US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has praised China’s remarkable growth and called it a positive development, saying there is no need for the world to fear it.
Zardari, who visited China on a five-day visit earlier this month, said this during an interview with Chinese broadcaster CCTV that was shared on YouTube on Saturday.
The statement dispelled the notion that China’s ambitious foreign infrastructure push has saddled poor nations with “hidden debt” worth hundreds of billions of dollars, which has raised concerns among some regional and global powers that Beijing’s growing naval presence, together with its so-called “debt-trap” diplomacy, could provide it significant advantages far from its shores.
China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan that has pledged over $65 billion in investment in road, infrastructure and development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of the Belt and Road Initiative that is a massive China-led infrastructure project that aims to stretch around the globe.
“China has never been an occupier,” President Zardari said, when asked about China’s modernization and why he was not afraid of the development that might be threatening to some other countries.
“Why am I not? Because, A, I’m your neighbor, and I’ve been your neighbor since centuries. So why should one neighbor, which knows that the Chinese are not the kind who want to interfere in other countries, be scared. And I would never be scared of China.”
Since the launch of President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) investment drive, Beijing has invested hundreds of billions of dollars to build roads, bridges, ports and hospitals in some 163 nations, including many countries across Africa and Central Asia, according to a study by AidData, an international development research lab.
Nearly 70 percent of this money has been lent under opaque deals to state banks or joint ventures between Chinese businesses and local partners in countries that were already deeply indebted to Beijing.
But China and Pakistan enjoy a close strategic partnership, with the latter’s location on the Arabian Sea providing Beijing an overland route toward the Gulf of Aden and onto the Suez Canal, and enabling Chinese ships to avoid the potential chokepoint of the Malacca Strait.
President Zardari, who discussed CPEC’s acceleration, cooperation in science and technology, renewable energy and other sectors during his visit to China this month, termed Beijing’s development program a “good thing.”
“The world can’t compete [with China]. It’s all about new technologies, the rise of China, which is a good thing,” he told the Chinese broadcaster.
“Pakistan is a very independent country. We have our independent role, but at the same time, we will look toward China and go along with China first.”

MILAN:Jannik Sinner’s long doping saga came to an end on Saturday after he agreed to a three-month ban from tennis, the world number admitting “partial responsibility” for team mistakes which led to him twice testing positive for traces of clostebol in March last year.
The February 9 to May 4 suspension means Sinner will be free to play in the French Open, the second Grand Slam of the season, which begins on May 25 at Roland Garros.
In a statement, Sinner said that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted that he “had no intent and did not derive any competitive advantage from the two positive tests” of the banned substance.
Australian Open champion Sinner has always said that clostebol entered his system when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut before providing a massage and sports therapy.
“This case had been hanging over me now for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year,” Sinner said.
“I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize WADA’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted WADA’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction.”
WADA said separately that “Sinner did not intend to cheat” but that he would serve his suspension as he is responsible for the actions of his entourage.
Sport’s global doping watchdog confirmed it was withdrawing its appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which was due to hear the case in April.
The agreement between Sinner and WADA also means that Sinner will be able to play in front of his home fans at the Rome Open which kicks off just after the end of his suspension and is the last big clay court tournament before Roland Garros.
Saturday’s announcement brings to an end a controversy which has followed Sinner everywhere just as he rose to became the top player in men’s tennis and a multiple Slam winner.


Sinner was facing a potential ban of two years after WADA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against his initial exoneration by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, announced in August.
The positive tests were not intially made public while the ITIA investigation was ongoing and Sinner had been allowed to carry on playing after successfully appealing provisional suspensions.
“We were satisfied that the player had established the source of the prohibited substance and that the breach was unintentional. Today’s outcome supports this finding,” said the ITIA on Saturday.
The ITIA’s initial ruling caused uproar among a section of the men’s tour, with outspoken Australian player Nick Kyrgios calling it “ridiculous” and pouring scorn on Sinner’s explanation for the contamination.
It was made public just days before last year’s US Open, which Sinner subsequently won to claim his second Grand Slam after breaking his major tournament duck at the previous Australian Open.
Sinner then successfully defended his title at Melbourne Park last month, becoming just the fourth man to do so since the turn of the century alongside tennis icons Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
By that point he had confirmed his status as national hero in Italy by winning the ATP Finals in Turin and then starring in his country’s second straight Davis Cup triumph.
Sinner had previously been viewed with some suspicion in the Mediterranean nation due his origins in the German-speaking areas of the South Tyrol and residence in Monaco, which led to local media and former tennis players casting doubt on whether he was Italian at all.
But he is now Italy’s biggest sports star after surging to the top of the sport ahead of Spain’s golden boy Carlos Alcaraz, himself a four-time Slam champion at the age of 21.