A thermal screeening device checks passengers arriving in India from China including Hong Kong in view of outbreak of Novel coronavirus (CoV) in China

Washington: US health authorities on Tuesday announced the first case of a person on American soil sickened by a new virus that emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, and intensified airport health screenings.

The man, a US resident in his 30s who lives near Seattle, is in good condition, according to federal and state officials.

The man is being “hospitalised out of an abundance of precaution, and for short term monitoring, not because there was severe illness,” said Chris Spitters, a Washington state health official.

The news came as Asian countries ramped up measures to block the spread of the new virus as the death toll in China rose to six and the number of cases surpassed 300.

China is about to embark on the Lunar New Year holiday — a huge travel time for hundreds of millions of people. The man hospitalised in Washington state had travelled to the US from Wuhan, but did not visit the seafood market thought to be at the heart of the outbreak.

He entered the US on January 15 — two days before health screenings for those travelling from Wuhan began at airports in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco — and approached health authorities himself after reading news reports about the virus.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will now be deployed to two additional international airports, in Chicago and Atlanta.

All travellers on flights from Wuhan, either direct or connecting, will now be re-routed to the five airports with screening systems in place.

Nations across the Asia-Pacific region stepped up checks of passengers at airports to detect the SARS-like coronavirus.

Fears of a bigger outbreak rose after a prominent expert from China’s National Health Commission confirmed late Monday that the virus can be passed between people.

Davos: President Donald Trump has said that the US is watching the developments between India and Pakistan over Kashmir “very closely” and repeated his offer to “help” resolve the longstanding dispute between the two neighbours as he met Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum here in the Swiss ski resort.

Addressing the media with the Pakistan Prime Minister prior to their private meeting on Tuesday, President Trump asserted that trade and borders were both critical points for discussion, while Khan said that for him, Afghanistan was the top priority.

Trump told Khan, whom he referred to as “my friend”, that he would speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the ongoing Kashmir issue. The US president is expected to visit India in the coming weeks, marking his first visit after taking up his post in the White House.

“What’s going on between Pakistan and India if we can help, we certainly will be willing to. We have been watching it very closely and it’s an honour to be here with my friend,” he said.

“The Pakistan-India conflict is a very big issue for us in Pakistan and we expect the US to always play its part in deescalating the tensions, because no other country can,” Khan said.

President Trump has repeatedly offered to mediate following India’s August 5 decision to revoke the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories, evoking strong reaction from Pakistan which has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue

New Delhi has defended the move, saying Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the issue was strictly internal to the country, and the special status provisions only gave rise to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The country took the decision of abrogation of Article 370, which had only given separatism and terrorism to that state,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a function in October last year.

This is the third meeting between Trump and Khan since Pakistan premier assumed office in 2018 and it came against the backdrop of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s recent trip to the US, amid reports that the US and Afghan Taliban were close to striking a peace deal.

“There are issues we want to talk about. The main issue is Afghanistan because it concerns the US and Pakistan. Fortunately, we are on the same page. Both of us are interested in peace there and an orderly transition in Afghanistan with talks with Taliban and the government,” Khan said.

When a reporter asked Trump if he would visit Pakistan considering he was already set to visit India, the US president said he was meeting the Pakistan premier in Davos.

“Well, we’re visiting right now. So we don’t really have to. I wanted to say that from a relationship standpoint, we got a great relationship. From the standpoint our two countries, we’re getting along very well. I would say we’ve never been closer with Pakistan the way we’re right now. And this is a big statement,” Trump said .

Khan left for Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum and meet the world leaders, including President Trump, on the sidelines of the annual event which kicked off at the ski resort town of Davos on Tuesday.

The four-day summit marks the 50th anniversary of the forum.

A total of 53 heads of State are on the guest list. Nearly 3,000 participants from 118 countries are expected to attend the event during which political leaders, business executives, heads of international organisations and civil society representatives are set to deliberate on contemporary economic, geopolitical, social and environmental issues.

The government took the initiative to introduce e-passports in the wake of more than one passport being illegally issued against one person in the absence of database of fingerprints of citizens.

DHAKA: Bangladesh is set to begin the distribution of e-passports on Wednesday, it was reported. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to launch the e-passport distribution at an event scheduled to be held at the capital’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, bdnews24 quoted Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan as saying on Sunday.

The President and Prime Minister will receive the e-passports first, he said, adding that anyone can apply for it.

The delivery of e-passports will start in regional offices by the end of 2020.

The services will expand in phases, the Minister said, adding that machine-readable passports will remain valid as well.

The Department of Immigration and Passports will issue 48-page and 64-page e-passports with the validity of five years and 10 years, respectively.

The decision on introducing digital passport comes less than a decade after Bangladesh switched from manual to the machine-readable passport.

The government took the initiative to introduce e-passports in the wake of more than one passport being illegally issued against one person in the absence of database of fingerprints of citizens.

The jet operated by Ukraine International Airlines took off from Tehran for Kiev and minutes later disappeared from radar. Iran later admitted that the jetliner was ‘accidentally’ shot down.

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday a compensation of $25,000 each for the families of the Canadian citizens or permanent residents killed in the downing of a passenger plane in Iran.

“I want to be clear: We expect Iran to compensate these families. But I have met them (the families). They can’t wait weeks. They need support now,” CNN quoted Trudeau as saying during a news conference in Ottawa.

The Canadian Prime Minister stated that the assistance will be delivered in the coming days.

The Boeing 737 jet operated by Ukraine International Airlines took off from Tehran for Ukrainian capital Kiev. Minutes after taking off, it disappeared from radar. Days later, Iran had admitted that the jetliner was “accidentally” shot down by missiles.

“We haven’t looked at what the full compensation would end up looking like from Iran. But I can assure you that any money from Iran to the victims would go straight to them — it wouldn’t be to reimburse the Canadian government,” the Canadian Prime Minister said.

Earlier, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne met his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Oman.

“Minister Zarif conveyed his profound regret for this terrible tragedy, and Minister Champagne noted that he had met with families of victims this week who are deeply hurt and angry,” a statement from Champagne’s office read.

“The ministers discussed the necessity of full access to Iran for officials from Canada and other grieving nations to: provide consular services, assist in ensuring victim identification meets international standards and participate in a thorough and transparent investigation,” the statement said while adding that that the two leaders discussed the need for a transparent analysis of the black box data, to which Iran agreed.

“In addition, they discussed the duty Iran has towards the families of the victims — including compensation. Minister Zarif expressed his support for Iran continuing to work with Canada and all grieving nations in these respects. Minister Champagne noted Iran’s cooperation so far and expressed his hope that this would continue,” the statement said.

In the petition, the former president urged the Supreme Court to declare the special court ruling of his death sentence on charges of high treason null and void.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has returned the petition of self-exiled former dictator Pervez Musharraf against his conviction and sentencing by a special tribunal with objection that he is not allowed to appeal without surrendering to the law, according to a media report.

On Thursday, 74-year-old retired general, now based in Dubai, approached the court to challenge the ruling of the special tribunal that had handed him death sentence on charges of high treason. Barrister Salman Safdar, the counsel for Musharraf, submitted the 90-page petition in the top court.

In the petition, the former president urged the Supreme Court to declare the special court ruling null and void. The registrar office of the top court on Friday returned the appeal with the observation that it was settled principle of law that the convict should first surrender before filing appeal, The Express Tribune reported.

The report said that the court gave one month time to remove the objection which meant that Musharraf should surrender within one month otherwise he would lose the right to file appeal. The three-member court in its judgment on December 17 found him guilty and handed down the death penalty after six years of hearing the high-profile treason case against him.

He was punished despite not appearing to record his statement. Musharraf who has been living in Dubai since March 2016 stated in his petition that the former president’s absence from the special court was not intentional as he was unable to appear due to health issue.

He said that the special court had accepted his pleas of ailment but convicted the former president in absentia.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif had filed the treason case against the former army chief in 2013 over the imposition of an extra-constitutional emergency in November 2007, which led to the confinement of a number of superior court judges in their houses and sacking of over 100 judges.

It is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a former army chief was tried and sentenced under Article 6 of the Constitution. Separately, the Lahore High Court declared that the formation of the special court was “unconstitutional” and that the treason case against the former president was not prepared in accordance with the law.

It let some experts to believe that its verdict had become null and void. Others, however, assert that the judgment would stay as it was according to the law, though the court’s formation was declared as against the law.

As per reports, two minor girls, Shanti Meghwad and Sarmi Meghwad belonging to the minority Hindu community were abducted from a village in Sindh.

NEW DELHI: India on Friday summoned a senior official of the Pakistan High Commission here and lodged a strong protest over recent cases of abduction of minor girls belonging to minority Hindu community in that country, official sources said.

As per reports, two minor girls, Shanti Meghwad and Sarmi Meghwad belonging to the minority Hindu community were abducted from a village in Sindh province on January 14.

“Pakistan has been conveyed the grave concerns as expressed amongst various quarters of the Indian civil society at such a shocking and deplorable incident involving minor girls from the minority Hindu community there.

“The incidents have been strongly condemned, and India has asked for immediate and safe return of these girls to their families,” said a source.

These girls belonged to Umar Village in Sindh, according to reports.

In another incident, a minor girl, Mehak, also belonging to the minority Hindu community, was abducted from the Jacobabad district of Sindh province in Pakistan on January 15, according to reports.

The cull came as Australia experienced its hottest and driest year on record in 2019, with the severe drought causing some towns to run out of water and fuelling deadly bushfires.

SYDNEY: Helicopter-borne marksmen killed more than 5,000 camels in a five-day cull of feral herds that were threatening indigenous communities in drought-stricken areas of southern Australia, officials said Tuesday.

Aboriginal leaders in South Australia state said extremely large herds of the non-native camels had been driven towards rural communities by drought and extreme heat, threatening scarce food and drinking water, damaging infrastructure, and creating a dangerous hazard for drivers.

The cull in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands — home to about 2,300 indigenous people in the arid northwest of South Australia — ended on Sunday, said APY general manager Richard King.

“We appreciate the concerns of animal rights activists, but there is significant misinformation about the realities of life for non-native feral animals, in what is among the most arid and remote places on Earth,” King said in a statement on Tuesday.

“As custodians of the land, we need to deal with an introduced pest in a way that protects valuable water supplies for communities and puts the lives of everyone, including our young children, the elderly, and native flora and fauna first.

” King said weakened camels frequently became stuck and died in water holes, contaminating water sources needed by locals and native animals and birds.

“The prolonged dry period, while not difficult for native wildlife, leads to extreme distress for feral camels,” he said.

APY officials said the operation had removed more than 5,000 camels.

The cull came as Australia experienced its hottest and driest year on record in 2019, with the severe drought causing some towns to run out of water and fuelling deadly bushfires that have devastated the country’s southeast.

Camels were first introduced to Australia in the 1840s to aid in the exploration of the continent’s vast interior, with up to 20,000 imported from India in the six decades that followed.

Australia is now thought to have the largest wild camel population in the world, with official estimates suggesting more than one million are roaming the country’s inland deserts.

The animals are considered a pest, as they foul water sources and trample native flora while foraging for food over vast distances each day.

Traditional owners in the APY Lands have for years mustered and sold off feral camels.

But more recently they have “been unable to manage the scale and number of camels that congregate in dry conditions”, according to the environment department.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump was stilling willing to hold talks with Iran’s leaders.

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump warned Iran Sunday against killing protesters who have risen up over the regime’s downing of a civilian airliner as his defense secretary left the door open to talks with Tehran without preconditions.

Trump’s salvo came as Iran’s Islamic regime faced a challenge from angry street protests, having come to the brink of war with the US with a series of tit-for-tat confrontations.

To the leaders of Iran – DO NOT KILL YOUR PROTESTERS. Thousands have already been killed or imprisoned by you, and the World is watching. More importantly, the USA is watching. Turn your internet back on and let reporters roam free! Stop the killing of your great Iranian people!

In an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” just before the tweet, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump was stilling willing to hold talks with Iran’s leaders.

“We’re willing to sit down and discuss without precondition a new way forward, a series of steps by which Iran becomes a more normal country,” Esper said.