WHO CLARIFIES COMMENTS ON ASYMPTOMATIC COVID SPREAD

The World Health Organization tried on Tuesday to clear up confusing

comments about how often people can spread the coronavirus when they do not

have symptoms.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's COVID-19 technical lead,

clarified her remarks that transmission of the new coronavirus from

asymptomatic carriers was "very rare", citing a "misunderstanding".

She said, "We have a number of reports from countries who are doing very

detailed contact tracing. They're following asymptomatic cases, they're

following contacts and they're not finding secondary transmission onward.

It's very rare," she told a virtual press conference on Monday.

Her remarks, which were widely relayed on social media networks, sparked a

reaction from part of the scientific community.

"Contrary to what the WHO announced, it is not scientifically possible to

affirm that asymptomatic carriers of SARS-CoV-2 are not very infectious,"

professor Gilbert Deray of the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris said on

Twitter.

Liam Smeeth, a clinical epidemiology professor at the London School of

Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said he was "quite surprised".

"There remains scientific uncertainty, but asymptomatic infection could be

around 30 percent to 50 percent of cases. The best scientific studies to

date suggest that up to half of cases became infected from asymptomatic or

pre-symptomatic people," he said.

Van Kerkhove later posted on Twitter a WHO summary on transmission.

"Comprehensive studies on transmission from asymptomatic individuals are

difficult to conduct, but the available evidence from contact tracing

reported by member states suggests that asymptomatically-infected

individuals are much less likely to transmit the virus than those who

develop symptoms," it said.

During a discussion rebroadcast Tuesday on the WHO's Twitter account, Van

Kerkhove said she wanted to clarify a misunderstanding.

"I was referring to very few studies, some two or three", and answering a

question.

"I was not stating a policy of WHO," she said.

"I used the phrase 'very rare', and I think that is a misunderstanding to

state that asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare. What I was

referring to was the subset of studies," she added.

Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director at WHO, also clarified on Tuesday that WHO

welcomes discussion if "people think we are straying from evidence. We were

misinterpreted, perhaps because we didn't use the most elegant words."

DONALD TRUMP'S 2020 PATH GETS TRICKIER WITH US FORMALLY IN RECESSION

President Donald Trump faces a new obstacle to his case for re-election --

the U.S. is now officially in recession.

The "recession" label, made official on Monday, cements the pain that many

voters are already feeling from the economy -- and will feed into their

choice in November for who will be able to steer the economy back.

For Democrat Joe Biden, the proclamation from the National Bureau of

Economic Research is further evidence that the economy was on shaky ground

even before the worst of the coronavirus hit. Trump, he said, has

"squandered" the booming economy he inherited from President Barack Obama

and himself.

For Trump, the recession declaration came on the first weekday after the May

jobs report showed 2.5 million jobs were created and the unemployment rate

declined when it was expected to jump. On Friday he touted the numbers as a

sign of "the greatest comeback in American history."

For now, the recession comes as polls show the president's standing slipping

across the board with the country reeling from the pandemic, its economic

impact and racial justice protests. Trump is hoping to regain his footing by

relaunching his signature rallies in the coming weeks where he will tout his

economic record.

And, while ignoring the recession announcement on his Twitter feed, Trump is

maintaining his re-election argument that he built the strong economy once,

and he can do it again.

"TRANSITION TO GREATNESS!" he tweeted Tuesday, followed by, "THE REAWAKENING

OF AMERICA!"

SOUTH KOREA PRESIDENT MOON JAE-IN UNDER PRESSURE TO SPLIT WITH TRUMP ON

NORTH KOREA POLICY

Both North Korea and left-leaning supporters of South Korean President Moon

Jae-in want him to restore economic ties broken by security tensions. But

pleasing them would mean angering US President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, North Korea said it was closing down communication links set up

two years ago between Moon and Kim Jong Un, jeopardizing the South Korean

leader's 2017 campaign promise to move the heavily armed rivals toward a

permanent peace. It's bad timing for Moon: His ruling bloc secured a

historic supermajority in National Assembly elections in April, boosting

calls within his Democratic Party to mend ties with North Korea.

The problem for Moon is that he doesn't have much he can offer North Korea

without prompting a blowup from the Trump administration, which has

repeatedly rejected South Korea's calls for sanctions relief. The US has

refused to relax United Nations penalties and other measures against the

regime without greater commitments on arms reduction from Kim.

Woo Won-shik, a senior lawmaker and a former Democratic Party floor leader,

said Tuesday there was an "urgent need" to revive inter-Korean cooperation,

arguing that failure to act now could further isolate North Korea and bring

about a return to the brinkmanship of three years ago. Kim earlier this year

said he would soon debut a "new strategic weapon" -- part of a bid to

pressure Trump, who faces an election in November, back to the negotiating

table.

"There are many inter-Korean projects that can proceed without breaching the

existing UN sanctions regime," Woo said.

WON'T IGNORE ANGER OVER RACIAL INJUSTICE, SAYS BORIS JOHNSON

The toppling of a statue of a slave trader has reignited demands for the

removal of other monuments to Britain's colonial past, with further protests

planned on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged anger at

racial injustice.

Calls have mounted across the country for a reassessment of the way

historical figures are portrayed in public spaces, as part of a wider debate

about inequality and prejudice.

Britain has seen days of protests sparked by the death in police custody of

George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in the United States.

Mr. Johnson said he understood the "depth of emotion" triggered by Floyd's

death and the anger from black and ethnic minority groups about

discrimination in education, employment and law.

"We who lead and who govern simply can't ignore those feelings because in

too many cases, I am afraid, they will be founded on a cold reality," he

said in a video message Monday.

But he warned he would not tolerate violence, after clashes in central

London near his Downing Street office left 35 police officers injured and

public monuments vandalised.

Instead, he urged those who wanted change to "stand for election, or vote

for someone who will".

DEMOCRATS UNVEIL POLICE REFORMS AFTER GEORGE FLOYD'S DEATH

Just two weeks after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed by a

white police officer, Democrats in Washington unveiled a Bill that sought to

lower immunity standards for police officers, ban racial profiling in

federal law enforcement agency and restrict the use of lethal force.

The Bill, called the Justice in Policing Act, also bans chokeholds and

carotid holds; creates a national police misconduct registry; does away with

"qualified immunity" for police and correctional officers; requires federal

law enforcement officers to wear body cameras; enhances the ability of the

Justice Department to investigate patterns of police misconduct.

Sponsored by chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Karen Bass

(Democrat, California), the Bill has more than 200 co-sponsors and is likely

to pass the Democrat-controlled House. Its passage by the GOP-controlled

Senate, however, is far from certain.

"A profession where you have the power to kill should be a profession that

requires highly trained officers who are accountable to the public," Ms.

Bass said at a press conference on Monday.

"That is a local decision, a local level," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said,

according to the Washington Post. "But to do so that doesn't say we're going

to pile more money on to further militarise the police," Ms. Pelosi said.

Presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidential race, Joe Biden, also

said he was not in favour of defunding police departments.

"No, I don't support defunding the police," Mr. Biden told a CBS journalist

on Monday. "I support conditioning federal aid to police, based on whether

or not they meet certain basic standards of decency and honorableness."

DEATH TOLL IN PAKISTAN BUILDING COLLAPSE INCREASES TO 19

The death toll in the multi-storey building collapse here rose to 19 on

Tuesday after 11 more bodies were recovered from the debris.

The residential building in Karachi's Lyari area collapsed on Sunday night.

The residents of the building said the six-storey structure collapsed with a

loud "thud", which was followed by a power outage making rescue operations

difficult.

Till Monday, rescue teams had pulled out eight bodies and on Tuesday 11 more

bodies were found in the first floor of the collapsed building. Twelve

people were injured in the incident.

Personnel from the Army, Rangers, police and welfare associations were

engaged in the rescue operation.

This is the third major building collapse in the country's financial capital

this year. In March, 27 people were killed and scores injured when a

five-storey building fell on two adjacent structures in the city's congested

Gulbahar area.

SENATE CONFIRMS GEN CHARLES BROWN JR AS FIRST BLACK US MILITARY SERVICE

CHIEF IN UNANIMOUS VOTE

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Gen. Charles Brown Jr. as chief

of staff of the U.S. Air Force, making him the first black officer to lead

one of the nation's military services.

Vice President Mike Pence took the unusual step of presiding over the vote,

something he usually does to break ties. But Brown's confirmation, 98-0, was

not close. Pence called the moment "historic."

The vote came as the Trump administration and the mostly white Senate

Republican conference grapple with the aftermath of the killing of George

Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis. Protests have convulsed the nation

alongside the coronavirus pandemic, with racial discrimination being the

common thread between them. The vote in Washington overlapped with Floyd's

funeral in Houston.

Brown most recently served as the commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces. He

is a fighter pilot, with more than 2,900 flying hours, including 130 in

combat.

IRAN TO EXECUTE A CIA AGENT INVOLVED IN COMMANDER SOLEIMANI'S KILLING

An Iranian citizen who provided information to US and Israeli intelligence

services about whereabouts of Iran's slain top commander Qassem Soleimani

will be executed soon, Iran's judiciary spokesman said on Tuesday.

"Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd, one of the spies for CIA and Mossad has been

sentenced to death. He gave the whereabouts of martyr Soleimani to our

enemies," said Gholamhossein Esmaili in a televised news conference.

On January 3, a US drone strike in Iraq killed Soleimani, the head of Iran's

elite Quds Force.