EU MULLS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST UK OVER PLAN TO BREAK BREXIT DEAL

The United Kingdom and the European Union held emergency talks on Thursday

over Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to undercut parts of the Brexit

divorce treaty, with Brussels exploring possible legal action against

London.

As the UK pushes ahead with its plan to act outside international law by

breaching the divorce treaty, the EU negotiators are trying to gauge how to

deal with London.

The EU said the UK must withdraw the planned law dealing with Northern

Ireland trade by the end of the month or face a legal fight even before the

transition period following Britain's EU departure ends on December 31.

"By putting forward this bill, the UK has seriously damaged trust between

the EU and the UK. It is now up to the UK government to reestablish that

trust," European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said, using

language that, by the EU's diplomatic standards, was furious.

He spoke after meeting Britain's chief Brexit minister, Michael Gove, at a

hastily arranged meeting in London.

Sefcovic said that if Britain didn't change course by the end of September,

the EU would take legal action.

"The Withdrawal Agreement contains a number of mechanisms and legal remedies

to address violations of the legal obligations contained in the text - which

the European Union will not be shy in using," Sefcovic said.

Sefcovic said the EU "does not accept the argument that the aim of the draft

Bill is to protect the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement. In fact, it is of

the view that it does the opposite."

A note distributed by the EU executive to the 27 EU member states said the

Withdrawal Agreement gives the bloc up to four years to launch a legal

procedure against the UK if it violates EU rules during a transition period

this year.

DONALD TRUMP ADMITS TO 'PLAYING DOWN' COVID-19 IN US

President Donald Trump was confronted by reporters at the White House over

his comments to American journalist Bob Woodward about his downplaying of

the seriousness of the coronavirus early on.

On Wednesday afternoon, Trump confessed of "playing it down" with regard to

the pandemic and its severity to the American people.

"I'm a cheerleader for this country," Trump said. "I love our country. And I

don't want people to be frightened. I don't want to create panic as you say.

Certainly, I'm not going to drive this country or the world into a frenzy.

We want to show confidence; we want to show strength, we want to show

strength as a nation. That's what I've done. We've done very well."

"The job we have done is incredible. We don't want to instill panic and jump

up and down that we have a problem. The last thing you want to do is to

create panic. It was sent by China--it should've never happened. This was a

disgusting, terrible situation that was foisted upon us. I was very open

whether it was to (Bob) Woodward or to anybody else," he added.

In an interview to American journalist Bob Woodward for his upcoming book

'Rage,' Trump had told the journalist months ago that he "always wanted to

play it down" and acknowledged it was more serious than the flu, despite

downplaying the severity of the virus publicly.

The book is not only an assessment of Trump's handling of the pandemic in

the US but also his conduct from former Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis. The

book is based on 18-on-the record interviews between Trump and Woodward from

December to July.

HUGE FIRE BREAKS OUT AT BEIRUT PORT A MONTH AFTER EXPLOSION

A huge fire broke out Thursday at the Port of Beirut, triggering panic among

residents traumatised by last month's massive explosion there that killed

and injured thousands of people.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire at the facility, which was

decimated by the August 4 explosion when nearly 3,000 tonnes of ammonium

nitrate detonated, triggering a shock wave explosion that blasted windows,

doors and walls miles away.

A column of black smoke billowed from the port at midday Thursday, with

orange flames leaping from the ground. The Lebanese Army said the fire is at

a warehouse where oil and tires are placed in the duty free zone at the port

adding that fighting the blaze is ongoing and that army helicopters are

taking part in the operation.

Panicked residents - still struggling to get over last month's catastrophic

explosion - cracked open windows and called each other to warn them of the

new fire. Local TV stations said the companies that have offices near the

port have asked their employees to leave the area. Lebanese troops closed

the major road that passes near the port referring traffic to other areas.

The August 4 explosion killed more than 190 people, injured around 6,500 and

damaged thousands of buildings in the Lebanese capital. The sight of another

huge fire a month later created panic among residents traumatized by last

month's explosion.

State-run National News Agency said the fire was at a warehouse where tires

are placed. It added that firefighters are dealing with the blaze. Army

helicopters were taking part in efforts to extinguish the fire.

A video circulating on social media showed workers at the port running away

in fear as soon as the fire broke out, a chilling reminder of last month's

blast that killed dozens of port employees and 10 fire fighters.

RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAN HACKERS TARGET TRUMP AND BIDEN, MICROSOFT SAYS

Hackers with ties to Russia, China and Iran are attempting to snoop on

people and groups involved with the US 2020 presidential election, Microsoft

says.

The Russian hackers who breached the 2016 Democratic campaign are again

involved, said the tech firm.

Microsoft said it was "clear that foreign activity groups have stepped up

their efforts" targeting the election.

Both President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden's campaigns are in the

cyber-raiders' sights.

Russian hackers from the Strontium group have targeted more than 200

organisations, many of which are linked to US political parties - both

Republicans and Democrats, Microsoft said in a statement.

The same cyber-attackers also targeted British political parties, said

Microsoft, without specifying which ones.

Strontium is also known as Fancy Bear, a cyber-attack unit allegedly

affiliated with Russian military intelligence, the GRU.

"Similar to what we observed in 2016, Strontium is launching campaigns to

harvest people's log-in credentials or compromise their accounts, presumably

to aid in intelligence gathering or disruption operations," said Tom Burt, a

Microsoft vice-president in charge of customer security and trust.

The firm said Chinese hackers had launched attacks targeting individuals

connected to Mr Biden's campaign, while Iranian hackers had continued

efforts targeting people associated with the Trump campaign.

"Prominent individuals" in the international affairs community, academic

institutions and policy organisations were also said to have been targeted

by the Chinese hacking group, known as Zirconium.

The Iranian group known as Phosphorus has unsuccessfully sought to access

accounts of White House officials and Mr Trump's campaign staff between May

and June of this year.

Microsoft was unable to determine the aims of the Russian, Chinese and

Iranian hackers. Google said back in June that it had detected similar

cyber-hack attempts by China and Iran.

PUTIN EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE IN SCO'S ABILITY TO RESPOND TO NEW CHALLENGES

Terrorism poses a serious threat and drug trafficking and organised crimes

are on the rise, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said as he expressed

confidence in the SCO bloc's ability to respond promptly to the "new acute

challenges."

Mr. Putin on Wednesday held a meeting via video conference with foreign

ministers of the 8-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). External

Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is representing India at the meeting here in

the Russian capital.

The SCO plays a major role in ensuring peace and security, as well as

sustainable development in Eurasia, he said.

"Terrorism poses a serious threat, and drug trafficking, organised crime and

cybercrime are on the rise," Mr. Putin said.

"To reiterate, the security situation in Eurasia and neighbouring regions

still requires special attention on the part of the SCO. The situation in

Afghanistan remains tense, and conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa

continue unabated," he said.

"Acting on the principles of equality and mutual consideration for

everyone's interests, we strive to conduct a joint search for ways of

resolving today's global challenges and we maintain close foreign policy

coordination, including in the U.N. and other international venues," Mr.

Putin said.

According to Mr. Putin, the SCO has shown an ability to respond promptly to

new acute challenges.

"We are undertaking concerted efforts to overcome the political, trade,

economic and social ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic," he said.

TAIWAN: CHINA PLANES ENTERED ITS AIRSPACE TWICE IN 2 DAYS

Taiwan says Chinese warplanes entered its airspace on Wednesday and Thursday

during large-scale war games that it called a ``serious provocation to

Taiwan and a grave threat to regional peace and stability.''

Taiwan's foreign ministry said Thursday that its military is fully aware of

actions by China's military aircraft and "responds effectively," without

giving details.

China says the self-governing democracy of 23 million people is its own

territory and has been stepping up its threat to bring the island under its

control by military force with frequent war games and aerial patrols.

Taiwan said such actions by China's People's Liberation Army threaten the

entire region and urged the international community to respond.

"Today, the PLA has chosen to conduct exercises near Taiwan; tomorrow it may

engage in similar threats near other countries,'' the ministry said in a

statement.

China cut contacts with Taiwan's government following the 2016 election of

independence-minded President Tsai Ing-wen, who was re-elected this year,

and has sought to isolate her diplomatically while ratcheting up political,

military and economic pressure.

The latest moves come at a low point in relations between Beijing and

Washington, Taiwan's chief ally and weapons provider. The US is legally

bound to treat threats to the island as a matter of grave concern. That

introduces a greater level of risk with the possibility that the US could be

swiftly brought into any conflict between Taiwan and China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said the question of Taiwan's annexation

cannot be put off indefinitely, while at the same time he is aggressively

pursuing China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, along the border

with India and in the East China Sea where China claims uninhabited islands

controlled by Japan.

ASTRAZENECA CEO SAYS COVID-19 VACCINE MAY BE READY BY END OF YEAR DESPITE

PAUSE IN TRIALS

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot on Wednesday expressed hopes that a vaccine

against the novel coronavirus developed by the pharmaceutical company would

be ready by the end of 2020 or early 2021, despite having to pause clinical

trials.

Earlier this week, the UK-Swedish company reportedly froze the trials after

discovering that one participant was sick with transverse myelitis. This

condition results in the inflammation of parts of the spinal cord and may be

caused by infections, among other things. The Financial Times newspaper

subsequently reported that AstraZeneca might resume clinical trials of its

COVID-19 vaccine early next week.

"We could still have a vaccine by the end of this year, early next year,"

Soriot said at an event hosted by the Tortoise media group, as quoted by The

Guardian newspaper.

According to the CEO, it is common to have such pauses in trials. The only

difference is that usually, the whole world is not watching.

"Even so, I still think we are on track for having a set of data that we

would submit before the end of the year [for regulatory approval]," he

added.

The vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca in partnership with the Oxford

University's Jenner Institute and the Oxford Vaccine Group is in phase 3

trials, which is the final stage before safety and efficacy data can be

submitted to health regulators for approval.

More than 50,000 people worldwide have been taking part in the clinical

studies to see whether the candidate vaccine, known as AZD1222, can develop

an immune response to COVID-19.

UK OPENS NEW 'SIMPLIFIED' POINTS-BASED STUDENT VISA ROUTE

The UK government on Thursday tabled its new points-based Student Route for

visas in Parliament, which it says simplifies the previous student visa

application requirements for international students applying to study in

Britain.

The route, to apply to all overseas students including Indians from October

5, will mean students require a total of 70 points to be granted a visa to

study at a UK university.

They will achieve the required points if they can demonstrate that they have

an offer from an approved educational institution, speak English and are

able to support themselves during their studies in the UK.

The UK Home Office said the new route treats all students equally, including

students from Europe coming to study after the Brexit transition period ends

at the end of the year.

"The new Student Route is a welcome announcement for thousands of Indian

students who opt for a UK education every year to gain international

exposure. It offers greater flexibility and ease of immigration for

applicants," said Barbara Wickham, Director British Council India.

"With the post-study work benefits of the Graduate Immigration Route and the

launch of the Student Route, the UK has further solidified its commitment

towards international students, and enabling more than ever, their dreams of

pursuing a world-class education," she said.

NASA SETS OUT TO BUY MOON RESOURCES MINED BY PRIVATE COMPANIES

NASA on Thursday launched an effort to pay companies to mine resources on

the moon, announcing it would buy from them rocks, dirt and other lunar

materials as the US space agency seeks to spur private extraction of coveted

off-world resources for its use.

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote in a blog post accompanying the

announcement that the plans would not violate a 1967 treaty that holds that

celestial bodies and space are exempt from national claims of ownership.

The initiative, targeting companies that plan to send robots to mine lunar

resources, is part of NASA's goal of setting what Bridenstine called "norms

of behavior" in space and allowing private mining on the moon in ways that

could help sustain future astronaut missions. NASA said it views the mined

resources as the property of the company, and the materials would become

"the sole property of NASA" after purchase.

Under NASA's Artemis program, President Donald Trump's administration

envisions a return of American astronauts to the moon by 2024. NASA has cast

such as mission as a precursor to a future first human voyage to Mars.

"The bottom line is we are going to buy some lunar soil for the purpose of

it demonstrating that it can be done," Bridenstine said during an event

hosted by the Secure World Foundation, a space policy organization.

Bridenstine said NASA eventually would buy more types of resources such as

ice and other materials that may be discovered on the moon.

CHINA APPROVES FIRST NASAL SPRAY COVID-19 VACCINE FOR TRIALS

China has approved for trials its first nasal spray vaccine to combat the

novel coronavirus that has claimed over 904,000 lives and infected more than

27 million people globally, official media here reported on Thursday.

China's only nasal spray vaccine against the coronavirus is expected to

start Phase-I clinical trials in November, and it is recruiting 100

volunteers.

It is the only vaccine of its type approved by China's National Medical

Products Administration, the state-run Global Times reported.

The vaccine is a collaborative mission between Hong Kong and the Chinese

mainland that involves researchers from the University of Hong Kong, Xiamen

University, and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy.

Microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong, Yuen Kwok-yung, said the

vaccine stimulates the natural infection pathway of respiratory viruses to

activate the immune response.