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BEIJING — Top Chinese and US negotiators held telephone talks today to exchange views on the timetable of trade talks, the Chinese commerce ministry said. Vice Premier Liu He spoke with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer 10 days after presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping agreed to a trade war truce. A 90-day deadline was set to reach an agreement, but no date has been set for the next round of talks and tensions have risen anew following Canada’s arrest of an executive of Chinese telecom giant Huawei at the behest of the United States. The commerce ministry said in a statement Liu and the US officials "exchanged views on the implementation of the consensus" reached by Trump and Xi as well as on the timetable for the next round of negotiations. The brief statement did not provide more details. Lighthizer said on Sunday that March 1 was a "hard deadline" for the two sides to reach an agreement that would prevent an … [Read more...] about Chinese, US negotiators discuss trade talks timetable

LONDON — British Prime Minister Theresa May will visit Germany’s Angela Merkel on Tuesday as she works to salvage her Brexit deal, the day after delaying a parliamentary vote on it to avoid a crushing defeat. May will first go to The Hague for talks with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte before meeting Merkel in Berlin, as she struggles to unite British lawmakers behind her faltering plan. The embattled leader is facing a rebellion in her own party and from parliamentary allies that threatens to sink both the agreement and her leadership. "I will now do everything I possibly can to secure further assurances," May told mutinous MPs on Monday on her planned dash to Europe ahead of an EU summit later this week. "I will discuss with them the clear concerns that this house has expressed," she said. But European Council president Donald Tusk warned the bloc would not reopen the agreement secured in November after months of negotiations, with Brexit looming on March 29. "We … [Read more...] about May heads to Europe in bid to save Brexit deal under fire

YEREVAN — The electoral bloc of Armenia’s acting prime minister Nikol Pashinyan won a landslide victory in Sunday’s snap parliamentary elections, which were triggered by the reformist leader seeking to cement his political authority in the country. The bloc led by Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party had 70.45 per cent of the vote, and trailing in distant second place with 8.37 per cent was the Prosperous Armenia party, according to results from 90 per cent of precincts, the central election commission said. The centrist My Step bloc also includes the Mission Party headed by rights activist Manuk Sukiasyan. A small liberal pro-Western party, Bright Armenia, also cleared an electoral threshold with 6.33 per cent of the votes, the commission said. Pashinyan became prime minister in May after spearheading weeks of peaceful anti-government rallies that ousted veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian. The … [Read more...] about Armenia PM’s bloc wins by landslide in snap polls

Visit The Boston Globe Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Comment on this Scroll to top of page December 07, 2018 Running for president is hard.Deciding not to run? That can be even harder.Over the last year, two-term former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has explored the possibility of running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, urged on by a small army of Patrick devotees in the Commonwealth. Inspiring and experienced, Patrick would have been a formidable candidate. He compiled real accomplishments as governor, putting his state at the forefront of life sciences globally and managing the fallout of the 2008 recession. Since leaving office, he has worked for Bain Capital investing in firms with social benefits. Advertisement But on Thursday, Patrick formally announced on his Facebook page that he won’t pursue the White House, citing “the cruelty of our elections process.” Get Today in Opinion in your inbox: Globe … [Read more...] about Deval Patrick knew when to call it quits on a presidential bid. Other political figures should take note.

DAMASCUS — The last 19 Druze women and children abducted by the Islamic State group in July from the southern Syrian province of Sweida were freed on Thursday and welcomed by their relatives, state media said. Syrian state media said the mass liberation was the result of a military operation but others insisted the 15-week hostage ordeal was ended thanks to a prisoner swap agreement. Media reported that the freed hostages "met their relatives" after more than three months of gruelling captivity during which at least two of the group were killed. Local journalist Nour Radwan said the hostages were brought to a military base in the north of Sweida province, where they were met by family members. The group would next head to Sweida city, where dozens of people had gathered to welcome them home, said Radwan. According to state news agency SANA, the army "clashed directly with the IS terrorist organisation, which had abducted women and children from the Sweida province". … [Read more...] about Syria army frees Druze hostages from IS: state media