International

SYDNEY (Kyodo) — International Olympic Committee senior official John Coates said the postponed Tokyo Games might not go ahead in July 2021, even with the development of a coronavirus vaccine, Australian media reported Thursday.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s legislature will take over long-stalled efforts to enact national security legislation in Hong Kong, a move that could limit opposition activity in the semi-autonomous territory and signals the central government’s determination to take greater control after months of pro-democracy protests last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Beyond its hard-hitting rhetoric against China over its handling of the coronavirus, the White House on Wednesday issued a broad-scale attack on Beijing’s predatory economic policies, military buildup, disinformation campaigns and human rights violations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to hold up federal funds for two election battleground states that are trying to make it easier and safer to vote during the coronavirus pandemic. He backed away from that threat but stuck with his unsupported claim that widespread voting by mail promotes “a lot of illegality.”

SYDNEY (Xinhua) — An Australian man faces a large fine after rescuing a humpback whale calf from shark nets off the coast of Queensland State on Tuesday afternoon.

GENEVA (AP) — Facing the most disruptive pandemic in generations, the technocratic halls of the World Health Organization are now the scene of pitched battles in an increasingly bitter proxy war between the China and the United States.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called for dialogue with China but rejected unification with the mainland under Beijing's "one country, two systems" principle as she began her second and final term on Wednesday.

BEIJING (Xinhua) — National reunification is critical to the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and cannot be stopped by anyone or any force, a mainland spokesperson said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican political operatives are recruiting “extremely pro-Trump” doctors to go on television to prescribe reviving the U.S. economy as quickly as possible, without waiting to meet safety benchmarks proposed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

WASHINGTON (Xinhua) — U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to permanently cut off the nation's funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) if the body does not commit to what he called "substantive improvements within the next 30 days."