Turkey will start exporting natural gas from Azerbaijan to Syria from Saturday, the energy minister said on Wednesday.

As President Donald Trump prepares to announce new tariff increases, the costs of his policies are starting to come into focus for a domestic manufacturing sector that depends on global supply chains, with a new analysis suggesting factory costs could increase by roughly 2% to 4.5%.
"There's going to be a cash squeeze for a lot of these firms," said Chris Bangert-Drowns, the researcher at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth who conducted the analysis. Those seemingly small changes at factories with slim profit margins, Bangert-Drowns said, "could lead to stagnation of wages, if not layoffs and closures of plants" if the costs are untenable.

Chinese and U.S. trade officials arrived for a second day of meetings in the Swedish capital Tuesday to try to break a logjam over tariffs that have skewed the pivotal commercial ties between the world's two largest economies.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng made no public comments to reporters after the first day of talks that lasted nearly five hours behind closed doors at the Swedish prime minister's office Monday.

The European Union's trade agreement with the Trump administration is getting mixed reviews. EU officials say they warded off a total economic disaster. But French officials in particular say the EU punched below its weight while economists say the deal is dangerously vague.
The deal leaves Europe with a 15% tariff on most goods imported into the U.S., with some goods categories tariff-free, but no agreement on rates for key areas such as pharmaceuticals and steel.

U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have announced a sweeping trade deal that imposes 15% tariffs on most European goods, warding off Trump's threat of a 30% rate if no deal had been reached by Aug. 1.
The tariffs, or import taxes, paid when Americans buy European products could raise prices for U.S. consumers and dent profits for European companies and their partners who bring goods into the country.

Chinese online retailer Temu was accused by European Union watchdogs on Monday of failing to prevent the sale of illegal products on its platform.
The preliminary findings follow an investigation opened last year under the bloc's Digital Services Act. It's a wide-ranging rulebook that requires online platforms to do more to keep internet users safe, with the threat of hefty fines.

The finance and budget committee approved Monday the banking reform law, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, head of the committee, said after a 6-hour meeting.
Kanaan assured Lebanese depositors that their money will not be touched. "Everyone knows how the money was squandered and how it was distributed between the government, the Central Bank, and the banks," he said, adding that depositors will be protected.

When top U.S. and Chinese officials meet in Stockholm, they are almost certain to agree to at least leaving tariffs at the current levels while working toward a meeting between their presidents later this year for a more lasting trade deal between the world's two largest economies, analysts say.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng are set to hold talks Monday for the third time this year — this round in the Swedish capital, nearly four months after President Donald Trump upset global trade with his sweeping tariff proposal, including an import tax that shot up to 145% on Chinese goods.

World stock markets advanced higher Monday after the European Union worked out a trade deal with the Trump administration ahead of this week's Aug. 1 deadline.
Investors were focusing on trade talks between U.S. and Chinese officials in Stockholm, Sweden.

President Donald Trump took to social media Thursday morning to support Elon Musk's car company, a startling development given their bitter public feud.
"I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
