Top news in pictures: India’s MX TakaTak soars, typhoon ravages Korea, US-China trade row, biggest airshow cancelled, oil declines, Akshay’s new look, Russia ‘poisoning’ case

EU RESERVES 200 MILLION MORE CORONAVIRUS VACCINES: The European Commission (EU) announced Wednesday it has reached a deal with a sixth pharmaceutical firm, this time BioNTech-Pfizer, to reserve a further 200 million doses of a potential coronavirus vaccine. "Our chances to develop and deploy a safe and effective vaccine have never been higher, both for Europeans here at home, or for the rest of the world," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said. "To defeat coronavirus anywhere, we need to defeat it everywhere." Brussels has previously signed deals with Sanofi-GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Curevac, Moderna and with AstraZeneca to be ready to procure doses quickly if and when any of the companies develop a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine.

US TO BLOCK EXPORTS FROM CHINA'S XINJIANG: The US is to block key exports from China's Xinjiang region due to allegations that they are produced using forced labour. The proposed bans include cotton and tomato products which are two of China's major commodity exports.

KARDASHIAN REALITY SHOW TO END: The long-running TV reality show about the Kardashian family is coming to an end, Kim Kardashian West has announced. "It is with heavy hearts that we've made the difficult decision as a family to say goodbye to Keeping Up With The Kardashians," she said in a statement posted on Twitter. The show has run for 14 years, and made global mega-stars of Kim, her siblings, their parents, partners and children. The final season, its 21st, will air in early 2021. https://gn24.ae/a7388503d064000

MEXICO WARNS SETBACK IN TESTS COULD DELAY COVID VACCINE: The Latin American roll-out of a potential COVID-19 vaccine made by AstraZeneca could be set back after the biotech company announced a pause in tests, the government of Mexico, which is involved in developing the drug alongside Argentina, said. AstraZeneca, which is working on a vaccine in conjunction with Oxford University, said that a volunteer had developed an undiagnosed illness and that, in line with security protocols, it was delaying further tests until an independent panel had studied the case.

60 BRIDGES, 2,000 HOUSES WRECKED BY TYPHOON IN NORTH KOREA: A typhoon that struck North Korea wrecked nearly 60 bridges and destroyed or inundated more than 2,000 houses, state media reported Wednesday, with leader Kim Jong Un saying the damage had disrupted central planning for the rest of the year. Typhoon Maysak brought days of heavy downpours to the country's east coast last week even as the North was still reeling from earlier flooding and typhoon damage, and this week it was followed by Typhoon Haishen. | North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un inspects an unspecified area, after North Korea was affected by Typhoon Maysak

CHINA'S BIGGEST AIRSHOW CANCELLED: China's International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, the country's biggest airshow, scheduled for November, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the next one will take place in 2022, the organiser said on Wednesday. The biennial event usually draws key suppliers - such as Airbus SE, Boeing Co and Commercial Aircraft Corp of China (COMAC) - and has traditionally been used by Beijing to show off its growing aviation capability, such as military fighters and drones.

OIL EXTENDS DECLINE: Oil futures fell again on Wednesday after a sharp slide in the previous session, as a rebound in COVID-19 cases in some countries undermined hopes for a steady recovery in global demand. Brent crude was down 19 cents, or 0.5%, at $39.59 a barrel by 0656 GMT after dropping more than 5% on Tuesday to fall below $40 a barrel for the first time since June. US crude was down 24 cents, or 0.7%, at $36.52 a barrel, having fallen nearly 8% in the previous session. Both major oil benchmarks are trading at around three-month lows. https://gn24.ae/a7391bb5e0dd000

RUSSIA URGES GERMANY TO SHARE NAVALNY'S MEDICAL INFORMATION: Russia's foreign ministry on Wednesday urged Germany to share Alexei Navalny's medical information after the Kremlin critic's suspected poisoning last month, and accused Berlin of slowing this process down. In a statement, the foreign ministry said not having this information prevents Russia's law enforcement agencies from establishing what happened after Navalny collapsed on a domestic Russian flight after drinking a cup of tea that his allies said was poisoned. https://gn24.ae/a738f0e63e88000

BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN TAKEN BY MASKED PEOPLE: Belarusian opposition politician Maxim Znak was taken from his office by masked people wearing plain clothes, the Interfax news agency cited his allies as saying on Wednesday. The Belarusian police said they were not aware of Znak's alleged detention, the RIA news agency reported. On Tuesday, prominent opposition leader Maria Kolesnikova tore up her passport to avoid being forced to cross the border into Ukraine after she was snatched from the street in Minsk, two of her allies said.

INDIA'S MX TAKATAK GOES FROM 0 TO 1 BILLION DAILY VIDEO VIEWS IN 1 MONTH: India's homegrown short video app MX TakaTak has clocked 15 million-plus video uploads and has set a new benchmark with its daily video views, growing from 0 to 1 billion-plus only within a month of its existence. MX Takatak, in this short span, has also garnered over ten million daily active users and 45 million monthly active users with the average time spent per user per day is 20 min per user, and generating daily one billion-plus video views and 100 plus video views per user.

AKSHAY KUMAR'S NEW LOOK UNVEILED: The makers of the upcoming espionage Bollywood thriller 'Bell Bottom' featuring Akshay Kumar on Wednesday released the new look of the star on his 53rd birthday. The retro aesthetics are hard to miss as is the swag factor in the star's new look revealed by Pooja Entertainment on Instagram. They captions include a birthday cake emoji "BIRTHDAY SPECIAL. Introducing the suave retro look of @akshaykumar from #Bellbottom!" Currently, the espionage thriller is being shot in Scotland.

KANGANA RANAUT TO RETURN TO MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut On Wednesday arrived at the Mohali International airport in Chandigarh to board a flight to return to Mumbai. The actor has been engaged in a bitter war of words with Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut after her remarks that she feels unsafe in Mumbai after the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

HUGE FIRE RAVAGES GREECE'S MAIN MIGRANT CAMP: Greece's largest migrant camp on the island of Lesbos was gutted by a huge fire early Wednesday, leaving over 12,000 fleeing asylum seekers homeless, with reports that the blaze was started by migrants revolting against coronavirus isolation rules. Firemen said the notorious Moria camp had been mostly destroyed but there were no known casualties so far, though a number of people were suffering minor respiratory problems from exposure to smoke. https://gn24.ae/a73c54c22ccd000

CARRENO BUSTA BEATS SHAPOVALOV TO REACH US OPEN SEMI-FINALS: Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain defeated Canada's Denis Shapovalov in five sets to reach the US Open semi-finals early Wednesday. The 20th seed overcame his 12th-seeded opponent 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4), 0-6, 6-3 in 4hr 8min inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.