Chinese, US chief trade negotiators hold phone talks

10:27, May 08, 2020

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  China to continue helping Spain fight COVID-19 epidemic: FM

  State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.BEIJING - China is willing to continue providing assistance within its capability to help Spain combat the COVID-19 epidemic, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.In a phone talk with Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ara

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  Fishing looms as battlefield in trade talks

  The issue of fishing in Britain's waters is emerging as one of the decisive factors in discussions about Brexit between the United Kingdom and the European Union, as the third round of talks over a post-Brexit trading relationship got under way on Monday.Suggestions from London are that the UK's neg

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  Called to order: Supreme Court holds 1st arguments by phone

  Attorney Erica Ross poses for a portrait, May 4, 2020, outside the Department of Justice in Washington, after Ross became the first attorney to argue in the first arguments that the Supreme Court has argued via telephone. (Photo: AP) It’s a morning of firsts for the Supreme Court, thefirst time audioof the court’s arguments was heard live by the world and thefirst arguments by telephone.The changesare a result ofthe coronavirus pandemic, which has made holding courtroom sessions unsafe, especially with six justices aged 65 or older and at risk of getting seriously sick from the virus.The historic session began at the usual time of 10 a.m. EDT, when Marshal Pamela Talkin called the court to order and Chief Justice John Roberts announced the day’s case.“Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!” Talkin began, dropping the words commanding people “to draw near” to reflect the unusual circumstances.Arguments, scheduled to last an hour as they would generally in the courtroom, ran 17 minutes long, but without serious problems. The justices asked roughly two questions apiece at a time, and Roberts occasionally interjected to keep things moving.And there was one mild surprise: Justice Clarence Thomas asked questions for the first time in more than a year.Several justices said “good morning” to the lawyers, a telephone nicety not often heard in the courtroom. The justices also did not interrupt each other, as they frequently do in court, and instead took turns asking questions.The court’s plaza, normally bustling on the mornings of arguments, was deserted Monday, as it has been since the building was closed to the public in mid-March because of the virus outbreak. Two months of arguments were postponed before the court decided to hear 10 cases over six days in May.The experimentcould propel the court to routinely livestream its arguments. Or it could just be an extraordinary exception to the court’s sustained opposition to broadening the audience that can hear, ...