The payments by Alphabet Inc’s Google to Apple Inc to be the default search engine on Apple’s Safari web browser create “a significant barrier to entry and expansion” for Google’s rivals in the search engine market, the UK Competition and Markets Authority said in a report on Wednesday.

Athletic apparel maker Under Armour announced on Saturday it will discontinue its partnership with UCLA - a 15-year, $280m accord announced in 2016 that was billed as the largest apparel deal in the history of American collegiate sports.

There is not enough time to negotiate all aspects of the future relationship between the EU and Britain by the end of this year so both sides will have to choose what they want to focus on, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. Speaking at the London School of Economics, she said that for the EU the priority is to uphold the integrity of the bloc's single market and its customs union.

Greece's prime minister said in remarks published on Sunday that if Athens and Ankara cannot solve their dispute about maritime zones in the Mediterranean, they should turn to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to settle the disagreement.

Dubai-based carrier Emirates announced on Monday it would be buying 20 additional wide-body Airbus A350s, bringing its total order for the aircraft to 50 in a deal worth $16bn at list price. Separately, the Emirati budget carrier Air Arabia announced the purchase of 120 new Airbus planes in deal worth $14bn.

The US and China are reportedly “close to finalising” the first phase of a trade agreement after high-level officials spoke over the phone Friday, the US Trade Representative’s office announced. If successful, the first phase of the deal would postpone an upcoming increase of tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Beijing drastically increasing imports of American crops.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a key deal Monday with Saudi Arabia during a key visit for an OPEC+ grouping aimed at stabilising global oil prices and seeking to calm regional tensions with Iran. Putin's visit was the first one to the kingdom in over a decade and followed attacks on Saudi oil installations that Saudi Arabia and the United States have blamed on Iran, an ally of Moscow.

The European Union and Japan signed an infrastructure deal on Friday to coordinate transport, energy and digital projects linking Europe and Asia, in an effort to find an alternative to Chinese largesse that has raised suspicion in Brussels and Tokyo.

US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that Washington and Tokyo had taken a major step towards sealing a comprehensive new trade deal, after a year of negotiations between the global economic powers. Sitting next to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump said the leaders "formally announce the first stage of a phenomenal new trade agreement. The pact is a rare trade success for the president who has struggled to secure pacts with other trade partners, including China.

China’s biggest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has delayed its up to $15bn listing in Hong Kong amid growing political unrest in the Asian financial hub, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.