World News

AGENCIES Geneva The World Health Organisation (WHO) has acknowledged for the first time that there was “evidence emerging” that the transmission of the coronavirus is airborne, Reuters reported. The WHO’s admission came after 239 scientists wrote it an open letter claiming that the virus can be transmitted through the air. Benedetta Allegranzi, WHO’s technical lead for infection prevention and control, …

PTI New York Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have sued the Department of Homeland Security and the federal immigration agency over new guidelines barring foreign students from remaining in America if their universities switched to online-only classes in the Fall. A report in The Harvard Crimson said the two preeminent educational institutions filed a lawsuit in District …

AP Beijing China on Wednesday defended the World Health Organization and lashed out at the US decision to withdraw from the UN body. Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said the move was “another demonstration of the US pursuing unilateralism, withdrawing from groups and breaking contracts.” WHO is “the most authoritative and professional international institution in the field of global public …

PTI Islamabad A Pakistani court has dismissed three identical petitions challenging the construction of the first Hindu temple in the country’s capital. A single bench of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), comprising Justice Aamer Farooq, delivered the judgement late on Tuesday, making it clear that there was no bar on the Institute of Hindu Panchayat (IHP), which was allotted the …

PTI Houston Scientists have designed a “catch and kill” air filter which they say can trap the novel coronavirus and neutralise it instantly, an invention that may reduce the spread of COVID-19 in closed spaces such as schools, hospitals and health care facilities, as well as public transit environments like airplanes. According to the study, published in the journal Materials …

PTI Washington Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the US is “certainly looking” at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, days after India blocked the popular video-sharing platform. India banned 59 apps with Chinese links, including TikTok and UC Browser, on June 29, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country. During an interview …

PTI Washington/New York In a move that will adversely impact hundreds of thousands of Indian students, the US immigration authority has announced that foreign students will have to leave the country or risk deportation if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall semester due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said in a press …

AP Tokyo Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party has adopted a resolution urging the government cancel a visit to Japan by Chinese President Xi Jinping following the implementation of a new national security law for Hong Kong. “We have no choice but urge (the government) to cancel President Xi’s state visit,” the Liberal Democratic Party’s diplomatic panel chief Yasuhide …

PTI Washington The US military “will continue to stand strong” in relationship to a conflict between India and China or anywhere else, a top White House official has said, after the Navy deployed two aircraft carriers to the strategic South China Sea to boost its presence in the region. “The message is clear. We’re not going to stand by and …

New York: More than 200 scientists from 32 nations have written to the WHO, saying there is evidence that the coronavirus is airborne and even smaller particles can infect people, a significant departure from the UN health agency’s claims so far that COVID-19 is spread primarily through coughs and sneezes. A report in The New York Times says that clusters …