13 OCTOBER 2018

16
WORLD
Saturday, 13 October 2018
Daily Tribune
ADDING FUEL TO TRADE WAR
US-China surplus
hits record $34B
China’s overall export
growth accelerated
BEIJING — China’s trade surplus
with the United States widened to
a record $34.1 billion in September
as exports to the American market
rose by 13 percent over a year earlier
despite a worsening tariff war.
Exports to the United States rose
to $46.7 billion, down from August’s
13.4 percent growth, customs data
showed Friday. Imports of American
goods increased 9 percent to $12.6
billion, down from 11.1 percent.
Chinese exports to the United
States have at least temporarily
defied forecasts they would weaken
after being hit by punitive tariffs
of up to 25 percent in a fight over
American complaints about Beijing’s
technology policy.
“Exports continued to defy
US tariffs last month but imports
struggled in the face of cooling
Beijing will host the 2018 World
Life Science Conference later this
month, which will focus on areas
including medicine and health,
agriculture and food safety, the
environment and biotechnology,
the organizer said at a news
conference on Monday.
The three-day event, organized
by the China Association for Science
and Technology and co-hosted by the
China Union of Life Science Societies
and the China National Center for
Biotechnology Development, will
open on 27 October.
With the theme
“science for a
better life,” it
will feature
over 60 plenary
speeches, forums
and panel
discussions
domestic demand,” said Julian Evans-
Pritchard of Capital Economics in a
report. “We expect both to soften in
the coming quarters.”
September marked the second
straight record Chinese monthly
trade surplus with the United States
after August’s $31 billion.
Exports continued to defy
US tariffs last month but
imports struggled.
Export numbers have been
buoyed by producers rushing to
fill orders before American tariffs
rose, but they also benefit from
“robust U.S. demand” and a weaker
Chinese currency, which makes
their goods cheaper abroad, said
Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics
in a report.
The yuan has lost nearly 10
percent of its value against the
US dollar this year. That prompted
suggestions Beijing might weaken
the exchange rate to help exporters,
but that might hurt China’s economy
by encouraging an outflow of capital.
The central bank has tightened
controls on currency trading to head
off further declines.
China’s overall export growth
accelerated, temporarily defying
forecasts of a slowdown as the
global economy and consumer
demand cool.
Exports rose 14.5 percent over
a year earlier to $226.7 billion, up
from August’s 12.2 percent growth.
Imports grew 14.3 percent to $195
billion, down from the previous
month’s 20.9 percent rate.
Exports to the 28-nation European
Union, China’s biggest trading partner,
rose 11.6 percent to $37.4 billion. The
Chinese trade surplus with Europe
was $12.7 billion.
Chinese leaders have rejected
pressure to scale back plans for
state-led development of global
champions in robotics and other
technologies.
AFP
Beijing to host life science confab
with more than 400 speakers, including
six Nobel laureates.
It is the second time Beijing has
hosted the event.
Wang Xiaoning, deputy
secretary-general of the China
Union of Life Science Societies,
said this year’s event is an active
response to the strategy
of promoting a
healthy
China put forward at the 19th
National Congress of the Communist
Party of China and is meaningful as it
coincides with the 40th anniversary
of the reform and opening-up policy
and the 60th anniversary of CAST’s
establishment. China Daily
Mission failed Russia’s Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft carrying the members of the International Space Station
expedition failed Thursday, triggering an emergency that sent their capsule into a steep, harrowing fall back to Earth. AP
Rescuers comb debris for ‘Michael’ victims
Search and rescue teams
combed through shattered US
communities on Thursday looking
for victims of Hurricane Michael,
a Category 4 monster storm which
carved out a swathe of destruction
in the Florida Panhandle, killing at
least seven in three states.
In Mexico Beach, a seafront
town where the hurricane made
landfall, houses had been razed
by storm surge, boats had been
tossed into yards and the streets
were littered with trees and power
lines.
Florida Gov.
Rick Scott
said the
storm had caused “unbelievable
devastation” and the priority
for the moment was looking for
survivors among residents who
failed to heed orders to evacuate.
“I’m very concerned about our
citizens that didn’t evacuate and
I just hope that, you know, we
don’t have much loss of life,” Scott
told ABC.
The US Army said more than
2,000 Florida National Guard
soldiers were working on the
recovery operations.
There have been six confirmed
storm-related deaths so far -- four
in Florida’s Gadsden County, one in
Georgia, and one in North Carolina.
President Donald Trump pledged
to help storm victims.
“Our hearts are with the
thousands who have sustained
property damage, in many cases
entirely wiped out,” Trump said.
“We will not rest or waver until
the job is done and the recovery
is complete.”
AFP
Trail of destruction Residents in Mexico Beach, Florida woke to scenes of devastation Thursday after Hurricane “Michael” tore a path through the coastal region, killing at least seven people.
Relations imperiled over journalist’s case
WASHINGTON — Sword dancers.
Gleaming palaces. Military jets
streaming red, white and blue trails.
President Donald Trump soaked
up the grandeur of Saudi Arabia on
his first foreign stop as president last
year and envisioned huge
benefits for the United
States in building
closer ties
with the
repressive and oil-rich desert kingdom.
Now, the White House relationship
with Riyadh is imperiled over the
mysterious disappearance of
a Saudi writer and the situation
is creating friction between the
Trump administration and
members of Congress
demanding
to know if
the
Dress to impress Marco
Antonio Salas Suarez dons
his “Penacho” traditional
costume during the
presentation of the Huey
Atlixcayotl Festival in Atlixco,
Mexico.
AFP
columnist for The Washington Post
was killed inside the Saudi consulate
in Turkey.
Trump said he’s talked to officials
at the highest level of the kingdom and
is “demanding everything” to explain
how Jamal Khashoggi, an activist who
had been critical of Saudi leaders,
vanished.
AP
The White House show
WASHINGTON — Live
from the Oval Office,
it’s Kanye West
with a jaw-dropping
performance.
The rapper didn’t rap.
But, seated across from
President Donald Trump
at the Resolute Desk,
the musician delivered
a rambling, multipart
monologue Thursday that
touched on social issues,
WEST
hydrogen planes, mental health, endorsement
deals, politics and oh so much more.
Seizing the spotlight from the typically
center-stage president, West dropped the
F-word, floated policy proposals — and went
in for a hug.
“They tried to scare me to not wear this
hat,” West said of his red “Make America
Great Again” cap. But, he said, “This hat, it
gives me power in a way.”
“You made a Superman cape for me,” he
told Trump.
AP
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis
on Sunday will elevate to sainthood
Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero,
slain by a right-wing death squad as
he said Mass and free love naysayer
Pope Paul VI.
Pilgrims
Pope to make Paul VI,
Salvadorian saints
from across the globe are expected
to flock to Saint Peter’s Square to pay
tribute to two men hailed by Francis
for their courage in turbulent times
and their dedication to social justice
and the poor.
The pair will
BRIEFS
Deadly flooding
MADRID — Emergency services have found
two more people killed, bringing the death
toll killed by floods on the island of Mallorca
in eastern Spain to 12, the government of the
Balearic Islands confirmed on Thursday.
At least one five-year-old child is still
missing, but authorities do not rule out that
the number of people missing may increase.
Around 900 people are searching for people or
helping rebuild the area after the floods, including
members of the Spanish Civil Guard, the army and
other emergency services as well as volunteers,
including famous tennis player Rafael Nadal.
Flash floods hit the island on Tuesday evening,
swatting cars, homes and forcing people to be
evacuated.
Xinhua
On the scent
MUMBAI — Indian rangers hunting a man-eating
tiger are considering deploying an unusual
weapon to lure the big cat — Calvin Klein cologne.
A major operation to kill or capture the
tigress, which is suspected to have killed
up to 13 people in India’s western state of
Maharashtra, was launched a month ago.
Patrol teams, infrared camera traps and
even elephants have all failed to find her so
officials are now pondering whether Calvin
Klein’s Obsession fragrance is the answer.
Scientists in America discovered that the
smell of Calvin Klein’s Obsession For Men
was attractive to big cats in 2013, owing to
the presence of a synthetic aroma based on
the musk of a civet mammal. AFP
AP
be made saints along with five others,
including an Italian youth who died of
bone cancer aged 19 and a German nun.
The canonizations come just
days before the International Day
for the Eradication of Poverty on 17
October.
AFP