POMPEO SLAMS BEIJING FOR BULLYING NEIGHBOURS

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said China was engaged in a pattern of

bullying and that the U.S. hopes the situation between India and China at

the Line of Actual Control (LAC) will be resolved peacefully. The comments

come days after the Indian Army said Chinese troops had carried out

"provocative" moves to change the status quo and the Indian Army had moved

to strengthen its position.

"We're hoping for a peaceful resolution of the situation on the India-China

border. From the Taiwan Strait to the Himalayas and beyond, the Chinese

Communist Party is engaged in a clear and intensifying pattern of bullying

its neighbors," Mr. Pompeo said on Wednesday at a State Department briefing.

"We also remained concerned . about more than 300 Chinese vessels near the

Galapagos which are almost certainly engaged in illegal fishing. In light of

this maritime lawlessness it's no surprise that Beijing's candidate in the

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea election last week received

more abstentions than any other candidate." The Chinese candidate judge was

elected to the tribunal last week despite American opposition.

Mr. Pompeo also said the U.S. continued to call upon Beijing to "enter

dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives without preconditions to

reach a settlement that resolves their differences."

Also at the briefing, Mr Pompeo announced that the U.S. would be putting in

place restrictions on Chinese diplomats in response to restrictions American

diplomats faced in China. Chinese diplomats in the U.S. will now require

approval to visit American university campuses, meet with local government

officials or host cultural events of more than 50 people outside their

mission properties.

Following Mr Pompeo's remarks, U.S. Assistant Secretary for East Asia David

Stillwell said the U.S. advised China to return to dialogue and resolve

things peacefully without coercion and the use of force in the context of "

the many conflicts that are going on in China's periphery right now."

FRANCE'S MACRON: I WON'T CONDEMN CARTOONS OF PROPHET MOHAMMAD

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that it was not for him to

pass judgment on the decision of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to

republish the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, saying France enjoys freedom

of expression.

But Macron, during a visit to Lebanon, said it was the responsibility of

French citizens to show civility and respect to one another, and to avoid a

"dialogue of hate."

The magazine republished the cartoons on the eve of a trial in Paris of

alleged accomplices in a 2015 attack on the magazine's offices by armed

Islamist terrorists, in which 12 people were killed.

When first published by Charlie Hebdo and other publications, the cartoons

sparked anger in the Muslim world. For Muslims, any representation of the

prophet is blasphemous.

Before the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices, online terrorists warned

that the magazine would pay for the publication of the cartoons.

"It is never for a President of the Republic to pass judgment on the

editorial choice of a journalist or a newsroom, never. Because we have

freedom of the press," Macron said.

NEW US SANCTIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL PROSECUTOR, AIDE

The Trump administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on the chief

prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and one of her top aides for

continuing to investigate war crimes allegations against Americans.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the moves as part of the

administration's pushback against the tribunal, based in The Hague, for

investigations into the United States and its allies. The sanctions include

a freeze on assets held in the US or subject to US law and target prosecutor

Fatou Bensouda and the court's head of jurisdiction, Phakiso Mochochoko.

Pompeo had previously imposed a travel ban on Bensouda and other tribunal

employees because of its investigation into allegations of torture and other

crimes by Americans in Afghanistan.

Human rights groups and others have condemned the administration's moves

against the court and Wednesday's announcement was immediately met with

withering criticism from them.

Richard Dicker, the international justice director at Human Rights Watch,

called it ``a stunning perversion of US sanctions, devised to penalize

rights abusers and kleptocrats, to persecute those tasked with prosecuting

international crimes.''

``The Trump administration has twisted these sanctions to obstruct justice,

not only for certain war crimes victims, but for atrocity victims anywhere

looking to the International Criminal Court for justice,'' he said.

UAE FLIGHTS TO 'ALL NATIONS' CAN OVERFLY SAUDI

Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow UAE flights to "all countries" to overfly

the kingdom, state media reported on Wednesday, days after allowing an

Israeli aircraft to pass over en route to Abu Dhabi.

Saudi Arabia has accepted an Emirati request to allow "crossing the

kingdom's airspace for flights heading to the UAE and departing from it to

all countries", the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing a source from

the civil aviation authority.

The announcements come after a U.S.-Israeli delegation visited Abu Dhabi on

Monday, on the first direct commercial flight from Tel Aviv.

Saudi Arabia has said it will not follow the UAE in establishing diplomatic

ties with Israel until the Jewish state has signed a peace accord with the

Palestinians.

But the kingdom has cultivated clandestine relations with Israel in recent

years, in a shift spearheaded by de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin

Salman.

US INFORMED WHO CHIEF OF $62 MILLION FUNDING CUT: STATE DEPT

The United States informed World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus that Washington is reprogramming $62 million to

finalize its withdrawal from the body, State Department official Nerissa

Cook said on Wednesday.

"Today, we are announcing the remaining portion of the 2020 assessment,

slightly more than USD 62 million, will be reprogrammed to the UN to pay

other assessments," Cook said in a briefing.

"The information... was also presented to WHO Director-General Tedros," Cook

added.

Cook said $58 million had already been contributed at the time of President

Donald Trump's April decision to suspend additional funding. Washington

pulled out of the WHO earlier this year after claiming the body helped China

conceal information about the origins of Covid-19.

The WHO said it's January 30 emergency declaration gave the United States

sufficient time to prepare while Beijing has said it has been transparent

about the details of the virus's origins.

US STATES TOLD BE READY TO DISTRIBUTE COVID-19 VACCINE BY NOVEMBER 1

The Trump administration has urged US states to get ready to distribute a

potential Covid-19 vaccine by November 1 -- two days before the presidential

election.

Dallas-based wholesaler McKesson Corp. has a deal with the federal

government and will be requesting permits to set up distribution centers

when a vaccine becomes available.

"The normal time required to obtain these permits presents a significant

barrier to the success of this urgent public health program," Robert

Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told

states in an August 27 letter.

"CDC urgently requests your assistance in expediting applications for these

distribution facilities."

Redfield asked states to consider waiving requirements that would "prevent

these facilities from becoming fully operational by Nov. 1, 2020."

The CDC provided states with documents giving details of a vaccine rollout

plan, adding that they would either be approved as licensed vaccines or

under emergency use authorization.

Three Western drug makers are progressing with their Phase 3 clinical

trials, involving tens of thousands of participants.

The three are AstraZeneca, which is partnering with Oxford University in

England; Moderna, collaborating with the US National Institutes of Health;

and the Pfizer/BioNTech alliance.

By the nature of the trials, it is difficult to predict when reliable

results will emerge.

The US Food and Drug Administration however has raised the possibility that

a vaccine might be given emergency approval before the end of trials.

GERMANY SAYS PUTIN CRITIC NAVALNY WAS POISONED WITH NOVICHOK

A critic of President Vladmir Putin who fell into a coma in Russia and is

being treated in Berlin was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve

agent, a German government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Tests on blood samples conducted at a German military laboratory produced

"unequivocal evidence" that Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent

opposition figure, had been poisoned with Novichok, Steffen Seibert said in

an emailed statement.

An agent of the same family was used two years ago to poison a Russian

defector living in Britain.

"The federal government will inform its partners in the EU and NATO of the

results of the investigation," Seibert added.

"It will discuss an appropriate joint response with the partners in the

light of the Russian response."

The Russian rouble extended losses against the euro after the German

government statement.

Novichok is a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military

in the 1970s and 1980s.

Britain says Russia used Novichok to poison former spy Sergei Skripal and

his daughter in the British city of Salisbury in 2018. Russia has repeatedly

denied any involvement in the attack, which the Skripals survived. One

member of the public was killed.

"It is a shocking event that Alexei Navalny has become the victim of an

attack with a chemical nerve agent in Russia," Seibert said. "The federal

government condemns this attack in the strongest terms."

NEW TAIWAN PASSPORTS TO EMPHASISE DISTINCTION WITH CHINA

Taiwan unveiled a redesigned passport on Wednesday on which "Republic of

China" appears much smaller in a bid to avoid confusion with Beijing-issued

passports.

Introduced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the green passport's redesign

now predominantly features "Taiwan" written in bold capital letters with

"Republic of China" - the island's official name according to its

constitution - downgraded as part of the logo. It was previously written in

English at the top of the cover page.

"Times change and so do passport," the ministry said on Twitter. "Taiwan is

front and center of the new design. Greater visibility equals easier

recognition and less confusion.

It added on Facebook that the redesign's aim is to "aid in promoting the

recognition of the Taiwan passport abroad and t ensure Taiwanese citizens

are afforded the rights and benefits they are entitled to".

Despite the political divide, China continues to claim Taiwan as its own

territory and has required foreign countries and multinational companies to

refer to the island as a part of China.

Beijing does not recognise Taiwan's passport and requires citizens of the

island travelling to the mainland to use a Chinese-issued document.

According to the Henley & Partners Passport index, it is the 33rd best

passport in the world, granted access to 146 countries and territories

around the world.

China has not yet reacted to the announcement.

The new passport is to be released in January. The Ministry said it has

contacted the International Air Transport Association, foreign governments,

and customs and immigration officials abroad to inform them of the changes

and to provide them with samples.

SAUDI CROWN PRINCE MEETS WITH US PRESIDENTIAL ADVISOR JARED KUSHNER

Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman met with Jared Kushner, senior

advisor to US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, according to the Saudi

state news agency (SPA).

The two parties discussed prospects of peace in the region and the

importance of resuming negotiations between both the Palestinian and Israeli

sides, SPA added.

Kushner, Trump's son in law, started a visit to the region on Monday that

included several gulf countries.

CORONAVIRUS | PAKISTAN PUZZLES EXPERTS AS VIRUS CASES DROP

Six months after the novel coronavirus arrived in Pakistan, the country

appears to have dodged the worst of the pandemic, baffling health experts

and dampening fears its crowded urban areas and ramshackle hospitals will be

overrun.

Following an initial surge, the number of infections has plummeted in recent

weeks, with COVID-19 deaths hovering in the single digits each day.

Pakistan has a long history of failing to contain myriad infectious diseases

such as polio, tuberculosis and hepatitis, while successive governments have

underfunded its healthcare sector.

Added to that, many Pakistanis live in crowded, multi-generational homes or

packed apartment buildings that favour rampant virus transmission.

Pakistanis have proposed numerous hypotheses for their country's seeming

ability to weather the pandemic, crediting everything from the young

population and the hot and humid climate to unproven claims of natural

immunity.

To date, the South Asian nation has confirmed more than 2,95,000 infections.

Observers say that with only limited testing the true number of infections

is likely considerably higher. One testing exercise in Lahore suggested as

many as 7% of the city's population had been exposed to the virus.

But anecdotal evidence from hospitals across Pakistan supports the downward

trend. While healthcare facilities were initially swamped, doctors across

Pakistan told AFP they are now no longer seeing a coronavirus-related rush.

RECORD 400-PLUS MIGRANTS CROSS CHANNEL IN ONE DAY

More than 400 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats - a

record for a single day.

Border Force has intercepted 409 people, including young children, on board

27 boats, with several further vessels still being dealt with.

Some of the migrants were carrying children too young to walk.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier on Wednesday said the UK had become "a

target and a magnet for those who would exploit vulnerable people in this

way".

A further 53 people were rescued by French authorities after getting into

difficulties before reaching British waters.

Some 145 people had crossed the Channel in 18 small boats on Tuesday.

Rough seas brought on by Storm Francis made crossings impossible at the end

of August, but conditions have improved in the first two days of September.

More than 1,468 migrants made the crossing by small boat in August despite a

vow from Home Secretary Priti Patel to make the dangerous route "unviable".

The Home Office does not provide information on how many children are making

the crossing on small boats.

More than 7,400 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since

January 2019.