News Headlines - 31 July 2020

▽Hong Kong postpones elections by a year, citing coronavirus

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced Friday that the government will postpone highly anticipated legislative elections by one year, citing a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
The Hong Kong government is invoking an emergency ordinance in delaying the elections. Lam said the government has the support of the Chinese government in making the decision to hold the elections on Sept. 5, 2021.

▽Microsoft Said to Be in Talks to Buy TikTok, as Trump Weighs Curtailing App - The New York Times

TikTok, the Chinese-owned video app that has been under scrutiny from the Trump administration, is in talks to sell itself to Microsoft and other companies as President Trump weighs harsh actions against the business, including forcing TikTok to divorce itself from its parent company, ByteDance, said people with knowledge of the discussions.

▽Mystery Seeds Spread Around the World - WSJ

The case of the mystery seeds showing up in U.S. mailboxes from shippers in China and other countries has gone global.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said consumers in at least 22 U.S. states and several other countries had received unsolicited packages of seeds. Canada, the U.K. and Australia all are investigating the matter.

▽Ministry drops plan to push millions of masks on care workers : The Asahi Shimbun

The latest phase of the government’s long-derided “Abenomask” distribution program has been abandoned.
Health ministry officials on July 30 confirmed they had dropped the plan to distribute about 80 million cloth face masks to care facilities around Japan for protection against novel coronavirus infections.
Deliveries were to have started that day.

▽Sir Alan Parker, director of Bugsy Malone and Evita, dies aged 76 - BBC News

Sir Alan Parker, the acclaimed British director of such films as Fame, Evita and Bugsy Malone, has died aged 76.
The double Oscar nominee's many other credits include Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments, Angela's Ashes and Birdy... The director died on Friday after a lengthy illness.