A contentious Trump administration proposal to give the U.S. $500 billion worth of profits from Ukraine's rare earth minerals as compensation for its wartime assistance to Kyiv has been taken off the table, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, indicating a more equitable deal is in the works.

Zelensky had earlier declined a U.S. draft agreement on exploitation of his country's valuable minerals such as lithium used in the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries because it did not contain security guarantees and came with the $500 billion price tag.

Starbucks plans to lay off 1,100 corporate employees globally as new Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol streamlines operations.

In a letter to employees released Monday, Niccol said the company will inform employees who are being laid off by mid-day Tuesday. Niccol said Starbucks is also eliminating several hundred open and unfilled positions.

U.S. stocks are recovering some of their sharp losses from last week. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% in early Monday trading. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 149 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.3%. Berkshire Hathaway climbed after Warren Buffett's company reported a jumped in operating profits for the latest quarter. Big U.S. businesses have broadly been reporting better profits for the end of 2024 than analysts expected, providing solid support for the stock market. This upcoming week will feature a profit report from Nvidia, one of Wall Street's most influential stocks, as well as updates on consumer confidence and inflation.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.

The European Union on Monday began easing energy and transport sanctions and banking restrictions against Syria, aiming to help breathe life into the conflict-torn country's economy if its new leaders work toward a peaceful future.

The EU started to impose asset freezes and travel bans on Syrian officials, banks, agencies and other organizations in 2011, in response to then-President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protesters, which festered into a civil war.

The low-cost carrier FlyDubai announced Monday it earned a record-breaking profit of $611 million in 2024, buoyed by higher passenger numbers and lower fuel costs.

FlyDubai had revenues of $3.5 billion through the year, as compared to $3 billion in 2023. Profits were $572 million in 2023.

Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding posted its fastest revenue growth in more than a year, beating analyst expectations as it capitalizes on the artificial intelligence boom in China.

Alibaba said Thursday that its revenue for the quarter ended December grew 8% to 280.2 billion yuan ($38.38 billion) compared to the same period last year.

A visiting EU official said Friday that disbursing half a billion euros in funding to Lebanon was conditional on a banking sector restructure and reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

In May last year, the European Union announced one billion euros ($1 billion) in aid for Lebanon to help stem irregular migration to the bloc, with the assistance designed to strengthen basic services including education and health amid a severe economic crisis.

Lithium and other elements that the U.S. needs for vital defense, energy and other applications could become harder to obtain if the Trump administration goes ahead with tariffs and other protectionist policies aimed at China.

China refines more than 90% of the global supply of so-called "rare earth elements," which include neodymium and dysprosium. Not actually rare, these 17 elements are difficult to mine and refine because they're not often found in concentrated deposits. Some elements, like Lithium, are usually mentioned along with rare earth elements, because they are also critical for the tech sector.

Global shares traded mixed Thursday, with French and German shares gaining, while falling in Britain. Earlier in Asia, major benchmarks finished lower.

Worries about U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff policies remain high on global investors' minds.

President Donald Trump's restrictions on foreign aid and targeting of a key agency funding programs around the world may be offering an opening to America's biggest adversary — China.

From the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development to quitting international groups, Trump's drastic "America First" moves have raised concerns among some lawmakers and experts about whether the U.S. is ceding global influence to its rivals, especially at a time when Washington is fretting over Beijing's growing clout at the cost to American interests.