Paris, Aug 23 (AP/UNB) — In a sharp escalation of tensions with Brazil, France is accusing President Jair Bolsonaro of having lied to French leader Emmanuel Macron and says it now opposes a trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur because of his environmental back-peddling.

A statement from the Elysee Palace accused Bolsonaro of failing to respect his "commitments on the climate" and of failing to protect biodiversity and said that Macron "can only note that President Bolsonaro lied to him."

The angry language follows a spat on Twitter between the two leaders, after Macron angered Bolsonaro by calling on G-7 nations to act for the Amazon being ravaged by wildfires.

Rarely have French President Emmanuel Macron and superstar soccer players including Cristiano Ronaldo been on the same page, but when it comes to the fires that are devastating the Amazon, they're uniting in sounding the alarm.

Five-time world player of the year Ronaldo beat Macron to the punch with his tweet urging action on the Amazon that, by Friday morning, had already racked up more than a quarter-million likes.

Ronaldo tweeted "the Amazon Rainforest produces more than 20% of the world's oxygen and it's been burning for the past 3 weeks. It's our responsibility to help to save our planet."

Macron's tweet later was similarly urgent, saying "Our house is burning. Literally." Macron put the Amazon fires on the agenda for the G-7 summit of world leaders that France is hosting this weekend.

Beijing, Aug 23 (AP/UNB) — China on Friday announced tariff hikes on $75 billion of U.S. products in retaliation for President Donald Trump's planned increase, deepening a trade war that threatens to tip the global economy into recession.

The tariffs of 10% and 5% take effect on two batches of goods on Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It gave no details of what goods would be affected but the timing matches Trump's planned duty hikes.

The spiraling conflict over China's trade surplus and technology ambitions has fueled concern among companies and investors that it might drag down already weakening global economic growth.

China's government appealed to Trump this week to compromise in order to break a deadlock in negotiations.

Trump previously announced plans to raise tariffs on an additional $300 billion of Chinese goods after talks broke down in May. They were due to take effect Sept. 1 but some were postponed to Dec. 15.

San Francisco, Aug 22 (AP/UNB) — Trolling off the California coast, Sarah Bates leans over the side of her boat and pulls out a long, silvery fish prized by anglers and seafood lovers: wild king salmon.

Reeling in a fish "feels good every time," but this year has been surprisingly good, said Bates, a commercial troller based in San Francisco.

Bates and other California fishermen are reporting one of the best salmon fishing seasons in years, thanks to heavy rain and snow that ended the state's historic drought.

It's a sharp reversal for chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, an iconic species that helps sustain many Pacific Coast fishing communities.

Commercial salmon catches have surpassed official preseason forecasts by about 50%, said Kandice Morgenstern, a marine scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Harvests have been particularly strong in Morro Bay, Monterey and San Francisco, but weaker along California's northern coast.

"We're really surprised to be seeing this many fish being landed so far this season," Morgenstern said.

The salmon rebound comes after three years of extremely low catches that resulted from poor ocean conditions and California's five-year drought, which drained the state's rivers and reservoirs.

Over the past several years, regulators imposed severe fishing restrictions to protect chinook salmon, and officials declared federal fishery disasters in 2018 to assist fishing communities in California, Oregon and Washington.

This year's adult salmon are the first class to benefit from record rainfall that filled California rivers and streams in early 2017, making it easier for juvenile chinook to migrate to the Pacific Ocean, where they grow into full-size fish.

Chinook salmon are also being helped by improved ocean conditions that have produced an abundance of anchovies, krill and other feed. Several years ago, an El Nino event brought unusually warm water to the Pacific Coast and disrupted the marine ecosystem.

"For the salmon fishermen who've been dealing with disaster for so long, this is an incredible boon to their livelihoods," said Noah Oppenheim, who heads the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

The strong salmon season, which typically runs from May to October, is positive environmental news at a time of growing anxiety about climate change. A United Nations report released this month warns that global warming threatens food supplies worldwide.

Morgenstern says climate change is creating greater fluctuations in ocean and river conditions, making chinook fisheries "less stable, less predictable and more challenging for fishery managers."

Most of the chinook salmon now being caught come from the Sacramento River and its tributaries, where they spawn. Many were raised in state-run hatcheries then released into rivers to swim to the ocean. Harvests of chinook from rivers farther north have not been strong.

For consumers, the bountiful harvest has driven down wild salmon prices to $15 to $20 per pound, compared with $30 to $35 per pound in recent years. Fishermen are making up for the difference by catching more fish.

"The market is dictating right now that there's a lot of salmon, so the customers don't have to pay as much," said Gordon Drysdale, culinary director at Scoma's, a seafood restaurant at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

The wharf is one of many California fishing communities now benefiting from the salmon boom. Pier 45, where boats unload their fish, hasn't been this busy in many years, said Larry Collins, who runs the San Francisco Community Fishing Association.

"This year started out with a bang, and it's just kept banging the whole time," Collins said. "We're all really excited and happy the fish showed up."

On a recent morning, commercial fisherman Brand Little, who sells to customers in the Lake Tahoe area, returned from four days of fishing with nearly 200 salmon weighing more than 2,000 pounds (907 kilograms).

"Best trip of the season," Little said. "It's been a long time coming."

The salmon boom is also welcomed by sport fishermen and the boat operators who take them out to the ocean.

"When the fish are biting, it's always good for business for us," said Mike Rescino, who runs a charter boat. "When the people see the big reports, they're going to come out and go fishing with us."

Frankfurt, Aug 22 (AP/UNB) — Imagine lending money to someone and having to pay for the privilege of doing so. Or being asked to invest and informed of how much money you'll lose.

Sounds absurd, but increasingly that's the global bond market these days. A rising share of government and corporate bonds are trading at negative interest yields — a financial twilight zone that took hold after the financial crisis and has accelerated on fear that a fragile global economy will be further damaged by the U.S.-China trade war.

On Wednesday, for the first time ever, the German government sold 30-year bonds at a negative interest rate. The bonds pay no coupon interest at all. Yet bidders at the auction were willing to pay more than the face value they would receive back when the bonds mature.

The sale added to the mountain of negative-yielding bonds around the world that investors have gobbled up, suggesting that they expect global growth and inflation to remain subpar for years to come. After all, accepting a negative yield on a bond — agreeing, in effect, to lose money in exchange for parking money in a safe place — could reflect expectations that yields will sink even further into negative territory.

"You're essentially paying a warehouse fee by paying these negative rates," said Jim Bianco of Bianco Research in Chicago.

Worldwide debt with negative rates has surged to $16.4 trillion from $12.2 trillion in mid-July and $5.7 trillion in October, Bianco said.

"Until a few months ago, negative-yielding debt was an interesting curiosity," he said. "In the last three months, it's become a mainstay in the marketplace."

The negative-yield phenomenon — 87% of it in Europe and Japan combined — is above all sign of pessimism about the future.

"This is like a temperature gauge for the economy, and it says the economy is sick," said Sung Won Sohn, business economist at Loyola Marymount University in California.

The bond market is also responding to expectations that many central banks such as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will respond to economic weakness and the raging trade conflict between the U.S. and China by unleashing more stimulus to try to drive down interest rates.  The ECB has indicated that it may decide on a stimulus package as soon as its Sept. 12 meeting.

Despite its strong credit rating and demand for its bonds, Germany is a big part of the growth problem for the eurozone. The German economy shrank 0.1 percent in the second quarter and could tip into recession with another quarter of falling output.

Negative rates aren't just an indicator of economic distress. They can cause problems in the financial system, too. They make it harder for banks to turn a profit or for insurance companies to fund their future payouts.

"Why would you want to lend money when you can't make money?" Sohn said.

Indeed, bank stocks have tumbled — 24% in Europe and 23% in Japan — over the past year.

Most of the negative-yielding debt is in government bonds, in part because they are seen as ultra-safe. But there are also about $60 billion U.S. corporate bonds that are in negative territory.

Something similar is going on with U.S. government debt: The yield on the 10-year Treasury note has sagged to 1.57% — a rate that would amount to a negative one after accounting for inflation. Japan has been stuck in years of low inflation and sluggish growth. And growth rates in Europe have slowed in recent quarters.

German bonds are prime candidates for negative rates. The country's financial solidity means that safety-seeking investors will at least receive most of their money back. German 10-year bonds yield negative 0.69%. Other countries with negative yields on government bonds include Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Spain.

What was especially unusual about the German bond sale was its long maturity. As anyone who has shopped for a bank CD knows, you usually get more interest the longer your money is tied up. Yet bond yields are sagging not just for shorter term issues but also for longer-term bonds.

The negative yields on German bonds have fueled debate over the government's insistence on running budget surpluses and avoiding new debt, even though the government could borrow to spend more on roads and bridges and in effect be paid to do so.

Economists and such outside voices as the U.S Treasury and the International Monetary Fund say Germany could support growth at home and abroad by spending more. Germany's economy shrank 0.1% in the second quarter, held back by slowing global trade and the auto industry's adjustment to tough emissions standards and new technologies.

A little bond math helps to understand things. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions. If investors think inflation and interest rates will rise above levels now reflected in bond yields, they may sell the bond, sending its yield higher. Conversely, demand for bonds — as seen now — drives the price up and the yield down. The more investors foresee low growth and low inflation ahead, the more willing they become to buy bonds that offer low returns. They can earn healthy returns from rising bond prices, even when the yields are negative.

One big reason for falling yields is purchases by central banks. The European Central Bank bought 2.6 trillion euros in government and corporate bonds as part of a stimulus program that ended in December. As the economic picture has worsened, the bank has signaled those purchases might start again.

In addition to its signal about the economy, negative yields can make it harder to fund retirement savings. The high bond prices reflected in the low yields also raise the possibility of a bond market plunge if sentiment changes.

That could happen if the economies of Europe and Japan begin to regain momentum and their central banks call off their easy money policies.

"The worst thing that can happen for these bonds is, God forbid, the economies recover," Bianco said.

Beijing, Aug 22 (AP/UNB) — Asian stock markets are mixed Thursday following Wall Street's rebound as investors looked ahead to a speech by the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman for clues about possible interest rate cuts.

Investor reaction was muted following Wednesday's release of notes from the latest Fed meeting showing conflicting opinions about rates.

Benchmarks in Shanghai and Hong Kong fell, while Tokyo and Sydney climbed.

Investors are looking to Chairman Jerome Powell's speech Friday for guidance about whether the Fed might cut rates at its next meeting in September. The Fed cut its key policy rate on July 31 for the first time in more than a decade, citing President Donald Trump's tariff battle with Beijing and other possible threats to economic growth.

Markets have a "high degree of policy uncertainty" ahead of Powell's speech and U.S.-China trade talks in September, said Stephen Innes of Oanda in a report.

Mixed views rates among Fed leaders are "well documented," but the notes are a "reminder of how challenging it could be for Chair Powell to meet the market's exceedingly dovish expectations," said Innes.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.2% to 2,876.08 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.7% to 26,095.95.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 edged up 0.1 % to 20,647.87 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 rose 0.3% to 6,505.90.

Seoul's Kospi was 0.6% lower at 1,953.39. New Zealand was up while Taiwan and Southeast Asian markets declined.

On Wall Street, the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.8% to 2,924.43. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.9% to 26,202.73. The Nasdaq added 0.9% to 8,020.21.

Traders say strong quarterly results from retailers as a sign of health among consumers who account for 70% of U.S. economic growth.

Target notched its biggest-ever gain, while Lowe's had its best day in more than a year, leading a broad rally in companies that rely on consumer spending. Nordstrom, Kohl's, Gap and other retailers closed higher.

Technology companies accounted for a big share of the gains. Financial stocks rose as bond prices fell, pushing yields higher. Real estate and materials stocks lagged the rest of the market.

The Trump administration has imposed a 25% tariff on $250 billion in Chinese imports. A pending 10% tariff on another $300 billion in goods would hit everything from toys to clothing and shoes that China ships to the United States. But 60% of the new tariffs wouldn't go into effect until mid-December, and others were taken off the table altogether.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude gained 2 cents to $55.70 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 45 cents on Wednesday to close at $55.68. Brent crude, used to price international oils, declined 4 cents to $60.26 in London. It gained 27 cents the previous session to $60.30.

CURRENCY: The dollar dropped to 106.40 yen from Wednesday's 106.62 yen. The euro rose to $1.1089 from $1.1086.