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- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill canceled in-class instruction just one week into the new term on Monday after positive cases of COVID-19 shot up dramatically, becoming the latest U.S. school to reverse course on reopening. The university’s chancellor said in a letter to students posted on the campus website that classes would be held online going forward, along with academic support services. Aug. 11 was the first day of the new academic year. The decision came after the COVID-19 positivity rate - the percentage of those tested who had infections - went from 2.8% to 13.6% at the campus clinic, Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said in the message. “So far, we have been fortunate that most students who have tested positive have demonstrated mild symptoms,” Guskiewicz said. Other colleges, including the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, began the fall semester on Monday with all classes conducted online. Nationwide, new cases of COVID-19 fell for a fourth wee

ROME - Lebanese President Michel Aoun dismissed as “impossible” the chance that a vast explosion in Beirut’s port this month was caused by a blast from a deposit of Hezbollah arms, but said that all possibilities would be investigated. Lebanese authorities are probing what caused massive amounts of ammonium nitrate warehoused unsafely for years at the port to denotate in a mushroom cloud on Aug. 4, killing 178 people, injuring 6,000 and destroying swathes of the city. Aoun, an ally of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Tuesday that the group did not store weapons at the port, echoing comments by Hezbollah’s leader earlier this month. “Impossible, but serious events like these light up spirits and imagination,” Aoun said when asked about people advancing the hypothesis, but added that “even this lead will be investigated”. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has denied accusations that his heavily arm

BEIJING - China said on Tuesday it firmly opposes U.S. suppression of Huawei Technologies Co, after the Trump administration announced it would further tighten restrictions on the company. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, speaking at a daily news briefing, urged the United States to stop discrediting Chinese companies. The Chinese government would continue to take all necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights of Chinese companies, said Zhao.

- Epic Games said on Monday it was seeking to block Apple Inc’s removal of “Fortnite” from its app store and has asked a judge to prevent any retaliatory action against its other games in the store. In its filing, Epic Chief Executive Timothy Sweeney said “Fortnite” had 350 million registered users as of June 2020, but that Apple’s move will stop them from getting the updates needed to play the game’s most popular mode - a “Battle Royale” match of up 100 players where the last survivor wins. “Apple’s actions will ‘break’ Fortnite for millions of existing players,” Sweeney wrote, saying Epic updates the game every few weeks. “Because iOS users can no longer update the game, they will be unable to play Fortnite with most other players, who will have the then-current version available on other platforms” such as PCs. The videogame maker also said Apple will terminate all of Epic Games’ developer accounts and cut it off from its development tools starting Aug. 28. In addition to making i

PILANESBERG NATIONAL PARK, South Africa - Wynand du Toit’s safari camp in South Africa’s Pilanesberg National Park lies abandoned, its tents ripped open by baboons and its survival in the balance after his insurer rejected his COVID-19 claim. In the United States, Miami restaurant owner Luis Debayle has laid off two-thirds of his staff and is desperate for an insurance payout that could help avert the prospect of closure. Meanwhile, Munich beer garden boss Christian Vogler is heading to the German courts in an attempt to wrestle about 1 million euros ($1.2 million) from his insurer. Businesses around the world, hamstrung by lockdowns, are facing often-existential showdowns with insurance companies that are reluctant to pay out on business interruption policy claims for a disaster unknown in living memory. The insurers say many such policies exclude pandemics, require physical damage on premises or do not apply to the widespread lockdowns seen globally. Facing pressure from regulators

HONG KONG - Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday she was not too bothered about U.S. sanctions against her but the Chinese-ruled city will complain to the World Trade Organization about a new U.S. requirement on Hong Kong-made products. The United States this month imposed sanctions on Lam and other current and former Hong Kong and mainland officials whom Washington accuses of curtailing political freedom in the financial hub. “Despite some inconvenience in my personal affairs, it is nothing I would take to heart,” Lam told a weekly news conference. “We will continue to do what is right for the country and for Hong Kong.” The sanctions came in response to China’s imposition of a sweeping national security law on the semi-autonomous city after prolonged anti-China, pro-democracy protests last year. The legislation punishes anything China considers secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign forces with up to life in prison and has drawn criticism from Western cou

CHICAGO/NEW YORK - The top U.S. infectious diseases expert is warning that distributing a COVID-19 vaccine under special emergency use guidelines before it has been proved safe and effective in large trials is a bad idea that could have a chilling effect on the testing of other vaccines. Scientists and health experts have expressed concern that President Donald Trump will apply pressure on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to deliver a vaccine before November to boost his chances of re-election. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, declined to comment on the president, but said there are risks in rushing out a vaccine despite the urgent need. “The one thing that you would not want to see with a vaccine is getting an EUA (emergency use authorization) before you have a signal of efficacy,” Fauci told Reuters in a phone interview. “One of the potential dangers if you prematurely let a vaccine out is that it would make it difficult, i