister who negotiated the treaty last December, is threatening to do, despite having tweeted at the time that he was "very pleased and proud to have led a great UK team to secure today's excellent deal with the EU".

However, this is in contrast to the language used by European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic after their most recent meeting.

'Change in tone'

He spoke of a "change in tone of discussion with (Frost)", which he hoped might "lead to tangible results for the people in Northern Ireland".

Frost insists "significant gaps "remain and that there are a "full range of issues" being raised by Britain that Brussels must address at talks this week.

In a recent BBC interview, former Conservative prime minister John Major said invoking Article 16 would be "colossally stupid", and accused the government of negotiating with "all the subtlety of a brick".

Last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met United States President Joe Biden, who has made it clear he regards peace in Ireland as a major international priority. And in a clear message to Downing Street, he said the EU and US were in agreement of this.

"President Biden and I, we share the assessment that it is important for peace and stability on the island of Ireland to keep the withdrawal agreement and to stick to the protocol. This protocol has managed to square the difficult circle that Brexit caused," she told reporters in Washington.

After winning last weekend's Mexican race, Red Bull's series leader has a 19-point advantage ahead of defending seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, but he knows that lead can be overturned if he fails to finish.

He knows, too, that at the last two events where a Saturday sprint race was included, the embattled pair collided in the main contest and he was unable to continue, or score any points.

At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July, their high-speed opening-lap collision resulted in Verstappen crashing out and being taken to hospital for observation while Hamilton claimed victory for Mercedes.

In Italy, two months later, they tangled again with Verstappen's car climbing across the trapped Hamilton's cockpit. Both were eliminated and the bad feelings between the teams following the first crash were revived in more acrimonious exchanges.

"It's difficult to say how competitive we are going to be in Brazil," said the Dutchman. 

"We won in 2019, but it was a close battle all the way and I expect something similar this time.

"It's also a sprint race weekend… I tend to do well in the sprint, but then I get bad race results so this time let's try and turn it around."

The sprawling Interlagos circuit, with its undulating track and dipping and bucking corners, has a history of incident-filled and dramatic races and is often run in very warm, humid and demanding conditions that test cars, drivers and their tempers to their limits.

Verstappen won last time the race was run in 2019 and Hamilton in 2016 and 2018, but for the Briton it has not been a particularly happy hunting ground over the years although he claimed an emotional maiden title triumph by securing a last-gasp fifth place in 2008.

'Down to the wire'

Following last weekend's resounding defeat, Hamilton needs a dose of the youthful vim he demonstrated then to halt Verstappen's run of four consecutive wins to reboot his fading title defence.

He will need "silver arrows" teammate Valtteri Bottas to deliver something special too after taking pole last weekend, but failing to exploit it when he allowed Verstappen to sweep around him at Turn 1 and go from third to first.  

That led to Red Bull's first-and-third result to move them within a point of Mercedes in the constructors' championship, a title the champion team has held for seven years.

For team boss Toto Wolff, it is his first major challenge after a run of unbroken success.

"We'll be throwing everything we've got at the Brazilian Grand Prix and the races beyond," he declared.

"We're privileged to still be in the fight so late in the season and expect these titles to go right down to the wire with both teams fighting hard to the very last lap.

"We've got some catching up to do and know it'll be an intense battle, but we'll continue to push hard and keep our eyes firmly set on the end goal."

His and Hamilton's experience could yet be a telling factor, but as the F1 circus prepares for the second of three consecutive races in an exhausting triple-header it may be the hunger and youth of Red Bull and Verstappen, 12 years the junior, that prevails.

"The best thing about a triple-header is you don't have to wait long for a new opportunity to get the positive momentum back," said Wolff.

"We're excited to be returning to Brazil, the fans are so passionate and Interlagos is such an iconic circuit.

"It's not been our strongest track in recent seasons and has tended to suit Red Bull, but this year has proved anything can happen."

Hamilton also issued a rallying cry after charging Bottas for "leaving the door open" in Mexico. "We are a team - and we win and we lose as a team," he said. "On to the next one Valtteri. Let's keep pushing bro."