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The Chinese delegation is headed by Vice Premier Liu He, who also came as the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping; while the U.S. team includes Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Liu, Lighthizer and Mnuchin co-chaired the formal opening at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House.

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Faced with a housing shortage and skyrocketing rents, Oregon is on track to become the first state to impose mandatory rent controls, with a measure establishing tenant protections moving swiftly through the Legislature.

Many residents have testified in favor of the legislation, describing anxiety and hardship as they face higher rents. Some have gone up by as much as almost 100 percent, forcing people to move, stay with friends or even live in their vehicles.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Shares in the world’s biggest shipping company, Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk, plunged Thursday after it warned of the commercial damage it would suffer from a U.S. escalation in the trade war with China.

The company reported a fourth quarter loss of $34 million, from a $32 million profit a year earlier. Revenue increased to $10.2 billion from $8.4 billion. For all of 2018, revenue rose 26 percent to $8.1 billion.

21 Feb 2019; DW: During talks with the US president, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he wanted to prevent an escalation in the trade war between the US and the EU. However, Trump said he isn't taking car tariffs off the table.

BANGALORE /India/, February 21. /TASS/. The Russian Helicopters company (part of the Rostec State Corporation) plans to begin the delivery of the Mil Mi-171A2 helicopters to India in late 2019, the company’s CEO Andrei Bogisnky told TASS on the sidelines of the Aero India Show 2019.

"We expect that India will validate the certificate for the helicopter’s civilian version in the first half of the year so that we can start the delivery process in the fourth quarter," he said.

GENEVA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cuba and China have many things to do together to play a role in making the world a better place, a senior Cuban diplomat highlighted here on Wednesday.

Permanent Representative of Cuba to the UN Office at Geneva, Pedro Pedroso, told Xinhua after his speech on Cuba's foreign policy at the University of Geneva Wednesday evening that the two countries share the same objective of liberating the potential of the people to build a better society.

RIYADH, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi crown prince's two-day visit to China starting Wednesday is expected to bring the bilateral relations to a new high, Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

During the visit, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the Saudi crown prince, and Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng will co-chair the third meeting of the China-Saudi Arabia High-level Joint Committee.

MOSCOW, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his annual address to the parliament Wednesday that the government will boost expenditures on national projects concerning social development and beef up its military might to protect the country against external threat.

The 90-minute state-of-the-nation speech at the Federal Assembly, Putin's 15th appearance of this kind, touched upon a wide range of issues from economic and demographic challenges to foreign and defense policies.

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BRUSSELS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and British Prime Minister Theresa May made fresh efforts on Wednesday to unlock the Brexit stalemate. Without a breakthrough, as expected, they pledged to talk again before the end of the month.

The two leaders talked about "which guarantees could be given with regard to the backstop that underlines once again its temporary nature and give the appropriate legal assurance to both sides", said a joint statement published on European Commission website.

New Delhi, Feb 20; GANASHAKTI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday held RCom chairman Anil Ambani and two others guilty of contempt of court for violating its order by not paying dues of Rs 550 crore to Ericsson, and said they faced a three-month jail term if Rs 453 crore was not paid to the telecom equipment maker in four weeks.

The Supreme Court held that the RCom chairman as well as Reliance Telecom chairman Satish Seth and Reliance Infratel chairperson Chhaya Virani breached the undertaking given to the apex court and related orders.