Business

12 Dec 2018; AFP: China has agreed to cut tariffs on autos imported from the United States, and resume soybean purchases, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Wednesday, confirming the reports that delighted investors.

Ross told CNBC the moves by Beijing will "prove that President (Donald) Trump was right when he announced his summary of the talks" held recently with China's President Xi Jinping.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May battled on Wednesday to save her job, her EU divorce bill and maybe even Brexit itself as lawmakers in her Conservative Party held a no-confidence vote on her leadership.

Legislators began casting their secret ballots in a wood-paneled room in Parliament after May’s Conservative opponents, who have been circling for weeks, finally got the numbers they needed to spark a vote.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Top European Union officials on Tuesday ruled out any renegotiation of the divorce agreement with Britain, as Prime Minister Theresa May fought to save her Brexit deal by lobbying leaders in Europe’s capitals.

May began her quest over breakfast with Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte, a day after she abandoned a vote in the U.K. Parliament to secure support for the agreement thrashed out with the EU over more than a year. She acknowledged that the deal would be rejected in London “by a significant margin.”

Berlin, Dec 11 (AFP) Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May embarked on a tour of European capitals on Tuesday in a desperate bid to salvage her Brexit deal, a day after delaying a parliamentary vote on the text to avoid a crushing defeat.

May had breakfast with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague before heading to Berlin for lunch with Chancellor Angela Merkel, and was then to travel on to Brussels.

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) BJP MP Subramanian Swamy Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to dissuade RBI Governor Urjit Patel from leaving, saying his resignation would be wrong for the government, economy and the institution at this time.

The prime minister has to persuade Patel that he cannot leave in larger public interest, he said.

Mumbai, Dec 10 (PTI) Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel unexpectedly resigned Monday, four days ahead of a crucial meeting of the board of the central bank that could have discussed issues of simmering differences with the government.

Patel, who is the first governor since 1990 to step down before his term ends, in a brief statement cited "personal reasons" for the decision that was effective immediately.

The government seems to have accepted his resignation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying Patel will be missed "immensely".

10 Dec 2018; DW: US firms are by far at the top of the global arms trade, according to an expert report. Germany's largest defense company landed at 25th among the globe's top 100; Russia, Turkey and China are also boosting production.

US companies hold more than half of the world market share for military equipment, according to a recent study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI.

10 Dec 2018; DW: The French president made a televised statement announcing a rise in the minimum wage and some tax concessions for pensioners and others on low wages. He is seeking to ease tensions after street protests.

French President Emmanuel Macron proposed an increase in the minimum wage of €100 ($113) in a televised speech to the nation on Monday. He said he would speed up tax cuts and raise wages at a "historic time" for France.

10 Dec 2018; AFP: China summoned the US ambassador on Sunday to protest the arrest of a top executive from telecom giant Huawei in Canada, as Washington's top trade negotiator rejected suggestions that the case could affect talks aimed at settling a trade war.

The arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou has infuriated Beijing, which demanded Washington drop its extradition request, and stoked tensions during the trade war truce between China and the United States.

10 Dec 2018; AFP: Mexico's new President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday he would reverse shrinking investment in the state oil company by pouring $3.7 billion into Pemex in 2019, in a bid to boost crude and refined products' output.

"We are going to increase investment in Pemex by 75 billion pesos from what was authorized for 2018," the leftist president said in a speech in his home state of Tabasco.