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Threats of an undesirable “Christmas gift” teased by North Korea never came to fruition as the U.S. allowed the holiday to pass with no new plan to move forward with their denuclearization-for-peace process, but China and Russia have sought to avoid a new crisis in the region by going their own route. The two powers introduced a United Nations Security Council draft resolution that would give supreme leader Kim Jong Un something he wanted: partial sanctions relief....

Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, called recent remarks by senior Japanese official Taro Aso “extremely wrong and dangerous,” saying they “undermine the political foundation of China-Japan relations.” Aso, who is Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s deputy as well as the country’s finance minister, told a political fundraiser in Tokyo on Monday that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could be seen as an “existential threat” to Japan and its outlying islands....

The man, who has not been identified, stayed in Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus outbreak started, for two months. He recently returned to his home in the Hebei province, over 600 miles away from Wuhan, where he began showing symptoms. The man died Wednesday, however, officials didn’t confirm the cause of death until Thursday. Since the outbreak began, at least 18 people have died. Another 557 people are confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to have been infected by the coronavirus, though experts at the Imperial College London put the figure closer to 4,000 infected....

French media outlet Libération reported about these alleged “clandestine” stations on December 6. The non-governmental organization (NGO) Safeguard Defenders reportedly identified four illegal antennas in Ile-de-France, “at least one of which participated in a coercive operation on a Chinese resident on French soil.” The embassy said that the NGO “has been engaged in anti-China activities in the name of human rights for many years…to spread and hype false information, seriously misleading the French public....

The race won’t be decided until July 31, 2015, at the IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, and it’s likely that some of the six bids will be shed well before that stage. As I’ve said before, the Chinese bid looks a distant prospect on paper for several reasons, but its bid is still very important even if it turns out to be a set-up for 2026 or beyond. In this piece I look at what China has to do to overturn the odds and win....

“After the adjustment of COVID-19 responses, China stopped conducting COVID tests for all residents, which makes it difficult to know accurately what the case number is,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., in response to a number of media questions. He noted that China was not alone in this practice, however, given global trends of the pandemic. “This is the same case in many countries around the world,” Liu said....

Senior defense officials in Taipei told a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was approaching the capability to impose a full blockade of Taiwan, a scenario that would pose “a serious challenge and threat” to Taiwan’s defenses. Taiwan Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said China hasn’t renounced the use of force as an option to achieve its goal of seizing the democratic island, which has been autonomous from Beijing for more than seven decades....

Foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Friday that China urged the U.S. to provide details, its purpose of cruising, and whether it caused a nuclear leak or damaged the marine environment, the state-owned newspaper Global Times reported. U.S. officials, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, on Thursday said that an American nuclear submarine hit the object while submerged in waters in the South China Sea, injuring 11 sailors on board....

As the U.S. capital continues to assess damage dealt Wednesday to the Capitol Building by violent pro-Trump protesters and prepares to host President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration in less than two weeks, Chinese officials have been watching closely to assess the potential impact of these events on U.S. foreign policy. The Trump administration has levied an unremitting barrage of criticism against China. Even as the nation was left reeling by the Capitol riots, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released a salvo of statements criticizing the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which he has designated the top threat to global trade, human rights and international security....

The Chinese sortie included 24 J-16 fighter jets, 10 J-10 fighter jets, two Y-9 transport aircraft, two Y-8 anti-submarine warning aircraft, and one nuclear-capable H-6 bomber, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It was the largest convoy of aircraft China had sent towards the island this year. The statement said that Taiwan scrambled its own military aircraft in response to monitor the sortie’s activities and the Taiwanese Air Force tracked the People’s Liberation Army planes on its radar....

Chinese Communist Party newspaper Global Times also voiced its support for the release of a so-called “Taiwan secessionists” blacklist, just two weeks after a former Taiwanese intelligence officer warned that such an announcement would be a precursor of a cross-strait armed conflict. The official People’s Liberation Army video was captured off the coast of China’s southern province of Guangdong, where joint armed forces exercises are being held between November 17 and 30, the state-run tabloid said....

Two government-run newspapers published op-eds on Monday and Tuesday attacking the U.S. response to the pandemic and defending Beijing against allegations of covering up news of the initial outbreak, failing to adequately warn the world, and purposely underreporting the number of infections and deaths in the country. The Chinese Communist Party is also refusing to allow an international probe into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite growing pressure from Western nations and the World Health Organization....

Unseeded Sameer Verma gave a tough fight to the reigning World Champion Chinese shuttler Chen Long. Verma, who is ranked 144 in the World lost to the World No. 1 Long 19-21 16-21 in a match which lasted for 42 minutes. The 20-year old Indian started to put pressure on Chen Long from the beginning, building a slender lead of 11-6. But the Chinese ace battled back with an aggressive show after the mid game interval to back level the scores to 18-all....

Chivalry 2 was delayed last year, but that allowed the developer more time to work on the first-person multiplayer action game. Perhaps this new Mason Order Faction would not have made the final cut if not for the additional time in development, for example. And now that the faction is in the game, fans are treated with a cinematic trailer. RELATED: Chivalry 2 Announces Release Date Following Delay The new Mason Order Faction trailer is quite dramatic....

Netflix moved forward on an Extraction sequel not long after the success of the first film in 2020. The first film had set up a few minor plot beats that have the potential to be explored, but overall, Extraction made sure to tie up the main plot. RELATED: Idris Elba To Star In Christmas-y Action Flick From ‘Extraction’ Director Because of the open-ended conclusion of Extraction, fans couldn’t help but make think pieces, deep-dive videos, and theories about how Hemsworth’s character survived....

While many viewers enjoy seeing Hemsworth as Thor, the actor has continuously expressed how much love he has for the character and the Marvel world. However, it also appears that Hemsworth’s time as the Norse god of Thunder may finally be coming to a close. The actor has given a decade of his life to the character and many Marvel fans have gravitated toward his performance as the comic book hero....

In 2014, when Jericho was on hiatus, The Revival started doing the Flapjack-Codebreaker variation. Two years later, when Jericho came back, the duo was still using the move. During an episode of WWE RAW, as Jericho and Kevin Owens were competing in a tag team match, Dax tweeted a GIF showing The Revival executing the move, known as The Shatter Machine. Jericho tweeted soon after, dubbing The Revival as ‘Indie guys’ who disrespected him....

Jericho opened up on being a part of a stable for the first time in his career, and added that he turned down the suggestion of joining The nWo back in 1998. He explained that the faction was already crowded, and they didn’t need him at that point. Also read: Carmella reacts to Corey Graves tweeting at Mandy Rose The nWo, initially consisting of Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall, later got way bigger than anyone had ever imagined....

For those unaware, the former AEW World Champion is a founding member and current frontman of the heavy metal band Fozzy. They have over half a million monthly listeners on Spotify and performed Jericho’s current theme song, Judas. Before introducing the rock & roll icon on his Talk is Jericho podcast, Jericho spoke briefly about how Fozzy had served as a support act for Iron Maiden on a previous tour....

The Rams defensive end announced in May he was establishing the Chris Long Foundation and the Waterboys Initiative, which is dedicated to building wells for communities in East Africa. PHOTOS: NFL players doing good | MORE: Predicting the NFC “Waterboys is an initiative that I’ve had brewing a little over a year now," Long told 101 ESPN Radio in St. Louis last week. “I went to Tanzania a few years back and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro....