DONALD TRUMP ENDS HONG KONG'S SPECIAL STATUS WITH US TO PUNISH CHINA

U.S. President Donald Trump, hardening his stance on China as he struggles

to contain the coronavirus, said on Tuesday he signed legislation and an

executive order to hold China accountable for the "oppressive" national

security law it imposed on Hong Kong.

Mr. Trump, acting on a Tuesday deadline, signed a bill approved by the U.S.

Congress to penalise banks doing business with Chinese officials who

implement Beijings new national security law on Hong Kong.

He said he also signed an executive order aimed at furthering punishing

China for what he called its "oppressive actions" against Hong Kong.

It will end the preferential trade treatment Hong Kong has received for

years - "no special privileges, no special economic treatment and no export

of sensitive technologies," Mr. Trump told a news conference.

"Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China," he said.

According to a White House fact sheet, the executive order includes revoking

special treatment for Hong Kong passport holders.

CHINA SAYS IT HAS HAD SOVEREIGNTY ON SOUTH CHINA SEA 'FOR OVER 1000 YEARS'

In another display of its brazen expansionist tendencies, China claimed that

it has had sovereignty over entire South China Sea "for over 1000 years".

China has been making such claims about South China Sea for many years now.

It claims that the sea, measuring to about 3.5 square kilometres is part of

a so-called Chinese backyard. The fresh claim was made in reaction to US

Secretary of Defence Mike Pompeo's recent comments.

Reacting to Pompeo's statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao

Lijian told a media briefing in Beijing that the secretary of state's

remarks neglected the history and facts about the SCS.

His remarks also breaches the US government's open commitment to not taking

position on sovereignty related issues of the SCS, Zhao said.

He disputed the US assertions that China has come up with its nine-dashed

line in the SCS in 2009 to beef up its claims.

"The US says China announced a dotted line in the SCS in 2009. It is not

true. China's rights and sovereignty has a long history. Our effective

jurisdiction over the relevant islands reefs and waters in the SCS has been

there for over 1,000 years," Zhao claimed.

"The US, out of its selfish agenda, is doing all it can to stir up trouble

in the SCS and drive a wedge between regional countries and China, aiming to

disrupt China's and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)

countries' efforts to maintain peace and stability," foreign ministry

spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said at the regular ministry briefing in Beijing

on Tuesday.

"China does not seek to build a maritime empire in the SCS. We have been

treating our neighbouring countries as equals and we have been keeping

maximum restraint in safeguarding sovereignty and interests in the South

China Sea," he said.

At the same press conference, Zhao announced that China will put sanctions

on Lockheed Martin for its involvement in the latest US arms sale to Taiwan,

Beijing claims as a breakaway region.

FOREIGN STUDENTS IN US: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DROPS DEPORTATION PLANS

US President Donald Trump's government has dropped its plans to deport

international students whose courses move fully online because of the

coronavirus pandemic.

The U-turn comes just one week after the policy announcement.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University sued

the government over the plan.

District Judge Allison Burroughs in Massachusetts says the parties have come

to a settlement.

The agreement reinstates a policy implemented in March, amid the virus

outbreak, which allows international students to attend their classes

virtually if necessary and remain legally in the country on student visas,

according to the New York Times.

SECRET LETTERS REVEAL QUEEN WAS NOT WARNED OF AUSTRALIAN PM'S SACKING IN

1975

Queen Elizabeth II was not warned about the 1975 dismissal of Australia's

prime minister by her representative in country, letters kept secret for

decades and released onTuesday revealed.

The British monarch's representative in Australia, governor-general John

Kerr, sparked a constitutional crisis when he fired Gough Whitlam, the

popular leader of the centre-left Labor party, without warning.

In May, the High Court ruled more than 200 letters between the Queen's

private secretary and Kerr - including many addressing the controversial

affair - be made public.

Although the correspondence show the Queen was not told immediately prior to

Whitlam's sacking, they confirm that Kerr had exchanged letters with the

palace for months about his powers to oust the prime minister.

Suspicion the palace played a direct role in Whitlam's ouster has long been

cited by Australian Republicans arguing the country should break with the

monarchy.

The National Archives of Australia released the 1,200 pages known as the

"Palace Letters" on Tuesday after a four-year court battle to keep them

hidden that reportedly cost Aus$2 million ($1.4 million).

Historians are now combing through the documents to see if the British

government tried to influence events in its former colony and what role the

Queen, Prince Charles and top royal advisers may have played.

One key extract shows Kerr informed the queen he had fired Whitlam shortly

after taking the action on November 11, 1975.

"I should say I decided to take the step I took without informing the Palace

in advance because, under the Constitution, the responsibility is mine, and

I was of the opinion it was better for Her Majesty not to know in advance,

though it is of course my duty to tell her immediately," he wrote.

US CARRIES OUT THE FIRST FEDERAL EXECUTION IN NEARLY 2 DECADES AMID PROTESTS

The federal government on Tuesday carried out its first execution in almost

two decades, killing by lethal injection a man convicted of murdering an

Arkansas family in a 1990s plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific

Northwest.

The execution of Daniel Lewis Lee came over the objection of the victims'

relatives and following days of legal wrangling and delays.

Lee, 47, of Yukon, Oklahoma, professed his innocence just before he was

executed at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.

"I didn't do it," Lee said. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I'm

not a murderer."

His final words were: "You're killing an innocent man."

The decision to move forward with the first execution by the Bureau of

Prisons since 2003 -- and two others scheduled later in the week - drew

scrutiny from civil rights groups and the relatives of Lee's victims, who

had sued to try to halt it, citing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic has killed more than 135,000 people in the United States and is

ravaging prisons nationwide.

Critics argued that the government was creating an unnecessary and

manufactured urgency for political gain.

The developments are likely to add a new front to the national conversation

about criminal justice reform in the lead-up to the 2020 elections.

UN COURT RULES IN QATAR'S FAVOUR IN AVIATION BOYCOTT CASE

Qatar won a legal battle Tuesday in its efforts to end a long-running

aviation boycott by Arab neighbours when the United Nations' highest court

ruled in its favour in a procedural dispute linked to the boycott.

The International Court of Justice rejected an appeal by Bahrain, Egypt,

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates of a June 2018 decision by the

International Civil Aviation Organization to dismiss the countries'

challenge to its jurisdiction to rule in the aviation dispute.

The ruling clears the way for the ICAO to be able to rule in Qatar's case,

filed in October 2017, claiming the boycott breached an international

convention governing international aviation.

Qatar's Minister of Transport and Communications, Jassim Saif Ahmed

Al-Sulaiti, welcomed the ruling.

They also launched an economic boycott, stopping Qatar Airways flights from

using their airspace, closing off the small country's sole land border with

Saudi Arabia and blocking its ships from using their ports.

OVER 700,000 MAROONED AS FLASH FLOODS WREAK HAVOC IN BANGLADESH

Flash floods triggered by incessant rainfall have left over 700,000 ind

ividuals marooned in Bangladesh, whereas inundating lots of of villages and

pushing the water ranges of 14 rivers above the hazard stage, in line with

the media reviews. The general flood scenario in Bangladesh has worsened in

lots of districts within the nation's north and north-eastern areas,

inflicting immense struggling to individuals.

A complete of 14 rivers have been flowing above the hazard stage on Monday,

in line with the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

Ariful Islam, the chief engineer of Kurigram Water Improvement Board (WDB),

advised the Dhaka Tribune that the Brahmaputra river would proceed to rise

till the subsequent 48 hours however Teesta and Dharla would start to

recede.

"The district administration has allotted 100 tonnes of rice, Tk4 lakh (USD

4,718) and 1,800 packets of dry meals and people are being distributed among

the many flood-affected individuals," stated Mokhlesur Rahman, district's

aid and rehabilitation officer Gaibandha.

In Gaibandha, over 1.2 lakh individuals have been affected because of the

flood because the Teesta, Brahmaputra and Ghaghat rivers have been flowing

above the hazard stage on Monday.

"Water stage of those three rivers will improve within the subsequent two

days," Rahman advised The Day by day Star.

PAK COURT GIVES LAST CHANCE TO NAWAZ SHARIF TO APPEAR IN CORRUPTION CASE

A Pakistani anti-corruption court has given a final chance to former Prime

Minister Nawaz Sharif, currently in London for medical treatment, to appear

before it on August 17 in a graft case, failing which he may be declared a

proclaimed offender.

The 70-year-old embattled three-time premier is currently in London for

treatment after he was diagnosed with an immune system disorder.

He left for the UK in November after the Lahore High Court granted him a

four-week permission to go abroad for treatment.

The notice issued by the Accountability Court of Islamabad in the Toshakhana

(treasure house) corruption case was displayed at Jati Umra and Model Town

residences of Sharif on Monday.

"Proclamation under section 87 CrPC is hereby made that the said accused

Nawaz Sharif is required to appear before this court to answer the said

reference on Aug 17," the notice added.

HAGIA SOPHIA WILL BE OPEN OUTSIDE PRAYER TIME: TURKEY

Turkey's Hagia Sophia could open to visitors outside prayer times and its

Christian icons will remain, religious officials said on Tuesday, after a

court ruling paved the way for it to become a mosque.

The decision sparked condemnation from Western governments, Russia and

Christian leaders - Pope Francis saying he was "very distressed".

Hagia Sophia spent almost 1,000 years as a cathedral before being converted

into a mosque in 1453 and later a museum.

Diyanet said in a statement on Tuesday that Christian icons in Hagia Sophia

were "not an obstacle to the validity of the prayers".

"The icons should be curtained and shaded through appropriate means during

prayer times," it said.