FORMER PAK PM NAWAZ SHARIF ACCUSES COUNTRY'S ARMY CHIEF OF TOPPLING HIS GOVT

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday accused the country's

army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa of toppling his government, pressuring the

judiciary, and installing the current government of Prime Minister Imran

Khan in the 2018 elections.

"Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, you packed up our government, which was working

well, and put the nation and the country at the alter of your wishes,"

Sharif said addressing a large protest gathering of opposition parties in

the eastern Pakistani city of Gujranwala.

Sharif addressed the crowd via video link from London.

UK PM JOHNSON SAYS PREPARE FOR NO-DEAL BREXIT, CANCELS TALKS

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday it was now time to prepare for a

no-trade deal Brexit unless the European Union fundamentally changed course,

bluntly telling Brussels that there was no point in talking any more.

A tumultuous "no deal" finale to the United Kingdom's five-year Brexit

crisis would sow chaos through the delicate supply chains that stretch

across Britain, the EU and beyond - just as the economic hit from the

pandemic worsens.

EU ultimatum

At what was supposed to be the "Brexit Summit" on Thursday, the EU delivered

an ultimatum: it said it was concerned by a lack of progress and called on

U.K. to yield on key sticking points or see a rupture of ties with the bloc

from January 1.

"I have concluded that we should get ready for January 1 with arrangements

that are more like Australia's based on simple principles of global free

trade," Mr. Johnson said. "With high hearts and with complete confidence, we

will prepare to embrace the alternative and we will prosper mightily as an

independent free trading nation, controlling and setting our own laws," he

added.

Mr. Johnson's spokesman said shortly afterwards that talks were now over and

there was no point in the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier coming to

London next week barring a change in approach.

"The trade talks are over: the EU have effectively ended them by saying that

they do not want to change their negotiating position," his spokesman said.

TRUMP, BIDEN SPAR ON TELEVISED TOWN HALL EVENTS, FROM AFAR

With less than three weeks to go for the elections, U.S. President Donald

Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden offered contrasting visions for the

country at two separate televised townhalls. Mr. Trump had pulled out of the

second debate with Mr. Biden when the organizers had said it would be held

virtually following the president's recent infection with the coronavirus.

Mr. Trump's and Mr Biden's differing visions came through in their

descriptions of the handling of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed

more than 218,000 Americans. Both candidates took questions from their

respective interviewers and socially distanced and masked members of the

public in the audience.

Mr. Trump, speaking on NBC to Savannah Guthrie, attempted to deflect blame

for his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Trump said. "Because of

China .it happened because of China. And you have to get that and understand

that." On masks, he repeated - falsely- that a study had found that 85% of

those wearing masks contracted the virus.

Mr Biden presented a contrasting perspective on Mr Trump and masks. "The

words of a president matter," he said. "When a president doesn't wear a mask

or makes fun of folks like me when I was wearing a mask for a long time,

then, you know, people say, 'Well, it mustn't be that important.'"

On the economy too the candidates presented different pictures. Mr. Biden

said he would raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, reversing,

partly that aspect of the Trump tax cuts. Mr. Trump said raising corporate

taxes would cause a depression and that he would work on a "middle income

package." Mr. Biden has repeatedly stated that he does not plan on raising

taxes for those earning less than $ 400,000 a year.

On whether he would consider "packing" the Supreme Court [ increasing the

number of justices from nine] if Republicans confirmed Trump nominee Amy

Barrett , Mr Trump said the public would know his position by November 3. He

said he would consider how the Senate handles the confirmation process of Ms

Barrett.

"No matter what answer I gave you, if I say it, that's the headline

tomorrow. It won't be about what's going on now, the improper way they're

proceeding," Mr Biden said.

At his townhall, Mr Trump stuck to his guns on an unsubstantiated claim

about voter fraud related to mail-in ballots.

On his own taxes, Mr. Trump did not deny that he owed $400 million in debt

but said it was "a tiny percentage" of his net worth.

Mr. Trump was challenged by Ms Guthrie on the question of denouncing white

supremacy, something he had failed to do unequivocally during the September

presidential debate. He eventually denounced it, quickly pivoting to Antifa.

On the question of guaranteeing "the peaceful transition of power" Mr.

Trump, as he has done before, made allegations of voter fraud, the Democrats

spying on his campaign before eventually saying , "Peaceful transfer, I

absolutely want that. But ideally, I don't want to transfer, because I want

to win."

FRANCE: TEACHER BEHEADED, POLICE SHOOT DEAD SUSPECTED KILLER

A history teacher who opened a discussion with students on caricatures of

Islam's Prophet Muhammad was beheaded in a French street on Friday and

police have shot dead the suspected killer, authorities said.

The French anti-terrorism prosecutor opened an investigation for murder with

a suspected terrorist motive, the prosecutor's office said.

The gruesome killing of the teacher in a middle school occurred in the town

of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine while the suspect was killed by police in

adjoining Eragny. The towns are located in the Val d'Oise region northwest

of Paris.

The suspect's identity was not made public. French media reported that the

suspect was an 18-year-old Chechen, born in Moscow. That information could

not be immediately confirmed.

The attack came as Macron is pushing for a new law against what he calls

domestic ``separatism,'' notably by Islamic radicals accused of

indoctrinating vulnerable people through home schools, extremist preaching

and other activities.

US BLAMES CHINA, RUSSIA & INDIA FOR RISING AIR POLLUTION

US President Donald Trump has blamed countries like China, Russia and India

for adding to the global air pollution and asserted that his country has the

best environmental numbers.

Speaking to his cheering supporters at an elections rally in the key

battleground State of North Carolina on Thursday, Trump said the US under

his administration has achieved energy independence while protecting its

pristine environment.

"We have the best environmental numbers, ozone numbers, and so many other

numbers. In the meantime, China, Russia, India all these countries they're

spewing stuff into the air," he alleged during the rally. He said the US has

achieved energy independence while protecting its pristine environment.

He has continuously argued that countries like China and India are

benefiting the most from the Paris agreement and the agreement itself was

unfair to the US, as it badly hit its businesses and jobs.

During Thursday's rally too, Trump said to the cheering crowd that it were a

few nations that were contributing to global pollution. "I keep telling my

people you know, I love clean air but Russia and China, you look at a map

you have all these spots and India and many others are spewing it in. What

do you suggest?" he asked his thousands of supporters who had gathered at a

city airport here to listen to his election speech.

JACINDA ARDERN EYES MAJORITY AS NEW ZEALAND HEADS TO POLLS

Millions in New Zealand are heading to the polls in the country's general

elections.

The vote was originally due to be in September, but was postponed by a month

after a renewed Covid-19 outbreak.

Opinion polls put Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on course to win a second

term, boosted by her successful handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

But the big question now is whether she will win a parliamentary majority,

which would be unprecedented.

No party has won an outright majority in New Zealand since it introduced a

parliamentary system known as Mixed Member Proportional representation (MMP)

in 1996.

Voting opened at 09:00 local time (20:00 GMT Friday) and will end at 19:00.

More than a million people have already voted in early polling which opened

up on 3 October.

New Zealanders are also being asked to vote in two referendums alongside the

general election vote.

WHO TRIAL CAST DOUBT ON REMDESIVIR AS COVID-19 TREATMENT

A row broke out on Friday over a World Health Organization (WHO) clinical

trial which concluded that the anti-viral drug remdesivir has little or no

impact on a patient's chances of surviving COVID-19.

Gilead Sciences Inc., the US company that developed the drug, said the

findings appeared inconsistent with evidence from other studies validating

the clinical benefit of remdesivir, which was used to treat US President

Donald Trump's coronavirus infection.

"We are concerned the data from this open-label global trial has not

undergone the rigorous review required to allow for constructive scientific

discussion," Gilead said.

But Richard Peto, an independent statistician hired by the WHO to scrutinize

the results of its Solidarity trial, dismissed Gilead's criticism.

"It's a reliable result, don't let anybody tell you otherwise, because

they'll try to," Peto told reporters. "This is real world evidence."

The results of the trial, announced by the WHO on Thursday, dealt a blow to

one of the few drugs being used to treat people with COVID-19.

The UN health agency said remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on

keeping people alive or on the length of hospital stays among patients with

the respiratory disease.