The Tokyo Olympics cost $1.8 billion less than anticipated, local organizers said Wednesday, 4 1/2 months after the Games ended.

Organizers said the estimated official costs were $13.6 billion. Officials said part of the reduction was because there were no fans — forced by the pandemic — and therefore vastly reduced labor costs. They also said other outlays were lower than expected.

The pipeline is built and being filled with natural gas. But Russia's Nord Stream 2 faces a rocky road before any gas flows to Germany, with its new leaders adopting a more skeptical tone toward the project and tensions ratcheting up over Russia's troop buildup at the Ukrainian border.

The pipeline opposed by Ukraine, Poland and the U.S. awaits approval from Germany and the European Union to bypass other countries and start bringing natural gas directly to Europe. The continent is struggling with a shortage that has sent prices surging, fueling inflation and raising fears about what would come next if gas supplies become critically low.

Tradition dictates that Venezuelans, children and adults alike, wear brand new clothes on Christmas and New Year's. Shirts, pants, dresses, stilettos and sneakers — all with that new smell and perfect, first-time fit. No wrinkles, stains or scratches allowed.

But the dollar bills circulating all across the country might as well show the Grinch instead of Washington this year. The government's loosening of controls on dollars may have made them easier to get, but it has also made them less valuable in Venezuelan shops, with dollar prices overall about 40% above those last year.

Asian shares were mostly higher on Tuesday after a worldwide slump for financial markets spurred by worries about how badly the omicron variant, inflation and other forces will hit the world economy.

Tokyo gained nearly 2% and other benchmarks in Asia also were higher.

Qatar Airways is taking Airbus to court charging the manufacturer of failing to correct what it says is accelerated surface degradation impacting the Airbus A350 aircraft.

The airline said Monday that it's seeking a rapid resolution in the High Court in London. The airline has now grounded 21 A350 aircraft citing the conditions of the plane.

The Turkish lira was making significant gains Tuesday after the country's president announced new measures to safeguard deposits in the national currency against currency fluctuations.

The lira hit an all-time low of 18.36 against the U.S. dollar Monday but rebounded to a high of 11.09 Tuesday morning. It was trading at 13.75 at 0820 GMT Tuesday.

Lebanon needs to receive $12-15 billion from its partners to kickstart its economic recovery and shore up fast-diminishing foreign currency reserves, Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh said Tuesday.

Lebanon is grappling with an unprecedented economic crisis branded by the World Bank as one of the planet's worst since the mid-19th century.

YouTube TV began restoring access to Disney content after a dispute between the companies led to an interruption of service over the weekend.

YouTube told viewers Sunday they were restoring service so customers could once again watch networks provided by Disney such as ESPN, FX, National Geographic and local ABC stations.

Leaders of Bulgaria and Greece on Monday discussed bilateral cooperation in the energy sector, with an emphasis on reducing their reliance on Russian gas through the speedy completion of a key gas interconnector linking the neighboring countries.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who is the first European leader to visit Bulgaria since the formation of a new government there, met with his Bulgarian counterpart, Kiril Petkov, and the country's president, Rumen Radev.

The beleaguered Turkish currency reached another record low against the U.S. dollar Monday, a day after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stood firm on his policy to lower interest rates despite rising consumer prices and slammed business groups that called for a change of course.

The lira tumbled to an all-time low of 17.70 against the dollar — more than 7% weaker from Friday's close. The Turkish currency has depreciated by more than 55% against the dollar since the start of the year.