CHINA CAUTIONS US OVER ACTIONS AGAINST FOUR MORE MEDIA OUTLETS

China has warned that it will take countermeasures after the US added four

more Chinese media outlets to a list of organisations that should be

considered foreign missions in the United States because of their ties to

the government and ruling Communist Party.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian attacked the Trump

administration's move as yet another example of the US's flagrant political

suppression of the Chinese media, saying it would interfere with their

reporting on the US and betray America's commitment to freedom of the press.

We strongly urge the United States to abandon the Cold War mentality and

ideological prejudice, and immediately stop and correct this wrong practice

that serves no one's interest. Otherwise China will have to make the

necessary legitimate response, Zhao said.

The US decision on Monday to add the four organisations to the list, which

already included five others, doesn't directly impede their ability to

conduct journalism but could force some to cut staff in the US and is likely

to further aggravate relations between the two countries.

State Department officials said the four organisations, including state-run

CCTV, will be required to submit the identities of all staff in the US and

any real estate holdings just as they would if they were foreign embassies

or consulates.

The five other Chinese organisations were directed to cap the number of

people they can employ in the United States in March a month after they were

designated as foreign missions.

China responded by revoking the media credentials of all American

journalists at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The

Washington Post.

State Department officials said the organizations are essentially

mouthpieces for the Communist Party and Chinese government, not legitimate

news outlets.

The US designated Soviet outlets as foreign missions during the Cold War.

That precedent reflects the bitter state of relations between the United

States and China, which are at odds over the origin and response to the

coronavirus, trade, human rights and other issues.

'BRING BACK CHINA-ENCROACHED TERRITORY,' NEPALI CONGRESS TO PM OLI

Nepali Congress has moved a motion in the lower house of Nepali Parliament,

urging the KP Sharma Oli government to bring back the 64 hectares land

encroached territory by China. It was observed that China has gradually made

inroads into several Nepalese territories with an ulterior aim to seize

complete control.

In a letter addressed to the secretary, House of Representatives, Nepali

Congress listed various districts including Dolakha, Humla, Sindhupalchowk,

Gorkha and Rasuwa encroached by China. The opposition has urged the

government to start a dialogue with Beijing to bring back the lost land.

"As China has shifted pillar number 35 of Gorkha towards Nepal, Rui village

lying in the northern part of Gorkha has been encroached by China and 72

households have now been under Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Similarly,

18 households located at Jiujiu of Darchula districts have been encroached

by China," the letter reads.

The opposition's motion at the Parliament comes shortly after a report

showed China occupied strategic lands at 11 places across Nepal. Around 36

hectares of land in four districts of Nepal, which border China, have been

illegally occupied by China, but so far Nepalese government is tightlipped

about it. The occupation of Rui village has been done systematically by

China in the last two years.

PAKISTAN TO REMAIN ON 'GREYLIST' OF TERROR FINANCING WATCHDOG FATF

Pakistan received another extension on the "greylist", as the Financial

Action Task Force (FATF) plenary session on Wednesday decided to continue

all countries under scrutiny for Terror Financing and Money Laundering until

October 2020. The decision was taken at the Financial Action Task Force's

third and final plenary held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The

plenary was held under the Chinese Presidency of Xiangmin Liu.

"The FATF plenary decided continuation of Pakistan in 'Grey List' till its

next meeting to be held in October," an official privy to the development

said.

The decision has been taken as Pakistan has failed to check flow of money to

terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), the

official said.

AHEAD OF VOTE, VLADIMIR PUTIN REVIEWS MILITARY PARADE

President Vladimir Putin reviewed a spectacular Red Square military parade

on Wednesday, a patriotic display critics said was designed to lift his

lower-than-usual ratings on the eve of a nationwide vote that could extend

his rule until 2036.

Mr. Putin watched as intercontinental ballistic missile launchers trundled

past, nuclear-capable bombers flew overhead, and columns of tanks and over

14,000 troops, including some from allies like China, marched past under hot

sunshine.

The parade, to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union's Second World

War victory over the Nazis, was postponed from May 9 because of the

coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, but critics said it was still irresponsible

to go ahead with it.

Thousands of people thronged Moscow's streets to watch tanks roll through

the city on what was a public holiday.

Mr. Putin struck a conciliatory tone towards the West, despite complaining

beforehand about what he called attempts by some European countries to

rewrite history. He also made an indirect reference to his desire for the

five permanent members of the UN Security Council to hold a summit to try to

tackle the world's problems. "We are open to dialogue and cooperation on the

most current international questions," he said.

In the event, around 10 world leaders attended, most of them from ex-Soviet

countries. The president of Kyrgyzstan had to drop out at the last minute

after two people who accompanied him to Moscow tested positive for COVID-19

on arrival.

The parade was held on the eve of a nationwide vote, from June 25 until July

1, on constitutional changes, including an amendment that would allow Mr.

Putin two more six-year terms as President if re-elected. Current

constitutional limits bar him from seeking re-election when his term ends in

2024.

CORONAVIRUS: NEW YORK IMPOSES QUARANTINE ON NINE US STATES

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have asked people travelling from

states where virus cases are rising to go into self-isolation for 14 days.

New Jersey's Phil Murphy said people in the three states had been "through

hell and back" and did not want "another round" of virus infections.

Some southern and western states have been reporting record numbers of

cases.

The University of Washington predicts 180,000 US deaths by October - or

146,000 if 95% of Americans wear masks.

So far, the US has recorded more than 2.3m cases of the virus and more than

121,000 deaths.

Health officials say the coming weeks will be crucial to stem the outbreaks.

BEIJING OFFICIALS DECLARE OUTBREAK 'UNDER CONTROL'

The new coronavirus outbreak that has infected 256 people in Beijing since

early June is "under control", officials in the Chinese capital said

Wednesday, but fears still remain over the risk of community transmission.

Authorities have raced to contain the outbreak linked to the largest

wholesale food market in Beijing after the first case was announced on June

11, leading to a partial lockdown of the city.

"The Beijing epidemic directly linked to Xinfadi (market) is basically under

control, but at the same time we have discovered household and workplace

cluster infections and cases of community transmission," said Beijing

municipal government spokesman Xu Hejian at a briefing.

"The prevention and control situation remains complicated, we cannot lower

our guard in the slightest."

Officials found that 253 out of 256 Beijing cases were linked to Xinfadi in

the south of the city, while contact tracing for the remaining three was

still ongoing.

The city announced seven new cases on Wednesday, with the rate of infection

slowing since the start of this week.

"This sends a very positive signal, and proves that the prevention and

control measures taken lately, as well as lockdown of residential compounds,

are effective," said Lei Haichao, head of the Beijing health commission.

TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE CANDIDATES LOSE IN KENTUCKY, NORTH CAROLINA

Voters rebuffed President Donald Trump and nominated two Republicans he

opposed to House seats from North Carolina and Kentucky on Tuesday.

Calls in higher-profile races in Kentucky and probably New York faced days

of delay as swamped officials count mountains of mail-in ballots.

In western North Carolina, GOP voters picked 24-year-old investor Madison

Cawthorn, who uses a wheelchair following an accident, over Trump-backed

real estate agent Lynda Bennett. The runoff was for the seat vacated by GOP

Rep. Mark Meadows, who resigned to become Trump's chief of staff and joined

his new boss in backing Bennett.

Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, a libertarian-minded maverick who

often clashes with GOP leaders, was renominated for a sixth House term.

Trump savaged Massie in March as a "disaster for America" who should be

ejected from the party after he forced lawmakers to return to Washington

during a pandemic to vote on a huge economic relief package.

Cawthorn, who will meet the constitutionally mandated minimum age of 25 when

the next Congress convenes, has said he's a Trump supporter, and Massie is

strongly conservative. Still, their victories were an embarrassment to a

president whose own reelection campaign has teetered recently.

As states ease voting by mail because of the coronavirus pandemic, a deluge

of mail-in ballots and glacially slow counting procedures made delays

inevitable. That torturous wait seemed a preview of November, when more

states will embrace mail-in voting and officials warn that uncertainty over

who is the next president could linger for days.

CORONAVIRUS: HUMAN TRIAL OF NEW VACCINE BEGINS IN UK

Volunteers have begun being immunised with a new UK coronavirus vaccine.

About 300 people will have the vaccine over the coming weeks, as part of a

trial led by Prof Robin Shattock and his colleagues, at Imperial College

London.

Tests in animals suggest the vaccine is safe and triggers an effective

immune response.

Experts at Oxford University have already started human trials.

The trials are among many across the world - there are around 120 vaccine

programmes under way.

'CAN CONFIDENTLY RESPOND TO NEW COVID-19 OUTBREAKS': AUSTRALIAN PM MORRISON

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday he has confidence

the country could move ahead with easing restrictions as it can respond and

deal with new coronavirus outbreaks.

"There will be outbreaks...we can't go stop-go-stop-go and we can't flick

the light on-and-off-on-and-off-and-on-and-off," Morrison said, referring to

restrictions to curb the spread of the virulent disease.

"So what I'm saying is we are going ahead, we built the protections to deal

with outbreaks."

Australia reported its first Covid-19 death in more than a month on

Wednesday, as concerns about a second wave of infections saw thousands of

people queue, sometimes for hours, to be tested for the virus.