IF SCIENTISTS RECOMMEND, I WILL SHUT DOWN ECONOMY TO SAVE LIVES FROM

PANDEMIC: JOE BIDEN

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said, if elected, he would be

willing to shut down the country again should there be a second wave of

coronavirus in the US and scientists recommend the move to slow its spread.

"I would shut it down. I would listen to the scientists," the former vice

president told ABC News' David Muir during a joint interview with his

running mate Sen. Kamala Harris set to air in full Sunday night.

Biden said he would "be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives,

because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus."

He called it the "fundamental flaw" of the Trump administration's handling

of the pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 175,000 Americans.

"In order to keep the country running and moving, and the economy growing,

and people employed, you have to fix the virus," Biden told ABC. "You have

to deal with the virus."

Biden and his campaign have continued to hammer President Donald Trump's

response to the coronavirus pandemic.

"The President keeps telling us the virus is going to disappear. He keeps

waiting for a miracle," Biden said in his acceptance speech during

Thursday's Democratic National Convention. "Well, I have news for him: no

miracle is coming."

Biden has also called for governors to implement mask mandates for the next

three months.

His proposals also include hiring 100,000 people for a national contact

tracing effort and pouring $25 billion into the manufacturing and

distribution of a vaccine.

KIM JONG UN REPORTEDLY IN A COMA AS HIS SISTER KIM YO JONG TAKES CONTROL

Chang Song-min, a former aide to South Korea's late president Kim Dae-Jung

on Sunday fired up rumours by claiming that North Korean Supreme Leader Kim

Jong-un is actually in a coma and that his sister, Kim Yo-jong, is presently

poised for power to take over North Korea.

Taking to social media Song-min said that the fact that Kim Yo-Jong has been

made the de facto second-in-command speaks for itself since, he claimed, no

North Korean leader would entrust any of his authority to another person

unless he was too sick to rule or was removed through a coup.

Song-min said that authority and responsibility have been delegated to Kim

Jong-un's sister for managing relations with the US and South Korea. He has

claimed to have gotten the information from a source in China as per The

Korea Herald.

In an interview with South Korean media, Chang Song-min said: "I assess him

to be in a coma, but his life has not ended. "A complete succession

structure has not been formed, so Kim Yo-jong is being brought to the fore

as the vacuum cannot be maintained for a prolonged period."

He went on to say that photos of Kim Jong Un that were released by the North

Korean media in recent months were fake. As per Chang, the power

restructuring does not make Kim Yo-jong the successor to Kim Jong Un.

South Korea's spy agency informed the country's political leaders that the

North Korean leader seemed to have adopted delegating authority and

responsibility to some of his most trusted aides. But according to the

National Intelligence Agency, the change doesn't appear to be linked to any

major health problem, said The Korean Herald.

EXPLOSION AT GAS PIPELINE LEADS TO BLACKOUT IN SYRIA

An explosion on the Arab Gas Pipeline has caused a power blackout in Syria

and initial indications point to an attack, the energy minister told

state-run television on Monday.

The Ikhbariya TV channel showed footage of a large fire following the

explosion, which officials told state media occurred between the Syrian

towns of Ad Dumayr and Adra, northwest of the capital of Damascus.

"Initial indications are this was a terrorist attack," Minister of Petroleum

and Mineral Resources Ali Ghanem told Ikhbariya, adding that the pipeline

feeds power stations in the south. He said technical teams were already on

the ground.

The electricity minister was later quoted by state news agency SANA as

saying that power had gradually started being restored to the country's

provinces.

The Arab Gas Pipeline system extends from Egypt into Jordan and Syria.

CORONAVIRUS | CHINA ADMINISTERING COVID-19 VACCINES SINCE JULY, SAYS

OFFICIAL

China has since July 22 been administering its domestically-developed

COVID-19 vaccines to a broad range of people whose number may soon be in the

hundreds of thousands, including medical workers, the armed forces, and

employees of companies who are working overseas on Belt and Road Initiative

(BRI) projects, said a health official on August 22.

China has eight different vaccines which are going through clinical trials,

and none have so far been approved for the market. Some of the vaccines

have, however, been administered on an "urgent use" basis for the past

month, Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Development Centre for Medical

Science and Technology of the National Health Commission, which is leading

the vaccine development programme, told State media.

Authorities have permitted administering vaccines to medical workers, border

officers and those employed overseas, while the People's Liberation Army

(PLA) has also begun inoculating military personnel. Vaccines are being

administered in two doses, with the second given one month after the first

shot.

"The number of people being vaccinated on an urgent basis may reach hundreds

of thousands across China, considering that personnel in wider sectors are

being offered free injections," Tao Lina, an immunology expert, was quoted

as saying by the Communist Party-run newspaper, Global Times. "But it's

difficult to give an accurate figure since the Chinese military has begun

mass vaccinations but has not released details."

US ALLOWS EMERGENCY USE OF BLOOD PLASMA TREATMENT FOR CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given emergency authorisation

for the use of plasma to treat coronavirus patients.

The technique uses antibody-rich blood plasma from people who've recovered

from the disease, and has already been used on over 70,000 people in the US.

President Donald Trump said the treatment could reduce deaths by 35%.

It comes a day after he accused the FDA of impeding the rollout of vaccines

and therapeutics for political reasons.

The announcement comes on the eve of the Republican National Convention,

where Mr Trump will launch his campaign to win a second term in the White

House.

"This is what I've been looking forward to doing for a long time," the

president told reporters on Sunday. "I'm pleased to make a truly historic

announcement in our battle against the China virus that will save countless

lives."

President Trump described the procedure as a powerful therapy and he

appealed for Americans to come forward to donate plasma if they've recovered

from Covid-19.

ISRAEL'S NETANYAHU ACCEPTS COMPROMISE, AVOIDS ELECTION

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that he has

accepted a proposal to extend budget negotiations, preventing the government

from collapsing and plunging the country into a new election.

In a nationally televised address, Mr. Netanyahu said that now was not the

time to drag the country into an unwanted election.

"Now is the time for unity. Not for elections," he said.

Mr. Netanyahu and his rival and coalition partner, Benny Gantz, had faced a

Monday night deadline to agree on a budget. Otherwise, the government would

have collapsed and automatically triggered a new vote, the fourth

parliamentary elections in less than two years.

Mr. Netanyahu said that following a historic agreement to establish official

relations with the United Arab Emirates, and with the country struggling

with a coronavirus outbreak, he felt it was wrong to to go to elections.

IRAN: UN NUCLEAR CHIEF'S VISIT TO TEHRAN NO LINK TO US PUSH

Iran said Sunday that an upcoming visit this week by the head of the U.N.'s

atomic watchdog agency to Tehran has nothing to do with a U.S. push to

impose so-called "snapback" sanctions on Iran - even as Tehran acknowledged

a recent explosion at a major uranium enrichment site was "sabotage."

The Trump administration last week dismissed near-universal opposition to

its demand to restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran, declaring that a 30-day

countdown for the "snapback" of penalties eased under the 2015 nuclear deal

between Tehran and world powers had begun.

Both U.S. allies and foes have joined forces to declare the action illegal

and doomed to failure. The U.S. argues that Iran has violated the

restrictions imposed on its nuclear program under the 2015 deal, a charge

Tehran has dismissed.

Iran's official IRNA news agency quoted on Sunday Iran's envoy to the

International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, Kazem Gharibadadi, as saying that

the visit this week is "neither related to the snapback mechanism nor the

U.S. demand."

Gharibabadi said the visit by the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi comes within "the

framework of Iran's invitation."

"We do not allow others to manage Iran," he said, adding that Iran's trust

in the IAEA has been "damaged in recent months."

He expressed hope Grossi's visit will lead to building trust. "It is

important to assure Tehran that the agency will move based on impartiality,

independence and professionalism," said Gharibabadi.

THOUSANDS EVACUATE AS DUELING STORMS TAKE AIM AT US GULF COAST

Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura tore through the Caribbean and Gulf

of Mexico on Sunday, forcing thousands of coastal residents in Louisiana and

Cuba to evacuate and flooding roads in Haiti's capital, with damage across

the region expected to worsen this week.

Marco, which strengthened into a hurricane on Sunday with sustained winds of

75 mph (120 kph), is forecast to make landfall along the Louisiana coast on

Monday.

Laura, which hit the Dominican Republic and Haiti earlier on Sunday before

striking Cuba on Sunday evening, is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane

on Wednesday before making landfall in Texas or Louisiana on Thursday.

US President Donald Trump issued a disaster declaration on Sunday for

Louisiana ahead of the storms. He had issued a similar declaration on

Saturday for Puerto Rico, which suffered extensive rains from Laura.

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards warned the state's residents that

tropical storm-force winds would arrive by Monday morning and they should be

ready to ride out both Marco and Laura if they don't leave by Sunday night.

CHRISTCHURCH SHOOTING: GUNMAN TARRANT WANTED TO KILL 'AS MANY AS POSSIBLE'

The man who killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019 had plans

to target a third mosque, his sentencing hearing has heard.

Brenton Tarrant also planned to burn down the mosques, wanting to "inflict

as many fatalities as possible".

The Australian has pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 attempted

murders and one charge of terrorism.

Tarrant, 29, faces life in prison, possibly without parole - a sentence

never before imposed in New Zealand.

The attacks, parts of which the gunman streamed live online, saw him open

fire at two mosques in Christchurch on 15 March last year.

He first drove to the Al Noor mosque, firing on people taking part in Friday

prayers. He then drove about 5km (3 miles) to the Linwood mosque and killed

more people.

The attack sent shockwaves around the world and prompted New Zealand to make

swift changes to its gun laws.