'BEAR THE CONSEQUENCES': CHINA WARNS US AHEAD OF NANCY PELOSI'S TAIWAN VISIT

China warned on Wednesday that Washington would “bear the consequences” if U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan, with tensions soaring ahead of an expected phone call between the two countries’ leaders.

Beijing has hit back hard against the United States after reports emerged last week that Ms. Pelosi, a Democrat who is second in line to the presidency, could visit the self-ruled island of Taiwan in August.

Beijing this week warned that it was “getting ready” for a possible visit by Mr. Pelosi, which would be the first to Taiwan by a sitting U.S. House speaker since 1997.

“We are firmly opposed to Speaker Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference on Wednesday.

“If the U.S. pushes ahead and challenges China’s bottom line... the U.S. side will bear all the consequences,” he added.

A possible visit by Ms. Pelosi — yet to be confirmed by the senior Democrat — has stirred alarm in Mr. Biden’s administration, which fears the trip may cross red lines for China. It also comes at an especially fraught time as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares to cement his rule later this year at a major party meeting amid economic headwinds.

Last week Mr. Biden said the U.S. military thought a visit was “not a good idea right now”.

FED UNLEASHES ANOTHER BIG RATE HIKE IN BID TO CURB INFLATION

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by a hefty three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its most aggressive drive in three decades to tame high inflation.

The Fed’s move will raise its key rate, which affects many consumer and business loans, to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%, its highest level since 2018.

The central bank’s decision follows a jump in inflation to 9.1%, the fastest annual rate in 41 years, and reflects its strenuous efforts to slow price gains across the economy. By raising borrowing rates, the Fed makes it costlier to take out a mortgage or an auto or business loan. Consumers and businesses then presumably borrow and spend less, cooling the economy and slowing inflation.

The Fed is tightening credit even while the economy has begun to slow, thereby heightening the risk that its rate hikes will cause a recession later this year or next. The surge in inflation and fear of a recession have eroded consumer confidence and stirred public anxiety about the economy, which is sending frustratingly mixed signals.

Fed officials have suggested that at its new level, their key short-term rate will neither stimulate growth nor restrict it – what they call a “neutral” level.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said the Fed wants its key rate to reach neutral relatively quickly.

Should the economy continue to show signs of slowing, the Fed may moderate the size of its rate hikes as soon as its next meeting in September, perhaps to a half-point.

NEW STUDIES SAY WUHAN MARKET IS THE ONLY ‘PLAUSIBLE’ SOURCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Not long after the World Health Organization and China released a report last year dismissing the possibility that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in a lab leak, scientists from major research institutions around the world noted the paucity of the published data, and advocated for a rigorous scientific investigation into the pandemic’s origins.

An international team of experts responded to that outcry Tuesday with two complementary papers published in the journal Science. Using different analytical approaches, both papers identify Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market as the epicenter of the pandemic that has since killed more than 6.4 million people worldwide.

Though the exact species of animal isn’t yet known, the authors conclude that SARS-CoV-2 was most likely present in animals sold at the market in late 2019, and jumped into human workers or shoppers in at least two separate instances.

“In a city covering more than 3,000 square miles, the area with the highest probability of containing the home of someone who had one of the earliest COVID-19 cases in the world was an area of a few city blocks, with the Huanan market smack dab inside it,” Michael Worobey, a University of Arizona virologist who co-authored one of the new studies, said in a statement.

UKRAINE GRAIN CENTRE OPENS IN ISTANBUL

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday unveiled a centre in Istanbul to oversee the export of Ukrainian foodgrains after a landmark UN deal last week, with the first shipment expected to depart from the Black Sea ports within days.

Russia and Ukraine signed the deal, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations, on Friday to reopen grain and fertilizer exports that have been blocked by war to ease an international food crisis.

The joint coordination centre (JCC) in Istanbul will oversee departures from three Ukrainian ports in which ships must circumvent mines, and will conduct inspections of incoming ships for weapons.

All vessels pass through Turkish waters and all parties will appoint representatives at the JCC to monitor the implementation of the plan. A total of 20 personnel from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN will work side-by-side at the centre. More than 25 million tonnes of grain is waiting to be exported, an official said.

KHERSON: UKRAINE STEPPING UP COUNTER OFFENSIVE TO RETAKE CITY - SOURCES

Ukraine's campaign to retake the occupied Kherson region is "gathering pace," Western military sources say.

A key bridge into the city of Kherson was forced to shut after being damaged by long-range Ukrainian rockets originally supplied by the US.

It means thousands of Russian troops are now in danger of being cut off from the rest of the occupied territory.

Strategically located west of the Dnipro River, the city was the first in the war to fall to Moscow's forces.

Ukrainian forces fired at Kherson's Antonivskiy Bridge using a Himars artillery rocket system on Tuesday, which according to Western military sources left the crossing "completely unusable."

Only a pockmarked wreck remains of the half-mile long bridge, one of two key routes spanning the Dnipro River which have both now been hit.

Moscow depended on the crossings to resupply their troops stationed west of the river, and are now at risk of becoming isolated from the rest of Russia's occupying forces.

Military sources described Kherson as "politically the nearest Russia has to a jewel in the crown of its occupation" - and its loss, they say, "would severely undermine Russia's attempts to paint the occupation as a success".

Moscow is now "moving the maximum number of troops in the Kherson direction," said Oleksiy Danilov, who is secretary of Ukraine's National Security Council, on Wednesday evening.

UKRAINIANS SIGN PETITION TO GIVE CITIZENSHIP, PM ROLE TO JOHNSON

A tongue-in-cheek petition to give outgoing British PM Boris Johnson Ukrainian citizenship and make him the country’s prime minister has garnered over 2,500 signatures hours after being put up on Ukraine’s official petitions site on Tuesday. Despite losing domestic popularity and eventually having been forced to announce his resignation, Johnson remains a cult figure in Kyiv for his vocal support of Ukraine as it fights off Russia’s invasion. Paintings, murals, and even cakes in Ukraine’s capital bear the likeness of the man some Ukrainians affectionately call “Johnsoniuk”. The petition, addressed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, lists Johnson’s strengths as “worldwide support for Boris Johnson, a clear position against the military invasion of Ukraine, (and) wisdom in the political, financial and legal spheres”. The petition, however, does acknowledge one negative side of such an appointment: its non-compliance with Ukraine’s constitution.

GLOBAL MONKEYPOX TALLY 18,000+

There have been more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox reported globally from 78 countries, with the majority in Europe, the WHO said on Wednesday. The WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency on Saturday. So far, 98% of cases outside the countries in Africa where the virus is endemic have been reported in men who have sex with men, the WHO said. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged that group to consider reducing the numbers of new sexual partners and swapping contact details with any new partners. “This is an outbreak that can be stopped. . . The best way to do that is to reduce the risk of exposure,” Tedros said at a press meet in Geneva. “That means making safe choices for yourself and others. ”

Monkeypox is in the process of being renamed, to avoid the name being “weaponised” or used in a racist way, WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan said. WHO is recommending vaccination for high-risk groups, including healthcare workers, and men who have sex with men with multiple sexual partners. It cautioned that it takes weeks after getting the second dose of vaccine to be fully protected, so people should take other precautions until that point. Around 10% of patients have been hospitalised in the current outbreak and five have died, all of them in Africa.

UAE AND IRAN MINISTERS HOLD TALKS TO BOOST TIES

The Emirati and Iranian Foreign Ministers have held a telephone conversation and discussed boosting ties, UAE state media reported on Wednesday, as the Gulf Arab country considers sending an Ambassador back to Tehran.

Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, discussed ways of “boosting bilateral relations and areas of cooperation for the benefit of both countries”, the UAE’s state news agency WAM reported.

Mr. Sheikh Abdullah “highlighted the UAE’s keenness... to enhance the security and stability of the region”, WAM added.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Mr. Amir-Abdollahian “welcomed the enhancement of the level of ties between the two countries” as “an important step in the process of developing bilateral relations”, in a statement late on Tuesday. It said the Iranian Minister also spoke separately with his Omani and Kuwaiti counterparts on Tuesday night.

UN PANEL TELLS HONG KONG TO REPEAL NATIONAL SECURITY LAW

Hong Kong’s controversial national security law should be repealed, experts on the UN Human Rights Committee said on Wednesday, amid concerns the legislation is being used to crack down on free speech and dissent in the former British colony.

Chinese and Hong Kong officials have repeatedly said the law, imposed by Beijing in 2020, was vital to restore stability after the city was rocked for months by sometimes violent anti-government and anti-China protests in 2019. The committee, which monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) by state parties, released its findings on Hong Kong following a periodic review.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is a signatory to the ICCPR but China is not. The recommendations are the first by the independent UN expert body since 2020.