Business

15 Feb 2019; AFP: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States had "productive" talks with China over their trade dispute after negotiations in Beijing ended Friday with no sign that any concrete progress had been made.

Top officials from the world's two biggest economies had held two days of talks, hoping to at least create sufficient goodwill to stave off an escalation of their tariff war.

15 Feb 2019; DW: The top diplomats from the US and the EU have met a day after Washington slammed Europe over its stance on Iran. The criticism highlights current strains in trans-Atlantic ties.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with top EU diplomat Federica Mogherini on Friday amid tensions caused by a scathing attack by the Trump administration on its European allies over their approach to Iran.

KAMPALA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Uganda's security agencies and immigration department have deported the chief executive of the largest telecommunications company in the country over security reasons.

MTN Uganda on Friday confirmed the deportation of Wim Vanhelleputte.

"MTN has not been notified of the grounds for the deportation," the company tweeted.

Vanhelleputte, a Belgian national, was deported to Belgium late on Thursday over circumstances of threatening national security, said police spokesman Fred Enanga.

MONTEVIDEO, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez and Argentine President Mauricio Macri on Wednesday expressed their wish to revive regional integration following a meeting in the Uruguayan department of Colonia.

During the meeting, both leaders evaluated the situation of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), according to a joint statement released after the meeting.

MUNICH, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Munich Security Conference to be held from Friday to Sunday has attracted an unprecedented number of key policymakers from around the world seeking solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing the global.

Around 500 participants, some of them heads of state and government, or political and security heavyweights, are expected to meet to discuss a wide range of issues from competition and cooperation between major countries, the European Union (EU)'s future, to transatlantic relations.

BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who were here for a new round of China-U.S. high-level economic and trade consultations, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Washington, Feb 13; GANASHAKTI: America's tough-talking National Security Adviser John Bolton has warned countries, including India, against buying Venezuelan oil, saying nations and firms that support the embattled President Nicolas Maduro will "not be forgotten".

Bolton's warning came a day after Venezuelan Oil Minister and President of the Latin American state-run oil company PDVSA Manuel Quevedo told reporters in India that his sanctions-hit country wants to sell more crude oil to India.

BRUSSELS, February 13; GANASHAKTI: Belgian airports cancelled almost all flights on Wednesday due to a national strike over pay and working conditions that halted activity at ports, hit public transport and led to blockades outside factories.

NAMPO, North Korea (AP) — Power-strapped North Korea is exploring two ambitious alternative energy sources — tidal power and coal-based synthetic fuels — that could greatly improve living standards and reduce its reliance on oil imports and vulnerability to sanctions.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways said Thursday it has restructured planned airplane purchases from both Airbus and Boeing as the government-owned carrier struggles through serious financial turbulence.

Once making headlines in 2013 for fleet purchases valued at $67 billion, Etihad has seen its strategy of rapidly buying stakes in other airlines to expand its global footprint expose it to major losses.