News from Around the World

Brexit timeline: key dates in UK’s divorce with EU

Britain is nearing the final straight of Brexit. At 11pm local time on March 29 2019, the UK is scheduled to leave the bloc. But still to be decided is what precisely will happen on Brexit day, what kind of deal, if any, Britain will leave with, and the final destination of the negotiations.

With less than six months to go, the Financial Times sets out the chief way stations on the road to Brexit and beyond.

Brexit Vote: Parliament to Decide on E.U. Withdrawal Plan

For Britain, the big vote is finally here.

After two and a half years of negotiation, argument, predictions and posturing, Parliament will finally decide on Tuesday on a bill that dictates the terms of Britain’s departure from the European Union, one of the most closely watched votes the lawmakers are likely to cast in their careers.

Brexit: Theresa May vows to stand down if deal is passed

Theresa May has promised Tory MPs she will quit if they back her Brexit deal.

Calls for stronger accountability after IFC Supreme Court ruling

LONDON — The U.S. Supreme Court decision that the World Bank does not have absolute immunity from prosecution is unlikely to trigger a flood of lawsuits but it could bolster calls for the institution to strengthen its internal accountability mechanisms, international lawyers said.

Can China’s Agricultural Transformation Offer Lessons for Africa?

When 200m farmers are responsible for feeding the entire population of China, any chance of halving hunger levels relies on helping these smallholders become more productive and, in the long term, more efficient.

This is precisely what China is doing, and the results have spared 155m people from hunger and malnutrition since 1990, accounting for two-thirds of the global fall in hunger levels.

Can Nafta Be Saved? These Two Negotiators Are Trying.

WASHINGTON — One is a Rhodes scholar, a globe-trotting former journalist and, perhaps one day, a Canadian prime minister. The other is a veteran Republican lawyer who toiled as a congressional staff aide, represented the steel industry and has been cutting trade deals in Washington since the Reagan administration.

Chilling Davos: A Bleak Warning on Global Division and Debt

DAVOS, Switzerland — As business and political leaders arrive in the Swiss Alps for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, a surprisingly alarming letter from an influential investor who studiously eschews attention has already emerged as a talking point.

The letter, written by Seth A. Klarman, a billionaire investor known for his sober and meticulous analysis of the investing world, is a huge red flag about global social tensions, rising debt levels and receding American leadership.

China Aims to Placate U.S. With Law Banning Theft of Foreign Trade Secrets

BEIJING—China made last-minute changes to a proposed foreign-investment law, trying to address U.S. complaints about forced technology transfer and bolster a compromise seen as crucial to striking a trade deal with Washington.

China asks WTO to impose $2.4 billion in penalties against U.S.

BERLIN (AP) — China is asking the World Trade Organization for the right to impose $2.4 billion in annual penalties on the United States in a case over Chinese subsidies dating back years.

A document published Monday showed China has called for the matter to be considered by the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body next Monday. The matter would be referred to a WTO arbitrator if the U.S. objects to the amount China proposes.

China emerges as powerbroker in global climate talks

As nations jockey for position ahead of next month’s UN climate talks, the most significant of its kind since the Paris accord was sealed three years ago, negotiators are beating a path in a new direction: to Beijing.

China has emerged as the powerbroker in global climate talks, helping fill a leadership vacuum created by President Donald Trump’s decision last year to pull the US out of the international agreement.