Egypt on Wednesday increased the price of its widely used diesel and other fuels in a move expected to further drive up prices of other goods and services. The country, like others, faces steep inflationary pressures in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine.

In a statement, the country's petroleum ministry said it would increase prices immediately. The price for a liter of diesel has been hiked from 6.75 Egyptian pounds (.36 USD) a liter to 7.25 Egyptian pounds (.38 USD), an increase of 7.4%. Other types of gasoline saw hikes of the same amount, with higher octane gasoline being hiked by 1 Egyptian pound, or 5 U.S. cents per liter.

Head of the Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan said Wednesday that the Finance Subcommittee has reviewed a reformed bank secrecy law and will send it to the Finance and Budget committee for approval.

The Finance and Budget Committee will discuss the law tomorrow, Thursday, along with the World Bank wheat loan.

With thousands of sanctions already imposed on Russia to flatten its economy, the U.S. and its allies are working on new measures to starve the Russian war machine while also stopping the price of oil and gasoline from soaring to levels that could crush the global economy.

The Kremlin's main pillar of financial revenue — oil — has kept the Russian economy afloat despite export bans, sanctions and the freezing of central bank assets. European allies of the U.S. plan to follow the Biden administration and take steps to stop their use of Russian oil by the end of this year, a move that some economists say could cause the supply of oil worldwide to drop and push prices as high as $200 a barrel.

Huawei announced Wednesday it is working to help Lebanon lift its economy through technology.

"Lebanon stands at the precipice of change – it needs to move forward and prioritize the implementation of a resilient ICT strategy in order to secure its bright future," the CEO of Huawei in Lebanon, Aiden Li, said in a statement.

The euro on Tuesday fell to parity with the dollar for the first time in nearly 20 years. Here are the concrete consequences of the decline in the value of the single European currency. 

France's central bank said Tuesday it will push ahead with the second phase of its experiment with a digital euro with the aim of rolling out the cryptocurrency next year.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday acknowledged holding discussions with Uber executives when he was economy minister from 2014-2016, saying he was "proud" of it and would do the same again.

The euro struck parity with the dollar Tuesday for the first time in nearly 20 years as a cut in Russian gas supplies to Europe heightened fears of a recession in the eurozone. 

Turkey said it will host Russian and Ukrainian delegations together with UN diplomats on Wednesday to discuss the resumption of stalled grain deliveries across the Black Sea.

A major gas pipeline from Russia to western Europe shut down for annual maintenance on Monday amid concern in Germany that Russia may not resume the flow of gas as scheduled.

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline runs under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and is the latter's main source of Russian gas. Gas is usually sent onward to other countries as well. It is scheduled to be out of action until July 21 for routine work that the operator says includes "testing of mechanical elements and automation systems." The operator's data showed the gas flow dropping as planned on Monday morning.