FROM PING-PONG DIPLOMACY TO TIT-FOR-TAT HOSTILITY, US-CHINA TIES SPIRAL DOWN

What started with ping-pong diplomacy almost 50 years in the past plunged

into tit-for-tat hostility this week as China retaliated on Friday to the

US' closure of the Chinese language consulate in Houston by ordering the US

consulate in Chengdu to stop operations by Monday.

In the meantime, US President Donald Trump and his Secretary of State Mike

Pompeo each delivered broadsides in opposition to Beijing, firmly putting

China as the brand new geo-political hazard to the free world, threatening a

shaky world financial order on the prime of which stands the almost $ 650

billion US-China commerce.

In remarks at his day by day (resumed) coronavirus briefings after yet one

more fiery anti-China tirade from his administration, President Trump stated

the commerce cope with China "means much less to me now than it did after I

made it," regardless that, he advised, Beijing was attempting to purchase

its means out of the disaster by buying extra corn and soy bean from

American farmers than ever earlier than.

Trump repeatedly blamed China for the coronavirus, lamenting that the US

needed to flip off its economic system "due to what China did," at the same

time as his prime overseas coverage mandarin delivered a troublesome new

message to Beijing: the US won't sit again within the face of the "China

menace" to "our economic system, for our liberty, and certainly for the way

forward for free democracies world wide."

In a coverage speech on the Nixon Presidential library that threw out a name

for "a brand new grouping of like-minded nations, a brand new alliance of

democracies," to tackle China, Pompeo stated the engagement successive US

administrations have been pursuing has not introduced the sort of change

within China that President Nixon had hoped to induce, however had as a

substitute created a "Frankenstein" he had as soon as feared.

"The reality is that our insurance policies - and people of different free

nations - resurrected China's failing economic system, solely to see Beijing

chew the worldwide fingers that have been feeding it," Pompeo stated,

apportioning blame to NATO allies and different democratic nations for

getting hoodwinked by discuss of China's "peaceable rise" amongst different

issues. "For too lengthy we let the Chinese language Communist Occasion set

the phrases of engagement, however now not. Free nations should set the

tone. We should function on the identical rules," he proposed, urging

freedom-loving nations to work collectively to induce change in China.

"We can not repeat the errors of those previous years. The problem of China

calls for exertion, vitality from democracies - these in Europe, these in

Africa, these in South America, and particularly these within the

Indo-Pacific area. So we will't face this problem alone. The United Nations,

NATO, the G7 nations, the G20, our mixed financial, diplomatic, and army

energy is unquestionably sufficient to satisfy this problem if we direct it

clearly and with nice braveness," he added.

This comes on the heels of an FBI crackdown on Chinese R&D espionage that

resulted in the arrest of three Chinese nationals who the US says were

masquerading as students but were connected to the Chinese army. A fourth

such "researcher", who is said to have taken refuge in the Chinese consulate

in San Francisco, is now in the US custody. The Chinese embassy did not

respond to a request for comment.

The rising anti-Chinese language sentiment this has engendered within the US

has rattled the almost 4 million People of Chinese language descent and the

Chinese language-American neighborhood, the most important Asian cohort

within the US, recalling the demonization and internment of Japanese-People

throughout World Struggle Two.

IRAN SLAMS INTERCEPTION BY US JET OVER SYRIA AS 'ILLEGAL'

Iranian officials on Friday slammed the interception of an Iranian passenger

plane by a US fighter jet in the skies over Syria as "illegal," threatening

action against Washington over the incident.

Iran had said that one of its airliners, flying from Tehran to Beirut on

Thursday, was "harassed" by fighter jets, but later landed safely in

Lebanon. A U.S. official confirmed a U.S. jet had passed by the Iranian

airliner, but at a safe distance.

According to Iranian state TV, two fighter jets came within a distance of

100 meters (328 feet) of the Iranian Airbus A310. The pilot of Mahan Air

Flight 1152 quickly took the aircraft to a lower altitude to avoid a

collision, the report said. The sharp maneuver caused slight injuries among

some of the passengers.

However, U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a Central Command spokesman, told The

Associated Press that a U.S. F-15 fighter jet "conducted a standard visual

inspection" of the Iranian plane "at a safe distance of approximately 1,000

meters (3,280 feet) from the airliner."

He said the inspection was meant to ensure the safety of U.S. coalition

troops in al-Tanf in Syria as the plane was flying over that area. He said

once the aircraft was identified as a passenger plane, "the F-15 safely

opened distance from the aircraft."

Aircraft at that altitude are to maintain a distance of at least 600 meters

(2,000 feet) to ensure they don't hit each other, though planes traveling

that close can encounter wake turbulence.

Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Friday that what

happened was an act of "lawlessness upon lawlessness."

The ICAO said Friday it had not yet received a complaint from Iran.

BRICS COUNTRIES IN CLOSE COMMUNICATION TO HOLD FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEET:

CHINA

China on Friday said the BRICS nations are in close communication to hold

their foreign ministers meeting in Russia in September.

BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging

national economies- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Asked whether Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi would attend the meeting,

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a media briefing that

the coronavirus pandemic is still spreading in the world and all the BRICS

countries face a common challenge while fighting the virus at home.

The five countries promote practical cooperation and held events and

meetings through flexible ways to keep up the momentum for BRICS

cooperation, he said.

"China fully supports Russia's work as the BRICS Presidency this year. We

hope that under its leadership, BRICS countries will work together for new

progress. According to Russia's arrangement the BRICS countries foreign

ministers meeting will be held in September and all parties are in close

communication regarding this arrangement," Wang said.

He noted that the international situation at present is "very complicated".

"China hopes to discuss with other parties prominent challenges facing the

world and prepare for the leaders meeting at the upcoming foreign ministers'

meeting," the minister said.

"All BRICS countries are emerging markets and major developing countries

with global influence. At present, the five countries by upholding the BRICS

spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation and enhancing

cooperation in trade will not only boost economic recovery at home, but will

also contribute to the operation of global industrial chain and supply

chains and contribute to the global economic recovery at an early date,"

Wang said.

COVID-19 HERD IMMUNITY WILL TAKE TIME, SAYS WHO'S SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN

The WHO's chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan on Friday said "herd

immunity" -- which is when enough people become resistant to a disease to

stop its spread -- is still a long way ahead for Covid-19 since 50 to 60 per

cent of the population will need to be immune to the novel coronavirus to

protect the uninfected.

In a social media live event organised by the World Health Organisation from

Geneva, the scientist said that more waves of the infection would be

required to get to a stage of natural immunity.

Therefore, she warned, that at least for the next year or so, the world

needs to be "geared up" to do everything possible to keep the novel

coronavirus at bay while scientists work on vaccines.

"For this concept of herd immunity, you need 50 to 60 per cent of the

population to have this immunity to be actually able to break those chains

of transmission," explained Swaminathan.

"That's much easier to do with a vaccine; we can achieve it faster and

without people getting sick and dying. So, it is much better to do it that

way, to achieve herd immunity through natural infection. We would have

several waves [of infection] and unfortunately also the mortality that we

see," she said.

She added: "Over a period of time, people will start developing natural

immunity. We know now from the studies that have been done in many of the

affected countries that usually between 5 to 10 per cent of the population

has developed antibodies. In some places it's been higher than that, up to

20 per cent.

"As there are waves of this infection going through countries, people are

going to develop antibodies and those people will be hopefully immune for

some time and so they will also act as barriers and brakes to the spread of

this infection," said Swaminathan, a paediatrician from India and a

globally-recognised researcher on tuberculosis and HIV.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION EASES DRONE EXPORT STANDARDS

In a significant development, the Trump administration on Friday relaxed

standards for exporting drones to friendly countries.

Under the new policy, drones that fly at speeds below 800 km per hour are no

longer subject to the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

"This action, which is consistent with the MTCR guidelines will increase the

U.S.'s national security by improving capabilities of its partners and

increase economic security by opening the expanding drones market to the

U.S. industry," White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said in a

statement.

"This policy change modernises our approach to implementing our MTCR

commitments. It makes it more reflective of the technological realities,"

Assistant Secretary of State for Political Military Affairs Clarke Cooper

told reporters during a conference call.

"It helps our allies, it helps our partners - it helps them all meet their

urgent national security and commercial requirements, and it also advances

the U.S.'s national security and economic interests," he added.

NEW FOREIGN STUDENTS CAN'T ENTER US IF COURSES ONLINE: US

A week after revoking sweeping new restrictions on international students,

federal immigration officials on Friday announced that new foreign students

will be barred from entering the United States if they plan to take their

classes entirely online this fall.

In a memo to college officials, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said

new students who were not already enrolled as of March 9 will "likely not be

able to obtain" visas if they intend to take courses entirely online. The

announcement primarily affects new students hoping to enroll at universities

that will provide classes entirely online as a result of the coronavirus

pandemic.

International students who are already in the US or are returning from

abroad and already have visas will still be allowed to take classes entirely

online, according to the update, even if they begin instruction in-person

but their schools move online in the face of a worsening outbreak.

The policy strikes a blow to colleges a week after hundreds united to repel

a Trump administration policy that threatened to deport thousands of foreign

students. That rule sought to bar all international students in the US from

taking classes entirely online this fall, even if their universities were

forced to switch to fully online instruction amid an outbreak.

The new order was released Friday as a clarification to earlier guidance

from March 9 that suspended existing limits around online education for

international students. The March guidance was meant to provide flexibility

as schools across the nation closed campuses amid the pandemic, but

universities said it was unclear whether it extended to new students.

JOURNALISTS RESIGN FROM HUNGARY NEWS SITE EN MASSE AFTER EDITOR FIRED

Dozens of journalists, including top editors, resigned on Friday from

Hungary's main news site because of the firing earlier this week of

Index.hu's editor-in-chief.

Over 80 Index staff members, the vast majority of the newsroom, said they

were leaving the country's most-read website because the dismissal of

Szabolcs Dull endangered its professional independence and its future.

Several thousand people took part in a solidarity march for Index that

concluded late on Friday with speeches outside the offices of Hungarian

Prime Minister Viktor Orban and President Janos Ader.

The website has long been a target of Mr. Orban, who once called it a "fake

news factory," and the recent acquisition of control over the news site's

advertising sales by the Prime Minister's allies was considered a bad omen

for its independence.

"The fate of Index is ultimately decided within Fidesz, that is, the power

factory around the Prime Minister, since by now the owners (of Index) can be

found there," political analyst Gabor Torok wrote in a Facebook post. Fidesz

is the name of Mr. Orban's party.

"For the power factory, the media is exclusively a political matter, they

don't believe that there can be journalism independent of politics," Mr.

Torok wrote. "They obtain what they can. What they can't, they consider the

enemy and that is how they relate to it."

FRENCH REFINERY LEAKS TOXIC CHEMICAL INTO MARINE LIFE AREA

An orange-brown chemical sheet spread over 15 acres (6 hectares) of a

nationally recognized marine life area in the French Mediterranean following

a leak at a petrochemical plant in southern France, the local fire service

said Friday.

The leak at the Lavera refinery spilled 200 gallons or more of iron chloride

into the sea, American-owned chemical company Kem One, which runs the plant,

said. Contact with iron chloride can harm eyes and mucous membranes, and

ingesting it can be fatal.

Refinery officials said the problem at the processing plant in Martigues,

near Marseille, was reported at 1:50 a.m. on Thursday. They said the iron

chloride spilled from a tank onto a faulty safety system, which flooded into

the nearby sewage systems and into the sea.

The area of the Mediterranean where the chemical ended up is listed on a

French inventory as an ecosystem of outstanding natural fauna and flora for

its coral and sea life. Authorities at the scene said they observed fish

that were killed by the spill.

The French Maritime Prefecture banned leisure boat cruising, swimming,

fishing, and diving in about four miles of the along the coast surrounding

the contaminated area until at least midnight Friday. The prefecture told it

was awaiting toxicity test results before declaring the waters safe.