Business

5 Apr 2019; DW: US President Donald Trump on Thursday abandoned plans to immediately seal the Mexico border, instead setting a deadline to stop migrants and drugs entering the US.

"We're going to give them a one-year warning, and if the drugs don't stop, or largely stop, we're going to put tariffs on Mexico and products — in particular cars. The whole ballgame is cars," Trump told reporters.

5 Apr 2019; DW: British Prime Minister Theresa May has asked the European Union to extend the UK's divorce date from the bloc until June 30, according to a letter to European Council President Donald Tusk that was sent on Friday.

May has already secured one Brexit delay — currently slated for April 12 — to buy time to gain support for her Withdrawal Agreement, which British lawmakers have now rejected three times.

What May wrote in her letter to the EU:

WASHINGTON, April 3. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump admitted that the previous US administration headed by Barack Obama had made a mistake not selling the Patriot surface-to-air missile system to Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Washington on Wednesday.

The Turkish top diplomat pointed out that Ankara views as a done deal the agreement with Moscow on acquiring the S-400 long-range air defense missile system.

MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. The US is looking for excuses to undermine relations with Iran by claiming Iran’s involvement in the death of around 600 US troops in Iraq, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated during Thursday’s briefing.

ROSTOV-ON-DON, April 4. /TASS/. The captain of a vessel arrested in Turkey with a Russian crew on board, Bakhman Bagirov, has signed documents, under which the ship is to be sold upon the return of all its crew home, while money must be used first and foremost to pay off debts to the Russian seamen.

JOHANNESBURG, April 4 (Xinhua) -- BRICS Business Council members on Thursday vowed to do more to promote economic growth in their countries during their mid-term meeting here.

"We are part of the machinery to facilitate business and trade and promote investment in our countries," said BRICS Business Council South Africa Chapter Chairperson Busi Mabuza.

"We want to continue to bring confidence into our economies, ... have a bigger role to advise governments and make positive contributions to the economic growth," said Mabuza.

MUMBAI, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Lenders to India's beleaguered airline -- Jet Airways would invite bids for their stake on Saturday till April 9, a release issued by the State Bank of India on behalf of 26 lenders said, late Thursday.

The lenders would also explore other options if the stake sale process does not result in an acceptable outcome, the release said.

The struggling airline, saddled with a debt of over one billion U.S. dollars, prior to the debt restructuring proposal by the lenders, is currently operating 26 aircraft down from its fleet of 119 aircraft.

DUBLIN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel said here on Thursday that her country will stand together with the other European Union (EU) member states and do everything they can to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Merkel made this remark at a press conference after meeting with Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Thursday afternoon.

LUXEMBOURG, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A new railway line for freight trains between Luxembourg and the city of Chengdu in China was launched here on Thursday, with the first train loaded with 41 containers on its way to China.

The 40-foot containers were filled with mechanical and electrical products, food and medical equipment as well as other imports from around Europe. The train is expected to reach the international railway station of Qingbaijiang in Chengdu in 15 days after passing through Germany, Poland, Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- China pledges the implementation of large-scale tax cuts and fee reductions this year in a bid to further boost the vitality of market entities, increase urban and rural personal incomes and expand capacity for consumption.

The following are major moves China has taken since the start of the year, or are expected to take in 2019.