U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is heading to China, seeking a thaw in relations with Beijing at a time of strained ties with the United States.

He's hoping for an economic boost to Britain, but risks the wrath of China hawks at home — and of U.S. President Donald Trump, who's already heaping tariffs and criticism on America's closest allies.

After nearly two decades of negotiations, India and the European Union announced Tuesday they have reached a free trade agreement to deepen economic and strategic ties. The accord — dubbed the "mother of all deals" — could impact as many as 2 billion people.

The deal is also one of the biggest bilateral engagements on commerce and comes as Washington targets both India and the EU with steep import tariffs.

The price of gold hit fresh records Monday after reaching $5,000 an ounce for the first time on rising global uncertainty and turmoil set off by US President Donald Trump's policies.

Gold reached $5,111.07 an ounce having topped the key landmark in Asian trading hours.

Global shares mostly declined Monday, as in Asia Japan's benchmark took a tumble after the yen surged against the U.S. dollar.

France's CAC 40 dipped nearly 0.2% in early trading to 8,127.93, while the German DAX added less than 0.1% to 24,881.34. Britain's FTSE 100 edged down less than 0.1% to 10,138.76.

A conglomerate based in the United Arab Emirates said Monday it will take legal action against Lebanese authorities over a dispute regarding its investments in the crisis-hit country, saying it has suffered $1.7 billion in investment losses.

The Dubai-based Al Habtoor Group's businesses in Lebanon were hit hard by the country's historic economic meltdown that broke out in late 2019. The country also suffered from the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war for which the World Bank estimates the costs of reconstruction and recovery at $11 billion.

The European Union is willing to implement a sweeping free trade agreement with the Mercosur group of South American countries on a provisional basis, the head of the EU's executive commission said Friday, despite a vote by the EU parliament to delay ratification for legal review.

The EU would be ready to act as soon as at least one Mercosur country ratifies, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the conclusion of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels where several national leaders raised the issue.

Leading global economic policymakers at the World Economic Forum in Davos urged countries and businesses to filter out the turmoil from a week of clashes with the Trump administration and focus on boosting growth and fighting inequality in a world where trade will continue to flow and international cooperation is still badly needed.

The global economy is showing unexpected resilience despite the noise, European Central Bank head Christine Lagarde, International Monetary Fund head Kristalina Georgieva and World Trade Organization head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a panel discussion. But while growth is holding up, troubles like worrisome levels of government debt and inequality loom.

TikTok has finalized a deal to create a new American entity, avoiding the looming threat of a ban in the United States that has been in discussion for years on the platform now used by more than 200 million Americans.

The social video platform company signed agreements with major investors including Oracle, Silver Lake and the Emirati investment firm MGX to form the new TikTok U.S. joint venture. The new version will operate under "defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurances for U.S. users," the company said in a statement Thursday. American TikTok users can continue using the same app.

The vast field of over 5,800 electric and hybrid vehicles gleamed on the cargo deck of the BYD Changzhou, an Chinese container vessel unloading Wednesday at a river port in eastern Argentina.

In other places, such a scene would not be noteworthy. Chinese automaker BYD has sped up its exports and undercut rivals the world over, alarming Washington, upsetting Western and Japanese auto giants and unnerving local industries across Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Japan posted a trade deficit for the fifth straight year in 2025, according to government data released Thursday, as exports were hit by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and a diplomatic rift with neighboring China.

For the full year, Japan logged a 2.65 trillion yen ($17 billion) trade deficit, the Finance Ministry reported in its preliminary data.