VANCOUVER/BEIJING (Reuters) — The daughter of Huawei’s founder, a top executive at the Chinese technology giant, was arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the United States, roiling global stock markets as it threatened to inflame Sino-U.S. trade tensions afresh.

The shock arrest of Meng Wanzhou, 46, who is Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s chief financial officer, raises fresh doubts over a 90-day truce on trade struck between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping on Saturday — the day she was detained.

Her arrest, revealed late on Wednesday by Canadian authorities, is related to U.S. sanctions, a person familiar with the matter said. Reuters was unable to determine the precise nature of the possible violations.

Sources told Reuters in April that U.S. authorities have been investigating Huawei, the world’s largest telecoms equipment maker, since at least 2016 for allegedly shipping U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws.

The arrest and any potential sanctions on the world’s second biggest smartphone maker could have major repercussions on the global technology supply chain.

U.S. stock futures and Asian shares tumbled as news of the arrest heightened the sense a major collision was brewing between the world’s two largest economic powers, not just over tariffs but also over technological hegemony.

Huawei is not listed, but China’s second-largest telecom equipment maker, ZTE Corp, sank nearly 6 percent in Hong Kong while most of the nearby national bourses lost at least 2 percent.

MSCI’s benchmark for global stocks declined 0.61 percent, and U.S. markets were on track to open lower by 1 percent or more. Investors stampeded for the safety of government debt, pushing the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note back below 2.9 percent to its lowest level in three months.

Huawei is already under intense scrutiny from U.S. and other western governments about its ties to the Chinese government, driven by concerns it could be used by the state for spying. It has been locked out of the United States and some other markets for telecom gear. Huawei has repeatedly insisted Beijing has no influence over it.

Arrested at U.S.’s request

Meng, one of the vice chairs on the company’s board and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, was arrested on Dec. 1 at the request of U.S. authorities and a court hearing has been set for Friday, a Canadian Justice Department spokesman said. Trump and Xi had dined in Argentina on Dec. 1 at the G20 summit.

Huawei, which generated $93 billion in revenue last year, confirmed the arrest in a statement. “The company has been provided very little information regarding the charges and is not aware of any wrongdoing by Ms. Meng,” it said.

She was detained when she was transferring flights in Canada, it added.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily briefing on Thursday that China had asked Canada and the United States for an explanation of Meng’s arrest, but they have “not provided any clarification”.

The Chinese consulate in Vancouver has been providing her assistance, he added, declining further comment. On Wednesday, China’s embassy in Canada said it resolutely opposed the arrest and called for her immediate release.

In April, the sources told Reuters the U.S. Justice Department probe was being handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn.

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday declined to comment. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn also declined to comment.

‘Extremely shocking’

Lu Xiang, an expert on China-U.S. relations at the state-backed Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the arrest of Meng is “extremely shocking”.

“If someone from the United States is hoping to use threats to an individual’s personal safety in order to add weight in the talks, then they have most certainly miscalculated,” he said.

“I believe that China’s government will use maximum force to fight for freedom and justice for Meng Wanzhou.”

Arthur Kroeber, founder of Gavekal Dragonomics, said it was unlikely that Beijing would retaliate against the local U.S. business community, whose interests have partly overlapped with China’s in the trade war and been a source of leverage for Beijing.

“You can play hardball with a small country but you can’t do it with the U.S.,” he said. “Actually it hurts them to make life difficult” for U.S. companies.

A user of China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform said Chinese should boycott products made by U.S. tech giant Apple Inc and instead buy Huawei products to show support for one of China’s national champions.

However, the topic ranked only 31st among trending items on Weibo as of Thursday afternoon, with many discussion threads apparently blocked, which is not unusual on China’s heavily censored Internet.

Jia Wenshan, a professor at Chapman University in California, said the arrest “runs a huge risk of derailing the U.S.-China trade talks”.

While Meng’s arrest comes at a delicate time in U.S.-China relations, it was not clear if the timing was coincidental.

The probe of Huawei is similar to one that threatened the survival of China’s ZTE Corp, which pleaded guilty in 2017 to violating U.S. laws that restrict the sale of American-made technology to Iran.

Earlier this year, the United States banned American firms from selling parts and software to ZTE, which then paid $1 billion this summer as part of a deal to get the ban lifted.

Huawei has said it complies with all applicable export control and sanctions laws and U.S. and other regulations.

News of the arrest came the same day Britain’s BT Group <BT.L> said it was removing Huawei’s equipment from the core of its existing 3G and 4G mobile operations and would not use the Chinese company in central parts of the next network.

Hong Kong connection

In January 2013, Reuters reported that Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co Ltd, which attempted to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran’s largest mobile-phone operator, had much closer ties to Huawei than previously known.

Meng, who also has used the English names Cathy and Sabrina, served on the board of Skycom between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records filed with Hong Kong’s Companies Registry.

Several other past and present Skycom directors appear to have connections to Huawei.

Meng’s arrest drew a quick reaction in Washington.

U.S. Senator Ben Sasse praised the move and said that it was “for breaking U.S. sanctions against Iran.” He added: “Sometimes Chinese aggression is explicitly state-sponsored and sometimes it’s laundered through many of Beijing’s so-called ‘private’ sector entities.”

(Reporting by Makini Brice and Karen Freifeld; Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Vancouver, David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Diane Bartz in Washington, Tony Munroe and Christian Shepherd in Beijing, Josh Horwitz and John Ruwitch in Shanghai and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong; Writing by Chris Sanders and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Susan Thomas)

Most Canadians say they probably won’t try cannabis and if they already use it won’t use more when the mood-altering drug is legalized, according to a survey published Thursday.

Canada is set to become the first G7 nation to legalize the recreational use of cannabis on October 17.

In anticipation, the government statistical agency has been collecting data on pot trends to help policymakers better understand the social and economic impact.

According to the latest Statistics Canada survey, 82 percent of more than 5,000 Canadians asked said they would be “unlikely to try cannabis or to increase their consumption with legalization.”

Among current users, 28 percent said they would probably boost their pot use.

“Intention to use cannabis in the future and once legal largely depended on whether the person reported current use,” the agency said in a statement.

About 4.6 million Canadians or 16 percent of the population used cannabis in the first half of this year, according to the data.

Males were more likely to consume pot than females, and appeared to prefer dried flower and leaf, whereas females liked edibles better.

Overall, dried cannabis accounted for 86 percent of total consumption while edibles — which will only become legal in 2019 — accounted for 32 percent.

Other popular pot products included hashish and kief, liquid concentrates and vape pens.

One quarter of users reported spending up to Can$100 (US$77) on pot from May to June; 21 percent spent up to Can$250 and 21 percent spent more than Can$250. The rest, who claimed to have tried it only once or twice in the period, spent nothing on pot.

Red Dead Redemption 2 had the largest opening weekend for any entertainment product in history, managing to sell through $725 million in copies over just three days.

It’s actually the second-highest grossing entertainment launch, although Rockstar won’t be too unhappy with that, given that the record-holder is Grand Theft Auto V.

The discrepancy between biggest opening weekend and biggest overall launch comes down to the fact that the last GTA was released on a Tuesday.

Error 429 Mashing buttons will get you nowhere!

Mashing buttons will get you nowhere!

Guru Meditation:

XID: 707947259

Varnish cache server

Given that Grand Theft Auto V was initially released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, this means Red Dead Redemption 2 now holds the record for the largest launch of the console generation.

Rockstar Games did not share the exact unit sales for Red Dead Redemption 2, but the sell-through numbers suggest it’s more than 10 million. These numbers represent the total sales to customers, rather than those from the publisher to retailers.

Additionally, Red Dead Redemption 2 had the largest launch sales of any game released on the PlayStation Network to date, and it was the most pre-ordered game of all time on the PlayStation Network.

Red Dead Redemption 2 certainly deserves the sales, if our review is any indication. You can also check out our wiki for a walkthrough, as well as tips for the various activities you can do.

Gabe Gurwin is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @GamingAngelGabe.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Northwest Missouri State senior Stephanie Mark and Valdosta State junior Caitlyn Calhoun were named the Louisville/Slugger NFCA Division II National Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively for games played over March 2-8. For Calhoun, it was her second honor this season.

Mark, a native of Ogden, Utah, had a big weekend on the road in Oklahoma. In four games, the first baseman batted .750 (12-16) with four home runs and 12 RBI. She opened the weekend with a pair of four-hit games at then-No. 18 Central Oklahoma. In the opener, Mark was 4-for-5 with a grand slam, five RBI and three runs scored and followed that performance, going 4-for-4 with a pair of long balls, three RBI and two runs.

“​I am very happy for Steph,” said head coach Ryan Anderson. “She is someone that always wants to get better and it shows in her work ethic. Last weekend it’s like she was on a different level. It was fun to watch.”

Mark closed out the week with a 4-for-7 doubleheader effort at Northeastern Oklahoma in which she posted one three-hit contest, launched her fourth home run of the weekend, knocked in four runs and scored three. For the weekend, the senior slugged 1.500 and recorded a .764 on base percentage.

Garnering her second award of the year, Calhoun was almost unhittable in her three outings last week and helped the second-ranked Blazers move to the top of the Gulf South Conference standings. The junior righty twirled three complete-game shutouts, including a no-hitter, her second of the season, against Florida Southern. Against the Mocs, Calhoun struck out 12 and faced the minimum. After opening the game with a walk, that runner was erased on a caught stealing and she went on to retire the last 20 batters in order.

“It is amazing to receive this award again, but I’ve only made it this far because of my amazing team,” said Calhoun. “I know that when a ball is hit, my defense is going to do everything in their power to get the outs. It takes the pressure off of me so that I can just go out to the circle and have fun with my teammates. I have a small defensive role, but my team should get equal credit for everything they do in the field as well as at the plate.”

Her dominance continued into the weekend in a key Gulf South series against first-place and then-No. 22 North Alabama. Calhoun, a native of Hamilton, Ohio, tossed a pair of two-hit shutouts in which she did not walk a batter and struck out five and nine batters, respectively. She finished the week striking out 26 and walking just one, while surrendering four hits in 21 innings and holding opponents to a miniscule .074 batting average

Player of the Week
March 11 – Stephanie Mark (Northwest Missouri State)
March 4 – Jayne MacDonald (Cal State East Bay)
Feb. 25 – Ashley Walker (Winona State)
Feb. 18 – Nicole Nobbe (Cal State San Bernardino)

Pitcher of the Week
March 11 – Caitlyn Calhoun (Valdosta State)
March 4 – Courtney Poole (North Georgia)
Feb. 25 – Shea Coats (Oklahoma Christian)
Feb. 18 – Caitlyn Calhoun (Valdosta State)

Selected Top Performances
Indianapolis’ Morgan Foley was tabbed GLVC Pitcher of the Week after going 4-0 with a 1.31 ERA, 41 strikeouts and a save in 21.1 innings of work… Taylor Menhart of Ashland collected GLIAC Player of the Week honors after batting .500 (18-36) with a double, three triples, three home runs, 16 RBI and 14 runs scored over a 12-game span last week… GAC Pitcher of the Week, Southern Nazarene’s Kayla Wyatt tossed a one-hit shutout and finished the week striking out 29 batters in just 14.1 innings… Northern Sun Player of the Week, Eryn Yancy of Northern State belted five home runs, including a grand slam, batted .478 with 10 RBI and six runs scored… Nicole Nordie of Texas Woman’s batted .750 (9-12) with a double, four home runs and 10 RBI on her way to Lone Star Player of the Week accolades… Kelly Franks of St. Cloud State tossed a no-hitter and finished 2-0 with 18 strikeouts to garner Northern Sun Pitcher of the Week honors… California Baptist’s Tayler Castro was named PacWest Co-Player of the Week following a 7-or-10 (.700) effort with 2 doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI, including a school record eight at Chaminade (3/7)… Francis Marion’s Katie Carnes was selected Peach Belt Pitcher of the Week after sporting a 2-0 record with a 0.00 ERA and a .116 batting average against… Heartland Pitcher of the Week, Sarah Debrow of St. Edward’s, went 2-0 with a pair of complete-game victories over Oklahoma Christian in which she tossed a total of 17 innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out eight… Autumn Parrish of Armstrong State was selected Peach Belt Player of the Week after batting .800 (8-10) with a double, three home runs and eight RBI… RMAC Player of the Week, Colorado Christian’s Sarah Rasmussen batted .462 (6-13) and slugged 1.308 as she tallied two doubles, three home runs, 13 RBI and six runs scored… Madison Hernandez of Azuza Pacific garnered PacWest Co-Player of the Week accolades by batting .600 (9-15) with five extra-base hits, 13 RBI and six runs scored… North Georgia’s Kim McMillan batted .571 with five home runs and 14 RBI, along with a .727 OBP and 1.714 slugging percentage… In two games, Cameron’s Lauren Renneker homered three times in five at bats, knocked in five and scored four runs… Ciera Clark of Felician batted .533 (8-15 with a double, four home runs and 12 RBI… North Georgia’s Courtney Poole earned four wins, posted a 0.28 ERA with 31 strikeouts and one walk in 25 innings.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s main financial regulator is coming under increasing pressure from banks and mortgage industry lobbyists to ease a stress test designed to cut out risky lending, but the regulator is expected to hold off on changing the rules, three sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Proponents of a change say easing the terms of the test would alleviate a housing slowdown and stem the flow of borrowers being pushed toward loosely regulated private lenders but one source with direct knowledge of the matter said the regulator is reluctant to meddle with a test it introduced only 13 months ago.

The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), Canada’s main financial regulator, introduced rules last January requiring banks to test borrowers’ ability to repay mortgages at an interest rate 200 basis points above their contracted rate.

Watch: The link between interest rates and inflation. Story continues below.

The stress test was part of a range of measures, known as B-20, designed to ensure banks maintained vigilant mortgage underwriting standards at a time of red-hot housing markets in Toronto and Vancouver.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s Deputy Chief Economist Benjamin Tal said he supports the principle of a stress test but believes it should be flexible and adjusted to account for interest rate moves and market conditions.

“It’s not something that has to be set in stone. It should be more dynamic,” he said. “You have to assess the damage to the housing market, whether that damage is too severe, and what other forces in the market are leading to slower growth.”

However, since its introduction, markets have cooled, with sales falling in each of the last four months of 2018 and the average price of homes falling in the final three months.

That has led to calls to review the test, taking into account the impact of three interest rate hikes last year as well as other measures including foreign buyers’ taxes in Toronto and Vancouver.

Asked if it would consider amending terms of the test, OSFI said it “monitors the environment on a continual basis and will make adjustments to its guidance when appropriate”.

Private lenders grow

Banks had initially supported B-20 believing it would help housing markets achieve a “soft landing”, where prices stabilize, and lessen the risk of a housing bubble.

However, one senior banker, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, said there was growing support for the test to be adjusted, possibly to 150 basis points, if interest rates keep rising. Money markets see about a 50 percent chance of another hike before year end.

Private lenders increased their market share by 50 percent last year in Toronto, Canada’s biggest housing market. Economists estimate private lenders now account for around a tenth of Canada’s C$1.5 trillion ($1.1 trillion) mortgage market.

Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs), which pool the funds of wealthy individuals, have helped drive that growth. The MICs are supervised by provincial regulators, rather than OSFI, and are not subject to the stress test.

Reuters reported in January that Canadian authorities had discussed measures to limit their growth, including subjecting them to the stress test rule. Finance Minister Bill Morneau said last week that option was not currently being considered.

Three sources with direct knowledge of discussions between OSFI, Canada’s finance ministry, the Bank of Canada and Canada’s federal housing agency told Reuters convincing provinces to apply the test had been viewed as a major obstacle.

Easing terms of the stress test would provide an alternative means of tempering private lenders’ growth by enabling more borrowers to qualify for bank loans, some mortgage experts said.

Ron Alphonso, a Toronto-based mortgage broker who arranges private mortgages for borrowers facing eviction from their homes, said the stress test should be adjusted to take into account interest rate hikes.

“As the interest rates keep climbing up it doesn’t make sense to keep the current B-20 rules in place,” he said. “We shouldn’t be penalizing people artificially.”

(Additional reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by David Gregorio)

Céline Dion has always been a sharp dresser, but her latest outfit is certified internet-breaking.

The Canadian pop diva stepped up her fashion game for summer, rocking couture candids and power suits as bombastic as her power ballads on her Instagram account.

It was on the Bangkok leg of her Asia-Pacific tour that Dion revealed her latest and greatest social media masterpiece: a striking canary yellow pantsuit courtesy of Lebanese designer Maison Rabih Kayrouz.

It quickly captured the imaginations of Twitter once filmmaker Matthew A. Cherry kicked off speculation, asking “What’s the name of this mixtape?”

Her song titles got the joke treatment.

Fellow Canadian royalty Drake got a shout-out.

Nods were made to Dion’s mother tongue and home province.

Even the prime minister wasn’t immune.

Obviously, Canadian cliches weren’t off-limits.

Although it’s unknown if the singer is aware of Twitter’s musical aspirations for her, someone from her team definitely approves. Stylist Sydney Lopez, who took the original photo of Dion, shared a screenshot of a fan’s tweet with a “Big Dion Energy” stamp of approval.

Spielberg isn’t just Bumblebee’s executive producer; he was also apparently the film’s idea man.

“The original idea for this film actually was Steven [Spielberg’s],” Director Travis Knight told Yahoo Movies UK. “We can thank him for this film even existing.”

Bumblebee is the first spin-off movie from the Transformers franchise – and Spielberg served as executive producer on all five of the previous movies.

As it’s a prequel to those films, Bumblebee will obviously have a similar look and feel. But Knight added that it was Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial that had a particularly huge influence on Bumblebee.

“At [the] heart of it [Bumblebee] is a film about relationships and this beautiful love story between these two characters,” said Knight.

Bumblebee, which will debut in theaters on Dec. 21, recently had the title character’s voice actor revealed. IGN awarded Bumblebee a 7.0, writing that it “wisely bring the series back to basics.”

Error 429 Mashing buttons will get you nowhere!

Mashing buttons will get you nowhere!

Guru Meditation:

XID: 709343751

Varnish cache server

Nick Santangelo is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. He loves video games and sports, but not sports video games. Follow him on Twitter.

SALEM, Va. — Tufts’ Allyson Fournier won an All-American pitcher’s duel with Salisbury’s Rachel Johnson and the two-time defending national champion Jumbos won their 50th straight game on Friday night, 3-0, in a rematch of last year’s championship, to close out day two of the NCAA Division III Championship at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Va.

The (48-0) Jumbos have now won 81 of their last 82, dating back to the final two games of last season. Salisbury (36-7) defeated Tufts in the opening game of the best-of-three NCAA Championship Series last May.

Fournier struck out eight in a complete-game three-hitter, retiring 12 straight Sea Gulls to close things out after the heart of Tufts’ lineup scored three runs in the third, using the whole field in the process.

With two outs, Christina Raso singled to right and Michelle Cooprider doubled to left to plate Raso. All-American Cassie Ruscz then homered to center to drive in the other two runs. Cooprider and Raso had two hits apiece.

Johnson allowed six hits and struck out six over six innings in a loss that forces Salisbury to play a 4 p.m. ET elimination game on Saturday against Kean, while Tufts earns a break until 2:30 p.m. Sunday.

Angela Malgieri, Katie Sebbane and Molly Simpson provided the Sea Gulls’ three hits.

DePauw 5, Alma 4 (8 inns.)

Morgan McCord led off the eighth inning with an opposite-field homer as the Tigers scored a walkoff win.

The (36-15) Tigers’ exciting win eliminated Alma, which was making its first NCAA Championship appearance since 2005.

DePauw jumped out to a 2-0 edge in the first before the (30-17) Scots tied them in the second. The two teams again matched each other with single runs in both the fifth and sixth.

Sammi Bell and Linsey Button joined McCord with two hits each in support of reliever Emma Baldwin, who threw 14 of her 22 pitches for strikes to retire the side in order in the seventh and eighth.

Morgan Stratton scattered 10 hits, walked three and fanned three in the loss for Alma.

Texas-Tyler 2, Linfield 1

Kristin Lopez hit a solo homer in the third and added an insurance run on Shelby Shelton’s sacrifice fly in the seventh to top the (38-14) Wildcats, who were coming off Thursday’s run-rule victory, but now must play a 6:30 p.m. elimination game on Saturday against DePauw.

Texas-Tyler, meanwhile, earns a day off and needs only one more win to play for the national title.

All-American Kelsie Batten (no walks, two strikeouts) allowed two of her five hits in the final inning when Linfield finally got onto the scoreboard. Leadoff hitter Whitney Burt had two hits for the (49-3) Patriots.

Montana McNealy did her best to keep the Wildcats close throughout, scattering six hits and striking out four over seven innings. Alissa Buss singled twice in the loss.

Kean 10, Alfred 4 

All-American Courtney Yard struck out 10 and scattered eight hits over seven innings for her 32nd complete game of the season — and 121st of her career — as the Cougars eliminated Alfred with their first triumph at the NCAA Championship since 1986.

Cayleen Rizo, All-American Emily Sabo, Tonianne DeMatteo and Emily Bissonnette all had two hits apiece for Kean (31-14-1).

All-American Alison Wickwire had two hits, including a solo homer, and allowed seven hits and three runs in the circle in 3.1 innings of relief of starter Keri Keeler for the (40-7) Saxons, who had advanced to the NCAA Championship for the first time in school history.

Sophia Chiavatti and Alyson Hampton each had two singles for Alfred.