BEIJING (AP) — The top U.S. and Chinese trade envoys will hold talks in Washington this month in a possible sign of progress toward ending a costly tariff battle over Beijing’s technology ambitions.

The Ministry of Commerce announcement of the Jan. 30-31 event was the first sign of a next step by the two sides following negotiations in Beijing earlier this month between lower-level officials.

China’s economy czar, Vice Premier Liu He, was invited by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, the ministry said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran kept up its criticism Thursday of the FBI’s apparent arrest of an American anchorwoman from Iran’s state-run English-language TV channel, with its foreign minister saying “she’s done nothing but journalism.”

The hard-line Vatan-e Emrooz paper criticized the detention of Press TV’s Marzieh Hashemi as “Saudi-style behavior with a critical journalist.” That’s a reference to the Oct. 2 assassination of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

London, Jan 17 (PTI) Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May won a confidence vote on Wednesday and averted a general election, a day after her government suffered a historic parliamentary defeat over her Brexit divorce deal with the European Union.

Her government won by 325 votes to 306 - a majority of 19.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn argued that May's "zombie" administration had lost the right to govern during a six hour debate on his motion.

His party has not ruled out tabling further no-confidence motions.

ANKARA, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The bomb attack in Syria's northern city of Manbij killed 20 people, including five U.S. soldiers, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the incident is trying to influence U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull out from Syria, Erdogan said in a joint press conference with the visiting Croatian president.

16 Jan 2019; AFP: Russia on Wednesday dismissed as ridiculous reports questioning whether US President Donald Trump has acted as an agent for Russia as controversy mounted over his alleged ties to the Kremlin.

Trump has denied explosive news reports that he hid details of discussions with President Vladimir Putin and that the FBI investigated him as a potential national security risk who might be acting on behalf of Russia.

17 Jan 2019; DW: Police conducted raids on several properties throughout Germany thought to be connected to an extremist group that associates itself with the Ku Klux Klan. A total of 17 people are at the center of the investigation.

German police on Wednesday raided 12 apartments in eight different German states belonging to suspected members of an extreme-right group calling itself the National Socialist Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Deutschland.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration will roll out a new strategy Thursday for a more aggressive space-based missile defense system to protect against existing threats from North Korea and Iran and counter advanced weapon systems being developed by Russia and China.

Details about the administration’s Missile Defense Review — the first compiled since 2010 — are expected to be released during President Donald Trump’s visit to the Pentagon with top members of his administration.

17 Jan 2019; DW: Beijing has condemned US legislation that would stop businesses from selling American-made chips to Huawei and ZTE. US lawmakers described Huawei as an "intelligence-gathering arms of the Chinese Communist Party."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday described US legislation targeting technology giant Huawei and other Chinese telecommunications companies as "hysteria."

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Specialists will try once again to regain control over Spektr-R radio telescope on January 21 when the distance to the apparatus will be minimal, science advisor to the Roscosmos's chief Alexander Bloshenko told TASS on Wednesday.

"The next step is to repeat today's program on Monday when the distance to the spacecraft will be minimal. The distance currently stands at around 300,000 km," Bloshenko said.

LONDON, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May won a vital confidence vote in the House of Commons Wednesday, averting a snap general election that could have ushered in a Labour government.

After seeing off a challenge that would have triggered a battle for control of Downing Street, May announced she would be having immediate talks with leaders of opposition parties to thrash out a new Brexit deal.

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Western countries to abandon unfair competition practices such as sanctions.

Responding to a question from a journalist from Iceland, who stated the negative impact of anti-Russian sanctions on his country's economy, Lavrov explained why Russia decided to use counter sanctions in relation to European agricultural products.

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s maritime rescue service says it has saved 472 people who were trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe over the past two days.

The service says that 17 people, including one woman, were rescued early Thursday from two inflatable rafts like those used at beaches and swimming pools.

The spokeswoman, who wasn’t authorized to be identified in media reports, said that 455 migrants were rescued Wednesday — 124 in the Strait of Gibraltar, and 331 further east.