China says it wants to resolve differences with U.S. 'on equal footing' - Reuters

AUGUST 3, 2018
China says it wants to resolve differences with U.S. 'on equal footing'
Christian Shepherd

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China is willing to resolve differences with the United States on an equal footing, the Chinese government’s top diplomat said on Friday after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, but added they did not address their trade war too specifically.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday instructed his trade officials to look at increasing tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion in Chinese imports into the United States.

Trump, who has accused China and others of exploiting the United States in global trade, has demanded that Beijing make a host of concessions to avoid the new duties, which could be imposed in the weeks after a comment period closes on Sept. 5.

China, however, shows no sign of bending to Washington’s pressure.

Speaking to reporters after meeting Pompeo on the sidelines of a regional summit in Singapore, Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi said Pompeo told him he was “was willing to maintain constructive contact”.

“As two members of the U.N. Security Council and the world’s largest two economies, we should of course maintain talks at all times,” Wang said.

“Cooperation is the only correct choice for the United States and China. It’s the universal expectation of the international community. Opposition can only bring dual loss and will hurt the peaceful and stable development of the world,” he added.

“We are willing to resolve the concerns of both sides via talks on the basis of an equal footing and mutual respect. He (Pompeo) was accommodating on this as a direction, and said that he does not want current frictions to continue,” Wang said.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their bilateral meeting at the 51st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore, August 3, 2018. Mohd Rasfan/Pool via Reuters
Answering a question about what was specifically said on trade, Wang said: “We did not speak in such details. But actually, as journalists have noted, how can talks take place under this pressure?”

Wang, who is also China’s foreign minister, urged the United States on Thursday to calm down and “carefully listen to the voices of U.S. consumers”.

So far, the United States has imposed duties on $34 billion of imports from China as part of a first tranche of sanctions on $50 billion of goods.

It wants China to stop stealing U.S. corporate secrets, abandon plans to boost its high-tech industries at America’s expense and stop subsidizing Chinese companies with cheap loans that enable them to compete unfairly.

China says the United States is trying to stop the rise of a competitor and it has imposed its own tariffs on U.S. goods. The rising tensions have weighed on stock and currency markets, with the Chinese yuan falling against the dollar.

The two countries have not had formal talks on their trade dispute since early June.

Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie

Iran's foreign minister says China 'pivotal' to salvaging its nuclear deal - Reuters

WORLD NEWS  AUGUST 3, 2018
Iran's foreign minister says China 'pivotal' to salvaging its nuclear deal
Reuters Staff

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Iran’s foreign minister said on Friday China was “pivotal” to salvaging a multilateral nuclear agreement for the Middle Eastern country after the United States pulled out of the pact earlier this year.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif smiles as he attends a bilateral meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Singapore, August 3, 2018. REUTERS/Feline Lim
U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 deal in May. International sanctions were lifted under the pact between world powers and Tehran in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump has ordered U.S. sanctions on Tehran, while a senior State Department official said Washington has told allies to cut imports of Iranian oil by November. Iran and other signatories, including China, have been trying to salvage the deal.

“The role of China in the implementation of JCPOA, in achieving JCPOA, and now in sustaining JCPOA, will be pivotal,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said, referring to the technical name for the nuclear deal.

Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Paul Tait

Donald Trump: President claims the Queen was actually late to meet him, and the internet can't cope - Independent

Donald Trump: President claims the Queen was actually late to meet him, and the internet can't cope
Posted on August 3, 2018 by Lowenna Waters in news 
UPVOTE 

Remember when Trump came to visit the UK, a huge orange baby blimp flew across London, and more than 25,0000 people took to the streets in protest?

Well, the president of the United States is now claiming that when he met with the Queen during his July state visit, it was HER who was late, not him, when they met for afternoon tea at Windsor Castle.

Yes, really. This is despite the fact it was reported he managed to break royal protocol twice when meeting the Queen, first by failing to bow, and second by walking in front of her.

Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania last night, Trump said that the 'fake fake disgusting' news was responsible for lying about his encounter with Queen Elizabeth.

Speaking to the rally, he said:

I was asked to have tea with the Queen, who is incredible by the way. Incredible. 

I landed [and] I'm on the ground and I'm waiting with the King's and the Queen's guards, wonderful people. I'm waiting.

I was about 15 minutes early and I'm waiting with my wife and that's fine. Hey, it's the Queen, right? We can wait. But I'm a little early.

He continued:

So, I then go up and meet the Queen and she is fantastic. We then go up and we have tea. And I didn't know this - it was supposed to last 15 minutes but it lasted like an hour. Because we got along. And she liked our first lady and our first lady liked her.

But we got along fantastically well. But the time went by - you know, sometimes you get along and the time goes by.

So here was the story by the fake news: The president was 15 minutes late for the Queen. Wrong.

And then, here's the rest of the story: The president overstayed. So I was late and I overstayed. But honestly, folks, it was such a beautiful, beautiful visit and afternoon.

But they can make anything bad because they are the fake, fake, disgusting news.

Right, OK. Many people on the Internet were quick to point out that this doesn't really add up.

Some were quick to point out that when they two met, there is video of the Queen appearing to check her watch.


11th Hour
✔
@11thHour
 WATCH: Here's the moment when the Queen appeared to check her watch before Pres. Trump arrived to meet her today. Learn more: https://nbcnews.to/2uxNopg

12:58 PM - Jul 14, 2018

Others were shocked that Trump doesn't seem to realise that the meeting was televised.

Donna Richards
@ResumeWonder
Replying to @11thHour @ryaninteractive
Does he not realize that there is video?

10:09 AM - Aug 3, 2018

Denise Bali
@DBalistrer
Replying to @11thHour @StacieDerepent2
Does he know the event was televised live and he left a 92 year old woman standing in the heat?

10:20 AM - Aug 3, 2018
10
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Others pointed out they thought the claims to be completely untrue.

michael movic
@oldmanliver
Replying to @11thHour @MSNBC
At This Point The Only
One To Believe Trump
Is Trump

9:55 AM - Aug 3, 2018
4
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Gemma Greene
@gemmagreene16
 Trump says HM The Queen made HIM wait.
We, Mr Trump, are not blind to your vile character & will not be convinced to disbelieve our own eyes.
Whatever one might think of her position, you kept a 92 yr old lady waiting in blazing heat.
We will not forget that.

6:23 PM - Aug 3, 2018
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Denise
@denise76300
Replying to @11thHour @MSNBC
Hey @realDonaldTrump is this one of those time when we shouldn’t believe what we see??

10:12 AM - Aug 3, 2018 · Canton, MA

Others brought up the fact Queen Elizabeth wore a brooch gifted to her by Obama to meet Trump.

Darla Beattie
@BeattieDarla
Replying to @11thHour @MSNBC
He lies about absolutely everything!  Still makes me laugh that Her Majesty was wearing a brooch given to her from President Obama though😂

9:55 AM - Aug 3, 2018

LaRhonda
@LaRhondaS
Replying to @BeattieDarla and 2 others
I’m sure he will have something nasty to say about that brooch, soon enough. He may even say he told her that he would give her a much nicer one than Obama did. A bigger one. The biggest and nicest brooch she ever got from anyone.

10:14 AM - Aug 3, 2018

Others brought up the fact that he appeared to walk in front of her, a 92-year-old woman, when the two met.

Kelly Hamilton
@kellyhamilton49
Replying to @11thHour @MSNBC
Trump is such an embarrassment!

10:56 AM - Aug 3, 2018


Some just thought the whole thing was rather ridiculous.

alien
@osseuscadaver
 why does trump talking about not being late to meet the queen sound like a bad stand up story

5:09 PM - Aug 3, 2018
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HT The Daily Mail

More: Cher was asked to compliment Trump or eat a cow tongue. She chose the tongue

More: Kim Kardashian has 'nothing bad to say' about Donald Trump

UPVOTE 

Black student claims member of college staff reported her to police for eating lunch
Posted about an hour ago by Greg Evans in news 
UPVOTE 
              
A sophomore student at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, has claimed that she was questioned by a 'member of staff' at the school as to if she was a student while she read and ate in a common room.

Oumou Kanoute, who is working as a residential advisor and teaching assistant for the summer, posted two videos on her Facebook page on Tuesday when she was approached by a police officer during a break.

In her Facebook post, you can see an officer approach her and ask what she is doing there. Once she says why, the officer apologises and explains why he had been called over.

She writes:

I am blown away by the fact that I cannot even sit down and eat lunch peacefully.

Today someone felt the need to call the police on me while I was sitting down reading, and eating in a common room at Smith College.

This person didn't try to bring their concerns forward to me but instead decided to call the police.

I did nothing wrong, I wasn't making any noise or bothering anyone. All I did was be black.

It's outrageous that some people question my being at Smith College and my existence overall as a woman of colour.

I was very nervous and had a complete meltdown after this incident. It's just wrong and uncalled for.

No students of colour should have to explain why they belong at prestigious white institutions.

I worked my hardest to get into Smith, and I deserve to feel safe on my campus.


In the second video, she calmly responds to the officer by highlighting how often these type of incidents are becoming in America.

It’s OK. It’s just like, the kind of stuff like this happens way too often, where people just feel threatened.

According to The Daily Dot, a school official told MassLive.com that someone was reported who "seemed out of place" but upon inspection campus police "found nothing suspicious about the student's presence".

In a separate Facebook post, Oumou states that a white member of staff had reported her as a "suspicious black male".

She also demands that Smith releases the name of the employee who called 911 so that "they can confront and acknowledge the harm done to me as a student".

However, the school has responded by saying that it is not policy to release the name of the caller.

In a statement on Facebook the school writes:

We have received multiple requests to release the name of the individual who called campus police.

Under college policy, any campus police records that are released must redact the names of parties involved.

This policy recognises the potentially adverse consequences of releasing identifying information, especially in those cases where doing so may discourage the use of this critical safety resource.

They also clarified that they have reached out to Oumou and that an investigation into the incident will be conducted by Human Resources and Campus Police.

Yesterday, campus police responded to a call from an employee reporting an unknown person who “seemed to be out of place” in a Smith building where the dining area was in use by the college’s summer programmes.

A campus police officer responded to the site and spoke with the individual, a Smith undergraduate student of colour, who was on a break from her on-campus job.

Campus police found nothing suspicious about the student's presence.

This incident has raised concerns in our community about bias and equity. Smith College does not tolerate race or gender-based discrimination in any form.

Such behaviour can contribute to a climate of fear, hostility and exclusion that has no place in our community.

We have reached out to the student to offer support and discuss next steps and will conduct an investigation of the incident with the employee, with human resources and with campus police.

We strongly encourage any member of the community experiencing bias in any form to immediately notify the college,

This incident is just one in a growing trend of incidents where black members of the public in the United States have been reported to the police for having BBQs, selling water or attending a public swimming pool.

HT New York Post

UN experts condemn President Trump's media criticism - BBC News

UN experts condemn President Trump's media criticism
2 August 2018

Jim Acosta: "All I am asking you to do is to acknowledge that the media is not an enemy of the people"
President Donald Trump's media attacks raise the risk of violence against journalists, UN experts have warned.

In a statement, David Kaye and Edison Lanza of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called the attacks "strategic" and said they undermined press freedom and "verifiable facts".

The comments follow hours after Mr Trump's daughter Ivanka distanced herself from her father's attacks.

Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised the media before and during his presidency.

He has declared journalists to be "enemies of the people", drawing condemnation from across the political spectrum.

Why Trump attacks the media
How Trump 'enemies' remark echoes tyrants
Earlier on Thursday, his daughter Ivanka broke from her father's remarks - prompting a tweet from Mr Trump in which he attacked "fake news" as the real threat.

Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
 They asked my daughter Ivanka whether or not the media is the enemy of the people. She correctly said no. It is the FAKE NEWS, which is a large percentage of the media, that is the enemy of the people!

6:24 AM - Aug 3, 2018

But White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday refused to say the media were not enemies, causing a CNN reporter to walk out of the briefing.

Mr Kaye and Mr Lanza said the president's assaults "increase the risk of journalists being targeted with violence" in their joint statement, and were "designed to undermine confidence in reporting".

Reality Check: Are journalists increasingly under attack?
Donald Trump decries 'fake news' on UK visit
Their warning follows a number of attacks from the president, his administration and his supporters over the past week.

At a presidential rally in Florida on Tuesday, CNN filmed Mr Trump's supporters yelling insults and swearing at reporters covering the event. CNN presenter Jim Acosta tweeted a clip, which contained strong language.

Jim Acosta
✔
@Acosta
 Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt. We should not treat our fellow Americans this way. The press is not the enemy.

11:32 AM - Aug 1, 2018

And on Sunday, the publisher of the New York Times urged the president to stop using the phrase "enemies of the people" after he launched a Twitter tirade against the media.

Mr Trump's frequent attacks have drawn criticism from even those close to him and within his party.

Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci condemned Trump's supporters at the Florida rally on Twitter, saying the behaviour was "not who we are".

Republican senator for Arizona Jeff Flake meanwhile has compared Mr Trump to the former USSR dictator Joseph Stalin.

Apple’s Stock Is Going Gangbusters and it Could Be the First American Company Worth $1 Trillion - TIME Business

Apple’s Stock Is Going Gangbusters and it Could Be the First American Company Worth $1 Trillion

Posted: 01 Aug 2018 07:17 AM PDT


(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc. shares jumped 3.5 percent in pre-market trading Wednesday after the company projected sales that suggest consumers are still snapping up the company’s high-end iPhones even as updated models are on the horizon.

The Cupertino, California-based technology giant said on Tuesday it expects fiscal fourth-quarter revenue between $60 billion and $62 billion. Analysts were looking for $59.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Fiscal third-quarter results also beat Wall Street expectations, at one point sending the shares to $198 in extended trading, a record price if the increase holds through Wednesday.
Apple’s stock gained 12 percent this year though Tuesday’s close — before the results were announced — putting the iPhone maker on a path to become the first U.S.-based company with a market value of $1 trillion.

“These results and guidance will increase investor confidence,” Shannon Cross of Cross Research wrote in a note to investors. “We expect the vast majority of Apple’s product line-up to be refreshed during the next couple of quarters which should support near-term results.”

More than a decade after its debut, the iPhone is still Apple’s most-important product, accounting for about 60 percent of revenue. While unit sales have slowed recently, the company is building digital services and a suite of other gadgets around the device. Those newer businesses, along with higher iPhone prices, have supported revenue growth.

Apple’s fiscal fourth-quarter outlook is closely watched because this is usually the period when the company unveils new iPhones. The company is expected to launch three new phones later this year. That’s raised Wall Street expectations for more sales and profit.

The results “were driven by continued strong sales of iPhone, Services and Wearables, and we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline,” Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Read about Apple’s future iPhone plans here.

Fiscal third-quarter sales rose 17 percent to $53.3 billion, Apple said. Profit came in at $2.34 per share. Analysts expected revenue of $52.4 billion and earnings of $2.18 a share.

The company sold 41.3 million iPhones in its third quarter, generating revenue of $29.9 billion. That was driven by a higher average selling price of $724, thanks in part to the iPhone X, which starts at $999.

Analysts were looking for 41.6 million iPhone units in the quarter, and an average selling price of $699, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

During a conference call with analysts, Cook said the iPhone X was the most popular iPhone in the fiscal third quarter, gaining market share around the world.

Apple reported record services revenue of $9.55 billion, up 31 percent from a year earlier. Analysts forecast $9.2 billion. The category includes the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud storage and Apple Pay. The company is working on expanding these offerings with original videos and a news subscription service.

Cook told analysts that Apple is on track to meet a goal of doubling Services revenue by 2020. Paid subscriptions have now passed 300 million, he also noted.

Apple said its gross profit margin will be 38 percent to 38.5 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter, versus analysts’ estimates of 38.2 percent.

The company’s Other Products segment continued to see strong growth, with revenue up 37 percent to $3.7 billion. The category includes AirPods headphones, the Apple Watch, Apple TV, and the HomePod. Cook said wearables were a highlight of the quarter, with sales up 60 percent year over year. The Apple Watch had a record quarter with mid-40 percent growth, the CEO also said. The company doesn’t report sales figures for the Watch.

Apple said it sold 11.6 million iPads in the quarter, up from the 11.4 million in the year-ago period. In March, Apple launched an updated $329 iPad geared toward students. It’s also working on an upgraded Pro model with iPhone X features like Face ID, which could increase sales of the device.