Asian markets rose Thursday as investors brushed off Donald Trump's latest dig at China and threat to impose more tariffs on the country's goods if crunch talks with Xi Jingping fail this weekend.

Before setting off for the G20 summit in Japan the president said in an interview that he had a "Plan B" in case the face-to-face shows no progress, adding he would "take in billions and billions of dollars a month and we'll do less and less business with them".

A French consumer rights group said Wednesday that it has launched a class action lawsuit against U.S. tech giant Google for violating the EU's strict data privacy laws.

The European Union opened Wednesday an investigation to determine whether U.S. semi-conductor giant Broadcom may be violating the bloc's competition rules and hurting rivals.

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei said Wednesday that its 5G business has not been impacted by the recent US sanctions amid a prolonged trade war between the world's two largest economies.

More than 200 miners in South Africa on Wednesday marked one week underground as they hold a sit-in protest against alleged sexual harassment by a manager as well as a wave of sackings.

Increasing concerns about a conflict between the United States and Iran hit equity markets Tuesday and sent gold prices to a fresh six-year high, jolting investor confidence days ahead of crucial trade talks between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

German high-end carmaker BMW said Tuesday it would accelerate its plans to build new electric models, as the whole industry comes under pressure to meet strict emissions regulations.

Nissan shareholders Tuesday approved an overhaul intended to strengthen governance at the crisis-hit Japanese automaker, still reeling from the Carlos Ghosn scandal and facing tensions with its French partner Renault.

The European Union will sign a deal to remove virtually all customs duties on trade with Vietnam on Sunday, the EU Commission announced.

Coca-Cola and Chinese dairy firm Mengniu have signed a  deal to become joint sponsors of the Olympic Games from 2021 to 2032, IOC chief Thomas Bach announced Monday.