Exclusive: U.S., China sketch outlines of deal to end trade war - sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China have started to outline commitments in principle on the stickiest issues in their trade dispute, marking the most significant progress yet toward ending a seven-month trade war, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. The world’s two largest economies have slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of goods, slowing global economic growth, skewing supply chains and disrupting manufacturing.

As officials hold high-level talks on Thursday and Friday in Washington, they remain far apart on demands made by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration for structural changes to China’s economy. But the broad outline of what could make up a deal is beginning to emerge from the talks, the sources said, as the two sides push for an agreement by March 1. That marks the end of a 90-day truce that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to when they met in Argentina late last year. Negotiators are drawing up six memorandums of understanding on structural issues: forced technology transfer and cyber theft, intellectual property rights, services, currency, agriculture, and non-tariff barriers to trade, according to two sources familiar with the progress of the talks. At meetings between U.S. and Chinese officials last week in Beijing the two sides traded texts and worked on outlining obligations on paper, according to one of the sources. The process has become a real trade negotiation, the source said, so much so that at the end of the week the participants considered staying in Beijing to keep working. Instead they agreed to take a few days off and reconvene in Washington. The sources requested anonymity to speak candidly about the talks.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng on Thursday declined to comment on the MOUs. U.S. equity index futures initially rallied on the news of progress in the talks, with the S&P 500’s e-mini futures contract gaining about 0.4 percent over the following hour during Asian trading. The dollar strengthened and U.S. Treasury security yields rose. U.S. stocks later retreated in Thursday’s Wall Street session following a batch of weaker-than-expected economic data, though the dollar and bond yields remained modestly higher.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-deal-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-china-sketch-outlines-of-deal-to-end-trade-war-sources-idUSKCN1QA07U?il=0

Victims testify at child sex abuse conference, Pope promises to fight ‘enemy within’

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis promised that concrete action against child sexual abuse by priests would result from a conference he opened on Thursday, with one cardinal acknowledging that the Church had to fight “the enemy within”. Francis convened Catholic leaders from around the world for the four-day meeting to address the scandal that has ravaged the Church’s credibility in the United States - where it has paid billions of dollars in settlements - Ireland, Chile, Australia, and elsewhere over the last three decades.

His opening remarks appeared aimed at countering scepticism among victims who said the meeting looked like a public relations exercise. “Faced with the scourge of sexual abuse committed by men of the Church against minors, I wanted to reach out to you,” Francis told the assembled bishops and heads of religious orders. He asked them to “listen to the cry of the little ones who are seeking justice”.

Francis, opening the conference of nearly 200 participants in a Vatican auditorium, added that victims deserve “concrete and efficient measures” and not mere condemnations. Victims were mixed in their response, with some expressing cautious optimism and others saying it was too little, too late. Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez of Bogota said the damage was home-grown, in large part because bishops had closeted themselves in a clerical mentality and some thought they could act with impunity. “The first enemies are within us, among us bishops and priests and consecrated persons who have not lived up to our vocation. We have to recognize that the enemy is within,” he said.

The pope and the participants watched a video of five victims, most of whom wished to remain anonymous, telling painful stories of abuse and cover-up. “From the age of 15 I had sexual relations with a priest. This lasted for 13 years. I got pregnant three times and he made me have an abortion three times, quite simply because he did not want to use condoms or contraceptives,” a woman said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-abuse/victims-testify-at-child-sex-abuse-conference-pope-promises-to-fight-enemy-within-idUSKCN1QA0WK?il=0

Microsoft says discovers hacking targeting democratic institutions in Europe

(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp on Wednesday said it had discovered cyber attacks directed at democratic institutions, think tanks and non-profit organizations in Europe and would offer a cyber security service to several countries to close security gaps. The hacks occurred between September and December 2018, targeting employees of the German Council on Foreign Relations and European offices of The Aspen Institute and The German Marshall Fund, the company said here in a blog post.

Microsoft said it discovered the hacking through the company’s Threat Intelligence Center and Digital Crimes Unit, and the hacks targeted 104 employee accounts in Belgium, France, Germany, Poland, Romania, and Serbia. Hackers in most cases create malicious weblinks and spoofed email addresses that look legitimate, aiming to gain access to employee credentials and deliver malware, the company said. Microsoft said many of the attacks originated from a group called Strontium, which the company has previously associated with the Russian government.

Strontium, one of the world’s oldest cyber espionage groups, has also been called APT 28, Fancy Bear, Sofancy and Pawn Storm by a range of security firms and government officials. Security firm CrowdStrike has said the group may be associated with the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. Germany’s BSI federal cyber protection agency confirmed that Strontium, or APT 28, had been attacking a wide range of organizations in Germany and around the world for years, but said it had not seen a substantial increase in these activities. “State-controlled groups like APT 28 are usually continually active,” BSI said in response to a query from Reuters, adding it could not confirm a direct connection to upcoming elections. German officials have blamed a number of hacks, including a 2015 attack on the lower house of parliament, on APT 28, and a German government spokesman last year said Berlin was “almost certain” the Russian secret service was behind the group. Russia has repeatedly denied such claims. Aspen Germany said the latest attacks were unsuccessful, but it was taking steps to make sure staff members were trained to avoid even the most sophisticated efforts in an ever-present barrage of phishing and malware attacks. “This is a wake-up call. In the run-up to May 2019 European elections, it is incumbent on all responsible players in European democracy to remain vigilant,” it said in a statement.

The German Marshall Fund also said its systems were not compromised, but it would continue to work with Microsoft and others to identify and mitigate any security challenges. No immediate comment was available from German Council on Foreign Relations. Microsoft said it will offer its cyber security service AccountGuard to 12 new markets in Europe including Germany, France and Spain to help customers secure their accounts. The AccountGuard service will also be available in Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovakia.

Microsoft’s move highlights the growing effort by social media companies like Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc to bring more transparency around political content and advertisements, and halt the spread of misinformation on their platforms. In the U.S., Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Russia’s role in the 2016 election and whether the campaign of President Donald Trump colluded with Moscow. Russia denies meddling in the elections while Trump has denied any collusion.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-microsoft-cyber-europe/microsoft-expands-political-security-service-to-12-european-countries-idUSKCN1Q90GF?il=0