TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SUBMITS FORMAL NOTICE OF WITHDRAWAL FROM W.H.O

The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations of its

withdrawal from the World Health Organization, although the pullout won't

take effect until next year, meaning it could be rescinded under a new

administration or if circumstances change. Former Vice President Joe Biden,

the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said he would reverse the

decision on his first day in office if elected.

The withdrawal notification makes good on President Donald Trump's vow in

late May to terminate U.S. participation in the WHO, which he has harshly

criticized for its response to the coronavirus pandemic and accused of

bowing to Chinese influence.

The move was immediately assailed by health officials and critics of the

administration, including numerous Democrats who said it would cost the U.S.

influence in the global arena.

Biden pledged Tuesday to rejoin the WHO if he defeats Trump in November.

"Americans are safer when America is engaged in strengthening global health.

On my first day as president, I will rejoin the WHO and restore our

leadership on the world stage," he said.

The withdrawal notice was sent to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on

Monday and will take effect in a year, on July 6, 2021, the State Department

and the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The State Department said the U.S. would continue to seek reform of the WHO,

but referred to Trump's June 15 response when asked if the administration

might change its mind. "I'm not reconsidering, unless they get their act

together, and I'm not sure they can at this point," Trump said.

Guterres, in his capacity as depositary of the 1946 WHO constitution, "is in

the process of verifying with the World Health Organization whether all the

conditions for such withdrawal are met," his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric,

said.

BRAZIL'S JAIR BOLSONARO TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 AFTER MONTHS OF

DISMISSING THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE VIRUS

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for Covid-19 in an

escalation of the health crisis that has engulfed Latin America's largest

economy.

"I'm perfectly well," Bolsonaro told CNN Brasil in a live interview, after

announcing the result of his test. He added he is taking hydroxichloroquine,

an anti-malaria medicine he's been touting as being effective against the

virus though its use hasn't been authorized by most health experts globally

and could carry dangerous side effects.

The 65-year-old president, who during his campaign to reopen the economy

called the virus "just a little flu," has repeatedly disobeyed medical

recommendations to avoid contamination, mingling in crowds without a face

mask and giving people handshakes.

Late on Monday, however, a video posted on YouTube showed a masked Bolsonaro

trying not to get too close to supporters who awaited him in front of the

presidential palace. He told them he was following social distancing orders

from a doctor after showing symptoms of the virus, and added that an exam

had shown his lungs were "clean."

Brazil has become a global hotspot for the virus, trailing only the U.S.

with more than 65,000 confirmed deaths and over 1.62 million total cases.

It has implemented an erratic response to the pandemic, with the president

often clashing with state governors and even his health minister over

quarantine measures and possible treatments.

Bolsonaro could be seen coughing during a Thursday broadcast on his social

networks, when he sat next to six other people, none of whom wore a mask.

Officials who were present included Regional Development Minister Rogerio

Marinho and the chief executive officer of state-owned bank Caixa Economica

Federal, Pedro Guimaraes. Since then, he has mingled with members of his

administration and the general public, and had lunch with the U.S.

ambassador to Brazil on Saturday.

Dr. Michael Ryan, the executive director of the World Health Organization's

health emergencies program, said Tuesday during a press briefing that

Bolsonaro's infection "brings home for us all the reality of this virus" and

"we are equally vulnerable."

DECISION ON FOREIGN STUDENTS' VISA MISGUIDED, SAY US INSTITUTES, LAWMAKERS

Several Congressman and top educational institutions decried the policy

change that will require international students who are in the United States

with an F-1 visa to take at least one in-person course or else face the

prospect of being deported.

The Trump administration has yet again announced a new policy that will

damage the economy, harm US institutions, and do nothing to improve

America's safety or security, said Congressman Bennie Thompson, chairman of

the Committee on Homeland Security, and Congresswoman Kathleen Rice,

chairwoman of the Border Security, Facilitation, and Operations Subcommittee

in a joint statement.

"There is no apparent legitimate reason for the administration's

inflexibility toward international students attending colleges and

universities that adopt 'online-only' policies - the Administration seems to

just want them to leave," the two lawmakers said.

International students contribute billions of dollars to the US economy and

barring them from our country will deprive Americans of badly needed income.

"We cannot allow President Trump to continue destroying jobs and cause

needless suffering just to satisfy his anti-immigrant base. We oppose this

reckless policy and the lasting harm it will cause to universities and

communities across the country," they said.

Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne expressed his concern that the

decision will create more uncertainty and complexity for international

students.

Congresswoman Debbie Dengell urged the Department of Homeland Security to

review its decision.

U.S. ANNOUNCES VISA RESTRICTIONS FOR CHINESE OFFICIALS UNDER RECIPROCAL

ACCESS TO TIBET ACT

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has announced visa restrictions for a

certain group of Chinese officials under the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act.

"Today I announced visa restrictions on PRC (Peoples Republic of China)

officials involved in restricting foreigners' access to Tibet. We will

continue to seek reciprocity in our relationship," Mr. Pompeo tweeted on

Tuesday.

Beijing has continued systematically to obstruct travel to the Tibetan

Autonomous Region (TAR) and other Tibetan areas by U.S. diplomats and other

officials, journalists, and tourists, while Chinese officials and other

citizens enjoy far greater access to the United States, he said in a

statement.

As such, Mr. Pompeo said he is announcing visa restrictions on Chinese

government and Chinese Communist Party officials determined to be

substantially involved in the formulation or execution of policies related

to access for foreigners to Tibetan areas, pursuant to the Reciprocal Access

to Tibet Act of 2018.

Access to Tibetan areas is increasingly vital to regional stability, given

the Chinese human rights abuses there, as well as Beijing's failure to

prevent environmental degradation near the headwaters of Asia's major

rivers, he said.

Mr. Pompeo said the U.S. will continue to work to advance the sustainable

economic development, environmental conservation, and humanitarian

conditions of Tibetan communities within China and abroad.

We also remain committed to supporting meaningful autonomy for Tibetans,

respect for their fundamental and unalienable human rights, and the

preservation of their unique religious, cultural, and linguistic identity.

In the spirit of true reciprocity, we will work closely with the U.S.

Congress to ensure U.S. citizens have full access to all areas of the

People's Republic of China, including the TAR and other Tibetan areas, Mr.

Pompeo said.

FBI DIRECTOR: CHINA IS 'GREATEST THREAT' TO US

The director of the FBI has said that acts of espionage and theft by China's

government pose the "greatest long-term threat" to the future of the US.

Speaking to the Hudson Institute in Washington, Christopher Wray described a

multi-pronged disruption campaign.

He said China had begun targeting Chinese nationals living abroad, coercing

their return, and was working to compromise US coronavirus research.

"The stakes could not be higher," Mr Wray said.

"China is engaged in a whole-of-state effort to become the world's only

superpower by any means necessary," he added.

In a nearly hour-long speech on Tuesday, the FBI Director outlined a stark

picture of Chinese interference, a far-reaching campaign of economic

espionage, data and monetary theft and illegal political activities, using

bribery and blackmail to influence US policy.

"We've now reached a point where the FBI is now opening a new China-related

counterintelligence case every 10 hours," Mr Wray said. "Of the nearly 5,000

active counterintelligence cases currently underway across the country,

almost half are related to China."

The FBI director said that Chinese President Xi Jinping had spearheaded a

programme called "Fox Hunt", geared at Chinese nationals living abroad seen

as threats to the Chinese government.

"We're talking about political rivals, dissidents, and critics seeking to

expose China's extensive human rights violations," he said. "The Chinese

government wants to force them to return to China, and China's tactics to

accomplish that are shocking."

He continued: "When it couldn't locate one Fox Hunt target, the Chinese

government sent an emissary to visit the target's family here in the United

States. The message they said to pass on? The target had two options: return

to China promptly, or commit suicide."

BEIJING CONVERTS HONG KONG HOTEL INTO NEW NATIONAL SECURITY OFFICE

Beijing opened its new national security office in Hong Kong on Wednesday,

turning a hotel in the bustling shopping and commercial district of Causeway

Bay into its new headquarters.

The office will oversee the Hong Kong government's enforcement of Beijing's

sweeping national security legislation that will punish acts of secession,

subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces with up to life in

prison.

The office's chief, Zhang Yanxiong, and Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam attended

the opening ceremony at the former Metropark Hotel, which offers views

across the city's Victoria Harbour.

The law puts mainland security agents in Hong Kong for the first time with

powers to investigate and prosecute national security crimes and allows

extradition to the mainland for trial in courts controlled by the Communist

Party.

Critics of the law fear it will crush coveted freedoms in the Chinese-ruled

city, while supporters say it will bring stability after a year of sometimes

violent protests that plunged the city into its biggest crisis in decades.

CORONAVIRUS | BRITISH PM UNDER FIRE FOR BLAMING CARE HOMES

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a growing storm on Tuesday after

saying some care homes didn't follow procedures to stem the spread of

COVID-19 deaths, sparking an accusation that he was trying to rewrite

history.

Britain has one of the highest death tolls in the world from COVID-19, at

more than 44,000, with around 20,000 dying in care homes, according to

government statistics.

While the government has been heavily criticised by the Opposition and some

medics over the slow delivery of protective clothing and testing in care

homes, Mr. Johnson appeared to suggest blame for the outbreaks lay with the

care homes themselves. "We discovered too many care homes didn't really

follow the procedures in the way that they could have, but we're learning

lessons," Mr. Johnson said.

Mark Adams, Chief Executive of charity Community Integrated Care, said he

was "unbelievably disappointed" by Mr. Johnson's comments, slamming them as

clumsy and cowardly, adding they represented a dystopian rewriting of

history.

U.S. KILLING OF IRAN GENERAL UNLAWFUL, SAYS UN EXPERT

The U.S. drone strike that killed Iran's top general Qasem Soleimani was

"unlawful", a United Nations expert concluded in a report released on

Tuesday.

Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or

arbitrary executions, concluded it was an "arbitrary killing" that violated

the UN charter. The U.S. had provided no evidence that an imminent attack

against U.S. interest was being planned, she wrote.

The independent rights expert does not speak for the United Nations but

reports her findings to it. Her report on targeted killings through armed

drones - around half of which deals with the Soleimani case - is to be

presented to the UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva on Thursday.

The U.S. withdrew from the council in 2018.

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Soleimani in a January 3

drone strike.

Soleimani, a national hero at home, was "the world's top terrorist" and

"should have been terminated long ago", Mr. Trump said at the time.

EGYPT, FRANCE, GERMANY, JORDAN WARN ISRAEL ON ANNEXATION

Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan on Tuesday warned Israel against annexing

parts of the Palestinian territories, saying that doing so could have

consequences for bilateral relations.

In a statement distributed by the German Foreign Ministry, the countries,

including Israel's two leading partners in the Middle East, said their

foreign ministers had discussed how to restart talks between Israel and the

Palestinian Authority.

They, along with most other European countries, oppose Israeli plans that

envisage annexing parts of the occupied West Bank as part of a peace deal

that is promoted by the US administration of President Donald Trump.

The Palestinian Authority, which wants the West Bank for a future

Palestinian state, opposes the move. The United States has yet to give its

approval to the annexation plans.

"We concur that any annexation of Palestinian territories occupied in 1967

would be a violation of international law and imperil the foundations of the

peace process," the European and Middle Eastern foreign ministers said after

their video conference.

"We would not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders that are not agreed

by both parties in the conflict," they added. "It could also have

consequences for the relationship with Israel."

Israel had no immediate response. But in a separate statement, Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had told British counterpart

Boris Johnson on Monday that he was committed to Trump's "realistic" peace

plan.

"Israel is prepared to conduct negotiations on the basis of President

Trump's peace plan, which is both creative and realistic, and will not

return to the failed formulas of the past," the statement said.