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29 Jan 2019; AFP: China on Tuesday decried the "political manipulations" behind the US case against Huawei as Washington indicted the tech giant's chief financial officer and levelled sweeping charges against the company.

"For some time, the US has used state power to discredit and crack down on specific Chinese companies in an attempt to strangle the enterprises' legitimate and legal operations," China's foreign ministry said in a statement attributed to spokesman Geng Shuang.

29 Jan 2019; AFP: China on Tuesday accused the United States of "political motivations" behind sweeping charges against Chinese telecom giant Huawei in a case that has ratcheted up tensions between the two superpowers.

The Justice Department Monday unveiled 13 charges against Huawei Technologies, its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou -- the daughter of the company's founder -- and two affiliates related to violating US sanctions on Iran.

30 Jan 2019; AFP: The extradition hearing for a top Huawei executive at the center of a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Beijing was pushed back to March on Tuesday, after the US unveiled sweeping charges against her and the Chinese tech giant.

Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, was indicted along with Huawei and two affiliates in a US case related to alleged Iran sanctions violations that has inflamed tensions with China.

30 Jan 2019; AFP: British Prime Minister Theresa May won parliament's backing on Tuesday to renegotiate her Brexit deal -- a major policy reversal that sets up a new standoff with the European Union after it ruled out any change.

May's dramatic decision to abandon a pact she herself sealed with the 27 EU leaders at a summit last month came with Britain on course to crash out of the bloc in political and economic chaos on March 29.

29 Jan 2019; DW: Iran says it is working to improve the precision of its missiles for defense purposes. At the same time, the German-governed plan with France and the UK for payments to Iran despite US sanctions is moving ahead.

Iran on Tuesday said it had no plan to increase the range of its missiles, but would continue to work on its satellite technology to improve accuracy.

29 Jan 2019; DW: The charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and its CFO, Meng Wanzhou, have been unveiled in two unsealed indictments. China has urged the US to "stop the unreasonable crackdown" on its companies.

The US Justice Department unsealed two indictments against China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd., several of its subsidiaries, and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on Monday.

29 Jan 2019; DW: Russian gas will be piped direct to Germany from November despite the project's detractors, a project engineer has asserted. Critics have said Europe will be left vulnerable and climate goals will be undermined.

Russia's second natural gas pipeline across the Baltic seabed to Germany is just months away from completion, despite warnings from the US, Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania and the EU commission over Europe's energy security.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The record-long federal government shutdown cost the U.S. economy approximately 11 billion U.S. dollars, a report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Monday.

The five-week partial shutdown reduced real gross domestic product (GDP) in the fourth quarter of 2018 by 3 billion dollars, or 0.1 percent, and could lower GDP in the first quarter of 2019 by 8 billion dollars, or 0.2 percent, the report said.

CHICAGO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's EV start-up Kaiyun Motors plans to export electric pickups to the U.S. market this year, local media reported on Monday.

Kaiyun Motors has the required approvals and plans to sell as many as 10,000 of its Pickman electric trucks in the United States this year, the Detroit News quoted the company's founder Wang Chao as saying.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on a state-owned oil firm in Venezuela, the latest move of the Trump administration to mount pressure on President Nicolas Maduro to cede power to the opposition.

The sanctions on Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PDVSA, will block 7 billion U.S. dollars in assets and could result in a loss of 11 billion dollars in sales next year, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton told a White House briefing.