Beijing says Covid-19 situation still 'severe and complex', source of outbreak uncertain
Health authorities in Beijing on Monday had still not identified the source of a new Covid-19 outbreak linked to a wholesale market south of the capital, more than two weeks after a string of cases were reported.
"The current situation is still severe and complex, and we must not ease up on our series of virus control measures," city official Xu Hejian said at an evening press conference.
"We must not give the virus an opportunity to spread and always try to stay one step ahead," he added.
Beijing on Monday reported seven new infections, taking the total number of cases linked to the Xinfadi Wholesale Market to 318.
'A recipe for disaster,' US health official says of Americans ignoring coronavirus advice
A spike in US coronavirus infections is fuelled in large part by people ignoring public health guidelines to keep their distance and wear masks, the government's top infectious disease official said.
A daily surge in confirmed cases has been most pronounced in southern and western states that did not follow health officials' recommendations to wait for a steady decline in infections for two weeks before reopening their economies.
"That's a recipe for disaster," Dr Anthony Fauci, who directs the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN in an interview broadcast on Monday.
WHO says coronavirus pandemic 'not even close to being over'
The Covid-19 pandemic is not even close to being over, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday.
Tedros noted that, six months after China first alerted the WHO to a novel respiratory infection, the grim milestones of 10 million confirmed infections and 500,000 deaths had been reached.
"Most people remain susceptible, the virus still has a lot of room to move," he said.
India bans 59 Chinese mobile apps including TikTok and WeChat over 'security' concerns
India on Monday banned 59 Chinese mobile apps, including the wildly popular TikTok and WeChat, over national security and privacy concerns just weeks after a deadly Himalayan border clash between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
Relations between the world's two most populous nations have been strained following the deaths of 20 Indian troops in hand-to-hand fighting with their Chinese counterparts on the western end of the high-altitude, contested border in mid-June.
The apps "are engaged in activities... prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order," the ministry of information technology said in a statement.
US ending controlled defence exports to Hong Kong, looking to more restrictions: Pompeo
The United States is ending controlled defence exports to Hong Kong and taking steps toward imposing the same restrictions on exporting US defence and dual-use technologies to Hong Kong that it has in place for China, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement on Monday (June 29).
"The Chinese Communist Party's decision to eviscerate Hong Kong's freedoms has forced the Trump Administration to re-evaluate its policies toward the territory," Pompeo said.
"The United States is forced to take this action to protect US national security. We can no longer distinguish between the export of controlled items to Hong Kong or to mainland China."
