Trade war looms as Canada announces billions in retaliatory tariffs against U.S.

TORONTO — Canada announced billions of dollars in retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. on Friday in a tit-for-tat response to the Trump administration's duties on Canadian steel and aluminum.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government released the final list of items that will be targeted beginning July 1. Some items will be subject to taxes of 10 or 25 percent.

Trudeau and President Donald Trump spoke late Friday, in what may have been their first direct conversation since Trump tweeted that Trudeau was "weak" and "dishonest" after leaving the G-7 meetings in Quebec earlier this month.

"As he has said in past conversations and in public, the Prime Minister conveyed that Canada has had no choice but to announce reciprocal countermeasures to the steel and aluminum tariffs that the United States imposed on June 1, 2018," Trudeau's office said in a statement.

"The two leaders agreed to stay in close touch on a way forward."

California Enacts Nation’s Strictest Data Privacy Law

- In a move that will have broad ramifications for any company that does business in the US, the California legislature has passed the nation’s strongest data privacy law.

The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which takes full effect in 2020, will limit how big companies like Google, Amazon and Facebook, among others, collect and use personal data. It mimics the effects of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect May 25 and resulted in a flood of email notifications to consumer inboxes.

Companies will be required to disclose the types of data they collect about consumers and with whom they share that information, and let consumers opt-out of having their data sold. If a consumer opts-out of having data sold, they cannot be treated differently under the new law. Any data collected must be stringently secured or fines will result.

California has long been a leader in privacy protections, and the new law is expected to serve as a template for other state legislatures in the US. The bill passed the legislature unanimously and was signed by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Anticipating the effects of the GDPR and the possibility of other countries and states enacting strict new laws, many larger companies have already been pro-actively preparing enhanced consumer privacy tools and regulations.

China’s Xi Jinping Warns Mattis Beijing Won’t Back Down on Disputed Territories

- Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a stern warning to U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis that Beijing will not give up “one inch” of territory on disputed lands. Xi reportedly made his remarks directly to Mattis when the pair met in Beijing on Wednesday, the first visit by a U.S. defense chief in several years. “Our stance is steadfast and clear-cut when it comes to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. “We cannot lose one inch of territory passed down by our ancestors. Meanwhile, we want nothing from others,” he said. The warning appeared to be in response to Washington’s recent complaints about China’s increased military presence in the disputed South China Sea. Amid tensions over trade, some U.S. lawmakers have also irked Beijing with calls for expanded ties with Taiwan, which the Chinese government considers part of its territory.

Eritrea and Ethiopia 'open door of peace' after first talks in 20 years

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Long-time foes Eritrea and Ethiopia “opened the door of peace” on Tuesday after the first high-level visit from Asmara to Addis Ababa in nearly two decades, raising hopes for an end to one of Africa’s most intractable military stand-offs.

In a highly symbolic move, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopian Airlines would restart flights to Eritrea for the first time since 1998 when conflict erupted between the two nations over their disputed border, with diplomatic relations broken off ever since.

Tuesday’s visit comes after Abiy said this month he would honor all the terms of a peace deal, suggesting he might be ready to settle the border dispute, a move welcomed by Eritrea.

“Today is a day of joy because two identical peoples and two generations have been separated throughout that period. But through struggles, we have opened the door of peace,” said Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh.

Abiy said he hoped the dispute would end with this generation and reiterated his willingness to accept the transfer of territory.

Protests in Iran as Rouhani says US wants 'economic war'

abcnews.com - Angry protesters in Iran's capital held a third day of demonstrations on Tuesday over the country's anemic economy as President Hassan Rouhani told the nation that it faces an "economic war" with the United States following America's pullout from the nuclear deal.

While online videos showed demonstrators again confronting police on Tehran's streets and alleyways, the protests looked far smaller than those on Monday, when security forces fired tear gas on crowds in front of parliament.

Earlier on Monday, demonstrators forced the temporary closure of Tehran's Grand Bazaar and on Sunday, protests forced two major shopping centers for mobile phones and electronics to close in Tehran.

Rage persists over the plunging of the Iranian rial to 90,000 to the dollar — double the government rate of 42,000 rials to $1 — as people watch their savings dwindle and shopkeepers hold onto some goods, uncertain of their true value.

Part of the economic uncertainty comes from President Donald Trump's decision to pull America out of the nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions on Iran, even though other world powers have pledged to stand by the accord.

Similar economic protests roiled Iran and spread to some 75 cities and towns at the end of last year, becoming the largest demonstrations in the country since the months-long rallies following the 2009 disputed presidential election. The protests in late December and early January saw at least 25 people killed and nearly 5,000 arrested, but took place largely in Iran's provinces rather than in the capital, Tehran.

US: FDA approves first medicine made from marijuana

- The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the country’s first drug derived from marijuana, a medication that treats two rare and devastating forms of epilepsy.

The drug, GW Pharmaceuticals’ Epidiolex, is made of cannabidiol, or CBD, a component of marijuana that does not give users a high. It is given as an oil, and in clinical trials, it was shown to reduce the number of seizures by about 40 percent in patients with Dravet or Lennox-Gastaut syndromes.

“This approval serves as a reminder that advancing sound development programs that properly evaluate active ingredients contained in marijuana can lead to important medical therapies,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. “And, the FDA is committed to this kind of careful scientific research and drug development.”

The FDA’s decision was expected. FDA officials had indicated they supported approving Epidiolex, and an advisory panel had unanimously recommended it get the green light. There was some concern about the drug’s effects on the liver, but experts have said this risk could be addressed by doctors as they monitor their patients during treatment.

Landmark day for Saudi women as kingdom's controversial driving ban ends

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (CNN)Saudi women drivers took to the roads legally Sunday for the first time in the kingdom's history, as its decades-old ban on women driving finally lifted.

The end of the controversial ban brings the ultra-conservative Gulf nation into line with the rest of the world. It also represents the culmination of years of campaigning by rights activists who have sometimes been arrested and imprisoned for their efforts.

Mona Al-Fares, a doctor, was in her car before midnight, waiting for the ban to lift before setting off through the streets of Jeddah with her husband and children.

"I feel like I'm surprised -- am I really driving in my own country? I feel happy, relieved. I feel like I'm free," she told CNN.

The step, first announced last September, will liberate many women from the constraints of needing to hire a male driver to travel even small distances, allowing many more to join the workforce, grow their own businesses and explore the kingdom.

Hiring women is a key part of Saudi Arabia's ambitious plan to overhaul its economy, known as Vision 2030. The reform agenda is being spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
For some, though, the jubilation at realizing a hard-won freedom Sunday will be tempered by the arrests last month of a number of Saudi rights activists, including some who have played a prominent role in the fight for women's right to drive.

Many other restrictions on women's everyday lives remain in place under the male guardianship system -- including the right to marry, work or travel.

Macron: political divisions in Europe are like a civil war

Emmanuel Macron has likened the political divisions in Europe to a civil war and warned against growing illiberalism on the continent.

In his first speech to the European parliament, the French president called for the defence of a European liberal democracy that offered protection of the rights of its minorities, and attacked those who took their countries out of the EU to pursue fairytale “adventures”.

“I am for the most integrated and closest possible relationship after Brexit, and there’s a well-known solution – it’s called EU membership,” he said.

The vast majority of the speech was, however, about the future without the UK, and the need for the 27 other EU member states to be united in opposition to the emergence of the nationalist authoritarian traits of the past.

Without naming the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who recently won a landslide victory after a campaign that played on voters’ fears of immigration, Macron was scathing of politicians who scapegoated migrants.

“There seems to be a certain European civil war: national selfishness and negativity seems to take precedence over what brings us together. There is a fascination with the illiberal, and that is growing all the time,” he told MEPs.

“In the future, we must struggle to defend our ideals ... This is a democracy that respects individual minority fundamental rights, which used to be called liberal democracy, and I use that term by choice. The deadly tendency which might lead our continent to the abyss, nationalism, giving up of freedom: I reject the idea that European democracy is condemned to impotence.

“I don’t want to belong to a generation of sleepwalkers, I don’t want to belong to a generation that’s forgotten its own past,” he said.

Strength!: Trump's 'zero tolerance' immigration policy sparks outrage in Central America

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy — which has separated more than 2,000 children from their parents as they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border — has sparked outrage in the Central American countries that most of the immigrants are fleeing.

In Honduras, La Prensa newspaper featured a political cartoon Thursday with the title "Nation of Immigrants" that showed the Statue of Liberty using her flame to burn an immigrant. A front page story earlier in the week proclaimed "Separation of Families is Cruel and Inhumane."

In El Salvador on Friday, the No. 1 most-viewed story in La Prensa Gráfica was about the Time magazine cover showing President Trump looking down on a crying 2-year-old Honduran girl, with the headline "Welcome to America."

In Guatemala, an editorial in La Hora newspaper denounced the "xenophobia" of the Trump administration.

"Trump has called our people rapists, criminals, drug dealers and gangsters, among other things," an editorial said.

And, in Mexico, the newspaper El Universal said: "The United States treats migrant children as Taliban" — a reference to the Afghan terrorist group.

The presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador have all condemned the U.S. policy.

"When a policy...ends up in the separation of the family and in the pain of so many human beings, especially children, not only must it be revised, it must be corrected as soon as possible," Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said on his Facebook page this week.

Immigrants from the three Central American nations have been fleeing their homelands because of the high murder rates and widespread violence by gangs and drug cartels.

Central American leaders generally praised Trump's announcement Wednesday that U.S. officials would no longer separate children from their families, but wanted to know more details about what would happen to the more than 2,000 children already separated from their parents. It's not clear when or if all those children will be reunited with their mothers and fathers.

NASA Unveils Massive Asteroid Impact Preparedness Plan

- It’s not a matter of if, but rather when, a large asteroid or comet impacts Earth. It has happened many times in the past, but Earth has never been home to a spacefaring species before. With enough warning, humanity could potentially avoid impacts, or at least mitigate the effects. NASA just hosted a webcast to unveil the new Near-Earth Object Preparedness Plan. It addresses five goals for the US government to work on in order to save us from the next killer impact.

The preparedness plan involves input from more than a dozen government agencies. including NASA, FEMA, and NOAA. The report begins by stressing the potential danger of near-Earth objects (NEOs). These objects are defined as any asteroid or comet that passes within 30 million miles (48.3 million kilometers) of the planet. The graph below estimates the destructive potential of impactors, as well as how many of them are lurking in the space around Earth. Even small 20-meter objects like the Chelyabinsk, Russia asteroid can cause damage over a wide area. That asteroid exploded before reaching the ground and released 20-30 times more energy than the first atomic bombs.

The report calls on the government to first strengthen detection and tracking technologies. If we can’t see the threat coming sufficiently far in advance, there’s little chance we could prevent or even prepare for the impact. NASA has been surveying NEOs in the range of 1 kilometer or larger since the late 1990s. The plan directs agencies to look at ways to improve NEO detection with upcoming telescope projects, as well as develop new projects with the express purpose of tracking dangerous objects. This includes both ground-based facilities and space missions.

The second goal is to develop new tools for modeling and predicting the effects of impacts. These tools should be available to all agencies to ensure we’re working from the best data in the event of an impending impact. The third goal involves stopping impacts from happening in the first place, which means we’d never have to find out how accurate those models are in real life. The report directs agencies to assess technology that could realistically deflect an incoming asteroid or comet. NASA, the DoD, and the Air Force Space Command should develop these technologies (like the Hammer spacecraft) and work toward demonstration flights in the future.

Step four is mostly an exercise in diplomacy. The report suggests that the State Department and NASA work together to increase international awareness of impact threats, and improve cooperation with other governments to detect and thwart impacts. If none of that works, there’s the fifth and final goal. That’s the one that covers what to do if we can’t stop a NEO or don’t see it until it’s already on top of us. The plan calls on NASA, FEMA, and other agencies to create theoretical scenarios based on plausible impact events. These scenarios will inform the development of protocols for communication, emergency response, and ways to mitigate damage on the ground.

NASA says the 20-page report is a modest effort, but it can “dramatically increase” our preparedness in the event a dangerous object crosses paths with Earth. You can read the full report on the White House website.

Canada Senate approves recreational use of marijuana

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada’s upper house of parliament on Tuesday approved a revised bill to legalize recreational marijuana, setting the stage for the country to become the first Group of Seven nation to legalize cannabis.

The Senate voted 52-29 in favor of the revised bill from the elected House of Commons, paving the way for a fully legal cannabis market within eight to 12 weeks.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals had made legalizing recreational use of marijuana part of their successful 2015 election campaign, arguing the new law would keep pot out of the hands of underage users and reduce related crime.

“It’s been too easy for our kids to get marijuana - and for criminals to reap the profits. Today, we change that. Our plan to legalize & regulate marijuana just passed the Senate,” Trudeau said in a tweet.

As the first major economy to fully legalize cannabis, Canada’s regulatory rollout will be closely watched by other nations considering the same path - and by global investors, who have already poured billions into Canadian marijuana firms.

Canadian marijuana companies like Canopy Growth Corp, Aphria Inc, Horizons Marijuana Life Sciences ETF and Aurora Cannabis Inc have been at the center of investor frenzy surrounding attempts to legalize marijuana for recreational use nationwide.

Legalisation has already been delayed from the government’s initially planned July launch.

While production of cannabis is regulated by the federal government, provinces and cities have more powers over retail sales either through private or government-owned stores.

“I’m feeling just great,” CBC News quoted Tony Dean, who sponsored the bill in the Senate, as saying. “The end of 90 years of prohibition. Transformative social policy, I think. A brave move on the part of the government.”

Related: Canada to Legalize Recreational Marijuana Use in Mid-October

WHO classifies ‘gaming disorder’ as mental health condition

- Watching as a video game ensnares their child, many a parent has grumbled about “digital heroin,” likening the flashing images to one of the world’s most addictive substances.

Now, they may have backup: The World Health Organization announced “gaming disorder” as a new mental health condition included in the 11th edition of its International Classification of Diseases, released Monday.

“I’m not creating a precedent,” said Dr. Vladimir Poznyak, a member of WHO’s Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, which proposed the new diagnosis to WHO’s decision-making body, the World Health Assembly. Instead, he said, WHO has followed “the trends, the developments, which have taken place in populations and in the professional field.”

However, not all psychologists agree that gaming disorder is worthy of inclusion in the International Classification of Diseases, known as the ICD.

A diagnosis standard, the ICD defines the universe of diseases, disorders, injuries and other related health conditions. Researchers use it to count deaths, diseases, injuries and symptoms, and doctors and other medical practitioners use it to diagnose disease and other conditions. In many cases, health care companies and insurers use the ICD as a basis for reimbursement.

Poznyak said the expectation is that the classification of gaming disorder means health professionals and systems will be more “alerted to the existence of this condition” while boosting the possibility that “people who suffer from these conditions can get appropriate help.”

He said there are three major diagnostic features or characteristics of gaming disorder.

“One is that the gaming behavior takes precedence over other activities to the extent that other activities are taken to the periphery,” he said.

The second feature is “impaired control of these behaviors,” Poznyak said. “Even when the negative consequences occur, this behavior continues or escalates.” A diagnosis of gaming disorder, then, means that a “persistent or recurrent” behavior pattern of “sufficient severity” has emerged, according to the ICD.

A third feature is that the condition leads to significant distress and impairment in personal, family, social, educational or occupational functioning, Poznyak said. The impact is real, he said, and may include “disturbed sleep patterns, like diet problems, like a deficiency in the physical activity.”

Overall, the main characteristics are “very similar” to the diagnostic features of substance use disorders and gambling disorder, he said. Gambling disorder “is another category of clinical conditions which are not associated with a psychoactive substance use but at the same time being considered as addictive as addictions.”

Three decades on, Greece, Macedonia sign pact to change ex-Yugoslav republic's name

PRESPES, Greece/ BITOLA, Macedonia (Reuters) - Greece and Macedonia defied protests and set aside three decades of dispute on Sunday as they agreed on a new name for the Balkan state, potentially paving the way for Macedonia’s admission to the European Union and NATO.

The foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia signed an accord to rename the former Yugoslav republic the “Republic of North Macedonia,” despite a storm of protest over a deal seen as a national sellout by some on both sides.

In the idyllic setting of Prespes, a lake region that borders Greece, Macedonia and Albania, officials from the two countries embraced, shook hands and penned a deal in the presence of European and United Nations officials.

The agreement still requires the approval of both parliaments and a referendum in Macedonia. That approval is far from assured, as it faces stiff opposition from the Greek public, and Macedonia’s president has vowed to block the deal.

“We have a historic responsibility that this deal is not held in abeyance, and I am confident that we will manage it,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said as he and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev received a standing ovation from guests at the lakeside ceremony.

Tsipras survived a no-confidence vote mounted by Greece’s opposition in parliament on Saturday, but the depth of public emotion against the deal is strong.

In the Macedonian city of Bitola not far from the Greek border, protesters wrapped in national flags chanted “This is Macedonia” and began to march across the city.

“This shameful deal will not pass, we will defend Macedonia’s name and pride,” said Petre Filipovski, 40, dressed in the trademark red T-shirt of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party.

In the Greek village of Pisoderi, protesters carried a giant Greek flag and one group clashed with riot police on a mountain slope as they tried to break the cordon. Others chanted the Greek national anthem.

Up to 70 percent of Greeks object to the compromise, an opinion poll by the Proto Thema newspaper showed on Saturday. In Psarades, the tiny lakeside community where the deal was signed, the village church bell tolled in mourning, draped in a Greek flag. ContinueReading

Indonesian woman dies after being swallowed whole by a python

foxnews.com - An Indonesian mother has died after being swallowed whole by a 23-foot-long python.

The woman, Wa Tiba, 54, went missing while tending to her vegetable garden near her village on Muna Island in Southeast Sulawesi province on Thursday, according to the village chief, Faris.

When her family went to look for her, they found only her belongings in the garden, including her sandals, a machete and a flashlight.

The village subsequently launched a search for her but were horrified to find the python with a severely bloated belly just 50 yards from the garden.

Faris said the villagers killed the snake and when they cut open its belly, they found the woman's body still intact wearing all her clothes.

Local police chief Hamka, who only has one name like many Indonesians, said: “Residents were suspicious the snake swallowed the victim, so they killed it, then carried it out of the garden.

“The snake’s belly was cut open and the body of the victim was found inside.”

Local villager Ayu Kartika said: "Everyone cried and was in shock. That poor woman. It looked like a horror movie. The people are terrified, afraid to go outside.”

McDonald's to scrap plastic straws in UK and Ireland

- McDonald's has joined the fight against plastic pollution by switching to paper straws at its restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The change, which will begin to take effect in September, follows trials of paper straws at select locations. The US fast food chain said a majority of its customers supported the move away from plastic.

"Reflecting the broader public debate, our customers told us they wanted to see a move on straws but to do so without compromising their overall experience when visiting our restaurants," said Paul Pomroy, CEO of McDonald's UK and Ireland.

McDonald's (MCD) uses 1.8 million straws each day at its 1,361 restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company said the changeover would be complete in 2019.

Plastic straws are the sixth most common type of litter globally, according to Litterati, an app that identifies and maps trash. Only 1% are recycled, largely because they are made of a mixture of polypropylene and polystyrene.

According to the UK government, 1 million birds and more than 100,000 sea mammals die every year from eating or getting tangled in plastic waste. And research shows there will be more plastic than fish by weight in the world's oceans by 2050.

UK Environment Secretary Michael Gove called on other companies to follow the example of McDonald's.

"McDonald's has made a significant investment in UK manufacturing to produce an alternative to plastic, showing British businesses are taking a global lead," he said in a statement.

Several large UK restaurant chains such as Pizza Express and Wagamama have already stopped using plastic straws.

And a group of more than 40 companies including Coca-Cola (KO), Nestle (NSRGF), Unilever (UL) and Procter & Gamble (PG) pledged earlier this year to slash the amount of plastic they use and throw away in the United Kingdom.

Macedonia's president said he will not accept his country's name change

- Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov said Wednesday he would not support an agreement reached between his country's prime minister and Greece to change the Balkan country's name.

Just hours after the deal was announced, Ivanov told reporters at a televised news conference that "such a harmful agreement, which is unique in the history of mankind, is shameful and unacceptable for me."

Prime ministers of the two countries had agreed earlier this week to refer to Macedonia as the Republic of Northern Macedonia, or Severna Makedonija in the Macedonian language, which would effectively end a 27-year feud between the two nations. The name change is an effort to prevent territorial claims to Greece's northern region of Macedonia.

However, Ivanov remained firm on his position, saying that the agreement gave too many concessions to Greece.

"My position is final and I will not yield to any pressure, blackmail or threats. I will not support or sign such a damaging agreement," he said.

The president is backed by the nationalist opposition group VMRO-DPMNE, whose leader Hristijan Mickoski said the party will "oppose this deal of capitulation with all democratic and legal means."

The capital of Skopje adopted the name of Macedonia in 1991 following its independence from former Yugoslavia, and Greece vetoed the country's bid to join NATO and the European Union over the name dispute. Ending the feud would open up the possibility for Macedonia to become a member of Europe, a goal Macedonia has held since it applied for full membership in 2004.

Radical plan to split California into three states earns spot on November ballot

latimes.com - California’s 168-year run as a single entity, hugging the continent’s edge for hundreds of miles and sprawling east across mountains and desert, could come to an end next year — as a controversial plan to split the Golden State into three new jurisdictions qualified Tuesday for the Nov. 6 ballot.

If a majority of voters who cast ballots agree, a long and contentious process would begin for three separate states to take the place of California, with one primarily centered around Los Angeles and the other two divvying up the counties to the north and south. Completion of the radical plan — far from certain, given its many hurdles at judicial, state and federal levels — would make history.

It would be the first division of an existing U.S. state since the creation of West Virginia in 1863.

“Three states will get us better infrastructure, better education and lower taxes,” Tim Draper, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist who sponsored the ballot measure, said in an email to The Times last summer when he formally submitted the proposal. “States will be more accountable to us and can cooperate and compete for citizens.”

In the initiative’s introductory passage, Draper argues that “vast parts of California are poorly served by a representative government dominated by a large number of elected representatives from a small part of our state, both geographically and economically.”

The proposal aims to invoke Article IV, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, the provision guiding how an existing state can be divided into new states. Draper’s plan calls for three new entities — Northern California, California and Southern California — which would roughly divide the population of the existing state into thirds.

U.S. shows new de facto embassy in Taiwan amid China tensions

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The United States unveiled a new $256 million representative office in Taiwan’s capital on Tuesday, a de facto embassy that underscores Washington’s strategic ties with the democratic, self-ruled island as it faces escalating tensions with China.

Washington cut diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979 but remains the island’s strongest ally and sole foreign arms supplier. It opened the American Institute of Taiwan (AIT) to conduct relations between the two sides after severing ties.

In comments certain to rile Beijing, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said the new complex was a reaffirmation of both sides commitment to a “vital relationship”.

“The friendship between Taiwan and the U.S. has never been more promising. The great story of Taiwan-U.S. relations remains to be filled with the efforts of those that will one day occupy this building,” Tsai said.

So long as both sides stood together, nothing could come between them, she added.

The new complex, a major upgrade from the low-key military building the AIT had used for decades, will serve as the representative office later this summer, said AIT Director Kin Moy.

Marie Royce, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, said at a ceremony to mark the unveiling that the complex was a symbol of the strength and vibrancy of the U.S.-Taiwan partnership.

“We have faced many trials along this journey, but we have risen to the challenge at every turn, knowing that our shared commitment to democracy would see us through,” said Royce, the highest-ranking State Department official to visit Taiwan since 2015.

In Beijing, China’s Foreign Ministry said they had lodged “stern representations” with Washington about the new building and the visit of the senior U.S. diplomat.

“We urge the United States to scrupulously abide by its promises to China over the Taiwan issue, correct their wrong actions, and avoid damaging China-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news briefing.

The sprawling new site occupies 6.5 hectares, including Chinese gardens, in Taipei’s Neihu district. AIT’s Taipei office has nearly 500 American and local employees, while its Kaohsiung branch has more than 30 staff.

The ceremony was attended by high-ranking Taiwan officials and senior business executives, including Morris Chang, the former chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), the world’s biggest contract chip maker.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan under its “one China” policy and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to bring what it sees as a wayward province under its control.

China’s hostility towards Taiwan has grown since President Tsai was elected in 2016. Beijing suspects Tsai wants to push for formal independence, which would cross a red line for Communist Party leaders in Beijing.

U.N. Pushes to Avert ‘Catastrophic’ U.A.E. Attack on Yemen Port

WASHINGTON—The United Nations launched an urgent diplomatic effort to head off an expected United Arab Emirates assault on Yemen’s most important port in the coming days, fearing an attack could create a humanitarian disaster and derail the most promising push in years to end the conflict, people familiar with the talks said.

Aid groups and U.N. officials working in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah are scrambling to get their international staff out after British officials warned them an attack on the city was imminent.

The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, traveled to the U.A.E. capital over the weekend in an effort to forestall an attack. Mr. Griffiths had secured an agreement with Houthi rebels who control Hodeidah to allow the U.N. to operate the port jointly, the people said. But people briefed on the discussions said they doubted the U.A.E. would accept the offer or delay the planned assault.

Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of using Hodeidah to smuggle missiles into Yemen—a charge Tehran rejects. The U.A.E.—Saudi Arabia’s most important ally in a military coalition fighting in Yemen—has a significant military presence near the port, where it is supporting Yemeni allies in their push to seize Hodeidah from the Houthi fighters.

U.N. officials have said an attack on the port, the gateway for 80% of commercial and humanitarian supplies for the country, could be devastating to a country where millions of people are on the brink of famine.

Spain's Basques form 202-km human chain to call for independence vote

MADRID (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of people from Spain’s Basque Country joined hands to form a human chain running some 202 kilometers (125 miles) on Sunday to call for the right to hold a regional independence vote.

Spain’s Constitution, created in 1978 after the end of dictator Francisco Franco’s regime, states that the country is indivisible and last-year’s attempt by Catalonia to hold a secession referendum was met with a harsh legal crackdown.

Former Prime Minister with the conservative People’s Party (PP) Mariano Rajoy, who has been roundly criticized for his handling of the Catalan crisis, was ousted by Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez in a no confidence vote June 1.

Sanchez, who now heads the government following the vote, has called for renewed talks with the Catalan leadership.

While most from the Basque Country, which already has a high level of self-determination and, like Catalonia, has its own language and culture, do not support independence, many believe the population should be given the right to vote.

The human-chain protest was organized by Basque group Gure Esku Dago (In Our Own Hands) and ran from Donostia (also known as San Sebastian) to the Basque parliament in Gasteiz (Vitoria).

The Spanish government, backed by the constitutional court, maintains that any ballot on regional independence is illegal.

Move Over, China: U.S. Is Again Home to World’s Speediest Supercomputer

nytimes.com - The United States just won bragging rights in the race to build the world’s speediest supercomputer.

For five years, China had the world’s fastest computer, a symbolic achievement for a country trying to show that it is a tech powerhouse. But the United States retook the lead thanks to a machine, called Summit, built for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

Summit’s speeds, announced on Friday, boggle the mind. It can do mathematical calculations at the rate of 200 quadrillion per second, or 200 petaflops. To put in human terms: A person doing one calculation a second would have to live for more than 6.3 billion years to match what the machine can do in a second.

Still stupefying? Here is another analogy. If a stadium built for 100,000 people was full, and everyone in it had a modern laptop, it would take 20 stadiums to match the computing firepower of Summit.

China still has the world’s most supercomputers over all. And China, Japan and Europe are developing machines that are even faster, which could mean the American lead is short-lived.

Supercomputers like Summit, which cost $200 million in government money to build, can accelerate the development of technologies at the frontier of computing, like artificial intelligence and the ability to handle vast amounts of data.

Those skills can be used to help tackle daunting challenges in science, industry and national security — and are at the heart of an escalating rivalry between the United States and China over technology.

For years, American tech companies have accused China of stealing their intellectual property. And some Washington lawmakers say that Chinese companies like ZTE and Huawei pose a national security risk. ContinueReading

Doug Ford: Ex-Toronto mayor's brother to be Ontario premier

BBC - Doug Ford, the brother of troubled former Toronto mayor Rob Ford, has been elected premier of Canada's most populous province.

Mr Ford's centre-right Progressive Conservatives (PC) wrested control of Ontario from the Liberal Party for the first time since 2003.

The populist politician has drawn comparisons to US President Trump.

A former city councillor, he was close to his late brother Rob, who infamously took drugs in office.

The Conservatives took 41% of the vote, winning 76 of 124 seats in the province with 99% of polls reporting, according to local media.

Prime Minister and Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau offered his "sincere congratulations" to Mr Ford in a statement, tweeting that "Ontarians have voted for change".

Mr Ford, 53, is known for his plain-speaking style and attacks on media and the elites - whom he once described as "drinking champagne with their pinkies in the air".

The premier-designate has voiced support for Donald Trump, though he has dismissed the direct comparison and has been careful to avoid controversial comments during the hotly contested race for Ontario.

The final days of the campaign saw the PCs in a neck-and-neck battle with the left-leaning New Democrats, with most polls showing them holding a knife-edge lead over their rivals.

Mr Ford ran a populist campaign, promising to fight for "the little guy" and to make life more affordable for Ontario residents by cutting energy cost, slashing the price of petrol, and lowering provincial income tax.

Severed rattlesnake head bites Texas man, nearly kills him

- A Texas man is recovering after he claims the head of a rattlesnake bit him — moments after he had just cut it off.

Jennifer Sutcliffe's husband was reportedly bitten by the beheaded snake on May 27 at his home near Lake Corpus Christi.

Sutcliffe told KIII-TV the two were doing yard work when she came across the four-foot rattlesnake. She said her husband used a shovel to behead the snake, but when he went to dispose of it, it bit him.

The snake, Sutcliffe said, "released all its venom into him at that point" because it no longer had a body, and her husband reportedly began immediately experiencing seizures and internal bleeding, and lost his vision.

The man was transported via helicopter to a hospital, where doctors said there was a chance he wouldn't make it.

Mexico imposes tariffs on $3 billion worth of US exports

CNN - In retaliation for the Trump administration announcing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Mexico and much of the rest of the world, Mexico Tuesday imposed a series of tariffs against US exports to its market valued at $3 billion. They'll hike the price of products including pork, apples, potatoes, bourbon as well as different types of cheese.

The tariffs range between 15% and 25%, and could raise the price of US goods by that amount, cutting deeply into US exports to its neighbour.

"It is necessary and urgent to impose measures equivalent to the measures implemented by" the US, said the statement issued by the Mexican government. Mexico had signaled last week that it intended to retaliate against the US steel and aluminum tariffs.

In addition to the agricultural products and bourbon, Mexico imposed tariffs on a variety of US steel products exports.

While Mexico exports more goods and services to the US than it buys, it is also the second largest market for US exports, buying $277 billion worth of US goods and services last year, according to the Commerce Department.

That put it behind only Canada in terms of the value of US exports.

The tariffs imposed Tuesday will affect just more than 1% of US exports to Mexico. But they'll have a significant impact on the targeted US industries.

For example Mexico is the largest market for US pork exports according to the National Pork Producers Council, an industry trade group. It says that 25% of US pork exports last year went to Mexico.

"A 20% tariff eliminates our ability to compete effectively in Mexico," said Jim Heimerl, the trade group's president and a pork producer from Johnstown, Ohio. "This is devastating to my family and pork producing families across the United States."

Sex robots with health benefits are a giant tease, experts warn

- If season two of Westworld doesn’t have you rethinking sex and violence with androids, researchers are hoping that some hard and fast data will.

Science fiction aside, advanced sex robots are currently heating up the market, with several companies now offering more and more life-like artificial partners, mostly ones mimicking women. Skeptics fear the desirable droids could escalate misogyny and violence against women, ignite deviant urges in pedophiles, or further isolate the sexually frustrated. Sexbot makers, on the other hand, have been pumping their health claims into advertisements, including that the amorous androids could reduce the spread of sexually transmitted disease, aid in sex therapies, and curb deviant desires in pedophiles and other sex offenders.

So far, those claims are “rather specious,” according to health researchers Chantal Cox-George of St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in London and Susan Bewley of King’s College London. In an editorial published Monday in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health, the pair highlight that there are virtually no studies that help bang out the validity of the many health arguments surging around sexbots—arguments both for and against them.

That data dry-spell doesn’t let doctors off the hook, though, Cox-George and Bewley write. They call for researchers to get busy setting up studies that will nail the answers. In the meantime, “an absence of evidence does not excuse the medical profession from discussing and debating the issues, as there will inevitably be consequences for physical, mental and social well-being.”

With deal to close this week, Bayer to retire Monsanto name

RANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany’s Bayer (BAYGn.DE) will wrap up the $63 billion takeover of Monsanto (MON.N) on Thursday and also retire the U.S. seeds maker’s 117 year-old name.

The German drugmaker had received all required approvals from regulatory authorities, it said in a statement on Monday.

“Bayer will remain the company name. Monsanto will no longer be a company name. The acquired products will retain their brand names and become part of the Bayer portfolio,” it said.

Bayer launched a 6 billion euro ($7 billion) rights issue on Sunday, a cornerstone of the financing package for the deal, shortly after clearing the last major antitrust hurdle in the United States.

The deal is the first of a trio of major U.S.-German merger deals to cross the finish line at a time of harsh criticism by U.S. President Donald Trump of Germany’s trade surplus with the United States.

Deutsche Telekom’s (DTEGn.DE) T-Mobile US (TMUS.O) plans to merge with Sprint for $26 billion, while industrial gases makers Linde (LING.DE) and Praxair (PX.N) are also seeking to combine. ContinueReading

A 'doomsday' no-deal Brexit scenario could see Britain run out of food within days — and it only gets worse from there

LONDON — A no-deal Brexit could see Britain run out of food within days, according to a "doomsday scenario."

The UK is scheduled to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019 and senior civil servants have produced three alternative scenarios — "a mild one, a severe one, and one dubbed 'Armageddon'" — for David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the EU.

The Sunday Times reports that Whitehall "has begun contingency planning for the Port of Dover to collapse 'on day one'."

The Port of Dover, the nearest English port to France, is responsible for handling approximately 17% of the UK's trade in goods, so if Britain crashed out of the EU with no deal and the port collapsed, it could lead to a desperate shortage of essential supplies.

A Sunday Times source said: "In the second scenario, not even the worst, the port of Dover will collapse on day one. The supermarkets in Cornwall and Scotland will run out of food within a couple of days, and hospitals will run out of medicines within two weeks."

The UK may even have to enlist the help of the Royal Air Force to shuttle supplies to the more remote areas of the country.

"You would have to medevac medicine into Britain, and at the end of week two we would be running out of petrol as well," the source added.

A spokesman for the Department of Exiting the EU confirmed discussions on different scenarios had occurred but said claims of a "doomsday" outcome becoming reality were "completely false."

"A significant amount of work and decision making has gone into our no deal plans, especially where it relates to ports, and we know that none of this would come to pass," the spokesman said.

Saudi threatens military action if Qatar deploys anti-aircraft missiles - report

PARIS (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has threatened to take military action if Qatar installs a Russian air defence system, France’s Le Monde newspaper reported.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar last year, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, which it denies.

Qatar and Russia signed an agreement on military and technical cooperation last year. Qatar’s ambassador to Russia was quoted as saying in January that it was in talks to buy the Russian S-400 missile air defence systems.

Le Monde said that Saudi King Salman had written a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, expressing his profound concern over negotiations between Doha and Moscow and the possibility that Qatar could deploy the missiles.

“The kingdom would be ready to take all necessary measures to eliminate this defence system, including military action,” Le Monde quoted the letter to Macron as saying. It said the letter had been sent “recently”, but was not more specific.

Salman asked Macron for his assistance to prevent the sale of the missiles and preserve peace in the region, Le Monde said.

The French president’s office and the Saudi government’s communications office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mariano Rajoy: Spanish PM forced out of office

BBC - Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has been forced out of office by a no-confidence vote in parliament.

Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez, who filed the motion after Mr Rajoy's party was implicated in a corruption scandal, will become prime minister.

"We're going to sign a new page in the history of democracy in our country," Mr Sánchez said ahead of Friday's vote.

Mr Rajoy is the first prime minister in modern Spanish history to be defeated in a no-confidence motion.

The leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP) has been prime minister since 2011.

During the second day of debate on Friday, Mr Rajoy admitted facing defeat and told MPs that it has been "an honour to leave a better Spain than I found".

Mr Sánchez secured a majority in the vote after gaining support from various smaller parties, including the Basque Nationalist Party - 180 MPs backed the motion, 169 voted against, with one abstention. ContinueReading