China urged Washington on Thursday to accept its industrial development after US intelligence officials said Beijing steals or copies foreign technology, as the two sides prepared for another day of talks aimed at ending a tariff war over Beijing's technology ambitions.
It is "totally unreasonable to make random accusations," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang.
On Wednesday, US intelligence officials told Congress that China is the biggest commercial and military threat to the United States. A separate report this week said Beijing will steal or copy technologies it cannot make itself.
"The United States is the world's top power in terms of technology, we acknowledge that," Geng said. "But we hope that the US can see the scientific and technological progress of other countries with an open and inclusive attitude. It must allow others to make progress while developing itself."
On Monday, China's biggest technology company, Huawei, was indicted on U.S. charges including ...

China appeals to US to accept its technology progress

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Chinese President Xi Jinping says his country is well on track to deliver a "spectacular" 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
China's government was firmly committed to staging the games with a "green, inclusive, open, and corruption-free approach," Xi told IOC President Thomas Bach on Thursday.
"We will deliver a spectacular games," Xi said in opening remarks at their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.
Xi said China's preparations grew out of its people's approach to performing jobs in a "methodical matter and well in advance."
In response, Bach said his delegation had been impressed with their visits to the Olympic venues, winter sports training grounds, and the winter ice festival in the northeastern city of Harbin.
"And we had a great experience about the dynamism and efficiency of China in the preparation for these Olympics," Bach said.
Beijing received the games by attrition, winning over Almaty, Kazakhstan, after a half-dozen European bidders dropped out, ...

China's Xi: 2022 Winter Games will be green, inclusive, open

Ride-hailing companies Uber and Cabify say they will stop operating in Barcelona after the regional government in northeastern Spain passed tighter regulations.
Uber says in a statement Thursday that the law requiring users of the ride-hailing apps to contract services 15 minutes beforehand was "totally incompatible with the immediacy of on-demand services."
The regional government of Catalonia is imposing the restriction after taxi drivers went on strike for several days in Barcelona. The protest included taxi drivers blocking a major boulevard and trashing cars used by ride-hailing companies.
Cabify says that it is disappointed that authorities "gave in to the pressure and demands of the taxi sector." Taxi drivers are striking in Madrid for similar restrictions on ride-hailing services.

Uber, Cabify stop services in Barcelona due to tighter laws

Britain's carmakers issued a stark assessment Thursday about Brexit's impact on the industry, warning that two-thirds of the country's global trade is at risk if the UK leaves the European Union without an agreement on future trade.
Investment in the industry fell 46 percent last year and new car production dropped 9.1 per cent to 1.52 million vehicles in 2018, in part because of concerns over Brexit, the Society of Motor Manufacturing said.
Chief executive Mike Hawes has described the threat of a no-deal as "catastrophic." "With fewer than 60 days before we leave the EU and the risk of crashing out without a deal looking increasingly real, UK Automotive is on red alert," Hawes said.
"Brexit uncertainty has already done enormous damage to output, investment and jobs." Hawes said the figures showing a drop in investment, stark though they are, pale in comparison to what is ahead should the UK leave the EU on March 29 without a deal, severing frictionless trade links overnight with the .

UK carmakers issue stark warning on Brexit

At St Mary's Catholic Church in Dubai, an effort to transcribe the Bible in the native tongue of its flock saw the holy book presented in 52 languages  a sign of the cosmopolitan welcome awaiting Pope Francis' upcoming visit to the United Arab Emirates.
The diversity among its parishioners can be seen in its pews and heard in the sermons of St Mary's priests, who celebrate Mass and offer prayers in Arabic, English, French, Tagalog, Tamil, Urdu and other languages.
The church, they say, offers an anchor for the Roman Catholics among the UAE's vast foreign labour force, many of whom live in this federation of seven sheikhdoms alone while their families stay home.
"The whole world meets here in a way," said the Rev. Lennie Connully, the parish priest of St Mary's. "We have people from all over." Pope Francis' visit from February 3 through February 5 marks the first papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula, the birthplace of Islam.
The pontiff will visit Abu Dhabi, the headquarters of the ...

Diverse, international flock awaits Pope Francis' UAE trip

A US Department of Education report says Michigan State University's failure to detect and stop sexual assaults by now-imprisoned sports doctor Larry Nassar indicates a lack of institutional control.
The report also accuses the East Lansing school of being out of compliance in areas under the Clery Act, which requires universities participating in student aid programs under Title IV to provide the campus community with information about public safety issues.
Hundreds of girls and women said Nassar sexually molested them while working for Michigan State and Indiana-based USA Gymnastics. Eleven who told university or campus security officials about the assaults are listed in the report.
The report also says no warnings were issued about 21 burglaries and other crimes from 2011 to 2016.
School spokeswoman Emily Guerrant said Wednesday that Michigan State is working on a formal response to federal officials.

Report blasts Michigan State's handling of sex cases

NATO's chief has called on China to treat detained two Canadian citizens "fairly and with due process."
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday he was following the situation of the Canadians detained in China in December "with concern."
He called on Beijing to address the concerns of Canada, which wants the pair to be "immediately released."
The Canadians have been detained in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese Huawei executive.
Stoltenberg also said he also expects allies to sign an accession agreement for Macedonia after the country agreed to change its name amid a decades-old dispute with Greece.

NATO chief: China must treat arrested Canadians fairly

Searchers in Alaska found airplane debris Wednesday during a search for a medical airplane that went missing with three people aboard, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.
Searchers could not immediately confirm the debris found Wednesday is of the missing King Air 200 plane operated by operated by Guardian Flight, Chief Petty Officer Charly Hengen said.
The debris was found in the water near the south tip of Admiralty Island about 22 miles (35 kilometers) west of the tiny southeast Alaska village of Kake.
The search is continuing for the missing plane, despite the discovery of debris, Hengen said.
The King Air 200 twin-engine plane took off from Anchorage on Tuesday and was expected to land in Kake at 6:19 pm to pick up a patient, but it never arrived, the Coast Guard said.
Guardian Flight released the names of those onboard in a statement Wednesday evening: pilot Patrick Coyle, 63, flight nurse Stacie Rae Morse, 30, and flight paramedic Margaret Langston Allen, 43.
All were based in ...

Airplane debris found in search for missing Alaska plane

Apple says Facebook can no longer distribute an app that paid users, including teenagers, to extensively track their phone and web use.
The tech blog TechCrunch reports that Facebook paid about $20 a month. While Facebook says this was done with permission, the company has a history of defining "permission" loosely and obscuring what data it collects.
Facebook says fewer than 5 percent of the app's users were teens and they had parental permission. Nonetheless, the revelation is yet another blemish on Facebook's track record on privacy and could invite further regulatory scrutiny.
According to TechCrunch, Facebook sidestepped Apple's app store and its tighter rules on privacy. Apple says Facebook was using a distribution mechanism meant for company employees, not outsiders, so Apple has revoked that capability.

Apple busts Facebook for distributing data-sucking app

Tehran says that China has slowed down working on its redesign of a heavy water reactor in Iran, following the U.S. withdrawal from Tehran's nuclear agreement with world powers.
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's nuclear agency, was quoted by state-run news agency IRNA as saying that "the Chinese side decreased the speed of cooperation with us despite their commitments." He says Iran has "alternative" choices if China cannot not fulfil its job. Salehi speculates that Beijing fears possible sanctions by the U.S. if it continues cooperation with Iran but did not elaborate further.
Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, experts from the United States and China were to help Iran redesign the Arak heavy water nuclear reactor to limit the amount of plutonium it produces as a byproduct.

Iran worried over delay in Chinese nuclear reactor redesign

Turkey's official news agency says a Turkish citizen who worked as a translator for the US Consulate in Adana was convicted on terror charges but will be freed from prison.
Anadolu news agency said a Turkish court on Wednesday convicted Hamza Ulucay of "knowingly and willingly aiding an armed terror organisation."
The court sentenced Ulucay to 4  years in prison, but released him with credit for the nearly two years he spent in detention.
Ulucay was arrested in February 2017 for alleged links to outlawed Kurdish militants.
The top American diplomat in Ankara, Charg d'Affaires Jeffrey M. Hovenier, attended Wednesday's court hearing along with other US officials.
Two other local consular employees are under investigation in Turkey.

Turkey: US Consulate translator convicted of terror charge

The Taliban said Wednesday they are not seeking a monopoly on power in a future administration in Afghanistan but are looking for ways to co-exist with Afghan institutions  the most conciliatory statement to date from the militants.
The statement came amid intensified US-led efforts to resolve the long-running Afghanistan war.
US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reported this week that there had been "agreements in principle" toward a framework for peace with the Taliban, who now control almost half of the country and carry out near-daily attacks, mainly targeting Afghan security forces and government officials.
Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman based in the Gulf Arab country of Qatar where the Taliban have a political office, said that once US forces withdraw from Afghanistan, the Taliban want to live with other Afghans, "tolerate one another and start life like brothers."
Shaheen's statement was provided in an exclusive audio message to The Associated Press.
"After the end of the occupation, ...

Taliban say they are not looking to rule Afghanistan alone

A Japanese state-run nuclear fuel laboratory near Tokyo said Wednesday it detected a radiation leak in its plutonium handling facility, but no workers were exposed.
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency said a radiation alarm went off after nine workers changed plastic covers on two canisters containing MOX, a mixture of plutonium and uranium, and removed them from a sealed compartment.
JAEA said the workers, each wearing a mask, escaped radiation exposure after running into another room.
No leak was detected outside the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories in Tokai Village, northeast of Tokyo.
The facility ended nuclear fuel production in 2001 and is being decommissioned.
The cause of the leak is under investigation.
The agency suggested possible damage to the plastic covers during the routine change.
JAEA has been reprimanded repeatedly by Japanese nuclear authorities for its poor safety record in recent years.
A bag of plutonium broke during an inspection at another facility ...

Radiation leaks at Japan plutonium lab; no workers exposed

A former pharmaceutical executive accused of joining in a scheme to bribe doctors into prescribing a powerful painkiller once gave a lap dance to a doctor the company was pressuring to get his patients on the drug, her onetime colleague said Tuesday.
Jurors heard the testimony on the second day of the closely watched federal trial in Boston against Insys Therapeutics founder John Kapoor and four other former executives. They include Sunrise Lee, whom prosecutors have described as a former exotic dancer who was hired to be a regional sales manager even though she had no experience in the pharmaceutical world.
The executives are charged with conspiring to pay doctors kickbacks in the form of fees for sham speaking events that were billed as opportunities for other physicians to learn about the drug, a highly addictive fentanyl spray. In reality, prosecutors say, the events were mainly social gatherings for doctors and their friends to enjoy a fancy meal.
Lawyers for Kapoor, 75, and the .

Witness: Exec gave lap dance to doctor in drug bribes scheme

The Trump Organisation, responding to claims that some of its workers were in the US illegally, said on Wednesday that it will use the E-Verify electronic system at all of its properties to check employees' documentation.
A lawyer for a dozen immigrant workers at the Trump National Golf Club in New York's Westchester County said recently that they were fired on January 18.
He said many had worked there for a dozen or more years.
Workers at another Trump club in New Jersey came forward last month to allege managers there had hired them knowing they were in the country illegally.
"We are actively engaged in uniforming this process across our properties and will institute E-verify at any property not currently utilising this system," Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, said in a statement provided to The Associated Press.
"As a company we take this obligation very seriously and when faced with a situation in which an employee has presented false and fraudulent 

Trump Organisation to use E-Verify for worker status checks

President Donald Trump is insisting that congressional negotiators working on a compromise border security deal include money for his proposed wall between Mexico and the southern US border.
Trump tweeted that if the negotiators, scheduled to hold their first meeting Wednesday, aren't "discussing or contemplating a Wall or Physical Barrier, they are Wasting their time!"
Trump's insistence on a wall led to an impasse with Democrats that resulted in a 35-day partial government shutdown.
On Friday, Trump agreed to a temporary deal reopening the government while negotiators work toward a longer-term border security deal.
Democrats have been adamant against a wall. In recent days, Trump has appeared to retreat from using the word. On Tuesday, GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader, suggested that "barrier" was "the same thing" as a wall.
Negotiators are facing a February 15 deadline to reach a compromise.
Capitol Hill negotiators are hopeful of an agreement as they officially kick ...

Trump says he's still insisting on border wall

President Donald Trump is lashing out after top US national security officials told Congress that North Korea is unlikely to dismantle its nuclear arsenal as promised.
Trump tweeted Wednesday that the relationship with North Korea "is the best it has ever been with the US."
He points to a halt in nuclear and missile tests by North Korea, the return of some US service members' remains and the release of Americans once detained there as signs of progress.
Still, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats told Congress on Tuesday that intelligence information doesn't support the idea that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (kim jawng oon) will get rid of his nuclear weapons.
Kim committed to denuclearization after meeting with Trump last year. A second Trump-Kim meeting is expected in February.

Trump pushes back on intelligence assessment of North Korea

Saudi Arabia says 12 people have died and more than 170 have been injured this week due to flooding from heavy rain in the northwest.
The Civil Defence says Thursday that 10 people died in the area of Tabuk, one in Medina and another in the Northern Borders region. It did not say what caused the deaths.
Civil Defence forces say they rescued 271 people over the past four days, most of them in the al-Jawf region that borders Jordan.
Several were also rescued in Mecca, Tabuk, and the Northern Borders region.
The heavy rains have flooded desert valleys and forced schools to close.
The English-language Arab News in Saudi Arabia posted video of water engulfing a street in the city of Medina, home to one of Islam's holiest sites.

Heavy rain, flooding causes 12 deaths in Saudi Arabia

A political ally of South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday received a two-year prison term for his involvement in an online opinion rigging scandal.
The conviction of South Gyeongsang Gov Kim Kyoung-soo is a blow to Moon, a liberal who is struggling to revive stalled negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program and address diverse economic woes at home.
The Seoul Central District Court said that Kim was immediately arrested after his conviction.
He was to be held at a detention facility near Seoul, a court official said, requesting anonymity citing department rules.
Both Kim and prosecutors have one week to appeal.
If Kim's prison term is upheld in higher courts, he will be stripped of his governor post, the court official said.
The court gave no further details.
But local media reported Kim allegedly colluded with a power blogger to sway online public opinion to support Moon ahead of the 2017 presidential election.
Moon isn't directly involved in the scandal.
His office ...

Ally of S Korea leader jailed over opinion rigging scandal

The European Union's Brexit negotiator says the EU stands united in defence of its divorce deal with Britain, after Prime Minister Theresa won a parliamentary mandate to reopen the agreement.
Michel Barnier said Wednesday that "the EU institutions remain united, and we stand by the agreement that we have negotiated with the UK, never against the UK" Barnier made his brief remarks after he met top European Parliament officials to discuss the Brexit votes in the British Parliament late Tuesday.
Britain is set to leave the EU in less than two months, but the main sticking point in London to sealing a Brexit agreement is the so-called "backstop."
It's aimed at ensuring that no time-consuming customs checks happen on the Irish border after Britain leaves, until a better arrangement is found.

Brexit envoy insists EU united as UK's May seeks concessions

Apple hoped to offset slowing demand for iPhones by raising the prices of its most important product, but that strategy seems to have backfired after sales sagged during the holiday shopping season.
Results released Tuesday revealed the magnitude of the iPhone slump  a 15 per cent drop in revenue from the previous year.
That decline in Apple's most profitable product caused Apple's total earnings for the October-December quarter to dip slightly to USD 20 billion.
Now, CEO Tim Cook is grappling with his toughest challenge since replacing co-founder Steve Jobs 7  years ago.
Even as he tries to boost iPhone sales, Cook also must prove that Apple can still thrive even if demand doesn't rebound.
It figures to be an uphill battle, given Apple's stock has lost one-third of its value in less than four months, erasing about USD 370 billion in shareholder wealth.
Cook rattled Wall Street in early January by disclosing the company had missed its own revenue projections for the first time in 15 ..

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