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A French police officer who offered himself up to an extremist gunman in exchange for a hostage has died of his injuries, the interior minister said today. Col Arnaud Beltrame was among the first officers to respond to the attack on the supermarket in the south of France yesterday. His death, announced by French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb, raises the toll to four. The gunman was also killed, and 15 people were injured in the attack. The gunman first hijacked a car and opened fire on police, then took hostages…

The US and China’s top economic officials agreed by phone today to “continue to communicate” on trade issues, Chinese state media said, as President Donald Trump pledged his escalating trade showdown would get results despite pushback from Europe and Beijing. In his latest jolt to the prevailing global order, Trump on Thursday authorised tariffs on as much as USD 60 billion of Chinese imports, targeting sectors in which Washington says China has stolen American technology. Liu He, the Chinese vice premier in charge of the economy, told US Treasury Secretary…

Weather and climate disasters cost countries about USD 320 billion last year with major monsoon floods in the Indian subcontinent and severe droughts in parts of East Africa contributing to making 2017 the most expensive year on record. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in its State of Climate 2017 report said that the North Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest ever for the US and eradicated decades of development gains in small islands in the Caribbean, such as Dominica. According to the report, Major monsoon floods in the Indian subcontinent…