Cuba has announced a new 10 percent tax on retail food sales, as the country endures economic woes marked by rampant inflation.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has said that his conscience is clear despite the flurry of accusations against him.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks Friday at the Baabda Palace with President Michel Aoun.

Shares in Europe and Asia were mostly higher Friday after a historic plunge in the stock price of Facebook's parent company yanked other tech stocks lower on Wall Street.

Shares rose in Paris, London and Tokyo. Hong Kong jumped 3.3% after reopening from Lunar New Year holidays. Trading in Shanghai will resume on Monday.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has said the fund would only support a "comprehensive program" for Lebanon that would tackle all the country's ills, including corruption.

Britain's energy regulator announced Thursday that a cap on energy prices is going up by a record 54% because of the soaring costs of wholesale natural gas, a change that will significantly burden millions of households already squeezed by rapidly climbing bills.

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, known as Ofgem, said the new price cap — the maximum amount that gas suppliers can charge customers — will rise by 693 pounds ($940) per year in most parts of the U.K. starting in April. That will cause the annual bill for the average customer to go up to 1,971 pounds ($2,670).

Nintendo's profit for the nine months through December slipped 2.5%, as shortages of computer chips hurt production, the Japanese video game maker behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises said Thursday.

Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. recorded a 367 billion yen ($3.2 billion) profit for the period, down from 377 billion yen the previous year. Its sales in the same period fell 6% to 1.3 trillion yen ($11 billion).

Turkey's annual inflation came in at nearly 49% on Thursday, hitting a nearly 20-year high and further eroding people's ability to buy even basic things like food.

The Turkish Statistical Institute said the consumer price index increased by just over 11% in January from the previous month. The yearly increase in food prices was more than 55%, according to the data.

Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil and gas company announced Thursday the discovery of between 1.5 to 2 trillion standard cubic feet of raw gas in an offshore area located in the emirate's northwest.

The discovery comes as Gulf Arab states continue to rely heavily on profits from oil and gas exports, despite rising global temperatures and climate change from burning fossil fuels. The United Arab Emirates, where Abu Dhabi is capital, was the first Gulf Arab state last year to join other countries around the world in pledging "net-zero" emissions targets within its borders — while maintaining fossil fuel exports abroad.

Not too long ago, Ehud Olmert was trying to lead Israel to a historic peace agreement. These days, the former Israeli prime minister is pushing a different message: legalize marijuana.

Olmert is among a group of former Israeli leaders and security chiefs who have found new careers in the country's tightly controlled medical cannabis industry. They hope not only to cash in on the local market, but also to clear the way for the country's major marijuana producers to export.