Iraqi officials fear economic "collapse" if Washington imposes threatened sanctions, including blocking access to a US-based account where Baghdad keeps oil revenues that feed 90 percent of the national budget.

North Korea said Saturday it had received Donald Trump's letter wishing a happy birthday to leader Kim Jong Un, but warned it will return to nuclear talks only when Washington fully accepts its demands.

The US president and Kim have held three meetings since June 2018 but negotiations have been largely deadlocked since the breakup of their Hanoi summit last February.

Iran's missile attack on two American bases in Iraq in response the the U.S. strike that killed its top general is the culmination of nearly two years of steadily rising tensions since President Donald Trump withdrew from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Iran's supreme leader said a "slap in the face" was delivered to the United States, when the Islamic republic fired missiles at US troop bases in Iraq on Wednesday.

Ukraine on Thursday brushed off the impeachment of Donald Trump an a US "internal issue", despite the process being triggered by a telephone conversation between the American leader and his Ukrainian counterpart.

Trump was impeached on Wednesday by the House of Representatives for abuse of power over the July conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Beijing and Washington are keeping in "close" contact over a potential phase-one deal to resolve their trade war, China's commerce ministry said Thursday, days before another possible tariffs salvo.

Negotiators are still trying to hammer out a mini agreement, but tensions could escalate again if President Donald Trump goes through with a planned increase in import levies on Sunday.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he would not proceed with his stated plans to designate Mexican drug cartels as terror groups following a request from his counterpart Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.

China on Friday said it had taken "reciprocal" measures against US diplomats in the country, saying they will have to notify the foreign ministry before meeting with local officials.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China had notified the US embassy of the new measures on Wednesday, which she said were a "countermeasure" to Washington's decision in October to restrict Chinese diplomats.

Stock markets mostly fell Thursday as China-US trade talks took a jolt from a US law backing Hong Kong protests that has angered Beijing.

China and the United States have agreed a plan to remove tariffs imposed on two-way goods in stages, the commerce ministry said Thursday, as negotiators try to hammer out a trade deal.

"In the past two weeks, the negotiation leaders of the two sides have held serious and constructive discussions on properly resolving their core concerns and agreed to roll back the additional tariffs in stages, as progress is made towards a (final) agreement," ministry spokesman Gao Feng said at a press conference.