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Record-breaking heat wave grips western United States

A record early heat wave striking the western United States on Friday is a one-in-500-year event and almost certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say. The heat has been toppling records this week and is set to continue into the weekend across western cities while expanding eastward. Four locations in the desert area near the California-Arizona border registered 44.4 degrees Celsius on Friday, a US national record for March. The readings were recorded near Yuma and Martinez Lake in Arizona, and around Winterhaven and Ogilby in California. Read: Intense heatwave grips US, triggering record-breaking temperatures Already, 65 cities have recorded new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported. Death Valley reached 40°C on Thursday, while typically cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29°C. In Colorado, skiers were seen hitting the slopes shirtless. The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warni...
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China imposes sanctions against US firms, executives over Taiwan arms sales

China on Friday imposed “countermeasures” against US defense firms and executives after the Donald Trump administration approved a record arms sale to Taiwan. “In response to the latest US announcement of large-scale arms sales to China’s Taiwan region, China has decided to take countermeasures in accordance with the anti-foreign sanctions law against 20 US defense-related companies and 10 senior executives who have engaged in arming Taiwan in recent years,” said a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The Trump administration early this month announced eight new arms packages for Taiwan totaling well over $11 billion, in a one-time record sale to Taipei. The sales approved by the US State Department include an over $4 billion sale of 60 M107A7 Self-Propelled Howitzers and related equipment, 82 M142 HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, 420 Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, more than $1 billion in ALTIUS tube-launched loitering drone munitions, and $353 million in TOW missiles. Read More: China, Pakistan strengthen vocational education ties with new MoUs Beijing slammed the move and said in a ministry statement: “We stress once again that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations.” “Anyone who attempts to cross the line and make provocations on the Taiwan question will be met with China’s firm response. … No country or force shall ever underestimate the resolve, will, and ability of the Chinese government and people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” it added. The ministry said "movable and immovable properties, and other kinds of assets" of these US firms and individuals within China "shall be frozen." "All organizations and individuals within China shall be prohibited from engaging in transactions, cooperation, and other activities with them," it said. Beijing urged Washington to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, stop the dangerous moves of arming Taiwan, and stop undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. It also urged the US to “stop sending wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces,” the statement noted, adding that Beijing will continue to “take resolute measures to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.”

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