China

Twenty-four EU countries pledged to band together to form a "European approach" to artificial intelligence in a bid to compete with American and Asian tech giants.

Ministers signed a declaration on Tuesday (10 April) saying they will consider putting public research funding into AI, but did not promise a specific amount of dedicated new investments.

Beijing has requested dispute consultations with the United States at the World Trade Organization over US tariffs slapped on imports of Chinese steel and aluminum products, according to a WTO document published on April 10.

"In today's world, the trend of peace and cooperation is moving forward and a Cold War mentality and zero-sum game thinking are outdated," Xi said at the opening of the Boao Forum for Asia.

According to him, "human society is facing a major choice to open or close, to go forward or backward."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands has warned Dutch travelers visiting Turkey that the safety of their electronic devices could be compromised, according to reports.

The ministry reportedly said travelers should only carry "empty" phones and laptops with no sensitive data stored on them.

The warning also applied to China, Russia, Iran, the reports said.

China stepped up its attacks on the Trump administration on April 9 over billions of dollars worth of threatened tariffs, saying Washington is to blame for trade frictions and repeating it was impossible to negotiate under "current circumstances."

As U.S.-China trade tensions ratchet up, the technology sector is fretting over the potential for collateral damage to one of America's most important export industries.

India agreed on April 7 to construct a rail link to Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, and to open up inland waterways in the landlocked Himalayan nation that has also by courted by China with transport deals.

US President Donald Trump barreled through warnings of a damaging trade war with China on April 5, vowing an additional $100 billion in tit-for-tat tariffs on Beijing.

Indications that the US and China intend to negotiate instead of escalate their trade war resulted in rallies on eurozone stock markets - including in Athens, where the benchmark cleared the 800-point mark on Thursday.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 801.14 points, adding 2.56 percent to Wednesday's 781.14 points. On a weekly basis it grew 2.64 percent.

China on Wednesday issued a $50 billion list of U.S. goods including soybeans and aircraft for possible tariff hikes in an escalating technology dispute with Washington that companies worry could set back the global economic recovery.