The U.S. Treasury on Thursday slapped sanctions on prominent Lebanese tycoons Jihad al-Arab and Dany Khoury and lawmaker Jamil al-Sayyed for allegedly benefitting from corruption and adding to the breakdown of the rule of law in the country.

French authorities fined two British fishing vessels and kept one in port overnight Thursday amid a worsening dispute over fishing licenses that has stoked tensions following the U.K.'s departure from the European Union.

Britain's government warned France that it would it retaliate if French officials followed through on threats made late Wednesday to block British boats from some French ports and tighten checks on U.K. vessels. France also suggested it might restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands, British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during their first conversation since Australia pulled out of a multibillion-dollar submarine deal that it is up to Morrison's government to repair the damaged relationship between their countries, France's presidency said Thursday.

Australia last month canceled a contract to buy diesel-electric French submarines and agreed to acquire American nuclear-powered vessels instead as part of an Indo-Pacific security pact with the United States and Britain. The pact, known as AUKUS, infuriated France, which recalled its two of its ambassadors over the lost deal.

Serbian officials praised their "steel friendship" with China during talks on Thursday with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi amid fears in the West that by heavily investing in the Balkan state, Beijing is trying to exert its political influence in that part of Europe.

Serbia, a European Union candidate country, and China have rapidly intensified economic and political relations in recent years, with Chinese companies taking over Serbia's main copper and steel mills and building roads, factories and railway lines.

European Central Bank officials are confronting the highest inflation in more than a decade and supply shortages that are holding back the pandemic recovery as they decide monetary policy Thursday for the 19 European Union countries that use the euro currency.

The meeting of the 25-member governing council isn't expected to result in changes to the bank's 1.85 trillion ($2.14 trillion) bond purchase program aimed at getting the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shares slipped Thursday in Europe and Asia after a retreat on Wall Street pulled the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average back from their latest record highs.

Shares fell in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Shanghai but rose in Paris.

European gas prices dropped Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the country's major natural gas company to pump more gas into EU storages.

Europe's gas prices have soared in recent weeks amid strong demand in Asia driven by the economic recovery from the pandemic and due to depleted European Union stocks from a cold winter.

Algeria will from now on deliver its natural gas to Spain exclusively through an undersea pipeline, ministers from both countries have reportedly said, after Algiers abandoned use of a line through Morocco.

In August Algeria cut diplomatic ties with its Maghreb neighbor Morocco which it accused of "hostile actions." 

A hike in the cost of wheat is alarming French households who fear a possible rise in the price of the prized baguette, seen by many as a barometer of the country's economic health.

Many boulangeries around France are putting up signs, warning customers that the long, crunchy staple could be going up in price by 3 to 5 centimes (4 to 6 cents), from its average of about 89 centimes (just over $1).

Coca-Cola Co. is getting its fizz back.

Revenue jumped 16% to $10 billion in the third quarter as stadiums, movie theaters and other venues reopened around the world.