North America

12 May 2019; DW: Beijing has remained optimistic about resolving the trade war, while Washington has doubled down on tariffs. China's chief negotiator warned, however, that there were some lines the country wouldn't cross.

China remained positive about trade talks with the US on Saturday, despite Washington imposing a new round of tariffs. Vice Premier Liu He warned, however, that there were "issues of principle" at stake.

Washington, May 12 (AFP) President Donald Trump warned China on Saturday that it should strike a trade deal with the United States now, otherwise an agreement would be "far worse for them if it has to be negotiated in my second term".

Washington and Beijing are locked in a trade battle that has seen mounting tariffs, sparking fears the dispute will damage the global economy.

NEW YORK, May 11 (APP): The mass-circulation Time magazine has featured Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as India’s “divider-in-chief” on the cover of its international editions, as the country enters the final phase of the general election.

But Time’s cover of its U.S. edition is devoted to US Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the women candidates for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 11 (Xinhua): It's not justified to split Facebook for being a "big" company when it comes to technology's impact on society, said Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president for global affairs and communications, on Saturday.

In an opinion note published by The New York Times Saturday, Clegg rejected an earlier statement by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, who urged federal regulators to break up Facebook for being "a monopoly" that limits competition and holds back innovation.

HAVANA, May 12 (Xinhua): Although Cuba has lived for more than half a century under a U.S. blockade, Washington's move to activate Title III of the Helms-Burton Act stirred up fresh resentment among citizens of the Caribbean country.

The controversial act allows U.S. nationals to file lawsuits over properties nationalized or confiscated by the Cuban government after the revolution.

SALT LAKE CITY, the United States, May 11 (Xinhua): A photo exhibition is held in the western American state of Utah throughout May to commemorate thousands of Chinese workers' contributions to building the first U.S. transcontinental railroad.

The bilingual photography exhibition, curated by Stanford University and featuring the stories of the Chinese rail workers during the construction of the railroad in 1860s, runs from May 1 to 31 in Park City near Salt Lake City. It also travels to other parts of Utah.

NEW YORK (AP) — Democrats denounced a plan by President Donald Trump’s personal attorney to push Ukraine to open investigations that he hopes could benefit Trump politically, saying it was an overt attempt to recruit foreign help to influence a U.S. election.

But lawyer Rudy Giuliani has scrapped plans to visit Ukraine, citing concerns about who he would be dealing with there.

BAYPORT, Texas (AP) — A busy commercial waterway near Houston remains partially closed following a collision involving four vessels that caused a toxic gasoline product to leak into the water.

Authorities said at a news conference Saturday that the hull of a 755-foot (230-meter) tanker punctured storage tanks on a tug boat that was pushing two barges along the Houston Ship Channel.

One barge capsized Friday. The other was damaged.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is scoffing at Democrats’ attempts to pry loose his tax returns, saying his refusal to release the records as a candidate didn’t hurt him in 2016 and voters “didn’t care” about the issue.

A leading House Democrat has issued subpoenas for six years of Trump’s tax documents and given Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig a deadline of this coming Friday to deliver them.

MCALLEN, Texas (AP) — Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan visited a border city in Texas on Saturday and said he intends to accelerate planning to secure the border and bolster the administration’s ability to accomplish that without the Pentagon’s continuous help.

He also offered assurances to perhaps two dozen Border Patrol agents and other officials at the McAllen Border Patrol Station that the Pentagon would not withdraw its military support prematurely.