11 August 2023; AA: Expressing strong opposition to “official interaction of any form” between the US and Taiwan, China on Friday called on Washington to revoke a bilateral trade agreement with Taipei.

“The US move violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, contravenes the US’s own commitment of maintaining only unofficial relations with Taiwan,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday imposed financial sanctions against four Russians on the board of Alfa Group, one of Russia’s largest conglomerates with interests in oil, natural gas and banking.

The sanctions are part of continuing efforts to place restrictions on the economy of Russia and its wealthiest powerbrokers, a response to its invasion last year of Ukraine and the ensuing war. Sanctioned by Treasury are Petr Olegovich Aven, Mikhail Maratovich Fridman, German Borisovich Khan and Alexey Viktorovich Kuzmichev.

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday called China a "ticking time bomb" because of economic challenges including weak growth, but misquoted the country's growth rate.

"They have got some problems. That's not good because when bad folks have problems, they do bad things," Biden said at a political fundraiser in Utah.

Biden said on Thursday he did not want to hurt China and wanted a rational relationship with the country, but had a dire prediction about the country's future.

10 August 2023; MEMO: Ukraine has said that Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, can bring the Black Sea grain deal "back on track", Anadolu Agency reports.

"Yes, I think he can. We know that Turkish diplomacy is working with the Russian one," Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said in an interview with Italian daily, Corriere della Sera, on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday announced that projects in Texas and Louisiana to remove more than 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions per year will get over $1 billion in federal grants, a key step in scaling up direct air capture (DAC) technology.

WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden is tapping C. Kirabo Jackson, a labor economist whose research advocates robust public spending on schools, to fill out his three-member Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), according to a White House official.

The selection suggests public education will be a key area of focus for Biden's brain-trust ahead of a 2024 re-election bid expected to turn on the strength of the economy. The position does not require Senate confirmation.

11 August 2023; AA: Thousands of junior doctors across England staged a walkout on Friday as part of their four-day strike due to an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.

Members of the British Medical Association (BMA) in England are staging a fifth round of strikes, walking out for a full 96 hours from 7:00 a.m. (0600GMT) on Friday until Tuesday morning.

The BMA members are also expected to hold a demonstration in central London later on Friday.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin said that he has been thinking “seriously” about leaving the Democratic Party and becoming an independent.

The West Virginia lawmaker, who has raised his national profile as a swing vote on major spending packages in the closely divided U.S. Senate, made the comments on MetroNews “Talkline” on Thursday.

11 August 2023; AA: Archeologists have discovered a 3,800-year-old cuneiform clay tablet in southern Türkiye during restoration work after the massive earthquakes in the region earlier this year.

Murat Akar, an archeology professor at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, told Anadolu that a 25-member team found the clay tablet with cuneiform inscription in Akkadian language in nearly 4,000-year-old Accana tumulus in the southern Hatay province.

ROME, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Tesla boss Elon Musk said on Friday his planned cage fight with billionaire rival Mark Zuckerberg would be held at an "epic location" with an ancient Roman theme, as Italy indicated it was ready to stage the scrap.

Italy's Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said in a statement that he had spoken to Musk about hosting a "large charitable and historically evocative event".

He did not specify what the event would be, or when it might be held, saying only that it would not take place in Rome.

11 August 2023; MEMO: The United States, Britain and Canada, on Thursday, announced sanctions against the former Governor of Lebanon's Central Bank, Riad Salameh, accusing him of corrupt actions to enrich himself and his associates, Reuters reports.

BERLIN, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Germany will own NATO's second largest helicopter fleet with the 60 Chinooks it announced it was buying last month, German Air Force Chief Ingo Gerhartz was quoted as saying on Friday.

Last month, Reuters reported Germany would buy 60 Chinook helicopters from Boeing (BA.N) in a package that will cost up to 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion), including necessary infrastructure for the aircraft.

"We will be the second largest helicopter nation in NATO after the U.S.," Gerhartz was quoted as saying by RND media network.