DONALD Trump has said trade talks between China and the US are continuing in a “very congenial manner” despite new tariffs the US imposed on $200 billion (£155bn) of Chinese imports.
Trump tweeted that the increased tariffs will bring “far more wealth” to the US, although a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Columbia and Princeton universities said the burden of tariffs falls on US consumers and businesses that import products.
Some politicians have recently expressed concern about the effect of the tariffs on farmers.
Trump suggested that money from the tariffs would allow the US to buy more agricultural goods from US farmers and ship it to “poor and starving” countries.
Beijing has vowed to retaliate after the latest tariff hike came into effect – escalating a battle over China’s technology ambitions and other trade strains.
The US raised duties on some Chinese imports from 10% to 25%. The increase went ahead after US and Chinese negotiators continued talks in Washington.
China’s Commerce Ministry said it would take “necessary countermeasures” but gave no further details.
MEANWHILE, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that it may not be possible to contain Ebola to the two affected provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo if violent attacks on health teams continue.
WHO officials said that Ebola response activities had been halted for five consecutive days because of the insecurity. In one incident, a burial team was violently attacked after they interred an Ebola victim.
The presence of Mai-Mai militia fighters has prevented health workers from travelling to some areas, with 1069 deaths recorded since the outbreak began in August.
The affected area is close to the borders with Uganda and Rwanda, and health officials in both countries have been preparing in case someone sick with Ebola should bring across the disease.
ELSEWHERE, up to 70 people have drowned after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean. At least 16 others have been rescued.
The smuggling boat carrying migrants was travelling from Libya when it sent a distress signal in international waters off the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax.
State news agency TAP said 70 people drowned as the boat sank and that fishing boats rescued 16 people.
Survivors are now being cared for and questioned by Tunisian authorities.
People from Bangladesh and Morocco, among other nationalities, are believed to have been onboard.
AND finally, a 28-year-old German woman who passed herself off as a wealthy heiress to swindle US banks, hotels and friends has been sentenced to between four and 12 years behind bars.
Anna Sorokin (pictured above) was convicted last month on counts of grand larceny and theft of services, and has been in custody since her October 2017 arrest.
Sorokin went by the name Anna Delvey when she defrauded financial institutions and Manhattan celebrity circles into believing she had a fortune of about $67m that could cover her jet-set lifestyle, high-end clothing and lavish hotel stays.
She falsely claimed her father was a diplomat or an oil baron, and falsified bank records and forged her identity to further the scam.
Her ruse included an application for a $22m loan to fund a private arts club, complete with exhibitions, installations and pop-up shops, prosecutors said. She was denied that loan but persuaded one bank to lend her 100,000 dollars that she failed to repay.
In all, prosecutors accused her of stealing some $275,000 including a $35,400 bill she failed to pay for a plane she chartered to and from the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
She went to great lengths to ensure others paid her way, even as she had “not a cent to her name, as far as we can determine”, prosecutor Catherine McCaw said following Sorokin’s arrest.
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