Asian markets reversed early gains to end mostly down Monday as investors look ahead to a week chock-full of crucial events including the high-level trade talks between China and the United States.

Hopes that a deal can be struck between the world's top two economies have helped fuel a rally this month in global equities, which had been hammered in December.

A businessman leaves a smoky room $1,500 poorer from a game of Baccarat at a casino in Sihanoukville -- an increasingly common scene in the Cambodian beachtown as it becomes a honeypot for Chinese gamblers and investors at a pace worrying marginalized locals.

Brazilian judicial authorities have frozen $3 billion dollars in assets of the Vale mining company after a dam collapse at one of its sites that has left at least 37 dead and more than 250 missing.

Abu Dhabi's state oil firm said Sunday it had signed partnership deals worth $5.8 billion with Italian oil giant Eni and Austria's OMV, awarding them key stakes in its refining arm.

Karl Marx Allee was the former East German government's showpiece -- a wide boulevard lined with Stalinist-style buildings housing the comrades. Today, the avenue is a front line in the battle against rampant gentrification in Berlin.

A multi-billion dollar China-backed rail project in Malaysia has been scrapped, government officials said Saturday, adding that the cost of building it was too high. 

Ministers from 75 countries -- including the U.S. and China -- agreed Friday to launch talks towards establishing global rules on e-commerce at the WTO in a rare victory for international cooperation.

With the launch of CNN Brazil, Latin America's biggest TV market is set to be roiled by the entry of a powerful new player looking to challenge the dominance of current leader Globo News.

Isolated Turkmenistan on Friday launched construction of a new $2.3 billion national highway, state television reported Friday, as it looks to international cargo flows to ease dependence on gas exports.

The 600-kilometer-long highway will extend east from the ex-Soviet republic's capital Ashgabat to Turkmenabat near the border with Uzbekistan and then south to the rail hub of Tedjen close to the country's border with Afghanistan.

French carmaker Renault named two experienced auto executives to replace arrested boss Carlos Ghosn on Thursday, signaling the start of a new era for the manufacturer and its vital but strained alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi.