Business

13 May 2019; DW: Poland has called off a visit by Israeli officials, claiming they were seeking to force talks on the restitution of Jewish property seized during World War II.

The Polish Foreign Ministry on Monday said it had scrapped the planned visit of an Israeli delegation at short notice, claiming the officials were trying to force through talks on restitution.

13 May 2019; DW: German, French and British foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels to find ways to keep the pact alive amid Iran's partial withdrawal. But US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is making a surprise visit.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini said on Monday that EU member states continue "to fully support the nuclear deal with Iran" ahead of a foreign ministers summit in Brussels.

ULYANOVSK, May 13. /TASS/: The Arctic zone has a big potential for use of wind turbines, Director General of the Altren Company (Alternative and Renewable Energy Competence Center) Andrei Redkin told TASS.

The expert will moderate a panel on renewable energy for isolated Arctic territories at the ARWE-2019 international forum on renewable energy, due on May 23.

"A very big promising area to use wind turbines is remote isolated energy systems," he said. "And inside those stand separately the Arctic territories and their neighboring territories."

Dubai, May 13 (AP) Saudi Arabia said Monday two of its oil tankers were sabotaged off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in attacks that caused "significant damage" to the vessels, one of them as it was en route to pick up Saudi oil to take to the US.

Khalid al-Falih's comments came as the US issued a new warning to sailors and the UAE's regional allies condemned the reported sabotage Sunday of four ships off the coast of the port city of Fujairah. The announcement came just hours after Iranian and Lebanese media outlets aired false reports of explosions at the city's port.

VIENNA, May 13. /TASS/:  Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen believes he can contribute to the further development of traditionally good relations between Russia and Austria. He said as much in an exclusive interview with TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman in the run-up to the first Sochi Dialogue Russian-Austrian forum scheduled for May 15.

ISLAMABAD, May 13 (APP): Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Monday said the country plunged into present economic crisis due to corruption and mismanagement of the previous rulers.

In a statement, she said that Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf government would overcome the present economic challenges with its reformation programme and put the country on road towards development and prosperity.

WELLINGTON, May 13 (Xinhua): New Zealand dairy company Fonterra has sold its ice cream company Tip Top for 380 million New Zealand dollars to British dairy giant Froneri.

Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrell confirmed the sale, saying it was a bittersweet moment for Fonterra. "Fonterra received a number of quality bids for Tip Top, we have secured a good price for our farmers and unit holders," Hurrell said.

It is understood that Fonterra had signed an agreement with the new owner to supply milk which ensured Fonterra farmers would continue to contribute to Tip Top.

BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua): Mobile payment, online shopping, entertainment, dining and beyond -- Chinese apps have been catching on with consumers across Asia.

App Annie, an analyst firm, said Chinese apps for e-commerce, social media and leisure have gained strong growth in Asian countries, and their users have been expanding.

In 2018, the number of downloads of shopping apps grew 54 percent compared with the figure in 2017, the firm said.

BEIJING, May 13 (Xinhua): Beijing Daxing International Airport completed its first test flight of passenger planes as four aircraft landed safely on the runway Monday morning.

China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Air China and Xiamen Airlines sent their flagship models A380, A350-900, B747-8 and B787-9, respectively, for the test.

"The test shows that the new airport has now turned its focus from infrastructure construction to operation preparations," said Wan Xiangdong, chief pilot of Civil Aviation Administration of China.

ANKARA, May 12 (Xinhua): Turkey tries to convince the United States to accept its proposal on forming a committee for examination on technical concerns about its procurement of an advanced Russian missile defense system.

"The experts should say the last word. We said that a joint working group should be set up and NATO should chair it. We know what we do about it," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said earlier.

Tensions between Ankara and Washington have reached a fever pitch over the former's plans for procurement of Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system.