MIKE POMPEO SAYS FREE WORLD MUST CHANGE CHINA OR 'CHINA WILL CHANGE US'

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has called on "free nations" to triumph

over the threat of what he said was a "new tyranny" from China, in a

provocative speech likely to worsen fraught US-China relations.

"Today China is increasingly authoritarian at home, and more aggressive in

its hostility to freedom everywhere else," Pompeo said in a speech on

Thursday at the Richard Nixon presidential library in Yorba Linda,

California.

"If the free world doesn't change Communist China, Communist China will

change us," he said, Pompeo said Nixon's worry about what he had done by

opening the world to China's Communist party in the 1970s had been

prophetic.

"President Nixon once said he feared he had created a 'Frankenstein' by

opening the world to the CCP," Pompeo said. "And here we are."

"The truth is that our policies and those of other free nations a

resurrected China's failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the

international hands that were feeding it," Mr Pompeo said.

Pompeo said that the US and other nations had "opened our arms" to Chinese

citizens, only to see the CCP "exploit our free and open society."

"We gave the Chinese Communist regime special treatment, only to see the CCP

insists on silence over its human rights abuses as the price of admission

for Western companies in China."

"We, the free nations of the world, must induce change in the CCP's

behaviour in more creative and assertive ways, because Beijing's actions

threaten our people and our prosperity."

Pompeo's remarks come as rivalry between the US and China has deteriorated

sharply over the last few weeks. On Friday, Chinese foreign ministry

spokeswoman Hua Chunying described Pompeo as an "ant trying to shake a tree"

in a "futile" attempt to "launch a new crusade against China."

CHINA'S MOUTHPIECE DUBS HOUSTON CONSULATE CLOSURE AS TRUMP'S ELECTION GAMBIT

The US government's order to China to shut its consulate in Houston is an

attempt to blame Beijing for US failures ahead of the November presidential

election.

That's according to the Chinese state media, which described the closure as

"a new gambit in the US administration's bid to paint China as a malevolent

actor on the world stage, and thus make it an outlaw to the international

community".

"The move shows that lagging behind his presidential election opponent in

the polls ... the US leader is going all out in his attempts to portray

China as an agent of evil," it said.

Meanwhile, China's embassy to the US described the order as "political

provocation" and called on Washington to "immediately revoke" the decision.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying wrote on Twitter that China would

"surely react with firm countermeasures".

The US on Wednesday said it had given China 72 hours to close the consulate

"to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private

information", prompting Chinese threats of retaliation.

The decision marked a dramatic escalation of tension between the world's two

biggest economies amid fresh accusations of Chinese espionage in the US and

calls by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for a new global coalition

against Beijing.

U.K., EU RULE OUT QUICK POST-BREXIT DEAL

Britain and the European Union on Thursday broke up their latest round of

post-Brexit trade negotiations by ruling out a quick deal but voicing hope

for agreement in the coming months.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had promised last month to add "a bit of oomph"

to the stalled negotiations when he personally joined them last month.

His main goal then was to get a framework deal struck by the end July that

could assure U.K. businesses they do not have to start preparing for a messy

no-deal breakup when the current transition period ends on December 31. But

chief negotiators said this was unlikely because of a fundamental gap on

major areas such as fishing rights and fair competition rules.

"It is unfortunately clear that we will not reach in July the 'early

understanding on the principles underlying any agreement," Britain's David

Frost said.

He accused the EU of failing to recognise Britain's economic and political

independence and described the gulf between the sides on some points as

"considerable".

ISRAELI PRESIDENT LASHES OUT AT GOVERNMENT, TALK OF ELECTION

Israel's largely ceremonial president Reuven Rivlin lashed out Thursday at

squabbling members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's so-called unity

government, beseeching them to quit bickering during a time of national

emergency and stop floating the prospect of yet another terrible election

campaign.

Mr. Rivlin's tweet comes amid a wave of angry protests against Mr. Netanyahu

for his perceived mismanagement of the country's deepening public health and

economic crisis. After initially bringing the coronavirus under control,

Israel is now suffering a peak of some 2,000 new cases a day while

unemployment has soared above 20 per cent.

The government, established in May after three costly, divisive and

ultimately inconclusive elections, was formed with the specific goal of

countering the crisis.

Yet, it has been mostly characterized by internal fighting, contradictory

policies and questionable legislation in the Knesset, or parliament - all

under the shadow of Mr. Netanyahu's own corruption trial.

I look on the developments in the Knesset with deep concern as they shake

the already fragile relations between coalition partners. As a citizen and

on behalf of us all, I say: get a grip!

Mr. Rivlin wrote. Stop the talk of early elections, of that terrible option

at this time, and save yourselves from it. The State of Israel is not a rag

doll you drag around as you squabble. The people need you all to be focused,

clear and finding solutions to this crisis.

Mr. Rivlin appeal came a day after parliament passed a controversial bill to

grant the government sweeping authority to bypass the legislature in

enacting measures to combat the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Mr. Netanyahu's main partner, the centrist Blue and White party, also broke

ranks with coalition discipline to pass a pro-gay rights bill that outraged

the ultra-Orthodox members of the government.

Coalition whip Miki Zohar, a close Netanyahu proxy, warned that the

government could not survive much longer like this.

OBAMA, BIDEN RELEASE VIDEO OF CHAT AS PART OF DIGITAL CAMPAIGN

Having released teasers and trailers of it during the week, the campaign of

presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden launched a video on

Thursday of a discussion between Mr Biden and his former boss, Barack Obama.

The two men discussed the pandemic, race in America and U.S. President

Donald Trump's response to these issues.

The video, which is over 15 minutes long, was released on several social

media platforms, is part of a campaign that is expected to be mostly virtual

due to the COVID-19 pandemic, currently still raging in the U.S.

"I have so much confidence that you're going to be able to deal with COVID

in the way that other countries with our kinds of resources are dealing with

it right now -which is smartly," Mr Obama tells Mr Biden in the video. "I

have confidence that you're going to actually listen to the experts and

you're going to pay attention to the science," he says.

Mr Obama's remarks were a veiled reference to Mr Trump, who has been

criticized for his handling of the virus response, including his reluctant

and late promotion of mask use, a sidelining of White House pandemic

advisor Antony Fauci, and pressuring states and schools to open up.

At one point in the Biden-Obama video, Mr Biden says his son Beau, who died

of a brain tumour in 2015, could have lost health insurance in the final

stages of his disease if not for Obamacare, the colloquial name for an

Obama-era healthcare law that the Trump administration had asked a court to

overturn in June.

Mr Biden outlines his goals for recovery from the pandemic to Mr Obama,

including helping small business, investing in childcare and infrastructure.

The discussion moves on to race and policing as well economic disadvantages

faced by blacks and Mr Biden remarks that Mr Trump is trying to divide

people against each other.

TRUMP SCRAPS BIG REPUBLICAN CONVENTION IN FLORIDA AS COVID-19 RAGES

President Donald Trump relented Thursday to worries about the coronavirus

and canceled his Florida nominating convention, the biggest event of his

re-election campaign, as the host state posted record deaths from the

pandemic.

"I told my team it's time to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida component of

the GOP convention," Trump said Thursday at the White House. "We didn't want

to take any chances."

Trump had insisted for months that he would still hold his four-day

extravaganza despite worries that the gathering would become a

super-spreader event. The party decided June 11 to move the convention from

Charlotte, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida, after Governor Roy

Cooper refused to waive social-distancing and other measures to prevent

contagion.

But just as preparations for the Florida event got underway, Florida was hit

with a surge of infections and now is one of the country's hardest-hit

areas, with a total so far of 389,868 confirmed cases of the virus - about

1.8% of the state's population - and the number growing by an average of

more than 10,000 cases a day. The state posted a record 173 deaths on

Thursday.

CHINA LAUNCHES INDEPENDENT, UNMANNED MARS MISSION

China launched an unmanned probe to Mars on Thursday in its first

independent mission to visit another planet, a bid for global leadership in

space and display of its technological prowess and ambition.

At 12:41 p.m. (0441 GMT), China's largest carrier rocket, the Long March 5

Y-4, blasted off with the probe from Wenchang Space Launch Centre on the

southern island province of Hainan.