24 FEBRUARY 2019

20
WORLD
Saudi a ‘good friend’ — Xi
China firmly supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts
on promoting economic diversification and
social reforms
Sunday, 24 February 2019
Daily Tribune
on pragmatic cooperation in areas such as energy, infrastructure,
trade, investment and high value-added industries.
The two countries should jointly press ahead with the
construction of China-Gulf Cooperation Council free trade zone.
Xi said China supports peace appeals of the people in the
Middle East, supports efforts of the countries in the region on
reform and transformation and appreciates Saudi Arabia’s active
efforts to maintain regional peace, stability and development.
China is ready to work with Saudi Arabia to jointly explore
a governance path in the Middle East featuring the moves of
“promoting peace through development” and to work toward a
solid foundation for peace and stability in the region through
jointly building the Belt and Road and strengthening regional
development cooperation, said Xi.
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince,
at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Xi asked Mohammed to convey his cordial greetings to Saudi
King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
“China regards Saudi Arabia as a good friend and partner
and is ready to work jointly with Saudi Arabia to build on past
achievements to open up a new horizon for bilateral friendship
and strategic relationship,” said Xi, noting that with the
guidance of high-level leaders at both sides, the comprehensive
strategic partnership between the two countries have formed a Beijing opposes any move to interfere in Saudi
new pattern in recent years, in which the relationship is being Arabia’s internal affairs.
advanced in an all-around way, at multiple levels and in a wide
variety of fields.
The two nations should jointly encourage and support all
Beijing and Riyadh should continue to extend mutual support parties to resolve hot issues by political channels through
on issues involving each other’s core interests and major dialogue and consultation, he said.
concerns and promote political mutual trust, he said.
Mohammed conveyed cordial greetings and best wishes for
China firmly supports Saudi Arabia’s efforts on promoting economic Xi from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
diversification and social reforms and safeguarding its national Saudi Arabia and China have a long history of friendly
sovereignty, security and stability, stated Xi, saying that Beijing exchanges, enjoy an amicable relationship and a rapid
opposes any move to interfere in Saudi Arabia’s internal affairs. development in economic and trade cooperation at present and
The Chinese president called on the two sides to reinforce there is no divergence between the two sides, Mohammed said.
synergy of development strategies and cement the integration “Saudi Arabia is full of confidence in the bright future of
of each other’s interests.
China’s development under the leadership of President Xi,”
“The two countries should speed up the signing of an he said. “We see China as an important strategic partner
CHINESE President Xi Jinping (right) meets with Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, Saudi implementation plan on connecting the Belt and Road Initiative and appreciate China’s support for the domestic reforms and
Arabia’s crown prince, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.
XINHUA with the Saudi Vision 2030,” Xi said, also expecting further progress development of Saudi Arabia.”
Xinhua
Internet, food supply at risk
There have been targeted attacks
in the past, but nothing like this
SAN FRANCISCO — Key parts of the Internet
infrastructure face large-scale attacks that threaten
the global system of web traffic, the Internet’s address
keeper warned Friday.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (ICANN) declared after an emergency
meeting “an ongoing and significant risk” to key parts
of the infrastructure that affects the domains on which
websites reside.
“They are going after the Internet infrastructure
itself,” ICANN chief technology officer David
Conrad told AFP.
“There have been targeted
attacks in the past, but nothing
like this.”
The attacks could date
back to 2017 but have
sparked growing
concerns from security researchers in recent
weeks, which prompted the special meeting
of ICANN.
The malicious activity targets the
Domain Name System or DNS which
routes traffic to intended online
destinations.
ICANN specialists
and others say
these attacks
WASHINGTON — US and
Chinese negotiators agreed Friday
to extend high-level trade talks through
the weekend and President Donald Trump
said he hoped to meet next month at his Florida
resort with President Xi Jinping to try to finalize an
agreement.
The news followed two days of negotiations in Washington
aimed at resolving a trade war that has rattled financial
markets and threatened global economic growth.
“We’re making a lot of progress,” Trump told reporters
at the White House. “I think there’s a very good chance
that a deal can be made.”
Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin said the negotiations, which
had been scheduled to conclude
Friday afternoon, would continue
through Sunday.
The Chinese delegation is led
by Xi’s special envoy, Vice
Trade
deal likely
have a potential to snoop on data
along the way, sneakily send the
traffic elsewhere or enable the
attackers to impersonate or “spoof”
critical websites.
“There isn’t a single
tool to address this,”
Conrad said,
as ICANN
called
Premier Liu He, the American team by
Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
We’re making a lot of progress.
Trump had originally warned that he would
escalate the tariffs he has imposed on $200 billion in
Chinese imports, from 10 to 25 percent, if the two sides
failed to reach a deal by 2 March. But in recent days,
and again on Friday, he raised the possibility of extending
that deadline if negotiators were nearing an agreement.
The world’s two biggest economies
are sparring over US allegations that
Beijing uses predatory tactics in a
drive to make Chinese companies
world leaders in such
advanced industries
as robotics and
driverless
cars. AP
for an overall hardening of web defenses.
Meanwhile, the UN food agency on Friday warned
about the threat to the future of the world’s food
production from a lack of biodiversity in the environment.
In a report, the first of its kind by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), it said there was “mounting
evidence that the biodiversity that underpins our food
systems, at all levels, is declining around the world.”
That is putting food production and the environment
“under severe threat,” the FAO warned.
“Once lost, plant, animal and micro-organisms species
that are critical to our food systems, cannot be recovered.”
Biodiversity enables agriculture systems to be more
resilient to shocks such as disease and pest outbreaks,
as well as coping with climate change.
The report citied as examples the
dramatic fall in food
production from
infestations such as the
potato blight in Ireland in
the 1840s and the
losses of the
tropical taro
plant in Samoa
in the
1990s.
AFP
BRIEFS
R. Kelly scandal
R&B singer R. Kelly arrives at the Chicago Police
Department’s Central District Friday night in Chicago, hours
after authorities announced multiple charges of aggravated
sexual abuse involving four victims, including at least three
between the ages of 13 and 17.
AP
Leaving the board
Twitter co-founder and
one-time chief executive Evan
Williams is stepping down
from the board, leaving the
one-to-many messaging service
to focus on “other projects.”
Williams will depart the
Twitter board at the end of this
month, according to a filing with
WILLIAMS
the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.
AFP
Came back from extinction
A specimen of the giant Galapagos tortoise Chelonoidis
phantasticus, thought to have gone extinct about a century
ago, is seen at
the Galapagos
National Park
on Santa Cruz
Island in the
Galapagos
Archipelago,
in the Pacific
Ocean 1,000 kms
off the coast of
Ecuador. AP
Show of vigilance Security forces guard by the Crossed Swords monument in Baghdad, Iraq. The government’s brutal crackdown on Sunnis — even those with
no evidence of ties with Islamic militants — sends a troubling signal about Iraq’s prospects for peace.
AP
HOUSE OF HORRORS
Turpin parents
plead guilty
RIVERSIDE — A California couple pleaded
guilty Friday to torture and years of abuse
that included shackling some of their 13
children to beds and starving them to the
point they stopped growing.
The two will be sentenced to up to
life in prison on 19 April.
David and Louise Turpin will spend at
least 25 years in prison after entering the
pleas in Riverside County Superior Court to
14 counts that included cruelty toward all
but their toddler daughter and imprisoning
the children in a house that
appeared neatly kept outside,
but festered with filth and
reeked of human waste.
The couple was arrested
in January 2018 after
their 17-year-old daughter
escaped from the home
and called 9-11 in the city
of Perris, about 60 miles
southeast of Los Angeles.
The children, ages two
to 29 at the time, were
severely underweight and
hadn’t bathed for months.
They described being beaten,
starved and put in cages.
Louise Turpin’s face turned red
and she began crying and dabbed
her eyes with a tissue during
the hearing while her husband
appeared stoic.
The two will be sentenced to up
to life in prison on 19 April, Riverside
District Attorney Mike Hestrin said. AP
Sino firm dismisses ‘groundless claims’
The project symbolizes China-Pakistan
friendship
China State Construction Engineering Corp.
(CSCEC)said it is extremely “shocked” by the
recent “groundless allegations” made public
through media against the Sukkur-Multan Motorway
project in Pakistan in which it had participated.
The clarification came after
several Pakistani government
officials were accused of
misappropriating funds
worth up to $500 million
in the Sukkur-Multan
Motorway project.
According to the
report, the questions about
corruption were raised by
Pakistan’s communication
minister Murad Saeed.
In a statement, CSCEC claimed that it had been carrying
out its business activities and all of the operations “fully in
compliance with Pakistani laws and regulations.”
“(The project) immensely benefits Pakistani people
and symbolizes China-Pakistan friendship. We are proud to
participate in this project. The whole tendering and bidding
process and award of the contract have been made in
accordance with local laws and international practices,” it said.
The firm also said that the project is progressing
smoothly and is expected to be handed over on schedule.
The 392-km Multan-Sukkur
Motorway is the largest
transportation infrastructure
project under the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor in
Multan, Punjab province.
Global TImes
Doppelgangers Impersonators of US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been making
rounds of Hanoi in Vietnam, taking pictures with curious onlookers ahead of the second summit of the two leaders next week. AFP