UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese envoy on Thursday asked the Security Council to review the sanctions against Sudan given the improvement of the situation in its Darfur region.

"The Security Council should review the sanctions on Sudan in a timely manner and make adjustments in the light of the latest developments with a view of eventually lifting the sanctions," said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations.

STOCKHOLM, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- After 131 days without government, the Swedish Parliament approved on Friday Stefan Lofven as Prime Minister for a second four-year term.

A total of 115 MPs voted yes, 153 voted no and 77 abstained. To be elected, Lofven did not need to secure a majority of the vote. As long as fewer than 175 of the 349-member parliament voted against him, he would be elected.

"I take on this mission with humility and determination," Lofven said at the press conference held soon after the announcement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — She imperiled his State of the Union address. He denied her a plane to visit troops abroad.

The shutdown battle between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is playing out as a surreal game of constitutional brinkmanship, with both flexing political powers from opposite ends of Pennsylvania Avenue as the negotiations to end the monthlong partial government shutdown remain stalled.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union insisted Friday that agriculture be kept out of the EU-U.S. trade negotiations, despite Washington’s wishes to include the vast sector, and said any overall deal will be limited in scope.

The EU Commission announced its proposals for a negotiating mandate from the 28 member states and said that the EU negotiations will be “strictly focused on the removal of tariffs on industrial goods, excluding agricultural products.”

BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday urged the United States to stop interfering in China's internal affairs and damaging China's interests, and to do more things that are conducive to mutual trust and cooperation.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks at a press conference when responding to reports about U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's accusation against China at Global Chiefs of Mission Conference on Jan. 16.

18 Jan 2019; DW: Beijing and Berlin have signed agreements to boost cooperation in the banking and insurance sectors. A trade spat with the US has left China looking for other trade partners.

China and Germany vowed closed financial cooperation on Friday, affirming initiatives to open their respective markets further to each other's banks and insurers. Berlin stopped short of choosing a side in the US-China trade war, however.

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Friday pledged an array of measures to boost consumption as part of the efforts to support the economy.

"Optimizing market supply and increasing consumption are playing a greater role in effectively coping with downward pressure on the economy and maintaining stable growth," said a statement released after a teleconference held by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Administration for Market Regulation.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The storm that pummeled much of California for three days began moving east Thursday after causing at least six deaths, forcing wildfire victims threatened by floods to flee their homes and plunging nearly 300,000 utility customers into darkness.

The winter storm is forecast to unleash heavy rain, snow and wind in Colorado and “will be slamming the East Coast by Sunday,” National Weather Service forecaster Steve Anderson said. “From Maine to Florida.”

Anderson said most of California should be dry and sunny by Friday.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The UN-marked armored vehicle which the head of a UN mission in Yemen was riding in was struck by gunfire on Thursday but all of the occupants are safe, said a UN spokesman.

"Gen. (Patrick) Cammaert, who chairs the RCC (Redeployment Coordination Committee), and his team had left a meeting of the government of Yemen RCC representatives (and) as they were leaving, one UN-marked armored vehicle sustained one round of small arms fire," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

New Delhi, Jan 17 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal (NGT) Thursday slammed German auto major Volkswagen for not depositing Rs 100 crore in accordance with its November 16, 2018 order and directed it to submit the amount within 24 hours.

A bench headed by NGT chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel took strong exception to the non-compliance of its order by the automobile giant and asked it to give an undertaking that it will submit the amount by 5 PM Friday.

18 Jan 2019; DW: Four German managers at carmaker Audi were the latest to be charged in the United States as part of a diesel emissions cheating scandal. The company has already paid an €800 million fine as part of a case in Germany.

A US grand jury in Detroit has indicted four Audi engineering managers from Germany on counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and violations of the Clean Air Act.

HAVANA, JAN. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel on Thursday rejected what he called the latest "provocation" by the United States, which aims to bolster legal action against Cuban nationalization of property.

"We vehemently reject this new interventionist provocation which violates international law. The U.S. government is showing its contempt for the rest of the world," Diaz-Canel said via Twitter.