WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters): Almost half of nearly 5,000 active FBI counter-intelligence cases now underway are related to China, FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday.   "We've now reached a point where the FBI is opening a new China-related counter-intelligence case about every 10 hours," Wray said in an address to the Hudson Institute thinktank. "Of the nearly 5,000 active FBI counter-intelligence cases currently underway across the countr

Reuters   Maung Saung Kha, a prominent Myanmar poet and activist, appeared in court on Tuesday to face accusations that he helped stage an unlawful protest demanding an end to internet blackouts imposed on two of the country's poorest states.   Since June last year, authorities have shut the internet in Rakhine and neighbouring Chin states - home to about a million people.   Justified on emergency grounds amid a growing insurgency, it is the longest

LONDON, July 7 (Reuters): A first case of an HIV-positive man who went into long-term remission after being treated for less than a year with an intensified multi-drug cocktail of AIDS medicines added to hopes on Tuesday of a possible future cure for the disease.   The 34-year-old Brazilian, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2012, was treated with a base of antiretroviral therapy, or ART, which was boosted with additional antiretrovirals, plus a drug called nicotinamide, a

GENEVA, July 7 (Reuters): Syrian and Russian planes have carried out deadly aerial strikes amounting to war crimes on schools, hospitals and markets in Idlib province, U.N. investigators said on Tuesday in a report that also condemned attacks by jihadist fighters.   They said that "indiscriminate bombardment" by pro-government forces, ahead of a March ceasefire brokered with Turkey, claimed hundreds of lives and forced nearly one million civilians to flee, whi

BEIJING, July 7 (Reuters): Hong Kong's new National Security Law will shake up digital surveillance in the city, with strict new company compliance measures that echo the mainland's years-long crackdown on anti-government content.   Foreign tech companies have balked at the laws, with Facebook, Twitter and Google among those saying they would suspend requests for data pending clarification of what is required.   Experts on Chinese internet laws say th

SHANGHAI, July 7 (Reuters): China raised its national emergency response level on Tuesday as days of torrential rain triggered flood warnings across the country, killing more than 100 people and disrupting the first day of national college exams.   State television reported the Chinese government's office for flood control raised the response level to III from IV on its four-tier scale, and said 13,117 emergency response and rescue staff had been deployed to de

BERLIN, July 7 (Reuters): Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan warned Israel on Tuesday against annexing parts of the Palestinian territories, saying that doing so could have consequences for bilateral relations.   In a statement distributed by the German Foreign Ministry, the countries, which include two of Israel's leading partners in the Middle East, said their foreign ministers had discussed how to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. &nbs

BAGHDAD, July 7 (Reuters): Gunmen in Baghdad shot dead a well-known former government advisor and political analyst near his home on Monday in a rare high-profile killing in the Iraqi capital, government officials, police sources and medics said.   The government officials described the killing of Hisham al-Hashemi, who had written about politics, Islamic State and the role of Iran-backed militias in Iraq, as a targeted killing but did not point the finger at any partic

TOKYO, July 7 (Reuters): Japan on Tuesday warned of more heavy rain on the southwestern island of Kyushu and bolstered rescue operations as the death toll in flood-hit areas reached at least 50 and about a dozen people were reported missing.   The government said it would double rescue and relief personnel as heavy rain destroyed homes and caused landslides in what is shaping up to be Japan's worst natural disaster since Typhoon Hagibis killed 90 people in October.

TOKYO, July 7 (Reuters): A few hours after sundown last week, Thi Tu Luong dragged her suitcase down a side street in Tokyo's business district, looking for the temple that would take her in for the night.   Luong, a 22-year old Vietnamese worker, had just been fired from her job at a hotel in a hot springs town north of Tokyo.   After a few minutes of walking the street, she saw Jiho Yoshimizu, who runs a support group for Vietnamese workers, waving her

SEOUL, July 7 (Reuters): A U.S. envoy arrived in South Korea on Tuesday in an effort to renew stalled nuclear talks with North Korea, hours after it issued a statement saying it has no intention of sitting down with the United States and told South Korea to "stop meddling".   U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun, who has led working-level talks with the North Koreans, landed at a U.S. military base south of Seoul, media reported, and was due to m

GUATEMALA CITY/PANAMA CITY, July 7 (Reuters): U.S. prosecutors have charged two sons of former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli in connection with bribery and money laundering linked to Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht, according to a federal complaint unsealed on Monday.   Luis Enrique Martinelli, 38, and Ricardo Alberto Martinelli, 40, were arrested earlier in the day in Guatemala City as they attempted to board a flight to Panama, and face extradition to

July 7 (Reuters) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late on Monday that the United States is "certainly looking at" banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.   "I don't want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it's something we're looking at," Pompeo said in an interview with Fox News.   U.S. lawmakers have raised national security concerns over TikTok's handling of user data, saying they were

GENEVA/CHICAGO, July 7 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) is reviewing a report urging it to update guidance on the novel coronavirus after more than 200 scientists, in a letter to the health agency, outlined evidence the virus can spread in tiny airborne particles.   The WHO says SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreads primarily through small droplets expelled from the nose and mouth of an infected person that quickly sink to the ground.  

HONG KONG, July 7 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's national security law imposed by Beijing last week was not "doom and gloom" for the city, its leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday, adding it was untrue to say she was not privy to any of its details before they were announced.   The sweeping legislation punishes what China describes broadly as secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces, with up to life in prison.   It came into force at

Washington, July 7 (IANS) The overall number of global COVID-19 cases has increased to more than 11.5 million, while the deaths have soared to over 537,000, according to the Johns Hopkins University.   On Tuesday morning, the total number of cases stood at 11,590,195, while the fatalities rose to 537,429, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.   The US accounted for the world's highest number of in

New Delhi, July 7 (PTI): China has caused great damage to the United States and the rest of the world, President Donald Trump said on Monday.   Over the last few months, Trump has been holding China responsible for the spread of deadly coronavirus across the world.   The coronavirus has so far claimed the lives of 533,000 people globally with the US topping the chart with 1,32,000 fatalities.   Over 11.4 million people globally and nearly three million

ANKARA, July 6 (Reuters): Turkey will respond with its own steps if the European Union imposes further sanctions on Ankara, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday after meeting the EU's top diplomat.   France's foreign minister said last week EU ministers would discuss Turkey on July 13 and said new sanctions on Ankara could be considered in addition to steps taken over Turkey's drilling in the Cyprus economic zone.   "If the EU tak

LONDON, July 6 (Reuters): Britain wants to see if there is a chance for progress in talks with the European Union this week after last week's round of Brexit negotiations ended a day early with significant differences between the two sides.   "(UK chief negotiator David) Frost ... has set out ... that while the talks continue to be constructive there are still significant differences between us. It is a chance to have some further discussions to see what progre

MEXICO CITY, July 6 (Reuters): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will not attend talks in Washington this week to mark the start of a new North American trade deal, but Mexico's president said the two will talk by telephone later on Monday morning.   Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, on his first trip outside of Mexico since taking office. Lopez Obrador had publicly urged Tr