Sweden on Thursday called on the EU to suspend the trade section of its association agreement with Israel over its conduct of the war in Gaza.

"The situation in Gaza is absolutely appalling, and Israel is failing to fulfil its most basic obligations and agreements on emergency aid. Sweden therefore demands that the EU freeze the trade section of the association agreement as soon as possible," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a post to X, calling on the Israeli government to allow "unhindered humanitarian aid into Gaza."

Canada's support for Palestinian statehood makes a trade deal with Ottawa "very hard", U.S. President Donald Trump said early Thursday.

"Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them. Oh' Canada!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Iran on Thursday described as "malicious" fresh U.S. sanctions targeting a shipping empire controlled by the son of a top political advisor to Iran's supreme leader.

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a statement called "the new U.S. sanctions against Iran's oil trade a malicious act aimed at undermining the economic development and welfare of the Iranian people".

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.