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TEHRAN, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's supreme leader on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of negotiations with the United States over the existing issues.

"As for America, no solution for the (existing mutual) problems is in prospect," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement published by his official website.

"Talks with America will bear no fruit, but material and spiritual loss for the Islamic republic," Khamenei was quoted as saying.

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States started a new round of high-level economic and trade consultations in Beijing on Thursday morning.

The opening ceremony of the talks was jointly chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-U.S. comprehensive economic dialogue, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

This round of high-level consultations will conclude on Friday.

12 Feb 2019; AFP: US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he would consider extending the deadline for a trade deal with China beyond March 1.

"If we're close to a deal, where we think we can make a real deal... I could see myself letting that slide for a little while," Trump told reporters at the White House.

But he added: "Generally speaking I'm not inclined to do that."

13 Feb 2019; AFP: President Donald Trump indicated Tuesday that he will walk back his threat to shut the government even if he does not get all the money he has demanded for building a wall along the US-Mexican border.

Although Trump left enough wiggle room to keep the country guessing, he appeared to be edging toward accepting a deal struck in Congress that would give him significantly less money for the much-maligned barrier.

13 Feb 2019; AFP: Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to meet with top US officials in Beijing this week, a report said Wednesday, as the world's two biggest economies rush to patch up their trade differences before a looming deadline.

Xi will meet on Friday with officials including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who are in the capital for crunch talks towards a trade deal, the South China Morning Post reported.

12 Feb 2019; DW:  All flights in and out of Belgium have been canceled until Wednesday night as public transport workers went on a 24-hour strike.  All sectors, from public transport to rubbish collection, postal services, hospitals and commercial centers have been affected.

Belgium's air traffic control authority said on Tuesday it was forced to close the country's airspace between Tuesday 10 p.m. CET (2100 UTC) and the same time on Wednesday.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 12 (APP):Pakistan and China have decided to expedite cooperation in the field of agriculture under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and an important meeting in this regard is expected to be held next month, an official in Ministry of Planning, Development, and Reform said.

ISLAMABAD, Feb 12 (APP):Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday said with maximum facilitation for common man as its top priority in “Naya Pakistan,” the present government was striving to upgrade the country’s train travelling system to the next level with the support of China, which had one of the best railway systems in the world.

CARACAS, Feb 12 (NNN-TELESUR) — Venezuela wants to double its oil sales to India and is open to barter payment arrangements with the world’s third biggest crude consumer, Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo said.

“India also wants to increase the intake,” Quevedo said after a meeting with Indian refiners. “We are selling more than 300,000 barrels a day but of course we want to increase that and India also wants to increase the intake from Venezuela. We want to double that amount.”

Mumbai, Feb 12 (PTI) Shortage of pilots continued to hamper budget carrier IndiGos operations with the airline cancelling as many as 30 flights Tuesday from across stations and passengers allegedly being forced to buy last minute high fares for its flights, a source said.

On Monday also, the Gurugram-headquartered airline had pulled out 32 flights from its network.