South Korea says Bolton's memoir on Trump-Kim summit is distorted

Accounts by former US National Security Adviser John Bolton of discussions between leaders of the United States and the two Koreas in his upcoming book are inaccurate and distorted, South Korea said on Monday.

Bolton gives details in the book of conversations before and after three meetings between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, including how their second summit in Vietnam fell apart.

The book, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir", is scheduled for publication on Tuesday but media outlets have released excerpts.

WHO Clarifies Remark Asymptomatic Spread Of Coronavirus 'Very Rare

The 'clarification' was provided during a WHO social-media chat where many questions were asked about whether infected people, who don't show symptoms like fever, dry cough or difficulty breathing, can transmit the virus to others.

A top World Health Organization expert has tried to clear up "misunderstandings" about comments she made that were widely understood to suggest that people without COVID-19 symptoms rarely transmit the coronnoavirus.

Maria Van Kerkhove, the U.N. health agency's technical lead on the virus pandemic, insisted Tuesday that she was referring only to a few studies, not a complete picture, in the comments she made Monday.

Van Kerkhove's remarks on Monday raised confusion and questions among outside experts and health officials who have recommended and in some places required that people wear masks to try to prevent the virus from spreading.

The “clarification” she provided during a WHO social-media chat showed many questions remain about whether infected people who don't show symptoms of illness such as fever, dry cough or difficulty breathing can transmit the virus to others.

Van Kerkhove said: “What I was referring to yesterday were very few studies, some two or three studies that have been published, that actually try to follow asymptomatic cases.” “That's a very small subset of studies,” she continued. “I used the phrase 'very rare,' and I think that that's (a) misunderstanding to state that asymptomatic transmission globally is very rare. What I was referring to was a subset of studies.”

US Comes To UK's Rescue, Slams China's Bullying Tactics To Pressurize HSBC Bank

US said China has reportedly threatened to punish British bank, The Hong Kong and Sanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), and to break commitments to build nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom unless London allows Huawei to build its 5G network

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has slammed China's coercive bullying tactics, saying the nation's browbeating of London-headquartered HSBC bank to pressurise the UK for its projects should serve as a cautionary tale.

Pompeo said China has reportedly threatened to punish British bank, The Hong Kong and Sanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), and to break commitments to build nuclear power plants in the United Kingdom unless London allows Huawei to build its 5G network.

Shenzhen-based Huawei is an extension of the Chinese Communist Party's surveillance state, he said.

"The US stands with its allies and partners against the Chinese Communist Party's coercive bullying tactics. The Chinese Communist Party's browbeating of HSBC, in particular, should serve as a cautionary tale,” Pompeo said.

"Just last week, the bank’s Asia-Pacific CEO, Peter Wong, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, signed a petition supporting Beijing’s disastrous decision to destroy Hong Kong's autonomy and to break commitments made in an UN-registered treaty,” Pompeo said.

That show of fealty seems to have earned HSBC little respect in Beijing, which continues to use the bank’s business in China as political leverage against London, he said.

Pompeo said that Beijing’s aggressive behavior shows why countries should avoid economic overreliance on China and should guard their critical infrastructure from Chinese Communist Party's influence.

Australia, Denmark, and other free nations have recently faced pressure from Chinese Communist Party's interests to bow to China's political wishes.

"The United States stands ready to assist our friends in the UK with any needs they have, from building secure and reliable nuclear power plants to developing trusted 5G solutions that protect their citizens’ privacy. Free nations deal in true friendship and desire mutual prosperity, not political and corporate kowtows,” he said.

China is facing mounting criticism worldwide over a planned security law for Hong Kong, which would make it a crime to undermine Beijing's authority.

On May 22, during a meeting of the National People’s Congress, China proposed the national security law for Hong Kong and on May 28, the National People’s Congress adopted this decisi

Syria Jihadist-Regime Clashes Leave 41 Fighters Deadhttps://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dh-pe7k5jvA/XuDbYP8W03I/AAAAAAAAADE/j6mHiyloBnsk8Ua7BGX5jwUH8fdI8bgzQCK4BGAsYHg/s1170/Syrian-government-forces-1170x610.jpg

An Al-Qaeda offshoot led an offensive Monday against regime forces in northwest Syria, sparking clashes that left 19 pro-government fighters and 22 jihadists dead, a war monitor said.

“Jihadist factions led by Hurras al-Deen launched an assault on two villages in Sahl al-Ghab,” a region of the central province of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. They briefly seized the villages of Al-Fatatra and Al-Manara, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

But regime forces took them back just hours later amid Russian air strikes and intense shelling, the Britain-based monitor said. Abdel Rahman said the clashes left 19 government soldiers and 22 jihadists dead.

The country’s official SANA news agency also reported the attack on “two Syrian army positions,” saying it involved “explosive-rigged vehicles and suicide bombers.” Citing a military source, it said the situation was now under control after the jihadists were forced to pull out under regime fire.

The offensive was launched from within the Idlib region, which is controlled by jihadists and rebels and is the last bastion of resistance to Damascus after nine years of devastating civil war.

A truce reached on March 6 has largely stemmed fighting in the region, which President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to fully retake.Hurras al-Deen is a relatively small but powerful armed group led by Al-Qaeda loyalists. It is a rival of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of Islamist factions dominated by former members of Al-Qaeda’s ex-Syria affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra — although the two groups cooperate at times.The Idlib truce brokered by regime ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey has largely kept Syrian and Russian warplanes out of the region’s skies. The calm came as the novel coronavirus pandemic spread across the Middle East. Aid groups had warned that an outbreak of the COVID-19 illness in the Idlib region could cause a humanitarian disaster of previously unseen proportions.

Noah "40" Shebib Ranks All Of Drake's Discography; Tries To Take it Back

   

During his interview with Rolling Stone, Dra right-hand man Noah "40" Shebib" ranked Drake's albums from best to worst.Driving across Toronto, he begins to loosen up, and agrees to rank Drake’s discography from top to bottom: So Far Gone, Take Care, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Scorpion, Nothing Was The Same, Views, Thank Me Later. He expertly toes the company line, deciding to leave More Life off the list, because it was billed as a “playlist.” I notice that, as a result of staying as far away from the spotlight as he can, 40 has close to no idea what the public consensus is on his own work. He seems confused that I don’t think “Fireworks” is a top-tier Drake song, and that “Ratchet Happy Birthday” isn’t universally recognized as “an epic moment.”

Once the article the newsstands, 40 changed his mind.

 "Yo @carlchery I was driving when he asked that question😆 I would never have NWTS that low. Some days that’s my favourite project we did but it’s whatever lol I have different reasons for why I’m attached to different projects then everyone else and that’s understandable but that list ain’t right I don’t stand by that. And also I ain’t giving a list cause as I said I have a different perspective 😌🙏🏼," 40 said in response to a comment Carl Chery, Creative Director and Head of Urban Music over at Spotify, made on DJ Akademiks post.

What do you think the best Drake projects are?