TANKER OFF UAE SOUGHT BY US OVER IRAN SANCTIONS 'HIJACKED'

An oil tanker sought by the U.S. over allegedly circumventing sanctions on

Iran was hijacked on July 5 off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, a

seafarers welfare organization said Wednesday.

Satellite photos showed the vessel in Iranian waters on Tuesday and two of

its sailors remained in the Iranian capital.

It wasn't immediately clear what happened aboard the Dominica-flagged MT

Gulf Sky, though its reported hijacking comes after months of tensions

between Iran and the U.S.

David Hammond, the CEO of the United Kingdom-based group Human Rights at

Sea, said he took a witness statement from the captain of the MT Gulf Sky,

confirming the ship had been hijacked.

Hammond said that 26 of the Indian sailors on board had made it back to

India, while two remained in Tehran, without elaborating.

"We are delighted to hear that the crew are safe and well, which has been

our fundamental concern from the outset," Hammond told The Associated Press.

CHINA WARNS OF RETALIATORY SANCTIONS IF US IMPLEMENTS HONG KONG AUTONOMY ACT

China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the move of the U.S. side of

signing the so-called "Hong Kong Autonomy Act" into law, said a statement

released on the foreign ministry's website Wednesday.

In disregard of China's serious representations, the United States recently

signed into law the so-called "Hong Kong Autonomy Act" passed by its

Congress, according to the statement.

The Act maliciously denigrates the national security legislation for Hong

Kong, and threatens to impose sanctions on China. It seriously violates

international law and the basic norms underpinning international relations.

It constitutes gross interference in Hong Kong affairs and China's internal

affairs.

"The Chinese government firmly opposes and strongly condemns this move by

the United States," said the statement.

The enactment and enforcement of the Law of the People's Republic of China

on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative

Region (SAR) is fully consistent with the relevant provisions of the Chinese

Constitution and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR.

In order to safeguard its legitimate interests, China will make necessary

response and sanction the relevant individuals and entities of the United

States, said the statement.

"We urge the U.S. side to correct its mistakes, not to enforce the so-called

'Hong Kong Autonomy Act,' and stop interfering in Hong Kong and other

internal affairs of China in any way," it said, adding that if the U.S. side

insists on going in the wrong direction, China will respond resolutely.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang on Wednesday summoned U.S.

Ambassador to China Terry Branstad to lodge stern representations over the

so-called "Hong Kong Autonomy Act" and related executive order signed by

U.S. President Donald Trump.

"To safeguard its legitimate interests, China will make necessary response

to the wrong actions of the United States, including imposing sanctions on

relevant U.S. entities and individuals," Zheng said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday the United States would

support countries that believe China had violated their maritime claims in

the South China Sea, but he suggested it would do so through diplomatic

rather than military means. "We will assist them, whether that's in

multilateral bodies, whether that's in ASEAN, whether through legal

responses," he said.

Pompeo also said that the US would impose visa restrictions on certain

employees of Chinese tech companies like Huawei that provide "material

support" to regimes engaging in human rights violations and abuses globally,

further straining bilateral ties. "Telecommunications companies around the

world should consider themselves on notice: If they are doing business with

Huawei, they are doing business with human rights abusers," Pompeo said.

Pompeo also said the administration is finalizing plans to minimize data

theft from the popular Chinese video streaming app TikTok, although he

stopped short of saying it would be banned outright.

'DUMPING' HUAWEI WILL COST YOU: CHINA WARNS UK

China has warned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that his decision to

ban Huawei from the UK's 5G network will cost Britain dearly in investment.

Beijing has cast the move as the result of politicised pressure from US

President Donald Trump.

Hours after Johnson ordered Huawei equipment to be purged from the nascent

5G network by the end of 2027, Trump claimed credit for the decision.

He said if countries wanted to do business with the United States they

should block Huawei.

But China, whose $US15 trillion ($A21 trillion) economy is five times the

size of Britain's, warned the decision would hurt investment as Chinese

companies had watched as London "dumped" the national telecoms champion.

"Now I would even say this is not only disappointing - this is

disheartening," Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming told the Centre for European

Reform, adding that Britain had "simply dumped this company".

"The way you are treating Huawei is being followed very closely by other

Chinese businesses, and it will be very difficult for other businesses to

have the confidence to have more investment," he said.

In Beijing, the foreign ministry cast Britain as "a relatively small place"

that was becoming subservient of the US.

"Does the UK want to maintain its independent status or be reduced to being

a vassal of the United States, be the United States' cats paw?" Chinese

foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

"The safety of Chinese investment in the UK is being greatly threatened."

MAJOR US TWITTER ACCOUNTS HACKED IN BITCOIN SCAM

Billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are among many prominent

US figures targeted by hackers on Twitter in an apparent Bitcoin scam.

The official accounts of Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kanye West also

requested donations in the cryptocurrency.

"Everyone is asking me to give back," a tweet from Mr Gates' account said.

"You send $1,000, I send you back $2,000."

"Tough day for us at Twitter. We all feel terrible this happened," tweeted

CEO Jack Dorsey late on Wednesday.

"We're diagnosing and will share everything we can when we have a more

complete understanding of exactly what happened," said Mr Dorsey.

Earlier, Twitter took the extraordinary step of stopping many verified

accounts marked with blue ticks from tweeting altogether.

There were reports that password reset requests were also being denied.

San Francisco-based Twitter later said most accounts would be able to tweet

again, but the company was still "working on a fix".

IN DEFEAT, SESSIONS SAYS TRUMP RIGHT FOR NATION

Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has lost the Republican

nomination for his old Senate seat in Alabama to former college football

coach Tommy Tuberville. The defeat likely ends Sessions' long political

career, and it's a bitter loss that was egged on by President Donald Trump.

Tuberville is familiar to Alabamians from his decade as Auburn University's

head football coach. Tuberville is now positioned for a robust challenge to

the incumbent, Democratic Sen. Doug Jones. With Alabama's strong Republican

tilt, the seat is likely the GOP's best chance for a pickup as it tries to

maintain its thin Senate majority.

TUNISIAN PM RESIGNS TRIGGERING POLITICAL CRISIS

Tunisian Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh stepped down on Wednesday, plunging

the country into a political crisis as it tries to weather the economic

fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Fakhfakh presented his resignation to President Kais Saied, a government

statement said. Political sources told Reuters Saied had asked him to do so

as momentum grew in Parliament to oust the Prime Minister over an alleged

conflict of interest.

Mr. Saied must now choose a new candidate for prime minister, but the

Parliament is deeply fragmented among rival parties and a failure to build

another coalition would trigger an election.

The collapse of Mr. Fakhfakh's government less than five months after it was

formed will further delay urgent economic reforms and complicate efforts to

handle any new surge in coronavirus cases after Tunisia brought a first wave

under control.