The Chinese Ministry of National Defense dismissed the United States’ annual China Military Power Report on Wednesday as being “full of the zero-sum Cold War mentality.” The document, published a day earlier, portrayed a rapidly-modernizing, more assertive force that has already outpaced the U.S. military in certain areas in a quest to “rejuvenate China” to a position of global leadership. The Chinese military took offense to its contents. The ministry’s statement found the report “exaggerates the so-called ‘Chinese military threat,’ distorts China’s defense policy and military strategy, smears China’s military modernization development, defense expenditure and nuclear policy, and provokes cross-strait confrontation and intensifies tensions across the Taiwan Strait, which are extremely wrong....

The news should come as a relief to some U.S. soybean farmers, a group that has seen the market for their products decimated by President Donald Trump’s trade war since July 2018. The latest United States Department of Agriculture data on exports to China showed that soybean sales declined precipitously from 2018 to 2019. In 2018, the U.S. exported about 25 million metric tons of soybeans to China between January and September, but only shipped 14 million tons during the same period in 2019, a 44 percent drop....

The latest round of proposed weapons purchases are to an estimated tune of $2.37 billion, according to the DOD’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Under provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act, the self-ruled democratic island is to receive 100 Harpoon Coastal Defense Systems and up to 400 surface-launched missiles, which are capable of reaching across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait. This is the second weapons deal with Taipei in a week, following the announcement of SLAM-ER missile sales estimated at over $1 billion....

Talk about getting an added incentive to win. PHOTOS: Like it’s 1999: The epic USA vs. China World Cup final | Rd of 16 scenes The money will come from the Chinese Football Association, according to several Chinese media outlets, via USA Today. Yu Hongchen, vice president of the CFA, has already guaranteed about $160,000 per player for beating Cameroon in the Round of 16 and getting into the quarterfinal....

Chen Qingchen, 24, was shouting a slang term that loosely translates to “f***” in Mandarin throughout her women’s doubles match against South Korea on Tuesday. Chen was apparently swearing in frustration when she and teammate Jia Yifan, lost their first game in the competition. During the second game, she yelled the expletive several more times at high-intensity moments, including when she and Jia scored points. Chen, the world No 3 in women’s badminton doubles, apologized for the outbursts in a statement released after the game....

On Friday, Chinese state-backed media voiced the Communist Party’s fury over the U.S.’ latest expression of support for Taipei’s independence, in a move that Beijing suggested contravenes accepted diplomatic and legal norms. Beijing considers Taiwan—officially called the Republic of China and an independent nation for more than 70 years—part of China, and under its “One-China” policy has retained its commitment to reabsorbing the island, whether through diplomatic or military means....

Which at least prompts speculation about the Cup team’s future with its current nameplate. MORE: Friday washout at Charlotte | Sprint Cup starting lineup | Wanted: drama Here’s why: Ganassi will drop its affiliation with Chevy in favor of Honda engines in its Verizon IndyCar Series program. Ganassi has ties with Ford in other racing ventures. There’s no immediate indication that Ganassi will leave Chevy in Sprint Cup. But for years there has been speculation that a second Japanese carmaker might jump into NASCAR to challenge Toyota....

DeMarco Murray, the running back Kelly chose over LeSean McCoy and paid handsomely to replace, complained to the Eagles owner about his relationship with Kelly and how he’s been used. The media covering the Eagles dug in on Kelly Wednesday about that, and things got testy. MORE: NFL veterans in danger of being cut in 2016 | Herm Edwards loses his cool on Shady Yet that’s not the Eagles- or Kelly-related topic the nation is fired up about....

That was just the start. Zaldivar keys Chivas win in first of two Clasicos It’s time to look back on the lessons we learned and the best moments from Jornada 6: They didn’t start the week in the playoff positions, but in the logjam that is the middle of the Liga MX table Chivas now sit well in the mix after a win in the Guadalajara derby. The opening 45 minutes from Chivas were strong....

According to the American Heart Association, Black men and women tend to have slightly lower total cholesterol levels than whites. The association reports that 44.8 percent of Black men and 42.1 percent of Black women have high or borderline high total cholesterol levels. By comparison, 47.9 percent and 49.7 percent of white men and women have high or borderline high levels. Black men did have slightly higher reported levels of LDL, low-density lipoprotein, the “bad cholesterol,” levels....

According to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control, the number of high-school students who say they’ve never had sexual intercourse rose by almost 10 percent between 1991 and 2001. Parents, public-health officials and sexually beleaguered teens themselves may be relieved by this “let’s not” trend. But the new abstinence movement, largely fostered by cultural conservatives and evangelical Christians, has also become hotly controversial. As the Bush administration plans to increase federal funding for abstinence programs by nearly a third, to $135 million, the Advocates for Youth and other proponents of a more comprehensive approach to sex ed argue that teaching abstinence isn’t enough....

Former President Donald Trump and his loyalist supporters have alleged, without evidence, that Biden and the Democrats “stole” and “rigged” the election. There is no basis to this extraordinary claim, and lawsuits attempting to overturn the election results filed by the former president and his supporters have failed dozens of times in state and federal courts. Although Christie was a longtime ally to Trump, he has forcefully criticized the ex-president’s claims about the election....

Copeland has gone from being stabbed in the abdomen and undergoing surgery in April to working with Facebook engineers on apps. MORE: Must-see NBA Finals photos | Anthony Davis won’t be on ‘Dancing with the Stars" for one reason His experience was part of a week-long externship with the social media giant. “Apps are something that I’m doing on the side, quietly,” Copeland told Yahoo Sports. “I’m into a lot of things, whether it is real estate and transportation, where I have something brewing on the side as well....

On Monday night, the Cuomo Prime Time host took aim at Trump’s arrival back from a three-day stint for COVID treatment at the Walter Reed Medical Center. The still-infected president removed his mask for what appeared to be a photo opportunity before entering the building. Cuomo, who earlier this year continued to broadcast while he was infected with the disease, described Trump’s behavior as “reshooting the scene for his own ad,” and mocked the president’s persona by saying, “I hold rallies and I tell you to ignore masks and I rip mine off as I vanquish the virus, for I am a leader....

The return of CP3 also means the return of one of the most unstoppable moves in the NBA. When you think of the most unstoppable moves, there are many that might come to mind. Some popular choices might include Giannis’ Euro-step layup, Kevin Durant’s post fadeaway, DeMar DeRozan’s flurry of pump fakes, or Steph Curry pulling up in transition for 3. But none of these come close in terms of ruthless efficiency to Chris Paul’s rip through move....

Rock, while presenting the award for Best Documentary feature, cracked a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith’s lack of hair due to her condition with alopecia, referring to her as “G.I. Jane.” The wisecrack made Smith walk quickly onto the stage and slap the comedian—a move that quickly went viral and divided fans. However, some viewers felt moved to purchase tickets to Rocks’ ongoing comedy tour that is dubbed the “Ego Death World Tour,” which has more than 50 shows in cities across the United States and other countries....

Appearing on stage in a mask shortly after the episode’s cold open, Rock then removed it and addressed the biggest news of the week. “Before we even get started, let’s… you know, the elephant in the room. President Trump is in the hospital from COVID and you know, I just want to say my heart goes out to COVID,” Rock joked, prompting laughter and applause from the audience. The comedian continued his monologue in the first SNL episode in the studio since the coronavirus shutdown in March led to the show filming remotely by joking about how the pandemic had upended his life....

The slap has rocked Hollywood and beyond, prompting the cost of tickets to see Rock perform a stand-up set to surge this week. Rock’s Ego Death World Tour commenced in March, with 38 cities currently lined up for its North American leg. This week, he performed six shows at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston to officially kick off the tour, which marks Rock’s first comedy tour in five years....

Loftus-Cheek and Abraham each made their senior England debuts in the recent international break, having impressed on loan at Crystal Palace and Swansea City respectively this season. Chelsea -1 7/5 v West Brom At 21, there were fears that midfielder Loftus-Cheek had stalled in his development and would fail to make a breakthrough at Chelsea, for whom he had a glittering youth career, but a composed international bow against Brazil has raised hopes of his ability to cut it at the highest level....