WHO: India’s cities deemed most polluted

India’s capital city of New Delhi, choked by rising automobile emissions and construction dust, was named on Wednesday the world’s most polluted megacity by the World Health Organization, which analyzed the levels of the pollutant PM10 in the air in cities with populations above 14 million between 2010 and 2016.

Greater Cairo was the second most polluted large city, with India’s other great mega-city of Mumbai ranked fourth on the list and Beijing fifth.

When the health organization studied data for the smaller and more deadly PM2.5 particulate matter, 14 of the top 15 most polluted cities were in India, with the industrial hub of Kanpur ranked number 1.

Nine out of 10 people around the globe were breathing polluted air, the study said, and that air pollution is responsible for the deaths of 7 million people worldwide each year, most of them living in Asia and Africa. Of those deaths, 3.8 million were from indoor air pollution from unhealthy cook stoves, a huge problem in India.

Barring Chinese telecom

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering executive action to further restrict the sale of Chinese telecommunications equipment in the United States, people briefed on the discussions said, in a move that could ratchet up tensions between China and the United States as the countries vie for technological dominance.

The executive order, which could be released within days, is expected to raise the barrier for government agencies to buy products from foreign telecom equipment providers like Huawei and ZTE, two of China’s most prominent technology firms.

Private government contractors may also be restricted from buying foreign telecom products, which the U.S. believes may be vulnerable to Chinese espionage or disruption.

Protest leader urges halt

YEREVAN, Armenia — The opposition lawmaker who has led weeks of mass demonstrations in Armenia called Wednesday for the protests to take a break after a surprising move by the ruling party appeared to clear the way for him to become prime minister.

On a fast-moving day of turmoil that began with crowds blocking roads, railways and the airport in the capital of Yerevan, the head of the ruling Republican Party’s faction in parliament said it would vote May 8 for any prime minister candidate nominated by a third of the body’s 105 members.

That effectively promised the job to protest leader Nikol Pashinian, just one day after parliament rejected him.

Mr. Pashinian told a Wednesday evening rally that his Elk party and the two other opposition factions would nominate him on Thursday. Together, those parties hold 47 seats — well over the one-third mark set by the Republicans, who will not nominate a candidate of their own.

Russian military spending

In terms of its military presence, Russia has rivaled the United States in recent years, launching major operations in Ukraine and Syria and having rising ambitions in the Arctic.

But its spending power may not match its global ambitions for much longer, numbers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed Wednesday. While global military spending grew last year, Russia’s fell from $69.2 billion in 2016 to $66.3 billion. It was the first time Russian military expenditure fell since 1998.