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BERLIN, August 27. /TASS/. The US’ sanctions policy against other countries which are EU partners makes Europe react to Washington’s actions, said German Minister of Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas in his speech at the annual conference of the heads of the German diplomatic missions abroad on Monday.

"Washington’s sanctions policy makes us search for a European answer, and the urgent launch of nonspecific sanctions against Russia, China and other EU’s trade partners by the US has a considerable effect over Europe and Germany," Maas stated. "We have to react to it," he noted.

MEXICO CITY, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Belt and Road Initiative offers "many benefits" and "more investment" for Latin America, according to the head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Regional countries are beginning to assess the possibility of participating in this "great project," in which China "has a lot to offer" in the areas of trade and infrastructure, said ECLAC Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena.

by Misbah Saba Malik

ISLAMABAD, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- The development of Gwadar port will directly benefit Balochistan province and the whole Pakistan under the bilateral China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) Dostain Khan Jamaldini told Xinhua in a recent interview.

WUHAN, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The China-Europe freight rail service network, a crucial part of the Belt and Road Initiative, has expanded rapidly, reaching 10,000 trips.

Sunday's arrival of freight train X8044 from Hamburg, Germany at Wujiashan railway container center station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, marked the 10,000th trip since its beginning of operation in March 2011.

BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's major industrial firms posted steady profit growth in the first seven months of 2018, official statistics showed Monday.

Profits at China's major industrial firms grew 17.1 percent in the first seven months, slightly down from the 17.2 percent expansion for January-June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s parliament voted Sunday to sack the finance minister, dealing another blow to President Hassan Rouhani as he faces mounting discontent over the economy.

Critics of the ousted finance minister, Masoud Karbasian, said the government had failed to do enough to shore up the economy as President Donald Trump began restoring sanctions after withdrawing the United States from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

CANBERRA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Two of Australia's big four banks have been accused of criminal offences over their treatment of superannuation customers.

In a submission to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, Michael Hodge, senior counsel assisting the commission, recommended that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) and National Australia Bank (NAB) face criminal charges.

The CBA is Australia's largest bank while NAB is the second largest.

ANKARA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for joint efforts to "combat attacks on Turkey's economy" amid its persistent row with the United States.

"The commitment and determination of Turks is the guarantee needed to combat attacks on Turkey's economy," Erdogan said in a statement released to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Manzikert in 1071.

The historic battle saw Seljuk Turks defeat a Byzantine army and open up Anatolia for Turkish domination.

XICHANG, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday successfully sent twin BeiDou navigation satellites into space on a single carrier rocket.

The Long March-3B carrier rocket lifted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 7:52 a.m.. It was the 283rd mission of the Long March rocket series, said a source of the launch center.

The twin satellites entered orbit more than three hours after the launch. After a series of tests, they will work together with 10 other BeiDou-3 satellites already in orbit.

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's foreign ministry on Saturday expressed regret over the cancellation of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

From the South Korean side, it was sorry for Pompeo's "delayed visit" to the DPRK, the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said it would be significant to continue to seek ways to make talks between the DPRK and the United States contribute to the common goal of the Korean Peninsula's complete denuclearization and the permanent peace settlement.