China fired back Saturday in a spiraling trade dispute with President Donald Trump by raising import duties on a $34 billion list of American goods including soybeans, electric cars and whiskey.

The government said it was responding in “equal scale” to Trump’s tariff hike on Chinese goods in a conflict over Beijing’s trade surplus and technology policy that companies worry could quickly escalate and chill global economic growth.

China “doesn’t want a trade war” but has to “fight back strongly,” said a Commerce Ministry statement. It said Beijing also was scrapping agreements to narrow its multibillion-dollar trade surplus with the United States by purchasing more American farm goods, natural gas and other products.

The United States and China have the world’s biggest trading relationship but official ties are increasingly strained over complaints Beijing’s industry development tactics violate its free-trade pledges and hurt American companies. Europe, Japan and other trading partners raise similar complaints, but Trump has been unusually direct about challenging Beijing and threatening to disrupt such a large volume of exports.

“In this trade war, it’s the U.S. who is playing the role of provocateur, while China plays defense,” said the Global Times, a newspaper published by the ruling Communist Party. “China is a powerful guardian and has enough ammunition to defend existing trade rules and fairness.”

Beijing will impose an additional 25 percent tariff starting July 6 on 545 products from the United States including soybeans, electric cars, orange…

Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Nasir-ul-Mulk described the killing of Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah in a U.S. drone strike in Afghanistan as a “significant development in the fight against terrorism.”

Mulk made the comment in a telephone conversation Friday night with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and thanked him for sharing information about Fazlullah’s killing, said a Pakistan government statement.

The call was initiated by Ghani, who tweeted that Fazlullah’s killing was “the result of tireless human intel by Afghan security agencies.”

A U.S. official said the U.S. believes that it is likely the strike killed Fazlullah, but efforts are ongoing to confirm his death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss preliminary information.

In his tweet, Ghani said he also called Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa. In both conversations Ghani said he urged Pakistan “to take practical steps to bring Afghan Taliban residing in Pakistan to the negotiation table.”

Thursday’s drone strike, which reportedly killed Fazlullah and five other insurgents when missiles slammed into the car in which they were driving, occurred just hours before Afghanistan’s Taliban began a three-day cease fire.

The cease-fire, which took effect at midnight Thursday, marks the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which follows the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when the faithful fast from sunrise to sunset. The Afghan Taliban announced their cease-fire after Ghani unilaterally declared a temporary cease-fire for the holidays on June 7.

In Afghanistan’s eastern…

David Habashy and his friends were set up in their chairs on the lawn at Avaya Stadium well before the crack of dawn.

With his native Egypt set to play its first World Cup game in 28 years about 6,000 miles away in Russia, Habashy and five friends came to watch the game on the big screen at Avaya Stadium, the home of the MLS’ San Jose Earthquakes.

Even though the United States didn’t qualify for the World Cup and many of the games are played at odd hours on the West Coast because of the time difference from Russia, the Earthquakes are showing all 64 games of the tournament for free on their video screen — even those that start at 5 a.m. local time like the one Friday between Egypt and Uruguay.

“We were expecting a better atmosphere,” Habashy said. “That’s why we came here. But we’re going to make the best of it. We’re going to go crazy for every goal.”

Egypt didn’t end up scoring any in a 1-0 loss but Habashy and his friends were jumping around at every close chance for Egypt, big save and any airing of injured star Mohamed Salah on the screen.

They were among the about two dozen fans on the lawn on a crisp morning at the start of the match. The crowd grew to about 50 later in the first half with more fans coming later in the day for games at times when more people are awake.

There were several hundred fans on hand for the thrilling 11 a.m. game between powerhouses Spain and Portugal and the Earthquakes have already had more than 1,300 RSVPs for Sunday’s high-profile matchup between Mexico and defending champion Germany.

“You can’t beat the atmosphere of…

Not just trends, but also continuity, were in focus as Milan Fashion Week launched four days of menswear previews for next spring and summer on Friday.

Fashion Week opened with the news that the Italian investment fund FSI has invested 70 million euros ($81 million) in the family-run Missoni fashion house, an important signal that home-grown funds were willing to pony up cash to help iconic brands make the generational transition.

Meanwhile, Bottega Veneta announced the appointment of 32-year-old British designer Daniel Lee as its creative director, replacing Tomas Maier, the German designer who helped make ready-to-wear integral brand over a 17-year tenure. Lee, who takes over next month, has been director of ready-to-wear at Celine, and previously worked at Maison Margiela, Balenciaga and Donna Karan.

The French conglomerate Kering, which owns the brand known for its intrecciato leatherwear, said that by putting Bottega Veneta’s creative direction in the hands of “a talented young designer, Kering continues to place bold and daring creativity at the center of its strategy.”

The usual menswear lineup was being bookended with important collections of womenswear, as fashion houses looked for the best moments to grab attention.

Alberta Ferretti showed a womensewear resort collection near Milan’s landmark Duomo cathedral on the first day of previews, while Stella McCartney will close the previews on Monday evening with her debut in the Milan fashion calendar.

Highlights from Friday’s shows:

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ZEGNA COUTURE

Ermenegildo Zegna’s highly technical looks found an apt backdrop…

Austria demanded clarification from neighboring Germany on Saturday of reports that its spy agency snooped for several years on nearly 2,000 targets in the Alpine nation, including companies and ministries.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said “spying among friendly states is not just unusual and unwanted. It is unacceptable.” Austria and Germany are both members of the European Union.

He and Chancellor Sebastian Kurz were responding to reports in the Der Standard newspaper and the Profil magazine about a list of alleged targets in Austria of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, between 1999 and 2006. It reportedly included most major companies and banks in Austria, as well as phone numbers at the chancellery and various ministries in Vienna.

Kurz noted there were suspicions a few years ago of German intelligence activity in Austria and suggested that was partly responsible for German laws subsequently being tightened to prevent such activities. He acknowledged that an Austrian investigation at the time didn’t reach any conclusions on the spying because Germany didn’t cooperate, but said prosecutors will revisit the matter now “if there is new information.”

Kurz said Austria has contacted German authorities following the news reports and is asking who was spied on and when the surveillance ended.

“We want to have certainty that (the surveillance) ended, and if data were saved our request is of course for it to be deleted,” he told reporters. But he said “we have no indication at present that the surveillance was continued” after…

Italy’s new populist government is criticizing aid groups that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, declaring two German rescue boats can’t dock in Italian ports even though the groups operate at sea and don’t bring migrants ashore.

Mission Lifeline said Saturday that it was asked by the Italian coast guard coordination center to help rescue around 118 migrants on Friday. Lifeline’s crew helped transfer the migrants onto a Singapore-flagged merchant ship, the Viking Amber, and remained at sea as it usually does for any subsequent rescues, according to Lifeline co-founder Axel Steier.

Italy’s new interior minister, Matteo Salvini, nevertheless lashed out at the aid groups he accuses of operating as taxi services for human traffickers. In a Facebook post Saturday, Salvini said Lifeline and the Seefuchs ship of the German group Sea-Eye couldn’t dock in Italy.

Source: Associated Press

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A judge in Canada has declared two men and one woman in a polyamorous relationship to be the legal parents of a child, saying having three parents is in the child’s best interests.

“The relationship has been a stable one and has been ongoing since June 2015. None of the partners in this relationship is married and, while the identity of the mother is clear, the biological father of the child is unknown,” Justice Robert Fowler of the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court said, according to Financial Post.

The judge didn’t ask for a paternity test to be taken.

“Although outside the traditional family model, (the relationship) provides a safe and nurturing environment,” Fowler said in the decision. “I can find nothing to disparage that relationship from the best interests of the child’s point of view. … To deny this child the dual paternal parentage would not be in his best interests. It must be remembered that this is about the best interests of the child and not the best interest of the parents.”

The three adults brought the case to the court asking that they all be recognized as the parents after the Newfoundland Ministry of Service told them that the Vital Statistics Act only allows two parents to be named on a child’s birth certificate.

Because the law doesn’t address polyamorous relationships, Fowler relied on a 2007 decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, which legally recognized a lesbian couple as the mothers of a child whose biological father was already deemed a legal parent.

“Society is continuously changing and family structures are changing…