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WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is siding with public health groups suing the Food and Drug Administration to begin reviewing thousands of e-cigarettes on the U.S. market.

The ruling handed down Wednesday in district court states that the agency shirked its legal duty when it postponed reviewing all U.S. vaping products by several years.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Wednesday his agency is still “in the throes of constructing” an aid package for farmers hurt by retaliatory tariffs, but he is not prepared to say when it will be ready.

Perdue said the Agriculture Department is reviewing feedback from producers about the strengths and weaknesses of last year’s relief package, valued at up to $12 billion. This year’s package could range between $15 billion and $20 billion, Perdue projected.

16 May 2019 (AP) - In a fateful swipe at telecommunications giant Huawei, the Trump administration issued an executive order Wednesday apparently aimed at banning its equipment from U.S. networks and said it was subjecting the Chinese company to strict export controls.

Huawei would be the largest business ever subjected to the controls, a law enforcement measure that requires it to obtain U.S. government approval on purchases of American technology, said Kevin Wolf, who had been the assistant secretary of commerce for export administration in the Obama administration.

MINSK, May 15 / TASS /: Belarus Deputy Prime Minister Igor Lyashenko will hold talks with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak on oil issues during a working visit to Moscow on May 16, Belarus Council of Ministers told TASS on Wednesday.

"On May 16, the Belarus Deputy Prime Minister will hold talks in Moscow with the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, on oil issues," he said.

VIENNA, May 15. /TASS/: President of Austria Alexander Van der Bellen said before negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will discuss with him relations between the two countries and the Iranian issue. Van der Bellen is staying in Sochi on a working visit on Wednesday.

"I am eagerly waiting for today’s negotiations with Vladimir Putin. The issues in focus will be good bilateral relations between Austria and Russia, relations between the EU and Russia and the current events concerning Iran," Van der Bellen wrote on Facebook.

MOSCOW, May 15. /TASS/: Russia will modernize another batch of T-72 main battle tanks for the Belarusian Army, Russia’s Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation told TASS at the 9th Milex-2019 international arms show in Minsk on Wednesday.

"The tanks modernized earlier were delivered to Minsk in November 2018. At present, the issue of modernizing another batch of tanks in the interests of the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Belarus is being considered," the federal agency said.

MOSCOW, May 15. / TASS /: The trade war between the United States and China can reduce the prices of Russian resources, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin told reporters on Wednesday.

"It is clear that this whole story will have a negative impact on the demand for Russian products. This also applies to commodities, so this scenario, of course, will mean lower prices for key resources: oil, metals, coal - what is exported from Russia," said he.

KIEV, May 15. /TASS/: Ukraine has imposed new economic sanctions against Russia banning supplies of certain groups of goods and introducing special duties, Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"Those are tit-for-tat measures - embargo and special duties on Russian goods," he said, adding that the restrictions will be applied to those goods that "are fully produced" in Ukraine or may be replaced with alternative supplies.

15 May 2019; MEMO: Tensions in the Middle East appear to be pushing up the price of oil, with a barrel of Brent crude now costing $71.75, an increase of 1.9 per cent. The cost of a barrel of US crude, meanwhile, is now $62.48, up 2.6 per cent.

15 May 2019; AA: Turkey's benchmark stock index ended Tuesday up 2.02% to close at 88,022.94 points.

After starting the day at 86,615.43 points, Borsa Istanbul's BIST 100 index rose 1,740.4 points from 86,282.54 points at Monday's close.

One ounce of gold was sold for $1,298.60 at the daily close in Borsa Istanbul's Precious Metals and Diamond Markets, versus $1,283.90 at Monday's close.